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Cave Rescue Attempt; Interstate Fire Examined; Rapper Busted on Firearms Charge
Aired October 14, 2007 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN, ANCHOR: Hello. I'm Susan Roesgen, filling in for Fredricka Whitfield. Right now in the NEWSROOM, there is a rescue effort under ground. Four people went into this cave and haven't come out. We'll talk to a rescuer on the scene in just a minute. And from a cave to a tunnel, new information on this weekend's deadly interstate fire. We'll take you inside now and show you what's left. And he was supposed to be on stage. Instead, he's in jail. Find out why one of the hottest rappers in the music business is busted.
First up this hour, that rescue effort going on right now underneath Austin, Texas. EMS officials are looking for four missing people who were supposed to report in at midnight. They were exploring Airman's cave, which is 12,000 feet of twisting tunnels and to get to the end of it and back takes about 12 hours, even for the most experienced cavers. On the scene there with us is Lieutenant Matt Cox of the Austin Fire Department. Lieutenant, what can you tell us about the missing people themselves, who are they? Who are you looking for?
LT. MATT COX, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT (on the phone): Well, we're looking for four people, three females and a male, early 20s who went in yesterday at 12:00 noon and were supposed to be out at midnight. Did not show up, called their emergency contact and we were contacted at 5:00 a.m. Austin time. And we've been searching ever since. We haven't found them yet. This is a 12,000-foot long cave and is quite extensive and even difficult for experienced cavers.
ROESGEN: Do you know how experienced these folks were?
COX: I believe a couple of them had been in there a couple times before but we have a civilian rescuer that's been in there 30 times and he says even for him it's difficult. Lots of branches, lots of tight areas.
ROESGEN: Looking at the video looks very tight. Is it big enough for someone to stand upright even?
COX: No. In fact, you have to suck your, suck in a big deep breath just to get in the very beginning and then most of the time, in fact all of the time you have to be on your hands and knees. In some spots you can't even turn around. You have to go further in to turn back around and come back out. It's that tight. Air is not a concern and water is not a concern, but obviously they've been in 27 hours. Fatigue, medical condition. It is cold at 68 degrees. So that's our main concern. ROESGEN: How far have your rescuers been able to get inside the cave?
COX: Well, as we speak right now, we should have a team that got to the very end of the cave. Even if they're with the victims, it will be another hour or so for them to get information back to us. We're literally stretching phone cable into the cave where those rescuers can get back to us, get on the phone and then tell us at the top of the hole whether they found them or not. So it's still going to be a while before we even know we found them.
ROESGEN: You know, since they've been in there they've been stringing this cable, have you heard any reports that anybody has seen any signs of these four people?
COX: No, and we actually had another separate group that was in there yesterday and didn't even see them yesterday. So there's definitely concern that they're very far in back, possibly incapacitated, but we don't know but hopefully we'll know something here in the next couple of hours.
ROESGEN: Well, if air and water aren't an issue, how would they become incapacitated?
COX: Fatigue. Imagine crawling on your hands and knees for six hours and then it's cool at 68 minutes. That might not be that cool for a few minutes but for 24 hours it is. And at some point, you get hypothermia, you get disoriented and then goes downhill from there.
ROESGEN: OK. We certainly wish you luck in finding them. Thank you again Lieutenant Matt Cox with the Austin Fire Department there.
COX: No problem. Thank you.
ROESGEN: Meanwhile, it is going to be a massive headache for drivers and repair teams because of this on one of the busiest interstates in the country. I-5 linking Los Angeles to its northern suburbs is closed for repairs after Friday's huge crash and fire in a tunnel. And we know today that one of the three people who were killed there was an infant. CNN's Peter Viles is there live now in Santa Clarita. Peter.
PETER VILES, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Susan, very sad news that one of the three dead is an infant child. Rescue workers spent the night dragging the remains of 29 vehicles out of this tunnel where the fire took place. 28 of those 29 vehicles were trucks and a lot of them were big rigs. I'm standing in the middle of it. It is mind blowing to look at what happened in this fire, which burned as hot as 1,400 degrees. What you see here, these were big rig trucks or 18 wheelers but there's almost nothing here that looks like it might have come from a truck except for these wheel wells. That's how hot the fire was. It just burnt these things to a crisp. They've been dragging them out all night. As you said of the top, tragic news, three people lost their lives. Two of them were adult men and the third was a baby, an infant child. No identifications had been released yet on that. That said that this fire burned 1400 degrees inside a tunnel that is very hard to get out of. Fire officials are now saying that it is miraculous that so many people did get out. They estimate 20 people walked out of that tunnel in the middle of that fire Friday night.
JOHN TRIPP, DEP. CHIEF, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPT.: There were 20 people that were in that tunnel with a raging fire going as we were trying to get to them and they were able to assist each other and I think that's very commendable to how all those people were able to help each other without the first responders able to get there and assist them. And we're, again, very unfortunate that we did have the deceased that we did, but at the same time I think when we look at tunnel fires that happened around the United States, let alone around the world, it's pretty miraculous that those people were able to get out like they were.
VILES: So now, Susan, they have this cleared of all the wreckage. The next order of business, getting into the tunnel, evaluating it from an engineer's point of view, is it sturdy? They say there's no risk it will collapse, but the problem is the interstate runs on top of it. And they don't know if it can support eight lanes of interstate traffic. They're going to go in there and probably shore it up in some way, close the tunnel to traffic, shore it up so that they can reopen the interstate on top of it. But the latest estimate is the soonest they'll have this interstate opened; half of it reopened maybe Tuesday morning. So tomorrow Monday will be a very, very difficult commuting day and rush hour day here in northern Los Angeles.
ROESGEN: Yes, Peter with the i-5, that's the main north-south route there in California between San Francisco and L.A., how are drivers going to get around this tunnel?
VILES: Well, transportation officials are putting out all kinds of alternate routes. There are alternate routes that run very close to I-5. If you live in the area and you don't want to drive out of your way and for the truckers, they are saying essentially go 30 miles to the east of here or 30 miles to the west of here, then go south, then come back. So a detour that would be at least 60, 70 miles, just the way I added up now, so that those trucks won't be choking the local roads.
You have two problems. You have commuters. These are Los Angeles suburbs who need to get south and then you have truckers that are going north and south from the ports, bringing fruits and vegetables. That's a big part of the road traffic. For those truckers, they are saying essentially, go 30 or 40 miles around this problem until they get it fixed.
ROESGEN: It's like a truck graveyard behind you there. It's really amazing. Thanks, Peter.
Well, an undercover sting stung the man who calls himself the king of the south. Grammy winning rapper T.I. is in federal custody accused of buying illegal machine guns and silencers. T.I. is one of the most popular rappers in the world but he's also a convicted felon who is not supposed to have guns. Federal agents arrested him just before he was going to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards Show yesterday. And CNN's T.J. Holmes has more on T.I.'s arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHERRI WILSON, NEIGHBOR: You see ATF jackets, you pretty much understand what's going on.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR (voice-over): Agents searching T.I.'s suburban Atlanta home say they found six firearms in a walk-in safe in his bedroom closet. The 27-year-old rapper is barred from owning firearms after a felony drug conviction nine years ago. Authorities say T.I. whose real name is Clifford Harris was trying to add three machine guns and two silencers to his arsenal when they arrested him in a midtown Atlanta parking lot.
RAQUEL WHITE, WITNESS: Police saw the ATF agents swarming out of their cars, Atlanta police cars were there. I was told there was a black gun that they pulled out of the Range Rover.
HOLMES: T.I.'s music is based largely on a culture of drugs and guns. He calls it trap music. The trap being that underworld where drugs were sold. His music deals with that lifestyle. He made his big screen debut last year in "ATL," a film featuring hip-hop culture in his hometown. His next movie "American Gangster" co-starting Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe releases next month. Real-life violence entered T.I.'s life last year when a gunman riddled his van with bullets as he and his entourage drove down a Cincinnati highway. His personal assistant was killed and three people were wounded. No arrests were ever made. T.I.'s first court appearance on the gun charges is set for Monday in Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: Well, T.I.'s attorney says he wasn't aware of T.I.'s past felony drug conviction. Atty. Dwight Thomas says he wants the public to keep an open mind, especially the rapper's fans, and wait until all the facts come out.
VOICE OF DWIGHT THOMAS, ATTORNEY FOR T.I.: This whole matter unfolded yesterday afternoon and it's still very fluid. We are in the process of evaluating all the documents. We're preparing for court tomorrow. Myself and Attorney Steven (Sadow) will be representing Clifford Harris, also know as T.I.. He sends his best regards to his music fans. We ask everybody to withhold judgment. There's always two sides to every story.
ROESGEN: However, the court documents show that T.I. has been arrested at least once before on gun charges.
A nightmare with no end in sight. Those were the words used to describe the Iraq war by the former top coalition commander in Iraq, Retired lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez. His blunt critique is starting to get some blunt reaction from Republicans in Washington. CNN's White House correspondent Ed Henry is at the western White House tonight, the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDNET: That's right, Susan. You know, other retired generals have spoken out but none as senior or as blistering and Republicans are starting to wonder why he didn't speak out sooner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) HENRY (voice-over): Retired General Ricardo Sanchez had his say on Iraq.
LT. GEN. RICARDO SANCHEZ, FMR. U.S. COMMANDER IN IRAQ: America is living a nightmare with no end in sight.
HENRY: But now top Republicans are getting theirs.
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I'm astounded, really.
HENRY: Senator Lindsey Graham notes that on multiple trips to Baghdad, Sanchez told him the U.S. had enough troops on the ground.
GRAHAM: The surge is the direct result of having to make up for mistakes early on and as far as I'm concerned, he was part of that mistake by being a commander who did not express then what he's saying now.
HENRY: Republican presidential candidate John McCain also had face-to-face talks with Sanchez in Iraq and heard the strategy was succeeding.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: While he was in charge, he was supporting a failed strategy.
HENRY: Indeed, back in 2004, Sanchez sketched rosy scenarios.
SANCHEZ: I think the current situation in the south is moving very well forward. We have made some progress, as you all are well aware of. The morale is sky high.
HENRY: All of which makes his current posture...
SANCHEZ: The best we can do with this flawed approach is stave off defeat.
HENRY: All the more galling to some.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's a little bit late on this.
HENRY: Even McCain, however, acknowledges that it's difficult to buck the president. General Eric Shinseki took heat for saying early on the U.S. would need far more troops in Iraq than expected. And some retired generals defended Sanchez against charges he's lashing out to deflect attention from his own role as commander of U.S. forces during the Abu Ghraib scandal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is not a guy whining about not getting promoted or trying to throw blame on others. He spreads blame around and I really respect him for what he's saying and doing.
HENRY: And not surprisingly, democratic presidential candidates are praising Sanchez's candor.
HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: General Sanchez, who was our commander on the ground in Iraq, starting in June 2003, made clear that George Bush's war policies have not worked and will not work.
HENRY (on-screen): The Sanchez' criticism raises an important question, do any current military commanders share the same concerns but are holding their tongues? It's a question that a lot of people who have family members in harm's way would like to answer now not a few years down the road. Susan.
ROESGEN: OK. Thank you, Ed Henry, reporting live for us.
One of the growing controversies in Iraq is the role that the Blackwater Security Company played in a Baghdad shooting last month that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead. Several investigations are under way now and Blackwater's founder was on CNN's late edition with Wolf Blitzer today and he insisted that his guards are proven professionals who don't open fire on civilians.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIK PRINCE, FOUNDER, BLACKWATER USA: All I can say is the incident reports I've seen, at least three of our armored vehicles were hit by small arms fire, incoming and one of them was damaged which actually delayed their departure from the traffic circle while they rig (inaudible). So there was incoming small arms fire from insurgents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Well "Newsweek" has obtained this video of the Blackwater shooting scene. Some of the dozens of Iraqis wounded that day are telling CNN what they witnessed and their account is far different from Blackwater's. One says a Blackwater security car hit his car and then guards opened fire, shooting at him. Another witness describes the scene as just chaotic with bullets flying everywhere. And a source familiar with the preliminary U.S. military report tells us that the first U.S. soldiers to reach the scene found no evidence that Blackwater guards were fired on.
A boy scout put to the test. A torn tent is a reminder of a bear attack that he survived. The boy versus the bear, ahead in the NEWSROOM.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: He hit him in the face and gave him a black eye and apparently broke his nose.
ROEGEN: It's Coke versus Pepsi, but two employees take the rivalry a little bit too far. And what would you do if a presidential candidate actually came knocking on your door? Campaigning the old fashioned way, next in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROESGEN: Playing possum to survive a bear attack that's what you're supposed to do, be still and play dead. That's apparently what saved a 14-year-old boy scout Friday night. The bear tore into his tent during a scout camping trip at a state park in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Chris Malasic says his curled up in the fetal position and played dead while the bear tossed him around. A scout leader finally scared the bear away by banging pots and pans. Chris is recovering now with a few cuts and bruises and precautionary rabies shot. You can hear Chris tell you what happened himself tomorrow in an exclusive interview on AMERICAN MORNING. So don't miss John Roberts and Kiran Chetry for AMERICAN MORNING starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
A strange death at Vancouver International Airport. The Royal Canadian Mounties used a taser on a man they said was acting wildly. Even after they tasered him, he still struggled. Then he lost consciousness and was later pronounced dead. Witnesses say that this man had been pounding on windows, hurling a computer and screaming in a strange language that sounded to them eastern European.
Meanwhile, police in India say at least five people were killed today in an explosion at a crowded movie theater. It happened in the industrial city of Ludhiana. Witnesses describe a blast followed by smoke and then chaos. Beyond the five people killed, another 20 were wounded. This is the second explosion possibly by Muslim extremists in the northwestern India in the past week.
In southern Colombia, they were literally digging for gold, but in reality, they were digging their own graves. Authorities say the residents of Suarez, Columbia created a landslide by digging for what they thought was gold deposits rumored to be near an abandoned mine. At least 21 people were killed, another 26 were buried. But somehow managed to claw out and survive. Suarez is about 220 miles southwest of the Colombian capital of Bogotá.
A state cracking down on illegal immigration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you crawl through a barbed wire fence, if you swam across the river or rode here on the back of an 18-wheeler, you are not welcome in Oklahoma.
ROESGEN: Not welcome and listening to the warning. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
GARY NUREMBERG, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: It's a solar decathlon on the national mall in Washington when CNN NEWSROOM continues. We'll tell you why the competition is heating up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: And this is new video just coming into us of the rescue effort going on right now underneath Austin, Texas. EMS officials say they're looking for four people missing who were supposed to report in, be out of this cave at midnight last night. They were exploring Airman's Cave. This is a cave that is 12,000 feet long, twisting tunnels, not enough room to even stand upright. For an experienced caver, it would take about 12 hours to get to the end of it and back. We're looking for your i-Reports on this story. If you have pictures or videos of Airman's Cave, if you have been in this area now or recently, logon to cnn.com/ireport.
In Washington, some of the best and brightest minds in the country are showing off futuristic home designs at the National Mall. This is the third annual solar decathlon. Ten categories in solar design for college students showing Washington's movers and shakers what the sun can do. CNN's Gary Nuremberg is there on this sunny day. Gary.
NUREMBERG (on-screen): It seemed like a bright idea. Actually, there are kids here from Germany, Spain, from Puerto Rico, international competition as they try to come up with designs that highlight solar and show potential customers how easy it is to use. This is not just on the roof anymore.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NUREMBERG (voice-over): The international solar decathlon on Washington's National Mall is a design competition among 20 college teams. Those are solar panels on the roof of a house designed by students from Madrid inside they built this wall from discarded almond shells. The University of Maryland team has linked its solar house to the web.
JOHN KUCIA, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND: You can get to leave the light on and you're at work, use logon and turn it off from there.
NUREMBERG: Designers at Texas A&M used solar hot water tubes on the patio.
JOHN CANEZ, TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY: We created this nice space here on the west side. And it also helps protect the large glasses side we have.
NUREMBERG: The University of Colorado is basing its design on a converted shipping container, which contains all the key mechanical elements of the hours.
CHAD CORBIN, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO: So that we can ship that to a site and have that be the living facility for the building. The user can then customize the building any way they like.
NUREMEBRG: It's a long way from a design class in a sterile classroom.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You never get a chance like this at the universities. You just plan and hand in papers or maybe small models. But this is actually for a change to one to one model of the thing you plan.
KUCIA: We have an induction cook off.
NUREMBERG: The houses are judged on innovation and on livability. One reason the competition was created.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cost of solar products are coming down but we didn't know how to integrate them or get them designed aesthetically into buildings.
NUREMBERG: The houses cost between $500,000 and a million dollars and drew big crowds over the weekend. But solar is attracting more than just gawkers.
It is the first time that I have seen the venture capitalists of the United States putting big money into energy projects. They're putting big money into solar energy.
NUREMBERG: Solar currently contributes less than 1 percent of America's energy supply. With rising oil price, competitors here are convinced that is about to change.
Organizers tell us in the last three days, about 50,000 people have taken a look at the display. It will be here all week long. Judging is on Friday and you can come back again next Saturday to see the winners.
ROESGEN: Hey, if it saves some money on the monthly power bill, it's worth it. Thanks, Gary.
And it is really a sunny day there in Washington for Gary. Bonnie Schneider is going to show us where else is sunny today and where it's snowing too. Bonnie, out in Colorado?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: That's right, we're getting snow out in Colorado and across the Midwest, we're seeing a lot of rain. From Chicago and then all the way stretching out to areas into Oklahoma, Nebraska. We've actually had reports of hail in Nebraska and this severe thunderstorm watch box, this goes until the evening hours, straight until 10:00 p.m. tonight and does include the city of Wichita, because we are getting some stronger storms in that region as they slide from west to east across Nebraska into Omaha for your evening rush, evening commute if you're going to be out this evening. As we take a look at the map for today, we have the severe storms over the southern plains. Warmer air to the south but high pressure over the eastern half of the country and that's definitely cooling things down. Take a look at Boston right now, temperatures are in the 50s but it's going to drop down into the 40s tonight. We have a live picture of Boston to show you. And it does look slightly overcast though. So it's really nice to stay there. The only thing is, I think you're ready for the big cool down. Temperatures will drop down to 44 degrees in Boston tonight. And take a look at this, we actually have frost advisories in place for counties all the way up into Maine, and down through New Hampshire, into Vermont, western Massachusetts and parts of upstate New York. N All the counties you see highlighted in blue. This means that all the temperatures this evening will drop down to the mid to upper 30s. So, it's going to be cold one in New England tonight and cold in many spots of the country. We're definitely well into the fall season now. Susan.
ROESGEN: OK. Thanks Bonnie. Well, it looks like the royal romance is on again. Kate Middleton caught on camera with the prince. But not the one she's usually with. And a new presidential poll is out. Who's moving ahead and who's falling behind? You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN HOST, THE NEWSROOM: Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM.
Happening now, crews have finished clearing the debris from this Interstate 5 tunnel in California north of Los Angeles. Three people died in Friday's chain reaction crash and raging fire that came afterward. It's still unclear when the tunnel will reopen, possibly Tuesday with concerns over how safe it might be to drive on.
Hot Atlanta rapper T.I. is cooling his heels in the federal pen. He was arrested in a shopping center parking lot in his hometown after allegedly having his bodyguard buy him machine guns. T.I., whose given name is Clifford Harris, is a convicted felon and he isn't allowed to own guns.
And then this. In Austin, Texas, an extensive search for four missing students' spelunkers. They were exploring a difficult cave complex made up of very small crawl spaces. We are following the search for you right now; we'll bring you the latest details as we get them.
Taking a look at the race for the White House. Despite pressure from John McCain and Rudy Giuliani, and Mitt Romney still holds the Republican lead in New Hampshire. The poll shows Romney with 25 percent of the vote there. Giuliani has 21 percent. McCain comes in third, Fred Thompson is fourth.
On the Democrat side, Senator Hillary Clinton is out in front by a wide margin. She holds a 20-point lead over Senator Barack Obama. But in Iowa, Senator Obama is going door to door in Des Moines to drum up support. He talked to reporters and potential voters about his opposition to the war in Iraq and he attacked his chief rival, Senator Hillary Clinton. Now Obama's campaign is focused on his opposition to the war. But what he tends to gloss over is the fact that he wasn't in any position to vote against the war when it started.
Josh Levs is here to keep the candidates honest. Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's interesting that you say that. They do like to draw attention to where he stood in 2002 and you don't often hear from them that he wasn't in the Senate in 2002. But what's interesting to us today is the latest tactic they're using to draw attention to what he did five years ago. His new Internet ad is not exactly as it seems.
It's the center of Barack Obama's presidential campaign, that in 2002, days before the Senate voted for a resolution authorizing force in Iraq, he spoke out against war. He wasn't in the Senate at the time, but he often notes that Hillary Clinton voted for the resolution. This is from his latest Internet ad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE: I know that even a successful war against Iraq will require U.S. occupation of undetermined length, and undetermined cost, with undetermined consequences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: The sound effects help suggest it's from his 2002 speech. But he recorded this recently. His campaign says there was no quality tape of the original. It's not the first time a campaign has made some audio changes. In 2003, the Republican National Committee edited out some verbal stumbling from an ad containing part of President Bush's State of the Union Address. For Obama, chasing Clinton in the polls, winning over anti-war voters is critical. The Democratic front runner is often asked to explain her 2002 vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANIDATE: Obviously, I would not vote that way again if we knew then what we now know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: The resolution authorized the president to use force as he determined necessary and appropriate to defend the U.S. against the threat from Iraq and enforce U.N. resolutions. In Clinton's speech at the time, which she posted on line, she said "Bipartisan support for the resolution made success in the United Nations more likely and therefore war less likely." And she would take the president at his word that --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: He will try hard to pass a U.N. resolution and will seek to avoid war if, at all possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: And as we look at this issue, we should also note Senator John Edwards is making Clinton's vote central to his campaign. He voted the same way but he says he was wrong to vote that way. The first nominating contest Susan now less than three months away, we can expect all this to keep heating up.
ROESGEN: Do you think that Obama is kind of fudging there is going to have any fallout from him?
LEVS: I was looking at the blogs today and what do they say. It might be a blip in the end. One person said if Hillary Clinton did this, people would be all over her. But the truth is, I will tell you something Obama campaign might be eating this up, they might be watching us right now, because one thing campaigns love to do is set the dialogue and Susan they want people talking about the fact that he made the speech in 2002 at all, even if there's controversy about this ad.
ROESGEN: And as always, just spell the name right. Thanks, Josh.
Well, the United Nations Myanmar envoy arrived in Thailand today to begin talks with the leaders of Myanmar's neighbors. Gambari's mission is to coordinate the push against Myanmar's crackdown on democracy. The ruling military leaders continue to round up the dissidents even after last month's huge demonstrations. Amnesty International says four prominent activists who had gone into hiding were arrested this weekend.
Trying to get medical care in Myanmar, especially now with the government crackdown, is very difficult. So hundreds of refugees risk their lives to get to doctors in neighboring Thailand. CNN's Matthew Chance shows you what it's like in a Thai medical clinic and you may find what he found disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Little Baby Coko (ph) is just 8 months old. He may not survive a whole year. Ravaged by pneumonia, doctors say he's clinging to life. His twin brother already died. For three long days, his mother trekked through Myanmar's jungle, searching for this clinic in Thailand, hoping to save her last son. "I was terrified we would never get here" she told us. "If it weren't for this place, he wouldn't stand a chance" she says.
Nor would so many other sons and daughters in need who make the dangerous journey across the border from impoverished Myanmar. With nowhere to get basic medical care in their own country, to many people in Myanmar, this Thai clinic is their only hope. Hundreds come across every day to receive medical treatment. Victims of poverty, disease and of conflict.
Prosthetic limbs for amputees are made on site at the clinic. So high is demand from Myanmar's land mine infested borders. Farmers like 28-year-old Pu Li, caught up in an ethnic civil war, have paid a terrible price. Human rights groups accuse Myanmar's military of mining areas it wants to depopulate. "Since my legs were blown off others in my village are so scared, but they still farm the land. If they didn't, we'd starve." Every face here seems worn with hardship. But it's not hopeless.
Doctor Cynthia Maung founded this clinic in 1989 and says she's determined to keep on helping. Especially as public health in Myanmar, she says, is getting worse. Malaria, war casualties, nutrition problems.
DR. CYNTHIA MAUNG, MAE TAO CLINIC THAILAND: And HIV-Aids.
CHANCE: What would the people do who you treat if you weren't for this clinic?
MAUNG: If they would not come here, they would die at home.
CHANCE: Die in crackdowns or offensives at the hands of Myanmar's military or of neglect.
Matthew Chance, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: If you hire or give a ride to an illegal immigrant in this state, you could spend a year in jail. Where is it? The crackdown on illegal immigration coming up.
And get your motor running and head out onto the freeway. That's exactly what this 3-year-old did. The story you've got to see later in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: House Democrats are hoping to change some lawmaker's minds about a bill that would pay for children's insurance. This bill is for standard funding of what they're calling the S-Chip program. They want to expand it by $35 billion over the next five years. But President Bush wants just a $5 billion increase and he has vetoed the bill.
Supporters say they have enough votes in the Senate to override the veto but they're still several votes shy in the House. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she'll try to convince those holdouts to support the bill before an override vote on Thursday.
It is a crippling situation inflicting tens of thousands of schoolchildren. Put simply they are not equipped to learn. It's the education gap and it could affect your child. So parents, tonight at 10:00 Eastern, CNN's Tony Harris digs into the nation's schools to identify some problems and give you solutions. A special report "Bridging the Gap" tonight at 10:00 Eastern only on CNN.
The immigration debate is really heating up the normally quiet streets of Irving, Texas. Demonstrators rallied yesterday in support of a new deportation policy by the Irving police. The city has adopted a program that hands arrested illegal immigrants over to federal authorities. Many residents support the plan, but others say the new program amounts to racial profiling. The city denies that claim.
And not welcome in Oklahoma. That's the warning for illegal immigrants there and for anyone who tries to help them. Starting November 1st, anyone who hires, houses, or even gives a ride to an illegal immigrant in Oklahoma could spend a year in jail. CNN's Ted Rowlands reports that thousands of immigrants are now trying to get out of Tulsa.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I knew that we were doing something wrong, but we were in need.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This family of three says they came to Tulsa 13 years ago after sneaking across the U.S.-Mexican border. They say they've always welcomed here. Dad and mom have jobs and their 16-year-old daughter is a sophomore in high school. But now, they say they're making plans to possibly move back to Mexico. Because of a new Oklahoma state law aimed at illegal immigrants.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): I want to stay. I want to stay for my family, especially for my daughter.
ROWLANDS: The family who asked us not to show their faces says this is the first time they've felt pressured to leave. They're not alone. The Tulsa Chamber of Commerce estimates that 20,000 Hispanics have left Tulsa over the last few months and 10,000 are likely to leave before the new law goes into effect November 1st.
REV. VICTOR ORTA, EL PUEBLO DE DIOS CHURCH: The hostility, the environment that's been created has caused them to leave and that's sad. That is very sad.
ROWLANDS: The new law carries serious penalties for anyone who hires or helps illegal immigrants, including fines and possible jail time. Here in Tulsa, the crackdown has even gone further with sheriff deputies learning from federal officials how to do immigration checks. And after this explosive public meeting, passage of a city resolution asking police to check people's immigration status.
DAN HOWARD, OUTRAGEDPATRIOTS.COM: This is not about racism; it's about nationalism and patriotism.
ROWLANDS: That's Dan Howard, the former state patrol officer and co-founder of OutragedPatriots.com a Website that voted to halt immigration.
HOWARD: If you crawled through a fence, if you swam across a river or if you rode here on the back of an 18-wheeler, you are not welcome in Oklahoma.
ROWLANDS: Howard says he and others are tired of illegal immigrants draining city services and through cheap labor undercutting local businesses.
HOWARD: When it comes to Oklahoma, whether the rest of the country gets onboard or not, we're going to lead the way. We're not going to put up with this.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): USA! USA!
ROWLANDS: Some Hispanics are fighting back with public protests, and a planned lawsuit challenging the validity of the law. Mean while Hispanic community leaders are urging people not to leave.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): I know we did something wrong by coming here, but we did it for the right reasons.
ROWLANDS: This family says they would love an opportunity to stay in America and live in Tulsa, but now they realize they may not be welcome.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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ROESGEN: Kate Middleton on a royal outing with a prince and a gun. Is it a sign of things to come?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN meteorologist Bonnie Schneider. It's going to be a cool October night in many cities like Boston. Take a look at this live picture of Boston right now. Get ready for a low temperature of 46 and gusty winds. I'll have your forecast around the country. That's coming up on the CNN NEWSROOM.
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ROESGEN: Call it a product of the old cola wars between Coke and Pepsi. But instead of a taste test, it was a fistfight between two soda delivery men. After off loading their drinks at a Pennsylvania Wal-Mart, something bubbled up in the Pepsi guy and he popped his cola rival.
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TROOPER JEANNE MARTIN, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE: As the victim left the store, then the suspect came over and got into a physical confrontation with him and struck him a few times.
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ROESGEN: Well, the Coke driver had a black eye and a broken nose. The Pepsi driver was fired. Let's chill out with Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center.
Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: We're watching a new tornado watch that has just come in for parts of western Oklahoma and this is for parts of northwest Texas. We have the possibility of hail, about two to five inches in diameter, for this region. As we take a look, this is an area that's affected into parts of Oklahoma and possibly into areas of Texas later on tonight. This just came in just a few minutes ago. So it's something we're watching very closely.
We're also watching a lot of rain that you can see stretching across areas, Oklahoma into Kansas and Missouri. And some of this weather has been severe. We've been watching a severe thunderstorm watch that continues until 10:00 p.m. tonight for Wichita, Kansas and that will continue into the evening hours. Watch out for heavy rain across parts of Omaha into Nebraska and severe storms there.
As we take a look at what else is going on across the country, current temperatures are quite chilly across New England at this time. In Boston, we have 59 degrees and a brisk wind from the northwest is coming in. That means cold temperatures overnight tonight. A frost advisory is in place for areas inland, not necessarily along the coast but more towards areas as we go towards New Hampshire and into western Massachusetts. That means low temperatures will drop down into the mid 30s. So we'll be watching this closely as well.
Doesn't look like we'll see freezing weather into cities like New York and Boston, but we're seeing strong winds and that is affecting your travel this evening. A busy Sunday night for travel. And we have a lot of airport delays to tell you about and they are across New York and New Jersey at this time. And also in San Francisco.
Susan.
ROESGEN: Thanks, Bonnie. Keep us posted on the tornados.
Are Kate Middleton and Britain's Prince William about to tie the knot? Well Middleton was spotted deer hunting at the royal family's estate in Scotland this weekend. She was there with Prince Charles and that trip is fuelling the speculation that a royal announcement could be in the works. They say that Middleton's induction into the royal family has been stepped up a notch by this. Buckingham Palace has refused to comment and you know that Middleton dated William for several years before they split up in April. But this summer they rekindled their romance.
A car, two passengers, no license. Toddlers in a middle of the night joyride. The story you don't want to miss, coming up next in THE NEWSROOM.
But first, "Fortune" Magazine 50 most powerful women's list is out. And here's a woman whose business is breakfast. But before we tell you who she is, you have a chance to guess. At age 16, this woman worked as a waitress. Now more than 30 years later, she's the CEO of that same restaurant. With over 1,300 restaurant locations nationwide. Her California based company raked in $45 million in profits last year alone. So who is the woman who went from server to CEO? Find out after the break.
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ROESGEN: Ranked 49th this year on "Fortune" Magazine's most powerful women, Julia Stewart, CEO Chairman and CEO of IHOP the International House of Pancakes. Since Stewart took over in 2002, IHOP's stock prices have doubled. In July, she announced the $2.3 billion acquisition of Appleby's. Forming the largest sit down restaurant chain in the U.S. Her secret interviewing tip, Stewart takes potential employees out to eat because she says you can tell a lot from how a person treats a server.
Take a shiny red Mustang and a way too young driver and it adds up to a dangerous late-night joyride. Chloe Malone (ph) of our affiliate WYSN TV in Milwaukee shows you what happened.
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CHLOE MALONE (ph) WYSN TV: Jordan Will has a sharp ride. A candy apple red Mustang GT with all the extras. A rear spoiler, premium sound system and chrome wheels.
DOUG WILL, FATHER: That's all he talks about when he comes here is he wants his car and go for a ride.
MALONE: And that's what Jordan and a buddy did, without permission, early in the morning while his dad Doug was still sleeping.
D. WILL: Nothing bad happened so it's cute now when you look at it, but at the time it wasn't cute at all it was scary and I was really upset.
MALONE: The boys drove through the neighborhood.
JASON BAUER, NEIGHBOR: When you wake up on Sunday morning, and you don't expect to see a 3-year-old shooting down the street in a car.
MALONE: They pulled right up to a busy intersection.
JACI BAUER, NEIGHBOR: They even obeyed the signs.
MALONE: Jordan crossed over Highway 21 on the sidewalk and drove over the bridge. Neighbors panicked, called 911, chased them and cops pulled the car over.
J. BAUER: When we stopped them, they had made it five or six blocks before home before anybody noticed they were gone.
MALONE: Doug had been searching for the boys the whole time, when he got the call to come to and get the car.
WILL: He just said we went for a ride, daddy. I'm like you were naughty. He says no, daddy, we just went for a ride.
MALONE: Right now, all Jordan can do is sit in his ride because dad took away his keys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: The little rascal. Thanks again to Chloe Malone the reporter there of WYSN TV in Milwaukee.
The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): What you going to do when Jimmy Justice comes for you?
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I am Jimmy Justice and your days of running around this city like a cowboy are over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Up next in THE NEWSROOM if you work for the government and you break the law beware of the man named Jimmy Justice. He's coming for you with a camera. That story is ahead.
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