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Search for Missing Texas Cavers; L.A.'s I-5 Shutdown; Rapper T.I. Arrested On Gun Charges; Blackwater Investigation; Sanchez Remarks Bring Fallout; Video Vigilante Fights Corruption Of Public Service Employees; Small Plane and Car Collide On Runway In Texas; Boy Scout Survives Bear Attack During Camping Trip
Aired October 14, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN ANCHOR: 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.
Plus, we'll take you inside the California tunnel where a fiery crash left three people dead; one of them a child. And our top story, inside a cave near Austin, Texas. Rescuers are searching for four missing people.
Hello, I'm Susan Roesgen filling in for Fredricka Whitfield and you are in the NEWSROOM. It has been 17 hours now, that's how long four people have been missing in a subterranean maze under the city of Austin, Texas. Some reports say that three women and one man are University of Texas students. We'll get the latest from Lieutenant Matt Cox who is with the Austin Fire Department on the search. Lieutenant, last time we talked to you, you thought your team was almost to the end of the cave. Any news since then?
VOICE OF MATT COX, LIEUTENANT, AUSTIN FIRE DEPARTMENT: Well, we know that they went in at 9:00 a.m. and they should have reached the furthest point of the cave at 3:00 our time. And what we're waiting now is for them to make their way back toward us to give us an update. Now we've laid some cable in there, we're actually using 40-year-old radio technology because cell phones don't work underground, and we've got that about 5,000 feet in, almost halfway. So our rescuers, even though they might have made it to the end, they have to come back to the cable and literally call us on the phone and let us know up top if they found them. We might have found them, but we don't know. We're waiting for the rescuers to call us back.
ROESGEN: What if they find them and they have to, somehow, pull these people out? I want to remind the viewers here watching, that you've told us that you can't even stand upright in this 12,000-foot long tunnel. How would they ever get incapacitated cavers out?
COX: Well what we do, we have a special device called a 'sked,' and it's basically a big plastic orange 'taco' and you wrap them up in it and then you pull them out. But then, only one person can fit in the cave, so we literally have to have one person be on their hands and knees and pull them out. So if we find them, it's going to be quite a number of hours just to get them out even if they're okay but we're looking at many hours away. ROESGEN: And you had said earlier, too, that air and water aren't an issue, but it's cold there and that might have caused hypothermia, right?
COX: That is correct, it's a constant level 68 degrees, which is fantastic for a few minutes but now that they're going on 17 hours, if they haven't been moving, the batteries have gone out, they're in utter darkness, hypothermia could set in and they could get disoriented and dizzy and it could tend to be a problem.
ROESGEN: Lieutenant, we just said that some reports are saying that these are U.T. students. Do you know anything more about who they are that you're able to share with us?
COX: Yes, they are in their early 20s and they are University of Texas students. We have a University of Texas liaison on the scene dealing with the family members, who are showing up and keeping them updated as to what's going on and we do know where they live, we've been to their house, we know they're not there. Their car is here in the parking lot, but we do know they are U.T. students. We don't know if they're part of any type of spelunking club or anything or if they were just out having a good time.
ROESGEN: Okay, well, we will be staying with you to get the latest updates throughout this search. We appreciate it so much, Lieutenant Matt Cox with the Austin Fire Department.
And for you, if you're out there in this area, we want your I- report. If you're close to the search or you live near Airman's Cave in the Greater Austin area, grab your camera phone or video recorder or maybe you've been in this cave before. Send us the pictures, all you have to do is click onto CNN.com and follow the prompts to I- report.
And it is going to be a massive headache tomorrow for drivers in Los Angeles because that stretch of interstate 5 that links L.A. to its northern suburbs is closed for repairs after Friday's big crash and fire in the tunnel. And, we know now that one of the three people who were killed there was an infant. CNN's Peter Viles is there live in Santa Clarita and, Peter, to me behind you it looks like some kind of truck graveyard.
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it is a truck graveyard. This is what came out of the tunnel, they have cleared the tunnel, they've got everything out of it and they now say there are only three deaths, tragically though, as you said, one of them is an infant child but they cleared the tunnel. Out of that tunnel came the remains of 29 vehicles, 28 of them trucks and a lot of those truck were big rigs, but to see what this fire did to those trucks, a fire that burned to 1,400 degrees has twisted and charred and burned these trucks beyond recognition. The only thing you can recognize as coming from a truck are the wheel wells which are wrapped in steel cables. Those steel cables are what's left of steel-belted radial tires. But, three people died in this blaze. What officials say is remarkable is more didn't die considering more than two dozen vehicles were involved. Somehow 20 people made it out of this burning tunnel alive, this inferno, and fire officials say that is a small miracle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN TRIPP, DEPUTY CHIEF, L.A. COUNTY FIRE DEPARTMENT: 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 have 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: You know, we have heard from one truck driver who was in this tunnel, smashed into a truck behind him, and then trucks started smashing into him from behind. He said truck drivers from the other trucks were coming over the trucks, they were climbing over the trucks and yelled at him get out. They all managed to get out together so some good news there. Now the headache for the city of Los Angeles and the entire State of California, they will not open this interstate highway tomorrow. They may open; they hope to open half of it, the southbound part on Saturday, so tomorrow, without this very important commuter route 30 miles north of Los Angeles that a lot of goods move on this highway from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The fruits and vegetables come down from the north. No truck traffic going south tomorrow. Alternate routes throughout the area, but there's no good alternate route. We're 30 miles east of the ocean and there's no interstate between here and the ocean. So this will be a major traffic headache until they can get this tunnel repaired and the road that goes over it. Susan?
ROESGEN: Boy, what a bottleneck, thanks Peter. Appreciate the report there today from Santa Clarita, California.
Also in the news, a Grammy-Winning Rapper is in federal custody. Clifford Harris, who goes by the name of T.I., is accused of buying illegal machine guns and silencers. Agents arrested him yesterday just before he was supposed to perform at the B.E.T. Hip-Hop Awards Show. Our T.J. Holmes explains how it unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERRI WILSON, NEIGHBOR: You see ATF jackets; you pretty much understand what's going on.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 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: We 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 are 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-starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crow, 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 VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: In the meantime, T.I.'s attorney, Dwight Thomas, says he didn't know the rapper had a felony drug conviction in his past but he says he thinks the rapper's good works will help his case.
VOICE OF DWIGHT THOMAS, ATTORNEY: T.I. has done a lot of great charitable things. He's worked with a lot of young kids and he has confidence in the legal system. He has confidence that it will work and I have confidence that it will work and that it will work in his favor.
ROESGEN: However, court documents show that he has been arrested at least once before on gun charges.
The founder of the Blackwater Security Company is defending the actions of his security team in that controversial shooting in Baghdad. That was the shooting last month that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead and dozens wounded. The Iraqi government says Blackwater guards fired out any provocation. But the founder of Blackwater, Eric Prince, insisted in an appearance today with Wolf Blitzer on CNN's (LATE EDITION) that the guards were simply responding to an attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC PRINCE, FOUNDER, BLACKWATER SECURITY COMPANY: There was no deliberate violence by our guys. They've done 16,500 personal security detail-type missions, just like this one on September 16th, 16,500 since 2005. Less than 1% resulted in any discharge of a firearm by our people. We have very clear dictates for any incident report any time a weapon is fired, it has to be reported. There's an immediate after-action investigation follow-up by the regional security office, by the State Department, who we work for, so in Baghdad, the most dangerous city in the world, to say that it was a callous, rampant, evil action, when the guys get it right 99 out of 100 times and don't have to use any force or any violence at all, I think they're doing very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Here's another side of that story. Witnesses and survivors of the shooting are talking to FBI investigators and they're talking to CNN, and their account is much different. One man whose son was killed that day sat down with CNN's Jim Clancy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ali Muhammad is missed more than ever, almost a month after he was shot and killed in a Baghdad square. His family is in pain but as his father was questioned here by the FBI, he says he had questions of his own.
VOICE OF TRANSLATOR FOR MOHAMMED ABDUL RAZZAQ: I was always asking them will you have the courage to expose the truth despite the fact that you may be under a lot of political pressure? And they always answered me saying, God willing. Even the Americans knew how we say it in Arabic.
CLANCY: After he looked over his Iraqi police report, he said FBI agents wanted to know whether he could pick out any of the Blackwater guards he might have seen shooting that day that they showed him photographs. He says he'll try.
RAZZAQ: There are more than 200 witnesses who can have their testimonies check. The company clearly wasn't under fire or a mortar attack or a car bomb. Let's be realistic, the company said they were attacked by mortars, then they said it was a car bomb. Then they came back and said no, it was gunfire. They changed their story three times.
CLANCY: Blackwater's Eric Prince says his men were under attack.
PRINCE: 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 tried to rig a tow.
CLANCY: Sunday, Nasooer(ph) Square was quiet. A single policeman, a light flow of traffic, but the shootings here that killed 17 Iraqis and wounded another 27 have sent shudders through Iraq and its relationship with the United States. Everyone in the country has heard accounts from the police, victims and witnesses and there is an overwhelming belief the shootings were unprovoked. The 'Crime at Nasooer(ph) Square," as the local media calls it, has even political rivals abandoning their differences and coming together to demand justice. Moreover, Abdul Razzaq warns Americans must understand how most people in the country see this case. American justice is about to be put on trial.
RAZZAQ: I tell the American people the same thing I told the FBI investigators. We condemn the killing of American soldiers. We consider them victims and regret the American people's loss but we demand they condemn these acts and demand American justice be fair and unbiased in trying these terrorists in Blackwater.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Abdul will be watching. Hazy cell phone videos of a 9- year-old Ali Muhammad are about all he has left. The dreams now he says are nightmares of bullets coming at his family from everywhere. He says he hasn't been offered any money nor has he asked for any. Compensation from Blackwater he says will not bring back his son. What he wants is justice for what happened at Nasooer(ph) Square, a place he says he'll forever call the 'Square of Lost Souls.' Jim Clancy, CNN, Baghdad.
ROESGEN: Less than flattering comments from the former commander of coalition troops in Iraq are drawing return fire from Republicans. Ed Henry has got the story.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Some tough talk from retired General Ricardo Sanchez and his critics are wondering why did it take him so long to say it? That story coming up.
ROESGEN: And also coming up, do you have one of the most depressing jobs in America? We'll give you the results of a new survey.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY JUSTICE, VIDEO VIGILANTE: You made an illegal u-turn in a business district and I have it on video.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't do that okay? Don't do that.
JUSTICE: What kind of an example for you for the citizens of New York? You're a police officer, you're not supposed to make a u-turn within a business district.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you get out of my face?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Woo, that's Jimmy Justice calling a cop on the carpet. We'll tell you more about this self-proclaimed video vigilante who wants to stamp-out public corruption one public employee at a time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: 'A nightmare with no end in sight.' That is the Iraq war according to the former top coalition commander in Iraq, retired Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, he made his remarks this week blunt critique that's starting to get some blunt reaction from Republicans in Washington but no word, yet, from the president. CNN White House Correspondent, Ed Henry, is at the 'western White House' there in Crawford, Texas. Ed?
HENRY: That's right, Susan. The White House has been pretty muted in their response. They don't want to pour gasoline on this fire. But other Republicans on Capitol Hill are not holding back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HENRY: Retired General Sanchez had his say on Iraq.
RICARDO SANCHEZ: America is living a nightmare with no end in sight. HENRY: But now top Republicans are getting theirs.
LINDSEY GRAHAM, SENATOR, ARMED SERIVCES 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 a 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 now -- 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.
JOHN MCCAIN, SENATOR, 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 down in the south is moving very well forward. We have made some progress as you all are aware of. The morale is sky high.
HENRY: All of which makes Sanchez's current posture --
SANCHEZ: The best we can do with this approach is stave off defeat.
HENRY: All the more galling to some.
DAVID GRANGE, BRIGADERE GENERAL(RET.), U.S. ARMY: I think he's a bit little late on this.
HENRY: Even McCain, however, acknowledges it's difficult to buck the president. General Eric Shenseki took heat for saying early on that the U.S. would need far more troops than expected and some retired generals defended Sanchez on charges he's lashing out to deflect attention from his own role as Commander of U.S. Forces during the Abu Ghraib scandal.
DON SHEPPARD, MAJOR GENERAL, U.S. AIR FORCE: 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 what he's doing.
HENRY: And not surprisingly, Democratic presidential candidates are praising Sanchez's candor.
HILLARY CLINTON, SENATOR, NEW YORKGeneral 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HENRY: The Sanchez criticism raises a very important question. Are there any current military commanders who share the same concerns but are holding their tongues? You can be sure there are people who have family member in harm's way who want an answer to that question sooner rather than later, Susan.
ROESGEN: Ed, Have you seen the president today? What is he doing there, chopping wood or something in Crawford, Texas?
HENRY: Clearing the brush, riding his bike, et cetera. He's been very low key this weekend. The assumption has been he had a short summer; he had a lot of work preparing for that progress report from General Petraeus on Iraq. He had that long trip to Iraq, as well as, Australia. Now he's getting some downtime but back on the road tomorrow to Arkansas for a speech about the budget and economy, Susan.
ROESGEN: Thanks, Ed, reporting live for us there in Crawford, Texas.
Some other developments now in the Middle East; Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, is down playing hopes for any new breakthrough in the peace talks. She arrived in Jerusalem today for a new round of Middle East diplomacy but the Israelis and Palestinians are still at odds over the wording of an agreement. The document is supposed to be presented next month at the peace conference.
So, what's in a name? It meant a lot to this man.
Still ahead, we say goodbye to a Native American activist who fought hard to get pro-sports to change some names.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm CNN's Meteorologist, Bonnie Schneider. We are tracking severe weather tonight in parents of Oklahoma and Texas. A new tornado watch has been issued for areas near Oklahoma City. I'll tell you more about that, plus a look at your Monday forecast coming up next on CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: In news across America now, we have this video just coming into us from our San Antonio affiliate KSAT TV. You see it there, a car and a small plane crash. This was near the county's old airfield there in the San Antonio area. Three people in the car were hurt. Deputies say the driver, who lives just off the airfield, pulled out of her driveway and onto the runway into the path of that oncoming plane but apparently just three people hurt, nobody killed in this accident.
And you know, it's the Boy Scout Motto, be prepared. Fourteen- year-old scout Chris Malisics knew that when a bear clawed its way into his tent. This was on a camping trip Friday night near Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. The Boy Scout Chris played possum, played like he was dead until the scout master was able to scare the bear away. You're going to hear his first-person account of how he did that on AMERICAN MORNING tomorrow. Join us for that, plus the most news in the morning tomorrow starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
Now we want to go to Bonnie in the weather center. Bonnie, was that a funnel cloud we saw a minute ago in that video?
SCHNEIDER: It's hard to tell, but one place we're watching for possibly a funnel cloud, maybe a tornado is areas in Oklahoma and Texas. That's right, a tornado watch is in effect until 11:00 tonight. And as we take a live look at Oklahoma City, the sky doesn't look too menacing, but this is a preemptive look of what we're expecting. The winds have picked up out of the west, getting gusts as strong as 25 miles per hour. And looking at the tornado watch specifically for Oklahoma City, it's very interesting, the line slices right through Oklahoma County where the city is located but covers all of Canadian county just to the west. So a very close call here. The threat for severe weather along those lines and that continues straight into the evening hours. We run the risk of strong thunderstorms across Kansas and that's been a problem for Wichita. Seeing steady rain there and into Nebraska where nickel-sized hail has been reported this afternoon. Currently, now we head to New England where temperatures are dropping fast. A brisk wind coming in from the Northwest and frost advisories in place. Any of the counties in blue, temperatures will be in the low 30s and that wind coming in from the Northwest is causing other troubles. For those at the airport, you know what I'm talking about, numerous delays around the New York area. We have them continuing as well as in San Francisco. And some of these delays are well over an hour. Probably the last thing you want to hear on a Sunday night. Susan?
ROESGEN: Yeah, great. Bonnie, thanks.
While there may be some rain in the Midwest, much of the Southeast is still deep in drought. Water supplies like this one show a lot more shore than they should. Water and time running out, we'll have that coming up.
And get ready for on advertising blitz from politicians. They want your vote and they're going to pay about $3 billion to get it. Plus this -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTICE: Bad boys, bad boys. What you going to do what you going to do when Jimmy Justice comes for you
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Yeah, look at this, a cop car parked in front of a fire hydrant. Jimmy Justice is on the case, coming up in CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SUSAN ROESGEN: Here's what's happening right now. Last report, a rescue team was getting into this cave in Austin, Texas, trying to find four University of Texas students who are apparently missing inside. CNN has confirmed that the missing cavers do go to the University of Texas. They went into this cave Saturday morning and told friends to call for help if they didn't come out by midnight. They haven't, and the search goes on.
Mean while, highway officials in southern California say an infant was among the three fatalities in that fiery freeway tunnel crash. Repairs to the tunnel are already underway, but the really busy stretch of Interstate 5 that goes into Los Angeles there is expected to remain closed until Tuesday.
And the rapper known as T.I. is in federal custody on a gun charge in his hometown of Atlanta. The guns include machine guns. As a convicted felon, Clifford Harris -- that's his given name -- is not allowed to own a gun.
Dire warnings about the drought in northern Georgia. The main source of drinking water for some five million people in metro Atlanta is getting dangerously low. Lake Lanier has only enough water to last a few more months.
CNN's Susan Candiotti shows you how little is left.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELANIE BLUETT (ph), GEORGE RESIDENT: I think this whole thing has made me realize how much water we waste.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Melanie Bluett (ph) is so worried about a record draught, she's watering her plants with bath water. She and her husband collect it in kitty litter trays when they take a shower. Going to that extreme might soon become the norm if water levels continue to sink at the main water source for Atlanta and Alabama.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Army Corps of Engineers manages who gets how much water.
The upstream folks think it should be held upstream, and the downstream folks think it should be let go to help them.
CANDIOTTI: There's no relief in sight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our projections show if these weather conditions persist through the end of the year, the lake will reach a new record low and go beyond that.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): Under normal circumstances, I could not be doing this, walking across these rocks. Because this pole would be under water and the water level coming way up over my head to the bottom of that red marker.
(voice-over): If the lake drops another ten feet, it could severely limit the amount of water released downstream to supply residential and commercial customers. If an emergency is declared, the state is warning water depending companies like Coca-Cola, they may face water restrictions that could force job cuts. Landscapers and nurseries who have escaped water limits and car washes also may be ordered to cut back.
Could this have been avoided?
UNIDENTIFIED CONSERVATIONIST: We have not grown our way into this drought or consumed our way into it as some would believe.
CANDIOTTI: The conservationists argue government's failure to regulate the area's explosive development and enforce conservation is to blame.
SALLY BATHEA, UPPER CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVERKEEPER: You can keep on wasting or keep on growing, but you can't do both.
CANDIOTTI: If winter is dry as predicted, reservoirs and streams will remain low and Melanie will have to keep trapping bath water.
BLUETT (ph): If everybody would do it, it would make a difference.
CANDIOTTI: Susan Candiotti, CNN Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: As Susan points out, when you run out of something, you fight for it. And that's what's happening now. A Georgia politician is fighting the Army Corps of Engineers to try to get the Corps to stop releasing Lake Lanier's precious resource downstream to another state.
George Congressman Nathan Deal is on the phone with us now in Gainesville, Georgia.
Congressman, you used to be able to see Lake Lanier shoreline well, not so well now, right? Or too much of it.
REP. NATHAN DEAL, (R), GEORGIA: We have a lot more to see, about 14 feet below the normal pool. That's a lot of water missing out of the lake.
ROESGEN: I understand part of the reason the corps is releasing this water is to continue to support industry in other states, like the oyster fishermen in Alabama. What do you think about that? Should they just be cut off because Atlanta is suffering?
DEAL: Well, certainly, the sharing of water is an important aspect of control. But we don't think that the Endangered Species Act should be primary in terms of dictating how water management takes place.
This is a human disaster that is waiting to happen. And when you have a large metropolitan area, such as the Atlanta area, almost totally dependent on this water resource, we think it ought to take press temperature over sturgeon and other so-called endangered species.
ROESGEN: What are you proposing to do? What can you do?
DEAL: Well, I have met with the secretary of the Army and I have written to him recently again asking him to give us some information as to what they intend to do. We have seen that they have actually increased their release from Lake Lanier in recent days. That certainly is not in keeping with what the weather conditions are.
ROESGEN: Congressman Deal, this can't be the first time we're hearing this, the worst it's ever been. Where was the contingency plan for something like this?
DEAL: Of course, the lake itself is designed to be the reservoir and -- but you can't continue to release water out of the dam at rates that are greatly in excess of what the water flowing into the reservoir actually is. And that's what we've seen happening now for an extended period of time.
We are in the most severe drought, a stage four drought, a stage 4 draught, that this part of the country has ever seen. And we think that the Corps should acknowledge that, especially when this is an essential ingredient for supporting millions of lives in terms of the water resource.
ROESGEN: Congressman Deal, we'll fellow up with you and see if you're able to get the corps to stop releasing some of that water.
I appreciate your time today.
DEAL: Thank you.
ROESGEN: And now is as good a time as any to tell you about the CNN investigation you should see. Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Jeff Corwin team up to explore the world's environmental issues. "Planet in Peril" will air October 23rd and 24th at 9:00 eastern, only here on CNN. Don't miss it.
Well, he's not a cop, but crime fighting is his thing. Coming up, meet the man who calls himself Jimmy Justice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY JUSTICE: I am Jimmy Justice and your days of running around this city like a cowboy are over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: A man with a mission, a camera and a YouTube blog, still ahead.
But first, do you have one of the most depressing jobs in America? Are you like that guy? A new survey when we come back to the "CNN NEWSROOM."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROESGEN: I'm here with Tony Harris, following this terrible cave situation in Austin, Texas.
TONY HARRIS, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Hello, Susie. In Austin. What do you think of this? We've got these four young people who are in this cave, missing now for what, 17 hours?
ROESGEN: And they apparently cannot stand upright. It's such a tight squeeze.
HARRIS: About 1,200 feet of cave.
ROESGEN: 12,000 feet.
HARRIS: 12,000 feet of cave and very narrow in spots, can't stand up. We have no idea of the supplies they have with them, cold and dark. So we are all over this story, of course, throughout the evening here in the "NEWSROOM." The national desk is making phone calls and working the story. We'll update it throughout the evening and have a full report tonight at 10:00.
What is going on here, what are these young people facing in that cave? 12,000 feet.
ROESGEN: 12,000 feet long twisting tunnels. So we hope that you have good news by 10:00.
HARRIS: And we're going to talk to someone soon who can maybe give you insight into these young people. So we'll listen to that interview and some of that tonight at 10:00 as well.
ROESGEN: If we've got an I-report on the scene, Tony.
HARRIS: Wonderful. OK, Susan, OK.
ROESGEN: See you at 10: 00.
And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: We will get to some political news in a moment, but we've been talking about these four University of Texas students still missing in an underground cave underneath Austin, Texas.
We've gotten some I-report photos of the cave that come in a short time ago from a guy named Robert Hollingsworth. He's with us on the phone.
Robert, you say you've been in this cave many times. What is it like?
ROBERT HOLLINGSWORTH, CNN I-REPORTER: Well, it's really a small cave. It's not something who is really experienced would want to go into. The average height of the cave is probably about two feet and you're basically just crawling on your hands and knees on rock throughout the entire length of the cave.
ROSEGEN: Robert, we know that you have said you know the four people very well who are in this cave. We don't want to say their names because the rescuers have not been necessarily able to reach all the family members. But what can you tell us about these four people, they're friends of yours?
HOLLINGSWORTH: I actually only know one of them. She's a roommate at the place that I live. And she's a very nice girl. And everyone really likes her a lot.
I've been out to the cave with her a couple of times, and we didn't go really far when I went in there. We just went through the initial key hole, which is an entrance to the cave. There's an area where it's only about a foot or foot and a half wide. You have to kind of pull yourself through.
And so when I went out with her, we only went through the initial opening. When I went out with her again, we went to this place about an hour into the cave called the art gallery. People have made a lot of clay sculptures.
ROESGEN: How experienced is this friend of yours in spelunking?
HOLLINGSWORTH: Not very experienced at all.
ROESGEN: What do you think might have happened to her and the two other young women and the guy who is supposed to be in there? What could have happened, do you think?
HOLLINGSWORTH: Well, if you don't have a light, you can't see anything in the cave. And so if their flashlight ran out, I know that they tried to go the entire length of the cave, which is about eight hours to the very back. And eight hours back. So it's 16 hours round trip. And so they could have ran out of batteries. Also, as you get going further into the cave, it starts splintering off into numerous different directions and so it's very easy to get lost and disoriented.
ROESGEN: Robert, if that were you inside and you lost battery power, what would you do to keep from panicking and keep yourself alive?
HOLLINGSWORTH: I mean, in that situation, you basically have to tell yourself not to panic. And just realize that eventually someone will send help and they'll realize that you're gone. And you can't really move around because you can't see that much, so I'm guessing that they -- if that's the case with them, they're probably just waiting for someone to find them.
ROESGEN: Did you try to talk your friend out of going, since you say she wasn't very experienced?
HOLLINGSWORTH: Not really. I've gone a few times and, you know, it's a very simple cave other than the fact that it's so rocky. But what I'm guessing is maybe she didn't have a map. The UC Grotto, the UC club has a map for navigating the cave.
ROESGEN: And maybe nobody else had a map either then is what you're thinking?
HOLLINGSWORTH: Right.
ROESGEN: Robert Hollingsworth, we appreciate your joining us to tell us what it's like inside there. We're hoping the best for the four people that are missing.
And we will stay with this story here on CNN. We will have hopefully an outcome for you, certainly the latest on the search coming up with Tony Harris tonight at 10:00.
Meanwhile, on the political front, Hillary Clinton is out- performing her Democratic rivals in New Hampshire. The latest polls show her with 41 percent of the vote in that politically crucial state. A whopping 21 points ahead of Senator Barack Obama. Senator John Edwards is in third place with 11 percent of the vote.
It's a much closer race on the Republican side. Mitt Romney is the leader there with 26 percent, followed by ruddy Giuliani and John McCain. Newcomer Fred Thompson rounds out the top four with just 10 percent of the vote.
Expect to be bombarded with political ads in the presidential campaign season. At least one analyst believes you may see $3 billion worth of advertising. And some of those ads are going to feature the candidates themselves. Others will be what are called issue ads, aimed at getting voters fired up over a single issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EVAN TRACEY, TNS MEDIA INTELLIGENCE: What you have right now is a bunch of groups that are forming out there that are going to look to be the swift boat of the 2008 election. They're going to look for an issue that they can exploit through advertising in some of these battle ground states and I suspect that's going to be a big part of the campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: You can get all your political news from the CNN political ticker and the test political team on television at cnn.com, including the latest updates and analysis.
A tireless activist for Native American rights has died. Vernon Bellecourt passed away yesterday from complications of pneumonia. He was the leader of the radical American Indian Movement, AIM, and involved with stand offs with the police in the '70s. But his big push was speaking out about using American Indian names for sports teams.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VERNON BELLECOURT, NATIVE AMERICAN ACTIVIST: We are a living people with a living culture -- beautiful art, music, tradition, dance -- and much of this is being distorted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Bellecourt became sick last month after a trip to Venezuela. He was 75 years old.
If you're on the public payroll and live in New York City, you better watch out because Justice might be coming for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUSTICE: You made an illegal U-turn in the business district and I have it on video.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: Don't do that.
JUSTICE: What kind of an example are you for the citizens of New York? You're a police officer. You're not supposed to make a U-turn within a business district.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: Get out of my face. Can you get out of my face?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Isn't that what you always wanted to do? The self- proclaimed video vigilante is keeping them honest in New York and we'll have his story, next in the "NEWSROOM."
But first, today's News Quiz involves more on the rap star, T.I. "Forbes" magazine publishes a special list of the biggest money makers in the rap industry. What number do you think T.I. is on this cash poll? That answer is coming up after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: Before the break, we asked our News Quiz, the "Forbes" magazine annual list of the biggest money makers in rap, what number was T.I.? Well, he was the 12th highest money maker, with $15 million last year. The top cash king was rapper J.Z., who made $34 million last year?
Before we go any further here, we want to let you know that we have it on good authority from two television stations in the Austin, Texas area, that the four missing people in this cave here have been found. They have been found alive. And they are in good condition.
Once again, the four university of Texas students who had been missing for 17 hours inside this cave, a cave in which the tunnels are so tight you can't stand upright, have been found now. They have been found in good condition. They are all alive and we presume they will be safely pulled out of this cave. So good news there, in Austin, Texas.
Tony Harris will have much more on this story, on what must have been a dramatic rescue coming up on our news at 10:00. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: If you've ever gotten a parking ticket, you know how frustrating it is when you see the police park wherever they want to. But a New Yorker is turning the tables on the cops. His name is Jimmy Justice and he catches them in the act with his video camera.
CNN's Jim Acosta has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You're looking at a New York City traffic enforcement cruiser apparently parked illegally in front of a fire hydrant as fire trucks respond to an emergency. The officer, who is just picking up her lunch, comes face to face...
JUSTICE: You're a traffic enforcement agent and you parked your official agent blocking a fire pump and there's a fire outside?
ACOSTA: ... with Jimmy Justice.
JUSTICE: You ought to be ashamed of yourself. You're supposed to enforce the law, not break the law.
ACOSTA: The man behind the camera goes by the name Jimmy Justice he says to avoid any retaliation from city officials. He claims he started posting his clips on YouTube to write what he considers ticket writing wrongs.
JUSTICE: What's unfair is that the same agents that write parking tickets to civilians go out and commit the exact same violation.
ACOSTA (on camera): This is your way of getting back at the city?
JUSTICE: Well, you can consider that, yeah, why not?
ACOSTA (voice-over): But Jimmy Justice can get carried away.
JUSTICE: You broke the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, sir.
JUSTICE: You broke the law.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
JUSTICE: What are you going to do, bite me with your gold tooth?
JUSTICE: That's when you want to call him, Jimmy just stop.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to call a cop?
JUSTICE: Let me see your badge number, please. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
JUSTICE: You're a boob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to call them?
JUSTICE: You're a boob.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want to call them?
JUSTICE: I'm Jimmy Justice.
ACOSTA (on camera): Do you think there are times when you're a little over the top with these officers?
JUSTICE: Yes, there have been times I've crossed the line. I've used foul language in public or if I've yelled and screamed. But now I'm on my best behavior.
ACOSTA (voice-over): Asked for their reaction, police officials did not return our calls, but a former city transportation commissioner says the shame on YouTube might actually do some good.
SAM SCHWARTZ, FORMER NEW YORK TRANSPORTATION COMMISSIONER: City workers have got to get used to it. It's the public's right to challenge a government worker and challenge them even on the job.
ACOSTA (on camera): This is a little nutty, isn't it?
JUSTICE: Yeah, but this is basically a reaction to the unfair system here in New York City. So if you want to call it nutty, yes. We live in a nutty place and it takes nuts like me to straighten out the bad apples in city hall.
ACOSTA: And Jimmy Justice says he's nowhere near running out of tape.
Jimmy Acosta, CNN New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: Before we go, we want to recap our top story. This is it. This is called the Airman's Cave, a 12,000-foot long of twisting tunnels that basically runs under the city of Austin.
Rescuers have been trying to reach a group of people missing in this cave. And we have just learned, in the last few minutes, that those missing people have been found. We've also learned that there were only three people missing in the cave, not four. The University of Texas students, who set out early yesterday morning, and did not come back when they were supposed to.
To recap, they have been found safe. They have been found alive. They have been found in good condition. And the rescuers are saying it will take between three and four more hours to get them out of this cave because it's such tight quarters. You can't stand up-right. They will have to be pulled out.
Much more with Tony Harris on CNN's 10:00 news eastern.
Right now, "Lou Dobbs This Week."
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