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Hurricane Dean Downgraded to Category 2; 'Growing Up Diana'; 'Three Amigos Summit'

Aired August 21, 2007 - 11:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. You're with CNN.
I'm Heidi Collins. Tony is back tomorrow.

Meanwhile, developments keep coming into the CNN NEWSROOM on Tuesday, August 21st.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Dean plowing across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula at this hour. The hurricane made landfall as a Category 5 storm, 165-mile-an-hour winds.

And NASA planning to bring the space shuttle home next hour. Endeavour's mission cut short by a day to avoid a run-in with Dean.

The landing, live, in the NEWSROOM.

A massive storm tearing things up along Mexico's Yucatan coast. New developments this hour on Hurricane Dean. The storm downgraded just moments ago to Category 2.

It came ashore this morning as a rare Category 5 storm, with 165- mile-an-hour winds. Right now, though, with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles an hour, we are still talking about a major storm.

The tropical system, about the size of Texas. Though Dean has been downgraded, the other side of the Yucatan Peninsula is still expected to get a big hit. The storm is expected to gain strength as it moves out over the open water.

Dean is on the move, and we are tracking it all the way with our reporters everywhere along the storm's path. And one of those reporters/meteorologists at the hurricane headquarters for us, Reynolds Wolf, who has just told us a few seconds ago, Category 2 now.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Category 2, but we don't want anyone to really be lulled to a sense of complacency here, to really relax just yet, because if you happen to be in the Yucatan, you still have a big afternoon to deal with, and a big evening as well.

Kind of hard to see, just sort of the last couple of hours, how this thing has been deteriorating unless you really focus on that eye. In fact, watch it. Pretty well defined. Then when it comes on shore, just vanishes altogether, and it just collapses as the storm weakens because it's a way from that warm water, its big energy source. Now, even though it has weakened, it still is bringing some heavy surf to much of the coast. We're seeing not only that, but some heavy rainfall. And coupled with the rain and the surf, you're going to have some strong wind closer to that center of circulation, which is still just now to the west of Belize and east of the Bay of Campeche.

You're still going to have some winds that are going to be well over 100 miles per hour. But the further out you go, the weaker the winds will become.

Notice, though, with these feeder bands that are spinning around, you had a little bit of a break with some dry air near Cancun. But that has passed through and now you've got another line that's going to drift right through Cancun, southward into Cozumel. So, a few storms there, some heavy rain.

The surf will continue to pull around, that counterclockwise flow, around the center of circulation. But even though as we mentioned the storm has weakened, it is expected to punch out on the other side of the peninsula. When that happens, guess what's waiting for it? A minimum shear environment with plenty of warm water, which means we do anticipate the storm will strengthen once again.

As it stands, maximum sustained winds are at 105 miles per hour. So we're over the center (ph) mark there.

The storm is going to weaken further. In fact, by the time it punches out on the other side the Yucatan, we're looking at a storm that is going to be a very, very weak Category 2, or, rather, a strong Category 1. Regardless, it should be a Category 2 storm, according to this forecast, by 8:00 tonight.

And then as it moves deeper into the Bay of Campeche, still a Category 2. That's what we're looking at. However, it may get a little bit stronger. May stay about the same, depending on how fast that forward progress is going to be.

Then as we cross over into 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, it should be a tropical storm, winds weakening to 60 miles an hour. Again, because it's moving back inland.

And then, stalling out by the time we get to 8:00 a.m. Thursday by -- with winds around 30 miles an hour, but the wind not really a big factor by that point. We're looking at an issue of heavy, heavy rainfall and some flooding as the system has that potential of stalling out over parts of central Mexico.

But that's not the only game in town.

We're also watching at the same time some development a little bit further to the north and northeast, not far from Florida. This has the potential of becoming the next system in the Atlantic, and they're watching this one very carefully as well.

We'll send it back to you.

COLLINS: The old one-two punch. I don't think we like the sound of that.

WOLF: The old one-two punch. The next one would be Felix, by the way.

COLLINS: OK, Felix. Boy, let's not move ahead there yet if we don't have to.

WOLF: Good idea.

COLLINS: All right. Reynolds Wolf, thank you.

Live now to our Rob Marciano. He is riding out Dean in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico, and has the very latest.

Still awfully windy where you are, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Still windy. Rain has let up just a little bit. And the waves continue to pound from behind me.

And the main -- the main force of this storm, for this vantage point, has been the storm surge and the pounding surf. So that's what you're seeing.

And it's still -- my God, look at that. Still huge waves coming in here. Huge waves.

Oh, man, wow. I mean, it's like -- that's -- that's -- these are 20, 25-foot breakers, really. It's like the north shore of Hawaii, coupled with -- you know, just when there's a lull, just when you think this storm's done, Dean's done, another huge set of waves comes crashing into this part of the shore.

And you know, now we're like 150 miles away from the center of this storm. It's nowhere near us. But yet, the winds continue to fill in the backside of this system. And the waves continue to follow the winds. And that means they're just pounding here across the Mayan Riviera.

And it's a pretty rocky shoreline. But nonetheless, there is damage up and down this hotel property. And you'd rest assured this is not the only resort in the area that has seen substantial damage.

And there's a lot of tourists here just riding out the storm. And now they're starting to come out. They're starting to do a little bit of storm watching. They're starting to take some pictures.

They're looking at this Caribbean, going, hey, that's just not what it looked like yesterday. And, well, definitely a different day today, that's for sure. But things beginning to brighten as far as the sky's concerned, Heidi.

The winds are a little bit lighter. The waves are just as big. So it looks like this surf's going to take some -- quite sometime before it begins to calm down. A lot of debris in this surf from all the things that the Caribbean has torn apart thanks to Hurricane Dean and its ferocious wind and pounding waves. Quite a sight to behold, no doubt about that. Still several hours to go before this thing winds down here, at least from my vantage point, Heidi.

Back up to you.

COLLINS: So did you say, Rob, that you're thinking -- your best guess, as you stand right there in front of those waves, 20 to 25-foot breakers?

MARCIANO: Yes, I mean -- yes. I mean, parts of this, especially because we're broadcasting via broadband, it's really hard to see what I'm seeing.

COLLINS: It is.

MARCIANO: But these are just massive, massive waves breaking over the top of other waves. So I wouldn't want to be out there, I'll tell you that. I mean, I know how to swim and all, but forget it. You could put a world class swimmer out there and they'd have a harm time staying afloat, all that foam and turbulent water. Really...

COLLINS: Hey, Rob, people have seen you -- people have seen you covering hurricanes before. And also, obviously, worth a mention, you are a meteorologist.

When you talk about a 20-to-25-foot breaker, put this in perspective for us. We've already spoken here about how rare it is for a hurricane to reach Category 5. It's only happened three times. With the other storms that you have been witness to, explain how massive this thing is, because of specifically how far away you are now from the eye of it, 150 miles you said.

MARCIANO: Well, a lot of it has to do with the symmetry or the way the ocean floor, you know, rises up to meet this coastline. You've got a situation where, like, Hurricane Katrina and Rita, they didn't have these huge, huge breakers because of the way that the ocean floor is shaped.

You'll get big breakers like this in even smaller storms that come up the Atlantic seaboard, say the Carolina coastline or Long Island or Cape Cod. So every storm is definitely different and every location where storms come ashore has its own little characteristics that will do certain things to the land and certain things to the wave. But I think what is most surprising and amazing to me and amazing to anyone who's on the shore watching this now is how calm this sea is on a typical day.

I mean, everybody's seen postcards of the Caribbean. And it doesn't look like this. That's for sure.

COLLINS: No, nice and still.

All right. Rob, we certainly appreciate your perspective from where you are there in Puerto Aventuras, Mexico. I'm sure we will check back with you a little bit later on. Thanks, Rob.

Hurricane Dean, as you know, was a Category 5 storm when it first roared ashore on Mexico's Yucatan coast. That is the strongest hurricane there is, with winds faster than 155 miles per hour.

It is rare for storms to reach Category 5. In fact, as we just mentioned, only three hurricanes that strong have ever made landfall in the U.S. since records have been kept.

Those were the Labor Day hurricane back in 1935. It hit the Florida Keys.

Then Hurricane Camille devastated Mississippi in 1969. And most recently, Hurricane Andrew hit Florida in 1992. It ranks as one of the most destructive storms ever.

Want to get to the Midwest now. A day to clean up there after several days of devastating rains and deadly flooding.

Many roads are still closed. Sidewalks now blanketed with mud. The flooding is blamed for at least 20 deaths in Oklahoma, Texas and Minnesota.

A Minnesota man, in fact, is still missing. His car was found in a creek.

Floodwaters are receding in southwestern Wisconsin. That region got several inches of rain over the weekend, turning quiet countryside into lakes.

Crops and houses under water, and people who left their homes in a hurry, some through the roofs, could go back home today. Some say they lost everything in the flood, though, and more rain could be on the way.

When weather becomes the news, count on CNN to bring it to you first. And if you see severe weather happening in your area, send us an I-Report. Just go to CNN.com and click on "I-Report" or type ireport@CNN.com right into your cell phone. You can share your photos or video with us that way.

Rescue effort just to risky. That's the finding of a panel of mining experts. They say a Utah mine is too unstable to resume underground digging for six trapped miners. The underground search operation was suspended after three rescuers were killed in a cave-in on Thursday.

Families of the missing men want a hole drilled to send down a rescue capsule from above, but mine operators aren't ready to take that step.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB MURRAY, PRESIDENT & CEO, MURRAY ENERGY CORP.: If there is not a live person down there, the risks of sending someone down a 30- inch hole 2,000 feet deep would not justify any rescue effort unless we find someone alive.

STEVE ALLRED, BROTHER OF TRAPPED MINER: They're basically giving up. And that's unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable. I can't live with that, his family can't live with that. We've got -- one way or the other, we've got to have closure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The miners have been missing for two weeks now.

Well, all systems are go, at least at this point. A live shot there. The sky's waiting for the space shuttle Endeavour to return to Earth. One day early, though.

The impact of Hurricane Dean on the shuttle mission, we'll tell you all about it.

Plus, a quarterback runs out of room. Michael Vick makes a move that will likely send him to prison -- copping a plea.

There's no recall, but Wal-Mart has quietly stopped selling two kinds of dog treats. We'll tell you why.

And it looked like a fairytale, but it was a very different story. New details on the life of Princess Diana.

Our special, "Growing Up Diana".

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Let's go ahead and check in with the New York Stock Exchange, the Big Board.

Dow Jones Industrial Average down about 35 points or so, resting at 13,086. Nasdaq, I'm told, also down a couple of points. Comparing that to yesterday's close, up 42.

Still some time to go here obviously before the close of the market. We'll continue to follow our business stories.

Susan Lisovicz standing by with more on that a little bit later on.

Want to go ahead and get you updated now on Hurricane Dean. Reynolds Wolf is standing by in the hurricane center with the very, very latest.

All right. It still looks absolutely huge, but we have been told it's downgraded a bit to Category 2, but may not stay that way for long.

WOLF: You're right about that. You know, let's start with the good news first.

And the good news is that places like Cancun and Cozumel will get a lot of people, a lot of friends that are staying there at this time. We're very concerned in that area, but it does appear that for now, the worst -- the storm has pushed to the south and southwest and moving west in many other locations like towards Belize City.

They were just rocked by some heavy -- heavy winds, some heavy rain falling. Of course that pounding surf and storm surge was just unbelievable there.

And Cancun, although we had Rob Marciano a while ago, who was reporting live, and they had a little bit of sunshine, they may still deal with some rainfall yet. And still, the surf there is going to pound for quite a while.

But this storm, the core of it, has begun to weaken considerably. As we mentioned, we've gone from a Category 5, downgraded to a Category 2. It's away from its primary source, that warm water, so it should weaken a little bit more. But still, it's going to bring that heavy rainfall and that strong wind, and, of course, some storm surge as it crosses back out into the Bay of Campeche by 8:00 this evening, with winds around 100 miles per hour.

Strengthening a bit more by 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, with winds of 110. And then moving on shore by the time we get to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday. It looks like Wednesday is going to be right around 60. So a tropical storm, and then a depression as we get to 8:00 a.m. Thursday, winds of 30 miles an hour.

But, Heidi, as we've always said when it comes to these storms, they're fickle, they don't move from point to point.

COLLINS: Yes.

WOLF: They wobble. So we're going to watch it very carefully and just take it hour by hour, minute by minute.

COLLINS: So hard to predict. You guys have been doing just a fabulous job.

So, Reynolds Wolf, we will continue to check in with you. Thanks so much.

WOLF: You bet.

COLLINS: Princess Diana's story, you may think you've heard it all, but our Soledad O'Brien got some new details from Diana's close friends.

Detail on the new CNN Special Investigations Unit documentary "Growing up Diana".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She does seem to have been left completely alone through that period, actually, in the run-up to the wedding. She was very much moved into Clarence House and then left alone.

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Isolated from friends, family, even Prince Charles, who was preoccupied with other commitments, including his ex-girlfriend, Camilla Parker Bowles.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a tough night for her.

O'BRIEN: Mary Robertson (ph) knew something was wrong the minute she saw Diana at a private pre-wedding celebration. It turns out, just days before, Diana has discovered a bracelet Charles bought for Camilla. That and frequent phone conversations between the two crushed Diana.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After the receiving line, she just disappeared upstairs. So she knew that night that Camilla wasn't out of his life. And she just couldn't face the crowds.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I think it just built up doubt in her mind. And I think that was -- that's when it got difficult for her. She had misgivings the night before the wedding, big time.

O'BRIEN (on camera): What did she say?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Soledad O'Brien joining us now.

All right, Soledad. So what did she say?

O'BRIEN: Well, I'm not going to give it away and tell you, you'll have to watch the documentary for that. But what she said was very surprising. And I think a lot of her close friends who she was having very candid conversations with were very concerned if she really understood what she was taking on by marrying into the royal family.

You know, again, they call this "The Firm," not because it was a warm and cuddly family. And Diana's upbringing, as we discover in our documentary, was very different from Charles's upbringing. And as much as people even said she was very much in love with him, it was not destined to work out.

We really explore sort of the things that happened leading up to the wedding and what should have been a fairytale relationship that really turned out not to be.

COLLINS: Yes. Surprising to hear, too, that she was pretty much alone leading up to the wedding.

Why was that?

O'BRIEN: You know, it's interesting. A lot of that was for her own protection.

You have to keep in mind, first of all, she was 19 years old. Nineteen years old when she was going to eventually become the most photographed woman in the world just a few months after her wedding. And so for her own protection, they brought her into the protection of the palace so that the media would stop hounding her, stop having constant access to her. Before that, she was in an apartment, she would come and go as she wanted to, jump into her little car after she'd shoo photographers out of the way. So they couldn't have that once their engagement had been officially announced.

So, a lot of that was to actually protect her really from the press. But what it also served to do was to cut her off from her close friends.

She couldn't just sort of bop out, jump out and go see her friends anymore, and she ended up being ensconced in the palace, which was very, very difficult for her. It was also, I think, in some ways, a foreshadowing of what was to come, in some ways a message, stay there, do this, and let's not really hear from you.

As we all know, that was not the way Diana saw her own future. And you saw the rubbing between Diana and the monarchy.

COLLINS: Yes. Wow. It will be an interesting story, for sure.

Thanks so much, Soledad.

Want to remind everybody, you can see all of Soledad O'Brien's report tonight, "Growing Up Diana". It will be coming your way, 8:00 tonight, 8:00 Eastern, that is, a Special Investigations Unit documentary, only on CNN.

Still ahead in the NEWSROOM, she left her sanctuary and left herself open to arrest. An immigration activist deported.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Suzanne Malveaux in Gatineau, Canada, where we are covering the so-called "Three Amigos Summit".

I'll have more of that coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Border security, one of several topics President Bush is discussing with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts.

White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is in Gatineau, Quebec, this morning.

Suzanne, good morning to you.

MALVEAUX: Good morning, Heidi.

Well, the impact of Hurricane Dean can be felt as far here as Canada. This is the so-called "Summit of the Three Amigos". One of those amigos leaving early. That is, Mexican's President Felipe Calderon is going to be leaving early to deal with the aftermath of that catastrophic Category 5 storm.

Now, the whole -- the whole schedule has been condensed and moved up a couple of hours to accommodate his early departure. Already, President Bush has talked with him about the possibility of U.S. aid to help him out in the aftermath. There's a team of USAID workers that are on the ground at the Yucatan Peninsula to help with that cleanup effort.

Now, as for the summit itself, it has attracted several thousand protesters yesterday who clamored, some of them, clashing with police in riot gear, throwing rocks and bottles, tomatoes, things of that. Mostly a peaceful protests, just a handful of arrests. And what they're doing, they're protesting anything from the Canadian troops that are in Afghanistan, to some who say that this conference is all about what they call cowboy capitalism, coming in and merging, trying to take over the sovereignty of Canada and Mexico.

In terms of the summit issues themselves, we expect to hear from all three leaders in about 20 minutes or so. And we don't expect any major announcements here. This is really about discussions. And it's focused, centered around the possibility of trying to move trade, people and goods, as quickly and as efficiently across the borders as possible, while at the same time not jeopardizing security.

And Heidi, it is unbelievable when you think about it, $2.4 billion worth of commerce that is traded throughout these three countries in a day. So this is what they're focusing on -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes. And interesting, too, Suzanne, that we see the protesters and so forth. It seems like it must be frustrating for the leaders, because obviously border security and immigration has been such huge, huge topics talked about in the past, I would say, last couple of years now.

MALVEAUX: A huge topic. And also what is really frustrating, as well, you've heard some of the presidential candidates to talk about it, and that is the failure of NAFTA.

On the one hand, you have U.S. officials who say it was done well, this is a 13-year-old initiative that has happened and it has doubled the trade between these two countries in the tune of $980 billion-plus a year, just last year. But at the same time, after 9/11, you've had a lot of these policies that have really clamped down on the border, tightened the border security, and that has really prevented a lot of what that openness of trade of NAFTA was supposed to accomplish -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Sure. All right. Understood.

Suzanne Malveaux for us in Gatineau, Quebec, this morning, traveling with the president.

Thanks so much, Suzanne.

And just a reminder, because this press conference has moved around just a little bit with the time, so a reminder now that when the president speaks, along with Canada's prime minister and Mexico's president, we will bring it to you live. Scheduled for noon now.

You heard Suzanne say that Felipe Calderon may be leaving early because of Hurricane Dean. Likely the reason that this has moved a bit earlier.

We will have it for you live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A massive storm, major impact. Hurricane Dean slams into Mexico. The latest developments live from the storm's path.

This is CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

Dean trims a day off the shuttle's trip. We just got the official word, Endeavour is heading hole. We cover the landing live, 12:32 Eastern, right here in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony has the day off today.

OK, so we want to tell you all about this, just in here to CNN. We have learned and we have confirmed that the Space Shuttle Endeavour is, in fact, going to make that window. Oftentimes they provide several different windows for a space shuttle to return to earth. The first one, with a landing time of 12:32 Eastern, has been confirmed. That's what they're going to go for. Let's go ahead and listen to the announcement coming straight from NASA.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Endeavour good for orbit burn, no further turn required.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Copy good for orbit burn, no further turn.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Endeavour's de-orbit burn is complete. Endeavour and her crew on her way back to earth and the Kennedy Space Center.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: You have to wonder sometimes if the family is ever allowed in the control center there to listen to that announcement, because I think there would be a lot of hooting and hollering to hear that yes, indeed, they will be coming home today.

Let's get straight to CNN's Miles O'Brien. He's at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, of course.

So this is good news. It will always fun to watch live when the shuttle comes down here on the air.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, yes. And the answer is yes, of course, they have a facility which overlooks mission control there, and the families are allowed in. They're allowed to listen to all the flight-control loops and so forth, anytime they like. Of course typically what they try to do is be here, because, of course, oftentimes they end up in California, but they like to be here when they arrive, if they can. So there's a lot of family members here today.

Yes, the space shuttle is on its way in. The de-orbit burn, as you just heard, which is -- essentially what the space shuttle does, it's flying in orbit. Say it's going this way at 17,500 miles an hour. They turn it around this way so it's flying backwards and fire these two big rockets for three minutes or so. And what that does, Heidi, that slows the shuttle down by all of 250 miles an hour. That's it. So instead of going 17,500 miles an hour, it's going 17, 250 miles an hour. But that's just enough -- that shows you how the speed is just right on the edge there, that's just enough to have it begin falling out of orbit and beginning its descent. That happens over the Indian Ocean, Malaysia. Takes an hour for the shuttle to get here. And we're inside that hour time frame right now.

As you know, it's a glider. There's no go-arounds, there's no second opportunity. They're very careful about the weather. The things they watched today the most was the crosswinds, but the chief astronaut, Steve Lindsay, was out here in a specially modified aircraft that flies just like a shuttle. And everything as good for a landing here. So we're on our way to the end of this mission of 5,250,000 miles.

Take a look at that chart. You would think, oh boy, they're going to fly right through Hurricane Dean. You have to remember that the shuttle at the point where it would be anywhere in the vicinity of Dean, and its track will take it actually further to the east, but in any case, is at 180,000 to 200,000 feet in altitude. Way up there. Way above any sort of weather. And so they'll just get a fantastic view of that storm, if they look off to left-hand side and they're way down. Of course, they'll probably have their hands full watching the systems the shuttle. But the mission specialists, who are not driving the bus, so to speak, might get a glimpse. They'll come up the Florida peninsula, make a big steep, left-hand turn, we'll see them right here. They'll come around and land on runway 15 here at the shuttle landing facility here at the Kennedy Space Center.

Now we will be watching of course, Heidi, that gouge. We've been talking about it a lot. It's right down here, lower portion of the aft underbelly of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, 3 1/2 inch gouge caused by the external fuel tank, piece of foam hitting it 58 seconds after launch. NASA has looked at it numerous ways. They say not to worry, but it's my nature to worry, so I will be worrying.

COLLINS: Yes. No, you and I were there last time around together, so it's perfectly natural, I'm sure. We will keep our fingers very, very tightly crossed and watching it closely.

Miles, glad you're there. We'll talk with you again later as we get closer to landing time, 12:32 Eastern. And, again, we will carry that live for you. Don't miss it, 12:32 Eastern, 9:32, of course, Pacific.

Now, the latest on our big story today, Hurricane Dean, weaker, but still a major storm to contend with. Right now, Dean is barrelling across Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Dean was downgraded again last hour to a category-2 hurricane now, with maximum sustained winds at 105 miles per hour. It was, though, a category 5, the most powerful on the scale when it made landfall.

Dean arrived in Mexico before dawn after a destructive march through the Caribbean. It is blamed for at least nine deaths. CNN has crews all along dean's path. They are bringing you the very latest on this deadly storm.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: You know, once Hurricane Dean leaves, a slew of health and hygiene problems could move in. We have seen it before. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells us how crews are already preparing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well there are many different health concerns that are going to sort of crop up over the next several hours and days. This is an area of the world that has dealt with these hurricanes before, more specifically Wilma. That's important for a couple of reasons. One is that the hospitals are designed to be able to take care of the types of injuries that might be associated with hurricanes. And also the shelters we've been talking about, the hundreds of shelters in that area of the country as well, have actually withstood previous hurricanes, and that's how they've come to be designated as shelters.

Now in the mediate term, there's obviously concerns about near drownings, there's concerns about possible electrocution, and there's concerns about traumatic injuries. A couple of things about that, they actually turn the power off to many of the lines so that you don't actually have the combination of electricity from those lines and water, a very important point.

In the shorter term, you obviously have concerns about dehydration, exposure to elements, people just simply being left out of their homes. That's obviously of concern as well.

But there's several relief organizations sort of positioned, either in Belize or north of this particular area in Mexico, actually designed to go in with tents and tarps and all sorts of relief supplies to try and take care of this.

Also drinking water. I've heard a lot about the fact that flooding might actually contaminate the drinking water supply. Something as simple as chlorine tablets could actually help make the drinking water become more drinkable if it's been contaminated.

In the longer term, this is where it gets concerning, is you have, for example, the Mexican Army at the level of DN3, which means that they are in position to take care of natural disasters. That might mean rebuilding roads, re-establishing communication, but also providing things like tetanus shots, people stepping on rusty nails.

All of this will unfold over the next several hours and several days, getting people out of the shelters, back into their homes, making sure the roads and communication systems are up. The relief organizations are going to come in and help. So this will all take place, and we will certainly keep you posted as it develops.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: All right, Sanjay, thanks for that.

And to get your daily dose of health news online, you can always log on to our Web site. There you will find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. That address once again, CNN.com/health.

Today's CNN hero left Peru when she was only 4 weeks old. Now 15, Ana Dodson has been returning to her native country to improve the lives of orphans.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANA DODSON: If my parents hadn't adopted me, I would have probably either been on the streets or in an orphanage.

I was born in the hills of Cusco, Peru. My mom first got me when I was 4 weeks old. I really wanted to go see an orphanage in Cusco. I felt this great pull towards these girls, who had nothing. And I was, like, wow, I could have been one of these kids. But there as this one girl, Gloria, who came up to me and she said, Ana, I know that you'll never forget me and I no that one day you'll help us. That just really made me decide, I need to do something.

My name is Ana Dodson, and I've started an organization called Peruvian Hearts that helped orphans in Peru.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Hello, Ana, I want to tell you that you're a good friend with a big and generous heart. They have given us vitamins and we are now in very good health.

DODSON: We send a stipend of money for food and for their education. Each day after school, a tutor comes over for three hours. We've done renovations, painted the orphanage. And there are 19 children right now. The change that I've seen in them is amazing. One girl said, we are now getting fat because of the vitamins.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Anita, I will always carry you in my heart, no matter what happens in life.

DODSON: This orphanage, it is to the point where these girls can dream.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: There's a lot more about Ana Dodson and her organization on our Web site. You see it there, CNN.com/heroes. Go there, and you can nominate a hero of your own. Winners will be honored during a live global broadcast on December 6th, hosted by our own Anderson Cooper. Search-and-recovery teams find the remains the of last missing person in the Minneapolis bridge collapse. A quarterback runs out of room: Michael Vick makes a move that will likely send him to prison -- Copping a plea.

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(WEATHER REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

COLLINS: Well, there's no recall but Wal-Mart has quietly stopped selling two kinds of dog treats. We'll tell you why after the break.

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COLLINS: Wal-Mart has quietly stopped selling two brands of dog treats, Chicken Jerky and Chicken Jerky Strips. The Associated Press reports the treats were pulled from store shelves in July. There hasn't been a recall, but Wal-Mart tells the A.P. it is testing the products. They were imported from China. Some customers complained the treats made their dogs sick.

You may recall there was a massive pet food recall in March, retailers yanking products made in China that included the chemical melamine.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: Dean trims a day off the shuttle's trip. Endeavour heads home. We cover the landing live. It's at 12:32 Eastern, right here in the NEWSROOM.

Seeking agreement on border security and more. President Bush meets with the leaders of Canada and Mexico. We'll hear from there live in the NEWSROOM.

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COLLINS: Here in the CNN NEWSROOM I'm Heidi Collins. We are preempting "YOUR WORLD TODAY" to bring you live events on this August 21st. A lot going on, too. Here's what's on the rundown: Dean batters Mexico. The storm, the first category-five hurricane to hit North America in 15 years. We'll have the very latest on its path.

And Mexico's president, that's him there on the right, cutting a trip short to deal with dean. His joint news conference with the U.S. and Canadian leaders coming up live in just a few minutes.

And the shuttle landing a day early because of Dean. Endeavour returns in 30 minutes. You'll see it live right here in the NEWSROOM.

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