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Deadly Flooding & Devastation; Hurricane Dean Now Category 1 Storm; Car With Kids in Canal
Aired August 22, 2007 - 09:00 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. Fourteen U.S. soldiers dead in a helicopter crash in northern Iraq. The military says a Black Hawk helicopter went down today.
We'll tell you more about this story coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.
Just getting word of this now. Once again, 14 U.S. soldiers dead in a helicopter crash in northern Iraq.
The military says a Black Hawk helicopter like this one went down today. It was conducting night operations with another chopper. The military says the crash was apparently the result of mechanical problems, not an attack.
Also in northern Iraq this morning, a suicide truck bomber slammed into a police compound in Baiji. Police report at least 28 people dead, 91 wounded.
And President Bush invokes Vietnam to try to shore up support for the Iraq war. The president using the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam to argue against pulling out of Iraq.
Live remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. It will happen at 10:55 a.m. Eastern in the NEWSROOM.
And a preview of the president's speech and reaction from Democrats already coming in. Live from Kansas City in less than 20 minutes.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And how about this? Heartbreak in the heartland this morning.
Incessant rains have been inundating the Midwest and the Plains. Twenty-two people are dead. Dozens of homes lost.
In northern Ohio, one official describes it as the worst flooding in 30 years. Hundreds fled as homes filled with water. Cars became submerged along highways and main streets. And crops already damaged by drought now dealt a new blow.
There was no mail delivery in Mansfield, Ohio. Postal trucks flooded. Now fears the receding waters could fill up flood basins, causing even more problems.
Let's go straight to Brad Batton. He is the public information officer for the village of Kerry, Ohio. And he joins us by telephone.
Brad, good to talk to you this morning.
BRAD BATTON, PIO, CAREY, OHIO: Tony, nice to talk with you.
HARRIS: Hey, Brad, orient us. Where is Carey, Ohio? I believe it's near Sandusky, Findlay, in that area, northwest Ohio? Is that correct?
BATTON: That is correct. Near Findlay.
HARRIS: Near Findlay. All right.
Tell us what you're -- what you're dealing with, what you have on your hands right now.
BATTON: Well, the biggest thing we have right now is trying to educate the people on what they should do and not do in regards to their health and safety. We've had some people pumping out basements, and we have -- I guess we -- from what I understand, we've had a basement that actually collapsed due to that outside pressure. So, we -- that's our big thing right now, is really getting people educated on safety.
HARRIS: Brad, how much -- how much rain are we talking about? How much have you had to endure here over the last couple of days?
BATTON: I have heard anywhere from eight to 10. I'm going to push more towards the 10 level, 10 inches.
HARRIS: Do you have rain moving through the area right now? I just saw a little bit of a radar return there that indicated you might.
BATTON: We're getting a little bit, but at this point, we're not getting what they've gotten in Findlay...
HARRIS: Yes.
BATTON: ... and some other areas. So I hope it stays that way.
HARRIS: How many people in your town, about 3,900?
BATTON: That's correct. That's pretty darn close.
HARRIS: Have you had to evacuate anyone?
BATTON: Just out of their homes. Over 100 homes have been evacuated, and probably at least that many without power.
HARRIS: What did you do? You set up a couple of shelters?
BATTON: We have a shelter here in Carey, just west of Carey, at the Ridge Chapel Church of the Nazarene. And it seems to be accommodating everybody quite well.
HARRIS: What are you hearing in terms of your local forecast?
BATTON: After this morning's rains, I believe we're supposed to clear up and just get hot.
HARRIS: Just get hot.
Describe that scene. And we are looking at some video from around that area, but I'm just -- you know, as you drive up and down, do you have roads flooded out? If you would, just sort of paint that picture for us of what it's like in Carey.
BATTON: As of this morning, now, the roads or the water is starting to recede.
HARRIS: Oh, good. Good.
BATTON: But last night, you couldn't get anywhere.
HARRIS: Wow.
BATTON: It was every road because of runs and ditches running through our village. Everything was just about every street was impassable.
HARRIS: Any rescues? Did you have to make any?
BATTON: No. Thank goodness.
HARRIS: Yes, yes.
Well, Brad, I appreciate your time. It sounds like you're on the waning side of this and you might get a bit of a break here coming up.
BATTON: I'm hoping we do. I hope everybody does.
HARRIS: Yes.
Brad Batton, PIO, Carey, Ohio.
Brad, appreciate it. Thanks for your time. Appreciate it.
BATTON: Thank you, Tony.
COLLINS: In parts of Wisconsin, little letup in the storms that started over the weekend. Some people who were evacuated got a brief break. They made their way home on streets that were just filled with debris, only to find more of their possessions covered in mud. Hundreds of homes are complete losses.
The death toll from the flooding stands at 22. The body of a Minnesota missing man was found in a tree. More trouble, though, may be in store.
Rivers and creeks are still rising, and even more rain could be on the way.
That's exactly what we want to talk about with Reynolds Wolf. He joins us now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: We want to go live now to our Ed Lavandera. He is tracking Hurricane Dean from Tuxpan, Mexico.
Ed, if you can hear me OK, how are the people preparing for the storm now?
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry?
COLLINS: Just tell us a little bit about how people are preparing as all of that rain just comes pelting down on you that we can see pretty well from the shot.
LAVANDERA: Right. It is actually the initial bands of what's left of Hurricane Dean. We have been feeling it here, initially here this morning already. But it's almost kind of a bizarre sight here on the streets of Tuxpan this morning.
Look. These are all the city buss, and we have been seeing them run throughout the morning. There's been a steady flow of traffic on the streets here, as well.
We've had people coming up to us, asking us what's the latest on the storm and when it is going to arrive. You almost get the sense that they're trying to squeeze in last-minute errands or maybe even a little bit of work before they take shelter here for the worst of this storm.
And there's a lot going on here, as well. There's members of the military. Navy and army are here in the town doing patrols of the streets, urging people in areas that need to be evacuated to seek shelter.
There have been five temporary shelters opened up so far. We are told by one city official here that about 500 people have taken advantage of that so far, but they're actually very concerned in two places.
About 12 kilometers this way, about seven miles or so, there is the beach area where there are some homes. And they feel that that area is going to take a hard hit here in the coming hours, so they're urging those people to seek shelter.
Also, if you go back up river this way, and the way we drove in to this town yesterday, you see dozens of villages scattered throughout the mountains up here just outside of Tuxpan. Very precarious villages. The homes not very well built.
As we were driving through, you really got the sense that torrential downpours or mudslides could easily wipe away many of these homes. So that is really another area of concern that they'll be watching closely.
And also, to give you another sense here, when these -- one of the initial bands of rain that we saw here this morning, you can see where these buses are. In a matter of minutes, this little intersection right here flooded up immediately. It also washed away quickly after it had stopping raining.
This is the river that serves as the entryway into this port. We're northeast of Mexico City. This is a crucial port area for agriculture and the Mexican military, as well.
So, these cars -- at one point there, the water was real high. So as the rains continue to fall in a more steady clip here in the coming hours, it will be a very dangerous situation for the people that are still on the roadways. So, it will be interesting to see if people start getting back indoors. But right now, it's almost kind of like business as usual here on the streets of Tuxpan -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Well, thanks so much, Ed. Appreciate that live report for us from Tuxpan, Mexico. Thank you.
LAVANDERA: Sure.
COLLINS: Just as a reminder now, when weather does become 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. Remember, as popular as this is, be safe when you do it.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Go to CNN.com and click on "I-Report" or type ireport@cnn.com into your cell phone. You can share your video and photos with us that way.
HARRIS: It's getting bigger and bigger there.
Ball to the highest bidder. The baseball, Barry Bonds, set to become homerun king, will be auctioned off. The lucky fan who caught it says he didn't have much choice in the matter.
Matt Murphy (ph) was told he would be taxed on the souvenir even if he held on to it. The ball could bring at least, we hear, a half a million dollars. Murphy (ph) says he will give about half his take to a friend who was at the game with him.
The online auction begins next week.
COLLINS: Fill up for just a few bucks? Yes. It sounds good.
It happened at this Pennsylvania gas station. An attendant accidentally misplaced a decimal point in the computer. See, kids, this is why we go to math class.
So, instead of costing $2.90 a gallon, gas went for 29 cents. The station lost $700 in five hours, and other motorists lost a chance at a big bargain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, definitely. I would have took advantage of it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I could have filled this up for, what, $20 instead of $80?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you go in and tell the clerk or would you fill up first?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Probably would have filled up first.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Oh. At least she was honest about it. But some customers who got the great deal will get a reality check. Drivers who used credit cards will be charged the correct amount.
HARRIS: Boy, a scary sight. A car in a canal, two kids inside.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I tried to save my little sister. I held my breath for the longest I could. I went to the driver's seat, tried to grab her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Can you believe this kid? How they made it out alive.
COLLINS: And Pit Bulls on the attack. Police say the victim was a disabled woman. And just wait until you hear where she was when the dogs came after her.
HARRIS: Wives, do you keep quiet to keep the peace? Yes. A study suggests it could be harmful to your health. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta live with details.
COLLINS: That's why I'm so healthy.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Changing the debate in Iraq. The question has been, stay or go? It may become, how fast should the exit be?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, just a horrifying image. A car lurches into a canal. Two kids inside. A mom watching from above.
The story ends happily, but not without plenty of tears.
Rosh Lowe of affiliate WSVN reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TATIANA COLUMBUS, MOTHER: It's like God gave them back to me, and I thank him for that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are very lucky.
COLUMBUS: I'm very lucky, and I thank God, because I think it was him that made it happen, and all these good people that live here.
ROSH LOWE, REPORTER, WSVN (voice over): Tatiana Columbus stands outside of her apartment with here two children, lucky they're here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was pretty scary, and I tried to save my little sister. I held my breath for the longest I could. I went to the driver's seat, tried to grab her.
LOWE: A walk to the edge of the seawall, a look into the water, revealing a car submerged. And this is just the beginning of this story. Inside that car, a 12-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl battling for life.
LT. BRIAN PEGUS, AVENTURA, FLORIDA, POLICE: There was a 12-year- old and a 4-year-old girl that were in a vehicle. The 12-year-old boy, while the mom was outside, decided to start the car. When he started the car, it accidentally went in gear and went over the seawall into the water.
LOWE: Police say mom was taking the kids to school.
COLUMBUS: No, I was right there next to them. I was getting my daughter in the backseat, and all of a sudden the car started moving. Thereby, you know, like, pushing me forward. I have some scars here, and just pulled me with them.
LOWE: Police say the car goes into a canal outside the apartment complex on the 3700 block of North Country Club Road in Aventura.
OSCAR SUAREZ, RESCUED CHILDREN: When I came, I saw the car in the water. And I saw some people in the water. So I know the guy came, jumped, and I jumped in the water to try to take the people out of the water.
LOWE: Your name?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mia (ph).
LOWE: Mia (ph)? Do you feel lucky you're OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was just a disaster. I'm sorry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Here now, something for women. Keeping quiet over disagreements may help you keep the peace at home, but it can also be deadly.
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta is here to tell us a little bit more about this.
All right. So, what is this new study, first of all? Because it could go in so many different directions. DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And I'm not a marriage counselor. I just want to state that at the onset of all this.
COLLINS: I wasn't going to make that joke, I promise.
GUPTA: No, but, you know, communication -- marriage can be good for your heart. A good marriage even better for your heart. A lot of people talk about communication in marriages and the value and virtue of just exactly how that communication should carry forth.
Now, a new study, a relatively small study, about 3,500 women, looking specifically at this issue of women keeping quiet during some sort of marital argument and figuring out what happens to those women long term. What they find is they are actually four times more likely to die of coronary artery disease in the longer term based on women who actually voiced their opinion or their concerns during specific arguments.
It's called self-silencing. That's a term that the researchers actually gave this. Interestingly, they say men are actually more commonly going to self-silence, but much less likely to have any of the physical consequences associated with that.
COLLINS: Well, that's interesting.
GUPTA: It is interesting. So men don't suffer from that as much.
They also said that men whose wives come home who have had a hard day at work and really bring a lot of those troubles from work home, those men seem to have a lot of problems. They're three times more likely to develop heart disease later in life than men whose wives don't bring their troubles from work home.
COLLINS: Wow. I should be taking some notes, I think, right here, right now.
GUPTA: Yes. Your husband can thank me later.
COLLINS: Yes.
But really, how do they explain the correlations between heart disease and (INAUDIBLE)?
GUPTA: Well, that's tough. You know, there's been a lot of studies looking specifically at the issue of stress and its relationship to all sorts of chronic diseases.
COLLINS: It's so powerful.
GUPTA: It is. And it's related to all sorts of chronic diseases, including heart disease. So, that's one particular issue.
Also, women in particular who tend to silence themselves also have feelings of defeat that they often associate with themselves. That might make them less likely to take care of themselves, less likely to actually go to doctor's visits, less likely to eat right and exercise. And that can obviously lead to heart disease as well.
COLLINS: So, I am -- it's OK I'm actually doing something right in my life by really never keeping quiet about my feelings, right?
GUPTA: Like I said, your husband is going to thank me for this one.
COLLINS: He's calling you already.
But women who recognize themselves as so-called self-silencers...
GUPTA: That's right.
COLLINS: ... in this study, anyway, what can they do?
GUPTA: Well, you know -- and again, I preface this whole thing by saying I'm not a marriage counselor. And I think the researchers in the study as well were careful not to say that. But obviously, talking about the specific issues that are of concern, for women especially, it seems to have some importance to it, actually being able to talk about it in some productive, concrete way.
Yelling, screaming didn't seem to have one correlation one way or the other. But actually discussing issues that were of concern to the women seemed to be linked to the lower likelihood of having heart disease later on.
COLLINS: Good. Yes. We just want to talk.
GUPTA: You just want to talk.
COLLINS: I mean, we just want to chat, Sanjay.
GUPTA: I hear you. I hear you.
COLLINS: But you men are very good at compartmentalization. Don't you think?
GUPTA: Right.
COLLINS: That's another study, though, probably, right?
GUPTA: I hope my wife is watching.
COLLINS: Thanks so much.
Sanjay Gupta, appreciate it.
GUPTA: Thanks, Heidi. Yes.
HARRIS: You know, it's an entirely different segment if I'm doing that, isn't it, friends? Entirely different.
Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM this morning, help wanted spying. Applying to the U.S. intelligence community, why contractors are playing a bigger role in sensitive security work.
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry in Kansas City. Vietnam and Iraq, it's normally a comparison the president's critics make. Today, Mr. Bush himself will draw the analogy.
That story coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: So, critics of the Iraq war compare it, some do, to Vietnam. This morning, President Bush will, too, but from a different perspective.
White House Correspondent Ed Henry joins us live from Kansas City.
Ed, good to see you. What is the president's message this morning?
HENRY: Well, Tony, this is all really about setting expectations for that report the president's going to present to the nation with this administration next month on progress in Iraq.
You know, yesterday, in Canada, the president was expressing his frustration with the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki. That's because this progress report clearly is going to show that the prime minister is not stepping up enough.
Today, before this friendly audience, the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention, the president is going to start laying the groundwork for buying more time in Iraq. He will say, "Our troops are seeing this progress on the ground, and as they take the initiative from the enemy, they have a question. Will their elected leaders in Washington pull the rug out from under them just as they are gaining momentum and changing the dynamic on the ground in Iraq?"
Obviously, that a reference to the surge that the president believes is working. And as you noted, the president will also actually draw a comparison to Vietnam.
In part, what he is going to try to say, his message will be that a U.S. pullout in Vietnam led to more slaughter there, it didn't help the situation. He's going to say the same situation could play out in Iraq if the U.S. pulls out too quickly.
The flip side, of course, is that critics say there's another comparison between Iraq and Vietnam. The fact that Vietnam was a quagmire -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. And Democrats already criticizing today's speech. What can you tell us about that?
HENRY: Well, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid put out a statement last night once the excerpts started coming out for today's speech. He said, "American lives are being lost and there is still no political solution within the Iraqi government. It's time to change direction in Iraq, and Congress will again work to do so in the fall."
The problem for Democrats, though, as you know, is they have tried to do that before. They still have not changed the president's policy in Iraq, and there are also some divisions coming up among Democrats.
Some junior Democrats coming back from Iraq, trips they have taken during the August recess, saying they believe there has been progress on the ground and that the president's right and maybe there needs to be more time. So, there's going to be some divisions among the Democrats. That's a challenge they will have to face, and they're going to try to change the direction of the policy in the fall.
But again, they have tried before and they haven't been able to do it -- Tony.
HARRIS: Yes. Our White House correspondent, Ed Henry, traveling with the president in Kansas City.
Ed, appreciate it. Thank you.
And President Bush's remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Kansas City this morning. Live coverage right here in the NEWSROOM, 10:55 a.m. Eastern Time.
COLLINS: The CIA blaming itself for failures leading up to the 9/11 attacks. It's in a newly declassified report by the CIA's inspector general.
Former CIA director George Tenet gets most of the blame. The two-year-old document says Tenet warned of a threat from al Qaeda but did not develop a strategy to stop it. The report accuses the agency of sloppy planning. Still, it says there was no silver bullet that might have prevented the attacks.
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And join me, Dan Rivers, in Baghdad. I'll have the latest on the violence, continuing violence here.
Plus, a Black Hawk down that's left 14 U.S. servicemen dead.
COLLINS: Also, rising above the floodwaters. Precarious times in the Midwest. Rescues and recovery.
HARRIS: And weathering a monster storm. Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula holds its own when Hurricane Dean blows through.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
HARRIS: And good morning again, everyone.
The bottom of the hour.
Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody.
I'm Heidi Collins.
Blackhawk down in Iraq -- 14 U.S. soldiers dead in a helicopter crash.
Let's get right to Baghdad now.
CNN's Dan Rivers is joining us now live -- Dan, what can you tell us about the crash?
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this happened during a night operation near Kirkuk in Northern Iraq. Two Blackhawk helicopters flying together. One went down, as you said, with 10 passengers and four crew aboard. We don't really know too much more about the causes, although all indications, the U.S. military are telling us, are that this was not as a result of hostile fire, that there was some sort of mechanical failure. One source has told us that there may have been some problem with the tail rotor, but we haven't really had that confirmed officially. They're still looking into it.
But all indications are that this helicopter not shot down. There was some catastrophic failure on that aircraft and it came down near Kirkuk -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Dan.
As you try to get more details, we will wait for them here.
Thanks so much.
Live from Baghdad this morning, Dan Rivers.
HARRIS: Heartbreak in the heartland this morning. Incessant rains have been inundating the Midwest and the Plains. Twenty-two people are dead, dozens of homes lost.
In Northern Ohio, one official describes it as the worst flooding in 30 years. Hundreds fled as homes filled with waters. Cars became submerged along highways and main streets and crops already damaged by drought now dealt a new blow.
There was no mail delivery in Mansfield, Ohio. Postal trucks flooded. Now fears receding waters could fill up flood basins, causing even more problems. And the flooding left people stranded across the Midwest.
Shannon O'Brien of CNN affiliate WOIO tells us about one dramatic rescue.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
LEROY PATTON, RESCUED BY COAST GUARD: I never rode in a helicopter in my life. The first time.
SHANNON O'BRIEN, 19 ACTION NEWS CORRESPONDENT: How was that for a first time helicopter ride?
PATTON: It was a good ride. I enjoyed it.
O'BRIEN: First time flier, 71-year-old Leroy Patton, rescued by the Coast Guard after raging floodwaters trapped him in his furniture store in downtown Shelby -- plucked off the roof by a Coast Guard helicopter.
PATTON: They come right down and they kept it real steady. And then they come and they hooked me up, they grabbed me up and I went up. I sure hung on tight.
O'BRIEN: Also trapped, 26-year-old Melvin Rister. Rescuers had to go back down for him.
MELVIN RISTER, RESCUED BY COAST GUARD: It was blowing water everywhere real loud, just ferocious. It wasn't as scary as the water, but -- they basically put a harness around both, you know, around each one of us with a strap that came through. They bolted us or hooked us up to him. And he just told us, you know, to kind of relax, just hang free. And then they just -- they raised us up to be able, you know, when we got up there in the helicopter, lay on your back and he was going to slide you back into the -- further back in the chopper.
O'BRIEN: A successful rescue by air. Eleven other people had to be rescued by boat. This type of flooding they haven't seen around here in 20 years.
(on camera): You guys have been flooded out a couple of times.
Why do you keep -- why do you stay there?
PATTON: Well, that's my home. I can't leave. I've got no place else to go.
O'BRIEN: You never thought of selling the furniture store and moving it somewhere else or getting out of there?
RISTER: I never thought of it. I'm thinking of it now, though. I've had enough of it.
O'BRIEN (voice-over): And he never, ever wants another helicopter ride.
In Shelby, Shannon O'Brien, 19 Action News.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: And in parts of Wisconsin, little letup in the storms that started over the weekend. Some people who were evacuated got a brief break. They made their way home on streets filled with debris only to find possessions covered in mud.
Hundreds of homes are complete losses. The death toll from the flooding stands at 22.
The body of a missing Minnesota man was found in a tree and more trouble may be in store now. Rivers and creeks are still rising. More rain could be on the way.
Reynolds Wolf is with us now to give us an update on all of that, as we look at the central part of the country -- Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, it's a bad combination when you have ground that's already saturated then you have more rain on the way.
COLLINS: Yes.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Well, a piece of cake -- not the usual description the day after a category five hurricane. But it is how one official on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula describes Dean.
CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A rare category five hurricane, by definition a potentially catastrophic storm, moving into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in the dark of the overnight and mercifully losing its strength in the morning hours. While the storm was huge, the strongest part of it hit a relatively unpopulated area and that has led to this initial report.
JEREMY SMITH, CRUZ ROJA MEXICANA: Nobody has died. There's no deaths registered.
TUCHMAN (on camera): What about hurt?
SMITH: One injury, a minor injury in Chetumal is the only thing that happened.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): But the search continues for other potential victims. Authorities closed off roads, even to returning residents, because the streets were considered unsafe. But while we were there, they were reopened and people were allowed to return to their homes to see what had happened while they stayed in shelters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We are going home to find out.
TUCHMAN: They found out good news at this modest home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): We had 13 people here.
TUCHMAN: Jelovia Champez (ph) stayed in his home in Umay (ph), Mexico during the hurricane, along with his mother. The other 11 members of the family had just come through the checkpoint and found out the reassuring news they were both OK. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I was worried about my children. I thought I would never see them again.
TUCHMAN: The grandmother doesn't speak Spanish, only Mayan.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): The wind was strong and I thought the house was going to fall over me.
TUCHMAN: The Champez family is very poor. And holes in the now leaky thatched roof will take some money to repair. But they are all relieved. A category five hurricane came but did not conquer.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Umay, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: We can't say it enough, we can't thank you enough for sending in your I-Reports. You have really helped us tell the weather story with Dean and in the Midwest.
Look, keep them coming. Stay safe, but if you see weather happening in your area, send us an I-Report.
Go to CNN.com and click on I-Report or type ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone -- where's that big cell phone -- and share photos or video with us.
COLLINS: The politics of Cuba -- what the presidential candidates are saying about U.S. efforts to isolate Fidel Castro.
Is it time for a change?
HARRIS: Help wanted spying -- apply to the U.S. intelligence community -- why contractors are playing a bigger role in sensitive security work.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Outsourcing for sensitive security work -- U.S. intelligence agencies are doing it.
Is there a cause for concern?
CNN's Barbara Starr reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
BARBARA STARR, PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran possibly pursuing nuclear weapons and the hunt for Osama bin Laden still underway, the U.S. intelligence community says it's hard pressed to keep up.
So it's increasingly turning to contractors for help. And that is raising questions about profit-making companies becoming an shadow arm of government espionage. The Defense Intelligence Agency announced it's spending up to $1 billion to collect and analyze intelligence, all to be done by contractors.
Analysts say there may be conflicting interests in all of this.
JOHN PIKE, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: They may be working for the government, but they're also working for a profit-making entity and they have to keep both of those in mind. And you do have to worry that sometimes they're going to be working for the stockholders first and the taxpayers second.
STARR: Many contractors are former intelligence officials. They can double their wages by leaving the government for a contractor job.
Congressman David Price questions whether contractors are doing too much, asking in a statement: "Is it appropriate for private contractors to be responsible for collecting and analyzing intelligence that will be used by the president?"
Senior U.S. officials say there is little choice given the range of threats in the post-9/11 world.
At the CIA and DIA, half of the workforce is now outside contractors and 70 percent of the intelligence budget now goes to contractors, according to a government estimate.
STARR (on camera): CIA Director Michael Hayden says he's trying to close the revolving door between government and industry by limiting the use of contractors. Recently, he even said he didn't want the CIA to become a farm team for contractors. But many still worry that private industry has too much influence over some of the nation's most sensitive espionage work. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: A quick reminder here for you now. President Bush invokes Vietnam to try to shore up support for the Iraq War. The president using the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam to argue against pulling out of Iraq. Interesting live remarks to the Veterans of Foreign Wars. That's coming your way 15:55 Eastern. We'll have it for you right here in THE NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Political battle over Iraq heeding up, but this time on a different front.
CNN's Bill Schneider explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST (voice-over): The United States is running out of troops and running out of patience in Iraq. Suppose American troops start coming home next year. That could transform the debate from stay versus go to how quickly we should go.
SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We need to begin moving our troops out and we have to do it carefully and responsibly.
SCHNEIDER: Republican candidates are arguing that a hasty withdrawal from Iraq would endanger the United States.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Our defeat in Iraq would be catastrophic, not for Iraq, but for us. And I cannot be complicit in it.
SCHNEIDER: The goal now, they say, is not to lose because losing would create a bigger terrorist threat to the U.S.
FRED THOMPSON, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Success won't solve all of our problems, military success. But failure will make our problems much, much greater.
SCHNEIDER: Democrats argue that the longer the U.S. stays in Iraq, the greater the danger to the U.S.
CLINTON: Our occupation will continue to serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists.
SCHNEIDER: Iraq is a diversion from the real threat.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One reason to stop fighting the wrong war is so that we can fight the right war against terrorism and extremism.
SCHNEIDER: Do Americans think the chances of a terrorist attack would be greater if the U.S. withdraws from Iraq as soon as possible or if the U.S. keeps its troops in Iraq? In that debate, Americans are divided. They're not sure. But the party positions are becoming clear.
Democrats believe the danger will be greater if the U.S. stays in Iraq.
Republicans believe a hasty withdrawal is the greater threat.
(on camera): This is a new and different debate. It's not primarily about Iraq, it's about us.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Pit bulls on the attack -- police say the victim was a disabled woman and wait until you hear where she was when the dogs came after her.
HARRIS: A robber's giveaway all caught on surveillance tape. But you have to see this to believe it.
COLLINS: Need a hug?
Amma gives them out. In fact, she gives thousands a day j restoring a mother's love and hope for disaster victims.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Handing out loot -- police say this bold bandit -- you'll see it in a second here -- halted his robbery at a Kansas City convenience store to give away freebies like cigarettes. According to authorities, a man and woman approached the suspect and asked for the items, then left without paying.
This store surveillance camera captured some of the action. Police say it's not clear if the man and woman were customers or somehow involved in the robbery. They're now described as subjects of interest.
Meanwhile, the search is on for the robber and another gunman seen with him.
COLLINS: Interesting to look at this story now after that. She aims to change the world just one hug at a time.
CNN's Delia Gallagher reports on the mission of an Indian spiritual leader.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DELIA GALLAGHER, CNN FAITH AND VALUES CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): To some, she is divine -- a goddess, capable of miracles. To all who follow her, she is mother -- the last word in compassion and selfless love.
Amma, whose name means mother, attracts millions to her spiritual center, her Ashram here in South India, with the promise of a hug.
Navaratnama has taken a 11 hour train ride just to see Amma.
"Now I have only one feeling, that I've touched god," she says.
She hopes to become pregnant and decided to come when Amma appeared to her in several dreams, she says.
Mata Amritanandamayi, Amma, grew up in a poor remote seaside of South India. Villages sought out the little girl, who it was said could cure sick cows and would give her own food away so someone else could eat. Followers come from all over. For some, the Ashram is a working vacation, with its emphasis on service rather than study.
For others, it is home.
Gautam came from California eight years ago to live with Amma. His name used to be Brian Harvey. He worked at Yahoo! Now he works for free as one of Amma's aides.
GAUTAM, AMMA DEVOTEE: Before I met Amma, it was the typical American lifestyle. I think I was living for myself, trying to make myself as comfortable as possible. And after meeting Amma and trying to follow the example of what she is doing, it's trying to live more for others. GALLAGHER: Darshana left a successful private practice as a psychotherapist in St. Louis 12 years ago to serve full-time at the Ashram.
DARSHANA, AMMA DEVOTEE: The capacity that Amma has to, you know, hug 50,000 people today, travel on this bumpy, bumpy, bumpy road in India for 15, 20 hours to the next stop, get off, bright, shining, and hug another 50,000, 20,000, 75,000,100,000 people.
GALLAGHER (on camera): This is an average weekend at the Ashram. There's some 35,000 people expected here today from all over the world. They come just to get a hug. This will continue 16, 20 hours, until each person has had a moment with Amma.
What do you think people are in search of?
MATA AMRITANANDAMAYI, SPIRITUAL LEADER: (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Fundamentally, what everyone needs is mental strength and self- confidence to manage the mind just as we manage the outside world.
GALLAGHER: Why do you hug people?
AMRITANANDAMAYI (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I want to awaken motherhood in both men and women. Motherhood is something that is fast disappearing from the world. It is very much need in today's world.
GALLAGHER (voice-over): Cynics may sneer, but take a look at what Amma has done. This is her orphanage, where 500 children live. Some of them lost their parents in the 2005 tsunami. Amma has donated $46 million to tsunami relief in South Asia and $1 million to the Katrina Relief Fund in the U.S. She gets the money from private donations and sales of promotional material -- a multimillion dollar international charity that blossomed from a smile and a hug. For Amma, it's proof of what a mother's love can go.
Delia Gallagher, CNN, Kerala, South India.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come in THE NEWSROOM, political problems in Iraq a threat to U.S. withdrawal?
We look at the options if Iraq's national government collapses.
COLLINS: Senseless attack -- masked men set a 5-year-old on fire. Now the boy's mother is asking the world for help.
HARRIS: Too much water -- Ohio gets soaked by a relentless storm system and it is still raining today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, OK, we are pod casting later today. Michael Sherwood (ph) in THE NEWSROOM and the team working on the pod cast right now. I guess that's what we're seeing there. OK. Thank you for watching us weekday mornings 9:00 until 12:00 right here in the CNN NEWSROOM, but later in the day, just go to CNN.com and download THE CNN NEWSROOM daily pod cast, available to you 24 /7 right there on your (INAUDIBLE) for your iPod. Do it today.
There you go.
The CNN pod cast available to you today. Don't miss out on it. New stories, different stories that you don't see in THE NEWSROOM.
In the meantime, Iraqi politics mirroring the violent divide on the streets -- a concern for U.S. officials and for troop withdrawal prospects.
CNN's Jamie McIntyre takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The sober assessment of U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker is just the latest acknowledgment that while the additional U.S. troops are making parts of Iraq safer, Iraqi politicians, in particular the government of Nuri al-Maliki, have been unwilling or unable to use the hard-won breathing space to put their differences behind them.
"Progress on national level issues has been extremely disappointing and frustrating to all concerned -- to us, to Iraqis and to the Iraqi leadership itself," Ambassador Crocker told court reporters in Baghdad.
Fostering political reconciliation is the linchpin of the surge strategy. And two influential senators just back from Iraq, Democrat Carl Levin and Republican John Warner, issued a joint statement, saying they are not optimistic the Iraqi government will make the necessary political compromises.
In fact, Levin has given up on Maliki and argues it's time for the U.S. to start pulling out.
SEN. CARL LEVIN (D-MI), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: The capability that the Iraqi military now has and will have by the end of this year will allow us to begin reducing U.S. forces significantly below our pre-surge level. We should begin that reduction within four months.
MCINTYRE: The withdrawal of U.S. troops could set the stage for a Shia take over and renewed civil war. But even surge supporters say it may be time to try something different.
MICHAEL O'HANLON, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION: You could imagine a new constitutional structure for Iraq that had, for example, three autonomous regions -- the so-called soft partition plan. Or you could even imagine, in an extreme case, suspending democracy and having a strongman rule for six or eight years, like President Musharraf in Pakistan.
MCINTYRE: Pentagon officials concede the surge can't be sustained beyond April without imposing severe hardships on the Army, so U.S. troops strength will likely return to at least pre-surge levels by the late spring.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Jamie McIntyre reporting.
President Bush, in a speech to veterans today, invoking the failures of the Vietnam War to bolster the war in Iraq. His address live from Kansas City, 10:55 a.m. Eastern time right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
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