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American Morning
Devastating Floods; Midwest Storms; Deutsche Bank Building; Sharing Intelligence; Minding Your Business
Aired August 24, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Windy city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It went from still to whoa (ph). It just whirled the block around.
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CHETRY: A fast moving summer storm blasts Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the worst I've seen it.
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CHETRY: A warehouse roof collapses. Hundreds of thousands without power. Chaos at the airport. And another storm line pounding the Midwest today.
Plus, home for the holidays.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN WARNER, (R) VIRGINIA: Hopefully the troops will get home by Christmas.
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CHETRY: A call from a top Republican to start bringing the troops home. Will the White House listen.
And brothers in arms. A second son lost. A third now coming home. A real life Private Ryan on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And welcome. We're glad you're with us on this Friday, August 24th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Friday being the key word there. I'm Rick Sanchez. That's right, tomorrow you don't have to work. At least most of you, right?
Big story today having to do with the weather, but also what is going on with Iraq. Somebody you wouldn't think would be calling for the troops to come home is calling for the troops to come home. And we're going to tell you who that is.
CHETRY: That's right. And not as many as you would think, though. He's calling for a very small amount. Sending a message. so we will have more on that.
But first, once again weather topping our news this morning. A bad situation getting much worse in the Midwest. A fast and furious storm, nearly as powerful as a hurricane, slamming the Chicago area. Seventy-mile-an-hour winds and rain tearing things up in a matter of minutes.
You can see some of the damage. Trees uprooted, laying across streets. Tornado sirens also activated. And also reports of funnel cloud sightings.
This morning, the cleanup is underway as crews try to get debris off of the streets and get the city moving again. But a massive amount of damage has been done.
SANCHEZ: Yes, it's been a tough week for some of the people there. The number dead is now at 26 people killed just in the region after days of nonstop rains and flooding.
Take a look at some of these pictures. Let's show you now what happened last night. These are more pictures that we've been get in from Chicago.
This is a huge storm, folks. It just came right through the city, suddenly. Lightning just about every few seconds pounded the windy city.
You've seen lightening before. Other parts of the country, you've seen this before. But it was just the voracity of it. The way it came through. The way it's being described from people in Chicago today. The storm's leaving more than 300,000 people without power.
I want to show you a different picture now. Storm system also caused at least one roof to collapse. This happened at the dock area of an industrial building in west Chicago.
See that? That was a big problem. Workers say they ran as soon as they saw it start to collapse and tried to save themselves. For the most part they did, by the way. Some of them actually hid out in some of the bathrooms there. Others say they just dove behind office cabinets and hung on as best they could to get away from the violent winds and the flying debris.
What a story. Forty people were hurt. Seven of them were taken to local hospitals. And we're going to be checking in with this from time to time this morning just to see how they're coping with this situation.
These are the most recent pictures that we've been following for you. This is Findlay, Ohio, by the way. The rain just kept falling, flood waters kept rising and the heat has been oppressive. Now, remember, you can't run your air-conditioner in this situation because you don't have any electricity. Michael Chertoff and FEMA Director David Paulison visited Ohio yesterday. They're promising some federal help. The latest on the situation now. CNN's David Mattingly has been following the situation from Ohio.
I believe you're, what, in Ottawa?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Ottawa, Ohio, Rick, just down river from Findlay. All the water that's draining out of Findlay is coming here and you see what sort of effect it's having on this town. This is just one flooded intersection in a very big flood here. In fact, the further that way you go deeper into town, the deeper the water gets. Five feet or more in some areas.
Yesterday the only way to get around into town was on a front end loader. A very large piece of construction equipment. We hitched a ride and went down there.
We saw a lot of buildings with water up into the first story of some of these buildings. All the basements around this town have been flooded. The streets are flooded. They're impassable by regular automobiles. Some automobiles are completely under water in some neighborhoods, depending on the elevation there. And officials -- the only way they can get around to handle emergency calls is by boat.
This flood caught a lot of people by surprise. This stopped just short of a historic level, a record that's been standing since the early 1900s. This water got into neighborhoods that hasn't seen water like this in generations.
So you find that there were some homeowners that stayed with their homes. A lot of homeowners, actually, stayed with their homes because they didn't think the water would get this high. Now they've been stuck in their homes for a couple of days. They're starting to call officials saying, hey, can you come get me because it's just no fun sitting here in this house surrounded by this water and we need to get out of here.
So they'll be handling a lot more emergency runs today, they expect, going to homes, shuttling people out of their houses to dry land. Last night they also started going around to houses taking out pets. Just to give you an idea of how organized they are here, they have been going 24/7 since this started and they feel like they've been making some progress in taking care of the people here as there have been no serious injuries. And that's very good news.
And another piece of good news here, Rick, the water level is going down, but it's going down slowly. Only 0.4 tenths of an inch per hour. But it is going down.
SANCHEZ: I didn't know there was an Ottawa, Ohio. David Mattingly's there, though, and he's going to be following it for us this morning. Thanks, David. Let us know certainly if anything changes.
And let's go over to Jacqui Jeras now. Jacqui's going to be following the situation. You're from Minnesota. Have you been talking to any of your relatives there? How have they been coping with this situation?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, actually my relatives in Iowa are the ones that are having the trouble, up here towards Mason City in the northeastern corners of the state. But things are looking a lot better in southeastern parts of Minnesota.
The real concerns at this hour are into southeastern Iowa and the northern parts of Missouri. Look at all this rain that came down in the last two days. Doppler radar is estimating it's as much as 10 inches. Chicago looking for a line of thunderstorms to come through here. Northern parts of Indiana as well.
It's going to get a little better in Findlay, Ohio. But unfortunately, of course, all this rain pushing into your neighborhood. We're going to have to wait until the end of the weekend before things really begin to significantly dry up.
And look at all the counties that are under flood watches and flood warnings at this hour, from just east of Cleveland, all the way over into Nebraska. And so lots of people are being affected by this here for today.
The rainfall accumulations are going to be real heavy in this area, again, from Davenport north of Chicago on up towards Milwaukee. All those purple you see, that's about six inches of rainfall. So very difficult for travel. No rain in the Northeast, but we've got a lot of low level clouds and fog here. So expect a lot of delays from the Midwest all the way into the northeast today.
Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Jacqui, thanks so much. We'll check in with you throughout the morning.
Meantime, switching to Iraq now, and a powerful Republican voice calling on the White House to withdrawal some troops from Iraq. Senator John Warner, a former Army services chairman and former secretary of the Navy for the first time is recommending a date for a partial pullout. He's saying that would send Iraqi leaders a message to take action.
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SEN. JOHN WARNER, (R) VIRGINIA: There are 160,000 plus, say 5,000 could begin to redeploy and be home to their families and loved ones no later than Christmas of this year. We simply cannot, as a nation, stand and put our troops at continuous risk of loss of life and limb without beginning to take some decisive action which will get everybody's attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The White House insists that any decisions about a change in strategy should wait until next month's progress report from Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON JOHNDROE, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: I think it's important that we wait right now to hear from the commanders on the ground about the way ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And, again, it's unclear how much impact it would have. Senator Warren again saying 5,000 out of the 160,000 some troops that are currently in Iraq. The new Intelligence Estimates is predicting that Iraq's leaders are not going to be effective, but it also says that there have been some security improvements since the U.S. troop surge began.
Rick.
SANCHEZ: It appears Basque separatists are at it again. There's been a car bombing this morning in Spain. And it's believed at this point to be the work -- no actual claim of responsibility. There you see some of the pictures. Obviously they've dealt with this kind of stuff in the past there in Spain. It would be the first attack, though, by ETA since it called off a cease fire in June. This bomb went off outside the police station of the Basque city of Durango. Two officers are slightly injured. We're going to be keeping an eye on this.
It could be the last chance to find the six trapped miners in Utah. Crews today are drilling a sixth and final hole they say at the Crandall Canyon Mine. The mine's co-owner, Bob Murray, says that the rescue effort is going to be over if they don't find anything. A spokesperson for the six miners' families says they want drilling to continue until their loved ones are found. That's the point they're making to the mine officials. CNN spoke to one family member and they say that their hope is strong but their patience is running very thin with Mr. Murray.
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BRANDON ERICKSON, TRAPPED MINER'S SON: And I feel that he's hiding something. Trying to cover up something. Something underground or whatever. He don't want it to be -- I mean if he's willing to seal up that mine and not recover any of his equipment or whatever, then that's telling me that he's hiding something. I mean, I ain't going to let him seal that mine with my dad in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Boy, that's a tough situation. Murray, as you know, has been speaking to us here at CNN extensively. He is saying he is totally focused on the welfare of the families and continues to be focused on the recovery effort itself. We'll parse it out for you.
Kiran, over to you. CHETRY: Some more problems at the Deutsche Bank building near Ground Zero in New York this morning. An accident has now left two firefighters injured. This just days after demolition was supposed to be put on hold following a fire that killed two other firefighters there and injured dozens more. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho is live on the scene with more on this latest problem down there.
Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning.
We should tell you that all of the construction work at the Deutsche Bank building behind me has been halted pending further notice. Remember, this is the last building to be demolished here at Ground Zero. And obviously there are a lot of questions this morning regarding safety. One central question is, why was the contractor allowed to work here when it had no prior demolition experience? That question has yet to be answered.
Meanwhile, just yesterday, two New York City firefighters, as you just mentioned, were injured after a piece of heavy equipment fell 23 floors on to the roof of a makeshift construction shed. This latest incident, ironically, came on the very same day that a funeral was held for one of two firefighters killed in a massive fire on Saturday in the very same building. Those firefighters died because they were trapped and they ran out of air. Incidentally, one of the stand pipes that should have provided water to help fight the fire was not working.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a total and complete meltdown and I for one do not want to go back to my community tonight and have to explain how this got mishandled and botched.
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CHO: Now this latest incident comes, you know, as a report says, at least one report says, that the contractor here has been fired and has been given five days to get out. But finding a replacement may be difficult, especially when you consider this is tedious work, this is dangerous work. There is asbestos in the building that needs to be removed. Remember, this building is being taken down literally beam by beam, floor by floor and now there will be a delay which will affect all of the rebuilding here at Ground Zero.
But, Kiran, as you might imagine, a lot of residents in this area are really concerned about air quality going forward and really they're very concerned and want to know why near six years after 9/11, why this building is still standing. On that question, Kiran, there is no clear answer.
CHETRY: Yes. It's something that a lot of New Yorkers and people across the nation are wondering, as well.
Alina Cho, thank you. Rick.
SANCHEZ: Find out more of what we do for you, watching our terror reports. This is called "Terror Watch." And this week the FBI opened a new phase in the way that it gathers and it shares intelligence. The new process allows various agencies to distribute valuable intelligence in realtime and faster than ever before. Kelli Arena is in our Washington bureau. She's been talking to sources and checking on this for us and she's joining us now with the very latest.
What are you learning, Kelli?
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rick, you know, I just heard Alina and I can't believe that it's been nearly six years since the September 11th attacks, you know, and we're still talking about information sharing. But, you know, Rick, in this case, it really is about the technology and what it's going to be able to do for the FBI.
Now say, for example, there's a bombing in Iraq. Investigators usually go and grab as many of the bomb components that they can find. And sometimes there are latent fingerprints on them. Well, those are sent to an FBI database and filed under suspected terrorists. Well the FBI used to put that information on a disk and eventually get it over to the Department of Homeland Security.
Well now this is all happening in realtime. The technology has advanced so much. So all the fingerprints in the FBI, that it has from the Department of Defense, from other foreign governments and, of course, of the law enforcement partners, is sent immediately to DHS. Big improvement. Very crucial in fighting the war on terror.
SANCHEZ: Aren't there some real-life applications for this technology as well?
ARENA: Yes, you know, well, fingerprints are helpful for anyone trying to keep terrorists from crossing our borders. Let's say, Rick, that you're coming across the border. You have the same name as a terrorist. Well now, you know, law enforcement can see if your prints are the same, that they match, too. So you can be cleared or taken into custody.
Or if you're someone who works at an embassy and you're approving visa applications, also important. Let's say somebody wants a job in the Green Zone in Iraq. We don't want anybody else blowing up things over there. So having that fingerprint information in realtime is a very big help.
And interestingly, what the FBI says it's working on next is trying to find the technology to provide a way for people who work in the field, so that they can actually take fingerprints anywhere and then match those against the system. So let's say you're stopped for speeding, for example, and your name pops up. They can do, you know, field fingerprints right there and match them. So it's all moving very quickly, but, obviously, very helpful.
SANCHEZ: Yes, that's interesting because it jives with what the ATF guys were telling me in Phoenix two weeks ago while they were doing their convention, exactly what the FBI fellows are telling you. But the ATF guys are looking for signatures. Signatures being a specific device or a specific way of doing a bomb that would then tell them, oh, that's an al Qaeda bomb, as opposed to a homegrown bomb.
ARENA: Right. Exactly. Exactly.
SANCHEZ: And they're trying to get that nailed down.
ARENA: And this takes it one step further because, you know, there's always a print somewhere, you know. At least that's what the investigators say.
SANCHEZ: Good stuff. Kelli Arena, as usual, we thank you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Well, one family's tragedy. It's a real life "Saving Private Ryan" story. We're going to tell it to you. Three brothers who went to war in Iraq, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back, everyone. We're trying to bring you some of the best shots this morning on our "Quick Hits."
David Beckham's fighting mad. This after he was tackled from behind in last night's L.A. Galaxy game. The English mega star did play the full 90 minutes but was hobbling near the end. Just thought we'd share that with you.
Also, some new shots out of Chicago. This is a story that we're really going to be following. I mean not the political story, but the weather story of the day really is all about Chicago today. Powerful wind and rain storms have slammed that city last night. And really we're still trying to get a sense of how much damage was done, but we know it was quite extensive. The weather surprised a whole lot of people as they left the office and made a mad dash to try and get home as fast as they possibly can.
By the way, we just got new figures on the airport situation there. This is a 4:50 update that I'm reading to you. It just came in. Airlines are working to rebook passengers. At one point they said there were hundreds of flights that had to be canceled.
Now we're being told that -- let me read all this over to the side over here. O'Hare is now reporting 30 cancellations due to last night's storms. So I think what they're trying to do is put as many people on as many flights and get them out this morning as they can, because they're dealing with a very serious backup from last night. We'll keep checking on it. As we get info, we'll share it with you.
Kiran, over to you.
CHETRY: Yes, they apparently had hundreds of people who had to spend the night at the airport as well, and major delays add Midway, as well. So we will keep you posted on the latest there.
Meantime, there is new talk about sending a message to Iraq's government. This follows Republican Senator John Warner's call to start bring some troops home by Christmas. That statement is likely aimed at embattled Iraqi Prim Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who many in Congress say is unfit to secure a peaceful, political solution in Iraq. So what went wrong with Maliki? Was he simply the wrong man for the job? We asked "Time" magazine world editor Bobby Ghosh, who reported in Baghdad for four years.
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BOBBY GHOSH, "TIME" MAGAZINE WORLD EDITOR: People in Washington seem to think that he can't reach out to the Sunnis. That is not true. He doesn't want to. He has no intention. He never has wanted to reach out to the Sunnis. They fundamentally misunderstand Maliki. He is a creature of his own politics. He's a Shiite partisan. He will never reach out to the Sunnis in any meaningful way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, if that's the case, what happens now? Will Maliki step aside? Will he be forced out? Thrown out of office?
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GHOSH: All we've given Iraq is a deeply corrupt and inept government. In almost any social or economic indicator, Iraq is worse off than it was when he took power. And his political rivals recognize this. The fact that he's now losing traction even in Washington is simply the last straw. It opens up a wound and the sharks are circling and they're going to get deep (ph), very soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And if Maliki leaves office, willing or otherwise, who likely could be his replacement? And is there anyone out there capable of bringing the warring factions together?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GHOSH: What Iraq desperately needs is a Nelson Mandela type of figure. It needs a statesman, not a politician. It needs somebody who has the credibility of all sections of the Iraqi population. Kurds, Sunnis, Shiite, Arabs. He has to be able to thinking for all of Iraq, not for one group. And he has to be seen as thinking of all of Iraq, not for one group. Unfortunately, there's nobody like that right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And so while there are rumblings within the Bush administration that they may not be thrilled with Maliki's performance, they do publicly continue to support him, as well as the Iraqi presidency council, and will continue to work with them on the best way forward in Iraq. Rick.
SANCHEZ: Hey, thanks, Kiran.
The holiday season is closer than you might think. With all of these recent toy recalls, we're going to tell you what one major retailer is now doing to keep kids safe. Obviously this having a lot of ties to China and the situation there. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business." He's coming up in just a little bit here on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning.
A security breach at monster.com topping your "Quick Hits" now. The website says that a rogue server stole information from almost 1.5 million job hunters. It may include names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mails. A computer virus expert says that the crooks are sending out corrupt pop-up ads for fake employment website and that they could take over your computer if you click on those fake pop ups.
A Hepatitis scare at Jamba Juice in San Jose, California. A worker there has been diagnosed with Hepatis A. Now about 4,000 customers who visited the Willow Glen Jamba Juice store in the first two weeks of August could be at risk.
SANCHEZ: That's important information.
CHETRY: Sure is.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That stuff makes you strong?
SANCHEZ: Like borgus (ph). Like borg (ph).
CHETRY: Not Hepatitis.
VELSHI: No, no, Jamba Juice. The stuff's not sickening.
SANCHEZ: Make sure we get that right.
OK. If you're a parent and you want to buy a toy for your kid, what stores . . .
VELSHI: You're worried. You're worried.
SANCHEZ: Exactly. There are places you can go? What's going on?
VELSHI: Well, one of the biggest retailer of toys -- well, one of the biggest retails in the world is Wal-Mart, and they sell a lot of toys as well. Wal-Mart is now telling its suppliers to resubmit their testing for safety, for lead, for little bits that fall off to Wal-Mart so that Wal-Mart can double-check that it's safe. Wal-Mart also independently tests a number of its products at separate labs and it is increasing by between 25 percent and 50 percent the number of toys that it will test on a weekly basis. So it will probably go up to about 200 toys that it will test on a weekly basis at independent labs.
It's also said that it's had customers coming in saying, they are getting fearful about toys from China and until this is sorted out, until we figure out why these toys from China are at risk, they want to try to see if they can buy toys from other places. Now, this is a big issue for Wal-Mart.
SANCHEZ: Yes, but, hold on a minute. What are they going to do with their inventory that they have? I mean, what do they say . . .
VELSHI: A, that's a problem. They're saying that what they're doing right now shouldn't affect the inventory. They say it's OK. But, you know, everything that's on its way to the stores is on its way to the stores or in the stores.
SANCHEZ: Exactly.
VELSHI: They can't (INAUDIBLE).
CHETRY: They all . . .
SANCHEZ: Because you wonder how much this is a marketing statement more than a practical statement.
VELSHI: Except that Wal-Mart, when it does do these things, does tend to set trends because it is so big that suppliers will understand, OK, well, you know what, if Wal-Mart's asking us to resubmit things, we should check (ph). Because this is one of those instances where, while a lot of it is marketing that comes from Wal- Mart, this might actually influence -- it might send a ripple across the industry to say, hey, everybody better check this.
CHETRY: All I say is they better get this toy mess sorted out by Christmas.
VELSHI: Well, and sooner than Christmas because we're not making toys now for Christmas. They're already made. They're already on their way.
SANCHEZ: That's a problem.
CHETRY: But if we're talking about another major recall in the months before Christmas, it's going to be a mess.
VELSHI: Oh, people are going to be making their kids toys for Christmas. Yes.
CHETRY: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Good stuff, though. We'll get back to you, Ali.
VELSHI: In about half an hour.
SANCHEZ: Here's a look at the story that came up that you probably want to say, you don't want to miss this one. We're going to be talking sex.
CHETRY: That's right. Or lack of it perhaps in a way. I'm going to sit down with two . . .
SANCHEZ: Ali's leaving the room.
VELSHI: Excuse me.
CHETRY: No, it's a good thing. It's a good thing. It's encouraging abstinence among college students. There's a club, actually, at Harvard and they're saying, look, we're tired of the casual sex environment at college. We want to do something different. It's interesting how this abstinence club is being received at one of the nation's most stellar universities. We're going to show you what's going on, what they're doing, coming up. Or what they're not doing coming up.
SANCHEZ: What they're not doing. Well said.
CHETRY: AMERICAN MORNING returns in a moment.
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CHETRY: A little calmer this morning in Chicago.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, but it's not going to be all day calmer.
CHETRY: No, unfortunately. That shot is coming to us from Chicagoland TV. They're looking at a high today of 80 degrees with more strong storms. Thunderstorms likely, they say. And they could be severe during the afternoon hours. Flooding, they say, is possible in some of the areas there. So a double whammy if they get bad weather again today.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, after what they had to deal with yesterday. Hey, everybody, Friday, August 24th. I'm Rick Sanchez sitting in for John, helping Kiran a little bit.
CHETRY: It's been great to have you this week.
SANCHEZ: We had a ball.
CHETRY: We sure have.
SANCHEZ: Yeah, it's been great.
CHETRY: You might have had a little more fun getting to witness helicopter rescues up close and personal.
SANCHEZ: Story of my life.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being with us. A powerful Republican voice this morning is calling on the White House to withdrawal a small amount of troops from Iraq. Senator John Warner, former Arms Services chairman and former secretary of the Navy, for the first time, is recommending a date for a partial pullout. He wants to do it, he says, to send a message to Iraqi leaders but it's time to take action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN WARNER, (R), VIRGINIA: Certainly, 160,000 plus, say 5,000, could begin to redeploy and be home to their families and loved ones no later than Christmas of this year. We simply cannot, as a nation, stand and put our troops at continuous risk of loss of life and limb without beginning to take some decisive action which will get everybody's attention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The White House insists that any decisions about a change in strategy should wait until next month's progress report from Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GORDON JOHNDROE, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL SPOKESMAN: I think it's important that we wait right now to hear from the commanders on the ground about the way ahead.
CHETRY: A new intelligence estimate is predicting that Iraq's leaders are not going to be effect. But it also says there have been security improvements since the U.S. troop surge began.
Also new this morning, they are racing in Chicago to keep the Friday morning commute on track after a blast of extreme weather. As we said, it's shaping up to be another rough day.
Take a look at these pictures from yesterday. Pounding rains and whipping winds ripping into the city. Tornado-strength winds at some points in the city. Some residents spotted funnel clouds. The weather created quite a hazard for drivers as bits of tree and other debris were littering the streets and even over the train tracks in some places. There you see a woman trying to run out in the way of the weather.
It created a hazard, a knock-out punch at the airport as well. Chicago O'Hare Airport, more than 500 flights had to be canceled and across town at Mid-way cancellations, as well. The airports say they are getting back on track today, trying to book as many people on new flights. They did have a lot of people having to spend the night at the airport.
Meantime, tens of thousands of people are still without electricity in and around Chicago. Power lines snapped as high winds took trees down. You can see the damage. These are some I-report videos and pictures that we received overnight. Quite a mess. If that's your home, if that's your car, if that's your front yard, what a mess, in one neighborhood, especially. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tree fell on a car on York and St. Charles. I heard the people are okay but the car was demolished. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: There you see someone being taken off in a stretcher. So obviously, there were certainly people hurt in this situation.
The weather is also blamed for a roof collapse at a Chicago warehouse. Forty people were hurt, 7 of them taken to local hospitals. Some conditions unknown today but we did hear one person was critical and someone else was in serious condition. We'll continue to follow that for you out of Chicago this morning.
FEMA, meantime, is revealing that 1,500 families in Louisiana and Mississippi are asking out of FEMA trailers. The families, victims of Hurricane Katrina and Rita, are worried about being exposed to toxic formaldehyde in the trailers. It's been reported that there were unsafe levels, or at least enough of a level of formaldehyde to cause concern. FEMA has moved about 200 families and is now looking for thousands of rental apartments.
Investigators have recommended dropping charges against another Marine accused in the Haditha killings. Investigators say there's not enough evidence to merit a court martial. The recommendation is not binding, but, if accepted, it means of four enlisted Marines initially charged with murder, only one will face charges. Twenty-four civilians were killed Haditha, Iraq, back in 2005.
SANCHEZ: Do you remember the comments that Michelle Obama made and they said it was a criticism of the lack of family values on the part of the Clintons when they were in the White House?
CHETRY: She said you have to take care of your own house before you take care of the White House.
SANCHEZ: It continues. John Edwards is using a campaign stop in New Hampshire to take a thinly veiled shot at rival Hillary Clinton. At least that's the way people are reading what he said, as a lot of people were reading what Michelle Obama said. Take a listen. Judge for yourself.
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JOHN EDWARDS, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people deserve to know that their presidency is not for sale, the Lincoln bedroom is not for rent and lobbyist' money can no longer influence policy in the house or the Senate. The problem with nostalgia is what we tend to do is you only remember what you like. And you write and you forget the parts that you didn't like.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Democrats going after Democrats, in this case Mrs. Clinton. By the way, she continues to lead Edwards and all Democrats in all national polls. And she's also, at least at this point, leading in New Hampshire.
A decision is expected today on where Manuel Noriega will end up. A federal judge will decide if the former dictator should go back to Panama to face charges. If he's not sent back, he could end up facing charges in France. Noriega's 17-year U.S. prison term ends in two weeks.
An astronaut at the center of a soap opera is due in court today. A hearing is scheduled for Lisa Nowak. She's accused of kidnapping and could take the stand. Police are saying that she drove almost 1,000 miles from Houston to Orlando to confront a fellow astronaut about a common love interest. The alleged victim, Colleen Shipman, may also be in court today. There you go.
CHETRY: A tragedy in California for one family. It's reminiscent of the story of "Saving Private Ryan." It's about three brothers, all of them deployed to Iraq. Here's CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They were literally a band of brothers. Nathan, Jason and Jared Hubbard -- inseparable until war tore them apart.
In 2004, Marine Lance Corporal Jared Hubbard was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq along with his best friend, Jeremiah Barrow.
JEFF HUBBARD FATHER OF FALLEN SOLDIERS: The worry is apparent. Worry back here goes off the chart when they're doing what they're doing.
GUTIERREZ: Despite the death of their brother, Nathan and Jason decided to enlist in the Army. Pastor Tim Rolen, a family friend, says they wanted to honor their brother.
TIM ROLEN, HUBBARD FAMILY PASTOR: The word I get from the family, these two brothers wanted to finish what Jared had started.
GUTIERREZ: Then this week, 21-year-old Nathan Hubbard was killed when the Blackhawk helicopter, carrying 14 U.S. soldiers, crashed in northern Iraq. Jason was in another chopper when his brother went down.
ROLEN: They were on the same mission in two separate helicopters. Jason, the older brother, was in the helicopter that did not go down. And it was their responsibility, then, to land and attempt any kind of rescue that might be possible. But there were no survivors.
GUTIERREZ: In Clovis, California, flags line the street where the brothers grew up.
ROLEN: It's happened once. That's hard. That doesn't help you for it happening again.
GUTIERREZ (on camera): The residents of Clovis mourn once again. Nathan Hubbard is now the seventh service member from this down who was killed in action since the war in Iraq began. (voice-over): Five were killed from the high school. Now this memorial for Jared and his childhood friend, Jeremiah, has become a gathering place for people to grieve.
ROLEN: I'm going to remember them as heroes. I'm going to remember them as young men with courage.
GUTIERREZ: Jason Hubbard, now the only surviving son, is on his way home from Iraq to be with his family, as his younger brother, Nathan, makes his final journey home to buried here next his beloved older brother, Jared.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Clovis, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Encouraging news overnight from Virginia Tech. You're ""Quick Hits"" now. Two students, critically injured in a carbon monoxide leak, had their conditions upgraded to good last night. The sophomores got sick after their water heater malfunctioned at their off-campus apartment building.
Firefighters in Renton, Washington, getting a pat on the back from animal lovers this morning -- their charge into a burning strip mall to save several rare parrots after flames broke out at an exotic animal shop.
It's college week on "AMERICAN MORNING." Finding out what students are saying about casual sex on campus, a movement to try to do the opposite ahead on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Crime fighting text messages topping your "Quick Hits" now. Boston police are having huge successes with a landmark plan that lets tipsters send anonymous cell phone messages to detectives. They've gotten 230 texts so far, including several that led to the arrest of two suspects. They say it helps because people in the community feel comfortable sending text messages. Their not worried about retaliation because it's anonymous.
Well, a judge believed his defense, but New York City's top cop. So he's out, the so-called Marijuana Meatball Cop is out of a job today. He was a 22-year-old veteran detective. He was fired after failing a drug test. When he failed that drug test, he claimed that his wife spiked his meatballs with marijuana instead of Oregano because she didn't want him to work on the police force anymore.
A judge actually bought that. He apparently took a lie detector test in court, but Ray Kelly, the police commissioner, said, no, I don't buy it. So he's out.
SANCHEZ: So the mayor won a meatball defense?
CHETRY: That's right.
SANCHEZ: Never heard of such a thing. Whatever works.
CHETRY: If you steal, everyone will know about it in one part of Florida. A Putnam County judge is forcing shoplifters to go back to the scene of the crime and wear signs, in this case, hold up signs saying what they did. He says he hopes it will shame them.
SANCHEZ: And stole is spelled correctly because so many people would put a D on that word. That's impressive.
CHETRY: Really?
SANCHEZ: Yeah, absolutely. When you have four kids, you think of those things.
CHETRY: It's 43 minutes past the hour right now. Jacqui Jeras is keeping the eye on the potential for more severe and extreme weather today.
Good morning, Jacqui.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys. Yes, it is nasty out there. Rain is coming down in buckets this morning. We watching an area north of Kansas City stretching up towards the Milwaukee area and into northern parts of Indiana and the rain is coming down. Maybe three inches are expected today, so the flood warnings remain in place. More than 150 counties are under a flood watch or a flood warning here.
Now, the stationary boundary has been parked there for days and days and days. Finally going to be advancing a little bit. By the end of the weekend we'll watch for improvements. Everyone what has been south of that front has been baking in the heat. Look at the heat advisories today, 100 to 105 degrees. Memphis is at 105 at the top of that scale. You know when that air has been stagnant and not moving around a lot, the air quality has been poor, but pollen count is not too bad. One of the worst places today will be Salt Lake City where the ragweed is just unbelievable -- Rick?
SANCHEZ: And if you are like Jacqui and hail from Minnesota, stick around because we have something special for you today. You're going to be watching, right?
JERAS: Yeah, absolutely.
SANCHEZ: It's kind of a gopher thing. Thanks.
Some really wrong Lotto numbers in your ""Quick Hits"." It turns out the Tennessee Lotto officials connect players to a phone sex hotline when they tried to call for a refund. Players say that they called to get their money back because of an earlier computer glitch and then the dirty talk started. A Lotto spokesperson says it was just a mistake and now there's a new number that you're supposed to call so that doesn't happen again.
Feeling lucky? Some big jackpots out there this weekend. Mega Millions is up to $200 million. Those numbers are drawn tonight. If you have really rich taste, the Powerball drawing is up to $300 million. That drawing is set for sometime tomorrow.
It is college week on "AMERICAN MORNING" and we're going to be talking about casual sex on campus. Not to be, of course, confused with other types of sex. You might be surprised by what some students are staying saying about this topic on campus. It's a head on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. It's college week on "AMERICAN MORNING." We're taking a look at some of the challenges that students face as they head back to campus.
Today it's issues of sex and love with two students who are speaking out against the hook-up culture on their campus. Janie Fredell and Leo Keliher are co-presidents of the True Love Revolution at Harvard University.
Good morning to both of you.
JANIE FREDELL, CO-PRESIDENT, HARVARD TRUE LOVE REVOLUTION: Good morning.
LEO KELIHER, CO-PRESIDENT, HARVARD TRUE LOVE REVOLUTION: Good morning.
CHETRY: Thanks for being with us. Congrats, by the way, in getting into Harvard. That's no easy task.
First of all, Leo, tell us, why did you form this club?
KELIHER: There's no voice on campus to speak out against the hookup culture and everything that's going on.
CHETRY: When you say hook-up culture, Janie, what are you talking about?
FREDELL: Really, the casual dating scene, the light treatment of sex on campus.
CHETRY: And why do you believe abstinence is so important on campus at that age?
KELIHER: Because when you're abstinent, you're free to actually have good relationships with people. You're free to actually get to know them instead of just the kind of isolation that happens. People are actually pretty lonely on campus with this hook-up culture.
CHETRY: How much support have you gotten from campus, both from the administration and other students?
FREDELL: The reaction has been mixed on campus.
KELIHER: We have enough support from the administration because they want to be balanced. There's events like the Female Orgasm Seminar. They brought this sex columnist, who graduated from Tuff's, to give tips on how to hook up. It was advertised by the freshman dean's office as the super sexy with three Xs. With them sponsoring those kinds of events, they have to be balanced also.
CHETRY: This is sponsored by the school?
KELIHER: Yes.
CHETRY: Wow, times have changed.
It's interesting, Janie, because you wrote an essay in the "Harvard Crimson." It says, "The difficulty of preserving one's virginity is precisely what makes abstinence a counter-cultural phenomenon. Not everyone can handle the heat." So you're part of a counter-culture movement that's almost the exact reverse of what college students of the sexual revolution of the 60s were doing.
FREDELL: I found it, when I came to college as a freshman, very ironic that a culture who was priding itself on being progressive could condone a hook-up culture and be the objectification of people.
CHETRY: Is there more pressure on one sex or the other to not hook up in college?
FREDELL: I would say it's definitely equal. Both sexes face challenges. That's what the club tries to address.
CHETRY: All right, I thank both of you for coming and joining us, Leo as well as Janie, the co-presidents of the True Love Revolution. Thanks for coming in and talking to us today.
FREDELL: Thank you.
KELIHER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Make no bones about it, calcium does your body good according to a new study that we have come up with here. People in their 50s who take daily calcium supplements are 12 percent less likely to fracture a bone and suffer from osteoporosis. Researchers say many people are not taking strong enough doses to react to the full benefits of this. Doctors say 1,200 milligrams a day doubles a person's chances of having stronger bones.
Good news for senior citizens when it comes to drug coverage, more than 90 percent of Americans 65 and over are now insured. That's about a 6 percent increase since 2004. The findings suggest that Medicare's controversial Part D Prescription Drug Plan is working. Researchers say the most common reason people chose not be covered was because they used few or no drugs.
And the movie industry says it loses billions of dollars around the world from piracy. A new tool is coming to America to help law enforcement agents sniff out counterfeit DVDs. There's more.
She endangered her own life and those of others. Wait until you hear how much hard time Nicole Richie served for it. And why is she looking down when they're taking this picture, many would ask, including you, right? New shoes?
CHETRY: Yeah, it's tough to look good in a mug shot. Who knows?
SANCHEZ: Must be. That's next. Much more on this and everything else that you need to know about on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, she drove the wrong way down a road. She was on Vicodin and pot at the time. Nicole Richie didn't even miss a meal for it. The pregnant Hollywood blond served 82 minutes of a four-day jail sentence yesterday afternoon.
SANCHEZ: Like a cup of coffee.
CHETRY: She spent some of her hard time taking that booking photo that you like so much, Rick. She was in the same jail that housed her "Simple Life" co-star Paris Hilton, but Paris Hilton got the bum wrap compared to this one, 22 days.
SANCHEZ: Paris Hilton got hammered compared to this.
CHETRY: Twenty-two days for driving with a suspended license.
SANCHEZ: And like solitary.
CHETRY: Well, on the same day, by the way, another drunk-diving diva copted a plea. Lindsay Lohan will be serving ten days in jail and do 10 days of community service. The 21-year-old actress was charged with misdemeanor DUI and cocaine possession after a car chase. In a statement released by her publicist, Lindsey said that she's, quote, "addicted to alcohol and drugs." She also said that she broke the law and is now taking responsibility for it.
SANCHEZ: And Ali Velshi seems to be addicted to plastic for some reason. He comes out here a little while ago and he's smelling -- why are you smelling?
ALI VELSHI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's a DVD. I'm smelling a DVD.
CHETRY: First of all, before we even get to the smelling part, I love how Ali's DVD, the "Avenue Q."
VELSHI: Don't show everybody the "Avenue Q" for heaven's sakes.
CHETRY: The "Avenue Q," the puppet musical."
VELSHI: It was the only one lying around the office, OK?
CHETRY: No Bruce Springsteen. There's no Kanye West. There's "Avenue Q."
SANCHEZ: That is so uncool.
VELSHI: This is a DVD. It smells like nothing to me. But let me show you these two dogs, Flow and Lucky. Flow and Lucky -- this was in Malaysia. Flow and Lucky were loaned to the Malaysian government by the Motion Picture Association and they have been, for six months, sniffing out fake DVDs. They found 1.6 million of them in Malaysia, three replicating DVD machines, 97 compact disk burners, resulting in 26 arrests.
The dogs are on their way to New York. They'll be here this week sometime to bust pirates here.
SANCHEZ: So what do they smell for?
VELSHI: Here's the thing. I can't smell a thing, but fake DVDs and real DVDs smell the same.
CHETRY: I have a cold. I can't smell anything.
VELSHI: What these dogs do is they go to places like restaurants, for instance, where there shouldn't be a whole bunch of DVDs and they find there's a fake wall and a cache of DVDs behind. Then the experts go in and say, interesting, there shouldn't be DVDs here anyway. Oh, look they're fakes.
So there's no way to tell a difference between a real and a fake, but these dogs can smell DVDs.
CHETRY: You say they're on loan from the Motion Picture Association. What do they do when they are not on loan? Are they casting agents?
VELSHI: Probably watch movies.
SANCHEZ: They're critics. They're critics. They're the people that give the R ratings.
CHETRY: Exactly, MP3 rating system?
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: They're not allowed to watch Disney films, right?
CHETRY: No, their favorite movie was "101 Dalmatians." All right, Ali, thanks so much.
Now here's a lot at something coming up that you can't miss. For days, we've been showing you these pictures, people's homes either flooded up to the rooftops in water or literally swept away. We talked to a couple. That's their home, the home that they invested their entire lives into.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. It's the Partingon's (ph), right? And what's interesting, obviously we were struck by what we saw behind them, but we were more struck when they told us that their insurance wasn't going to cover them, even if they had the right insurance. We decided we were going to look into these. So we've now sent a crew to Minnesota to investigate this problem to see who else could be affected by something like this. Like anyone of us may find out at the last minute, hey, I'm not covered. That means nobody is going to pay me for this disaster behind me. We're going to have that as we continue this newscast.
CHETRY: That's right. The next hour of "AMERICAN MORNING" starts right now.
And welcome back once again. It is Friday, August 24th. So glad you're with us today. I'm Kiran Chetry.
SANCHEZ: That's what I call a "Quick Hit." I'm Rick Sanchez, sitting in for John. Good to be with you again.
CHETRY: Well, off the top this morning, once again we're talking about the extreme weather across a lot of our country. A bad situation getting worse for parts of the Midwest. A fast, furious storm nearly as powerful as a hurricane slamming the Chicago area, 70, 80 miles an hour winds and gusts and heavy rain and tearing things up in a matter of minutes. You see the pictures making for a very, very difficult and, in some cases, dangerous afternoon commute. Tornado sirens were also activated. There were reports in some areas of sightings of funnel clouds as well, as police officers and rescue crews try to get around and do what they can to help people out of a lot of roadways because of the downed trees and debris, making it difficult to pass the rail lines as well.
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