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Wildfires Scorching South and West in America; "Month of Mayhem"

Aired May 13, 2007 - 17:00   ET

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

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT, LAKE CITY, FLORIDA: Hey, Fredricka. Well, we're still waiting on that much-needed rainfall here. Thought that it might move in earlier this afternoon. It has not gotten here yet.
And even when it does, as you mention, it may not be enough and it could bring with it lightning, which would spark additional fires. So that would just make matters worse.

Forestry officials tell us the next 24 hours for them are absolutely critical, because once that rain - whatever it is - moves through, the front, behind that front there's going to be some heavier winds - 10, maybe 15 mile-an-hour gusty winds.

And that's going to start to pick this fire up, perhaps. And that's going to test all of the fire lines that they've built out there in the forest to the north of me here.

Now, we had an opportunity about a couple of hours ago to go out again today with forestry firefighters to see what's going on out there. And what we are seeing them dealing with today are spot fires that are beginning to pick up, beginning to start to jump from one stand to another, as the wind is starting to pick up just a little bit.

You can see it out there as these fires begin to burn up towards the roads. And now, what they want to do is have some of these fires burn right up to the fire lines that they have built.

The hope is that they'll stop right there at those fire lines, that the winds won't be enough to pick up the embers and carry them across the fire lines to a new stand of trees. That's what they're fighting to do today.

A lot of heavy equipment out there. They've got tractors out there, moving a lot of bulldozers in. It really is the only way for them to fight the fires out there, is with the bulldozers, digging wider and deeper fire lines to keep the flames from spreading.

We talked with a commander out there who told us that that's the biggest challenge today, is just racing against the changing weather conditions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMIE RITTENHOUSE, FLORIDA DIVISION OF FORESTRY: Right now the wind's in our favor. But, you know, we have that front coming in tonight and it's going to be very unstable. And tomorrow is supposed to be heavy winds. So, we're trying to prepare today for tomorrow.

ZARRELLA: What's your gut tell you? You've done this a long time.

RITTENHOUSE: Want to do the best we can. There's a lot of fire out here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: And that's exactly what the question for them is, all of the firefighters out there. And there are some 400 or 500 of them on the lines out there, asking themselves, you know, have we done enough? Are we going to be able to contain this fire, if the winds kick up?

Again, Fredricka, the next 24 hours are going to be critical, to see if they can keep this fire bottled up. Or, as they say, will it be off and running again - Fredricka.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: And, John, oftentimes, some of the most impressive type of firefighting comes from the aerosols. Because of the problem of visibility on the ground, are they able to do that?

ZARRELLA: That's, yes, absolutely one of the problems they have had the last couple of days, that thick fog and smoke that has cut down on visibility and forced the closing of the interstates periodically here, has kept them on the ground.

They have not been able to get up and do recon to see where they, perhaps, to drop water or fire retardant. They haven't been able to use those air resources.

They were hoping to get them up today. Don't know if they were able to yet.

WHITFIELD: All right. John Zarrella, thanks so much from Lake City.

(WEATHER BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Let's focus a little bit more on Florida, and what a traffic nightmare it's becoming, because of certain closures on I-10 and I-75.

On the phone with us now, chief information officer with the Florida Highway Patrol, Major Ernesto Duarte.

And so, major, even though in that last live shot we saw from John Zarrella in Lake City, it seems like the visibility is a little bit better. Is that misleading? Or is it still a nightmare just getting around on the ground?

MAJOR ERNESTO DUARTE, CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER, FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL (by telephone): It is misleading. And that's one of the, obviously, the difficulties of dealing with an issue such as a fire, especially an uncontained fire.

So, as a result of that, Florida has officially closed those portions of I-75 and I-10, because forecasters are warning us that conditions don't look favorable, and we do anticipate heavy smoke coming back into the driving area.

So, as a result of that, we have closed the roads and we are urging anyone that has plans to seek alternate routes. And for those that are going to be heading towards those areas, they're asked to use the 511 telephone system, which gives them periodic advisories, because these conditions are changing so quickly.

WHITFIELD: All right. So, for those who are unable to use 511 for now, and perhaps this is their only sour of information, give me an idea of what I-95 is like, since that's kind of the parallel north- south corridor you're asking people to take.

DUARTE: Yes. Fortunately, I-95, we don't have any problems right now. The fire is basically in the Georgia-Florida state line, closer to I-75. So, for those folks that are heading north and south, out of Florida and into Florida, I-95 is an excellent route.

But right now, I-75 looks like for the near - for at least the next couple of days, we are going to have issues. So, we are recommending that motorists take I-95 instead.

WHITFIELD: All right. Major Ernesto Duarte with the Florida Highway Patrol, thanks so much for your time.

DUARTE: You're very welcome.

WHITFIELD: Well, a deadly day in Iraq. Thousands of U.S. troops are searching for three of their comrades. A terrorist group linked to al Qaeda says it's holding the soldiers captive, after a deadly ambush near the town of Mahmoudiya that left four U.S. soldiers dead.

With the latest now from Baghdad, CNN's Arwa Damon.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT, BAGHDAD: The Islamic State of Iraq, an umbrella insurgent group that was formed by al Qaeda in Iraq is now claiming responsibility for that attack that left four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi dead, and another three U.S. soldiers missing since the early hours of Saturday.

The attack took place just south of Baghdad in an area that is west of Mahmoudiya, fields and farmlands. And in that area, some 4,000 U.S. troops are currently fanned out looking for their missing soldiers.

Joining the search, Iraqi forces. The U.S. military saying that they are using all means at their disposal to find their missing troops. Now, the attack that took place happened at a stationary post. That according to a senior U.S. military official.

There are questions being raised as to why this station was only being manned by seven U.S. troops, why they were out there in such small numbers. But the U.S. military right now focusing its efforts on finding its missing men.

To-date, according to Major General William Caldwell, they have been able to identify three of the killed Americans, as well as the Iraqi interpreter. The identify of the fourth killed American still not yet determined. But there are - it's quite the frantic effort to try to find these missing soldiers.

This is the very same area where another attack happened about a year ago, an attack that an insurgent group linked to al Qaeda in Iraq took a claim for. And that was the kidnap and brutal murdering of two U.S. soldiers, images that America can not forget.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEO)

WHITFIELD: Also in Iraq, two powerful bombs killed scores of Iraqis, including several dozen Iraqi Kurds.

In northern Iraq, a suicide attacker drove a truckload of explosives into an office of a Kurdish political party - at least 50 people killed and more than 100 wounded. It was the second such attack in the Kurdish region in the past four days.

And then in Baghdad, a car bomb exploded near a central marketplace. At least 15 people were killed there and about three dozen hurt.

Also today, at least 22 bodies were found dumped throughout the capital city.

In Afghanistan, a key Taliban commander is dead. NATO says Mullah Dadullah Lang was killed during a joint military operation in the volatile Helmand Province. That operation included coalition troops and Afghan national security forces.

The death of Dadullah is being called the biggest blow to the Taliban since the U.S. invasion in 2001. And a warning here, a graphic video that is being supplied to us. Afghan officials are showing off the body of Dadullah in an effort to convince skeptics that he really is dead.

The U.S. is reaching out to Iran for solutions to the violence in Iraq. Details on that straight ahead.

Also, former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, wants to be president. Will his religion stand in the way?

And he calls himself "Economan." Well, some of his clients call him a fraud. They want to know what he did with millions of their dollars.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Several top Republican presidential candidates hit the airwaves today, spelling out their views on some divisive issues.

Senator John McCain was asked if he supports the idea of reaching out to Iran for help with security in Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, R-ARIZONA, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Remember, this is the world's largest sponsor of - state sponsor of terrorism. They're dedicated to the extinction of Israel. There are enormous difficulties.

But if there is something to be gained, OK. But I wouldn't do anything to try to enhance their prestige and standing in the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And on "FOX News Sunday," former New York mayor, Rudy Giuliani, talked about his support for abortion rights.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDY GIULIANI, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I know what my positions are. A very, very big portion of my party agrees with that. A certain portion of my party disagrees with that.

My attempt is to try to broaden the base of the Republican Party, to try to bring in people that can agree and that can disagree on that, because I think the issues that we face about terrorism, about our economy, about the growth of our economy are so important that we have to have the biggest outreach possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, will have to work hard if he wants to take the spotlight in the Republican Party. But many wonder if his Mormon religion will upstage him.

Our Mary Snow has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As Mitt Romney tries to distinguish himself from his Republican rivals running for president, he's also distancing himself from President Bush. On the topic of Iraq, Romney gave perhaps his strongest criticism yet of the administration in an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes."

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think the administration made a number of errors.

SNOW: Romney says President Bush isn't solely to blame. ROMNEY: Well, he's the person where the buck stops. But it goes to the secretary of defense and the planning agencies, the Department of State. It's the whole administration.

MIKE WALLACE, CBS'S "60 MINUTES": The screwed up.

ROMNEY: Well, they made mistakes. I'm not going to use the same phrase you would. And we're paying for those mistakes.

SNOW: While Romney works to set himself apart from the White House, he's also doing the same with his religious predecessors.

He answered one of the most often-asked questions about Mormons, regarding the practice of polygamy, which was outlawed in the late 1800s.

ROMNEY: I had a great-great-grandfather, they were trying to build a generation out there in the desert. And so, he took additional wives as he was told to do. And I must admit, I can't imagine anything more awful than polygamy.

SNOW: When asked, Romney also said he did not break the Mormon Church's strict rules against premarital sex.

Romney and his religion are front and center on TIME magazine this week. Those who study religion and politics say they expect Romney's religion will factor in his campaign, but not overtly.

DAVID CAMPBELL, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME: The fact that his Mormonism is out there is going to be manifest more in the whispered conversations and that sort of thing, rather than overt speeches or comments made during a debate.

SNOW: Case in point, ahead of next week's Republican presidential debate in South Carolina, some in the state have received an eight-page criticism of the Mormon religion from an anonymous sender, questioning whether it's politically dangerous and referring to Mormon texts as hoaxes.

(END VIDEO)

WHITFIELD: And straight ahead, Army Sergeant Matt Maupin has been missing in Iraq now for more than three years. I'll speak to his father about what the family is going through.

And this Mother's Day, meet a mother who lost both of her legs in Afghanistan, but she stands determined to carry on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: As we've been reporting, thousands of U.S. forces have sealed off an area south of Baghdad to search for three missing Americans. And as U.S. troops go tree to tree and house to house, a group linked to al Qaeda is claiming it captured the missing soldiers during a deadly attack yesterday on a U.S. patrol. Another American solider remains missing in Iraq. Sergeant Matt Maupin was captured more than three years ago. And joining us now by phone from Cincinnati, Sergeant Maupin's father, Keith Maupin.

And so, Mr. Maupin, how much more difficult does it make it for you and your family as you hear about yet more U.S. troops missing?

KEITH MAUPIN, FATHER OF MISSING U.S. SOLDIER (by telephone), CINCINNATI, OHIO: Well, I don't know if it makes it any harder, but it certainly doesn't make it any easier.

WHITFIELD: What is the military telling you about their continued search for your son?

MAUPIN: Well, they tell us - and I'm sure that they will do the same thing for these soldiers - they won't give up, and anything that they can do, they're going to do.

WHITFIELD: But how concerned are you as you continue to hear the U.S. military as a whole, specifically the U.S. Army being very strapped, that they will continue to pour all resources into the search for your son?

MAUPIN: I just hope that there's enough to do the job. I don't know, you know. I'm not aware of whatever's going on over there. But I know that there are specific units that are tasked with these missions.

WHITFIELD: When's the last time you heard from the military about the latest on the search for Sergeant Matt Maupin?

MAUPIN: Last Thursday. We had an update from - there's a general over in Iraq that we were talking with him through a VPC.

WHITFIELD: Can you tell me about how difficult it is for you and other family members so many miles away, while the search continues for your son and while many days go without any sort of answers about how things are going?

MAUPIN: Well, the only thing I can say, I think is what kept us going, is the support from the community. I mean, it's just been unbelievable. Even after three years, Matt's still - he's not forgotten.

And just have faith and believe in what they're doing.

WHITFIELD: Do you have any gut feelings about what happened?

MAUPIN: As far as - who?

WHITFIELD: As far as your son and his whereabouts over the last three years?

MAUPIN: Well, I have never given up hope. I mean, we've been - you know, sometimes they - just without any news, you know, you kind of get down in the dumps a little bit. But we've never given up hope, well, Matt's alive and that they will find him.

And we keep pushing issues that - you know, they're not going to leave him in Iraq like they did those guys in Vietnam.

WHITFIELD: And how are you and the rest of the family doing?

MAUPIN: We're tired. We're getting tired.

You know, I think the key thing is, to me is, you really try not to worry about Matt. You do, but there's just a level that you can't let yourself past, because if you do that, then you're going to worry yourself sick. And then by doing that, you know, you're not going to be any use to Matt when he comes, or the other soldiers when they come back, if you're sick.

You want to be strong, you want to be supportive and pray a lot.

WHITFIELD: Keith Maupin, thanks so much for your time. We continue to hope for the best for you and your family and for Sergeant Matt Maupin.

MAUPIN: Yes, ma'am. We appreciate it.

WHITFIELD: So, can anything stop the violence in Iraq?

U.S. leaders are hoping that talks with Iran just might make a difference. Details on that straight ahead.

And it was supposed to be a news channel that would get the American message out to the Middle East. We'll find out why so many in the U.S. are now upset with those in charge of Al-Hurra.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Micro bubbles are micro-sized bubbles of air, injected into the bloodstream for easy tracking by ultrasound.

DR. KATHERINE FERRARA, BIOMEDICAL ENGINEER, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-DAVIS: The question in, say, a heart attack is whether or not blood is reaching some particular area of the heart. And the echoes that come back from ultrasound from red blood cells are really tiny.

So, being able to put in something that's very different than the surrounding blood and gives you a very strong echo was something that was found to be very, very useful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, Dr. Ferrara and her team are able to attach radiation therapy for cancerous tumors to the surface of the bubbles. But they've yet to do testing in humans.

FERRARA: We use ultrasound as a - we would like the micro bubble to stop at some particular location. And then finally, we use a different set of ultrasound parameters to burst the micro bubbles at that particular site.

The hope is that it would be a substitute for surgery in some cases, or would provide much more effective local drug delivery.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without adversely affecting healthy tissues and organs.

(END VIDEO)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Half past the hour, and here's what's happening right now.

Firefighters battling blazes in several different parts of the country. They're preparing for changing weather conditions, as well. Gusty winds have crews making contingency plans for the Gunflint fire in Minnesota and the Bugaboo blaze along the Georgia-Florida state line.

Meanwhile, cooler conditions are actually helping in the fight against the Catalina Island wildfire in California.

And still no word on the plight of three U.S. soldiers missing since they were attacked yesterday morning while on patrol.

Some 4,000 troops are searching the area around Mahmoudiya, Iraq. A radical Islamist Web site says the three were taken by insurgents.

The U.S. and Iran - two enemies coming together in the name of Iraq. A rare face-to-face meeting between U.S. and Iranian officials is planned within weeks.

The talks will have one topic: Iraq's security.

CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano has more details now from Jamestown, Virginia, a town that got some presidential attention today.

(BEGIN VIDEO)

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, JAMESTOWN, VIRGINIA (voice-over): On a visit commemorating the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, America's first permanent English settlement, President Bush predicted democratic ideals would eventually prosper worldwide.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These values took root at Jamestown four centuries ago. They have flourished across our land, and one day they will flourish in every land.

QUIJANO: But in Iraq, getting democracy to take root amid the violence has proven daunting. And the effort complicated, the White House believes, by Iranian interference. Now more than four years into the war, President Bush is allowing top U.S. officials to sit down with their counterparts from Iran, a country he once labeled part of the Axis of Evil.

A White House spokesman says in the next few weeks, U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker will meet with the Iranians in Baghdad for talks limited to a single topic, Iraq. Said the spokesman, "This is not about the United States and Iran, this is about Iraq. This is about Iran playing a constructive policy role inside Iraq."

The U.S. wants Iran to use its influence with the Iraq's majority Shia population to forge political reconciliation and the U.S. wants Iran to stop sending bomb components into Iraq. But Republican senator and presidential hopeful, John McCain, has reservations. The U.S. could risk elevating Iran's international standing.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) AZ: Remember, this is the world's largest sponsor of terrorist -- state sponsor of terrorism. They're dedicated to the extinction of Israel. There are enormous difficulties but if there is something to be gained, OK.

QUIJANO: The Bush administration insists talks on Iraq not mean the U.S. is going soft on Iran over its nuclear ambitions. Vice President Dick Cheney tried to under underscore that message, just days ago with a blunt warning to Iran delivered from the deck of a U.S. carrier poised in the Persian Gulf.

DICK CHENEY, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: And we'll stand with others to prevent Iran from gaining nuclear weapons and dominating this region.

QUIJANO (on camera): As for the upcoming Baghdad meeting, U.S. official would not say which side initiated it. A White House spokesman would only say that it resulted from informal meetings during regional conferences over the last couple of months. Elaine Quijano, CNN, traveling with the president in Jamestown, Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Now, we want to hear from someone who has spent a lot of time in Iraq. CNN's Michael Holmes brings us "Month of Mayhem." Here's some of it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've got my name and blood type in Arabic and initial and I have it also on a piece of tape.

The soldiers still dog tags and the interesting things with soldiers, a lot of them will wear one dog tag around their neck and you will see one in the laces of their boots. And the reason for that is because of the bomb, you could have your head blown off or your leg blown off and well you've got a tag at either end.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A one-hour, very sobering special, "Month of Mayhem." You don't want to miss, it tonight at 8:00 Eastern.

Al-Hurrah, it's a U.S. based satellite television network. The U.S. government bankrolls it to win hearts and minds for America's policy in the Middle East.

Well, the network is being accused of betraying that mission. The U.S. State Department leadership is defending its direction, while acknowledging some mistakes. Here's CNN's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A network underwritten by U.S. taxpayers for $63 million a year. Set up to counterbalance the likes of al Jazeera, now accused of an outright double cross as it gave air time to anti-American views.

Critics say by airing an hour-plus speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, accused by the U.S. of heading a major terrorist group, al Hurrah isn't exactly cutting through anti-western propaganda in the Middle East.

JOEL MOWBRAY, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: By the five-minute mark, he told the people in the audience who were firing their guns in celebrations, not to waste their bullets. To save their bullets for where they belong. The chest of the enemy, the Israeli enemy.

TODD: Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, a de facto member of al Hurrah's board, has said this about the airing of Nasrallah's speech.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The new director fully admits it was a mistake.

TODD: Now some in Congress who control al Hurrah's purse strings are calling for Rice to investigate the networks practices and are threatening to withhold money if things do not change.

REP. STEVEN ROTHMAN, (D) APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: We should not be putting on terrorists who are advocating killing Americans on a U.S. taxpayer-funded television station.

TODD: Critics say al Hurra which means the free one in Arabic started to veer away from its mission last November with the hiring of Larry Register as news director. Register, a former CNN vice president of special projects, has according to his detractors focused coverage less on corruption and human rights abuses in the Middle East and more toward anti-American events like a Holocaust deniers conference in Tehran.

Register wouldn't comment. But State Department under-secretary Karen Hughes says Register's gotten rave reviews across the Middle East. The State Department spokesman says Register was brought in to fix previous problems with editorial content.

SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT: We believe he's actually done a pretty good job. A very good job.

TODD: In a statement, an al Hurrah spokeswoman admitted some errors under Register's leadership but said the network is committed to fairness and added, "Al Hurra is the only channel in the region that has programs dedicate the to the discussion of the rights of women and the human rights in the Arab world."

In the view of one analyst, the network's credibility depends on it airing all shades of opinion.

RIAD KAHWAHI, INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST AND GULF MIL. ANALYSIS: If you keep getting guests that represent only one side of the equation, then people would look at you suspiciously. But when you bring people that represent all views, then you would be taken more seriously.

TODD (on camera): But critics in congress and elsewhere say it's one thing to air a sound bite of someone like Hassan Nasrallah but quite another to air his entire speech with his anti-western rants and threats.

Some those critics want Larry Register to step down as news director. The network says it stands by him 100 percent. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And now, something in the Pacific Ocean is poisoning too many of California's wildlife. What can officials actually do about it? The search for answers straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: New pictures right now of what is believed to be a new fire that's been sparked in northern Florida, near Jacksonville. Officials believe that it stretches between 50 and 75 acres. And this is what they're really concerned about. While there is some forecast for some relief, unfortunately some rain also brings lightning strikes. And it's believed that this fire might have been sparked by lightning. More information as we get it there out of northern Florida.

And now to one of the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives now off the poster and in custody. Richard Steve Goldberg was collared in Canada. FBI officials say they got a tip from someone who saw Goldberg's picture on the bureau's Web site. Goldberg is wanted in California for allegedly having sexual contact with several girls under the age of 10. He's also wanted for producing child pornography. Goldberg has been on the run since 2001. A Canadian judge could clear the way for extradition back to the States tomorrow.

Hundreds of sea lions have been dying and washing up on the Southern California coast. Well, this has been going on for several years now. But this year is the worst on record. Marine biologists say a natural toxin in the ocean is to blame. And that is becoming more deadly. Kara Finnstrom has this story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, bud.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A baby seal with a sliced flipper.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's very down. FINNSTROM: San Pedro's Marine Mammal Care Center is used it treating everyday injuries like this one. Right now, the center is overwhelmed by an unusual surge of sick sea lions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go into these intermittent siezures. Full body convulsion. Their eyes will bulge. Their flippers will tremble.

FINNSTROM: The culprit? Domoic poisoning. It's caused by toxic algae that's tainting the food the sea lions eat. When the algae blooms, rescuers see this. Listless, seizing sea lions washing ashore.

DAVID BARD, MARINE MAMMAL CARE CENTER: We've seen it go from an unusual event into something that's recurring.

FINNSTROM: Scientists don't know yet why the toxin algae blooms are getting worse. It could be related to agricultural runoff, global warming, even a natural change. All veterinarians like Dr. Lauren Palmer can do is treat its victims.

DR. LAUREN PALMER, VETERINARIAN: The real concern, I think for us and for scientists is that in the long term, the prognosis may not be so good for these animals. They may suffer permanent brain damage.

PETER WALLESTEIN, WHALE RESCUE TEAM: Hello?

FINNSTROM: While we're there ...

WALLERSTEIN: This is Peter.

FINNSTROM: Another call comes in. Rescuer Peter Wallerstein heads to Manhattan Beach. High water toxin levels throughout Southern California's waters prompted health leaders to warn people about collecting and eating shellfish. Wildlife experts say sea birds and possibly other animals are being poisoned but sea lions are the big concern right now.

WALLERSTEIN: What we have here now is an 11-month-old Californian sea lion.

FINNSTROM: Wallerstein evaluates her.

WALLERSTEIN: Hi, baby.

FINNSTROM: And spots signs of possible domoic poisoning. He says this sea lion needs care.

WALLERSTEIN: Any healthy animal would either get up, respond, bolt back into the water, retreat in some way. They don't want people to get this close.

FINNSTROM (on camera): But as our cameras pull away, the rescuers have to as well. Because under federal regulations, this sea lion must remain on the beach for 48 hours before anyone can help it.

(voice-over): It's a temporary regulation, imposed because care centers are dangerously overcrowded. So as scientists keep look for answers to why this is happening, many of these animals will be left to fend for themselves. Kara Finnstrom for CNN, San Pedro, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And you could call this a long strange trip. A-year- old internal police investigation comes back to haunt the Dearborn, Michigan, police department. Local media reports say a police officer who admitted to confiscating marijuana and keeping it for himself was allowed to resign.

Well, now a city councilman demands to know why he wasn't prosecuted instead. Why is this incident getting so much attention now? It probably has to do something with a 911 call made more than a year ago from the officer's home. And that call was recently made public. Just listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: I think I'm having an overdose and so is my wife.

DISPATCHER: You and your wife?

SANCHEZ: Yes.

DISPATCHER: Overdose of what?

SANCHEZ: Marijuana. I don't know if it had something in it.

DISPATCHER: OK.

SANCHEZ: Can you please send rescue?

DISPATCHER: Do you guys have fever or anything?

SANCHEZ: No. I'm just - I think we're dying.

DISPATCHER: OK. How much did you guys have?

SANCHEZ: I don't know. We made brownies and I think we're dead. I really do.

DISPATCHER: OK. How much did you put in the brownies?

SANCHEZ: I don't know.

DISPATCHER: Was it a bag. Who made the brownies.

SANCHEZ: My wife and I did. Cuba, come here.

DISPATCHER: OK, get her.

SANCHEZ: She's on the living room ground right now.

DISPATCHER: Is she breathing. SANCHEZ: She's barely breathing.

DISPATCHER: Is she awake?

SANCHEZ: I think so. Yes.

DISPATCHER: Can you look?

SANCHEZ: Pardon?

DISPATCHER: Can you look?

SANCHEZ: Yeah. I can feel her. She's laying right down in front of me. Time is going by really, really, really, really slow. What's the score on the Red Wings game?

DISPATCHER: What?

SANCHEZ: What's the score on the Red Wings game?

DISPATCHER: I've got no clue. I don't watch the Red Wings.

SANCHEZ: OK. I just wanted to make sure this isn't some type of like hallucination that I'm having.

DISPATCHER: Why? What does the score say?

SANCHEZ: Three to three.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Can I preface this by saying this is a strange story?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: You're not dead but you're certainly stoned.

WHITFIELD: Or something.

SANCHEZ: Oh, my goodness. I don't think I have ever heard something quite so weird.

WHITFIELD: And we brought you just on the tail end of that just to get your reaction. Because I knew it would be fun.

SANCHEZ: Oh my goodness. Isn't that something!

WHITFIELD: Yeah, it's bizarre.

SANCHEZ: Wow.

WHITFIELD: Oh, well. Hey, what's ahead in THE NEWSROOM?

SANCHEZ: The Iraq story is huge. We're going to be all over that and really from a couple of different perspectives. I just had a conversation a little while ago with Peter Bergen. We're going to be doing that mostly tonight at 10:00. To get his take on wheter this actually is an al Qaeda group. He's got an interesting take about whether these three soldiers who appear to have been abducted, he says even if they were not abducted by Iraq - excuse me, by al Qaeda specifically, they probably would be in the hands of al Qaeda. Because they know they're a high-value target, so they immediately sell them to what would be the highest bidder, which in this case would be al Qaeda.

So that's not good news. And then of course we're also going to be talking to Michael Holmes about Iraq and the whole idea about what is a victory in Iraq? If you continue killing those who are there as fundamentalists, they then want to kill you. Or do you try to kill as many or all of them? It's a tough question.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, it is a tough question.

SANCHEZ: But it's the conversation that is being had in America at supper tables all over.

WHITFIELD: And Michael's observations have been pretty incredible and pretty diverse given he's been there eight times and with each visit, he says it's a different kind of Iraq. A different kind of problem.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, he knows Iraq. Through and through.

WHITFIELD: All right. We'll be watching. Thanks, Rick.

SANCHEZ: All right.

WHITFIELD: Well, this Mother's Day is one filled with a lot of anguish for England's Kate McCann. She's the mom of four-year-old Madeleine McCann who went missing 10 days ago on the family's vacation in Portugal. ITN's Geraint Vincent is there with the very latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERAINT VINCENT, ITN CORRESPONDENT: In her despair, Kate McCann is finding solace at church. She's here everyday. On her visit last week, she was supported by her friend Nicky. She was back if Britain today trying to keep up the profile of Madeleine's disappearance at the road race in Liverpool.

NICKY GILL, MCCANN FAMILY FRIEND: We've been through some really low times, the best of times. And yet they cry, they are human beings. And you come back (ph). And carry on, and carry on and we'll keep doing that until she comes home. Madeleine, you know, the television isn't on a lot. But when they do they say (inaudible). And I am sure going to keep doing that.

G. VINCENT (on camera): On the 10th day of this inquiry we're still trying to piece together clues about the direction that it's heading in. We've been told again today about how police have spent a lot of time trying to trace two people, a couple, who were seen behaving suspiciously on this beach. A couple of days before Madeleine went missing, it's two or three miles down the coast from where she was staying. Sallie Vincent lives a few minute's walk from that beach. She told me a visit that she had from detectives investigating Madeleine's disappearance.

SALLY VINCENT, HOTELIER: They had two suspects that they were looking for. It was a tall, German man, about 36. About 30, mid 30s. And a younger Polish woman. They thought she was Polish. And that they had been seen in several places in Begal (ph).

G. VINCENT (voice-over): Madeleine's parents took a walk down to their local beach this afternoon. Kate still clutching her missing daughter's favorite cuddly toy. Hoping the police investigation gives them more to hold on to. Geraint Vincent, ITV News, The Algarve.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, he was supposed to be an investment wiz, but police say he was here in like a wizard. Who made millions in making other people's money disappear. That story straight ahead in THE NEWSROOM.

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WHITFIELD: Get this, an economics professor in South Carolina built up quite a business investing other people's money. Well, he said he would beat wall street at its own game but now he claims to have amnesia. And angry investors say he better remember where he stashed their millions and fast. More from CNN's Susan Roesgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The city of Charleston is not used to scandal.

CAROLYN WASH-LAVENDER, INVESTOR: I got the paper. And I was in the kitchen by myself. And I just started screaming. My husband was still asleep and I was like, you're not going to believe this. You are not going to believe this.

ROESGEN: Carolyn Wash-Lavender can't believe that all of the money that she saved from her small beauty salon business may be gone.

Popular economics professor Al Parish who called himself Economan on his Web site, offered investment accounts in stocks and valuables like jewelry and art. The catch is, Parish was not licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has now charged him with fraud. And when he was arrested last month, investigators started to add it all up. At least $150 million unaccounted for.

(on camera): It isn't just locals who are afraid they've lost money. Nearly 600 investors trusted Al Parish all across the country.

(voice-over): Investors in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Atlanta, San Diego, but biggest loser may be the college where Professor Parish taught, Charleston Southern University, which invested $10 million.

DAVID DANTZLER, ATTORNEY: It is very much like a treasure hunt, at least so far as lawyers and receivers go.

ROESGEN: Atlanta attorney David Danceler is trying to find out what one person could do with so much money.

DANTZLER: It has been mind-boggling because the task has been overwhelming to kind of collect, secure, and then inventory and try to come up with a plan that realizes the fair value of these things. And that continues to be a work in process. We don't know all of the answers even now.

ROESGEN: So what happened to the money? Well, Al Parish could have had one heck of a garage sale. These are some of the items investigators found and carried away from the Al Parish mansion. Rare original sketches from Disney animated movies. And that's not all. Fancy pens, the finest from Mont Blanc. Parish had a passion for expensive watches too, and silver, but not just any silver. Parish bought antique silver made in the 1700s by master silversmith Paul Revere.

The question is, were these items investments or simply for Al Parish's private pleasure? Parish isn't talking because he says he has amnesia. Andy Savage is his lawyer.

Have you have asked him, where's the money?

ANDY SAVAGE, PARISH LAWYER: No, I have not.

ROESGEN: Why not?

PARISH: Because that medical problem that he's suffering if it is a genuine medical problem is not something that I want to interfere with. I have asked him if he's aware that he's been charged with these things that these allegations are made and he has a present day since of those charges. And he has very affirmatively said that he wants to do all that he can to cooperate to find out what happened.

ROESGEN: For now, the Economan is in jail, considered a flight risk leaving investors like Carolyn the beautician with official- looking paperwork for accounts they believe are worthless.

WASH-LAVENDER: I have nothing. Zero, zilch, nothing.

ROESGEN: You really believe that? You really believe that these are all ...

WASH-LAVENDER: Oh, they're all fake. They're all fake. Everybody's is fake. Everybody's is fake. None of this true. What he did was when he took everybody's money, he just went and spent it on himself.

ROESGEN: And at this point, federal investigators are afraid Carolyn might be right. They have not found any evidence that Al Parish stashed the money somewhere. They're afraid almost all of it has been spent. Susan Roesgen, CNN, Charleston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And here's an update on a worsening situation in Florida. Jacksonville firefighters now say the blaze I mentioned about 15 minutes ago, has now grown to 300 acres. It started out as just four acres. No injuries or structures have been threatened. But Florida highway patrol and Jacksonville, sheriff's officers have shut down a 10-mile stretch of I-95.

Now remember, I-95 is a highway that many motorists have been diverted to because of the closures on I-10 and I-75 because of the wildfires across the state. So this is the latest information out Jacksonville where now they're dealing with a sizable wildfire there. And now interrupting traffic on I-95.

Well, coming up next, a special Mother's Day story about an army mom who went off to war and came home with a huge obstacle to overcome.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And now an update on the growing wildfire problem in Florida. This time, a new fire that now is believed to be stretching about 300 acres which was sparked possibly by lightning. It is in the Jacksonville area and now apparently this fire is affecting traffic on I-95. In fact, a portion of I-95 has been closed off. Now remember, I-95 is the highway that many folks that were on I-75 had been diverted to. Now, troubles on I-95 as well because of the blowing smoke causing some real visibility problems for both firefighters as well as motorists in the area.

I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We'll have much more of this story and other top stories throughout the evening. And right after this break I'll be back with a look at the top stories.

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