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American Morning

Lake Tahoe Fire; Murdered Ohio Mother; Who Are The Suspects?; Manitoba Tornadoes; World's Ugliest Dog

Aired June 25, 2007 - 06:00   ET

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

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Wildfires roaring in Lake Tahoe right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wind just pumped up a bunch of ash and started a bunch of spot fires.

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CHETRY: Dozens of homes destroyed overnight and hundreds more could go this morning.

Plus, new clues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Said that there was more bleach in this house than they've ever seen anywhere.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: A new search and a new arrest in the murder of nine months pregnant Jessie Davis. A closer look at her accused killer and the woman police say helped him on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good Monday morning to you. Thanks for being with us. It's June 25th. I'm Kiran Chetry.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for John Roberts.

CHETRY: Good to see you, Rob.

MARCIANO: Nice to be here.

CHETRY: And we start with breaking news out of Lake Tahoe, California.

A wildfire raging out of control at this hour. There are hundreds of firefighters on the fire line right now and they are battling against high winds that are pushing the flames into a neighborhood south of the lake. About 1,000 people have been forced to leave their homes, more than 165 homes and structures burned. Right now, the race is on to save at least 500 more homes in the fire's path. Our Ted Rowlands is on the phone from Lake Tahoe. Ted, bring us up-to-date on the situation.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, this has been a devastating fire for people out here who have lost their homes. As you mentioned, 165 homes and buildings lost, 200 acres scorched. And it is, by no means, even close to being over yet.

The fire has laid down a bit overnight here. But as soon as the sun comes up, it is expected to be raging again. Because of high winds and a ver, very difficult dense smoke, it was a very difficult fire to fight.

They could not fly as much as they wanted to yesterday afternoon. That's when they lost most of the homes. People were literally fleeing their homes on foot. A lot of people also in their vehicles, trying to get out, as they were being evacuated, grabbing what they could and many of those people are going to come back to find absolutely nothing left. Homes just completely destroyed.

Firefighters say this is the worst they've ever seen in these parts. It's something they have feared, especially over this past winter. Because of the lack of snowfall and rain in this area, it is tender dry and firefighters are going to have their work cut out for them, hoping mother nature will help them today with lower winds.

But at this point, they're calling in the cavalry. There are firefighters from around the region pouring into this area. Resources pouring in and they're going to start fighting at earnest at first light.

CHETRY: And you said that it's one of the worst they've seen. Do they know what may have caused it?

ROWLANDS: They don't. They're hesitant to say. They do believe, though, that the first folks on scene, say said that they believe it is human cause. That, you know, that is a large range there from a spark off a vehicle in that one end spectrum and arson on the other. At this point, still under investigation, but they believe, because there was no lightening in the area, that it was a human cause fire. Hopefully not arson.

CHETRY: Wow. And because of the terrain, the trees and, as you said, just how dry it's been, it is going to be a difficult fight for them.

Ted Rowlands, we'll checking in with you in about 30 minutes. Thanks so much.

Right now we bring in severe weather expert Chad Myers with more on the conditions and what they can expect today as they try to get these flames under control.

Hi, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT) MARCIANO: Now to developments in Ohio and the two people in custody in connection to the murder of a pregnant woman. Today, Bobby Cutts Junior and Myisha Ferrell will appear in court. Cutts is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Jessie Davis, and her unborn baby. Her body was discovered over the weekend in a national park. Ferrell is Cutts' high school classmate and faces obstruction charges of justice. CNN's Jim Acosta is live in Canton.

Jim, what are police saying this morning about this second arrest now?

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rob, both Cutts and his associate, Myisha Ferrell, are scheduled to appear in court later today. Word of Ferrell's arrested came late in the day yesterday after her home was searched.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA, (voice over): The arrests came less than one day after authorities smashed their way into the home of 29-year-old Myisha Ferrell. But investigators are so far revealing little about her involvement in the disappearance of Jessie Davis, the pregnant mother whose body was found on Saturday just outside a national park north of Canton.

CHIEF DEPUTY RICK PEREZ, STARK COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Myisha Lynne Ferrell is charged with obstructing deputies and agents in the investigation into the disappearance of Jessie Davis.

ACOSTA: Justin Linstrum (ph), who lives above Myisha Ferrell's apartment, says investigators were on the look-out for a comforter.

JUSTIN LINSTRUM: While they were here the sheriffs were specifically asking about the comforter they found in my laundry in the basement. I mean it was my comforter and all. But at the same time, you know, it doesn't take a genius to put that together.

ACOSTA: A comforter disappeared from Davis' home at the same time the pregnant mother vanished more than a week ago. Linstrum says investigators also appeared to be hunting for a source of bleach found all over the crime scene.

LINSTRUM: I could hear them talking about a lot of bleach that they had found. Said there was more bleach in this house than they had ever seen anywhere.

ACOSTA: Investigators entered Ferrell's home just hours after authorities charged Davis' ex-boyfriend, Bobby Cutts Junior, a police officer, with two counts of murder. A source close to the search told CNN, Cutts directed investigators to the location of the body.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: And the big question remaining in this case is just how Jesse died. No word yet on when the local medical examiner will be able to release those findings. Rob.

MARCIANO: Jim Acosta live for us in Canton, Ohio.

Thanks, Jim.

CHETRY: So what do we know about Bobby Cutts and his friend, Myisha Ferrell, and their past? Well, joining us with that part of the story is AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho.

And first, this suspect -- well, he's going to be charged today, Bobby Cutts. He has a checkered past.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He absolutely does. You know, and remember, Kiran, Bobby Cutts is not only a suspect in a double murder case, he's also a police officer. He has been with the Canton Police Department for more than six years, joined in 200. Thirty-year-old Cutts fathered a two-year-old son with Jessie Davis. And authorities believe he's the father of Davis' unborn child. Now he's charged with two counts of murder in this case and he will make a court appearance later today.

Now Cutts has also fathered two other children with two previous relationship. He carried on with Davis even as he was married to another woman. Cutts has said his wife knew about the relationship and that they were considering getting a divorce. Last week, Cutts denied involvement in Davis' disappearance to a local newspaper reporter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD PORTER, REPORTER: Bobby, did you have anything at all to do with the disappearance of Jessie?

BOBBY CUTTS, JR.: No, I didn't.

PORTER: Have authorities given you any indication if you're a suspect?

CUTTS: I mean, they continue to say that I'm not a suspect, but, I mean, I would be dumb and naive to think that they weren't treating me as a suspect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Now this is not Cutts' first brush with the law. He pleaded no contest to trespassing back in 1998 after he forced his way into the home of a former girlfriend with whom he has a daughter. He was also fired from his job at the police department in 2003 after he gave a gun to a family member who had a criminal record. He was later reinstated with back pay.

According to the "Akron Beacon Journal," the minister who performed his wedding ceremony called Cutts loving, compassionate and caring. Cutts has called himself a happy person. One of the silliest guys in the world. And says this, Kiran, has been a nightmare for him.

CHETRY: And there are other questions as well surrounding his supposed high school friend, Myisha Ferrell. She's facing possibly some charges as well. What's going on with her?

CHO: Obstruction of justice. Authorities went into her apartment over the weekend and recovered, among other things, bleach, garbage bags and duct tape. She is absolutely, according to a local reporter, suspected of aiding and removing the body, hiding the body. She and Cutts go way back. They were high school classmates and she worked until Friday, until she quit, at a local restaurant. And the manager said that Cutts, at one point, was a dishwasher there. And now she, of course, is an accomplice in this case. Alleged accomplice.

CHETRY: And any talk in Canton as to whether or not they had a relationship as well? Because it seems like he had many. I mean, he was still married.

CHO: I did think of that as well. It's an obvious question, right. But I've seen no reports suggesting that that was the case.

CHETRY: Alina, thank you.

CHO: My pleasure.

MARCIANO: Breaking news now out of Iraq. A major explosion at the Mansour Hotel in Baghdad. A bomb destroyed the lobby within the last couple of hours, killing seven people. These are the newest pictures from the scene. The Mansour Hotel is home to the Chinese embassy in Baghdad.

And we're also following breaking news from Iran. A surprise twist in the country's nuclear program. Within the hour, Iranian officials invited inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to Tehran. The country saying it wants to clear up suspicions over the nuclear program. And Iran has long insisted the program is for peaceful purposes and not for making weapons.

And the British government overnight condemned a new video of a BBC correspondent who's been held hostage in Gaza since March. The video appeared on the Internet last night showing Alan Johnston wearing what appears to be an explosive belt.

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ALAN JOHNSTON, BBC REPORTER: Captors tell me very promising negotiations were ruined when that Hamas movements and the British government decided to press for a military solution to this kidnapping and the situation is now very serious.

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MARCIANO: Johnston says his captors will set off the belt if they attempt to -- if he's attempted to be freed by force. CHETRY: And to China now and dramatic video of a fire rescue in Shanghai. Firefighters raced to a burning building. And there you can see a man waiting on the ledge, trying to avoid those flames. He was fitted with a safety harness around his waist. You can see the onlookers watching the drama unfold. Then as they tries to get to the firefighters ladder, he falls. There you see him falling. Thank goodness he did have that safety harness around him. He fell from the fourth floor to the second. He hit the metal poll, but he was saved by that rope. The apartment ended up being destroyed.

MARCIANO: A Mid East summit in Egypt this morning tops our "Quick Hits." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today for the first time since Hamas took control of Gaza. Israel plans to release frozen funds to Abbas' new government.

And Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is urging his troops to prepare for a "war of resistance" with the U.S. Chavez spoke to hundreds of troops telling them that the U.S. may invade Venezuela to get their oil reserves. The U.S. is rejecting that claim.

And he's a seasoned storm chaser capturing dramatic video of the twister north of the border. The man behind the camera is on the hunt again. He'll join us live with details of his next mission. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. We're following breaking news in California right now. In Lake Tahoe, hundreds of firefighters are battling it out with high winds and a growing wildfire. Its destroyed more than 100 homes and is threatening hundreds more at this moment. Hundreds of people have been asked to evacuate the area. Two highways into town are now closed. We're getting a live update in just about 15 minutes from this scene.

First Lady Laura Bush begins a five-day tour of Africa today, starting in Senegal. She'll visit AIDS and malaria programs that get U.S. money. And she'll also meet with women in Zambia looking to start small businesses. This will be the first lady's third trip to Africa.

And a surprise shower for passengers at Los Angeles International Airport. A water pipe broke. It caused the sprinklers to go off, sending passengers running for the exits. Terminal one at LAX was reopened about 30 minutes later.

MARCIANO: Some amazing video out of Manitoba, Canada, to show you this morning. These images, caught by one of the most daring storm chasers around. Reed Timmer has made a career out of going after storms like this one. By his count, 180 of them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at the debris coming down! There's debris everywhere. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARCIANO: That is intense.

Reed joins me now by phone from Grafton, North Dakota, where he's preparing to chase yet another storm.

Reed, you've seen a bunch of these. Dramatic video for us. How does this one rate in your career of storm chasing?

REED TIMMER, STORM CHASER: Well, in terms of size and intensity, this tornado's definitely one of the strongest and largest we've ever seen in the U.S. And going to Canada, we definitely didn't expect to see something this big.

MARCIANO: F-3, F-4, I think that's what the Canadian weather officials are calling it. That certainly is a big one. And you appear to be very close. The last couple of videos that you've sent us this storm chasing season as well. I don't know if it's the resolution of the camera or that you're just getting even more close. But we really see the definition of this vortex as it spins around. How close are you?

TIMMER: We were probably within about 200 yards was the closest when it crossed the road. Which is probably about as close as you want to get with a tornado such as this. This was a large tornado and it was rapidly intensifying. And we definitely do not recommend doing something like this for people that are unexperienced in storm chasing. We've been doing this for nine years now.

MARCIANO: Two hundred yards. What does it feel like to be that close to that much power?

TIMMER: It's incredible. The motion is just unreal and the wind, the inflow winds are probably 50 to 60 miles per hour, maybe even a little stronger. There were corn stalks that were kind of flying through the air into the tornado. It was really intense. It sounded like a really loud waterfall. And it was a really powerful tornado. It's lucky that this tornado was over a rural area because if it was in a populated area, the damage would have been really bad.

MARCIANO: Severe weather now making its way north, as you documented in this video. You're going after more storms today?

TIMMER: Yes. It looks like North Dakota could be extremely active and there actually could be some tornadoes. So, you know, we're in good position for today, we think.

MARCIANO: All right. Reed Timmer, storm chaser out of Grafton, North Dakota.

Be safety out there, Reed.

TIMMER: OK. Thank you. Thanks for having me.

CHETRY: Well, remember the case of the $54 million pants. The lawsuit, there is a verdict. It tops your "Quick Hits." The case in which a judge is suing his dry cleaner for losing his pants. It could be all buttoned up today. They say a decision in this case is expected this morning.

And members of Congress playing hardball. Tonight the Annual Congressional Baseball Game at RFK Stadium. The Democrats have lost six years in a row. They are hoping, though, that some new talent, including former Redskins quarterback and freshman Congressman Heath Shuler will give them an edge.

Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, we take to the streets of Manhattan to see what New Yorkers think of the world's ugliest dog.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Cheaper gas topping our "Quick Hits" now. The national average is $3.00 per gallon for regular unleaded. That's down 11 cents in two weeks according to the Lundberg Survey.

And the long tennis championships at Wimbledon begin in this hour. Number one seat Roger Federer of Switzerland is going for his fifth straight Wimbledon title. That would beat or tie at least Borion Boring's (ph) record. And two-time champion Serena Williams is the only American woman seated in the top 20.

Evan was just, well, all right. Not almighty at the box office this weekend. "Evan Almighty" finished first, earning $32.1 million in its debut weekend. It's the sequel to "Bruce Almighty," which took in double that in its debut. Coming in second is Stephen King's adaptation "1408."

CHETRY: Well, sometimes it pays to be ugly. In fact, it can even save your life. That's what happened to a little dog who was sent to be put to sleep because a breeder thought he was too ugly to be adopted. Well, as it turns out, he was championship ugly. The recent winner of the World's Ugliest Dog title. So we hit the streets of Manhattan to see what people thought when they had a chance to meet little Elwood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ah, you aren't -- you really aren't in person.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I never saw a doggie like that before. I think it's really unique.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beautiful. He's gorgeous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think he's cute. He's different, but he's cute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's crazy looking.

CHETRY, (voice over): Karen, Elwood's owner, has heard it all and loves showing him off. KAREN QUIGLEY, OWNER, WORLD'S UGLIEST DOG: The usual first reaction is like complete stunned. They're stunned. They're not sure. Sometimes they're not even sure if it's a dog.

CHETRY: And the question she gets most, what's with his tongue?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like he swallowed half of a fruit roll-up and the other half is hanging out the side of his mouth

QUIGLEY: He just doesn't have any teeth on the left side of his mouth. So there's nothing to keep his tongue in there. It never goes in. It's out all the time.

He's very confident in his looks. He thinks he's very handsome.

CHETRY: For being the world's ugliest dog, his animal magnetism is undeniable. So is there a lesson we can all learn from little Elwood?

QUIGLEY: You don't have to be beautiful, you don't have to be perfect to be special. The message is to, you know, be compassionate and caring.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think being special is a good feeling because everybody's special and everybody has a good heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Well, Elwood is a two-year-old Chinese Crusted Chihuahua mix. Some call him Yoda or E.T. The resemblance is there. But I also think he looks like Stripe (ph) from the classic '80s film "Gremlins."

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.

CHETRY: It's the mohawk that does it. You haven't see the last of Elwood, by the way. Because Karen, his owner, is releasing a book for children called "Everybody Loves Elwood" that teaches kids, you know, it doesn't matter what you look like on the outside. It's what's inside that counts.

VELSHI: And that was your little girl giving, yes, a hug.

CHETRY: Yes, she didn't care. She thought he was beautiful, too.

VELSHI: Kids hug things.

MARCIANO: Easy now.

CHETRY: I know. You asked, what's with the tongue?

VELSHI: I did. I said . . .

CHETRY: He has no teeth on this side, so it falls out. MARCIANO: So he needs some dental work, too, on top of (INAUDIBLE) problems.

CHETRY: Apparently.

Well, 24 past the hour. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business."

VELSHI: Those were very charitable people talking about that dog. And it fits in with what I'm about to tell you. Americans are particularly charitable people. 2006 was a charity giving record in America. Almost $300 billion were given in donations in 2006. Religious organizations got the most of that, about a third. Educational donations came in second.

2006 topped 2005, which was a particularly good year for charities because of the hurricanes and because of the tsunami. Americans give more as a percentage of their gross domestic product than any other country in the world. In fact, far exceeding number two, which is Britain, in fact double as a percentage.

Last year, the rise in donations did exactly what they typically do, it tracks the economy. And, in fact, it's usually one-third of the percentage rise in the stock market. The stock market was up about 10 percent last year. Charitable giving was up about 3 1/3 percent.

By the way, speaking of the stock market, this year has been a particularly good year, but we've had some big drops. And the last week was one of them. The Dow dropped over 185 points on Friday, giving us a 2 percent drop for the entire week. The S&P also down 2 percent for the entire week. And Nasdaq down 1.5 percent for the week.

So we'll have to see what happens this week. The big economic week. We've got housing reports out. And on Thursday we've got that long awaited Fed decision on interest rates. So markets will be interesting to watch.

CHETRY: Sounds good.

MARCIANO: All right.

CHETRY: Ali, thank you.

MARCIANO: Thanks, Ali.

CHETRY: See you in a couple minutes.

VELSHI: Thanks a lot.

CHETRY: "Quick Hits" now and one of the top stories on cnn.com. "Chemical Ali" sentenced to hang. An Iraqi court sentencing the first cousin of Saddam Hussein for his roles in the deaths of more than 1,000 Kurds back in the 1980s.

And one of cnn.com's most popular stories. San Francisco will make city employees drink tap water. Mayor Gavin Newsom banning city departments from buying bottled waters. He says it takes millions of barrels of oil to make all the plastic bottles, ship them and then throw them out.

Well, residents are on the run in Lake Tahoe, California, this morning. A huge wildfire closing in on hundreds of homes right now. The battle just beginning for many of the firefighters out there on the scene. We're going to be live from the fire line to show you the dramatic pictures straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Live pictures for you of Detroit, Michigan. We're looking from the Canadian side of the border. Windsor, Canada. A little bit of clouds there right now. But we'll check in with Chad Meyers for the full weather forecast in just a little bit.

CHETRY: In the meantime, it is Monday, June 25th. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Kiran Chetry.

MARCIANO: I'm Rob Marciano. John Roberts has, finally, a day off.

CHETRY: That's right. We let him have a couple every now and then. But it's good to have you with us.

MARCIANO: Nice to be here. Thanks for having me.

CHETRY: We start off with some breaking news. And that is a raging wildfire in south Lake Tahoe, California. It's only about 5 percent contained, according to firefighters. More than 600 of them are battling this blaze.

The fire has already destroyed 165 homes and its burned 2,000 acres. Lieutenant Kevin House is with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department. He joins us on the phone right now.

Lieutenant House, thanks for being with us.

LT. KEVIN HOUSE, EL DORADO SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: Sure. You bet.

CHETRY: Give us the latest update on the progress from these firefighters right now.

HOUSE: Well, the progress, as far as the actual numbers and whatnot, do I have a little bit of an update. As you had mentioned, 2,000 acres. It's going to be slightly more than that. I don't have the actual number at this point. I'm waiting for the fire personnel to come back.

As far as the homes, we've estimated in excess of 220 homes. And as far as the progress is concerned, fortunately the winds have died down and it's pretty cool up here. And I think it's helping the firefighters out a lot to be able to at least, you know, get a little bit of a handle on some of these areas.

CHETRY: Now, what about the cause of the fire? We understand it's manmade, but can you elaborate at all?

HOUSE: I really can't. I would just be speculating at this point.

What I'm told as far as the origin and whatnot, is some of those areas the investigators aren't even able to get into yet just because of the severity and the heat that's still there. And obviously, as soon as they're able to get in there and make some determinations, we'll let everyone know.

CHETRY: How many of the houses have been destroyed? And update on the 165. Are there more?

HOUSE: Yes, that number is in excess of 220.

CHETRY: Wow.

What's happening with that? I mean, is there anything people can do who have homes in the area? I know when I used to live up there, they made you clear brush and sometimes try to keep your area moist, if you can.

HOUSE: Yes. Well, and that's still the case. We try to do that as much as possible.

There's actually some ordinances and whatnot. But the issue really has more to do with the fact that, you know, as far as the seasons that have just come and gone, it's a little bit drier than normal. But there's just a tremendous amount of fuel in the trees that are in, you know, these particular areas here. And it's just -- it's just raging out of control.

CHETRY: Yes, we see it right there. And it's just such a shame. Such a gorgeous, gorgeous place.

HOUSE: Yes.

CHETRY: And to see those homes destroyed and to know that there's so many people who are having to look elsewhere to live right now, it really is a big mess there.

HOUSE: Yes.

CHETRY: And our thoughts are with the firefighters this morning.

HOUSE: Yes.

CHETRY: They've got a tough job ahead of them.

Lieutenant Kevin House with the El Dorado County Sheriff's Department.

Thank you.

HOUSE: You bet. Thank you. MARCIANO: The latest now on the case of the missing pregnant woman whose body was identified over the weekend. Police made a second arrest, and both suspects will be in court today.

The body of Jessie Davis was found in a park just north of Canton, Ohio, over the weekend. Her boyfriend, Bobby Cutts, faces two counts of murder, one for Jessie and one for her unborn baby girl. Cutts is the father of the 2-year-old child and possibly the father of the baby that Jessie was carrying.

Police also arrested 29-year-old Myisha Lynne Ferrell and charged her with obstruction of justice. She is Cutts' high school classmate. Her home was searched Saturday night.

Well, this horrific crime has left the entire area shaken.

CNN's Carol Costello joins us from Canton. She's from there.

Or at least Ohio, Carol. Tell us about what that community is feeling like this morning.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rob, I am from Canton, Ohio. I grew up not far from here.

I'm at the Greentown Fire Station, where a couple of days ago literally thousands of people turned up to search for Jessie Davis' body. Now that it's been found, they're trying to deal with the grief.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice over): Many of the people who flocked to Jessie Davis' home had never heard of her before she vanished, but they came to offer comfort and perhaps receive some in return.

Eleven-year-old Katlyn Mitchell decided to bring her teddy bear.

(on camera): Why did you decide on a bear?

KATLYN MITCHELL, 11 YEARS OLD: Well, usually a lot of people have teddy bears, so maybe a teddy bear might help.

COSTELLO (voice over): Might in some way help Davis' 2-year-old son, whose father, a Canton cop, is now facing murder charges.

LT. DENNIS PELLIGRINO, CANTON POLICE DEPT.: I've never seen anything like it in the 32 years...

COSTELLO: That's my cousin, Dennis Pelligrino, with the Canton Police Department. This case has affected our hometown, perhaps more than any other.

For Dennis and Canton Police, the thought that one of their own might be a killer is tough.

PELLIGRINO: You celebrate with the good, you cry with the bad. All you can do is pray it comes out all right.

COSTELLO: Canton and Stark County are already going through rough times. The Hoover Company, a major employer in town where my mother once worked, where my cousins now work, will close in September, leaving thousands out of work. In fact, plant closings in Canton have caused the population to dwindle by almost one third since 1970.

CHIEF JOHN BACON, NORTH CANTON FIRE DEPT., STARK COUNTY: It's a great community.

COSTELLO: And it is a warm, tight-knit community. Eighteen hundred people showed up the first day to search for Jessie. And when she was found, they immediately wanted to know where.

BACON: All they wanted to know was, where was she found? I wanted to make sure I wasn't the person to walk over her and didn't see it.

COSTELLO: Now they wait for word of what happened to Jessie Davis and her unborn daughter, who would have been born July 3rd.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And you know, Rob, it's been a very tough month here. Two young men from this area just died in Iraq. In fact, one was buried just a few days ago.

MARCIANO: Carol Costello with a hometown look at Canton, Ohio.

Thanks, Carol.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: Well, the Senate is headed for a showdown on immigration this week. There will be what's called a procedural vote tomorrow. Senators are saying that if the bill stalls again, it will be put off until after the election. Both sides were pushing their message over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I'm hopeful. I think we've got support in the countryside. I think it's bipartisan.

There's no question it's controversial, but we'll deal with the amendments and move forward. I expect by the end of the week, we'll have the votes to support it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. JEFF SESSIONS (R), ALABAMA: What we're going to need is every effort to slow this process down and continue to hold up the bill and read it to the American people and show them that, even though they may favor the ideals of the legislation, that the legislation won't get us there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: And President Bush will be holding an event to support the immigration reform bill tomorrow.

Now, the bill includes new border control technology. Some of that is already in place, and it's stirring up a passionate argument in some border states.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Chris Lawrence is live in Arizona for us with more on that.

Hi, Chris.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.

You know, more illegal immigrants are arrested in this sector than anywhere along the border. The government says those are the people that these cameras will be looking for, but some residents aren't so sure.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice over): Ever get the feeling you're being watched? Some folks in Arivaca, Arizona, know it all too well.

(on camera): Even from way out here, that camera can see all the way to your house?

MARY SCOTT, ARIVACA, ARIZONA, RESIDENT: Oh, yes. The technology experts say that these spy cameras can tell what book I was reading from here.

LAWRENCE: Wow.

SCOTT: It's amazing.

LAWRENCE (voice over): Mary Scott was Manhattan lawyer who moved her for privacy. She's a half-mile from one of nine new towers designed to monitor the desert. They're part of a $70 million contract that rise almost 100 feet high with radar and night vision. A virtual fence that beams images back to boarder patrol stations, and they can tell what a person is wearing nine miles away.

Scott compares it to "The Truman Show," in which Jim Carrey's entire life plays out in front of the camera.

SCOTT: We're "The Arivaca Show". You know? They're going to film us 24/7, and people we don't know sitting in rooms 75 miles away are going to be watching our lives pass before their eyes. TOM KAY, ARIVACA, ARIZONA, RESIDENT: That's an absolutely ridiculous statement as far as I'm concerned.

LAWRENCE: Cattle rancher Tom Kay says the Border Patrol has enough on its plate trying to stop thousands of people running across the border.

KAY: How will they care what the people are doing that live here are doing?

LAWRENCE: Kay has heard drug smugglers get into shootouts near his home.

KAY: If they stop, let's say, even 50 percent of it, or let's say 20 percent, they've done a hell of a job.

LAWRENCE: Mary Scott says something needs to stop the illegal immigrants, just not here.

SCOTT: Put it to the south. Put it to where the people around are in fact illegal migrants and drug smugglers. Not citizens just trying to enjoy the world they've chosen to live in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: Yes, the virtual fence was supposed to be operational this month, but glitches with the radar system have delayed it. That's important, because that Senate immigration bill hinges on whether the government can guarantee its ability to secure the border -- Kiran.

CHETRY: And what about the cost? Those things are pretty expensive. When does the company expect to get the towers up and running?

LAWRENCE: Well, Boeing built it, and they say that they're urgently trying to fix the problems. But right now they won't set a new target date.

One big problem that a lot of people have is that earlier this month, there was a hearing to update Congress on the status of the new towers. There was no mention of any problems at that hearing. The day after the hearing is when they announced the delay.

CHETRY: Chris Lawrence, thank you.

MARCIANO: We're going to keep following that fire burning in Lake Tahoe this morning. Right now it's destroyed 220 buildings and it's only about 5 percent contained.

For more now, let's bring in Jacki Schechner.

Jacki, what can you tell us from your vantage point?

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Well, Rob, we're starting to see some video and photos uploaded online. Want to show you the latest from YouTube. This is from someone called Snow Shadow 26 in the Tahoe area.

I muted the sound because there's some profanity, obviously, because people get scared. They'll say all sorts of things.

But they're talking about how this is getting closer to them. Obviously concern that it might jump the highway. Talk of possibly having to evacuate.

This was uploaded last night about 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. So wanted to give you an idea of what it looks like for some of the residents in the Tahoe area.

Also, we have some i-reporters in the area. This is i-reporter Jim Cox (ph), who is from Tusky (ph), California, and he says that he was -- or Truckee, rather. I'm sorry -- California.

He says that he was at a music festival and saw the smoke across the water in the Tahoe area, used a telephoto lens to get us real up close there. And he says he couldn't smell it that far away, but he could certainly see it.

Then uploaded on Flicker, we have Virginia Etwine (ph). She and her fiance, Darren (ph), were camping in the Tahoe area. They started to evacuate part of this mass exodus back towards the San Francisco area.

She got some incredible views from Highway 89. You can see there where the fire was getting pretty large. She said the helicopters overhead.

Rob, she has 180 photos uploaded right now on flicker.com. We're lucky that she allowed us to share them with us. But you can see, scary for the people who are in the area.

MARCIANO: Those are some of the best pictures we've seen so far, Jacki. Great vantage point from your end. And dig around for a little bit more. We'll check back with you later.

SCHECHNER: Will do. Thanks.

MARCIANO: All right. Let's get to Chad Myers in the CNN severe weather center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MARCIANO: Well, he made his name in the doo wop days. Hank Medress, best known for the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," has died at the age of 68. Medress sang with the group The Tokens. He died of lung cancer.

And Cameron Diaz commits a fashion faux pas. Diaz was in Machu Picchu in Peru carrying a purse she bought in China. The purse had a Mao Tse-tung political slogan on it invoking memories of a Maoist insurgency in Peru that fought the government, a conflict that killed about 70,000 people.

CHETRY: Well, some time in the next 24 hours, Paris Hilton will walk out of the women's jail in Lynwood a free woman. Paris says that she has learned a lot of lessons behind bars and she cannot wait to do her first TV interview. It's actually with Larry King.

Our own Lola Ogunnaike is here with more now on the countdown to Paris' freedom and how an upstart magazine beat people on some of the first photos.

Which magazine are you talking about?

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're talking about "OK!" magazine. They're the ones who beat out -- the first photos of actually Eva Longoria and Tony Parker's wedding. We'll get to that in a minute.

CHETRY: Oh, I thought they had Paris. No, no, no. They're just taking pictures of the actual jail at this point, right? But the paparazzi are lined up waiting for this.

OGUNNAIKE: Swarming waiting for this. And everyone -- you remember last week, everyone was talking about who's going to score the first post-prison interview with Paris Hilton.

CHETRY: Right.

OGUNNAIKE: ABC, NBC -- $100,000 ABC, supposedly they offered. NBC supposedly offered a million.

We don't know what fell apart this weekend. What we do know is that she is speaking to Larry King on Wednesday, and she's thrilled about it, actually.

CHETRY: That's right. No money is changing hands, but they're going to have an hour-long conversation.

OGUNNAIKE: And we did not pay. Again, we did not pay.

CHETRY: Tell us a little bit about her getting out of jail. Some reports are saying Monday, some on Tuesday. She surprised everybody about when she went in.

OGUNNAIKE: Exactly. And we don't know exactly when she's getting out.

You'll remember she went in early. She was at the MTV Awards, working the red carpet.

CHETRY: Right.

OGUNNAIKE: All of a sudden she's in prison. So we don't know exactly when she's getting out, but it will be in the next 24 hours.

CHETRY: And what is the paparazzi seen like there as they get ready to get that first shot?

OGUNNAIKE: Massive. Everyone wants to see her.

This is -- you know, they were so into these shots before, and the crying shot in the cab was a huge hit. People were logging on to see it on blogs, on the Internet. It was everywhere. So these shots are going to be really major.

Speaking of other major shots, Tony Parker, Eva Longoria, "Desperate Housewives," they're getting married on July 7th in Paris. "OK!" magazine is reportedly paying $2 million for those photos. And it's not the first time they paid for photos. Apparently Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas, they paid $2 million for that wedding photo in 2000.

CHETRY: And this is supposed to be a huge to-do, huh, the Tony Parker Eva Longoria union?

OGUNNAIKE: Not going to be a quiet, small thing at all. This is going to be huge.

CHETRY: All right. Well, good for them.

Lola, thanks so much.

OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Some breaking news from Iraq, and these are some of the first picture, new ones, coming in from the Mansoor (ph) hotel in Baghdad.

A bomb ripped through the lobby overnight. The number of people killed, up to 12 people in the last couple of minutes. The Mansoor (ph) hotel is home to the Chinese embassy, as well as others.

The U.S. command saying there were no American casualties in this blast, but they're trying to figure out how this suicide bomber, a man wearing a belt of explosive, was able to walk in the lobby, walk right up to the reception desk, and then detonate the bomb. The hotel workers are calling it a major security breach because there are three checkpoints. There's one on the outside and two inside of the hotel.

Witnesses there saying all the casualties looked like they were Iraqis. Most of them employees of that reception area. But again, the first pictures coming in of the devastation. That was the lobby of the Mansoor (ph) hotel in Baghdad.

We will come back to this as new developments come out this morning.

MARCIANO: Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" this morning, and he brought with a little bit of refreshments for us. ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.

MARCIANO: Are they cold, at least?

VELSHI: It's cold.

CHETRY: Iced cold.

VELSHI: We've got ourselves some iced tea. Now, I've got Snapple and I've got Nestea. What do you -- you guys have preferences?

MARCIANO: I'm about the Snapple.

VELSHI: You're about the Snapple?

CHETRY: Diet Coke.

VELSHI: All right. Well, I've got Coke.

Now, Coke owns Nestea. But iced tea is a big -- a big market, obviously, in summer particularly. But it's a big market.

Snapple is owned by Cadbury Schweppes. And it is the third largest iced tea brand -- third best selling at the moment.

Coke has a bunch of brands, Nestea and FUZE and a bunch of other things. So there's some speculation that now that Cadbury wants to spin off its beverage unit, which has Dr Pepper, 7UP, Hawaiian Punch and Snapple, Coke might buy Snapple up. That's not really clear.

Coke hasn't said that they're interested in doing this. But Coke has a lot of money. And whenever anything is potentially up for sale, Coke is always thought of as a potential buyer for that sort of thing.

When you're in that kind of business, you have the distribution. Right? If you're Coke, you send trucks to every store anyway, so you want the best mix of products that you can send out there to get the most market share.

MARCIANO: And if -- you know, if you're a Snapple person, Coke has a lot of vending machines.

VELSHI: Right.

MARCIANO: You might get Snapple...

VELSHI: That's exactly right.

In fact, our vending machine had these products, the Coke products in them. We had to send our producer Ashley (ph) far and away to get Snapple.

MARCIANO: Very convenient.

CHETRY: One of the glamorous things of being an intern/producer. VELSHI: That's right. Yes. That's what we do -- now the good news is, now that I've done this report, free drinks for everyone.

CHETRY: Sweet.

MARCIANO: Excellent.

CHETRY: What about smart water? It's also a huge deal, right? That's another big business.

VELSHI: Yes. And that's actually a really big growing brand, the vitamin and energy water is a brand that's actually picking up quite a bit.

CHETRY: Sounds good.

VELSHI: But I don't think you need any more energy drinks though.

(CROSSTALK)

CHETRY: Thank you, Ali.

VELSHI: All right.

MARCIANO: We'll hold on to those for a second.

All right, Ali. Thanks.

The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

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