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Greek Wildfires; Katrina's Wake Still Unrepaired; Powerball Winner
Aired August 26, 2007 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and you are in the NEWSROOM. Straight ahead this hour, Greek inferno. Dozens are dead, many more fleeing as flames threaten the site of the ancient Olympics.
Also --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA: When the people of New Orleans and the gulf coast extended their hand for help that help wasn't there.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Just days before the two-year anniversary of hurricane Katrina, presidential politics takes center stage in New Orleans.
Someone out there is a whole lot richer tonight? So who's got the winning ticket from last night's big powerball drawing?
First up this hour, more dashed hopes and heartache in Utah. A sixth hole drilled in the collapsed Crandall Canyon Mine shows no space where anybody could have survived, and no sign of six miners missing for nearly three weeks now. The mine owner has said this would be the last hole drilled into the shaft, despite pleas from family members of the missing men not to stop looking. At this hour, rescue officials are expected to announce what else they may have found. We'll bring that to you as soon as it happens. There's the live shot location.
And now the ravenous fires consuming southern Greece, today, flames near the site of the first Olympic Games in the ancient town of Olympia. Greece's worst fires in decades now are being blamed for more than 50 deaths. Authorities are making more arson arrests and the government hinting at dark political motives. I just talked to CNN's Frederik Pleitgen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: In some points they certainly are able to contain the devastation. I was just in one place which is actually Olympia, where the original ancient Olympic games happened, and that really was very threatened by these fires. The authorities said earlier today that they really weren't sure if they were actually going to be able to save this place. Then later they did manage to save it but it took several helicopters, several airplanes and dozens of firefighters to contain that blaze over there, and really where I am right now, (INAUDIBLE) you can see that all the mountains here are just scorched. It's dark here right now and you can just see them glowing in the dark because there's just so much energy still coming from them and so many fires still blazing there. So some of the fires here are under control, others are not. But certainly one thing that has gotten a whole lot better, is the weather for the firefighters, it's gotten a little bit cooler and also the winds have died down. Those winds have just been fueling the fires in the past couple of days.
WHTIFIELD: Frederik, was the intention of this fire, was it deliberately set or is it believed that this was an accidental igniting?
PLEITGEN: Well that's the big question here right now. Even the prime minister of this country says he doesn't believe that so many fires could have erupted in such a short time even with the heat, even with the wind and just the general dryness here in this country. The prime minister said it just cannot be. And certainly some people here have been arrested for allegedly arsoning some of these areas. Two are still in custody. This is really something that Greece is talking about a lot. I mean there were 170 fires here all over the country at some point and a lot of Greeks say it just cannot be that all of these fires happened by accident.
WHITFIELD: Frederik Pleitgen, thanks so much for that update from Olympia, Greece.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And to help us get a better view of just how widespread this fire is, Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center. Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well Fredricka, check out the satellite image behind me from space, this came in from NASA and it is really very telling. All of the little red blotches that you can see here on the satellite picture, that's the hot spots, that's where the fires are burning. All of this that looks like cloudiness on the map, that is actually the smoke. So it is drifting miles and miles from the source area, and just about everybody, especially across southern Greece, are feeling the impact from this. Now we're going to switch over and show you our Google Earth source, and this is going to give you a better idea of the location. You know millions of people travel to this part of the world every single year, a very touristy area. Of course, the location of where the first Olympics took place and unfortunately, the fires have been encroaching this area. From what I understand, many trees have burned and also shrubbery, however, the ancient ruins have not been affected at this time. The museum where many of the artifacts have been kept has been evacuated, but they're hoping that the sprinkler system will be able to hold up and keep everything dry. You can see this is the area where all of the ruins are and just outside of there, you can see all of the brush. Look at all of the forested area around here. So there's a lot to burn. The temperatures in the last week have reached record levels, as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit, and those strong winds, we heard the reporter talking about they did die down a little bit this morning. But you get the daytime heating taking place and the winds pick up quite a bit. So the winds we think will be an issue in the days to come and little to no rain, unfortunately, is in the forecast, either. Fredricka?
WHITFILED: It's a bad situation, it certainly doesn't look like things might look up any time soon. Thanks a lot Jacqui.
Well i-Reporters are sending in scores of photos of the fires in Greece. Christopher Woodfin shot this from the roof of his apartment in a northern suburb of Athens. The fire is burning on Mt. Hymettos(ph), which can be seen from many parts of Athens. Woodfin is an architect who's originally from Indiana. He's been living in Athens for six years now. He took these pictures yesterday and he says you could see quite a bit of smoke and ash flying in the air. He says you can still smell it today.
Now to India where there's heightened security today after twin blasts on Saturday. Ten people were killed at an outdoor auditorium in Hyderabad, when a suspected bomb exploded. The second blast happened about five minutes later, about five miles away and killed 34 people at a crowded eatery. Police are trying to determine if the two blasts were coordinated. Around the city, meantime, explosive devices were discovered at 16 different locations. Some officials blamed Islamic militants for the attacks but the home secretary says there won't be any comment until the investigation is complete.
Back in this country -- Michael Vick may be hoping for more leniency from the judge than he got from the NFL. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback heads back to court tomorrow in Richmond, Virginia to formerly plead guilty to bankrolling a dogfighting ring. He faces up to five years in prison as the max. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has already suspended Vick indefinitely without pay. Meanwhile, the Falcons want their money back. The team is going after $22 million paid to Vick in signing bonuses. CNN will bring you complete details of Vick's day in court. Our in-depth reports begin tomorrow morning.
A ticket to riches beyond imagination is out there somewhere today. Powerball officials announced the six lottery numbers drawn last night match the numbers on a single winning ticket sold in Richmond, Indiana. The pot had grown to more than $300 million. The immediate cash payout announced today, well it's not exactly peanuts, either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KATHRYN DENSBORN, EXEC. DIR., HOOSIER STATE LOTTERY: The cash prize, get this down, $145,985,099.64. Don't forget the 64 cents.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: So whoever holds that ticket, expect a lot of unwelcome temptations, and maybe even friends. Here are some tips from a neutral observer.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN BRADLEY, SUDDEN MONEY INSTITUTE: A lottery sounds like it's about money, but it's really about the life change that the lottery win would trigger. And the first thing that you want to do is create a safe space for yourself to not make commitments, not make unnecessary decisions. We call it a decision-free zone. And quite frankly it's counter intuitive. Most people want to go out and make a lot of decisions.
WHITFIELD: This doesn't sound very exciting. When people say change, they say yeah change, meaning I want to buy some kind of fancy sports car or two that I've always wanted, a car, help out my family members. That's a kind of fantasy that comes with winning big money.
BRADLEY: Yeah, you're right. There's nothing wrong with that, if it fits in to the overall landscape of your life. But this is a life-change. This isn't just for a week, it's not for a month, it's not for a year. This is the rest of your life. All of that that was existing beforehand has now been altered with the win of the lottery. So it's ok if you go out and do a little bit of that, but one of the biggest mistakes people make right away is they make commitments to other people that are not really healthy commitments. They're either based on fear of losing them as friend or family, or they think that they want to share but they really don't want to share, once the money hits the account. So making commitments is one of those big things that get people in trouble right away, first day.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Hmm, some smart advice. For those who played mega millions, well, you, too, are still in the game with no ticket hitting last night. Tuesday's jackpot is expected to be in the neighborhood of a quarter billion dollars.
News of more extreme weather straight ahead. Tornadoes pounded parts of the Midwest overnight. Thousands of people are still without power. We'll find out if there are more storms in the forecast. Hope not.
Also, Katrina and the campaign trail? Presidential hopeful Barack Obama goes to the big easy. We'll take a look at how New Orleans figures into the race to the White House.
Plus, how did this happen? A hot air balloon turned into a ball of fire. The latest on the investigation coming up in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's been three weeks of drilling and hoping and still no sign of those six missing miners in Utah. As we await an update from officials there any moment now, we're understanding that an attorney representing the six families is saying that the search will continue. Colin King is a lawyer for the families and said that federal and company officials are telling him and the miners' relatives that a robotic camera, similar to one used after 9/11 in New York, which has the ability to take images of up to 50 yards away, will actually be lowered into one of the holes, and used in the continued search for these six missing miners. More when we get it and of course when that press conference begins in Utah we'll take that as well.
Meantime, the storm-battered Midwest gets a reprieve today. In southern Michigan, they're cleaning up after tornadoes touched down in at least six areas leaving thousands without power.
The sights and sounds around Columbus, Ohio, around this time yesterday. High winds, cracked trees, downed power lines, you name it. But no actual tornadoes were reported in the buckeye state which has been hard-hit by heavy rains instead. Governor Ted Strickland is touring more flood-ravaged areas of the state today. He plans on asking for federal disaster assistance when all the damages are tallied.
The threat of flooding remains very real in Illinois where 14 counties still have flood warnings in effect. Thousands are still without power from Thursday's storms. A spokesman for utility provider ComEd says the storms are the worst he has seen in a decade. Repair crews have been brought in from other states to help restore some of the power. And they could use the rain in Idaho, where multiple wildfires are burning and driving some residents to flee their homes. A mandatory evacuation order has been issued for more than a thousand people who live near a wildfire burning south of the town of Ketchum in central Idaho. Officials believe the 40 square mile blaze was ignited by a lightning strike.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: And now news across America, staying vigilant in the big apple. New York City's office of emergency management held an early morning preparedness exercise with multiple agencies taking part. The drill focused on an incident in the city's inner subway system, allowing officials to gauge the effectiveness of their emergency management plan and possible ways to improve upon it.
And it wasn't a drill in Micro, North Carolina yesterday, when a fire broke out aboard this Amtrak train bound for Miami. Company officials say the blaze began in the train's engine room, prompting the evacuation of all passengers. No one was hurt.
Thousands of Hindu faithful are celebrating the opening of this massive temple in suburban Atlanta this weekend. It cost nearly $20 million to build, with many of the faithful volunteering time to help with the construction. It's the largest Hindu temple of its kind in the U.S., and is designed to last more than 1,000 years.
A construction project in downtown Austin created a rather unusual relocation effort for a 100-year-old tree. A 40 foot oak, some 215,000 pounds in weight, was successfully moved four city blocks yesterday. Developers say they couldn't build their planned hotel around the tree, so cutting it down or moving it were the only options. A colossal undertaking. Keeping with Austin now, where a few people literally went over the edge in the city's first ever flugtug. Have you ever heard of that? Well, that took place last night, sponsored by Red Bull, teams tried flying their human powered contraptions off a 22-foot ramp before splashing down in Lady Bird Lake. What's flugtug you ask? Well, it is German for "flying day." And taking the plunge.
A family loses two sons in Iraq, while a third continues to serve. A real life "Saving Private Ryan." Straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Security is tight in the Iraqi city of Karbala. Shiite pilgrims are headed there for a holy festival. The journey has cost some their lives, however. Militants opened fire on a group of pilgrims near Baghdad killing one person and wounding six. More than a million Shiites are expected to converge on Karbala. The celebrations reached their peak late Tuesday and early Wednesday.
Meantime, a top general says the U.S. is making progress in Iraq, and has Al Qaeda on the run. Today General Ray Odierno said U.S. troops have eliminated Al Qaeda safe havens in areas south of Baghdad and made tremendous progress in Anbar Province. He warned it would be a mistake to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. Even the modest withdrawal suggested by Senator John Warner, he says. The Republican wants to get at least 5,000 U.S. troops out of Iraq by Christmas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. GENERAL RAY ODIERNO, MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS, IRAQ: We have to be extremely deliberate in what we do. We just can't tomorrow say we're going to turn everything in Iraq over to the Iraqi security forces. We must do it slowly, over an extended period of time so we do not lose the security that we've gained here. That's the point. It's not that we don't want to turn it over and we shouldn't, we all agree with that. It's about how we do it. And in my opinion, it should be done very deliberately, over time to reduce the risk that they will fall back in the security gains that we've made here in the last few months.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: In Clovis, California, the community is mourning one family's sacrifice. Three members of the Hubbard family have been serving in Iraq, and for a second time in three years, one of the brothers has been killed in action in Iraq. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 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 Rabani, Iraq, along with his best friend, Jeremiah Barrow. JEFF HUBBARD, FATHER: You worry as a parent. You (INAUDIBLE) 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.
REV. TIM ROLEN, FAMILY FRIEND: 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 his black hawk 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 lined 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 U.S. service member who is from this town who was killed in action since the war in Iraq began.
(Voice-over): Five were from the same 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 -- 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 be buried here next to his beloved older brother Jared. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Clovis, California.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Senator Barack Obama in New Orleans today with a message of hope. His ideas on how to rebuild a city, two years after hurricane Katrina.
Plus another presidential candidate is talking taxes. Rudy Giuliani reveals his plan to reduce your tax bill. These stories straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Here's what's happening right now. An attorney for the families of the six trapped miners in Utah say the search for the men will continue. Today a sixth bore hole drilled into the mine found no survivable space. A press conference is scheduled to begin any moment now.
And Powerball ticket worth more than $314 million is in the hands of someone, but so far that lucky person, or persons, they haven't come forward yet. Powerball officials say the single winning ticket was sold at a convenience store in Richmond, Indiana.
Raging wildfires in southern Greece have killed at least 51 feel and reached the ancient city of Olympia. Officials say flames are near the city's old museum and archaeological center. Two people were arrested today in connection with the fires.
Canada's transportation safety board is investigating a balloon accident that killed a mother and daughter, a propane tank exploded as the huge balloon was preparing to launch yesterday in Surrey, British Columbia. Some of the passengers actually jumped to the ground as the balloon shot in the air on fire, 11 people were hurt. Witnesses watched in disbelief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY HUNDAL, WITNESS: Something like you see the movies. You know? It was horrifying. Just looking at people screaming, jumping out of there. Some fire on their clothes, something like that, it was just awful.
FRANK HERSEY, WITNESS: People were screaming, trying to get out and, of course, four, five people jump the out and the basket got lighter and started lifting off, and another one or two jumped out and it was quite high. Roughly 40 feet out and another fellow jumped out at that level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The plunged to the ground and landed in a nearby RV park.
Tragedy overshadows a wedding today in nearby after Idsberg, British Columbia. Six people were killed and 17 injured when a pickup truck plowed in to guests taking part in a traditional Indian wedding parade Friday night. Police say it's too early to determine whether the 71-year-old driver will actually face any charges but they've ruled out drugs and alcohol as possible causes.
A natural disaster and a human tragedy. Hurricane Katrina slammed in to the Gulf Coast exactly two years ago this week. Difficult memories that a leading Democratic presidential candidate evoked today during a visit to New Orleans. Senator Barack Obama recounting the horror of the storm and announcing his ideas on how to rebuild a city that is still a shell of its former self.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm here to remember and to look ahead.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Two years after hurricane Katrina Senator Barack Obama toured a city that has yet to recover from the storm and its aftermath. He told a local church congregation that America has failed them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: When the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast extended their hand for help that help wasn't there. When people looked up from the rooftops for too long they saw empty skies. When the winds blew and the floods came, we learned that for all our wealth and power, something wasn't right in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Obama says the government should enable the people of New Orleans to rebuild their city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: You don't need to ship folks in to rebuild here in New Orleans! A lot of folks need work right here! We can train them. Take those young men on the street corners and give them a job! Give them a chance! Give them an opportunity. That's how we rebuild.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Obama has other ideas as well like forgiving medical school loans for doctors who agree to practice in New Orleans. He wants to establish a New Orleans office of the Drug Enforcement Agency to help fight crime. Obama is only the first of several presidential candidates who will be marking Katrina's anniversary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I know I'm not the only visitor who is going to be in town this week.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton is scheduled to attend a hurricane summit at the University of New Orleans. So is John Edwards, U.S. Representative Duncan Hunter and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be there for the Republicans. So has Katrina become the domestic issue Democrats hope to zero in on? Joining us now with an opinion on that, Jean Cummings good to see you.
JEAN CUMMINGS, THEPOLITICO,COM: Good to see you.
WHITFIELD: All right. So the Democrats are indeed using this as an example of this is what went wrong with the Bush administration. Is this just simply smart politics?
CUMMINGS: It is smart politics. Basically just get to the competency question. Clearly, this is one of the worst managed situations that the Bush administration has as part of its legacy and the Democrats are going to remind people that if someone else is elected they feel they could do it better and it also is a good reminder to the black community in particular in New Orleans. They felt very much they were left out and Obama is reaching out, crowding the stage with Edwards on the poverty issue as well. They're reaching out to core constituencies as well.
WHITFIELD: You have to wonder. While Obama's message was, while this New Orleans, the whole Gulf Coast tragedy symbolizes what went wrong in terms of failed response, we also have to look at it as, perhaps, helping to build it up as an example of what goes right. How America eventually responds to help build it up.
So is this issue, or is there going to about real fight within the president's contenders to try to differentiate themselves? Wouldn't everybody be in agreement that something needs to be done to help New Orleans, or help the rest of the Gulf Coast community rebuild like it hasn't been in the past two years?
CUMMINGS: Well, absolutely. They will all have various programs and platforms that are oriented towards the Gulf Coast and emergency response in general. And they will tie it all together. It's an indictment of the Bush administration's domestic policy and also point out with all the resources being shipped overseas to help Iraq, that the money isn't necessarily here like it could be, if we didn't have that great expense that money could have been spent to try to help rebuild the Gulf Coast.
So they will jockey to try to each have a better message than the other. But they will likely with the war, it will be a matter of degrees, because in general, they all agree that this is an area that needs vast improvement.
WHITFIELD: But I wonder is it going to end up being like the Iraq issue? That each candidate is to going to now have to come up way comprehensive plan, maybe even similar to the kind of plan that Senator Obama revealed today, in terms of specifically saying you know lets bring in drug enforcement agency, lets have incentives for medical school doctors, to help absorb or even dismiss some of their loans so they can come to New Orleans and help rebuild I wonder if all the candidates now, this is going to be the domestic issue, they all have to come up with a comprehensive plan to convince America that they're thinking not just about Iraq but also thinking about domestic issues like this?
CUMMINGS: Absolutely. You're very right about that, Fredricka. He has set a bar that is higher than it was in that he does have a comprehensive plan. We probably will see other candidate now try to match it. But very much this is an effort to inject domestic politics in to this campaign. It's been eight years since we had a presidential campaign that was really focused on home front issues, and this is an attempt by the Democrats to bring what is the strong suit often to them, bring that in to the conversation. And there are a host of other issues that are domestic oriented that are likely to be struck upon. One is certainly what's going on in the housing market as well, which also tie-ins to New Orleans, because he has plans on that front, too.
WHITFIELD: Is there danger to it? There's a lot of risk, isn't there? In trying to make promises, or, you know, trying to profess a new, great plan for the Gulf Coast community? When it clearly it has not been easy for anyone?
CUMMINGS: Absolutely. But there's no risk in putting out a plan, and so they will all do it. But the real risk is paying for it all. In the end, each one of them is going to have to explain how they're going to afford everything that they want to do. And that is where, you know, all of the campaigns are going to have to really think through what they're proposing, because credibility is going to be a very important issue in this campaign.
You can't just you know, throw out plans and have a lot of rhetoric. You're going to be tested on whether you can actually deliver once you get in to the oval office.
WHITFIELD: People were remembering and remind about the delivers and the deadline. Jeanne Cummings thanks so much of Thepolitico.com.
CUMMINGS: You're welcome.
WHITFIELD: Well, an issue that always gets plenty of play in every political campaign, taxes as well. A top Republican presidential candidate didn't break that tradition as he stumped in New Hampshire this weekend. Rudy Giuliani never uttered the words "read my lips" he did promise voters if elected they would soon notice a change in their tax bill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE: First thing we have to do, keep the tax rates low, where they are now, and then look for ways to lower them even more. That would be my commitment to you. We'll keep them down where they are right there, and then we will constantly look for ways to lower them more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Giuliani promised to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent and get rid of inheritance taxes altogether.
Guns on college campuses, a good way for students to protect themselves? Or a recipe for disaster? CNN's Gary Nurenberg take as closer look at the debate later on IN THE NEWSROOM.
And just being out of planes, navigating rough seas, this is no job for beginners. We take you inside an intense training exercise for rescuers who risk their lives to save others.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: If some students and professors at Virginia Tech have been allowed to carry guns, could they have stopped the massacre there in April, or at least reduced the bloodshed? One student at a nearby school thinks, yes. Gary Nurenberg has the debate at Virginia's George Mason University.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): You have a concealed is weapon license?
ANDREW DYSART, GEORGE MASON STUDENT: I do.
NURENBERG: Are you carrying right now?
DYSART: No.
NURENBERG: Why not, why aren't you carrying now?
DYSART: Because I'm on campus.
NURENBERG: Andrew Dysart is student at George Mason University in Virginia. A former active duty marine he objects to the schools policy banning students and employees from having guns on campus in a state where citizens are allowed to carry concealed weapons if they have a permit.
DYSART: Students already with permits can carry hand guns off- campus. And they have that ability to protect themselves.
NURENBERG: Dysart thinks armed teachers or students could have stopped the gunman who killed 27 students and a five facility member in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech in April. Guns are not allowed at Virginia Tech.
DYSART: They would have had a chance to defend themselves and they wouldn't have been helpless like they were.
NURENBERG: Dysart's school isn't convinced.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We feel it's best to do what we've done, prohibit weapons from being brought on campuses except, of course, for law enforcement officers.
NURENBERG: Utah is the only state that specifically allows concealed weapons at public colleges. Most states ban them. We got mixed reactions to the idea at Virginia Tech.
LINDSEY JEWETT, VIRGINIA TECH STUDENT: I don't think having hand guns is a good idea. It could cause more things happening, like it did here.
KAY JONES, VIRGINAI TECH STUDENT: I think if there was relaxed handgun law, it would have made people better able to defend themselves.
NURENBERG: With your training, carrying, do you think you could have made a difference in a situation like to?
DYSART: I believe so.
NURENBERG: Dysart supporters and opponents agree guns on campus are a safety issue. The question is whether more guns means more safety or less?
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Fairfax, Virginia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Now perhaps you recall this -- yeah. Pretty dramatic video from just last weekend. It looks pretty bad, but in that case, there was a happy ending. CNN's Rick Sanchez goes out with the Coast Guard to see what it takes to pull off successful rescues just like these.
And at first she said yes. Now she says, no. After rethinking a few things. The best way to honor Princess Diana is to keep away from her memorial service. Details when the CNN NEWSROOM returns.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello, I'm CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras with today's allergy report. The highest concentration of pollen today is across the Great Basin through the Rocky Mountain states and on in to the Corn Belt states. You see the bright red over there, including you in Salt Lake City. The ragweed is the irritating factors today. Things looking good across parts of the southeast. Some thunderstorms starting to clear things up here as well and you can breathe easy across the northeastern corridor, too.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: So the most popular stories on CNN.com, an attorney for the families of the six trapped miners in Utah say the search for the men will continue. Today a sixth bore hole drilled in to the mine found no survivors. A press conference is scheduled at the top of the hour now.
Many of you want to know who won the insanely large Powerball jackpot. Lottery officials say there was just one winning ticket for the $314 million prize. It was sold at a convenience store in Richmond, Indiana, and so far the winner has not come forward.
And Prince Charles' wife Camilla will not be attending this week's memorial service marking the tenth anniversary of Princess Diana's death. She was invited and initially accepted but changed her mind saying her presence there would be too distracting.
And now watch this. You remember that? The woman being lifted to safety from an Oklahoma flood then plunging back in to the water. Well you can see how difficult it is to perform such rescues. She fell off the highway patrol helicopter, but the chopper quickly circled around and picked her back up. One group that has even more experience in such operations is the 106th Rescue Wing of the New York Air National Guard. CNN's Rick Sanchez got a firsthand look at how they train.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These are unusually rough seas with 10 to 15-foot swells as I head off the coast of West Hampton, Ohio. With this Major John McElroy and Lieutenant of the 106th Rescue Wing.
MAJ. JOHN MCELROY, 106th RESCUE WING: People that have trouble and need rescue on a calm, nice beautiful day. Its days like this that we're called in to action.
SANCHEZ: How difficult does it make the operation?
MCELROY: Extremely difficult. We train every day for this type of rescue.
SANCHEZ: For the first drill, pararescuemen, call PJS, jump out of the c-130 aircraft along with a package that contains an inflatable boat.
MCELROY: They got six jumpers coming out. And we're about to see that package is going to be landing right out here.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Get out of that chute and intercept that package.
SANCHEZ: There's a problem. Where the package hits the water, the chutes don't release. PJS have to chase the boat down.
It was moving because the parachute was stuck to it right?
PARARESCUEMAN JULES ROY, 106TH RESCUE WING: Yeah. In the water, that's an exercise of fatalities.
SANCHEZ: So it's tough.
ROY: Yes.
SNACHEZ: More trouble. Parachuters have trouble starting the boat. Why it's so challenging. Talk about grueling? We have to recover the chutes quickly to make room for this, another jump, from a helicopter where they practice hoisting the victim out of the water with equipment called a horse collar.
ROPY: They'll send down two horse collars at the same time. One to the PJ, pararescueman, one to the survivor.
SANCHEZ: That giant green mark what is that?
ROY: That's called -- turn around, fly away and turn around and be able to find it again.
SANCHEZ: The helicopter circles giving them time to attach the victim and then returns and hoist. Now using an appliance called a stunt splinter.
ROY: Put the survivor in the splinter and the helicopter will wheel in the cable, hook it up and hoist them back out.
SANCHEZ: Once the gurney is hoisted, the day's training mission complete. We head back to the shore with the 106th Rescue Wing, they'll be at it again tomorrow, and tomorrow it may not be just a drill.
Rick Sanchez, CNN, Westhampton, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And shoo fly! The political buzz over the fly that stole the show at a presidential debate next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: There is no debate about who stole the show at one Democratic presidential gathering. This party crasher created quite a buzz. CNN Jeanne Moos explains.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Why settle for being a fly on the wall when you can be a fly on a presidential candidate?
SENATOR CHRIS DODD: If only there was visual metaphor to represent the thorps that is the debate process.
MOOS: Ever since a fly crawled around Senator Chris Dodd's head during the last presidential debate.
DODD: Never do as much for the public.
MOOS: The video has been flying around the Web, catching captions like Chris Dodd had bug vote lined up. Hero insects scale Mount Dodd. But if just wasn't mount Dodd the insect scaled, the fly landed on Senator Obama.
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA: Between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
MOOS: The black fly on Senator Dodd's snowy white hair. Left viewers bug eyed I'm voting for the bug posted one. Another theorized fly was part of a plant, a right-wing conspiracy and he provided a photo of the alleged bug within a bug. And John Stewart supplied fly commentary.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): The fly corps saying help me!
MOOS: Insects can be an occupational hazard from reporters and CNN's Randi Kaye discovered as she just launches in to a live shot. This is a re-creation -
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A moth went right down my shirt and I could feel it as I am talking, trying to hold myself together while I'm live on the air. Pulling myself together and I could feel it fluttering in my you know what.
MOOS: Live shot finished she ripped open her top to liberate the moth, and then the bug-infested John Zarrella live shot.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Reporting live from Cape Cavanarolo, Florida.
(UNIDENTIFED MALE) You got cook roach Chas, John.
MOOS: Had it been a roach, the Chris Dodd campaign might really be dead. A Seattle newspaper wondered did Dodd's failure to swat at the fly show remarkable poise or a remarkable amount of hairspray? This keeps up, I'm going to have to start watching debates armed with a fly swatter. A right to take a fly swatter testy reporters like me to cover this stuff. But the senator's campaign wouldn't hurt a fly. This just goes to show that Chris Dodd is generating a lot of "buzz." guess that makes us, buzz killers.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Coming up next in THE NEWSROOM, it's billed as a major development in Baghdad. Iraqi leaders reach agreement from several benchmarks from the United States.
Plus two years after Katrina ravaged New Orleans, thousands of residents had yet to return home. We'll take to you a few of them to find out why they haven't gone back home to live permanently.
Also, death, destruction and arrests in a very real Greek tragedy.
Hello again. I'm Fredricka Whitfield and you're in the NEWSROOM. First up this hour, new developments out of Utah today in the search for the six missing miners.
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