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Bridge Collapse; Government Surveillance; The U.S. And Afghanistan; Consumer Beware
Aired August 06, 2007 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: The wrong guy. An 87-year-old retired policemen fights back. He's got the bruises to prove it, on this Monday, August 6th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Remembrance and recovery happening in Minneapolis this morning. Divers are going back into the river now. Another search for victims of the bridge collapse. Those people who died and those who are still missing in hearts and prayers everywhere. Let's go live now to our Susan Roesgen who is standing by in Minneapolis.
Good morning to you, Susan.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Today, workers on the bridge behind me will begin removing pieces of the debris. And I say piece of the debris but actually these could still be pieces of evidence. Every chunk of concrete, every piece of jagged metal might hold some kind of clue as to what caused the collapse of the bridge.
So they're going to begin removing the debris. They need to do that in order to start eventually rebuilding the bridge. And they need to do it also to allow the flow of river traffic to go through. That's been blocked ever since last Wednesday.
In the meantime, as you mentioned, the divers will be back in the water again today, again searching for those eight missing people.
Heidi.
COLLINS: So what more do we know about them? I know over the weekend there was a list released, Susan, of the missing people. Any idea? Anybody speaking with their families?
ROESGEN: Yes, we do know more about them, Heidi. And, in fact, it was the families themselves who asked the Minneapolis Police Department to release the list of the names. The families wanted people to know who they were waiting for.
One of them was a computer consultant, father of four children, whose birthday, 30th birthday, would have been Saturday.
And another story we heard this weekend, Heidi, was about the recent immigrant from Somalia. A young woman just 23 years old. She was in the car driving the car, pregnant with her two-year-old daughter strapped in the backseat.
These are the sorts of stories that the families actually want you to hear so that we can put a face to this tragedy and know what they're going through as they wait for this. You know, you wonder, how could eight people just vanish. And in four days of searching the rivers, the divers have not found any more bodies. So that's the big push certainly now, Heidi, is to find those eight missing people.
COLLINS: Yes, I can't believe how frustrating that must be really for everybody involved.
Susan Roesgen live from Minneapolis this morning.
Thank you, Susan.
It is a dangerous mission, too. Getting some backup now from Navy and FBI divers, searching for victims in the Mississippi River. We're going to be hearing from the sheriff straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Want to take you to Louisville, Kentucky, right now, for a story that is developing that we're following right now. Police are reporting there two people have been shot during a bank robbery this morning on Louisville's south side. The incident happening at a Chase bank branch. Police reporting the getaway car has been found a short distance from the bank and dogs are being used in an effort to track down two suspects.
And you can see live pictures now from our affiliate there, WHAS. One of the robbers, we understand, wore a nylon mask during the robbery. We still don't know whether money was actually taken in the robbery. The FBI is on the investigation. We will keep an eye on this situation for you right here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: An alarming number of American-supplied weapons now missing in Iraq. One hundred and ninety thousand assault rifles and pistols given to Iraqi security forces are now unaccounted for. That comes to us from a General Accounting Office report and a senior Pentagon officials tells "The Washington Post" those weapons probably being used against American troops. A previous estimate put that number of missing weapons at 14,000.
HARRIS: And a massive suicide bombing in northern Iraq this morning. At least 28 people killed, 50 others wounded. The truck bomb collapsed houses in a Shiite neighborhood near Tal Afar. Many of those killed are believe to be children.
Bomb or no bomb? Answers expected this morning in an explosive scare. Local and federal officials still sorting out what happened in Goose Creek, South Carolina, this weekend. Police arrested two men identified as Yousef Megahed and Ahmed Mohammed. Federal authorities say they are University of South Florida students. Both could face state explosive charges. We're awaiting an 11:30 Eastern news conference and we will, of course, bring that to you live for more information. Here's what we know right now. The men were in a vehicle stopped Saturday afternoon for speeding. A local law enforcement source says a bomb and bomb-making materials were in the car. Traffic was halted 10 hours and the materials were detonated. But federal authorities say there was no bomb and they don't know of any link to terrorism.
COLLINS: Emergency measures in place in Montana. Wildfires raging across much of that state. Firefighters hoping the weather will help them get the upper hand. Right now one blaze near Missoula dangerously close to homes. Residents have been evacuated. At least one house is destroyed. Evacuation orders are in place in other parts of Montana, too. The state's governor urging people in threatened areas to head to safety.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BRIAN SCHWEITZER, MONTANA: Pack up, get out, it's time. We're serious this time. We've pulled the ground crews off. At this moment you need to evacuate. And everybody in Montana, say a prayer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Some of the fires in Montana are burning near really popular tourist spots, too, including Glacier National Park. Hate to see that.
Jacqui Jeras joining us now with more on this excessive heat.
I think that's what we're looking at behind you. I don't think I've ever seen that color on your map before.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Well, a dangerous mission. And a crucial goal. Let's talk about those divers searching for bridge collapse victims. Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek is with us this morning.
Sheriff, thanks for you time this morning.
SHERIFF RICH STANEK, HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA: Yes, good morning.
HARRIS: And, sheriff, talk to us about the efforts today. We understand that you've got Navy divers, FBI divers that are on location and will be helping with the recovery mission today. Talk to us about the coordination that goes into getting these divers in the right locations and allowing them to do what they do, obviously, so well.
STANEK: Yes, this is day five of the recovery operations from the murky waters of the Mississippi River bottom. As you know, we've got up to eight people reported missing, unaccounted for. So I've asked for additional assistance, federal resources from the FBI. They're underwater evidence and recovery team. And then the Navy's underwater recovery team as well. Both of them are en route here and will be on scene and hopefully commencing operations in the next 24 hours or so, giving us a boost to try and recover and reunite the families with their loved ones and missing.
HARRIS: Yes. Hey, sheriff, is this a case of just not having enough manpower to do the job as you see fit? Or is there special expertise that comes with the FBI and Navy divers?
STANEK: Well, a couple things. One, it's not about necessarily the resources. We have plenty of divers. Our divers, as you know, have been in the water since early Thursday morning recovering submerged vehicles, checking.
But, you know, it's absolutely treacherous down there. You've got tons of concrete, debris, rebar, submerged vehicles. That's one.
And then, two, honestly, a lot of these cars are crushed and embedded in the concrete and the debris. We needed some additional help. It's day five now and as things move on, again, my only goal is to try to reunite the families with the missing and their loved ones. So I'm not afraid to ask for assistance. These folks are very good, well-trained specialists at what they do.
HARRIS: You know, sheriff, it almost sounds like it's time for you to start getting some of that heavy equipment in there to start moving these huge pieces of the infrastructure and the concrete. Are we close to the time when it's time to raise the water level to whatever's necessary and get some of those barges with some of that heavy equipment to the location?
STANEK: You know, the water level itself we've actually lowered it the last couple days to aid in the recovery efforts. We have heavy equipment staged just upriver. It's been there really since just a few hours after the disaster. The problem is, of course, that we want to try and recover those that are missing. And so when you start moving debris and stuff, it creates not necessarily the action, but the reaction of it. That's why we've asked these specialists to come in from the Navy and the FBI to aid our efforts.
HARRIS: Is part of their mission to let you know, to tell you whether or not they can actually located the missing? Or to give you a sense of whether it is, in fact, time to get some of that equipment in and that the only way to get to the missing is to move some of this heavy debris out of the way?
STANEK: Well, at this point, the only way to get at them will be to move the heavy debris out of the way. We've done everything else surrounding the waters itself. Again, we've located vehicles submerged on both sides of the collapsed bridge. But, you know, it's time to take it to the next step and that's what these professionals are trained to do.
HARRIS: All right. Sheriff Stanek, we appreciate your time this morning. And, boy, the long job and the great work of your team so far and the huge job still ahead.
Sheriff, thank you.
STANEK: OK. Thank you. COLLINS: Intensive training for Iraqi forces on maneuvers in the United States, as they prepared to face insurgents back home.
HARRIS: Also consumer beware.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And there are a lot of unsuspecting people buying products today that are dangerous for American families.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The battle to protect you and your family. New concerns the government is losing ground.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Jeanne Meserve in Washington.
A big win for the president on warrantless wiretapping. That story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And skip the canned green beans, at least until you find out about the big recall. Huh, they may be tasty, but they may also be toxic. The story ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Hi, everybody. Welcome back. I'm Heidi Collins. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Explosives scare in South Carolina. New details expected later this morning. The latest on the two men in custody and the charges they may face, ahead right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to take you to Louisville, Kentucky, now and this bank robbery that we've been telling you about this morning where apparently, according to the Associated Press, two people have been shot. We do not know what condition they are in at this time. We have no information on that.
But we do know, again, according to the Associated Press, a bank robbery at a Chase bank in Louisville, Kentucky. Suspects still on the loose. So, obviously, a major concern. Police say they're looking for two. Actually using dogs to try and find them.
They did find the getaway car not very far from the scene. But again, those suspects on the use. Apparently used a nylon mask in the middle of all of this.
And don't really know if any money has been taken or not. So the FBI has now joined in on this investigation and will be helping to hopefully bring it to a close.
Once again, two people shot in Louisville, Kentucky. A bank robbery there. We're going to continue to follow that and bring you any new developments.
HARRIS: Listening in on phone calls, monitoring e-mails without warrants. A new law expanding the government's powers targeting suspected terrorists. CNN's Jeanne Meserve with more.
Jeanne, good morning to you.
What is in this revised plan? I guess the question is, what can the government do now that it couldn't do before?
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what this law does is it gives the authority to the attorney general and the director of National Intelligence to approve surveillance of overseas terrorists. Before it had to go to the -- it was believed it had to go to the FISA court. There was some dispute about that. But now it gives that authority to the attorney general and the director of National Intelligence.
Some people, some Democrats, and some civil liberty advocates are upset about this. They think that it opens the door to the possibility of warrantless surveillance on Americans. They want to revisit this. Right now the American Civil Liberties Union is calling this -- saying that the Democratic Congress was strong armed here because it didn't want to be portrayed as being soft on terrorist and the president was pressuring them to do something before they went out on recess. And they're accusing the president of fear mongering. He, of course, very much wanted this change in legislation and pushed for it extraordinarily hard.
Tony.
HARRIS: Well, Jeanne, it will be revisited, won't it? But perhaps not as soon as some of these groups would like.
MESERVE: Well, it will be revisited. Right now this is only in effect for six months. It would have to be reauthorized beyond that. The president wants to come back and revisit it because he wants a much broader system of revisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. He and the rest of the administration claim that this is very much outdated.
It was a law passed in 1978. Technology has changed significantly since then. So they want to come back. They want something bigger.
In addition, you have those civil liberty advocates and some Democrats saying they want to come back and take a closer look because they don't like the fact that what they have passed here -- what has been signed into law gives so much authority to the DNI and to the attorney general.
HARRIS: Yes. CNN's Jeanne Meserve for us this morning.
Jeanne, appreciate it. Thank you.
MESERVE: You bet. And still to come, Afghanistan, a country in crisis. Can its leader rein in the radicals?
And he is 87, but his age didn't keep a retired policeman from taking on a mugger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I got hit and pushed into that bush, I knew that I was in for a scrap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Yes, there's the evidence. Look, he may be bruised, but the other guy? Well, he's behind bars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Look, we are still following the Associated Press reporting of the story out of Louisville, Kentucky, this morning of a bank robbery in which two people have been shot. It happened at Louisville's south side at a bank branch, the Chase bank branch there.
We have some information on the condition of those who were wounded. One person in stable condition, another person with injuries that are described as non-life-threatening. Both people being treated at a local Louisville hospital right now.
But right now the search continues for the suspect or suspects involved in this. One of the robbers we understand wore a nylon mask during the robbery. And the getaway car -- I believe this may be what we're looking at here -- was located a short distance away from the bank. And dogs are being used right now to sort of track down the two suspects.
Again, this is a situation we're going to be following. Two people injured. One person in stable condition, the other with what's described as non-life-threatening injuries being treated at a local Louisville hospital. This as a result of a bank robbery there, the south side of Louisville, at a Chase bank branch. We will continue to follow this story for you in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: President Bush holds a news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai this morning. They're wrapping up two days of talks. Here now CNN's Suzanne Malveaux.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai sits in the middle of what is often referred to as the forgotten front in the war on terror. Six year after the U.S. routed al Qaeda and its Taliban supporters from the country, he is besieged by crises.
PRES. HAMID KARZAI, AFGHANISTAN: The security situation in Afghanistan over the past two years has definitely deteriorated. MALVEAUX: The Taliban has resurged as a powerful militia, aimed at destroying his government's fragile democracy. And the mastermind of the September 11th attacks is still nowhere to be found.
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are dedicating significant resources to trying to find him.
KARZAI: We are not closer, we are not further away from it. Where are where we were a few years ago.
MALVEAUX: President Bush's two-day summit with Karzai is aimed at taking stock as to where Afghanistan is today. It is not a pretty picture. One of the reasons why, U.S. officials say, is the role of Afghanistan's neighbor, Pakistan. Its leader, Pervez Musharraf, made a deal with tribal chiefs to go after the terrorists along the border, but it ultimately backfired. Now the border has become a breeding ground for an emboldened al Qaeda.
KARZAI: They've right now kidnapped Korean citizens. They have killed international security forces. That is exactly what we are trying to prevent. That's exactly what we are try to do together with Pakistan.
MALVEAUX: With some $10 billion of U.S. aid invested in Afghanistan, and some 20,000 troops, President Bush is pressing for greater progress. But Karzai's allegiance is not just with the U.S.
KARZAI: So far Iran has been a helper and a solution.
MALVEAUX: Tthat alliance concerns U.S. officials, who believe Iran is trying to undermine this pro-American government.
GATES: I think they're doing some things to help the Afghan government. I think they're also doing things to help the Taliban, including provides weapons.
MALVEAUX: Following President Bush and Karzai's Camp David summit, Karzai will meet with Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf later in the week to try to reinforce the need for their government to cooperate in going after the terrorists.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: President Bush and Karzai are to hold a news conference a bit later this morning, 11:25. It will be coming out of Camp David and we will carry it live for you right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: An agency created to protect American consumers, hard to do when there's not enough staff, not enough money. CNN's Gary Nurenberg has a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): The government's Consumer Products Safety Commission has negotiated major recalls this summer, including more than 3 million Chinese-made Fisher-Price and Thomas the train toys. Too much lead.
SEN. DICK DURBIN, (D) ILLINOIS: And there are a lot of unsuspecting people buying products today that are dangerous for American families.
NURENBERG: Illinois Senator Richard Durbin believes the CPSC don't have the budget or authority it needs to protect consumers.
DURBIN: In terms of effort, I'd give them a high grade. But in terms of performance, I'm afraid it's a failing grade.
NURENBERG: CPSC Commissioner Thomas Moore says budget cuts are causing employees to look for other jobs because "they have no confidence the agency will continue to exist or will exist in any meaningful form."
RACHEL WEINTRAUB, CONSUMER FEDERATION OF AMERICA: Consumers should not panic, but they should be wary.
NURENBERG: Rachel Weintraub is with the Consumer Federation of America.
WEINTRAUB: The budget of the Consumer Products Safety Commission was essentially decimated in the early '80s. And the commission has never really gotten back to what it was before that time.
NURENBERG: And since that time, foreign imports have soared, particularly from China.
JULIE VALLESE CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION: The CPSC has been sending technical staff to China, meeting with manufacturers, educating them, letting them know that the CPSC and the U.S. marketplace has laws, has rules, has regulations.
NURENBERG: But the agency still operates with significant impediments. It is supposed to have three commissioners. It is supposed to have three commissioners. It only has two. It took a congressional act last week to allow the CPSC to perform many of its functioning with only two commissioners. And then only until January. The agency has asked for additional money and power. In the meantime . . .
WEINTRAUB: Americans need to be on heightened alert.
NURENBERG: Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still ahead, on the scene of disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I turn around and looked at the rest of the crew members and I said, you guys, the whole bridge is gone. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Saving lives in the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Rescuers talk about their own fears.
COLLINS: Also, tragedy at a fishing spot in Oklahoma. A five- year-old boy. Was he killed by a stray bullet fired by a police officer?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: And just past the half hour, welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Good morning to you once again, everything. We've been talking about the situation in Louisville, Kentucky, where we have learned of a bank robbery, where we believe two people have been shot. This information coming to us from the associated press.
So now, we want to learn more and the very latest coming to up now from Phil Russell. He's with the Louisville Metro Police.
Phil, can you hear me OK?
PHIL RUSSELL, LOUISVILLE METRO POLICE: Yes, I can. Thank you.
COLLINS: Can you tell us what the latest is? The two people that were shot, do you know their condition?
RUSSELL: Apparently one of them has non-life-threatening injuries. The other is apparently in serious condition at University of Louisville Hospital here in Louisville.
COLLINS: OK. Can you confirm for us some of the details in all of this now? We've been hearing this was a bank robbery. We're looking at some of the live pictures, just so you know -- I'm not sure you can see them -- of the Chase Bank there, that you guys have found a getaway car and are looking for two suspects on the loose.
RUSSELL: Right, the information we have is there were two black male suspects, apparently somewhere in their 20s, late teens, they entered the bank shortly after it opened, displayed a handgun, demanding cash, apparently received cash, but shots were fired, wounding two, the employees. They did flee in a vehicle that's been recovered. Our investigators are currently processing that vehicle, as well as the scene here at the bank and working in coordination with the FBI.
COLLINS: Well, I assume being that they had a weapon and fired the weapon, that these guys are considered very dangerous. Any roads cordoned off? Or what's being done to actually track them down?
RUSSELL: Certainly. We are canvassing the neighborhoods and currently speaking with witnesses. We do have canine out conducting a track, attempting to locate their last known whereabouts.
COLLINS: What's that car going to help you with? I imagine, when you say they're processing it, they're going through it with a fine-tooth comb, trying to find any type of evidence?
RUSSELL: Certainly. They'll process that for the obvious evidence, fingerprints and such, determine where the car is registered to, that sort of thing, but mostly it will help in at least determining through canine tracking where they last fled from that vehicle.
COLLINS: Quickly, Phil, do you have any idea if there was money actually taken from the bank? We've had sort of some conflicting reports on that.
RUSSELL: Right, it's still too early in the investigation to determine that. We're attempting to determine that right now.
COLLINS: OK, well, best to you in the investigation, and certainly in trying to get them apprehended. Again, two people injured in all of this, two employees shot at that Chase Bank there in Louisville, Kentucky. Phil Russell with the Louisville Metro Police, thank you.
HARRIS: And we want to update our other top story this hour. Taking the recovery in Minneapolis to the next step. The sheriff says Army and Navy divers are headed to the site of that tragic bridge collapse. You heard those comments just moments ago in the NEWSROOM. local divers heading back into the river this morning.
As the search goes on, eight people are still missing. The victims remembered in a prayer service last night, the governor telling us this morning those lost in the tragedy will be recovered, quote, "respectfully."
COLLINS: Dozens of people injured in the Minneapolis bridge collapse. Many carried out of the wreckage by first-responders.
CNN's Ed Lavandera introduces us to a few of the heroes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These are the firefighters of Minneapolis station 11, reliving the moment when they heard the words "engine 11 rescue 9 bridge collapse."
RAUL RAMOS, MINNEAPOLIS FIRE DEPT.: When we first heard it, we thought it was just maybe a walkway or a small portion, not the whole bridge.
ROB SAYERS, MINNEAPOLIS FIRE DEPT.: I turned around and looked at the rest of the crew members. And I said you guys, the whole bridge is gone.
RAYMOND SAMBRIO, MINNEAPOLIS FIRE DEPT.: There's almost like everyone was trying to just take in what had just happened and what they were witnessing.
JACKSON MILIKEN (ph), MINNEAPOLIS FIRE DEPT.: My name is Jackson Miliken. I'm a Minneapolis firefighter, rescue 9, station 11. I was scared running under the last section of bridge section. I was like please don't fall, I don't want to get squashed.
RAMOS: It felt so surreal, you know, like you're in a nightmare or you know, a bad Stephen King movie or something. Raul Ramos, Minneapolis fire station 11.
SAYERS: My name is Robert Sayers. The sight of it literally took my breath away.
SAMBRIO: Raymond Sambrio, engine 11, station 11, Minneapolis fire. Even though we weren't moving slow, I know that we were moving at a very rapid pace. You still felt like you maybe weren't moving fast enough.
RAMOS: I kind of remember stumbling, going down the cliff a little bit, but your adrenaline is going. And you focus on what have you've got to do, but I had to focus in on getting in the water, and saving anybody in those cars that I could, and helping the people on the bridge.
SAMBRIO: At one point, there were chunks of cement starting to pop off of those pillars, those beams. And we thought that for sure that section was going to collapse.
SAYERS: I think about all the victims and their families, really. I was at home and saw the interview with Mr. Engerbritzen (ph), who lost his wife, and realized that there was a woman that we tried to resuscitate and were unable to do so. And when I tied the two together, realizing that that was his wife that we brought up the embankment, it was very tough emotionally.
MILIKEN (ph): At one point, my left leg just stops, just as I'm about to turn in and walk in on all this stuff. And my left leg just stops. And I -- it was fear. I didn't want to go in there. I didn't want to die.
SAMBRIO: There were broken jagged pieces of cement and twisted steel. And you had to be careful.
RAMOS: We seen a bunch of victims. We started helping loading them up to back of pickup trucks, ambulances.
MILIKEN (ph): There was one woman that had -- she was in the car with another passenger. And her foot, both of her legs were broken above the ankle. And when I mean broken, I mean at right angles. But I just looked her in the eye and I said I need your help to save our lives because we've got stuff that can fall on us at any second. I need your help to get you out. And she understood immediately.
RAMOS: You don't really think about being scared or you don't think about any dangers to yourself. SAYERS: A couple of us firefighters have talked. And we've kind of looked at it as though it felt as though we were in a movie. But it wasn't, it wasn't a movie, it wasn't play, and it was all real.
SAMBRIO: It's a lifetime event, I would say. Absolutely.
LAVANDERA: These are the firefighters of station 11.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Minneapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(NEWSBREAK)
HARRIS: Three friends killed execution-style. Now the hunt for suspects in New Jersey.
COLLINS: Devastating floods in South Asia. Food, medicine dribbling in, but is it too late for some areas?
HARRIS: Skip the canned green beans, at least until you find out about the big recall. Sure they may be tasty, but they may also be toxic.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
(BUSINESS HEADLINES)
HARRIS; A massive suicide bombing in northern Iraq this morning. At least 28 people killed, 50 others wounded. The truck bomb collapsed houses in a Shiite neighborhood near Tal Afar. Many of those killed are believed to be children.
COLLINS: Iraqi forces get a crash course in fighting insurgents. They're training a long way from home.
CNN's Chris Lawrence reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's an all-out assault on the river bank. Three troops pinned down by insurgent fire. Two teams of Iraqi police race to the rescue. Only these bullets aren't real, and this isn't the Tigris River, but the pearl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember when the first boat comes off the beach.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They want to stop shooting so the other boat can come on in there.
LAWRENCE: These Iraqi police officers have traveled more than 7,000 miles to Mississippi, to learn how to patrol the rivers that run through Baghdad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you're backing off the beach.
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't throttle it; just give it a little bit.
LAWRENCE: It's a crash course for this class of 11 officers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some of them have just been assigned to the river patrol for the first time and have never driven a boat before.
LAWRENCE: So the missions don't always work.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He came in a little over-exuberant, so to speak, and got his engine stuck on the bottom and killed the engines.
LAWRENCE: Only a few hundred Iraqi police currently patrol the Tigris and Euphrates, and insurgents have been using the rivers to launch attacks.
(on camera): Back in Iraq they don't have enough boats and/or equipment to spare, so this level of training would be difficult, if not impossible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fine line between, you know, real bullets flying over your head and trying to practice something.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): Here, Naval special warfare instructors teach them how to board suspicious vessels and evade ambush on the river banks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): This is for my country.
LAWRENCE: This police officer says he has learned not only tactics, but how you to trust his team.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I'm not scared at all, especially after this training. We're learning how to be more confident to deal with insurgency in Iraq.
LAWRENCE: Back home, he'll have to be, because the bullets there could be just as loud and lethal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Still ahead, excitement at the ballpark, major league milestone -- some of the baseball's biggest stars take their game to a new level. Gimme that!
COLLINS: And speaking of a new level, somebody left a thermostat on broil, I think. Dangerous heat settles over places like St. Louis, Dallas and Atlanta. Live to the weather center, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
JACQUI JERAS, CNN mediastinoscopy: I'm Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Severe Weather Center. Renewed rain showers in the Tucson area has prompted a new flash flood warning. The latest on that. And a major heat wave affect ago good third of the country. Details on how long that will last, coming up.
COLLINS: Trapped by poverty, and now floodwaters. One of the world's poorest regions deals with an annual misery.
HARRIS: Also, explosive scare in South Carolina. New details expected later this morning, the latest on the two men in custody and the charges they may face.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Just another reminder for you, Presidents Bush and Karzai are to hold a news conference this morning at Camp David. It is scheduled for 11:25 a.m. Eastern Time, and we will bring it to you right here in the NEWSROOM.
South Asia hit by intense flooding. Aid is coming in, but not fast enough.
CNN's Frivol Ryan (ph) has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRIVOL RYAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Relief workers use helicopters to get badly needed food and medical supplies to stranded villagers. Some 300 people are now believed to dead as the worst monsoon season in living memory leaves millions in India, Bangladesh and Nepal cut off from the outside world.
NITISH KUMAN, CHIEF MIN., EASTERN BIHAR STATE (through translator): We are air dropping relief material at places surrounded completely by flood waters. At others places we are reaching relief on boats. Efforts are on a well (ph) footing.
RYAN: Reporter: But despite the optimism, aid officials are worried that disease could claim even more lives than the flooding themselves. Doctors are trying to reach victims in effort to prevent outbreaks of measles and dengue fever. But for many of those trapped by the flood, they're even more urgent needs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Everyday the water is rising four fingers in height. I've been staying at home. Now the water is up to my chest in my house.
RYAN: Some of those killed were reportedly crushed by collapsing buildings, or washed away by flash floods or landslides.
PIYUSH, FLOODING WITNESS (through translator): There was rain in the mountains, and then because of that there was a flash food. The villagers had asked people to stay away from the place, but they did not listen, and suddenly they were washed away. RYAN: Despite the all-out rescue effort, the reality is that there simply aren't enough boats and helicopters to get aid to the millions who need it.
With many roads washed away, the sad truth is that many in the region will have to fend for themselves for some time yet.
Frivol Ryan, CNN, Atlanta.
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