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30, 40, 50; Pregnant Woman Killed; Jessie Davis Murder Case; Flooding In Midwest; Gerri's Top Tips; Iraq Leadership Doubts

Aired August 23, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 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.
JUDY FORTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): In your 50s, everything tends to rise, including blood pressure and cholesterol. And it's time for a tune-up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Make sure that you're re-screened for all these important risk factors for heart disease. Because just because they were normal when you were 20 or 30 or even 40, doesn't mean they're normal when you're 50.

FORTIN: Kusman (ph) has lost 25 pounds, made some lifestyle changes, like eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, only the occasional drive-thru. While she knows she can't change her family history, she's significantly reduced her heart disease risk.

Judy Fortin, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown.

The worst flooding some towns have seen in close to a century. And it is still raining across the Midwest this morning.

COLLINS: A former Ohio police officer accused of killing his pregnant girlfriend. New info expected this hour.

HARRIS: President Bush called him the right man for the job. But a new report doubts the Iraqi prime minister can get the job done.

It is Thursday, August 23rd, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Developments unfolding in the killing of a pregnant woman in Ohio. Prosecutors holding a news conference this hour about the death of Jessie Davis. Deborah Feyerick is joining us now.

And, Deb, do us a favor, remind our viewers what made this such an incredibly compelling case. DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, one of the things specifically is that Jessie Davis was almost nine months pregnant when she disappeared. It was her two-year-old son who gave police their first clues as to what had happened. He told authorities that "mommy was crying," "mommy broke the table," "mommy is in a rug." And that . . .

COLLINS: Right now, Deb, forgive me, that news conference is happening right now. I'm so sorry. Let's go ahead and go straight there and listen in.

JOHN FERRERO, STARK COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Chief Deputy Rick Perez from the Stark County sheriff's department and also Rich Denalds (ph), supervisory, senior resident agent for the Canton Office of FBI, and also Sheriff Swanson (ph) is here somewhere.

Again, we, from the prosecutor's office, want to thank them for all their hard work in this case.

Also to my left is the trial team for this matter. I have Dennis Barr (ph), who is the chief of my criminal division of the Stark County Prosecutor's Office. I also have Chris Heartnet (ph), who is the assistant chief of the criminal division. And also myself, which will be assisting in the trial on this matter.

We have passed out the indictment that was issued and was filed today regarding Bobby Lee Cutts Jr., and also Myisha Ferrell. And it's a nine count indictment. The last two counts involve Ms. Ferrell's charges. And I will discuss those first.

She was charged with one count of obstructing justice. It's a felony of the third degree. She is looking at one, two, three, four, five years in prison. Also, complicity to the abuse of a corpse, one count. And she is looking anywhere from six to 18 months in prison on that count.

Also for Bobby Lee Cutts Jr., he has been charged with three counts of aggravated murder, with the murder of Jessie Marie Davis and also the unborn child of Jessie Davis, which everybody has come to know as baby Chloe. We also have charged him with one count of aggravated burglary, felony of first degree and also two counts of abuse of a corpse, and also one charge, a charge of child endangering. And as we well know, that was the fact that Blake was left there at the house after the incident.

COLLINS: Unfortunately it looks like we have lost that satellite feed there. We will try desperately to get it up to speed. But Deb Feyerick is standing by for us and has been following this story.

OK. We were just going through all of the counts. A nine count indictment against Bobby Cutts, two of those counts against his cohort, if you will, Myisha. Can you tell us a little bit more about -- we've known about this for a while, but it's been some time since we remember exactly what the charges were.

FEYERICK: Well, sort of interesting was the dynamic of how all of this played out. You had Jessie Davis, almost nine months pregnant, with the child believed to have been fathered by Bobby Cutts. Then you had the little boy Blake, who you heard mentioned in the press conference.

It was that child who initially led authorities to understand what had happened. He had made comments saying, "mommy was crying," "mommy broke the table," "mommy is in the rug." And when police searched the home, authorities say they found furniture that was toppled over. They also found a huge pool of bleach that was on the floor. There was an all-out search across the neighborhood to try to find her. But in the end it was the Canton, Ohio, police officers, Bobby Cutts Jr., who led authorities to Jessie Davis' body.

Now he has been charged with murder. As you heard, three counts of aggravated murder. Also the murder of the unborn baby, Chloe is what authorities were calling her. The body of Jessie Davis was so badly decomposed that the medical examiner didn't even know what exactly was the cause of death. They think it may have been suffocation. But the body was badly decomposed. They did rule it, though, a homicide. Cutts is the father of that little boy, the two- and-a-half-year-old Blake, and also of that unborn child.

Heidi.

COLLINS: OK, Deb, thanks so much for reminding us all of that.

We do have the satellite feed back. I believe that he is taking some questions here. This is Stark County Prosecuting Attorney John Ferrero. Let's listen in for just a moment again.

FERRERO: The other two counts involve the unborn child, Chloe. And that is two different sections of Ohio law that we presented to the grand jury and they decided to indict under the different sections.

QUESTION: How about speedy trial issues? When do you have to take him to trial?

FERRERO: Well, we have 90 days from I believe when he was arrested June 24th. We, of course, are fully ready to go to trial at this time within the time period. And I would imagine tomorrow, or at least at the pretrial, we'll discuss that time period. And his -- Mr. Cutts and Ms. Ferrell and their attorneys can waive that and it could be extended. However, we don't know at this point in type. But we are fully prepared to go within the 90 days.

QUESTION: You mentioned the death penalty. Does that mean that you guys plan to seek this as a death penalty cause or have you decided that?

FERRERO: Yes, that's what the grand jury has indicted on and that a potential penalty that Mr. Cutts will face.

QUESTION: Were there any charges you sought that the grand jury denied? FERRERO: No. I believe, you know, based on all the facts that's presented to them and all the potential charges, I believe they came back and indicted on all the charges.

QUESTION: What kind of contact did your office have with Jessie Davis' family?

FERRERO: We met -- you know, our victims/witness division in our office, we have a duty under Ohio law to, you know, protect the rights of the victim and their families. And we met with Mrs. Porter yesterday to tell her of the potential indictment that might come out today. and we did call her today before the news conference and informed her of what he was charged with. And also the father -- or Mrs. Porter is going to contact her family members and tell them. Mr. -- the father is going to be coming home from Maryland I believe today and we're going to meet with him on that. And I think -- Dennis, we call him or talked to him?

DENNIS BARR, CRIMINAL DIVISION STARK COUNTY PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE: Yes, sir.

FERRERO: Yes, we have talked to Jessie's father also.

QUESTION: What kind of reaction did you get from (INAUDIBLE)? I mean for lack of a better term, satisfaction with the indictment?

FERRERO: Yes. As we all know, she's a pretty religious person. A pretty strong lady. And she's taking everything pretty well. And, you know, we told her we will walk her through the process here, the judicial system, if she has any questions whatsoever, we're there to assist her. So she's been pretty strong through this whole matter and, you know, we'll keep her informed of what's going on. But she's, again, a very strong person.

QUESTION: John, can you elaborate a little on this (INAUDIBLE) news report. What threshold needs to be met to make that charge? Can you elaborate on that -- what brought you to that decision?

FERRERO: Dennis, do you want to touch on that?

QUESTION: (INAUDIBLE)

BARR: If you read the language in the statute, that will tell you the threshold that needs to be met. I believe it refers to outrage and community sensibilities to treat a corpse in a way that outrages community sensibilities.

QUESTION: Can you elaborate on how that may have been a part of this case?

BARR: No, I can't. Not at this time.

QUESTION: Under the circumstances, since Mr. Cutts is a former police officer, do you have him in a special unit within the jail or has he been in general population this whole time?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's currently secluded from the other inmates in the Stark County Jail.

QUESTION: Is there any more on how Ms. Ferrell was (INAUDIBLE) into this?

FERRERO: Not at this time, Paul. Again, you know, they were friends and somehow she got involved. We will show that again at the trial.

QUESTION: We know that you can't talk a lot about the evidence or the circumstancing of the case, but you feel that you've got a very strong case and you can get (INAUDIBLE)

FERRERO: Yes. You know, based on the evidence that was presented to the grand jury and what we have to work with, again, we're fully prepared to go to trial. Again, the investigation that was done by the Stark County sheriff's office and the FBI was excellent and, you know, we're ready to go.

QUESTION: Do you expect other defense to try and take the case to another jurisdiction for trial?

FERRERO: I cannot anticipate that at this time. You know, again, because of the publicity in this matter, I would assume that might be a motion that will coming forward. So we'll just have to wait until they file it.

QUESTION: Would you say the strongest part of your case, when it was presented to the grand jury, was the forensic evidence side or was it the interviews with Bobby Cutts?

FERRERO: I think it was just all the evidence that was done through the investigation. I believe it was thorough, well prepared by the investigating officers. And, again, the grand jury looked at that. And it was just a matter of everything in this case.

QUESTION: Has your office been interviewing Cutts or Farrell in any form or fashion? Can you describe their level of . . .

COLLINS: OK. We have been listening into the press conference that we expected to have today from the lead prosecutors in this case against Bobby Cutts in the death of Jessie Davis and her baby, which you may have heard them refer to as baby Chloe, the unborn baby of Jessie Davis.

Deborah Feyerick is standing by to go through some of this with us.

And, Deb, right off the bat, this is a nine-count indictment, two counts against Myisha Ferrell, but then the rest of the counts, all seven of them, against Bobby Cutts. Three counts, though, of aggravated murder. So I'm a little confused by that because we thought that there was going to be two, one for Jessie Davis, and then the big determination of whether or not they were going to count the baby, baby Chloe.

FEYERICK: Right. Exactly. I think that is the outstanding question right now, why would they charge him with three counts of aggravated murder. So clearly there are some details that prosecutors know about that they haven't released. At least certainly not in that particular press conference.

Of course, you have the death of Jessie Davis. You have the death of the unborn child, the fetus. It's hard to know how they broke up the counts so that you have three counts all together. We're waiting sort of for more clarification on that. And I will be calling some defense attorneys as soon as I get off the air with you because it's unclear as to why there are three.

COLLINS: Yes, at first I thought maybe he might have miss spoke, but he did say right off the bat, this is a nine-count indictment. And I have added them all up. It equals nine. So we'll be curious to know more about that.

Also, a couple of these counts here, two against Bobby Cutts for abuse of corpse. And then another one against Myisha Ferrell for the same count, abuse of corpse.

FEYERICK: And, Heidi, what they're trying to do, obviously, is put as many counts against these two people as the possibly can. Counts that they think would hold up in court. So, again, the body clearly was moved from the home. It was put in an open field. It was left to rot essentially, both of body of the mother and the child soon to be born. So, clearly, that will be able to be proven in court. It's the other -- the three counts of aggravated murder that's a little more unclear. COLLINS: Yes. And Bobby Cutts still maintaining his innocence. I'm just wondering how much information they've been able to get out of him. We will continue to follow this story.

Deb, let us know in you find anything out. Thanks.

FEYERICK: We'll do.

HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM this morning, a new intelligence report casting doubts about Iraq's prime minister, but President Bush stands by his man.

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mudslides moved this house behind me 150 feet. The residents were inside and they lived to tell about it. I'm Keith Oppenheim in Brownsville, Minnesota. That story is coming up.

COLLINS: The last hope for relatives of six trapped miners. The mine operator preparing to close it down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB MURRAY, CEO, CRANDALL CANYON MINE: And I will never go back in to what used to be the Crandall Canyon Mine. Never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Details on the final attempts to reach the miners, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Rain is falling again today in parts of the Midwest. Exactly what folks there don't need. At least 26 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 a wash. People there may get a chance to go back to their homes today to get a look at the damage.

But those folks are clearly not alone. Thousands of homes across the mid western U.S. affected by those floods. And new worry for flood stricken Brownsville, Minnesota. CNN's Keith Oppenheim joins us live.

Keith, good morning to you.

OPPENHEIM: Good morning, Tony.

Look at this tremendous damage you see behind me. This was the home of Lynn and Sharon Partington. I'll give you a better view and a sense of what a mudslide, caused by heavy rains, did to their homes.

As we walk, you can see how this house got moved. It got moved a good 150 feet down the hill and then teetered on the edge of a bank that basically overlooks the Mississippi River. Now Lynn, the husband, he was next door when this happened over the weekend. He was helping some neighbors with mud problems they were have. And his wife, Sharon, as well as their grandson, were inside the house when it tumbled down the hill and Sharon now is going to describe what happened.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHARON PARTINGTON, LOST HOME IN MUDSLIDE: We had absolutely no warning. The water was not rising. We're, I don't know, 50 feet above the highway and above the river here. And we were in our home and it had been raining and we knew the ground was saturated. We've had mudslides in the past. Small. I mean, nothing big. And our property has always been able to take it. But there was no warning for this except that our neighbor called and said they had a slide that was worst than the past that hit the back of their house. And so that gave us an idea that things were bad. But we never dreamt it was anything like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OPPENHEIM: Lynn was the one who got his wife, as well as his grandson out of this home. And look at what I see behind me. This is a boat that rolled down the hill. And the house is essentially sitting on top of the boat. And, you know, you could actually walk in there. We did very carefully and his car is, you know, halfway turned over, Tony, on the inside of the middle of the house. So everything is topsy-turvy. The sad thing is, and this really is reflective of the bigger picture here, is that the Partingtons' insurance policy doesn't really help them because their policy doesn't cover mudslides. And throughout the region, in Wisconsin and in Minnesota, you have folks who either didn't have flood insurance, not the right kind of insurance, so they may be quite reliant on state and federal aid at this point.

HARRIS: CNN's Keith Oppenheim for us this morning. Keith, thank you.

COLLINS: Want to go ahead and talk with Reynolds Wolf now, who has been very busy, no question about that, with all of this that's been going on. Boy, we had the hurricane that we were watching, of course. And now we've got this. And it's going to be many days. We've got more rain. And then, of course, it's a long time before you can get all of that cleanup done.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, no doubt about it. They do have quite a mess. And one of the things they really don't need in that part of the world is rain. Unfortunately, mother nature may not cooperate because the rain is falling as we speak in parts of the corn belt into the Midwest, even the Great Lakes.

At this hour, Des Moines, you're getting some scattered showers there, northward to Mason City. And just south of the twin cities we're seeing that rain develop right along parts of I-35.

Meanwhile, over in say Chicago, pretty dry for you for the time being. But farther to the north, in Milwaukee, you're seeing some rain moving out over the lake. It's going to stay over Lake Michigan for a good part of the afternoon. In Detroit, things are going to start drying up for you.

So conditions are worse in some places, worse (ph) than others. And in the south, we've got a different story altogether. Not flooding, but intense heat. And that's going to continue.

Expect some storms to heat up in the parts of the Great Lakes. They don't need the widespread damaging winds, but that could happen today also from Chicago to Milwaukee. There's that possibility -- even Rockford, Illinois, could get some tornadoes by late afternoon. Not likely, but there is that potential.

The heat will remain in parts of the southeast, not just in say Atlanta where yesterday it got up to 104, but in other spots like Memphis, Tennessee. We've got a shot for you from WMC in Memphis. Take a look at this. And again, a hazy, hazy day. Not much in terms of rainfall expected at all. A very hot day of Union Avenue. Over in Beal (ph) Street, roasting hot.

Not quite as warm as what we had in Atlanta yesterday. In fact, take a look at some of the numbers that we had on the weather computer for Atlanta, for Athens, 106, 104, 103. Nashville, Tennessee, going up to 102 and 101 in the queen city of Charlotte, North Carolina. There's something we've got to do about this heat, guys. College football starts on September 1st. We've got to get rid of this heat and have things back to normal. A little warmth is OK, but this heat, just ridiculous.

HARRIS: We've got enough domes in there around the country to play these games. Come on.

WOLF: No. No, no. No, no, no, no. You're talking to a purist here. College football needs to be played outside in the elements. Not with that fake grass or with the, you know . . .

HARRIS: Yes.

WOLF: (INAUDIBLE).

COLLINS: Good football at the Air Force Academy. You know, up in the mountains and Colorado west.

WOLF: Auburn University.

COLLINS: That might be cooler.

WOLF: Absolutely. Maybe so. Wishful thinking. Wishful thinking.

COLLINS: Thank you, Reynolds.

WOLF: See you guys in a little bit.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Gerri Willis.

The credit crunch is affecting more than just mortgages. We'll give you the details next on "Top Tips" in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: OK. Well, it's not much, but it is up. So about 12 points or so. Dow Jones Industrial averages sitting right there at 13,249, 13,250. There you go. Yesterday, though, it was a nice picture, up 145. But we said it earlier with Ali Velshi, don't get too excited because it's just all over the map. You see the Nasdaq is down 7. We'll be talking business with Susan Lisovicz coming up shortly.

HARRIS: That grinding sound you hear right now is the tightening of credit across the nation. Going from the mortgage industry, to what's in your wallet. Isn't that the pitch for a credit card? Personal finance editor Gerri Willis here to help us all survive.

Gerri, good morning to you.

WILLIS: Good morning, Tony. Good to see you.

HARRIS: You know I'm thinking of maybe going shopping for a little home equity line of credit here. Maybe put a new deck on the house. Maybe open a little business on the side. What do you think? What are my chances of getting a loan?

WILLIS: Well, I've got to tell you, there's a lot of spillover from that credit crunch. Banks are tightening lending standards, Tony, for auto loans, home equity loans.

HARRIS: Really?

WILLIS: Look, J.P. Morgan Chase has also been tightening up credit guidelines for consumers who live in areas hard hit by falling house values. Like you can control that. USAA is also reportedly increasing credit score requirements across their auto loans credit cards and personal loans.

Tony.

HARRIS: All right. Well what about, let's see, another credit area? How about credit cards?

WILLIS: No good news there either really. Look, credit card issuers began tightening their standards about three years ago.

HARRIS: Oh, boy.

WILLIS: Here's some changes.

HARRIS: OK.

WILLIS: Some cards are changing introductory rates from six months to include a range of zero to six months. Credit limits are also being cut. Look, the average credit limit is $6,000. And some people will have these limits reduced to $5,500 or $5,000. Remember when you got anything you wanted to, those days are over. Look, there will be less automatic credit limit increases as well.

Tony.

HARRIS: So how about if -- you know, I don't need to see another credit card for the rest of my life, but I know that some people use them, need them and otherwise. But how about offers? I mean is the credit score going to be really key here if you're looking for new credit card offers?

WILLIS: Yes. You betcha. You know, you're going to have to have a credit score maybe as much as 20 points higher to qualify for a card and fewer people are getting approved for cards. Look, the approval rate has dropped -- listen to this -- dropped to 35 percent from 60 percent just a few years ago. So that's a very big difference.

HARRIS: So what do you do if this kind of thing is happening to you?

WILLIS: Well, you've got to fight back. Look, you've got to look at your credit cart statements. I know you don't want to. But if your credit limit is cut or your interest rate is increased, you're going to get a letter in the mail from the credit card issuer within 15 days. And at this point, you may have the option of opting out of the interest rate hike.

HARRIS: There you go.

WILLIS: Yes, but you'll need to do it in writing. You can't just call them up and say, no. Generally this means you'll have to give up the card and, as per usual, pay attention to the fine print. Watch out for words "as low as" and "up to." You know what that means, Tony, right?

HARRIS: Yes. Absolutely.

Hey, Gerri, that's great advice. Are you going to tackle some of these issues on the big "Open House" show this weekend?

WILLIS: Well, we're going to be talking about the latest in the mortgage meltdown. Now we've got the governor of Ohio. He's going to talk about what's being done in his state to help people in foreclosure. And then we've got terrific information on what happens after foreclosure. There's some surprising things you'll really want to know. Join us 9:30 a.m. Eastern Saturday right here on CNN. We'd love to see you there.

Tony.

HARRIS: Boy, that show is developing quite a following there, Gerri. Well done to you and your team on that program.

WILLIS: Thank you, sir.

HARRIS: All right, Gerri, have a great day.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Tony Harris and Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And coming up on the bottom of the hour. Good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

New doubts coming out about the leadership of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Let's get to CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr this morning.

Barbara, where are these concerns being expressed?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, in a little while, the National Intelligence community is going to hold a background briefing for reporters, discussing some of the declassified findings that they have in their report, their National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq. A classified version, of course, has now gone to President Bush and to Capitol Hill. One of the central findings, according to sources that we have spoken to that have knowledge of the report and one has actually seen it, central finding Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki may not be the man to achieve political success in Iraq. According to our sources, the report finds that al-Maliki simply doesn't have the political muscle to make the kind of progress in Iraq politically with his government that is so desperately needed, they say, to make security happen, to achieve that success in Iraq.

That's just one of the findings in the report, according to sources. It also discusses the security situation. It does say that things are better in Al Anbar province, where Sunni sheikhs have turned against al Qaeda, to some large extent. It warns, however of concerns of a Tet-like offensive before September. Of course hearkening back to the Vietnam War when the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese launched their raids into South Vietnam.

Overall, though, it leaves the administration with very little maneuvering room. Maliki is the man that heads the democratically elected government in Iraq, but so far nobody really seems to thinks he's up to the job -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Well, it was interesting, too, a couple of days ago we heard the president suggest, if you will, that if possibly if he wasn't the man to do the job, then he would need to be replaced.

Now we heard him just yesterday in a speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars saying if that were the case, if he were ever to be replaced, it would be the Iraqi people who would need to do that. Wonder which it is and what happens next, if in fact we're looking at this report that's saying he can't get the job done.

STARR: Well, what does happen next? And there's really no immediate solution to this. The Bush administration has been supporting a democratically elected government in Iraq, but this is -- part of what we're seeing right now in Washington is that old game of lowering expectations. Let's make no mistake about it. We have a lot of reports -- the Petraeus report, the Crocker Report, a report from the Pentagon, a report from the White House, a lot of reports coming out about Iraq. They're fundamentally all going to say the same thing -- no political progress. If the administration gets all this bad news out now before September, they sort of pave the way, and then when it all happens in September perhaps it doesn't seem to dire.

But Democrats are making it clear. Senator Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Clinton, of course, that they think it's time for Maliki to go. But there's that old saying that we've talked about, you go to the dance with the one who brung you, Heidi, and right now it's Maliki. That's where the Bush administration has put all of its chips -- Heidi.

COLLINS: That is the saying. All right, CNN's Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr this morning. Barbara, thank you.

HARRIS: Just a short time ago, an indictment against a former Ohio police officer. The murder of his pregnant girlfriend drew national headlines in June.

COLLINS: A promise from the co-owner of the collapsed Utah mine -- it will not reopen for business. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This has been a deadly, evil mountain that is still alive, and I will never go back into what used to be the Crandall Canyon Mine, never.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The trapped miners have one last chance for rescue. We'll tell you about it, after a break.

HARRIS: And made in China, recalled in the U.S., hundreds of thousands of toys from Spongebob to Thomas the Tank Engine. A closer look ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

COLLINS: While rescuers will make one more search effort at the Crandall Canyon Mine, we've searched the mine owner's safety record.

CNN's David Mattingly has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One thing is clear about mine owner Robert Murray. He is not afraid of a fight. When confronted about reports of a poor safety record of his mines in Ohio, just listen to what Murray told Senator Barbara Boxer.

MURRAY: Madam Chairman, I'm going to respond to that. You're flat out wrong. That information came from your friends at the United Mine Workers and the unions. It is not fair.

The day my safety record at my coal mines -- and I take it to bed with me every night. And I resent you bringing this in, because my employees are important to me and I take their safety to bed every night. My safety record today is one of the best in the coal industry anywhere.

MATTINGLY: Robert Murray bought the Crandall Canyon mine only a year ago and, until the accident, it was one of his safest mines.

But "Keeping Them Honest", we checked government records, and found they list Murray as the head of 19 mining operations in five states. Only seven are active underground mines, and four of them have injury rates above the national average.

At the Galatia mine in southern Illinois, the rate of injuries has exceeded the national average every year since Murray bought the mine in 1998. The rate of injuries was almost cut in half from 2003 to 2006, but the mine has also racked up over 3,400 citations in the last 2 1/2 years, 968 so far this year, with nearly a quarter considered significant and substantial. ELLEN SMITH, MINE SAFETY & HEALTH NEWS: You wonder how that many violations can build up in that little amount of time. Now, you have to remember he's challenging a lot of the citations, but when you look, he's also paid a lot in fines.

MATTINGLY: He paid almost $700,000 in fines from 2005 and 2006. So far this year Galatia has been hit with 31 major citations, each exceeding $10,000. That's more violations than any other mine in the country and second in total fines.

(on camera) And Galatia wasn't Murray's first big problem. In 2003 managers at his mining company in Kentucky were found guilty of violating safety standards and attempting to cover it up. The company was ordered to pay a $306,000 fine.

(voice-over) Requests for comments from officials at Murray Energy were not answered. CNN asked Murray about safety records of his other underground mines at a news conference Monday. Murray said he would only talk about Crandall Canyon.

MURRAY: The safety record of this mine is almost outstanding. It's well -- much better than the national average.

MATTINGLY: But as the tragedy at Crandall Canyon shows, even better than average mines can involve serious risks.

David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And then there's this -- no hope of finding survivors from a flooded coal mine in China. That's what a senior government official tells Reuters News Agency today. One-hundred and eighty-one workers have been trapped in the mine since Friday. That's when torrential rain caused a dike to burst, sending water surging into the mine. Experts say it will take days more to finish pumping out the water. And tempers boiled over on Monday. Some relatives of a missing miner smashed -- did you hear that -- smashed a reception window and display cases at a company office.

COLLINS: Rising waters and 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 and more problems.

And waters rising in the Midwest, CNN i-reporters like Scott Cortez (ph) on the scene. Amazing pictures, straight ahead for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COLLINS: We want to show you these lives pictures coming into us. You're looking at Findlay, Ohio, which obviously doesn't usually look like that. Just an unbelievable amount of rain. This is one of the hardest-hit areas. A state of emergency has been declared there. We spoke with a correspondent of ours a little bit earlier, and people really trying their best to do whatever they can to not only stay safe, but then to think about trying to get rid of that water and getting it out of their homes just as soon as they possibly can. Now This has affected nine different states across the midsection of the country. We'll check in a little bit later on with Reynolds Wolf again to see how that situation is.

Meanwhile, flooding in the Midwest, some of the worst, in fact, in decades, and it's not over yet.

CNN's Randi Kaye has a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All throughout the upper Midwest, the story is the same. Homes and businesses destroyed, roads washed away. People left with nothing.

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."

KAYE: In southeast Minnesota, at least seven people died. Thousands were forced from their homes by the flooding that followed relentless rain: 17 inches in some parts of the state, some of it the remnants of Tropical Storm Erin.

GOV. TIM PAWLENTY, MINNESOTA: There's thousands of homes that have been impacted, and lives and families, some of which are destroyed entirely, some of which are severely damaged. Some less so.

KAYE: According to the Red Cross in Minnesota, 4,200 homes have been destroyed or damaged, and the nonstop downpours and flash floods are making it hard for rescuers to reach stranded residents.

JOE MODJESKI, CHIEF DEPUTY: We came through this morning about 8 a.m., and the water looked like a normal spring flood. You know, you could still see the banks. Within 45 minutes later, it was up above four feet. And then we watched it for about -- about half an hour. It rose about a foot every ten minutes.

KAYE: The story is much the same in parts of Wisconsin, where torrential rains have caused the Fox and Des Plaines rivers to rise rapidly and to dangerous levels. Flooding there caused mudslides and even derailed a train.

In Kenosha County alone, officials for the price tag put the devastation at $30 million. Twenty-one Ohio counties were fighting floods.

This is Main Street in Findlay, Ohio, where the Blanchard River rose more than seven feet and spilled over its banks. CNN's I- Reporters caught these images as desperate residents tried to escape the rising floodwaters, some wading through knee-high water just to get across the street.

And it isn't over yet. Forecasters say there's more rain on the way.

Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: Having a baby, it increasingly means having a c-section. Is it a matter of cash and convenience? Elizabeth Cohen's live report a must-see, coming up for you in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HARRIS: You know, it just won't stop raining. Hundreds of people out of their homes today. Neighbors become rescuers in the flooded Midwest. The highest water in Findlay, Ohio in nearly 100 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: This week on CNN, a six-hour television event, "God's Warriors," reported by Christiane Amanpour. In the third and final installment, the focus is on conservative Christians. They've become a political force in the United States. You'll meet a Texas preacher who wants to make sure they remain so.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to realize the seriousness of the hour! It is not the left that is wrecking the country; it is the Christian who is doing nothing.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pastor Rick Scarborough (ph) is on a crusade across America.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For a Christian not to vote is a sin.

AMANPOUR: He's traveling the country holding church rallies from now until Election Day 2008.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here is the danger you need to see!

AMANPOUR: Like many of his Christian counterparts, he believes America has lost its moral footing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Christians don't lose until they quit.

AMANPOUR: And his mission is to raise an army of Christians voters to fix that. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Christians are estimated between 50 and 80 million. We are the largest voting bloc in America. If 75 percent of them vote their values, we win!

I'm not a Republican. I'm not a Democrat. I'm a Christ-ocrat. My allegiance is to Jesus Christ.

AMANPOUR: Rick Scarborough is a Baptist preacher by trade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were making progress. We have a conservative (INAUDIBLE). We're losing ground right now.

AMANPOUR: And author of books with provocative titles, such as "Enough is Enough" and "Liberalism Kills Kids."

His interest in politics began when he attended an AIDS prevention lecture at his daughter's public high school in Burlan (ph), Texas, which he felt was too explicit, and sent an immoral message.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every form of sex is fair game; just make sure you use a condom.

AMANPOUR: Scarborough took his indignation to his congregation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never in my entire life have I seen a group of Baptists get so mad. We would up encouraging our people to run for public office.

AMANPOUR: Church members took over the local school board and the city council. And while their victory was short-lived, Scarborough had found his calling. He turned to Jerry Fallwell, for guidance, to take his message national.

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