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Bush Tours Collapse Site; Senate Approves Warrantless Wiretapping; Latest on the Minneapolis Bridge Tragedy; Protectinge Nuclear Plants from Terrorist Attacks; O.J. Simpson Seeks a Way to Answer Questions

Aired August 04, 2007 - 17:00   ET

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

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: The death toll from Wednesday's disaster stands at five, but authorities are saying up to eight bodies may still be trapped underneath the water. So they're calling those missing.
President Bush saw the twisted remains of the bridge today by land and by sea. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters made the trip with him, and reiterated her desire to try and get some answers about this bridge disaster.

Face to face now with the wreckage, standing just a couple feet from the victims' watery graves, President Bush praised first responders and he also praised some of the good Samaritans whose rushed to the scene, to the aid of people there Wednesday.

Here now, putting it all together for you is CNN's Susan Roesgen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The American flag greeted the president at the scene of an American tragedy. Closer than anyone reporter or onlooker can get, the president himself walked right down to the edge of the river to see the wreckage.

Divers are still trying to find bodies trapped in cars under the water. The president talked to Gary Babineau, a construction worker who pulled screaming children from the school bus that stopped on the bridge just in time. Then the president talked to Minneapolis and the nation.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have an amazing country where people's instinct -- first instinct is to help save life. And there are a lot of people's first instincts here in the Twin Cities was to save the lives of somebody who was hurting.

ROESGEN: The president also met with police and firefighters who pulled survivors from the water, and he met privately with two families who lost loved ones. He also promised that federal officials will move quickly to restore this major roadway.

BUSH: One of our jobs is to work with the governor and the mayor and the senators and the members of the Congress to cut through that paperwork and to see if we can't get this bridge rebuilt in a way that not only expedites the flow of traffic but in a way that can stand the test of time.

You know, out of these tragedies can come a better life. And I, having visiting with the people here, believe that not only are they committed to a better life, not only are they committed to turning something ugly into something good, but it's going to happen.

ROESGEN: As the president flies back to Washington, Congress is already trying to fast track $250 million to rebuild the bridge.

Susan Roesgen, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: Here's a nightmare scenario for you. Your loved one travels the 35W bridge every single day but you haven't heard from them since the collapse. Well, a lot of families were left in that terrible limbo after Wednesday's disaster. Imagine what that would be like. Now the outcomes vary greatly depending on story to story, person to person. But here's CNN's Ed Lavandera now, he's joining us with stories like the one that I just shared.

It must be tough for these folks, Ed. I mean, no information is certainly not good in a situation like this, because it's not like they're really going to be able to pull through or survive.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, it's clearly, a very difficult situation, Rick. And here as we've been watching from a distance what the crews here have been doing, you can see, as you mentioned, the searches in the water have been called off throughout the day because of that shifting debris down at that scene.

So it is a very precarious situation and they've had to get out of there. That's -- you know, tons and tons of debris that are sitting in that water and it is going to take some time to be able to move that. So those diving crews in very dark, very murky water have to be careful with how they navigate through that as well.

NTSB officials just wrapped up a press conference. They say that they are continuing their investigation into exactly what happened. No official reason for how this bridge collapse could have happened so far, but evidence is being shifted back to Washington, D.C., where they'll continue to examine it as well.

You can hear a little bit from what they had to say just a short while ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our investigating professionals will remain on scene. They will remain on scene until they understand and see what in fact they believe is the causal factor here, or a probable series of causal factors. At that point they will bring all of that evidence back to Washington as it relates to pieces of perhaps structure, any other materials which they may find of interest.

We are also -- as they begin to take the cars away, they'll take that to a secure area. We'll be looking at that from another aspect. Not for causal purposes but in the area of survival factors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: And one of the things they say, their final report on this incident will include exactly how some of the victims died in this case. So there is a huge effort under way to try to piece together exactly how everything was imploding and collapsing around each other, just exactly how it all happened. And they're trying to do that as best they can -- Rick.

SANCHEZ: I guess -- I mean, really, two scenarios, right? They either drowned or they died from the impact of falling or having something fall on top of them, right? It's probably going to be one of those two.

LAVANDERA: Sure. And I think probably the other part has a lot to do with perhaps families want to know either way, that that might help them in some way, and if they can provide those answers they would like to do so.

SANCHEZ: Help us parse these numbers, Eddie, if you can. What is it, they say there are five people confirmed dead. That means that they've actually identified the bodies. But they say there's as many as eight others that may be because they're still under water, is that really what they're saying?

LAVANDERA: Right. That's so dark and so kind of nasty down there in that water with all the debris, and it's also not just a very visible type of -- body of water anyway. So right now as you're getting down into that debris, you're basically just -- the divers are down there having to go by touch and feel.

And there are cars that are so crushed that are even impossible to open to get into. So those divers at some point have to do the best they can. If they can't, they probably have to wait until those cars can be removed from the water so they can figure out exactly what is inside.

So it's a very difficult situation to really get your fingers on, just how many people might be down there or how many cars are down there as well.

SANCHEZ: You know, there's something else I really don't get, and I've seen them explain it, in fact, there in this news conference they were talking about it a little while ago as well, they were talking about the speed of the water.

Now you know, I went to school there at the University of Minnesota, Middlebrook Hall, I remember being on the banks of the Mississippi. It never looked to me like the Mississippi was very fast in that area. But yet they're saying that there's almost a current in there.

Is that because they lower the water level and then it gets faster or something? I just don't remember the Mississippi being that fast. LAVANDERA: Well, there are a couple places, if you look just -- there is the bridge there, if you -- back over here toward the left are a series of dams and controls which they can control a little bit of the water levels.

Apparently like what happened a couple days ago, they tried to lower the water level and that created what we've been talking about, these eddies. So you get, as the water is moving through there, they describe like eddy almost like as a mini tornado underneath the water.

So if you're down there, you're a diver, navigating through that is very difficult. And if that's moving -- for example, you're tied by a rope, if that rope moves and gets you hooked on something else, you can be kept underneath for a while. So those are that they are facing and the problems that the current can cause.

SANCHEZ: Yes. I think the experts on that call it turbidity, they would say that that increases the turbidity factor in the water. It just happens to be one of those big words I remember, Ed.

Hey, thanks for explaining that all to us and catching us up. We get it now. As usual, Ed Lavandera doing a good job, bringing us this information and in a way that we can all understand it.

By the way, a spokesperson for the Minnesota DOT is saying today that the state is hoping to award a contract soon to rebuild the 35W artery that goes right across the river. And MnDOT is pretty ambitious -- Minnesota Department of Transportation, if you didn't know what we were talking about.

They say they have a n ambitious program to try and get this done in a very quick timeline. Now the agency is hoping to try and bridge -- or get this bridge back together and open it sometime next year. That's the date they're shooting for at this point. Meantime, concerns about other bridges is spanning the country.

Officials are ordering inspections and in some cases have taken action in places like Missouri where a 90-year-old bridge outside of St. Louis has been closed ahead of schedule due to its condition.

Remember, back when Eisenhower established the National Highway Administration, they were thinking these would only last only 25 years before they would have to redo them. I just told you about one that is 90 years old.

In California, they've suspended the vacation of the bridge inspectors because of this. The state's 59 bridges with a similar design to the Minnesota span is going to have to be checked out per federal order.

Also, an at-risk bridge in New Orleans is already getting daily inspections thanks to Hurricane Katrina. The storm wiped out parts of the twin span across the Lake Pontchartrain. And officials are now closely monitoring temporary patches to the roadway. But again, they've been doing that since the hurricane anyway. Well, you want to see exactly how these bridges in your state measure up? The whole list is there, came out this morning. You can go to cnn.com home page and click on the link below the lead story.

If you live in any particular -- like I'll tell you, I was looking at it this morning. If you live in Pennsylvania, you're going to want to look at this. There are a ton of bridges in Pennsylvania on this list. This is going to bring you the up-to-date list on all of the possibly suspect bridges in the United States and it really does it state-by-state. So you can look at the area where you live to see if you can find it.

Well, just like you're interested in the durability of bridges in your area, I happen to be interested in the bridges here in Atlanta. So I wanted to go out with a civil engineer, one of the best, as a matter of fact, from Georgia Tech, Larry Cole (ph), there he is, to have him explain to us exactly how fatigue works, how corrosion works and how the two combined can literally bring down a bridge.

Do you see that crack right there? That's part of what he's explaining to us. He took us to an older bridge here in Atlanta and he just goes through it bit by bit to try to explain it for us. Go ahead and roll up the script. And I'll continue explaining.

You're be able to join me tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. I'm going to bring you the story as I go under a bridge with an expert, Georgia Tech, as good a school there is in structural engineering, that's the top man in that school. And he breaks it down for you to explain to you exactly how a bridge can come down. Funny hat, huh?

IN the midst of the bridge collapse, we saw many amazing videos and one was described as a desperate search of a man running down the river bank looking for a little girl before finally jumping into the Mississippi. See it right there?

Now you see this man, he takes off his shirt, he jumps in the water, photographer Steve Dworak, he shot this video for us and he's joining us now from Minneapolis.

You're a Golden Gopher, are you?

STEVE DWORAK, PHOTOGRAPHER: I sure am. And proud to be.

SANCHEZ: Me, too. That makes two of us. So from one to the other. Where were you standing and what did you see?

DWORAK: Well, I got there about 15 to 20 minutes after the collapse and I actually went down to the bank of the river. So I was about five feet from the water, very close.

SANCHEZ: This is right after the bridge had come falling down, right?

DWORAK: Yes. I got there about, like I said, 20 minutes afterwards and they had not done crowd control due to the officers trying to find as many people in the water as they could. So I was very close to the scene.

SANCHEZ: So you see this guy, right? How close -- did you ever get a chance to shout out or talk to him?

DWORAK: No. I was probably about a good five to 10 feet from him. I was very close to him. Like I said, you can see the video. He has his shirt off, just in a pair of shorts and he was frantically -- had a look on his face of horror. He was basically asking people have they seen a little girl with red hair and glasses.

SANCHEZ: Asking people, asking who? What specifically did he...

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I apologize. But what specifically did he say?

DWORAK: Oh, that's all right. He just basically was looking around and he was just saying, has anyone seen a little girl with red hair and glasses? And it seemed like she was in the water, so he didn't know where she was and he was asking if anyone had seen her.

The people I was with -- or the people around me shook their head no, we have not seen her. And that's when the video takes place.

SANCHEZ: What do we know about him? I mean, was he in a car with this little girl, was his car down there, or -- what can you -- what have you been able to surmise about his situation, his plight?

DWORAK: You know, I'm not 100 percent certain. But from my guess, it would be that he was probably in the car at the time of the accident, maybe his car went in the water. He got out. Unfortunately he did not get out with his daughter. I assume it's his daughter.

Like I said, he was in just a pair of shorts. Couldn't find her. Was just looking in the water all around. At that time there were not many rescue boats there, due to being there so early. Therefore, he -- that's then when he decided to get in the water, swim over to the bridge, continue to look from the bridge.

That's when one rescue boat came over there and said he couldn't be there. Took him back to the shore and then he continued to ask other people around there as people came if they had seen a little girl with red hair and glasses anywhere in the water.

SANCHEZ: Oh, my God. What a nightmare. Imagine driving in a car with your daughter and suddenly you're alive but you can't find her and she's under the water and it's murky and there has been an accident.

When they stopped him from searching for his daughter -- which, by the way, they would have needed an army to stop me for searching for my daughter in that situation. But how did he react?

DWORAK: He was hesitant at first. He then got in the boat, as you can see in the video. But after he got ashore, he continued to go down the shoreline asking people and trying to look for himself.

I think he was -- it was his assumption that due to probably her being less weight that she might have been down the river by then. He had asked people -- rescuers to look farther down the river. He thought that she may have drifted down farther down shore, not where they were looking.

SANCHEZ: OK. Here's the most important question I suppose. Because we've been checking and we haven't been able to nail down who he is and if his daughter is one of those that has been declared as deceased at this point. And we haven't been able to nail down this information.

So the best case scenario here is that somehow he became delusional after the impact in the accident and he was actually wrong and hopefully his daughter was still at home or something. But do we know at this point if what he believed to be true was the case? Have they found her? Do they know anything about the circumstances, officials that is?

DWORAK: That I'm not quite sure. I do know the deceased was not involved or at least I'm kind -- I assume the deceased does not involve a little girl. We do not know if she's missing at this point or, like, as you said, if he thought his daughter was somewhere when she wasn't.

SANCHEZ: Yes, that could happen.

DWORAK: The only thing we can do is continue to pray for him, his family, all the other families, the victims, and everyone who has been touched by this.

SANCHEZ: Hey, you know, you're a good guy. Appreciate you explaining this to us. And if nothing else, we've got this piece of video. Hopefully somebody will be able to put the pieces together and maybe we'll be able to figure out how it happened. Steve, Golden Gopher, friend of mine...

DWORAK: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: ... thanks for being with us, man.

DWORAK: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Moving on now. House Republicans and Democrats are trying to wrap up work on a bill revamping a 30-year-old spying law. The Senate passed its own version of changes to the law last night. Our Suzanne Malveaux is at the White House now. She brings us the details.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, there's certainly a lot of pressure today for the House to pass legislation that would govern eavesdropping on foreigners. And the president has told Congress that they cannot go to recess until they come up with legislation that he can sign and the director of national intelligence finds acceptable. Now the Senate has done just that but the House is holding off. And at issue is a law called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act known as FISA. A secret court that oversees FISA made a ruling earlier this year that the White House says limits the intelligence community's ability to get critical information from terrorists.

The ruling says that the government cannot eavesdrop on overseas calls without a warrant if that call goes through a U.S. switching center or has some kind of connection to the United States. But intelligence officials say that millions of overseas calls go through the American switching centers and making intelligence officials get a warrant before intercepting them is crippling the U.S.'s ability to act quickly against potential terrorist plots.

And President Bush issued this statement earlier today trying to put on more pressure, saying today: "The House of Representatives has an opportunity to consider that bill, pass it and send it to me for my signature, protecting America is our most solemn obligation and I urge the House to pass this bill without delay."

Also, Rick, we saw Republican lawmakers trying to wrap up the pressure as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HEATHER WILSON (R), NEW MEXICO: We are calling today for Speaker Pelosi to immediately put the senate bill on the floor of the House, pass it, and send it immediately to the president for his signature. We cannot, we will not leave this Congress without fixing our Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Now, Rick, Democrats say that they are invested in protecting the country against terrorists but they're also invested in protecting civil liberties. There is a great deal of suspicion and mistrust of this administration, which is also, of course, making coming to a resolution difficult.

I should also let you know, Rick, that these are just stopgap measures that are set to expire some six months after the president would sign it. That at least passing in the Senate here. So you can imagine the kind of emotion and frustration on both sides.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Well, the FISA court is supposed to act, as you said, as a stopgap measure in the end for the president as well, but do we get a sense, Suzanne, that the administration would like to get rid of FISA all together in the end?

MALVEAUX: Well, no. I don't think they want to get rid of FISA all together in the end. But they definitely feel like it has to be changed and revised. They feel that it is basically outdated when it comes to technology. This is something that has existed for three decades here and they say the technology is way ahead of these laws. So they want to mesh the two together. I have to say, already though that this is going to be a very long night here. They started going through energy legislation. They haven't even gotten to this, so it could be late tonight, early tomorrow. And already the ACLU putting out this very strong statement, Rick, against this, saying: "We're deeply disappointed that the president's tactics of fear-mongering have once again forced Congress into submission."

They call this Democratically-controlled Senate -- they say it was strong-armed and they believe that the Congress is spineless. They say that this is not good legislation.

SANCHEZ: It's an interesting argument. Thanks so much, Suzanne Malveaux, bringing us up to date on that.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: Also in the NEWSROOM, a major nuclear power plant, easy pickings for terrorists. Apparently some lawmakers think so. So we're going to tell you what they're doing about it, right here in the NEWSROOM.

And then the power of the I-Report, it's really the power of you. You've been doing this for a year now for us. We hope it's just the beginning of a very long and lasting relationship. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: There is new information about the murder of a California reporter. Police say that they have a confession in the murder of Oakland Post editor Chauncey Bailey. They say that a handyman who worked at a bakery Bailey was investigating was so upset over some of his stories that he may have done something like this.

CNN's Dan Simon has more on this case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Your Black Muslim Bakery was a well-known business in Oakland and not for just its unusual name. Its founder, now deceased, had been implicated in a rape scandal. He died a few years ago, shortly before trial.

More recently his son and some associates have been charged in the vandalism of Bay Area liquor stores. Chauncey Bailey, a 57-year- old Oakland newspaper reporter, had been working on a story about the shop. His boss had described him as a tenacious journalist.

PAUL COBB, PUBLISHER, OAKLAND POST: We use to call him the James Brown of journalism, he's the hardest working man in journalism, just like they say James Brown was the hardest working man in show business.

SIMON: Bailey had recently become the editor of a community weekly. On Thursday, he was gunned down, murdered in plain sight as he walked to work. Paul Cobb got a phone call from police at the murder scene asking if he knew the reporter.

COBB: And I said, yes, he should be there covering it for us. And the police said: no, he won't be covering anything. I said, what are you talking about? And he says, well, we're talking about Chauncey Bailey. And I just -- I thought it was a joke.

SIMON: Did Bailey's investigation into the shop lead to his murder? Police wouldn't comment on the motive, but during raids on several locations, including the bakery, one day after Bailey's murder, investigators say they discovered a powerful link, a gun used in the killing of the veteran journalist.

ASST. CHIEF HOWARD JORDAN, OAKLAND POLICE: This investigation does not involve Muslims under the leadership of the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. It should not be seen as an investigation of any faith tradition.

SIMON: And it wasn't Bailey's murder that lead police to the store.

(on camera): Police had been investigating the bakery for several months. The raid had been planned well in advance. So, authorities really did not know that they were going to find evidence allegedly implicating the group in Bailey's murder.

(voice-over): Police say they have been investigating the shop and its operators in connection with two other Bay Area murders.

LT. ERSIE JOYNER, OAKLAND POLICE: During our investigation, Chauncey Bailey, was murdered and it turns out that evidence in that case also links the same individuals we were looking at in the other two prior murders.

SIMON: At least seven people connected to the bakery have been placed under arrest. Chauncey Bailey's instincts said there was a story worth chasing had apparently been right.

Dan Simon, CNN, Oakland, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think it was a bigger feat to break 2,000 yards in one season or nice two necks in one night?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Uh-oh! O.J. Simpson and a live Internet chat draws tough questions. Jeanne Moos ranks the "Moost."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Keep your pets inside if you can. Drink lots of water and wear a lightweight loose-fitting clothing -- Rick?

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Pets and your kids.

JERAS: And your kids, absolutely. And watch out for the air quality.

SANCHEZ: All right, thanks a lot. Appreciate it, Jacqui.

Time now for our "Techno Facts" segment. NASA's latest mission to Mars is a go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Two, one, zero and liftoff of the Delta Two rocket with Phoenix, a distance science outpost looking for clues of the evolution at the polar region of Mars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: A polar region of mars. The unmanned rocket blasted off without issue this morning from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and it's got a long, long way to go. The lander is expected to reach Mars by May of next year. The mission is to determine if conditions are favorable for life exist now or perhaps did in the past. And many say they've already found that.

It's a busy week on the Cape. Space shuttle Endeavor awaits its next launch. It's now set for Wednesday evening. NASA officials say liftoff was backed up today to complete routine preflight work. It comes on the heels that some astronauts in the past were cleared to fly after boozing it up.

The latest on the bridge collapse in Minnesota is coming up.

Also, how do you protect a big nuclear plant from attack? How about a no-fly zone, forever? That's one option on the table. We'll tell you what others are. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Half past the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the CNN "NEWSROOM." Here's the latest news we know regarding that Minneapolis bridge tragedy that we've been following for you since Wednesday. It's spurred renewed scrutiny of bridge safety issues all over the country, with inspections being stepped up or in some cases bridges being closed all together.

The scene in Minneapolis, divers are pausing so crews can try and move some of the shifting debris in the water.

Earlier today, President Bush visited the collapse site and praised search crews and pledging more federal help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm here with the secretary of Transportation, because our message to the twin cities is we want to get this bridge rebuilt as quickly as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's bring you some other news across America. We begin in Brentwood, California, where dogs owned by actor Ving Rhames are suspected of fatally mauling their caretaker. Police found the body Friday morning on the actress's property. His body was covered with dog bites. Animal Control took four dogs into custody.

Well, the good book turns out to be a great book, a real lifesaver for one U.S. soldier stationed in Iraq. Twenty-two year old Private Frist Class Brandon Schwietzgart (ph) says his Bible actually stopped a bullet. Schwietzgart (ph) was shot this week, the bullet getting under his body armor, but doctors found the bullet instead lodged in a Bible he was carrying in his chest.

The NFL is getting more international these days, case in point, this young Japanese stalwart. The 24-year-old hopes to be the first Japanese player to make an NFL squad. Nouri (ph) is working out with the Atlanta Falcons right now. That's his name. He's been a wide-out and punt returner for the past three seasons with the NFL Europa's Amsterdam Admirals. We wish him well.

From Maryland, police stumble on to a burglary suspect while responding to another call. Annapolis City Police say that they arrested 35-year-old Catherine Delgado after finding her with bricks of fudge spilling out of her purse. A nearby confectionary shop had been broken into. She now faces up to 15 years behind bars for her alleged candy run. She needed it.

A sight that makes terrorists salivate, a huge nuclear plant. Well, it's near a huge population center as well, and that's a problem.

Coming up, lawmakers trying to come up with an interesting way to protect a place like this from a terrorist attack.

And then later, ask O.J. Simpson. Some people had the chance and they didn't hold back. You'll hear the question and the reaction right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: It's something new in the work environment and it can even improve your health. You might call it adult recess.

In today's "Fit Nation," Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates a new health trend and employees are really embracing it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Balloon races, broom races and guessing games -- sounds more like summer camp than a meeting at ING Direct, an on-line financial services company. The reason -- happier, more productive employees. JOY ZABEN, ING DIRECT: We think about our employees as more than just in their work environment, their entire stress level, their health and this got them up and moving around.

GUPTA: Many corporations want employees to step away from their cubicles and enjoy themselves. One way is to make them laugh.

David Raymond organizes seminars on workplace fun. He says it creates camaraderie and keeps workers active.

DAVID RAYMOND, THE FUN DEPARTMENT: We want to make sure it's appropriate and easy for everyone to participate. But we also want some of the things to be physically challenging.

GUPTA: Employees feel more energetic.

CORRINE LASTER, HAPPY EMPLOYEE: Having fun activities allows you to have a better frame of mind when working.

GUPTA: And there could be real health benefits as well. Research shows laughter can help blood flow, preventing diseases such as high blood pressure and strokes.

DR. MIKE MILLER, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND MEDICAL CENTER: When we have a good laugh or feel very relaxed, it in a way helps us to rejuvenate.

GUPTA: It also reduces stress, shown to be a primary factor when it comes to weight gain and heart problems.

Other ways to encourage happy workers, google provides activities, like volleyball and scooters, on the job. Other companies even allow pets in the office -- all aimed at keeping employees relaxed and more productive.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: We welcome you back. The Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant is one of the nation's largest. It could be a tempting terrorist target. The plant sits right on the east bank of the Hudson River, 25 miles north of New York City. You've probably seen it there in the area, just north of the city, not far from the metro area, which has 20 million people living around it.

A group of New York legislators say they want to establish a permanent no-fly zone around that plant.

Joining me now from Washington is one of those sponsors, Democratic Representative Elliott Engel.

It does make sense, so what are you picturing, a scenario to 9/11, where somebody hijacks a plane and takes it in there?

REP. ELLIOTT ENGEL, (D) NEW YORK: Well, we're told, on 9/11, one of the planes that hit the World Trade Center flew directly over Indian Point. There was a temporary no-fly zone over Indian Point for two moths after September 11 and then it was rescinded. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that the Department of Homeland Security can issue a temporary no-fly areas over the Super Bowl but has no authority to issue a permanent no-fly area over Indian Point. It makes no sense.

SANCHEZ: It's hard to argue what you're saying. Let me just ask you to clear things up. I would imagine commercial airlines probably could still fly over it, but for a long time they've already said that private planes can't, right? Or can they?

ENGEL: Well, we don't believe that anything that restricts any plane from flying over Indian Point. In fact, right now the FAA is attempting to change flight patterns over Rockman County, which is the neighboring county which I represent. And we don't like what they're doing. Yet, they refuse to address the whole issue of Indian Point.

SANCHEZ: I used to live there in New Jersey, and when we drove up there, you would see it right on parts of the river. And I do recall flying in there and seeing it just below us. So right now they do let planes fly over it. You're saying they shouldn't let that. What's the big danger? I've talked to people in the nuclear energy, they say the way they're built, they're so solid that the plane would have to literally hit just in the right place in the right time for it to be -- I guess the word would be combustible.

ENGEL: We do hear that from some people, but from others we hear the opposite. We hear it's a problem. You have spent nuclear fuel rods just laying there and many people have told me that it is a potential hazard.

I think if it's in dispute, you err on the side of caution, not on the opposite side. There is an evacuation plan for Indian Point that makes no sense whatsoever. No local official will sign off on it.

Yet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Homeland Security, all the transportation agencies refuse to do anything. So that's why we have the legislation to compel them to do it, to give them the authority to do it.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Engel, thanks for being with us, sir. Good point. We'll keep an eye on this.

ENGEL: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: By the way, here's what we get from the government.

Let's put that up, Claude, if we can.

You'll see what they're saying in response to what the Congressman is saying about this situation.

This is from Homeland Security. They say, "Security measures at critical infrastructure sites," -- a big word essentially for something like a nuclear plant -- "are driven by threat, vulnerability and consequence. Since 9/11, the Department of Homeland Security has worked very closely with owners and operators of critical infrastructure sites nationwide to strengthen their protection and their resiliency. There continues to be no credible information, at this time, leading us to believe that there is a specific or imminent threat to the homeland, to include nuclear facilities."

That's really the important part there. They seem to be indicating that there is nothing going on right now that would lead them to do something like that. Obviously, the Congressman differs in opinion.

Still to come, the benchmark of citizen journalism reaches a milestone.

Josh Liebs (ph), by golly. There he is.

JOSH LIEBS (ph), CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, but I'm not the benchmark.

SANCHEZ: Give me a shot of the benchmark there will you.

LIEBS (ph): I'm not the benchmark.

SANCHEZ: This is interesting because ever since -- you know, I've got to tell you, I wasn't sure this was going to work.

LIEBS (ph): Yeah.

SANCHEZ: The bridge collapse this week, it coincided the one- year anniversary of when we started I-reports here at CNN and we have stunning images that may help investigators.

LIEBS (ph): Yes, we're going to be showing some of that. We're going to show you something that actually -- of the bridge before and the bridge now. The pictures you haven't seen yet to give you a new perspective.

SANCHEZ: This whole I-report thing has caught on. It's pretty remarkable isn't it?

LIEBS (ph): It's amazing. We're going to look at that. Yes, that's coming up.

SANCHEZ: We're going to have it for you. Stay with us, we'll be right back with Josh, in Josh's corner.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back. What an amazing coincidence. The Minnesota bridge collapsed and happens to coincide with our first anniversary of I-reports. It's a coincidence because of the response we got to the bridge collapse.

Now we're going to put that together for you. In fact, here's the man who is going to do it. LIEBS (ph): I'm going to do my best. Yes, the biggest ever. Thursday was the anniversary and the biggest ever day for I-report. More than 500 images were sent to us from the bridge.

I'm going to show you those in a second. But first, let's take a look at a couple of the major I-report videos we've received.

Some of these you might remember. One was from Virginia Tech. Remember what was going on there? When we were trying to get you the news that day -- no, we're doing the gas explosion first, the New York gas explosion very recently. You can see the owner of this image. You can't always get a CNN video camera everywhere fast, but you can get somebody with a video camera or a video cell phone.

SANCHEZ: Or a cell phone.

LIEBS (ph): You grab those and send it in to cnn.com/ireport. It's amazing stuff. I think we have some video from Virginia Tech, which was also another example of us being example to share with you what it felt like. You might remember this video, too. Really powerful stuff on the day of the massacre at Virginia Tech. Again, the CNN I-report system allowing us to get you to the scene right away because people have a such modern technology, a simple way to get us the video.

Now, Rick, let's take a look at some of the stuff we've gotten. On the anniversary, powerful images, take a look at this. This was from Jeremiah Telemontes (ph). And this shows a close-up of one of the train hoppers that was crushed by a steel beam. You can see how it crumpled like a tin can. That shows you right there the incredible image, the raw forces at work from that bridge.

One more here while we can. This photo is from Chuck Green, who heard that federal investigators -- you might say that looks OK. Here's the deal, investigators now want pictures of the bridge before the collapse because they want to study them hard and see is there rust or a flaw somewhere.

SANCHEZ: Metal fatigue.

LIEBS (ph): Exactly. They're asking people to send in pictures of the bridge. Now random tourist, who are in Minneapolis for any reason, have pictures of the bridge are sending them to us. We're sharing them with investigators. And they're sending them to investigators. So they're assisting the media and they're getting their pictures out there and they're assisting the investigation.

SANCHEZ: That's interesting. I had just spoken to one of the engineers at Georgia Tech and he said it could have been a crack so small that it wasn't detected at first, but it eventually grew. That's how it starts, that's how metal fatigue starts.

LIEBS (ph): Unbelievable.

SANCHEZ: So it's key to have those pictures to see if they can actually see it. LIEBS (ph): Yes, that's not hyperbole. They genuinely might spot something in one of those pictures -- they'll do it.

SANCHEZ: Wow. News happens near you, grab a camera. All you've got to do is take a shot and send us to us on I-report, cnn.com.

Suppose you had a chance to ask O.J. Simpson a question. You want to make the most of it, right?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember when you played for the 49ers?

O.J. SIMPSON, FORMER 49ER PLAYER: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill Bo Walsh?

SIMPSON: I tell you, I had a tough day yesterday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Crank calls putting the squeeze on O.J. Simpson in the "NEWSROOM." Stay with us. We've got more.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to the CNN "NEWSROOM." I'm Rick Sanchez. O.J. Simpson squeezed during a live Internet chat session this week when people had a chance to ask O.J. Simpson -- things got a little uncomfortable.

Here's Jeanne Moos' report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Want to call in a question to O.J.? OK.

(on camera): Hello, Jim.

SIMPSON: We lost Jim.

MOOS: All right, we lost Jim.

Hey, Dennis.

SIMPSON: I think Dennis is gone.

We might have a caller, if we can just go to it.

(voice-over): Complete with Technical snafus, it was live and on the Internet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: O.J. takes the stand.

MOOS: The head of marketnewsfirst.com said O.J. came to them looking for an unedited, unfiltered forum. It was unfiltered all right. Wait till you hear the first crank call.

CALLER: Do you think it was a bigger feat to break 2,000 yards in one season or slice three necks in one night?

SIMPSON: I'm having a little trouble, Kevin, hearing you.

MOOS: The head of marketnewsfirst was unamused.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First of all, it's not a crank question. That's a stupid joke that the caller called in.

MOOS: True, there was plenty of serious conversation about O.J.'s hunt for the real killer.

SIMPSON: There's one guy I think could have been directly involved. But I got to wait for that.

MOOS: About that Bronco chase.

SIMPSON: Who knows? I was on so such medication at the time.

MOOS: Some of the crank callers could use a little medication.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember when you played for the 49ers?

SIMPSON: Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill Bo Walsh?

SIMPSON: I tell you, I had a tough day yesterday concerning Walsh.

MOOS: Walsh was a former coach of the 49ers, who died earlier this week of leukemia. O.J. kept his cool. It was the head of marketnewsfirst, who fired back.

MARKET NEWS MANAGER: They're freaks. They're like, the cult of O.J. has arrived.

MOOS: O.J. got no money for doing four of these one-hour interviews.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, O.J. I was wondering how heavy was your cocaine usage should be a day.

SIMPSON: I never had a drug problem. The only drug I used continuously over the years was Vioxx.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who are you voting for in the next presidential election and why?

SIMPSON: Hillary Clinton. She's got my vote. I don't know if I helped you, Hillary. You probably have no chance of winning now.

MOOS: Don't expect to see that endorsement on her web site. Even candidates don't face this kind of killer question. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slice three necks in one night?

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

SANCHEZ: I'll see you right here, 10:00 p.m. eastern tonight, 7:00 pacific, of course.

"Lou Dobbs" starts right now.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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