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Nine South Carolina Firefighters Killed in Line of Duty; President Bush Meets With Israeli Prime Minister; Missing Pregnant Woman; "CNN Heroes"; Investigating Earmarks

Aired June 19, 2007 - 15:00   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 in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Kyra Phillips is off today.
We now know their names and that they gave more than 100 years of service, nine men from the City of Charleston Fire Department who courageously gave their lives in the line of duty, nine men now mourned by their families, their communities, and their fellow firefighters the world over.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. It is the top of the hour.

And we start with this. Nine South Carolina firefighters, we now know their names, and we certainly know their sacrifice. All nine were killed when they were -- when they rushed into a burning warehouse in Charleston. It is the single biggest loss of American firefighters in the line of duty since 9/11.

And our Brianna Keilar is on the scene for us -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And, Don, we now know more about these nine men. They came from a handful of companies from three different fire stations here in Charleston, and, among them, two captains, as well as one firefighter who had 32 years of service with this fire department underneath his belt. There were also two firefighters who were just 27 years old.

I spoke earlier with the chaplain who has been talking with the firefighter community, as well as the families of these men who have died. And he told me that, as expected, they leave behind many children, some small children, as well as their wives.

And President Bush and Laura Bush came out with a statement earlier, calling these men true heroes. And that really is how they're being remembered here in Charleston.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE RILEY, MAYOR OF CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA: It's what the men and women who put on the badge, they are in a profession where they go to danger. They don't flee from it. They go into burning buildings engulfed with -- with horrific flames and smoke. They go to save lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: And the next step here now for members of the firefighting community and for families who lost loved ones is to make burial plans. And we understand that that is already getting under way today -- Don.

LEMON: And let's talk about help, because, obviously, these families will need a lot of help, moral support, probably some financial support as well.

What's being done for the families, Brianna?

KEILAR: Well, they're getting both moral support and financial support -- no surprise. The firefighting community here is really tightly circling around them.

But there is also a fund that has already been started at this early time. This is a fund being -- being -- that Charleston County has taken on for these family members who have lost loved ones. They got a lot of calls from people who are wanting to do something, who are wanting to make some sort of monetary contribution. So, they started this fund today -- Don.

LEMON: All right, Brianna Keilar joining us from Charleston, South Carolina, we thank you very much for your report.

And many memorials to come in Charleston, but perhaps none as touching as this one, rescue workers standing at attention and saluting, as the bodies are their fallen comrades are carried out of the smoldering rubble.

How will they work up the courage to battle another disaster, after such a tragic reminder of the danger they faced?

That's a good question, and one we pose to Billy Goldfeder. He is a deputy fire chief in Ohio. He also chairs a safety survival section of the International Association of Fire Chiefs.

How do you go on after this, sir?

DEPUTY CHIEF BILLY GOLDFEDER, INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF FIRE CHIEFS: Well, you know, we kind of have a genetic makeup as firefighters. And we're focused on the mission.

And, clearly, it's going to be extremely tough for the members of the Charleston Fire Department to move forward. But they are moving forward. They have been answering calls since that fire last night, and will continue to do so.

LEMON: Yes. And, just a short while ago, there was a press conference held, where they revealed the names of the nine firefighters who died.

And one of the most touching moments was from Fire Chief Rusty Thomas. Didn't think he was going to make it through this press conference, just to give you an idea of the grief.

Let's take into listen -- take a listen to that, and then we will talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RUSSELL THOMAS, CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, FIRE DEPARTMENT: I can't say enough of these nine guys. These nine guys were my friends. I lost nine of my best friends.

But, to my people in the department, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you for coming out last night and today. We got a long road ahead of us, but we're going to stand tall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: What can you tell people about -- again, about what people are going through and what -- also what these firefighters faced when they were going in, obviously having no idea of the enormity of the fire -- maybe they did, but having no idea that this building would collapse around them?

GOLDFEDER: Well, when firefighters arrive on a scene, the first priority is to determine if there's any life issues.

And if there's people inside, the firefighters, we have an obligation, to do everything we can to go in and get them out. And that's clearly what the firefighters, the heroic firefighters, in Charleston did last night. They went in. They had to get them out. And that's their obligation. That's all our obligations, whether it be career paid firefighters or volunteer firefighters, to go in and remove people from the problem.

That's why nine firefighters died in Charleston last night, and that's why 343 firefighters died on 9/11.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

We want to get to the sprinkler issue in just a -- just a minute. But we talked about the loss of firefighters. And, really, they are like brothers, because they spend a whole lot of time together.

Speaking to every firefighter we have spoken to today, this is like, no matter where you are in the fire department, and even across the country, you feel this loss, as a firefighter.

GOLDFEDER: This is a local line-of-duty death. Every line-of- duty desk we experience in this country is local, whether in Shreveport, Louisiana; Loveland, Ohio; or Manhasset, New York. We feel this.

It's our brothers, our sisters -- in this case, all brothers -- who lose their lives. And it rips a piece of us out every time.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

During the press conference, as well, someone posed a question to the mayor, and also to the fire chief, about possible sprinklers. It appears, at this point, that there may not have been sprinklers in this building. The big question is, would that have helped here with the loss of life in this situation?

GOLDFEDER: Hindsight is always 20/20.

But -- however, generally, when a building is sprinklered, the sprinkler systems suppress the fire, and it enables not only the occupants to get out, but for -- when firefighters do arrive on the scene, it provides a much safer atmosphere for us.

It wasn't sprinklered last night. And interesting that you should ask about that, because, recently, the fire service nationally...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Was trying to get a bill passed...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: ... right?

Aren't they trying to get a bill passed to have...

GOLDFEDER: Yes. We have...

LEMON: ... to have sprinklers installed into every -- retrofitted as well?

GOLDFEDER: Yes. Yes. And -- exactly.

Well, we -- what we're pushing for, not -- now, this is a commercial building, obviously. But what we were focused on in this case was sprinklering all new single-family dwellings. And that's where we lose most of the lives of civilians and firefighters is in a house fire.

And, if we -- we were able to get this passed -- but, amazingly, the people that went up against us were folks from, like, the National Home Builders Association and -- and building officials and things like that, claiming that, if buildings have smoke detectors and heat detectors, that's enough.

Well, that's enough to get civilians out in most cases, but it still creates a fire problem for us when we arrive on the scene of a fire.

(CROSSTALK)

GOLDFEDER: I mean, in this case last night -- go ahead.

LEMON: Yes, absolutely. Also, though, 100 -- I think about 100 firefighters, on average, die a year in this.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: And it's hard to put a number on a life, but this is very expensive, to put sprinkler systems into every building. And, also, I'm not sure if the bill talks about retrofitting, but extremely expensive as well. What do you think the chances are with this?

GOLDFEDER: Well, we came pretty close this year.

And, quite frankly, my personal opinion is, the reason that the folks who fought us fought us is because there is a value in rebuilding burned-down homes. In other words, they are comfortable with the civilians getting out, but then they still have a house to rebuild. It's a billion-dollar business to rebuild burned-down homes.

So, if we're pushing hard for sprinkler systems, not only does it add a little bit of the cost to the initial cost of the home, but it also puts a significant building construction group out of business. And that's the folks who want to build burned-down homes, which is amazing to me...

LEMON: Yes.

GOLDFEDER: ... because they are losing not only memories; they're losing value. And this is -- this is what we're up against.

We came close this year.

LEMON: Mm-hmm.

GOLDFEDER: And we are far from done. We're going to win this issue of sprinklering all single-family dwellings, not necessarily retrofitting, although that would be wonderful...

(CROSSTALK)

GOLDFEDER: ... but at least all new ones.

LEMON: Yes.

GOLDFEDER: That really could have saved -- I'm convinced it would have saved their lives last night.

LEMON: Well, a lot of facets to this story.

Deputy Chief Billy Goldfeder, we appreciate you joining us. And we're sorry for the loss of the firefighters. It affects the entire firefighting community today. So, again, thank you for joining us.

GOLDFEDER: And we appreciate the focus you -- thanks for your focus and your support.

LEMON: All right.

Moving on now, they share a common vision and a common goal, ending the turmoil in the Middle East. President Bush met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the White House today. Both men say Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is the only true leader of the Palestinian people, despite factual -- or factional fighting, which split the Palestinian government.

Our Elaine Quijano is at the White House with the very latest on that for us -- Elaine.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Don.

Both President Bush and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel say that they are committed to seeing a two-state solution, not a three- state solution, to the Middle East crisis, one Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel peacefully.

Now, in the wake of Hamas' takeover of Gaza, President Bush said that the United States views Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, as the leader of the Palestinian people.

President Bush called President Abbas a voice for moderation among extremists.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We recognize the president of all the Palestinian people, and that's President Abu Mazen. He was elected. He's the president.

Secondly, we recognize that it was Hamas that attacked the unity government. They made a choice of violence. It was their decision that has caused there to be this current situation in the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUIJANO: So, the bottom line here, both leaders essentially saying that they will do what is necessary in order to bolster the emergency government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, while, at the same time, Don, taking steps to isolate Hamas -- Don.

LEMON: And, also, Elaine, some developing news today -- can you tell us about White House Budget Director Rob Portman resigning today? Tell us about that change.

QUIJANO: Yes.

This was announced by President Bush just a short time ago, last hour, in fact. Rob Portman, his budget chief, is leaving his position, to be replaced by Jim Nussle, former House budget chairman.

Now, that announcement, as I said, came last hour, in which President Bush praised Portman, but also said that Jim Nussle had the experience and the ability to do the job.

But, privately, Republicans say that Portman's departure is really a blow to the White House, because it's coming at a critical time for President Bush, in the midst of some very difficult budget battles on Capitol Hill with the Democratically-led Congress, of course -- Portman a former Republican congressman with close ties to Capitol Hill, but now set to depart with just 18 months left in President Bush's presidency -- Don.

LEMON: Elaine Quijano at the White House -- thank you for that report, Elaine.

A pregnant woman vanishes days before her due date. As Ohio police work to crack the case, we will talk with a criminologist about the clues left behind. That is coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And lawmakers spending your money, billions of dollars, on pet projects -- they promised to come clean and say who's spending how much on what. So, we called them on it, literally, each and every one of them. And our Drew Griffin "Keeping Them Honest" straight ahead -- right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Coming up on 15 past the hour, here are three of the stories we're working on for you here right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A South Carolina coroner has identified the nine firefighters killed in a warehouse blaze in Charleston. President Bush has issued a statement calling them true heroes who selflessly gave their own lives.

Right now, U.S. and Iraqi forces are on the attack around Baquba, an insurgent stronghold north of Baghdad, the target, al Qaeda militants. The U.S. military says at least 22 enemy fighters have already been killed.

A grim search is under way in northern Texas, where five people are still missing after a flash flood in Gainesville. They include a 2-year-old girl. Five other people are confirmed dead from the floodwaters which swamped several Texas towns.

Let's get an update on the weather now, because other areas are expecting a soaking today, but nothing like yesterday, right, Jacqui?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes.

You know, we're going to see some flooding, I think, flash flooding, but mostly urbanized flash flooding, and not expecting to see the 10 to 12 inches of rain that they had in Texas yesterday.

But that same upper-level disturbance, combined with a cold front, is kind of enhancing conditions here across the Deep South, where we're actually really happy to see some of this rain.

There, you can still see a severe thunderstorm watch in effect across central Mississippi. And I want to point out the shape of that line of thunderstorms there that's diving down to the south. You see how it kind of bows out there a little bit? That's what we call a bow echo, and it's indicative of some strong, damaging winds.

And we also have some reports around Thomastown and Singleton -- these are north and east of Jackson -- of a lot of trees down because of those strong and damaging winds.

Now, the rain has been coming down pretty heavy across parts of central Alabama, a lot of lightning associated with these downpours, too. We could see as much as one to two inches per hour with the heaviest thunderstorms. Atlanta sure could use the rain. And look at that. It's starting to come on into the area, a live picture out of the ATL right now.

You can see how -- not a live picture, a taped picture, but this was taken barely like three minutes ago, I believe.

(LAUGHTER)

JERAS: There, you can see the capitol dome, the connector downtown, overcast conditions. There are delays at Atlanta's Jackson- Hartsfield-Airport, ground stop until 4:00 right now, with general 30- minute delays expected after that.

How badly do we need the rain here across the Southeast? Well, here's some rainfall deficits to point it out for you. Atlanta, you're down more than a foot since January, more than 15 inches in Birmingham. Look at that, almost 20 inches in Vicksburg, Mississippi, and 16.5 inches down in Tallahassee.

So, the rain, certainly happy to see it. How much are we going to get? Well, in the next 24 to 48 hours, we're expecting to see two to three inches in this whole gold area, so really widespread here, and, locally, heavier amounts possible in southern Georgia and northern Florida.

Somebody could see up to six inches of rain. Well, that rain is going to have to bring the temperatures down and clean out the air a little bit, the heat index just downright oppressive today.

Raleigh-Durham, you're under an air stagnation advisory. You're topping out around 97 this afternoon. Check out Washington, D.C., at this hour; 102 degrees, that's the temperature your body feels. You don't want to be outside for a long period of time. Today's not the day to go for a jog after work.

Across the Northeast, we have got some severe thunderstorms which have just been developing, large hail and damaging wind from, say, Columbus up towards Cleveland and the Syracuse area.

And a new watch has just been issued from about Charleston, extending over to the Washington, D.C., area. So, you want to stay inside when those warnings go off.

And, of course, when you see thunderstorms over the big airports, yes, you know it means delays. In addition to Atlanta that I mentioned, we have delays in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Toronto, New York City, at JFK and Washington Dulles Airport. And those departure delays are on the rise, unfortunately.

LEMON: Oh, just like the temperatures. When you were saying...

JERAS: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: Yes, I was shaking my head, answering you, like, how much rain are we going to get? How hot is it? Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: And, sadly, we want to talk about those folks in Gainesville, that storm that went through, really devastating.

And, Jacqui, thank you so much.

But, if folks would like to help out, of course, the Red Cross is always helping out. And here's how you can go online to www.redcross.org, or you can call 1-800-REDCROSS -- that's 1-800-733- 2767 -- if you want to help the flood victims there in Texas.

A pregnant Ohio mother missing almost a week now, does her 2- year-old son hold a vital clue to her disappearance? A closer look -- straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Tiger Woods, you know that name. He lost the U.S. Open, but what a way to get over the pain.

Woods' wife, Elin, gave birth yesterday to their first child, a daughter named Sam Alexis Woods.

Welcome to the world, Sam.

Both are doing very well. Dad is doing OK, too. He says he's going to have -- have to keep his golf schedule flexible now. The next major, British Open, starts July 19.

I hope he's stocked up on his sleep, because he sure won't be getting much in the time to come.

Usually, when companies offer great deals, they promote them all over the place. So, why is it that AT&T is keeping quiet about its latest Internet plan?

Jennifer Lewis-Hall, with the regal name, again...

(LAUGHTER)

LEMON: ... joins us now from the New York Stock Exchange with some answers on that.

Why would you keep that quiet, especially when you're a communications company?

JENNIFER LEWIS-HALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well...

LEMON: Don't you want everybody to know?

LEWIS-HALL: You know, sometimes you have to read the fine print, Don.

LEMON: Oh, yes. LEWIS-HALL: You know how it goes.

AT&T is offering DSL service for $10 a month. Get that? The plan was introduced over the weekend, but AT&T is keeping relatively quiet, keeping mum about it. The company's $14- and $19.95-a-month plan are featured prominently on its Web site, but you have to scroll all the way down and click on a link for term contract plans to find this deal.

So, why so little fanfare, you could say? It could be that AT&T is not too excited about having to offer the plan in the first place. The deal was actually one of the concessions the company had to make to get approval of its $86 billion acquisition of BellSouth last year, Don.

So, that's the answer why.

LEMON: So, there you go. They had -- I was going to say, 10 bucks, man, that's cheap.

LEWIS-HALL: I know, too good to be true.

LEMON: Is it available to everybody?

LEWIS-HALL: Well, unfortunately, no. The deal is only available to customers in the 22 states AT&T serves, and to people who have never had AT&T or BellSouth high-speed Internet service.

Now, there are, of course, some other stipulations, too. The deal does require a one-year contract for broadband. The customers must also sign up for some local phone service, costing about $25 a month total.

Now, turning to the markets, it has been a quiet day here on Wall Street. Investors are considering some mixed news on the nation's housing market, along with a dim forecast from electronics retailer Best Buy -- that company's shares falling nearly 6 percent.

Stocks, overall, however, are mixed on the session here late in the day, with the -- now just edging a bit higher, but trading in a very narrow range all session.

Now, we will find out how stocks can pull together near the finish when I return for the closing bell.

For now, Don, that's back to you.

LEMON: All right. And it's going to happen just over 30 minutes from now. We will forward to that.

LEWIS-HALL: OK.

LEMON: We will see you, Jennifer Lewis-Hall, in just a bit. Thanks so much.

Lawmakers spending your money, billions of dollars on pet projects, they promised to come clean and say who's spending how much on what. So, of course, we called them on it, literally, each and every one of them. Well, we didn't. Drew Griffin did. Or maybe some interns did it for him.

We're "Keeping" -- "Keeping Them Honest" -- coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. My partner, Kyra Phillips, is off today.

A mysterious disappearance, and plenty of ominous clues, including a toddler's repeated phrase, "Mommy is in the rug" -- we will get a criminologist's take on the case of Jessie Davis, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

With no suspects and few clues reported, it's slow going in the search for a missing pregnant woman in Ohio. Jessie Davis hasn't been heard from in almost a week -- the last person who saw her, Jessie 2- year-old son, Blake.

Joining us now to talk about this case is criminologist Larry Kobilinsky. He's a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.

A 2-year-old may be the only witness here. How credible is that? And can this -- can a 2-year-old help out?

DR. LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST, JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE: I think, Don, that a 2-year-old can help out.

But -- but, you know, you need specialists that know how to talk to the child. If the child saw something traumatic, it's going to be difficult to get additional information from him.

But he's already been very helpful, indicating that there's an explanation of "Mommy broke the table." There was some sort of struggle. "Mommy was in a rug." There is no rug that we know of.

This sounds like it could have been a premeditated action, especially -- we are now hearing that bleach had been poured...

LEMON: Right.

KOBILINSKY: ... on a section of carpet.

LEMON: Yes, and we want to talk about that. "Mommy's in the rug. Mommy broke the table." That's part of the scene.

And we heard from the mother of Jessie Davis, and the grandmother of the little boy yesterday saying, well, that's because he didn't know the name, he couldn't say "comforter". He could only say rug in all of this.

KOBLINSKY: Yes. LEMON: Do you think that's so, or do you think, you know, mommy was in the rug?

KOBLINSKY: Well, it's possible that mommy was in the comforter, but what's more significant is that there's bleach all over the floor. Bleach is not something one keeps in a bedroom.

LEMON: What does that indicate to you, as a criminologist, that you saw -- that there's bleach there?

KOBLINSKY: Well, I think there's general knowledge that bleach is used to destroy bloodstains. It can destroy DNA. In other words, it can destroy evidence. So, if there was somebody that came in to abduct her and her child, bleach would have been a reasonable approach.

LEMON: So that is sort of a red flag to you, a dead giveaway that there's something wrong. And I don't want to put words in your mouth, but a possible cover-up?

KOBLINSKY: I think "cover-up" is the wrong word.

LEMON: I'm sorry. Cleanup, I should say.

KOBLINSKY: A cleanup.

LEMON: Yes.

KOBLINSKY: I think that's correct.

LEMON: What about also the bedroom in disarray? We heard also from investigators yesterday that lamps were turned over and the bedroom was in disarray. What do you know about this? And what might this be an indication of? A sign of a struggle?

KOBLINSKY: Well, absolutely. There's -- there is clearly the sign of a struggle here, a sign of somebody else in that room who brought the bleach in. I'm thinking that there may be blood involved because bleach is used to destroy blood.

I keep thinking about motive. What's the motive here? I think the police are asking that. And I think there is a possibility, given the fact that she was pregnant, nine months pregnant, expecting in a couple of weeks, that this could have been an attempted fetal abduction by a caesarian.

LEMON: Let's get -- let's get back to the little 2-year-old, Blake, in all of this, and whether or not he's a credible witness. And you said, and I sort of want to challenge you on this, you said you have to know how to talk to child. What do you as someone who is a criminologist, how do you go in and what do you say to 2-year-old Blake when you're trying to get the information from him?

KOBLINSKY: Well, if the child has been traumatized, it becomes much more difficult. But the child is talking. That's a very good sign. And one has to be very careful about leading the child by asking the wrong questions.

You'll get the wrong answers. I think it's got to be explored a little further. Was mommy with another woman? Was mommy -- was there a man in the room? What kind of activity took place?

I mean, those are the kind of things, I think, he could answer yes or no.

LEMON: OK. So let's talk about this. Not a suspect in this case, according to police. But they did search the home of the child's (sic) baby, the 2-year-old, and also the man who is believed to be the father of the unborn child.

What does that say to us, sir?

KOBLINSKY: Well, you know, clearly there are no suspects. There are no people of interest. Clearly, that the first thing the police would do is check out people that she knew.

We know that there was no break-in into the home. So obviously you're going to look for people that she -- she knew or had intimate contact with. So you would necessarily look to her boyfriend.

LEMON: Yes.

KOBLINSKY: I think that's a reasonable thing.

LEMON: And just real quick, because the question was posed -- the only reason I ask, because the question has been posed to the mother yesterday about, usually in situations like this, and correct me if I'm wrong, it's usually someone you know. At least that's what history has shown us.

The mother said we are not -- we can't even think that at this point. We can't wrap our minds around that.

KOBLINSKY: Yes.

LEMON: What do you say to that?

KOBLINSKY: I don't think it's necessarily somebody that she knows well. This could be somebody that has seen her, had some words with her, knew that she was expecting, and was after that child. I think that is the most likely explanation at this point.

LEMON: All right. Larry Koblinsky, criminologist at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

We thank you so much for joining us in the CNN NEWSROOM today.

KOBLINSKY: A pleasure.

LEMON: And you can catch more on the disappearance of Jessie Davis tonight on "AC 360". Larry Koblinsky will talk with Anderson Cooper more about the investigation starting at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

Now back to our top story today.

They live to help others, but all too often they sacrifice their own lives in the process. Nine firefighters killed when they rushed into a burning furniture warehouse store in Charleston, South Carolina. A coroner has identified all nine of the fallen firefighters. They were all from the City of Charleston Fire Department.

Now, this is the worse loss of U.S. firefighters in the line of duty since 9/11. That's according to the Web site firehouse.com.

The cause of the blaze is being investigated, and there is no initial indications of arson. Also, President Bush has issued a statement calling the firefighters true heroes who selflessly gave their lives.

And for the Charleston City fire chief, the loss is staggering, and not just because he lost some of his finest and bravest firefighters. Here's what he had to say just a short time ago about them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RUSSELL THOMAS, CHARLESTON FIRE DEPT.: We lost over 100 years of service to the city of Charleston Fire Department on this paper. Over 100 years of dedicated service.

To the families, you gave them to us. We -- we protected them as much as we could. They did exactly what they were trained to do.

I can't say enough for these nine guys. These nine guys were my friends. I lost nine of my best friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: And despite the devastating loss, Chief Thomas vows that the city of Charleston will stand tall.

Would you like to know how members of Congress are spending your money? Well, you might have a tough time finding out. CNN has made phone calls to every member of the United States House of Representatives. That's 435 calls.

It got a lot of attention on the Hill. Our sources say an e-mail even circulated warning that CNN was asking questions. That's because the questions were about your money, your tax dollars, and the pet projects members of Congress like to spend it on.

CNN's Drew Griffin is keeping them honest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Earmarks, those pesky pork barrel projects members of Congress quietly slip into massive spending bills. Before they came to power Democrats vowed to fix the broken earmark process. They promised complete transparency, no secret spending, no backroom deals.

REP. DAVID OBEY, (D) HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS CHAIRMAN: I'm now trying and so it our leadership to reduce earmarks by at least 50 percent.

GRIFFIN: So has anything changed? "Keeping Them Honest" we put our intrepid CNN interns on the case. They called the offices of every single member of Congress asking just one question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm calling with CNN, and I'm trying to see if we can get a copy of the congressman's earmark request for this year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was calling because we're trying to obtain a copy of the congressman's earmark requests for the 2007 budget.

GRIFFIN: What they found wasn't exactly a show of complete transparency.

RACHEL REYNOLD, CNN INTERN: At first I got quite a few yeses and so I got excited and oh, yeah, Congress is being nice to me and they said they would e-mail back or call back and by the end of the day I had nothing.

GRIFFIN: Here are the results. After three days of actually calling each and every House offers, 31 members of Congress, just 31, send us their earmark requests. Sixty-seven flat out refused and seven told us they did not request any earmarks, but the majority, 330 never responded. Some we called were downright hostile.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was really mean about it though.

GRIFFIN: Not even letting us finish the question, like an aide to New York Democrat Charles Rangel.

TODD SCHWARZCHILD, CNN ASSOCIATE PRODUCER: When I called Congressman Rangel's office I got one of his press aides who before I could even answer the question said, no, I know what you're going to ask me no, and he said good day and then hung up on me.

GRIFFIN: Word of our requests apparently traveled fast in the halls of Congress.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I called and asked for the earmark requests he was like no, and he was like just like no one else is going to give it to you. I knew about you. I heard about you. I was waiting for you to call me.

GRIFFIN: "As long as we're not required to release them, we're not going to," said an aide to Louisiana Republican Jim McCrery.

But some didn't need our prompting. Maverick freshman Democrat Nancy Boyda, New York Democrat Kirsten Gillebrand and Republican John Campbell of California all had already had posted their earmark requests on their Web pages. Last week Speaker Nancy Pelosi hailed a new open earmark process saying finally the American people will know where their money is going, and then she said this.

REP. NANCY PELOSI, (D) HOUSE SPEAKER: If I just might direct the record to another place, why don't we just leave this room today forgetting the word earmark? This is legislatively directed spending as opposed to executive spending.

GRIFFIN: And Ms. Pelosi, for the record, a member of your staff told us you would not reveal your "legislatively directed spending requests."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: The man who put those interns to work and had everybody on the Hill saying, hey, CNN is asking questions, Drew Griffin, he joins us now from Chicago.

The story first aired last night on "AC 360," an amazing story. I imagine the reaction to it has -- I don't know what's it been. I know it's been a lot though.

Tell us about it, Drew.

GRIFFIN: Well, a lot of people checking our Web site, where we have all these earmarks and who said what to our interns listed there, Don. But we did get quite a few calls from Congress, people that were mad at us, a couple of them who said, we did want to send you our earmark requests but we couldn't. We added them to our poll survey, just about four of them.

But again, the majority just didn't even bother to respond to our poor little interns, who were as sweet as possible.

LEMON: Well, Drew, what do you mean? They didn't know how to get in touch with CNN?

GRIFFIN: I'm just passing on what they are telling us. I mean, everybody seems to get in touch with me when they want to complain. It's pretty quick.

LEMON: Absolutely. So you've been researching these earmarks. So give us some example of these pork projects that lawmakers are asking for here.

GRIFFIN: You know, Don, it's been very interesting, because of the 31 and now 32 or 33, I think, that we have now, we are getting at CNN pretty much a better list than just about anybody has of these earmarks. And some are decent looking. Some are quite questionable.

We reported last night that seven congressmen want to give the Air Force 10 more of these C-17 cargo tankers than the Air Force wants. That's $2.4 billion worth of planes that the Air Force flat- out says it does not need and hasn't needed now for three years. That was a biggie.

There's also in the works, believe it or not, another Alaskan bridge to nowhere is in the pipeline. And out in Billings, Montana, $1.5 million for a minor league ballpark.

So, we're beginning to see a lot of the details behind these earmarks that, quite frankly, members of Congress have wanted to keep quiet as long as possible, until they actually get that money set aside for their pet projects.

LEMON: All right, Drew. Real quick, no scheduled follow-up to this that we can watch on "AC 360," but I'm sure you'll be watching it.

GRIFFIN: Yes, we're going to be following up with this most likely next week as we get more details. And certainly anybody that wants to follow along with the -- with the Web site can check out how their congressman responded to those sweet interns -- Don.

LEMON: All right. Drew Griffin, keeping them honest.

Thank you so much for that report, sir.

Still waiting in vein for that passport you applied for months ago? Well, lawmakers want to know, what's up with the logjam?

We'll have all the details for you straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Developing news in to CNN about Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

Let's go to the newsroom. CNN's T.J. Holmes working on that for us.

What do you have, T.J.?

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Don.

Scooter Libby does not want to go to jail. And he is asking right now for an appeals court to look into possibly letting him stay out of jail while he appeals his conviction.

Of course, it was just last week that one judge denied his request to stay out of prison. They are now appealing that decision.

He, of course, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for obstruction of justice and perjury in connection with that investigation into who leaked the name of a CIA operative. He requested last week of a judge to allow him to stay out of prison while he appealed his conviction.

Now, that judge wasn't buying it, and his argument -- or Scooter Libby's argument is that he has a pretty good chance of winning on appeal on several issues and, therefore, shouldn't have to go to prison while that appeals process takes place. That judge said, no, but his attorneys have quickly now appealed. So, still trying to keep him out of jail while he tries to appeal the actual conviction. So, we'll see how this plays out.

They are asking for this to be expedited and for this to be taken care of pretty quickly. So we might get a decision from a three-judge panel on his appeal fairly quickly and see if he does, in fact, have to report to prison or not while still his appeal for the conviction still takes place.

And again, if the appeal here to stay out of prison is also denied, he might have to report to prison within the next several weeks and start serving that two and a half years, Don.

So Scooter Libby -- Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial and case still goes on, and he's trying to stay out of prison.

LEMON: And so what you're saying is stay tuned.

HOLMES: Yes.

LEMON: All right. T.J., thank you very much.

HOLMES: All right.

LEMON: What makes someone a hero? Well, all this year, CNN is answering that question by introducing you to some incredible people who are making a difference in their communities where they live. And in this case, tonight's CNN Hero, the entire world.

Today, we want you to meet a man from Rwanda who is fighting to protect the global population of the rare mountain gorilla.

Eugene Rutagarama is today's CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can start off anywhere.

EUGENE RUTAGARAMA, CNN HERO: When you approach a group of gorillas, the first feeling that you are approaching a relative, a human being...

In this vision we have been able to bring conservationists from the three governments together to sign an agreement to protect these mountain gorillas. Having rangers to cover the park with their patrol means that we keep the poaching at the very lowest level. But the poaching is still there.

My name is Eugene Rutagarama. My work is to protect mountain gorillas in their habitat.

When I came back from Burundi, when Rwanda was devastated by the genocide, you would see the bodies of dead people. Thousands of people. The whole country had to resume from the scratch.

My attention went to the national parks. If these parks were not protected, it means that we have lost the mountain gorillas, which is a hobby for many tourists. It brings foreign currency to this country which helps to conserve this park.

Gorillas can't really do much if a human being has decided to decimate or to kill the gorillas. They need to be defended, they need to be protected by human beings.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And there is much more about Eugene Rutagarama and his efforts on our Web site, where you can also nominate your hero for special recognition later this year. All the details are at cnn.com/heroes.

The CNN NEWSROOM continues after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: A day of mourning in Cuba. A tearful Raul Castro among the thousands paying respects to his late wife, Vilma Espin. She was 77 when she died yesterday.

Espin served as first lady of the Cuban revolution for decades after her brother-in-law, Fidel Castro, divorced. No state funeral is planned, as per her wishes. Her ashes will be placed in a mausoleum in the mountains alongside the remains of other rebel fighters.

If you want a passport, you've got to have some patience. Lots of patience, as a matter of fact.

Passport requests have been piling up for the federal government, and people have been getting them later rather than sooner. The State Department Web site says it can take up to 12 weeks to get one. That's a long time.

Today the Senate opened hearings about the backlog, and the State Department has processed more than 10 million passports so far this year. That's 33 percent ahead of last year's totals.

Democrat candidates for president speaking today before several thousand liberal activists at a Take Back America rally in D.C. Earlier in the CNN NEWSROOM we heard Governor Bill Richardson pound some of his opponents for their vote on an Iraq timeline.

Senator Barack Obama loudly proclaimed that it's "time to turn the page in Iraq."

Former senator John Edwards also spoke. He said that ending the war is just part of a long to-do list for the next president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Is it finally time for us to have a president of the United States that will be honest with the American people?

(APPLAUSE)

It costs money to have universal health care. I will be the first to say it. My plan costs $90 billion to $120 billion a year. It's not cheap. But I pay for it by getting rid of Bush's tax cuts for people who make over $200,000 a year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Senator Hillary Clinton addresses a conference tomorrow. Last year the same audience booed her for her refusal to vote for a date to pull U.S. troops out of Iraq.

And back now to our top story of the day.

We now their names, but we'll always call them heroes. It's been an emotional day in South Carolina, in Charleston, to be exact, where nine firefighters were killed in a raging warehouse fire. It is the single biggest loss of American firefighters since 9/11, and now we want to remember all nine of the fallen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Oh, it's getting close. The closing bell is about to ring on Wall Street.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

LEMON: Now let's send it to "THE SITUATION ROOM". And at the helm today, CNN's John King.

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