Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Deadly Flooding and Devastation; Ground Zero for Flooding Normally Quiet Town of Findlay, Ohio; Iraq Government Crisis
Aired August 23, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Thursday morning. It's August 23rd.
Here's what's on the rundown.
Flooding forcing hundreds of people out of their homes across the Midwest. And more rain falling today.
HARRIS: August scorcher. Thermometers from Mississippi to Kentucky rising to 100 and beyond today.
COLLINS: The last place Texas Rangers crossing home plate 30 times.
HARRIS: Oh, come on.
COLLINS: In one game. Yes, that is just one game against the Orioles.
Blazing bats in Baltimore -- in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: So here we go. Rain is falling again today in parts of the Midwest. Exactly what folks there don't need.
At least 25 people are dead after what's being called the worst flooding in almost a century. The storms are wreaking havoc through a large chunk of the U.S., from Nebraska through Ohio.
A state of emergency in effect across much of northern Ohio. The town of Findlay pretty much awash. People there may get a chance to go back to their houses today to get a look at the damage. Many already know what they'll find.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing that's going to be left is the stuff that's up on the walls. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cushions are floating off the couch and water was approximately three to four foot deep in the apartment. So I can figure anything that that low is gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Take a look at the scene. These people are not alone. Thousands of homes across the Midwestern U.S. affected by those floods.
Let's go to CNN's Keith Oppenheim. He is following the flood in Brownsville, Minnesota.
And Keith, if you would, describe that horrible scene behind you.
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is an intense scene here, Tony.
First of all, what you are seeing behind me along the banks of the Mississippi in Minnesota is the effects of a mudslide. And as we pan over, you'll see a house that was knocked off its foundation.
This is the home of Sharon and Lynn Partington, and they were in this house when it rolled, oh, a good 100 feet or so on to the side of their property. Their grandson was also inside when this happened early Sunday morning.
And earlier this morning, we had a chance to talk to Lynn and Sharon about what took place. Lynn actually was next door helping some people who were having some problem with mud on their own, and then he heard the sound of the hill breaking. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LYNN PARTINGTON, SURVIVED MUDSLIDE: Actually, what happened is we had the mudslide off the top of the hill. And it was like an avalanche of rock, trees, debris from -- well, from the top of the hill all the way down. And it just blew the sides of the house out. And the roof dropped to the ground. And looking at the house, you would wonder if anybody could possibly live and -- or survive, but they did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: The reason that the family survived was because Lynn, the husband and grandfather, went into this home behind me and he got his grandson out and he helped get his wife out, as well. They survived. Amazing stuff.
Take a look behind me. You can see how the house is kind of sitting on a boat that went down the hill along with all the other stuff.
And the other tragedy to talk about here, Tony, is that this family had insurance. But their insurance is not covering this damage because this home went down in a mudslide, which is not what the policy covers. So this is just unbearable frustration for people around here, and it's also an example of what other people are going through in the area.
While they had pretty good insurance, a lot of people who had more typical flooding didn't have flood insurance, so either people didn't have insurance, not the right kind of insurance. And they are struggling, probably waiting now for state and federal aid as the best result.
HARRIS: And that is a scene we are watching play out over and over again from Minnesota to Ohio.
Keith Oppenheim for us this morning in Brownsville, Minnesota.
Keith, appreciate it. Thank you.
COLLINS: Ground zero for the flooding today, the normally quiet town of Findlay, Ohio.
Reporters Melissa Andrews of CNN affiliate WTVG is joining us now live.
Melissa, what's the situation there?
MELISSA ANDREWS, REPORTER, WTVG: Well, the situation, Heidi, is that finally, according to the EMA -- I just got off the phone with them moments ago -- the floodwaters are beginning to recede. The Blanchard River that everybody has been keeping an eye on the past couple of days is slowly beginning to go down.
And as you can see behind me, this is downtown Findlay right now. There is a Hovercraft kind of boat behind me making its way through the downtown area where businesses are. They are flooded, as well.
People frequent this area of downtown. And for whatever reason now, this boat is making its way through here this morning.
Now, according to the EMA, the level three flood emergency that we had been under is now lifted. That means people who go out on the roads or essentially going out on their own risk. They will not be arrested, which is the case when you are in a level three flood emergency, but we do expect this morning for more and more people to come out into these areas, see what they have left, if anything.
I know that I heard one of your other reporters talk about the situation in other parts of the country. And we have seen that same thing.
A lot of people who are low income, living in mobile home parks, literally everything has been washed away. They also have no insurance. They have no idea when they head back into their homes if they will even have a home or have anything left at all -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It's just devastating. You know, those Hovercraft boats, though, we have been hearing in other parts of the country, as well, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and now Ohio, as we can see, have really been lifesavers. About the only way to get around to go through and check some of these buildings and get people out.
Is some of that still going on there or does everybody seem to be safe?
ANDREWS: Oh, everybody seems to be safe for now. We did talk with the Red Cross. All through yesterday and through this morning, they said they have had about 200 people that were evacuated or did voluntarily come there to seek food, shelter.
But we did talk to a man. His father was the former fire chief here in Findlay, and he says they got a bunch of guys together about yesterday and they went out.
This really peaked yesterday morning in the very early hours, and they went out and they rescued 30 to 40 people on boats and jet skis from their homes. So we do believe right now everyone is safe and the situation will get better with that flood emergency lifting.
COLLINS: I hope so. It's going to be hard to clean up, though, that's for sure.
Melissa, thanks so much for your reporting today coming out of Findlay, Ohio, this morning. Thanks again.
Disaster struck just outside your door. How do you get out alive and protect your home? Life saving information coming up right here in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: So let's get to Reynolds Wolf now in the severe weather center.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Hey, just another reminder as we take a look at this live -- look at this. This is Findlay, Ohio, again.
When the weather becomes the news -- maybe she could send us that picture there -- you can count on CNN to bring it to you first. And if you see severe weather happening in your area, please send us an I- Report.
You have been so good at doing this for us, helping us to tell this weather story. I see Findlay there. I'm worried about Carey Township as well.
Go to CNN.com and click on "I-Report," or type ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone and share your photos or your video with us.
COLLINS: One last hole, one last hope. Crews trying to reach six trapped miners in Utah plan to drill a sixth and final hole.
The search effort will stop if the miners are not found. A fifth hole completed yesterday found no signs of life. The mine operator says he's preparing to permanently close the mine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BOB MURRAY, PRESIDENT & CEO, MURRAY ENERGY CORP.: After the recovery of the nine miners who were maimed or killed in attempt to recover these trapped miners, I went to Mr. Richard Stickler of the MSHA, and I told him, "I will be submitting the paperwork to you to close and seal this mine."
I have not had time to think about that. I have no plans to open up any mines in this area. This has been a deadly, evil mountain that is still alive. And I will never go back in to what used to be the Crandall Canyon Mine. Never.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The decision is a blow to the families of the trapped miners. They don't want the search to end until the men are found.
HARRIS: New criticism this morning about the leadership of Iraq's prime minister, Nuri al-Maliki. It's in a new national intense estimate due out today.
Administration officials who have seen it say it expresses doubt about the Iraqi leader's ability to end violence. It concludes, he may not be able to push forward with legislative reforms. Also in the report, concerns that insurgents are planning a major offensive soon. President Bush knows about the report but he is still publicly supporting the Iraqi prime minister.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Prime Minister Maliki's a good guy, a good man with a difficult job. And I support him. And it's not up to the politicians in Washington, D.C., to say whether he will remain in his position. That is up to the Iraqi people, who now live in a democracy and not a dictatorship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Well, the Iraqi leader has lashed out as the U.S. criticism of him, warning he can find friends elsewhere.
COLLINS: Democracy not working out in Iraq?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The democratic institution is not necessarily the way ahead in a long-term future.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: What U.S. generals think can save Iraq's government.
HARRIS: Here comes the sun. While some people get soaked, others are coping with a killer heatwave. Is there any relief in sight?
COLLINS: Made in China and recalled in the U.S. Hundreds of thousands of toys from SpongeBob to Thomas the Tank Engine.
HARRIS: And blood on the streets of Baltimore. Murder rate rising. Now the mayor takes an unusual step to stop the violence.
You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: New information this morning about the 14 American soldiers killed in a crash in Iraq. The military says a Black Hawk helicopter like this one was returning from a combat rescue mission. All four crew members were based at Fort Lewis, Washington. The 10 troops they picked up were from Schoefield Barracks in Hawaii.
The Associated Press reports one of the fallen soldiers was due home in less than a month. One family lost their second son to the Iraq war. The crash blamed on medical -- mechanical problems, that is.
HARRIS: Revisiting the plan in Iraq. U.S. generals no longer see democracy as the only way of governing the country.
CNN's Michael Ware reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two years after the euphoria of historic elections, America's plan to bring democracy to Iraq is in crisis. For the first time, exasperated front line U.S. generals talk openly of non-democratic alternatives.
BRIG. GEN. JOHN BEDNAREK, U.S. ARMY: The democratic institutions is not necessarily the way ahead in the long-term future.
WARE: Iraq's institutions are simply not working. It's hard to dispute that Iraq is a failing state. Seventeen of the 37 Iraqi cabinet ministers either boycott the government or don't attend cabinet meetings. The government is unable to supply regular electricity and at times not even providing running water in the capital.
The health care system is run by one Iranian-backed militia. The police, dominated by another. Death squads terrorize Sunni neighborhoods. Sectarian cleansing pushes people into segregated enclaves, protected by Shia or U.S.-backed Sunni militias.
And thousands of innocents are dying every month. The government failures are forcing the Bush administration to curb its vision for a democratic model for the region, the cornerstone of its rationale for the war.
U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and commanding General David Petraeus declined to be interviewed but issued a joint statement to CNN. In it, they reiterate Iraq's fundamental democratic framework is in place and development of democratic institutions is being encouraged. But Crocker and Petraeus concede they are now engaged in pursuing less lofty and ambitious goals than was the case at the outset. And now in the war's fifth year, democracy no longer features in some U.S. commanders' definitions of American victory.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would describe it as leaving an effective government behind that can provide services to its people and security. There needs to be a functioning and effective government that is really a partner with the United States of America and the rest of the world in this fight against these terrorists.
WARE: This two-star general is not perturbed if those goals are reached without democracy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We see that all over the Middle East.
WARE: Democracy he says, is an option. The Iraqis free to choose it or reject it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But that is the $50,000 question is what will this government look like? Will it be a democracy? Will it not?
WARE: Security, he says, is what the U.S. soldiers are fighting for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Core to my mission is security for Iraq's people to establish a functioning government and to enhance their security forces and to defeat this enemy.
WARE: A functioning government, not necessarily a democratic one. But Iraqi government officials say the democratic government could work better if it was actually allowed to run things.
We don't have sovereignty over our troops. We don't have sovereignty over our provinces, we admit it, says the head of the Iraqi parliament's military oversight committee. We don't say we have full sovereignty.
For example, while the Iraqi government commands these army troops, you cannot even send them into battle without U.S. agreement.
And these Iraqi special forces troops do not answer to the Iraqi government at all, only to U.S. officers. And because of the very real prospect of Iranian infiltration, the Iraqi government doesn't fund or control its own intelligence service. Instead, it is paid for and run by the CIA.
So is it reasonable for a country given sovereignty by the international community to have a chief of intelligence appointed by another country? asked the head of Iraq's parliamentary watchdog committee. We think sovereignty means the ability of a government to be elected and make its own decisions.
He may not be wrong, but a senior U.S. official in Baghdad told CNN any country with 160,000 foreigners fighting for it sacrifices some sovereignty. The U.S. has long cautioned the fully functioning democracy would be slow to emerge, but with U.S. senators calling for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's ouster, some senior U.S. officers suggest the entire Iraqi government must be removed by constitutional or non- constitutional means, and they're not sure democracy need replace it.
Michael Ware, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, disgraced quarterback under new pressure. Michael Vick already planning to plead guilty to federal dogfighting charges. Now state prosecutors prepare their case.
COLLINS: Rising waters. Rising fears.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard. I can't go home. The basement blew out because of the water coming through so fast. Mom kept saying, "We're going to die."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: More flooding. More problems.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Ali Velshi, "Minding Your Business" in New York.
More than 10,000 layoffs in the mortgage industry in the last three days alone. What's that mean to you? I'll tell you when we come back in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, deadline for dogs in the Michael Vick case. Today is the last day for people to claim Pit Bulls found on Vick's Virginia property. Fifty-three dogs were seized in April, part of the federal investigation into a dogfighting operation.
Prosecutors say no one has claimed any of the dogs. A judge will likely decide the dogs' fate, and that is expected to be euthanasia.
Vick's attorney says Vick will plead guilty to dogfighting charges in federal court. That's expected to happen on Monday. And now a Virginia prosecutor says he will probably pursue state charges against Vick.
The commonwealth's attorney in Surry County telling "The Washington Post" he will likely take the case to a grand jury next month.
COLLINS: The nation's mortgage meltdown has thousands of workers looking for new jobs this morning.
Ali Velshi is here "Minding Your Business".
Boy, as if this wasn't bad enough. The huge cost of trying to get credit now. We've also, of course, got a lot of people who have lost their jobs.
VELSHI: Yes. And, you know, I think people think when they hear that people in the mortgage industry or the financial industry lose their jobs, it's kind of like feeling like a lot of dentists lost their job. But the fact is, these are people who have their own mortgages, they contribute to the economy, they pay taxes, and this was a booming economy, selling mortgages to people who maybe didn't have the best credit.
What we have seen now just in the last three or four days -- I think we might have a list of these layoffs -- it's been unbelievable. We have seen more than 12,000 layoffs now since Friday.
Accredited Home Lenders, 1,600; Lehman Brothers, 1,200; HSBC, 600; National Bank Holding, 541; Impac Mortgage Holdings, 350; and that's in addition to about 8,000 we saw yesterday. This is just those that were announced since yesterday morning.
Countrywide, which has been at the center of this mess, Countrywide Financial is the biggest mortgage lender in the country. It's been losing a lot of money. It's been announced that Bank of America, the largest retail bank in the United States, is putting $2 billion into Countrywide, and that should help shore up that company and give Bank of America a stake in it.
That is helping that. And the Fed's rate cut on Friday, all of that kind of stuff is helping markets right now. So, unclear as to where it ends, Heidi. It still remains unclear, but it is spreading through the economy pretty quickly.
COLLINS: Yes, no question about that. We saw yesterday, though -- you know, I hesitate now to call anything a rally, because it seems like the very next day it's completely different.
VELSHI: Right.
COLLINS: But the Dow did close up about 145 points or so yesterday.
VELSHI: And since the Fed sort of announced its discount rate cut on Friday, we have had four positive closes on the Dow. This could be the fifth day.
Right now, futures are actually set to open higher. Again, maybe not spectacularly, but they are higher.
European markets are all up a little bit. Asian markets were up a little bit. So, there's definitely been some market reaction to the fact that the Fed is making money a little cheaper to borrow, and, you know, there are sort of shakedowns in this whole thing. We know it's happening, but at least we're seeing that there might be a light at the end of the tunnel. So, for now, positive news for the market.
COLLINS: Let's just focus on that. It's much more fun, don't you think?
VELSHI: I agree.
COLLINS: Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning.
Ali, thank you.
VELSHI: See you, Heidi.
COLLINS: Good morning once again, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone.
I'm Tony Harris.
Among our top stories this hour, new doubts coming out about the leadership of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
Let's get you right to CNN Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr.
Barbara, good to see you this morning.
What are these new concerns that are now being expressed?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony.
Well, later today, the national intelligence community will unveil to reporters some of the declassified finding of a new national intelligence estimate on Iraq. And the news is not what President Bush was hoping to hear.
This classified report states, according to sources we have spoken to who have seen it, that there is little confidence now in the ability of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to really achieve political progress in Iraq. And that is crucial, Tony, because, of course, without that political progress by the Iraqi government, it raises serious questions about whether security progress can really continue.
That's not unexpected, of course. We have seen many reports over the last many days, concerns about the Iraqi government, concerns about Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
The president made some, shall we say, mixed statements about his support for Maliki. There have been growing statements on Capitol hill, especially from Democrats, calling for a change in government. But now, this latest report today will be a public acknowledgment by the intelligence community that Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may be on shaky ground -- Tony. HARRIS: And Barbara, let me be clear about this. This is not a today assessment of what's going on right now in Iraq, in that government, but this is a forward-looking assessment, isn't it?
STARR: Well, to a large extent it is. It's somewhat based, of course, on Maliki's track record over the last several months, but it is a projection about what the U.S. intelligence community sees coming down the road. And they are voicing a warning that they feel their conclusion is Maliki may not be able to be the guy who pulls off progress in Iraq, political progress.
But the challenge for the Bush administration, Tony, is this is now a democratically elected government in Iraq. That's what the Bush administration wanted to put in place. It is the Iraqi people that elected al-Maliki as prime minister. And for there to be any change in government, it's going to be the Iraqi people that make that change. And that's pretty much where President Bush left it today -- yesterday, pardon me -- in that speech that he made about all of this.
HARRIS: Yes.
CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr for us.
Barbara, Thanks.
STARR: Sure.
COLLINS: It won't stop raining. Hundreds of people out of their homes today. Neighbors become rescuers in the flooded Midwest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We put the boat in the water and I actually think we pulled it by jet ski. And we took out like 30 or 40 people last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The most water in Findlay, Ohio in nearly 100 years.
GREG HUNTER, CONSUMER REPORTER: I'm Greg Hunter in New York.
You've got to shut your house down in a hurry and evacuate.
Water, gas and electric -- what do you shut down first?
And what do you take with you when you run out the door?
We'll talk about all that when CNN NEWSROOM continues.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Certainly one of the top stories again this morning -- rain is falling today in parts of the Midwest. And, boy, they just don't need anymore. Exactly what they don't need, in fact. Twenty-five people are now dead after what's being called the worst flooding in almost a century. The storms are wrecking havoc through a large chunk of the U.S., from Nebraska through Ohio. A state of emergency, in fact, is in effect across much of northern Ohio.
Let's take a look now at these live pictures coming. That's a town. The town of Findlay pretty much -- I mean nearly under water. All the way up to, certainly half way up to the roofs there, or the doors there.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: You can see people there actually may not -- may get a chance to go back to their houses today to get a look at the damage, but many already know what they're going to find.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The only thing that's going to be left is the stuff that's up on the walls.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cushions are floating off the coach and the water was approximately three to four foot deep in the apartment. So all I can figure is anything that's that low is gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: These people, though, are not alone. Thousands of homes across the Midwestern U.S. affected by those same floods.
HARRIS: Did you hear this story yesterday?
A tragedy out of Madison, Wisconsin, scene of the latest flood- related deaths. Lightning hit a utility pole. A live wire fell into a flooded intersection. Several people there about to get on a bus. A woman and child were electrocuted. A passenger gets off the bus to help. He was also killed. The bus driver and another small child were injured.
Do you believe that?
That -- that's horrible.
COLLINS: That is horrible coming out of Madison, Wisconsin, I think you said right, right?
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: So we've got Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio -- all over the central, you know, part of the country -- Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Nine separate states.
COLLINS: And the worst part -- yes.
WOLF: Yes. COLLINS: The worst part, more rain today.
WOLF: Yes, exactly.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Rain is falling, water is rising. You're told you have five minutes to get out.
What do you do?
Let's go to CNN's Greg Hunter, live in Rockville Centre, now, New York, on evacuating in a flash -- and, Greg, I'm sure the first thing that most people do just naturally is panic -- what do I take?
Where do I go?
What do I do?
GREG HUNTER, CONSUMER REPORTER: Well, you know, the questions you ought to asking about your house, Heidi, is where's your water main?
It is inside, like here?
How do I turn it off?
Do I have enough muscle the turn it off?
Is it outside?
How about my gas main?
How do I turn it off?
My fuse box?
What order do I turn it off in?
These are all questions you need to know the answers to before disaster comes knocking on your door.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
HUNTER (voice-over): Earthquakes in Hawaii and Peru; parts of Ohio under water; tornadoes ripping through the Midwest; a category five hurricane slams into Mexico.
All have one thing in common -- people needed to evacuate and shut down their homes fast.
GLENN DERENE, SENIOR EDITOR, "POPULAR MECHANICS": Storms are more unpredictable and can be stronger. And since you never know exactly what's coming to you, you just have to be prepared.
HUNTER: "Popular Mechanics'" Glenn Derene shows us how best to protect your property. DERENE: I think we're going to start with -- with one of the ones that's the most dangerous.
HUNTER: A gas leak could be explosive. Knowing where and how to shut your gas off is key, but practicing shutting your gas line off is not advised because it can throw off your meter.
DERENE: It's a quarter turn valve. It doesn't need to -- it's not like a water valve. You don't need to keep twisting. It's just one pull down and you're done.
HUNTER (on camera): Gas is first.
What's next?
DERENE: Power.
HUNTER (voice-over): In an evacuation, Derene suggests shutting off breakers one by one so as not to damage appliances. But if you need to do it in a hurry, just flip the main breaker.
DERENE: If there's standing water in the basement when you come back, you want to make sure there's no live power going into it.
HUNTER: The last item to shut down -- your water.
DERENE: You just want to make sure that your own water supply doesn't flood your house, because, also, external contamination in the main water supply outside, if you have city water, could come in and contaminate your own house.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HUNTER: Hey, so what do you take after you shut your house down?
Well, first of all, our friends at "Popular Mechanics" put together this ready bag. This is actually a waterproof bag.
The first thing you need -- the first thing you need -- water. If you have a choice between food or water -- water. You can last a long time with clean, drinkable water. But, also, these energy bars are really good to have. You can sustain yourself a long time.
Your drugs -- you have your first aid kit. Documents -- your car title, your Social Security card, your driver's license, cash always good. Oftentimes your credit cards won't work if all of the power is knocked out. Cash, you can always barter with cash.
Also, this is one of the things I like. This is a sleeping bag/slash blanket. It only weighs about, I don't know, two or three ounces. This can keep you warm if times get tough.
Also, you always hear about flashlights, right?
Well, a flashlight is good, about $20. But you can get an LED flashlight. The beauty about this light -- they're bright, the batteries last a long time.
And, finally, just hitting the highlights here, you know, one of these radios that you can crank up and you can listen to NOAA. And you can also take this crank radio and put on an attachment to it charge your cell phone.
For a complete list of things you need to put in the ready bag or your trunk, log on to CNN.com.
Back to you guys.
COLLINS: All right. Greg.
Thanks so much for that.
Some great tips today. Appreciate it.
HARRIS: And still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, a pregnant woman killed, her police officer ex-boyfriend charged. This morning, prosecutors could announce an indictment in the case.
COLLINS: Also, blood on the streets of Baltimore -- murder rate rising. Now, the mayor takes an unusual step to stop the violence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: We want to quickly get to some news that's coming into THE NEWSROOM right now.
Fredricka Whitfield is there working on this story for us -- Fred, a pretty big fire in the State of Washington.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, a pretty significant one at a strip mall. So if you have a nail appointment at the nail salon on Rainier Avenue South, it's probably canceled today because that is where the fire was believed to have started. And now it has also affect add few of the other stores in this strip shopping mall.
You see the aerial view right now of them trying to put this fire out. So it is a pretty significant fire. It's a two alarm fire.
And some pretty frightening moments for some pets in the pet store in that strip mall. They did, however, successfully rescue some birds that were at this pet store there at the Rainier South Avenue Mall. We don't understand there to be any people who were in danger, because this fire happened before the shopping mall were to actually open up.
So it is expected to be closed for at least another three hours, at least, the feeder street there. Rainier Avenue South, where the strip mall is. And it's unlikely that a number of those businesses will actually open at all today there in Renton, Washington -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Fredricka.
Thanks for keeping us updated on that. Appreciate it. HARRIS: He is accused of killing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and her unborn child. The next hour, prosecutors could announce an indictment against Bobby Cutts Jr. He is a former Canton, Ohio, police officer charged with killing Jesse Davis.
His attorney says Cutts maintains his innocence. Davis' appearance disappearance drew national attention, you may recall, when her mother reported Davis missing after she found her 2-year-old son home alone and her bedroom furniture toppled.
Cutts is the father of Davis' son and family members say he was the father of the baby girl she was carrying.
COLLINS: Murder in Baltimore -- not just another story on the evening news, but an epidemic that may take unusual procedures to cure.
CNN's Carol Costello explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Baltimore -- a city so numb to blood on the streets, its citizens barely flinch at a wailing police car. One hundred ninety-six killed so far this year. That's a murder almost every day.
JEROME MCARTHUR, MURDER VICTIM'S BROTHER: And this is the car that...
DEBORAH WILSON, MURDER VICTIM'S MOTHER: That he hit.
MCARTHUR: ...once he got shot, that he hit.
COSTELLO: That numbness is painful for Deborah Wilson and son Jerome. They lost a son and brother to gunfire.
MCARTHUR: It's happening every day. Every day it's a different murder, a different murder. This is like just Baltimore just going down the drain.
COSTELLO: Baltimore isn't the only big city struggling with a rising murder rate. America's biggest cities have seen 100,000 killed since 9/11 for the same tired reasons -- drugs, gangs, guns.
Hollywood is noticing. Producers have capitalized on Baltimore's crime woes with TV shows like "Homicide," "The Corner" and "The Wire".
The mayor, who is running for reelection, is so desperate too stop the bloodshed, she took a step that would normally mean political suicide. She's turned to a convicted felon for advice.
MAYOR SHEILA DIXON, BALTIMORE: What I'm willing to do is to talk to people who live and breathe this.
COSTELLO: Like Ed Norris, a disgraced former Baltimore police commissioner turned actor. That's him playing a Baltimore police detective in "The Wire". He's also a radio talk show host who fights crime on the air.
ED NORRIS, FORMER BALTIMORE POLICE COMMISSIONER: It's also Murder, Inc. Day. We're going to recount every murder in the city today.
COSTELLO: Norris served six months in prison for conspiring to steal money from the city he was protecting and lying about it on his tax returns. But, also, while he was its protector, Baltimore's crime rate dropped for the first time in a decade.
He told the mayor it's time to adopt a zero tolerance policy.
NORRIS: I just told her the things that worked. I gave her some real straight up and down advice.
COSTELLO: And Mayor Dixon says she's listening.
But as Deborah Wilson mourns her murdered son, she says she's heard enough and plans to flee the city.
WILSON: Now, it makes me just feel like I want to fold up completely and get rid of the home, the family home, and just go away.
COSTELLO (on camera): Since I worked on this story last week, four more have died. That's 200 murders in a city of roughly 630,000 people.
When will it end?
Sadly, that's a question with no answer.
Carol Costello, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Made in China and recalled in the U.S. -- hundreds of thousands of toys, from SpongeBob to Thomas The Tank Engine.
HARRIS: And look at this -- fighting in the aisles of Congress. Have some. Come get some.
You ready for this?
You, too. Get over here. Beat-down in Bolivia. Video you've got to see.
COLLINS: Gridiron gumption -- he's one bad granddad, 59-years-old and ready to play college ball?
We'll tell you all about it after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Mike Flint's wife says she feels like she's married to Peter Pan. And if he is searching for eternal youth, this 59-year-old grandfather may be more likely to find a four arm to the midsection. Flint is suiting up for the Sul Ross State University Lobos this football season. You heard me saying he's 59, right?
He's no stranger, though, to the game. Flint is a former college strength and conditioning coach. He played for the Lobos in the early ''70s, but he missed his senior year after getting into a fight. He called that the biggest regret of his life.
So he's back on the field. The first game of the season, September 1st.
But -- now listen to this. We are just hearing from the coach there, of the Lobos, that he apparently has a hamstring injury, a minor muscle pull.
HARRIS: Yes. Sure.
COLLINS: and he is going to have to sit out. He's not going to be able to travel for the very first game that we just reported is September 1st. It has nothing to do with his age, I am sure.
HARRIS: Yes. He came to his senses and realized he was going to get knocked out in that game.
(LAUGHTER)
HARRIS: A 30-3 win in baseball.
That's crazy, 59-years-old. Come on.
A diamond drubbing like that hasn't happened in 110 years. It had never happened in the American League.
The Texas Rangers got her done last night against the Baltimore Orioles. Five Ranger runs in the fourth, nine in the sixth, 10 in the eighth and six more in the ninth.
The Major League team, at least the last one to score 30 or more in one game, were the Chicago Colts?
My goodness, that is going back, 1897. As one Ranger put it, 30 is a football score, not a baseball score.
COLLINS: Trauma and tragedy in the Midwest -- thousands of people losing everything to deadly floods.
HARRIS: A new intelligence report casting doubts on Iraq's prime minister. But President Bush stands by his man.
COLLINS: The owner of the Crandall Canyon Mine stands by his record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MURRAY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, MURRAY ENERGY CORPORATION: My safety record today is one of the best in the coal industry anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP) COLLINS: We checked the government records. Now we're keeping them honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: You know, heart disease is the number one killer of American women. But you, right now, can reduce your risk by taking care of your heart in your 30s, 40s and 50s.
Judy Fortin reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JUDY FORTIN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lisa Kuzman's dad died of a heart attack when he was 47. And when her 45- year-old brother died recently of a heart attack, too, Kuzman was not only traumatized, she was terrified for her own heart.
LISA KUZMAN, FAMILY HISTORY OF HEART DISEASE: And how many times is this going to happen in my family?
I was very concerned for my own health.
DR. LORI MOSCA, NEW YORK PRESBYTERIAN HOSPITAL: Hi, Lisa.
KUZMAN: Hi, Dr. Mosca.
MOSCA: How are you doing today?
FORTIN: Kuzman, a 41-year-old mother of two, she sought out a cardiologist.
At 5'9," she weighed in at 196 pounds, but was stunned when the doctor told her she was obese and needed to lose weight if she wanted to live.
MOSCA: This is critically important because as we age and turn into our 40s and 50s, we often develop major risk factors for heart disease. But the good news is that a positive, healthy lifestyle in your 30s can help prevent the development of risk factors.
FORTIN: Heart health is about lifestyle choices. A woman in her 30s needs to look at her waist. If it's more than 35 inches, you're in trouble. Losing just 10 pounds reduces your risk. And more exercise is key. New guidelines say women need 60 minutes of activity a day to lose or maintain weight.
The 40s are a time of transition. And it's a time to know your cholesterol.
MOSCA: Declining estrogen levels can worsen levels of the bad cholesterol and also lower levels of the good cholesterol.
But sometimes we may need medication to control our levels, especially if there's a genetic predisposition or if there's a strong family history of heart disease. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
