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American Morning
Arson Investigation; Superbug Death; Oil Up In Trading; Who Did It?
Aired October 26, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Wanted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This person has done this before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The reward rises for an arsonist in California.
Return of the superbug.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's scary.
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ROBERTS: Shock and anger. Another student killed by a drug- resistant infection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They should notify kids, you know, kids, you know, parents.
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ROBERTS: Plus, on a roll. Can anything stop the Sox? Boston is half way home to a World Series title on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Boy, they just are (ph) unstoppable, those guys.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I know. You know who's in a little bit of trouble, former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, who said, "I hope the Sox win."
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Can't do that if you're a Yankee fan.
ROBERTS: Absolutely. No, you've got to hate the Sox no matter what.
CHETRY: Exactly.
ROBERTS: Even if you're routing for the American League, you got to hate the Sox if you're a Yankees fan.
Welcome back. It's Friday, October the 26th. I'm John Roberts on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
You know, it's been a day of progress but also one of pain in southern California. On the good side, the fire threat to homes has started to ease a bit, but sadly the number of dead is climbing. Meantime, more families are coming home to salvage precious memories from the heaps of rubble of ash. Authorities there are now saying that the wildfires have killed at least seven people.
QUALCOMM Stadium in San Diego, which has been the evacuation center, is now closed. A few hundred who remain are being sent to a nearby fairground and then hopefully they'll be taken to more permanent housing. Also, a $250,000 reward is being offered in the manhunt for an expert arsonist -- that's what authorities are calling this person -- who knew that just a few sparks in the right place could trigger a catastrophe.
John.
ROBERTS: They have been going non-stop for five days now and thousands of fatigued firefighters can't even blink, fighting flames just inches away from them. This is what close to 800 crew members were up again near a mountain resort in Running Springs where the Slide Fire has blackened close to 12,000 acres.
A breathtaking mansion burned to the ground. Check out the before and after pictures here. This house was hosed down by firefighters in Poway, California, just north of San Diego, on Monday but it was too late. All that remains now are just a few black pillars.
And raw emotion as a family finds out that there is nothing left. This is where their home once stood in Rancho Bernardo. It was one of the hardest hit towns by the regions largest wildfire. Officials estimate that at least 280 homes like theirs were obliterated. There's now a one-stop assistant center for those who want to rebuild in the area. Federal, state, county and city agencies will all have represents at the center offering financial assistance and eliminating the need to go place to place for permits.
There's now a quarter of a million-dollar reward in the hunt for an arsonist who started the 25,000-acre Santiago Fire in Orange County. It has destroyed close to a dozen homes, forced thousands of people from theirs and sent 1,000 firefighters into danger. There have already been five arson-related arrests in three different counties. Our Keith Oppenheim has late-breaking details for us live in Orange County.
Keith, they think that the fire was started in two or three separate spots, right?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Two spots, John, that's right. The ATF, the FBI, and local authorities are working together and they've determined that on Sunday night this massive fire was started in two, remote locations by someone or some people that they described as folks who really knew what they were doing.
And keep in mind, the resources on this fire are huge. You have 1,000 firefighters right now that are trying to protect more than 3,000 homes. Chip Prather of the Orange County Fire Authority said that this fire not only caused a lot of damage, but it's drained a great deal of resources.
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CHIEF CHIP PRATHER, ORANGE COUNTY FIRE AUTHORITY: I wonder, frankly, if we didn't have this fire here, this arson-caused fire here, how many of our resources might have been available to respond to other parts of the state and how many people might be alive today had our firefighters fighting fire here been able to be in San Diego.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OPPENHEIM: There's a whopping reward, John, of $250,000. That money came in part from the governor's office, from ATF and FBI and $100,000 came in yesterday from KFI, a California radio station. They are asking folks to call and arson tip line and here is the number, 1- 800-540-8282. And our sources are telling us they got a couple of hundred calls yesterday, John, but no suspects at this point.
Back to you.
ROBERTS: Well, Keith, what are police thinking? Do they think it will be difficult to catch this arsonist? They say it looks like it's a person who knew what they were doing. Might that narrow the list of suspects?
OPPENHEIM: They're pretty honest about that because it's very difficult to catch a suspect in a case like this. But they say that the money can really make a difference. Simply put, they say, somebody knows someone. And if they can find someone who's willing to give information about someone that they know was involved with this, they think that is the key. They need help from the public.
ROBERTS: Well see what they can get.
Keith Oppenheim for us this morning in Orange County, California. Keith, thanks.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Some other news this morning. A New York City school student has died and doctors say they think it was the staph infection, the superbug MRSA, that's to blame. Alina Cho is following the late details and she joins us now with more details.
Hi, Alina.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran, good morning. Yes, this latest victim we're learning went to school in Brooklyn, New York. His identity hasn't been officially released, but we're learning his name is Omar Rivera, a 12-year-old seventh grader. And it is believed he died after contracting the dangerous drug resistant staff infection known as the Superbug or MRSA.
Now a classmate recently talked about the day he noticed something was wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was at lunch and he had told me something about something that was on his leg. And he had like a whole bunch of stuff on his back. So then I didn't know what to do. So I just sent him to the nurse and from that I never saw him again.
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CHO: Now all indications are the New York School where it happened will remain open today. That's because health officials say they have no reason to believe other students are at risk. Now this so-called superbug has been around for years but recently gained national attention after a 17-year-old Virginia student died earlier this month. Now, since then, other cases have been reported across the nation, including a five-year-old girl in Tennessee, who this morning remains in critical condition.
Now the staph infection, historically common in places like jails, gyms and hospitals, is transmitted mainly through contact with human hands. It's now popping up in schools and that is so worrisome to parents. Cleanliness really is the key to prevention. The best way to avoid getting the superbug, wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water or a hand sanitizer. If not, that bacteria can spread and spread fast. Cover cuts and scrapes and avoid contact with other people's bandages. And avoid sharing towels, razors and other personal items.
Now as for why this is getting so much attention now, health officials say they're not exactly sure whether there are more cases now or whether recent news reports have simply increased awareness about it. But one interesting and troubling statistic is that even though reports say health officials say that deadly staph infections in children are rare, the superbug, Kiran, may actually account for more deaths in the U.S. each year than HIV/AIDS. And right now we should mention that a bill is making its way through Congress to provide federal funding to schools to help fight it. It has passed the Senate. But, Kiran, according to Democrats, it could face a presidential veto.
CHETRY: All right, Alina, we're going to have a little bit more on this situation. You know, they talk about federal funding and all that. And then when you ask, well what can you really do to stop it? Wash your hands and keep, you know, these facilities clean, you think those would be no-brainers.
CHO: That's right. Well, you're absolutely right. I mean, listen, this bill that Senator Schumer from New York, the senior senator, introduced would provide $5 million of funding to help schools fight this. But what can be done? Perhaps this will be simply about increasing awareness, which is what we're trying to do this morning.
CHETRY: Alina, good stuff. Thanks a lot.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: The House passed a new version of the Children's Health Insurance Bill, but not by enough votes to stand up to a veto. The new bill still adds $35 billion to the Children's Health Insurance Program. It does not cover adults without children, though, illegal immigrants or kids and families earning more than three times the poverty level. The bill is expected to be passed by the Senate, but likely vetoed by President Bush who say his concerns still have not been met.
Republican candidates John McCain and Mike Huckabee are talking health care on the campaign trail, telling seniors in Iowa that the health care system is broken. They differ, though, on how to fix it, but agree that the Democrats' universal plan is not the right one for the country.
He's calling it the mother of all tax reforms. New York Representative Charles Rangel unveiled a bill that would, among other things, cut the corporate tax rate to 30.5 percent from 35 percent and a surtax for people making $200,000 or more, repeal the alternative minimum tax and boost income credits for the working poor. Republicans, though, say, it's not the mother of all tax reform, it's the mother of all tax hikes.
Some 1 million Bumbo babysitter seats are being recalled today after several reports of infants falling out of them and suffering head injuries and even scull fractures. The seats are being pulled from the shelves at Target, Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart and other retailers. The company, Bumbo International, is issuing labels warning parents not to put babies into the seats on tables or other elevated surfaces.
Another recall of more contaminated toys made in China. Fisher Price is recalling 38,000 Go Diego Go animal rescue boats because surface paint on them has high levels of lead. The Consumer Products Safety Commission is also recalling more than 600,000 other Chinese- made toys because of lead. They include Shrek 3 and "Spider-Man 3" flashing rings.
It's the biggest construction job ever by a single team in space and it's happening this morning. The shuttle Discovery astronaut will install a high-tech hallway that will connect three laboratories inside the International Space Station. Yesterday's docking was the first in which women were in charge of both operations at the same time. Discovery is commanded by Pamela Melroy and the Space Station lead by Peggy Whitson.
The Red Sox head to Colorado. With a two zip World Series lead, Boston held on for a tight 2-1 win last night at Fenway. With Curt Schilling solid and the bull pen even better, Coors Field will host its first ever fall classic (ph) game tomorrow night. And the Rockies try to dig themselves out of the hole.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for some other stories new this morning. Oil trading at another all-time high. Ali Velshi is at the business update desk with more on what it means to you.
I knew I was going to see that barrel this morning, Ali. $90 bucks a barrel?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Doesn't feel like a new story, does it, Kiran? It feels like we've been down this road before, except the number on my trusty barrel keeps changing.
Now here is another interesting story. $90.46 is where oil settled in New York yesterday. But the story got a lot better after that. In after hours trading -- first of all, that up $3.36. But in after hours trading, up again to $92.22. We have never seen numbers like this.
Now it is probably about two-thirds of this price of oil is supply and demand. Another 30 percent is all this speculation. So when we get new renewed tensions in the Middle East in this particular case or a pipeline issue in Nigeria, this is what sends this oil up.
It's mostly a trading concern and most people who are in the oil business don't think this is going to go on for a long time. Except for you, it doesn't really matter, because if you heat your house with oil, this is hitting you right now. Heating oil prices are going higher.
Take a look at what gas prices are doing across the country. The national average for a gallons of self-serve gasoline, $2.82. It continues to trickle up and most people say it will yet go higher. We'll keep an eye on this and what it means to you and your pocketbook as we go through the show. But for now, we are looking at a new record price for oil. It's higher than this, $92.22 right now.
CHETRY: All right. Thanks a lot, Ali.
Rob Marciano at our weather update desk. He's keeping an eye still on the California winds.
Good morning, Rob.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: It's coming up to 12 minutes after the hour.
It's Hillary Clinton's 60th birthday today and last night stars and supporters turned out to celebrate the senator and Democratic presidential candidate. Singer Elvis Costello brought the New York crowd to its feet. Also on hand, comedian Billy Crystal and, of course, Bill Clinton. Senator Clinton thanks supporters and said she was humbled at the prospect of becoming the nation's first female president. The party also raised $1 million for Hillary's campaign.
Rudy responds. Reaction from the campaign trail a day after revelations that he may have once been marked by the mob.
And prosecuting an arsonist. What type of penalty awaits the person behind a deadly wildfire? Our own legal contributor, Sunny Hostin, has helped put arsonists behind bars and gives us some insight. That's ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Some of the most compelling shots from the fire line now in your "Quick Hits." Choppers and planes try to drown the flames from above near the Magic Mountain Amusement Park. It's called the Magic Fire. Some of the largest air tankers were able to drop more than 7,000 gallons every 15 minutes.
Here's another shot of the sky turning orange as flames came over the mountains. This was in Irvine, California. I-Reporter Tyson Paul (ph) took this from a nearby highway as fire began to overtake the area. That was on Wednesday. They have made some significant progress in containing these blazes since then.
And also devastation along the border. These picture taken by a border patrol agent's wife as her husband tried to secure a house and a ranch. You saw a skeleton of a burned out RV. It remains on the side of the road. A trailer park, as well, completely wiped out.
ROBERTS: Sixteen minutes now after the hour.
The search is on and the reward is rising for the person who set the Santiago Fire in Orange County, California. AMERICAN MORNING's legal contributor, Sunny Hostin, has put arsonists behind bars before in her role as a prosecutor. She joins us now with our legal brief.
So we've got some charges of arson out there now. How many, who, what charges to they face?
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There have been five arrests so far in this case. It's just fascinating. And we're seeing all sorts of charges, felony arson, we're seeing arson during a state of emergency. So these are people that set fires after the state of emergency was already in place. We're seeing possession of flammable materials. It really runs the gamut, but at least we know that there are five copycat arsonists, in my view. I don't think that they're, you know, related to the Santiago Fire or the Rosa Fire, but certainly they are copycat arsonists. And what the state is saying is, if you commit arson in the state of California, we are going after you.
ROBERTS: Yes, Governor Schwarzenegger has promised that these people will be dealt with harshly. What are the penalties (INAUDIBLE) the person?
HOSTIN: When you commit arson during a state of emergency, the jail time increases. So you usually get two to five years. Now we're looking at five to seven. Multiple counts. It could be life in prison depending on how many counts you're charged with.
ROBERTS: You know, another possible remedy would be to just, you know, let the homeowners who lost their homes deal with them. There was one guy who was suggesting yesterday, he'd like 15 minutes alone with the arsonist.
HOSTIN: I would imagine so.
ROBERTS: It's easy to identify arson. Fire investigators are very adept at doing that. But when it comes to prosecuting the case in a court of law, particularly when you're dealing with a wildfire here, is it difficult to prosecute that case because a lot of the evidence would have been lost?
HOSTIN: It is very, very difficult. As you mentioned earlier, I've prosecuted a lot of these cases and the difficult thing is, it really is about the arson science. How did it start? Were there multiple points of origin, which is indicative of someone setting the fire. You have to show that someone actually intentionally set it.
And what's interesting is a lot of juries, although you don't have to prove motive, want to know, how did this happen? Why did someone do it? And usually you see juveniles, drunk, setting fires. Sometimes you see revenge arsonists. But, you know, domestic violence. I'm upset that my girlfriend left me, I'm going to set the whole place on fire. But in this sort of arson, it's going to be difficult to prove what happened. What would someone set a forest fire?
ROBERTS: Right.
Now what about other charges too, if people died in the fire or resources were diverted from another fire to fight the one that was started by an arsonist. Would they be liable for those charges as well, murder and, I think, (INAUDIBLE) charges?
HOSTIN: Murder, absolutely. If you set an entire building on fire and 10 people die, you're responsible for their deaths. If you set a building on fire and the fireman have to go to that building and there's another fire across the street and firemen can't get to that one, you're not responsible for the fire across the street. You really have to be found responsible for what you did, your actions.
ROBERTS: Interesting. And as we said, the reward money up now to $250,000. And there's also an arson tip line that we'll give you throughout the morning.
Sunny Hostin, thanks very much for sharing your expertise on that.
HOSTIN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Good to see you.
Kiran.
CHETRY: The commander of the Navy's flagship nuclear submarine is out of a job. An investigation found the crew of the nuclear power sub USS Hampton did not do safety checks on its reactor for more than a month and then lied to cover it up. Commander Michael Portland was removed from his post. The Hampton is the most advanced nuclear attack sub in the world.
And military commanders are asking the Pentagon to speed up production of a futuristic weapon. It's a ray gun that shoots beams of energy that feel extremely hot but do not kill or seriously injure the person it hits. The Active Denial System, as it's called, would be used to disperse unruly crowds without using bullets. Troops in Iraq want to start using it, but engineers say that they're still making tweaks to the gun.
A sketch of the man Madeleine McCann's parents say kidnapped their four-year-old daughter is providing a little bit more questions than answers today. We have some new developments and also a new plea from the family ahead.
And what do you say the day after you find out the mob wanted you dead? We're going to hear how Rudy Giuliani reacted next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Coming up to 25 minutes after the hour.
Another actor from the television series "Lost" is busted for drunk driving. Your "Quick Hits" now. Daniel Dae Kim was arrested in Honolulu yesterday. He plays Jin-Soo Kwon on the show. Former co- stars Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Watros both pled guilty to DUIs also in Hawaii.
A very surprising ending to a police chase in Tennessee. The dash cam video tells the story here, shows what happened. The driver, a 12-year-old boy. His passenger, his six-year-old brother. The chase began after the car blew a stop sign. The chase at times reached speeds of 70 miles an hour.
CHETRY: Well, that's enough to get you stressed out as a parent.
ROBERTS: I'll tell you.
CHETRY: Apparently more and more people are stressed. The problem is getting worse, they say -- stress.
ROBERTS: You think?
CHETRY: Yes, because according to a new study, almost 50 percent of Americans say they're more stressed out than they were five years ago. Half of them losing sleep over it, lying awake at night because of stress. And they also say, unfortunately, it's leading to problems at home. More people are likely to drink, abuse alcohol or smoke because they're stressed out. ROBERTS: Interesting.
CHETRY: So that brings us to our question today, what keeps you awake at night? Your job, your money, your family and kids or your health. Pick one of those four and cast your vote, cnn.com/am. We're going to have a tally of the first votes coming up in the half hour.
ROBERTS: A look now at a story coming up in our next half hour that you can't miss here.
CHETRY: Yes, some new information out in court about New York City's five mob families plotting to possibly put out a hit on Rudy Giuliani back in 1986 when he was a federal prosecutor. Apparently it came down to a 3-2 vote. Rudy Giuliani squeaking by, deciding against that hit.
ROBERTS: Didn't get voted off the island.
We'll bring you the response from the Giuliani campaign and Giuliani, now running for president. Does it increase his street cred as well? That story and today's headlines when AMERICAN MORNING returns.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING on this Friday, October 26th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts.
A warning about shoe bombs knew this morning. Homeland Security warning state and local law enforcement about modified footwear used to conceal and smuggle bomb compartments. Detonators hidden in shoes were found on board a bus in Europe last month. You'll recall that three months after 9/11 Richard Reid was arrested after trying to blow up a transatlantic flight with a bomb in his shoe.
The Bush administration says it's trying to prevent a war with Iran, not start one. It announced new sanctions against Iran aimed at getting it to stop its nuclear program. Iran says the new sanctions are "doomed to fail." Oil traders are saying today that the United States is not likely to attack Iran's nuclear facilities because that would cause pandemonium on the oil market. The price of oil already over $90 a barrel this morning.
Secretary of the State Condoleezza Rice says corruption is a major problem in the Iraqi government. She was pressed by House Committee specifics on what she's doing about it.
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HENRY WAXMAN, CHAIRMAN HOUSE OVERSIGHT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM COMMITTEE: Let me just ask you this question again. Do you know where prime minister obstructed, Maliki obstructed a corruption investigation involving his cousin to transportation? CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: Mr. Chairman, we investigate allegations of this kind because we, more than anyone, are concerned about corruption in Iraq, and certainly would be concerned with an allegation of this kind but I can't comment on this specific allegation. I don't want to do so without reviewing precisely what you're talking about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Republicans rose to the secretary's defense saying that the hearing was merely a political attack on the war in Iraq.
CHETRY: The latest now on the California wildfires. The number of people killed grew to seven last night. And investigators are offering more money for information on an arsonist they believe is behind one of the fires. A $250,000 now for information leading to the arrest of suspects behind a fire that they says was intentionally set. The Santiago Fire that's burning in East Orange County. Two small fires were reportedly set along a rural road. Winds quickly fanned the flames. There have been five arson arrests in three separate counties so far.
The fight continues against the Harris Fire meanwhile. It's burning near Barrett, Lake, California. Firefighters there are trying to keep the fire line from advancing. They are using helicopters dropping fire retardant chemicals.
And the California wildfires are leveling entire communities leaving homeowners with nothing. What the fires don't take the insurance companies just might. A bad and costly situation for home owners may have just gotten much worse. AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is live with that. He is in Escondido. It's on the western edge of the Witch Fire. That was the largest one burning in San Diego Country. First of all, Chris, when are people even going to be allowed back to see what's left where you were?
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, this neighborhood later today, they'll get a chance for the first time to come back into the neighborhood for the first time since they were evacuated the beginning of the week/. And boy just take a look at what they're going to see, just completely devastating, some of the homes, and take a look if you can look behind me, see this is the reason why it hasn't been even remotely safe enough for them to come back yet.
These firefighters are still dousing the house next door. There were hot spots flaring up there this morning. So, they're still putting water on that house trying to keep some of the sparks from igniting again. When these people do come back, eventually they're going to have to try to get their fire insurance and right now, a California state senator is calling on the insurance commissioner here to enact emergency regulations that would ensure homeowners like these are not prevented from getting or renewing their insurance policies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: At least 5,000 insurance claims have already been submitted in Southern California, and the fires are still burning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got the whole block on.
LAWRENCE: Families coming back to these neighborhoods could be in for a second shock from their insurer. If recent fires are any indication, some of their premiums will double when the home is rebuilt, insurers are ordering homeowners to clear brush, cut down trees, even install fire-proof roofs. The improvement can cost up to $20,000 with no guarantee their policies won't be canceled.
SHARMILA BHUSHAN, HOMEOWNER: Right behind our house, we have cleared everything. I even put some irrigation and plants.
LAWRENCE: Even with sprinklers and other safety features, (INAUDIBLE) says she has been threatened with cancellation and charged exorbitant rates for her home at the bottom of a hill.
BHUSHAN: Basically they just don't want to take any risk and that's what insurance is for, to manage your risk.
LAWRENCE: Managing that risk can be profitable. State farm and all-state each made $5 billion in profit last year.
DOUGLAS HELLER, CONSUMER RIGHTS ADVOCATE: The insurance industry is looking at American consumers sort of like they look at a casino. We just hit three blackjacks in a row. Let's take our chips off the table and leave.
LAWRENCE: Consumer advocate Doug Heller says the company's message is clear.
HELLER: We're going to force you to spend more money to comply with our new fangled policy rules and if you don't spend that money, we're dropping you.
LAWRENCE: All-state has stopped accepting new clients anywhere in California. The company says costs have skyrocketed and all-state has to ensure it's got enough money to help nearly 1 million Californians who already have an all-state policy. Insurers are asking, how can we keep rebuilding entire neighborhoods when firefighters tell us they will eventually burn.
CANDYSSE MILLER, INSURANCE INFORMATION NETWORK: He looked at the Scripps Ranch and said I fought that same fire 20 years ago and there's another firefighter who is going to fight it probably 20 years from now. So it really begs the question, are we building in safe areas?
LAWRENCE: Sharmila Bhushan says her home at Scripps Ranch is safe. Sure but that same property look like after the fires four years ago and aren't so sure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Some of these consumers are accusing the insurance companies of cherry picking the least risky homes. The companies are saying, well, look at auto insurance, who pays more, the risky drivers who accumulate tickets and speed, the same thing with homes, they want to make that equitable for the risky areas. The problem here? Out of California's 12 million homes, half, half of those 12 million homes are in high risk areas.
Kiran?
CHETRY: And you're talking about high risk areas for fires, not even for earthquakes and other natural occurrences in California as well. But is this, are these tighter standards for insuring homeowners limited just to that state or is this something we're seeing nationwide?
LAWRENCE: No, you're seeing it all over the West Coast, in any of these areas that could be hit by wildfires. The state of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, all of these western states, the insurance companies are sending inspectors out to these homes and requiring and mandating these changes be made before some of these policies would be renewed or given out for first time.
CHETRY: Chris Lawrence live for us in Escondido this morning, thank you.
ROBERTS: And from California now, to a little more than a 100 miles into outer space. Here's a look this morning at the first of five planned spacewalks that NASA will undertake. Actually, you're looking at control center right there, but astronauts have embarked from the space station on a six and a half hour spacewalk. As we said, the first of five record tying number of spacewalks that will occur over the next few days.
CHETRY: Yes, this is a (INAUDIBLE) were what we're going to be doing is it's all part of this installation of these new live-in compartment that's going to be on the space station called Harmony. And they have to use this robotic arm to transfer this live-in compartment harmony from "Discovery's" payload bay to its position on the orbiting space station. So this is again, tedious work, six and a half hours just for this first one and they're going to be doing more.
ROBERTS: Yes, this is going to serve as a docking module for, made in Italy. It serves as a docking module for the Japanese and the European modules that are going to go together into this whole space station thing so big construction project out there in space. They say it's the most challenging one that they've undertaken. So, we'll keep checking in on that throughout the morning and see how it's going. Pictures right now, not as good as we thought they were but when they get better, will bring them to you.
In the meantime, Rudy Giuliani is responding to testimony that he was once almost marked for a Mob hit. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I remember two, three times when the FBI was seriously concerned about what they describe as contracts. I remember the first one getting resolved. The one that just came up, I don't remember. But, there was more than one, but the FBI always did a really good job in getting them resolve and I always felt it was my obligation to kind of put that out of my mind and just do my job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The plot was revealed during a trial of an ex FBI agent in New York City. According to testimony, the bosses of all five New York crime families voted 3-2 against to hit on Giuliani back in 1986, who was then a federal prosecutor and endowed at the heads of five families in New York City. That same year Giuliani indicated the endowed the Donees (ph) and the so called commission trial. He said it was because he wanted to wipe out the five families. Looks like somebody might have wanted to wipe him out.
CHETRY: That's right. A little bit ironic there. One of the five bosses he ended up putting them away for more than 100 years and so he was one of voted yes on the hit. Rudy Giuliani so calm about it, though. He said, what did he say? They resolved the issue? Or the FBI resolved it? All right.
Well, the man who took Madeleine McCann away, there is a picture or a sketch rather. Is this the suspect? Well this is a sketch that her parents have released. They say it's the man that did it. We're going to have much more on exactly what they hope to gain. Investigators, by this sketch, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Here is some incredible shots in our "Quick Hits" now. This is a plane going nose first into the jungles of the Philippines. Official say, that the airbus a-320 overshot the runway. It came to stop at a banana and coconut grove. That crash caused some bad damage. 19 people were hurt.
Waiting through high water in Brazil, relentless rain triggered severe flooding forcing thousands of people out of their homes.
And it's been part of the White House since the 1800s but now a huge tree came crashing down. It was during a severe thunderstorm yesterday in Washington. A secret service agent is seen in the picture checking out some of the damage. It nearly took out a nearby guard post.
42 minutes past the hour now. Rob Marciano keeping a check on weather for us this morning. Hey, Rob.
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ROBERTS: 44 minutes after the hour now. An artist sketch may show the person who took Madeleine McCann. The parents of the missing 4-year-old British girl released a sketch of a person they believe abducted their daughter in May from a hotel room in Portugal. Based on the family friend's description of someone spotted after the girl disappear. The face is blurred because the person wasn't sure of details.
A new children's health care bill goes to the senate now, that tops your "Political Ticker" this Friday morning. The house vote was short of the margin to override another veto by President Bush. The new measure tightens restrictions on illegal immigrants receiving benefits and caps income levels for qualifying families.
New York state representative Charles Rangel unveiled a new tax bill that would among other things cut the corporate tax rate to 30.5percent from 35 and surtax for people making $200,000 or more. Repeal the alternative minimum tax and boost income credits for the working poor. Republicans are calling it a huge tax hike. Congressman Rangel will join us in the studio in our 8:00 eastern hour to tell us more about it.
Your city and state cannot tax you for Internet access. Late last night, the senate extended the ban on Internet taxation by seven years. It was set to expire next week. The house only wants the ban to last for four more years. They have to reach a compromise before the measure goes to President Bush.
Hillary Clinton celebrated her 60th birthday last night with a star-studded fund-raising that raised $1.5 million for her campaign. Among the attendees, Billy Crystal, Elvis Costello, and the rock group, The Wallflowers. It was the second major birthday fund raiser for Clinton's campaign this week. Movie director, Rob Reiner threw a party for her on in his Los Angeles on Sunday night.
Find all the day's political news round the clock at cnn.com/ticker.
CHETRY: Well, blame it on the kids. Your "Quick Hits" now. A school bus driver in Bradenton Florida said she didn't deserve to be fired for failing a marijuana test. The driver claims that she never smoked pot, she just unknowingly inhaled the fumes that the kids on her bus were smoking. She's still not appealing the firing. The driver said it would be too expensive to hire a lawyer.
And talk about a surprise of Wisconsin farmer just discovered a huge crop of marijuana growing on his farm. A group of drug dealers planted it on the back of his property. They even camped out there without him knowing about it. Police removed the drugs about $3 million worth street value.
That's an high tech of an unfolding disaster. You'll see some incredible images of the California wildfires. We're going to show you how you can find them online. We're joined by our Internet correspondent Veronica De La Cruz straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: 49 minutes past the hour. And if you're just joining us here's a look at what's making headline this morning. The Southern California wildfires have now killed at least seven people. There's also a $250,000 reward being offered for an expert arsonist, suspected of setting the Santiago Fire in Orange County. Also, there's a shot of Qualcomm Stadium that's been home for many evacuees since Monday. They're now closing it as a shelter. They're going to be moving the last few hundred evacuees to a nearby fairground and then, they will be moved on to more permanent housing.
A New York City middle school student has died from a drug resistant Staph infection MRSA or the super bug. New York City health officials confirmed the death of 12-year-old Omar Rivera. There are other MRSA outbreaks on Long Island as well as Illinois.
An FBI bulletin warns terrorists are still working to hide explosives in shoes. The new alert follows the discovery of bomb detonators hidden in shoes on board a bus in Europe last month.
And Shuttle Astronauts are outside of the space station right now. There is a live look. We're going to be attaching a new piece it's going to be a little living compartment there. A high tech hallway. It's connecting three space labs.
And the Boston Red Sox have a 2-0 lead in the World Series. They're half way home to the title, beating Colorado 2-1 in a pitcher's duel last night in Boston. The Series now moves to Denver where the Coors Field will host its first ever World Series game tomorrow night.
ROBERTS: Boy, clip the wings of the Rockies or what?
The wildfires in Southern California still threaten thousands of homes this morning. Our Internet correspondent, Veronica De La Cruz, has been watching the fires online. She joins us this morning with more on what she's found. Good morning, Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, John. You're right, 25,000 homes still in danger. More than 489,000 acres have burned. And when you take a look from high above you, you really see the scope of these fires. I've been watching the fires using a couple of different maps online. Let's take a look now at a live satellite image from NOAA or The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. That is the nasa.gov website. We want to get you to NOAA and once we're there, we want to show you a map. That's it, that's from NOAA and you can really see the fire is still burning and smoldering. This is a live satellite once again and you see the smoke drifting over the Pacific Ocean. Once again, this is a live image found at noaa.gov. Now, let's get you back to NASA for a little more perspective on just how massive these fires are.
A NASA Terra and Aqua satellite have been busy recording the breadth and speed the fires have been burning and they also have this unmanned drone that's been assisting firefighters by capturing the image that you're looking at here. The map shows you the area between Los Angeles and San Diego and the way a firefighter would use this, is the white there represents an active fire burning at temperatures up to 1,200 degrees and the red dots right here, that represents embers burning 300 to 600 degrees. The green that you see is untouched forest. The dark areas represent the areas that have been burned out so you see quite a vast scope there and then even from that high up in the air, you still see the vast plumes of smoke heading out over the ocean.
And there's also some great video online, pretty amazing video, taken from the International Space Station. You can log on again to nasa.gov. And, John, you know, what happen here is that the U.S. Force Service wasn't really able to send planes up into the air, so they were relying on NASA and this unmanned drone.
ROBERTS: Yes, I mean, definitely, they've got so many assets there that they could take a look at these fires within. It's just remarkable to see that real time satellite imagery of how much smoke is pouring out over the ocean. That's an amazing stuff. Veronica, thanks, we'll see you again soon.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Wal-Mart is not messing around when it comes to kicking off at holiday shopping season. Black Friday, the day after thanksgiving, Wal-Mart threatening lawsuits against websites that leak the sale prices before Black Friday of Wal-Mart's upcoming specials. Of course, Black Friday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Wal-Mart has sent letters to at least three sites that have posted early prices in the past.
Wildfires are keeping the mail from getting around in Southern California. Ali Velshi is going to be letting us know when it may get back to normal. He's "Minding Your Business" ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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CHETRY: Well, if you're feeling stressed out this morning, you're not alone and apparently the problem is getting worse.
ROBERTS: Yes. According to a new study, almost 50 percent of Americans saying they are more stressed out now than they were just five years ago and almost half of you are losing sleep because of it, lying awake at night due to stress. Also leading us to fight with our family, drink more or smoke.
CHETRY: That's right. So we want to know what you think. What keeps you awake at night? Is it your job? If you had to pick one, your money, your family and kids or your health? Cast your vote at cnn.com/am.
ROBERTS: Yes, so, take a look at the results we've gotten so far. It looks like it's your money that's keeping people awake at night. 51 percent of you wake up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night worried about money, your job 33 percent, your health 7, that's last and family and kids 9 percent. So it's mostly money and your job.
CHETRY: How about that. So, maybe Ali is here with good some news. To ease your worries.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's why I'm here to help. I will come and help you out with your money concerns. Although, right now, I want to just talk a little bit about the fires. One of the things as some people get to return to their homes and of course, some people are not returning to anything that is a home. So, as you try and get on with your life, one of the issues that you have to think about are the basic things like your mail.
The U.S. Postal Service says that many stations in and around San Diego are not operating and our mail is being rerouted. They're saying billions of pieces of mail are being rerouted to other stations and they'll be some substantial delay in getting people their mail. FedEx says about 90 percent of its operations in the area are working and they expect within a few days, for everything else to be working.
The Red Cross has put out a call to American businesses to not only donate money but to provide some material help. The Red Cross says, it needs is shipping and trucking and logistics sort of operations, access to gasoline and oil, and space to set up disaster relief centers. So, we've seen a number of major companies, Home Depot is donating, Warehouse Space, MasterCard is giving free fuel cards, Verizon and (INAUDIBLE) offering phone services and batteries for cell phones and Wells Fargo is offering emergency loans and their offering services to people who are having problems with their mortgage as a result of this sort of situation.
We're going to this weekend, by the way, on "Your Money". We're going to be talking about insurance, what you are supposed to do when disaster strikes. Who should your first phone call be to. Because, it's going to affect you anywhere in the country and, by the way, how much insurance should you actually have? So that will be On "Your Money" Saturday at 1:00 and Sunday at 3:00.
CHETRY: Sounds good.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to.
CHETRY: You know, John and I were out there. We got back in last night. But at the Qualcomm Stadium which was a temporary (INAUDIBLE), they already had a bunch of insurance companies. We saw Farmers', Allstate, State Farm, they were already there trying to get the ball rolling for people, and FEMA was there as well, where you could sign up for assistance right there.
ROBERTS: And when we were traveling through the hills looking at some of the destruction around Lake Hodges. I saw an interesting scene. A big house on the promontory overlooking Lake Hodges totally burned to the ground. There were no fewer than three people there, all dressed in fire suits with helmets and masks on, measuring the property. I assume the adjusters; they were there literally the day after.
VELSHI: That's right. And that's something that people should know a little bit about. Because, the first time when you have the disaster, one of the first things you do is encounter an adjuster. So at least, you should know what you should be talking to them about.
CHETRY: That's right and a couple -- one other thing I saw people doing, video taping as they were leaving some of the contents of their home, as well as the outside of their home.
VELSHI: Very smart move.
CHETRY: Very smart.
ROBERTS: That would be a quick shot.
VELSHI: We're going to be talking about all this on the weekend.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Ali. See you soon.
Next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now. Hot on the trail.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This person has done this before.
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ROBERTS: A rise in reward for the arsonist who touched off days of terror in California.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'd like to have 15 minutes with the guy alone.
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