Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Hurricane Felix; President Bush In Iraq; British Pullback; Trashed Beaches; Sex Scandal Fallout

Aired September 03, 2007 - 10:00   ET

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

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good Monday morning, everybody. And happy Labor Day. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.
Stay informed in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the rundown now.

President Bush. An unannounced visit to Iraq. The president's remarks from Anbar province live in just a couple of hours.

And fast and furious. Felix goes from tropical storm to category five hurricane in barely a day. The forecast in minutes.

An orange wave of prisoners thrilling (ph) the worldwide web. Jailhouse rock. On Monday, September 3rd. You are in the NEWSROOM.

ANNOUNCER: CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

COLLINS: Unfolding this hour, a potential catastrophe in the making for parts of Central America. Hurricane Felix now a dangerous category five storm barreling toward the region. Winds 165 miles an hour. A hurricane warning already in place in Honduras. Parts of Belize, Nicaragua and Guatemala also likely to feel the storm's impact.

And just hours ago, Felix skirted popular tourist spots in the southern Caribbean. Pounding surf and high winds, the hurricane's calling card in Aruba, Curacao and Bonaire. It toppled trees and flooded homes on all three islands. Felix, the second hurricane of the Atlantic season.

Jacqui Jeras joining us now with more on this. And it has been amazing, especially hearing you say how fast this thing grew.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, yes. In 27 hours this thing was a tropical storm, 70 mile-an-hour winds and it went up to 165 miles per hour just 27 hours later. I've never seen anything faster really. Hurricane Wilma is the only thing that we could possibly compare this to. Just incredible. The waters are so warm, 85, 86 degrees.

There is no wind sheer out there, which basically means the winds are very light. So there's nothing to chop the storm down or break it down a little bit. Nothing to weaken this thing between now and landfall potentially over Honduras. So this is really devastating news for those folks there. This is going to be quite an impact storm.

And it's very tightly compact, too. This thing isn't that huge, but, boy, it really helps to keep it strong when it's a smaller storm. It kind of keeps itself tight and keeps itself together. And that's part of the reason why it can maintain its strength so strong as well.

Here you can see the forecast track of where it's going to be going. Expected to stay on this west to northwesterly track. It's kind of a fast mover too, which is a little bit of good news. If it maintains its speed, that's going to keep the flood threat down just a little bit. Most storms move about maybe eight to 13 miles per hour and this one's up there. There you can see, 21. So that's pretty quick-moving.

There you can see the cone of uncertainty. If we're real lucky it will stay offshore. But right now we think best case scenarios is, it's going to be kind of scraping coastal areas and then head on up towards Belize and possibly get back over open water in the Bay of Campeche. Kind of similar to what Dean did.

I do want to show you our Google Earth animation, showing you the spaghetti models, to show you that really the forecast models are pretty uniform here in terms of where it's going. But one thing I want to point out is that this dark green line that you see right there, that's what we call the GFDL model, and that one tends to be a little bit more accurate. Normally we'll see that up here with everybody else. So it's something to watch very closely.

Heidi, we were also talking about how fast this storm developed. Well, the hurricane hunters from flying in this yesterday evening and the winds were so brutal and the updrafts and downdrafts that they actually aborted their flight.

COLLINS: Unbelievable.

JERAS: And coming up at 10:30, we're going to talk to the pilot who was actually flying that storm. So that will be an interview you don't miss that interview.

COLLINS: Yes, I definitely want to hear what happened there. Boy, oh, boy. All right. 10:30, Jacqui's going to have a hurricane hunter. All right, Jacqui, thanks so much.

JERAS: Sure.

COLLINS: And just want to remind everybody, severe weather happening in your area. If you see it, send us an i-Report. Go to cnn.com and click on i-Report or type ireport@cnn.com into your cell phone and share your photos or video.

A top-secret trip. They caught just about everybody by surprise. President Bush making an unannounced visit to Iraq. We want to go live now to CNN's Arwa Damon in Baghdad this morning.

Arwa, tell us a little bit about the trip and who is traveling with the president. ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, the entourage alongside the president arrived in country about two and a half hours ago. He is joined, among others, by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, as well as National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. They chose to land not in Baghdad but in the western province of al Anbar, at the Al Assad Air Base, due to recent military successes in that location and fighting al Qaeda. Much of that due to a shift in the Sunni insurgency there that was once fighting against the Americans and now has been fighting alongside the Americans, turning their guns on al Qaeda.

The president is expected to be meeting with top tribal leaders in that area, as well as top military commanders and, of course, senior members of Iraq's government here as well. He is also expected to be speaking with the thousands of U.S. Marines and soldiers stationed at the al-Assad Air Base later today.

This province has been one of the successes that the president has been saying the U.S. military has enjoyed the shift in alliance of the Sunni insurgency. However, there are those that will say that it is not because the United States succeeded, but rather because al Qaeda failed. However, what this has created is a small window of opportunity for Iraq's Shia-led government to try to pull the Sunnis further into the political fold. That also likely to be a topic of discussion.

Heidi.

COLLINS: Also the news that we have been learning here about Basra and the British troops that are withdrawing from there. How will that impact the situation in Iraq?

DAMON: Well, Heidi, there are many here that actually are quite concerned by the British withdrawal, not because it was surprising. It has been expected and outlined for quite some time now. But what the Brits have done is pull the 500 troops they had stationed at the Basra palace and consolidated them alongside the rest of their force, now numbering some 5,500 strong at the Basra Airport.

The concern is that this will cause the city, the province, to fall even further under militia control. If the trend in the past is anything to go by, the four provinces that the British troops already handed over to the Iraqi security forces are largely controlled by the militias. The city of Basra itself is largely controlled by the militias and has very little following, very little respect for the central Iraqi government. In fact, the Iraqi prime minister tried to fire the governor of Basra unsuccessfully a few months ago.

We have also been seeing an up tick of Shia on Shia infighting as everybody is vying for control of this oil-rich portion of the country.

Heidi.

COLLINS: CNN's Arwa Damon coming to us live this morning from Baghdad. Want to give you a little bit more background on Basra. It is Iraq's second largest city and it controls a key land supply line from Kuwait to Baghdad. It is also near important oil fields. Following the collapse of Saddam Hussein's rule, Britain controlled security across Basra and other parts of southern Iraq. Britain has already handed over control of four southern provinces now to Iraqi security forces.

In Basra, British forces will remain to train and supervise Iraqi forces. The Basra palace has come under attack from rival armed militia groups battling for control. Some of those groups have been linked to Iran.

Here at home now, trash washing up on some New Jersey beaches. Beer bottles, needles, condoms, medical waste. Stuff you don't want to be swimming in, this for sure. Lisa Salvati (ph) of affiliate News 12 New Jersey has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TONY SANPHILLIPS, SILVER BEACH, NEW JERSEY: And this is the first time I've seen this in 25 years.

LISA SALVATI, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Garbage is washing ashore on Normandy Beach. Everything from bottles, to wrappers, to plastic containers. It's embarrassing for Tony Sanphillips (ph). He has guests in for the Labor Day weekend.

SANPHILLIPS: I've been telling them how clean our beach is and all of a sudden I see this.

MARY KOWAL, SILVER BEACH, NEW JERSEY: And let me tell you, this is -- somebody had to have dropped something from somewhere. It's unbelievable.

JAE LI, SILVER BEACH, NEW JERSEY: Condoms. Tampons. Stuff. Just not good stuff. Not stuff you want to be swimming in.

SALVATI: Bonnie Laven (ph) organized a cleanup.

BONNIE LAVEN, SILVER BEACH, NEW JERSEY: I knew I had rubber gloves at home, the medical gloves, and plastic bags. So got a punch of people.

SALVATI: Laven says she became very concerned when she saw that it was not just ordinary garbage washing up but medical waste.

LAVEN: I did pick up two needles. Two hyperemic needles. One with the sharps (ph) container on top. The other one without the sharps container. But that was the most upsetting, to see those two things. Because the kids could -- somebody could step on those.

SALVATI: At about 3:00, lifeguards were told by police to close the beach. And for residents like Tony Sanphillips, that stinks.

SANPHILLIPS: Either a ship or something dumped this garbage here. And it's very unfair. People are here on vacation. They want to go in the water. They can't go in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Beaches in Monmouth and Ocean Counties remain closed today. Environmental authorities are trying to determine where that trash came from and so far they don't know.

Labor Day weekend, a wash-out along the Georgia coast. Heavy rain send flood waters into streets and neighborhoods in the Savannah area. These pictures from the city of Richmond Hill, where poor drainage is an ongoing problem. Other parts of the region, including Georgia's coastal islands, also swamped by torrential rains.

The Bush administration taking heat on Iraq. This time from two former British generals.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are folks reacting to the Larry Craig scandal in the senator's hometown of Midvale, Idaho? I'm Jim Acosta. The story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Sex scandal in Washington, but it's not in Congress or at the White House. This time, police say, the fire may be at the firehouse.

Hardcore inmates doing hard time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's rehabilitation one step at a time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: It's something. Not your typical day in the yard for these inmates.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to quickly show you this new video that we are getting in at this very second into the CNN NEWSROOM. President Bush, there you see him. This is just after he landed with Air Force One at al-Assad Air Base in Anbar province. A very western portion of Iraq. And, obviously, coming off Air Force One, he had taken off late last night from Andrews Air Force base. Not very many of us, if any of us, knew at all that this was going to be happening. He was apparently on his way to APEC in Australia.

You see Condoleezza Rice, Robert Gates there. Those are just some of the people traveling with him. We also know that General Lute is there, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley as well, along with some other dignitaries.

Now he is going to be meeting with General Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker. They will be talking about, I'm sure, a plethora of things. He will also be meeting with tribal and provincial leaders there, I imagine, that we will see some video or some pictures from those meetings as well. This is an area that the president has talked about before as an area of success in Anbar province that normally had been sort of a hotbed of violence, civilian violence and sectarian violence. So I imagine this is one of the reasons why he has landed here. Hadn't been able to land there before. Always used to fly into Baghdad, as I am sure you are aware, on the trips that he did make to Iraq.

So, once again, new video coming in to us here. President Bush and the other dignitaries along with him landing at al-Assad Air Base in Anbar province. You see the convoy there. He also will be making remarks, we mentioned here a little bit earlier today, at 12:30 Eastern Time. CNN, of course, will carry those remarks for you live right here on our air.

Also a quick news quiz for you now now. How many times has President Bush traveled to Iraq? We're going to have that answer for you coming up in just a moment.

And British troops withdraw from their last military post in southern Iraq. What now? Some insight from our military analysts.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Want to show you some more of this new video that we continue to get in here at CNN. We are looking at some pictures that are coming to us of troops now that you see and President Bush made this unannounced visit to Iraq. He landed at al-Assad Air Base, which is in Anbar province. A very western portion of the country. We are also learning and are, obviously, seeing these pictures now that he had planned to meet with several of the troops and visit with them for a few moments at least and these are some of those pictures coming in to us now.

Also want to remind you about some comments that he will be making. 12:30 Eastern Time. We will carry all of that for you live right here on CNN. Once again, the president making an unannounced trip to Iraq. He's down in Anbar province. And we will continue to show more of these as we get them in and as we bring in our next guest, we have some topics to talk about with General Shepperd, especially the British troops and their pullout of their base in Basra, leaving Iraqi soldiers to man the post in Iraq's second largest city now. So what will that mean for the future of Iraq? We want to bring in our military analyst, Major General Don Shepperd.

General Shepperd, as we continue to look at these pictures just coming in to us of the president meeting with some of the troops there in Anbar province, tell us a little bit about the significance. What does this really mean? Certainly not a surprise that the Brits have pulled out from Anbar province. Excuse me, from Basra.

MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Yes, you won't be surprised to know that there's a difference in view between the American view and the British view on this pullout. I was on a conference call last week for background off the record with a high- level British official and he put their spin on it. Basically what he said was this. Look, we have become the army of occupation. At first we were the army of liberation. That had a half-life. We're well beyond that. And now we have become the enemy. And we've done all we can.

Eighty-five percent of the attacks are against the multi-national forces, not against each other. And he basically compared the area somewhat ingloriously to Chicago of the 1920s. In other words, most of the violence is between gangs vying for political power and control of economic things such as trade, the ports, the oil flow and that type of thing. And he says this is something that the Iraqis are going to have to sort out, not something we can do. It's time for us to leave. We've all done all we can do. That's the British view.

COLLINS: How is that different from other parts of Iraq?

SHEPPERD: Well, Iraq is distinctly different. In the southern part, as the British official made clear, almost everything is about religion. Yes, there are politics, there is sectarian violence, but it's mainly about religion down there. And again, it's between the very -- it's intra Shia warfare going on for control of economics and political power, particularly the Mahdi army of Muqtada al Sadr and the Badr brigades of SCIRI.

Iran, of course, is involved down there, but he says you got to remember, these are Arabs versus Persians down there. It's not as simple as everything is just about religion and therefore since they're all Shia they're going to cooperate and be against the rest of the country. Basically in the western provinces of Anbar, where progress is being made, the tribal sheikhs are banning together against al Qaeda, which are causing their big problem. So they're doing it in their self interest.

Baghdad is an amalgam of sectarian violence and political violence, as well as al Qaeda. But the problem in southern Iraq for the British was not al Qaeda, whereas in other parts of Iraq al Qaeda is a big factor. Of course, and the Kurds in the north, it's mainly about economics up there.

COLLINS: Yes, it seems to be a lot about economics and power struggle. Almost anywhere you look. But I think the question that people may have this morning, whether or not they realized that the Brits had planned on pulling out, I think since February we have known that. Could U.S. troops end up back in Basra if we see, as you say, 85 percent of these attacks are actually directed toward the coalition forces. If we see now a change in that, a shift in that, where it becomes more sectarian, is the U.S. going to have to go back?

SHEPPERD: Heidi, I doubt very seriously that we have enough troops to continue what we're doing in Baghdad, continue the things that need to be done in Anbar and the things that we need to be done in the northern provinces, and then have enough troops to go back into Basra itself. I suspect that once the British pull out, that indeed as the Brits say, the rest is up to the Iraqis. They're going to have to figure the rest out. We're going to stand by to prevent things such as civil war, all out civil war. But us going back in there, I doubt it very seriously. COLLINS: What about the oil? I mean, you know, military significance here or political significance here in Basra?

SHEPPERD: The economics are about oil. The oil, the northern oil field is controlled by the Kurds right now. The southern oil fields controlled by the Shia. Oil being the key to the future economy of Iraq. And, of course, significant oil reserves in western Iraq, but basically the pipelines do not exist there, the oil wells do not exist there. So the Sunnis, if they can get their act together, have got oil resources that are going to require western development and western investment. That's the key to the future of Iraq, is becoming calm enough to attract western development and western investment and then they will have a bright -- a very bright future with perhaps the second-largest oil reserves in the world.

COLLINS: General Don Shepperd for us this morning. I'm glad you were on that conference call. We appreciate the information very much. Nice to see you, as always.

Just want to remind everybody, we asked you just a few moments ago how many times President Bush has visited Iraq. As you know by now, he is on an unannounced visit to the country at this time. We've been showing you video all morning. Answer there -- three times. In 2003, again last year, and then today.

Meanwhile, a disgraced senator says he will step down. A new controversy flares up. The fallout over the senator and the sex sting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Senator Larry Craig. What now? He's announced his plans to resign at the end of the month. His sex scandal now focused on the Republican leaders who pressured him to leave. Members of both parties accused the GOP of rushing to judgment. Craig denies he solicited sex in a Minneapolis men's room. He vows to clear his name and says he regrets pleading guilty to disorderly conduct. No word on when Idaho's Republican governor will name Craig's replacement.

The sex scandal rocked Washington. But, it is roiled the quaint hometown of the long-time lawmakers. CNN's Jim Acosta has the view now from Idaho.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, ABC CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Larry Craig's hometown of Midvale, population 176, give or take a few, is so remote locals in true Idaho fashion call it small potatoes. And in this stark and isolated section of America's heartland, hearts are breaking over the downfall of a local boy done good.

SHIRLEY JOHNSTON, WIDOW OF CRAIG'S TEACHER: He's worked all these years to attain what he did. And to see it come crashing down is really sad.

Here's his senior picture here. ACOSTA: Shirley Johnston's late husband taught Craig public speaking in high school. The graduating class of 1963 consisted of just 10 students, nine boys and one girl. Johnston says the senator never forgot his Idaho roots.

When your late husband passed away, Larry Craig . . .

JOHNSTON: Larry called last year and sent his condolences to me and my family.

ACOSTA: And at Midvale's lone restaurant, the Country Coffee Cabin, life-long friends of the senator are sticking by him.

REX TOWELL, MIDVALE RESIDENT: It's none of their business, his private life. Their business should be (INAUDIBLE).

GERTIE SUTTON, MIDVALE RESIDENT: I feel very bad for him and his family. I feel bad for Idaho.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And for them to take him out of there and treat him like that, that's a shame.

ACOSTA: It took a while, but we did find one person who thinks justice has been served.

KEITH BOGGS, RESTAURANT PATRON: Pled guilty to a lesser deal to get it over with. And he knows what the law is and how the law operates.

ACOSTA: He was just passing through.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Jim Acosta is joining us now live from Boise.

Jim, it sounds like you don't have to make too many calls if you want to take a poll in Midvale.

ACOSTA: That's right, Heidi. Taking an informal poll in the town of Midvale is not too difficult. That's because, as we found yesterday, the local phone directory in Midvale fits on a single sheet of paper. And so you can just take your pick as you go down the list there.

But folks there were awfully nice to us in answering our questions. But I have to tell you, it didn't take too many polite or not-so-polite comments to let us know what we should do with ourselves and how soon we should get out of town. I think they've had enough of this and they're ready for everybody to go home and stop talking about this so much.

COLLINS: Always seems like the case when you go back to the hometown. They just want to be left alone it seems like.

ACOSTA: I think so.

COLLINS: All right, Jim Acosta, live this morning from Boise, Idaho.

Thanks so much, Jim.

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins.

COLLINS: Among our top stories this morning, the surprise of the day. President Bush is in Iraq right now. This new video coming in to us. He secretly left the White House last night, traveled nearly 12 hours and landed at a U.S. military air base in Anbar province. That is west of Baghdad. Top advisers, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, joined him, and defense secretary, who you saw just a second ago there, Robert Gates traveled there separately. The president is expected to meet U.S. military officials and Iraqi leaders. He is also set to make a speech at 12:30 Eastern. And, of course, we'll bring that to you live right here on CNN.

Also new this morning, a mission shift in Iraq. The British are out. The Iraqis are in. Basra, Iraq's second largest city, now manned by Iraqi soldiers. The remaining 500 British troops withdrew from their base at an elaborate palace overnight. They moved to the airport on the outskirts of the city, joining some 5,000 other British troops. The palace withdrawal is part of a plan announced in February. British forces remain in the province to help train and supervise Iraqi forces.

Still ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM, two girls on ATVs fall down an abandoned mine shaft.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were able to send paramedics down to her, put her on a litter (ph) and basically rope her out of that mine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: An outing in the Arizona desert ends in disaster.

JERAS: I'm meteorologist Jacqui Jeras in you hurricane headquarters.

Felix so powerful and the wind so strong it forced the hurricane hunters to abort their flight yesterday evening. We will have a live interview with the pilot of that P3 Orion aircraft coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Jacqui Jeras joins us now tracking this Hurricane Felix who is a monster and moving quickly. Or I should say developed so quickly?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well both actually, I guess. Moving at a fast-forward speed, 21 miles per hour this thing just exploded yesterday. Went from a Category 2 to a Category 5, in just 15 hours; went from a tropical storm to a Category 5 in about 27 hours. That's just rapid intensification, and really a very rare thing to see this thing intensify so very, very quickly. The hurricane hunters fly into the storm regularly and do so about four times a day. Here's the pattern that they fly, just to give you an idea. Now the turbulence in this flight yesterday evening was so rough that they actually aborted the flight and went back. They're based in Kessler Air Force Base, in Biloxi, Mississippi. But they fly out of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands to save on gas and to get through the storm a little bit more quickly.

We'll bring in now the pilot of that flight, Commander Tom Strong, joining us now.

Good morning, Commander.

CMDR. TOM STRONG, NOAA, HURRICANE HUNTER: Good morning.

Just to clarify, I'm with NOAA, the Hurricane Hunters, but we've got both groups out here working the storm out of the same location.

JERAS: I apologize. You were flying a P-3, though, yesterday, correct?

STRONG: That's correct. P-3 Orion, out of St. Croix.

JERAS: Tell us about your flight.

STRONG: Everything from the start was fairly normal, standard pattern, rotating figure 4. We took off into what we thought would be a mild Category 2, maybe a 3, but we got to the storm and found out otherwise. It was fairly strong and a very well-defined eye by the time we'd gotten there.

JERAS: Describe the turbulence for us. What was that flight like?

STRONG: It was one of the rougher ones I've but we see turbulence quite often. This one just happened over about a 20-mile thickness eye wall. From the start of the edge to the inner -- to getting into the eye, itself, was pretty turbulent. We ended up having just a little over stress, which means we have to go back and look at the plane, make sure all the pieces and parts are in the right position.

We got into the eye and circled around a little bit, came up with a game plan and talked about what had happened, and we just found the soft spot and headed back home after that.

JERAS: Now I understand that you pulled four Gs, negative and positive. What does that feel like?

STRONG: It takes you out of your seat. We have pretty thick seatbelts obviously but it throws you against your straps a little bit. Everything in the plane is strapped down of course, all crew members are strapped in well, before we get there. It just kind you takes you out of your seat, puts you right back into it sometimes harder than others. But this one caused us to go out a few times. Basically, you're just holding on to the controls, keeping the wings level, and trying to keep the air speed under control which is a little bit of an effort yesterday.

JERAS: How common is it to experience this extreme turbulence where would you actually abort the mission?

STRONG: I've done it twice in 16 years. I'm sure it's happened to other people. But it's not all that common. Turbulence is fairly common. We expect it from tropical storm even just flying around Florida on a normal day, you can get some pretty good turbulence but we kind of prepare for the worst on every flight, and which paid off definitely on this one.

JERAS: And you're going back out there this afternoon?

STRONG: It looks like we're going to spend a day looking at the plane. We've got mechanics out there right now. And they're going through the wings, panels, and making sure there is no damage. We'll pick it up probably tomorrow if they want us to. Otherwise, we'll head home or wait for the next system here.

JERAS: All right, Commander Tom Strong, thanks so much for joining us. Stay safe.

STRONG: Thank you very much.

JERAS: Heidi, we're waiting for the 11:00 Eastern Time advisory. We'll have the latest track and the intensity of Felix coming up a little bit later on in the show.

Back to you.

COLLINS: Great stuff. All right, Jacqui, thank you.

Two Arizona girls vanish in the night. They fell 125 feet into an abandoned mine shaft. A 13-year-old killed; her sister in critical condition now this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. GREG SMITH, MOHAVE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We rescued the 10-year-old girl, and she has significant injuries. We were able to send paramedics down to her, put her on a litter and basically rope her out of that mine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: The girls were riding an all-terrain vehicle when they drove over the open shaft. The father riding in front of them never even saw what happened. When he turned around they were gone. The mine shaft was covered with brush. It took almost 12 hours to find the girls.

A fire department under fire. CNN's Gary Nurenberg reports on a sex scandal investigation in the nation's capital. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The police department in Washington, D.C. has begun an investigation of alleged sexual improprieties within the city's fire and emergency medical services department.

An allegation that prostitution has been conducted at a D.C. firehouse is front page news in "The Washington Times." We asked the fire department spokesman if the allegation that a, quote, "sex ring" is operating at a D.C. firehouse is part of the criminal probe.

ALAN ETTER, D.C. FIRE DEPT. SPOKESMAN: The allegations involve alleged sexual impropriety. That is true. The minute Chief Ruben found out about these allegations he immediately engaged an investigation with the Metropolitan Police Department. They are now engaged in a criminal investigation.

NURENBERG: When asked about the allegations, the president of the firefighters union told CNN, "If they turn out to be true, we naturally find them to be absolutely disgusting. We will have to wait and see what the truth is."

Spokesman Etter says legal constraints prevent him from being specific, but he says there will be a full accounting.

ETTER: The reason that we're even saying this it much about this investigation is because we want the public to know that we are as up front and honest and transparent about this. And we want people to know that if this activity is proven to be true, it is never, ever tolerated in our agency. Chief Ruben has been adamant about that. Again, we don't know if these allegations are true, but they are serious and we want them investigated.

NURENBERG (on camera): Etter says the city plans to assess its investigation at the beginning of the week, and currently plans a public statement on the potential scandal on Wednesday. Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The Bush administration taking heat on Iraq . This time from two former British generals. The story ahead.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Susan Lisovicz in New York. Another reason to celebrate the American worker on Labor Day. A new report says we're the most productive in the world. Details coming up. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We want to show you some more of these pictures now that we are getting in here to CNN of President Bush on his unannounced trip to Iraq. There you see him getting off of Air Force One. He landed in Anbar Province. This was just two weeks now before the administration is scheduled to report to Congress on progress in Iraq. We've been talking about that September report for a long time.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley traveled with the president. You also see Roberts Gates there, Defense secretary. This is the president's third trip to Iraq. He did land in Al Assad Air Base, which he has not done before. But it seems like, but at least we learning here -- I believe they landed there because the Sunni province, west of Baghdad, is pretty symbolic of what the president says can be done elsewhere in Iraq. Using it as an example, if you will.

We'll continue to watch these pictures as the president met with 7,000 Marines, 3,000 soldiers stationed at Al Assad. We will continue to watch those pictures.

Meanwhile, Iraq war strategy under fire once again. This time from a couple of retired British generals. CNN's Emily Chang has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EMILY CHANG, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For the second day in a row, a top British general has attacked America's policy in Iraq, calling it fatally flawed. Retired British Major General Tim Cross criticized former U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the "Daily Mirror", saying, quote, "We were all very concerned about the lack of detail that had gone into the post-war plan and there is no doubt that Rumsfeld was at the heart of that process."

Major General Cross is the most senior British officer involved in post-war planning. His comments followed similar remarks by retired British General Sir Mike Jackson, calling Rumsfeld's plan "intellectually bankrupt" in an interview with London's "Daily Telegraph" and condemning U.S. strategy to, quote, "apply overwhelming force, win, and go."

MAJOR GEN. MIKE JACKSON: Such an approach isn't really going to work in the very complex situations we have such as the one we have in Iraq now.

CHANG: The Pentagon didn't want to comment on the remarks, but a U.S. admiral in Iraq seemed to take them in stride.

REAR ADM. MARK FOX, MULTINATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: First of all, there can be disagreements amongst professionals about certain ways of how you handle strategy and tactics and so forth. But I also would review a bit of the recent past of how we've gotten to where we are.

CHANG: The statements draw attention to the perceived tensions between the U.S. and the British command over strategy in Iraq. As far as the British government's concerned?

(On camera): The ministry of defense released just a short statement saying the generals are, quote, "private individuals expressing private views and we respect that. They are both entitled to their opinions." (Voice over): The remarks come at a highly sensitive time, as British troops prepare to hand over control of Basra to the Iraqi Army. Speculation swirls about if and when the British will pull out of Iraq for good.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has promised President George W. Bush the British will continue to fulfill their responsibilities in Iraq and there is no timetable for withdrawal. As the debate over Iraq policy continues. Emily Chang, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: A disgraced senator pushed out of a job. Today his party's handling of the scandal very much in the headlines. Larry Craig announced plans to resign after days of relentless media coverage of his men's room arrest.

A police officer says Craig solicited sex in an airport restroom. Craig denies that, but pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Members of both parties accuse the GOP of rushing to judgment to diffuse the scandal.

SEN. ARLEN SPECTER (R), PENNSYLVANIA: I don't think either of them said he'd been asked to resign. I'd still like to see Senator Craig fight this case. He's got his life on the line and 27 years in the House and Senate. And I'd like to see him fight the case, because I think he could be vindicated.

Listen closely to what Senator Craig said, he said he intends to resign. Once you resign, you're out. But when you have a statement of intent to resign, that intent can change. If that case goes to trial -- and I say -- I've seen matters like this from my days as a prosecutor -- he wouldn't be convicted of anything. And if he went to court, was acquitted, all of this hullabaloo would have no basis. Doesn't have a whole lot of basis to start with.

SEN. PATRICK LEAHY (D), VERMONT: From a legal point of view he makes a very, very good point. Now from a political point of view, I don't pretend to know what Idaho's politics are or how they might be. But Senator Specter has laid out as strong a legal case as I've heard.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Craig says he will now work to clear his name. No word on when Idaho's Republican governor will name his replacement.

When it comes to getting the job done, Americans are number one. Susan Lisovicz is in the New York Stock Exchange now with details on all of this.

This is good news. Does that mean we work hard, like on Labor Day?

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Heidi. A direct correlation, fewer vacation days, compared to other industrialized nations. It's all in there, Heidi. A new report on this Labor Day says Americans do indeed labor. They stay longer at the office, at the factory, or on the farm than their counterparts in Europe, and most other wealthy nations. And they produce more per person all year as a result. They also get more done per hour than everyone than the Norwegians.

All this according to a U.N. report released today that says the U.S. leads the world in labor productivity. The average u.s. Worker produces just under $64,000 of wealth per year, more than their counterparts in all other countries. Ireland second, then Luxembourg, Belgium and France.

By the way, Heidi, we'll get the government's latest read on worker productivity in the second quarter, this Thursday.

COLLINS: It's interesting. I didn't know where the countries stood. As I mentioned before, probably worth repeating, since you and I are both here on Labor Day, I bet it has something to do with the hours that Americans work.

LISOVICZ: That's right. We've talked about this --

COLLINS: Think people feel sorry for us yet?

LISOVICZ: No, they don't. Not for us. And probably they shouldn't. We're pretty lucky, aren't we, Heidi, overall?

COLLINS: Yes.

LISOVICZ: But Americans typically put in 1,800 hours of work every year based on figures from '06. By comparison, the French put in about 1,500 hours, Norwegians, $1,400. In Asians countries like South Korea, Bangladesh and China workers put in 2,200 hours a year, but they aren't nearly as productive. Because among other things they just don't have the technical infrastructure that we Americans take for granted.

You know, there's a direct correlation between worker productivity and the health of the economy. In fact, the folks who did this study said that if you're not getting the most out of your work force, it is an underlying source of poverty. It is very important.

While you and I, Heidi, are on the job, Wall Street taking the day off. We'll kick off trading for September tomorrow. Even though it was a roller coaster ride, August actually turned out all right.

COLLINS: Really!

LISOVICZ: The Dow and S&P 500 --

COLLINS: You'd never know it!

LISOVICZ: I was surprised myself. I covered every day, Heidi. When I looked at the numbers before the closing bell on Friday, I really had to do a double-take. The Dow and S&P were each up more than 1 percent for August. The Nasdaq soared 2.25 percent. What could September have in store for us, Heidi? We'll be on that case starting tomorrow. I'll see you in the next hour.

COLLINS: I don't know. I think there will be a lot of people doing this. Not sure. But we'll have to watch it.

LISOVICZ: More of that roller coaster ride.

COLLINS: Yeah, you got it. All right. Susan Lisovicz, thanks so much.

LISOVICZ: You got it.

COLLINS: What if this was your house? A pilot attempts an emergency landing and ends up in a carport.

And hardcore inmates doing hard time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's rehabilitation one step at a time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Not your typical day in the yard for these inmates, that's for sure. That story ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 until 12:00 Eastern. Thanks for watching. But did you know can you take us with you anywhere on your iPod , like if you're at the beach, or on vacation, on Labor Day perhaps? You can take us with you. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast available 24/7 right on your iPod.

Dancing prisoners. A huge hit on the Internet. CNN's Hugh Riminton shows us hard time means keeping time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUGH RIMINTON, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At Cebu Detention and Rehabilitation Center, every able-bodied inmate must dance.

(On camera): Just in case you get the wrong idea, these prisoners are in here because they're the toughest criminals in all the central Philippines. And 70 percent of them are rated high-risk inmates, and that means most of them are rapists or murders.

(Voice over): Many, however, could be innocent. Still waiting for their cases to come to trial. The prison overseer rejects claims he's abusing the prisoner's rights by forcing them to dance so many hours a day.

BYRON GARCIA, CEBU PRISON OVERSEER: We have dancing. But still, it does not affect how they feel about themselves. They are still men, although they dance. RIMINTON: When Garcia took over three years ago, gangs and corrupt guards ruled this jail. Garcia sacked most of the guards and ordered prisoners first to march, and then to dance. He says there's been not a single act of violence in more than a year.

Now, not guards, but fellow prisoners guide the rehearsals, led by an accused mass murderer. Lea Sweiko (ph) tells me dancing has taught him love.

Back in the cell she shares with 11 other transsexual prisoners, Wenjiell Resane, who has waited three years for trial on drugs charges, is enjoying her taste of stardom.

WENJIELL RESANE, PRISONER (through translator): It never leaves my mind that I'm a prisoner, but I'm very happy and proud of what I have done.

RIMINTON: Her co-star, a one-time professional dancer, agrees.

CRISTANTO NIERE, PRISONER (through translator): The atmosphere has changed. We're being treated as humans.

Before my son was ashamed of me. But now he tells all his school mates his dad is a dancer on YouTube.

RIMINTON: It's rehabilitation one step at a time. Hugh Riminton, CNN, Cebu, The Philippines.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Labor Day, a working holiday on the campaign trail. Presidential hopefuls fan out to press the flesh.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You are with CNN. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.

Developments keep coming in to the CNN NEWSROOM on Labor Day, 2007. Here's what's on the rundown: President Bush surprising soldiers in the Iraqi desert. The first video of the commander in chief in Iraq coming in a short time ago. Pardon me.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com