Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Arson Investigation; Prostitution Sting
Aired October 27, 2007 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT, ORANGE, CALIFORNIA: CNN has learned that investigators are talking with several individuals in connection with this arson. But these are not yet people classified as persons of interest much yet as suspects in this case. The fire meanwhile continues to burn. Now, more than 28,000 acres have been scorched here. It's about 30 percent contained at this point in time the same as it's been the last couple days. But firefighters are more optimistic, in part because of this weather. It's quite calm, it is cool, high humidity, it's even and rained from time to time. But Fire officials note that conditions can change very fast, fires can change very fast. There's certainly no declaration of victory here over this fire, not yet. Melissa, back to you.
MELISSA LONG, HOST: Jeanne, let's go back to the investigation. I'm curious what they have find on the sites, that they know they are, in fact, started by arson and what clues they have to go with for their investigation.
MESERVE: Well, what we know is this, they believe there were two points of origin of this fire, rather than just one. And they've ruled out any number of things that might have been contributing factors for instance, there was no lightning strike or there was no power line downed. So, by a process of elimination, they come to the conclusion that this was deliberately set. Now, the ATF has had agents out there for several days, combing over these terrain, looking for specific pieces of evidence. They are not telling us exactly what they found, but they have sent samples to laboratories, a couple of different laboratories. I asked today one of the investigators if they had gotten samples back. They have not as yet. They're waiting for those to see if, perhaps, they find some trace of accelerant, perhaps. They also were hoping that maybe something on the side of the road might contain DNA like a Kleenex or a cigarette butt or a discarded can. But again, they have not gotten those results that could be so helpful in building this case. But the most important thing, investigators say, are the public tips. That is why they have a hotline over why they are asking the public to call if they have seen anything suspicious that might relate to this arson.
LONG: And again, while they're still searching today for that F- 150 Ford pickup. Jeanne Meserve live from Orange, California. Jeanne, thank you.
Now, there are still more woes from the wildfires. Several areas in the southern part of that state are plagued by utility failures. With more on this part of the story, let's bring in Kara Finnstrom. She is live in the town of Rancho Bernardo. Kara? KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT, RANCHO BERNARDO, CA.: Yes, so, good afternoon. Just behind me you can see the type of devastation. We're seeing in community after community here. Homes, cars, completely incinerated. Well, a little earlier today, we actually drove about 20 miles away from here to a remote town called Ramona. Now, hundreds of homes there like this behind that is behind me have been completely lost but this community also has additional challenges. There are large pockets without electricity and the entire community right now has no water. That's because some of the power lines leading up to the pump station were actually incinerated when that fire was burning. They are trying to get things back online right now. But you can imagine for the people who could move back home, they have no water to drink, they have no water to clean up the homes or to do laundry. So, they're trying to figure out how to put all these pieces back together. We actually went by one of the stations where water is being handed out. And they've set out makeshift showers and rest rooms for these people to use and we ran into one family of five who have three young children, no water and they've talked about how they're trying to put all this together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATTHEW MCPETRIE, RAMONA RESIDENT: They say don't bathe in the water; don't do dishes in the water. Don't use it to wash clothes, don't use it for anything. I'm kind of wondering what we can use it for or how long is it going to take?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FINNSTROM: Now, we also spoke with a water authority who said they are working again to get all the faucets working by the end of today. That means that you turn on your faucet the water runs out but does mean that you can actually use the water because they're also waiting on tests to come back that are being conducted by public health officials to make sure there's not harmful bacteria in that water. No word yet on how long that will take. So for now, these families are doing what they can, and using these stations, just to try to get by day by day. Back to you.
LONG: Kara, so again, no word yet on how long it will take to get the water back on line. The power, I heard people coughing in the background, so I'm curious about the air condition. Do we know how long it will take before people will be able to breathe again and not carry around those masks?
FINNSTROM: Well, the air does feel better to those of us who are walking around here than it did even two days ago or yesterday. But that air is still a problem for many people, especially people with respiratory problems. The McPetrie's - that's the family we just spoke with, that you just heard from, talking about the water shortage, their youngest daughter has some asthma problems. She had to go to the emergency room. And the doctor told her parents to plan for weeks of possible problems as the air continues to clear up and also gave her some medications to use. So, it could take one to two weeks is what we're hearing for this air to clear.
LONG: Kara Finnstrom live from the town of Rancho Bernardo. Kara, thank you.
Let's check in now with Hillary Andrews, she's in the weather center. Of course, it was last week at this time we were starting to see the Santa Ana winds kick up and that, of course, really fueled the fires of the first couple days of the firestorms in the southern part of California. How do they look today?
HILLARY ANDREWS, METEOROLOGIST, WEATHER CENTER: You know, we're seeing onshore winds. What onshore winds mean coming off the ocean. We're also getting an added benefit. We're seeing the remnants of tropical storm Kiko making its way in. So, you saw the clouds overhead of Karen, that's what's making its way in with a lot of moisture. It's probably make more sense when we take a look at the radar image. As we do take a look at the radar images, you can see Oceanside, California, some of the higher coastal peaks being to see just a little bit of rain, maybe some a little bit of mist coming down. We are seeing a little bit of an offshore wind as we take a look towards the south coast. Now, I'm talking about Santa Barbara County, Ventura County where we have 25 mile-per-hour winds blowing off shore. This is going to be short lived. Because take a look at the higher levels of the atmosphere doing, you're actually seeing rain showers making their way in. Bakersfield, Ridgecrest, all the way towards Fresno. Right now they're in a bad air alert. We're looking at air particulates just sitting there over those inland valley, so not great air quality inland, but all of this moisture really helping to gloom onto the air particulate matter so it begins to rain out. Now, I was talking about some of the offshore winds, we're seeing them in the Santa Barbara mountains, Santa Ines mountain. Well, we will see them continuing as we head early on into Sunday, but it's going to end there. As we head into late in the night on Sunday, we're going to see them taper off. More rain showers as you head towards Boston, New York, slowing down travel as high pressure moves in, we're looking to see a beautiful day, Atlanta and no hope for you, we're still seeing sunshine. So, the drought continuing. Back to you, Melissa.
LONG: All right, Hillary, thanks so much. Since the fire started, of course, last weekend, our I-reporters have taken capturing the news on the communities, in fact they taken it to an entirely new level. Videos, still photographs as well, they have recorded the immediacy and recorded the terror of confronting a fire and confronting it at home. CNN's Josh Levs, some more of your - I would push it again, a record number for us with this initiative.
JOSH LEVS: It eclipsed everything we've ever done. We had more than 2,000 by Wednesday alone and we're still getting them. People can still send them as you know at CNN.com. It's amazing what we're seeing. What I want to do now is to show you a clip of a montage that we have here. It's some powerful stuff. Let's take a look.
(VIDEO PLAYING)
LEVS: You know, we say that we like to take people to the scene of where the news is happening. I'll tell you, when you look at this, you are reminded that we're now giving you literally the perspective of the people who are inside it. It's a whole new era, and it's amazing stuff. And there's more of this you can see at CNN.com. These images are so powerful. And they're real. And you, Melissa, to some extent, they look like they're out of a movie. But this is what people were living. This was their life throughout the last week.
LONG: I had the opportunity to speak with a few of the I- reporters on CNN.com this last week. You know, we speak with them live as well and so many of them risked a lot as well. Please don't ever put your safety in compromise. Don't ever compromise that.
LEVS: Right. And we encourage to understand, we actually do a lot of interviews before we take this. We don't just take them. We make sure that people didn't take certain steps. We say to you over and over, do not put yourself in a dangerous situation. We look into this stuff. We're pretty investigative. We want to make sure no one is doing that for us. In the end, the people who did see this and snapped the pictures, they rock.
LONG: Some amazing pictures. And yes, we continue to accept them as well. And you'll find that icon from the main page of CNN.com, this is I-report.
LEV: Keep them coming, you got it.
LONG: Well, walking free at last. More than two years after his odyssey through the justice system started. The end of Genarlow Wilson ordeal, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: After two years behind bars for having consensual oral sex with another teenager, a former high school honor student has been released, and now, 21 years old, Genarlow Wilson wants to get back to the business of living his life and starting college. CNN's .Rusty Dornin was there when Genarlow Wilson walked out free of that Georgia prison.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Twenty-one-year- old Genarlow Wilson walked out of prison into the arms of his mother and nine-year-old sister. He was almost three years into a 10-year prison sentence that the Georgia Supreme Court decided was cruel and unusual punishment for his crime. That crime was having oral sex with a 15-year-old when he was 17. The ruling came on a four to three vote. Wilson's case made headlines around the world and after his a short reunion he walked straight to the microphones.
GENARLOW WILSON, FREED PRISONER: I want to say thank you very much. You know, it means a lot to me and my family that so many people came to our defense and, you know, stood up and fought for us.
DORNIN: A year after Wilson was convicted, his case spurred Georgia legislatures to change the law, make consensual sex between minors a misdemeanor. State officials have opposed releasing Wilson, fearing would trigger other appeals from other sex offenders in prison. Dave McDade, the district attorney said in a statement that he is disappointed - "While I respectfully may disagree with the court's decision, I also must respect their authority as the final arbiter in this case."
Wilson says he's been studying for college exams and hopes to study sociology. He also hopes people will learn from his experience.
WILSON: I don't want anybody to go through himself to the pain I suffered and, you know et cetera. But, yeah, you should be little more cautious about what you do because a few minutes of fun can be a lifetime, you know, and a very hard time getting out of.
DORNIN: His mother says she always believed that justice would be done.
JUANESSA BENNETT, GENARLOW WILSON'S MOTHER: I never gave up hope, you know, in the judicial system and I never gave up hope and all the prayers that went out for us.
DORNIN: Not bitter, Wilson says he's matured since he walked through the prison gates here two and a half years ago. A young man who says he's ready for a whole new life. Rusty Dornin, CNN, Forsyth, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: And he said ready to study sociology, so many people want to make sure that Genarlow Wilson's future plans go forward without a hitch. Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson is holding a fund raiser for Wilson at Ebenezer Baptist Church at Atlanta today. $5,000 is being raised for Wilson's college fund. African-American Georgia lawmakers are contributing to Wilson's education as well. They have raised $4,000 in scholarship funds. And Genarlow Wilson will share his story on CNN on Monday night, he will be a guest on CNN's OUT IN THE OPEN - with Rick Sanchez, that program begins at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.
Rapper T.I. whose real name is Clifford Harris, is no longer behind bars but he's legal troubles were far from over. Harris was released on $3 million bond yesterday. The rapper is accused of buying illegal machine guns and silencers earlier this month. Harris must remain under house arrest at his Atlanta-area home while awaiting trial. He is being monitored around the clock.
An average home, an average neighborhood, but police say there was some hanky panky going on. More on the bust of an alleged escort service coming up in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: A lot of traffic, people always stopping by -- residents of a Texas neighborhood thought - thought something was odd about one of their neighbors, but they did not expect what police are calling the biggest prostitution sting in San Antonio history. Jessie Degollado of our affiliate KSAT has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHIEF WILLIAM MCMANUS, SAN ANTONIO POLICE: I've suspect that there will be some nervous people.
JESSIE DEGOLLADO, KSAT, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (voice over): Among the computer records and financial data seized, the identities of hundreds of clients.
MCMANUS: Possibly many more than that.
DEGOLLADO: It's unknown yet whether the website's clients will be prosecuted. They have logged on from McAllen (ph) to New Jersey. Investigators alleged executive playmate was much more than escort service.
MCMANUS: When it turns illegal is when it turns into a prostitution operation, and that's what we believe we have here.
DEGOLLADO (on camera): SAPD also executed a search warrant at an apartment here on Horizon Hill, one of the alleged meeting places they say between clients and the prostitutes.
(voice over): They say this home was the dispatch center that arranged the meetings at other locations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's really weird. No, I thought it might be something else, you know, but not an escort service.
DEGOLLADO: Like it was with police and news media, neighbors say their tiny, secluded street was often flooded with vehicles.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said it was a temp service, one time when we complained about all the cars so people were just coming and picking up their paychecks.
DEGOLLADO: Unwilling to be shown, she says the male renter, who was not there, also told neighbors he had a lot of relatives. The raid tops a two-year investigation that could lead to federal and state indictments from prostitution to money laundering. Jessie Degollado, KSAT 12 NEWS.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Alright, let's keep you on top of some of the other stories making news across America today. New Hampshire authorities are trying to track down whoever shone a green laser light at the flying plane. The pilot of the United commuter plane reported seeing the beam after he took off from Manchester on Wednesday. According to the FBI, there's no indication so far the light was meant to be a threat.
Eight young brothers and sisters are in Texas foster homes after four of them tested positive for cocaine. Parents Pamela Nelson and Emmanuel Jones face felony child injury charges. They deny giving the kids cocaine or abusing them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ESTELLA OLGUIN, CHILDREN'S PROTECTIVE SERVICES: We think that the children just somehow must have gotten a hold of the parents' cocaine. Because the children who tested positive were two 11-month- old twins, a one and a half-year-old and a two and a half-year-old.
RANDY BURTON, FOUNDER, JUSTICE FOR CHILDREN: If they hadn't intervened when they did, I'm confident that within months we would have seen a dead child.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: A shocking crime in Missouri merits a death sentence, that's according to the jury. Lisa Montgomery was convicted this past week of kidnapping and killing a pregnant woman in 2004. Montgomery cut the baby from Bobbie Jo Stinnett's body and tried to pass it off as her own. The judge will consider the jury's recommendation when he sentences Montgomery.
Texas lawmen are investigating why incoming mail was apparently kept from inmates at a youth correctional facility. An employee recently found hundreds and hundreds of letters dating back to 2005. Authorities say they're not sure whether the mail was intentionally withheld or if it was just some kind of oversight.
Now, what is in a name? A lot if you're a well-respected safety organization like MADD, mothers against drunk driving. And that's why MADD is insisting a Phoenix based group is infringing on its name. CNN's Kathleen Koch has a story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN, WASHINGTON (voice over): It's called mothers against illegal aliens. Founder and Phoenix resident, Michelle Dallacroce said she's been using the name for two years when this letter arrived earlier this month form "Mothers against drunk driving", quote, "We request you discontinue the use of mothers against."
MICHELLE DALLACROCE, FOUNDER, MOTHER AGAINST ILLEGAL ALIENS: I was shocked. Then I did a search on Google and I saw there was a mothers against peeing standing up, and we have mothers against (INAUDIBLE) piling here in Phoenix as well as mothers against junk food.
KOCH: CNN found more than a dozen organizations that use the name mothers against. MADD CEO, Charles Hurley tells CNN that he has asked some groups in the past to change their names. He says he's not singling out Delacroce's organization, but they want to, quote, "Make sure that it is clear that this group has no connection to MADD." Delacroce maintains there's no confusion.
DELACROCE: This is their letterhead. This is my letterhead. Completely different. I mean, when they say there's confusion in the public, I mean, anyone that can read English knows the difference between drunk driving and an illegal alien group.
KOCH While the acronym MADD is trademark by the drunk-driving group the phrase mothers against is not. And MADD says right now it's not planning to sue. Still, one patent expert says the law does provide protection against non-direct uses that tarnish a well-known trademark.
KEVIN MCNEELY, PATENT ATTORNEY: So there are arguments that attempting to use a famous name like that would tend to blur their distinctive image.
KOCH: Delacroce in a letter MADD says, quote, "We have no intention of changing the name of our organization."
(on camera)L: In fact, Delacroce wants MADD to join her and do more to focus on the problem of illegal immigrants who drive drunk. Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Fakers at FEMA? That's Josh Levs with more coming up on this very odd story. Josh?
LEVS: They faked the news conference. They faked an actual news conference. They had two of their own employees pretend to be us, reporters, not you and me specifically, but in general. Asking questions with that give the answers too and pretended it was a main news conference. You're not going to believe this and today Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff kind of reamed them on that. Plus: The details on how this whole thing happened and the White House weighing in. You guy have got to see this. Mellisa?
LONG: I'm prepared to hearing more. And now, talk about tragedy upon tragedy, a man who just lost his wife loses the home they shared to the California wildfires.We will hear from him coming up on the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: We are coming up on the bottom of the hour. Let's get a quick update now on the investigation into those California wildfires. Authorities are tracking about 1700 leads in their search for a white Ford F-150 pickup. The truck was seen in Orange County near the source of the Santiago fire around the time the fires started last Sunday. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says at least two of the wildfires were started on purpose and two more are considered suspicious. And the danger isn't over. Fires in three counties still threaten about 23,000 homes and only two of the five major fires in San Diego County are more than 50 percentage contained. The fires, again, are out in some areas. Some residents are returning to their homes or what remains of their homes. And as the reality setting in they're finding out that their challenges are really just beginning. Let's head back now to rancho Bernardo in CNN's Reggie Aqui. Hi, Reggie.
REGGIE AQUI, CNN REPORTER, RANCHO BERNARDO: Hi, Melissa, you know, I just talked to the homeowner here, who's name is Tyrone. This was a two-story home. He'd been living here for four years. He's in the Navy and his job is to do logistics to the Navy. And I was telling him of well, it's sort of you're going to put your work skills to your life right now because there's so much to think about. First of all, there's the insurance. Are you covered for everything you thought you were covered for?
One thing he was telling me was here in California, because of the fires they've been through before, looks like he's going to get at least 12 months of a place to live rental-wise as of the time being. We hope that's going to be the same thing for his family and his next- door-neighbors, they are completely out of a home as well. That could be extend to 24 months and already people are trying to find places to live, rental places.
Of course, that's going to be a major challenge over the next few weeks as hundreds of people are trying to do the same thing. One of the councilmen in the area is joining me live. You live down the street. These are all your folks. And a lot of questions about what they do next when it comes to insurance. Where they supposed to go for FEMA help - that sort of thing. What are you telling them when they asked you these questions?
BRIAN MAIENSCHEIN, SAN DIEGO CITY COUNCIL: Well, absolutely, they've got a lot ahead of them after this terrible disaster that came through here. We've set up a disaster relief center where they can go. And they can get information from FEMA, we have the insurance company in vans in the parking lot. So, we've created a place where they can go and start rebuilding their lives.
AQUI: Like a one-stop shop place for federal assistance, local assistance, that sort of thing.
MAIENSCHEIN: Exactly. We've got everything there from FEMA down to the just Department of Motor Vehicles because they've lost their driver's license and they'll need to get that in terms of identification.
AQUI: What's your main concern right now for the folks who live here?
MAIENSCHEIN: There's a couple. One is you know, I'm concerned they're gone through this terrible, traumatic experience. You know, they're stressed and they're upset and they're sad. And so, there's the personal side to it. At the same time, you know, I want to help and make sure they can rebuild as quickly as possible.
AQUI: Was your house affected by any of these?
MAIENSCHEIN: It wasn't. It was not.
AQUI: So, you're one of the lucky ones here.
MAIENSCHEIN: I do. I feel like one of the lucky ones. We have so many families have been directly affected. And I tell you, on a community-wide basis, everybody feels like they've been affected in one way or the other.
AQUI: Thank you for joining us. You know, a lot of people in this neighborhood if they weren't affected, like Brian who isn't affected they're going out and they're volunteering, they're helping their neighbors clean up and try and find anything that might be salvageable inside of their homes.
One of the questions is what happens next week? Am I going to go back to work? Some of them are. Imagine trying to juggle your work life, family life, find a place to live. It just goes on and on and on. We understand Melissa's school is going to start on Monday. Perhaps that could be a good distraction for these kids to think about something else besides fire.
LONG: The ultimate juggling routine for so many of them. You know, you've been out there for a few days meeting so many families, some who have nothing to go back to. Have you met a single family that the family members say we're out of here? We're out of California.
AQUI: I've heard people say we're going to think about it. I heard people say we're going to take this kind of day by day. I'll tell you, Melissa, most of the people want to rebuild. They love it here. I can't blame them. This is a fantastic place to live. They have wonderful views of the valley below. The weather is so great. People have jobs here they're connected to. The kids love the schools they go to. They want to stay here. They want to make it work.
And they have an amazingly positive attitude. I can't believe what people have told me as far as their will to continue, their will to get out here and do what they can. So it's really pretty incredible. I want honestly haven't seen anything like it before.
LONG: And you are right, you know, California is a beautiful state. It seems home is not about the four walls around you, but home is about the community as well.
Reggie Aqui, live for us at Rancho Bernardo. Reggie, thanks so much.
Coming up later, we'll introduce you to one of the many volunteer groups helping their fellow Californians. An outbreak of generosity, just a few minutes away here in the "NEWSROOM."
Now, tragedy on top of heart break. It's hard to imagine what it feels like to lose everything you own. Imagine that happening just months after losing a loved one to cancer. That's what happened to Susheel Dharia. He joins me now from Rancho Bernardo, California.
SUSHEEL DHARIA, RANCHO BERNARDO RESIDENT: Hi, Melissa, how are you doing today?
LONG: I am well. I have to ask you, how are you doing today?
DHARIA: You know, life is a journey, and I had a few bad days, but it's been a beautiful experience for the last five days. I had the opportunity to see the support from the president of the United States, from the governor, from the community leaders and the neighbors. Today I had 17 of my friends, they came to see the house, help me just go through the rubble, and I was able to find my wife's ring and one part of her earring. It's all together. It's just been an amazing experience. I did have 15 bad minutes, but I survived. I made the wrong turn, went to the blocked road, came back. As I went up again, I had to go through the fire, but I'm just glad that I'm safe. And I look forward. It's a time to really rebuild.
LONG: You mention that you're safe, but I understand that you narrowly escaped the fires. You didn't get that call to evacuate?
DHARIA: Yeah, what happened was I think it was my error, actually. On my license number, I have a P.O. Box, and I had the P.O. Box address. And that zip code is different. And so because of that, I did not get the call. So I got up at 4: 50 with burning eyes and burning throat. I brushed my teeth. I said something is not right. I went back that way. That's where I was expecting the fire to come. And there was still clean. As I came back to the kitchen, slightly different way in the house, there was wall of fire about two houses had that. About three to four story-high fire there. So I just grabbed some pictures. I had to have one picture of my wife and kids. So I got that. I was lucky with that. And I came on this road and I went right since I had seen the fires on the left side. I knew that as I went up the hill, the road was blocked because of additional fires there. So I ended up turning back towards the fire, and there's a road before this. I had to make a right, and that's where the additional fires were. There were two fire trucks in front of each other fighting two fires on the left side of the road. And I pulled my car parallel to that. I had firefighters walking in front. It was really hard to see at that time. I was waiting after the firefighters went. There was amber falling on my van at that time. Then one of the firemen hit on my van saying, what are you waiting for? It's about time to move. And then I was, like, moving forward.
LONG: You were heading right out of there.
DHARIA: Those were the 15 bad minutes. And since then, I look at my insurance. It's been amazing. They already paid my entire settlement already. I could not believe it. They've been working with me for the last three days. I got the chance to talk with the president of America. I had more chills talking to him. He gave me three hugs and two kisses on my forehead. I could not believe it. It's been, like, the most amazing journey I have had after those 15 minutes. And I'm so glad the support in the community.
LONG: We are just about out of time right now, but I wouldn't want to cut you off right now. I just have to ask you. You have such optimism. Where does it come from?
DHARIA: Well, I think it was my wife. She was very optimistic. I'm walking in two weeks in San Diego. She's the one.
LONG: Thank you so much for joining us.
DHARIA: Thank you.
LONG: Talking about the loss of your wife, the loss of your home. Of course, your children are safe in graduate school. We're so glad you are safe and able to talk to us. DHARIA: Thank you so much.
LONG: Thank you and good luck to you.
In the midst of responding to the wildfires, FEMA is having to deal with a self-inflicted wound. If you haven't heard the story, Josh Levs will tell you quite about it. It is quite strange.
JOSH LEVS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: It's a good story, but not as good as that guy. Hugs and kisses from the president.
LONG: He's a dear man and so optimistic.
LEVS: I love that interview. That was fantastic. But anyway, yes, we're getting into crazy bureaucracy. They faked a news conference. They actually faked a news conference. Here's the deal. On Tuesday, FEMA announced it was having a news conference about assistance to the victims of the California wildfires. They announced it at the last second. Any press was on the phone on the listen-only line. FEMA had two employees pretend to be press in the room asking questions.
Today Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who oversees FEMA, said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: It was one of the dumbest and inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government. To be clear in Anglo-Saxon prose, it is not to be happening again. There will be discipline for those who participated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: The White House said it was inappropriate. To be fair, FEMA has apologized. They called it an error in judgment. A spokesman said what happened was because it was last minute and because no press showed up, they had two of their employees ask questions that some reporters had called in about. I looked at the transcript. They were really softball questions in general.
LONG: I bet journalism teacher will have a field day with that.
LEVS: For decades to come. They have to realize the scope of what they've done. It's a big deal.
LONG: And one of the dumbest things, he said.
LEVS: The idea that we would fake it for us and wouldn't get out, yeah.
LONG: You've been following the political fallout related to the fires. Where's the money, who's being honest? White House saying, oh, it's been there.
LEVS: In the middle of tragedy that happens a lot of the time, and you're hearing Democrats yell at each other over money and wildfire legislation. We want to make clear for you whether they have a point or if they're just blowing hot air.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): The fires were raging, the fears flying. People were looking for answers. All the combustible ingredients for a fresh political battle.
SEN. HARRY REID, (D), MAJORITY LEADER: We shouldn't have to fight with the president every time we have an appropriation bill to get money we know we're going to need. We've had these wildfires in the west now for a number of years, and we need more money.
LEVS: Senator Harry Reid said Democrats had to fight to put hundreds of millions of dollars into wildfire suppression, including efforts to clear out brush that fuels fires.
The White House shot back. Spokeswoman Dana Perino said "the efforts have been well funded." She cited the Healthy Forest Initiative after what she called years of Democratic opposition.
That initiative was designed to help increase logging which the White House said could clear out fuel for fires. Opposition environmental groups wanted controlled burning instead. Sierra says it's based on the false assumption that landscape-wide logging will decrease forest fires.
While that battle rages on, the White House says hundreds of millions of dollars are available for fire prevention. It takes time to carry it out.
Those overseeing efforts to combat the California fires are not pointing fingers at Democrats or the federal government. The opposite.
ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, (R), GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA: The president jumped into action right away, so we want to say thank you to the president for everything that he has done.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: So, unlike Katrina, what you're not seeing here is large number of people saying the government is to blame. That's a way this is different. Exact same scenario could happen again.
LONG: Back to that FEMA press release, that's going to be terrific fodder for the late night talk shows.
LEVS: If it only happened earlier last week, they would have been all over it.
LONG: Very interesting.
LEVS: If FEMA is smart, they'll join in on the comedy.
LONG: Exactly. Thanks, Josh.
A smiling seventh grader, now one of the latest victims of the so-called staph super bug. How did he get it? And was his school slow in getting the word out? A deadly issue, ahead in the "NEWSROOM."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: The staph super bug has hit Newark, New Jersey's public schools. The district sanitized the elementary school building and notified parents that a security guard has a confirmed case of MRSA.
Meantime, in Brooklyn, a lot of questions after a seventh grader died from the bug and no one is told for nearly two weeks.
CNN's Jim Acosta has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It took 11 days for parents at this Brooklyn middle school to find out that seventh grader, Omar Rivera, died.
This mother, who didn't want to give her name to CNN, says parents deserved to be told sooner.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: When things like that happened, parents need to be informed right away and let them use their own judgment. Let their child attend the school or take them to the clinic to get tested.
ACOSTA: New York City's health commissioner insists his office was never required to inform parents.
THOMAS FRIEDEN, NEW YORK HEALTH COMMISSIONER: There's no need to necessarily inform the school and there's certainly no urgency to inform the school.
ACOSTA: While this case may be another sign the bacteria is making the leap from its traditional breading ground, hospitals, and into schools, public health officials cannot agree on how to deal with the problem.
DR. BETSY MCCAUGHEY, COMMITTEE TO REDUCE INFECTION DEATHS: It's too bad that so many government agencies think that their job is to quiet public concern rather than actually correcting the problem.
ACOSTA: Dr. Betsy McCaughey, a public health advocate, and New York State Senator Martin Golden say it's time to stop the super bug in its tracks. They've introduced legislation that would require hospitals to test for the infection before they're admitted. Health care facilities simply practice poor hygiene.
MCCAUGHEY: Hospital infection is the next asbestos. It's the next major cause of class-action lawsuits in this country. ACOSTA: With the stunning finding that almost 19,000 people die each year from drug-resistant staph infections, some are ready to adopt new rules for notifying parents.
MARTIN GOLDEN, NYC STATE ASSEMBLY: We're asking the public schools across the state to come up with the protocol. If they don't, we'll legislate it.
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: I'm going to use my own judgment.
ACOSTA (on camera): What's your judgment?
UNIDENTIFIED MOTHER: I don't know. I may keep them home for a couple days.
ACOSTA (voice-over): For now, people are being urged to wash their hands, a public health announcement some say came way too late.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: There is a big Democratic Party convention this weekend in Florida, but none of the major democratic presidential candidates are showing up. We'll tell you why, straight ahead in the "NEWSROOM".
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: The Florida Democratic State Party convention is going on this weekend in Orlando. Oddly enough, not a single major Democratic presidential candidate has shown up. Are the Democrats writing off the sunshine state or is something else going on?
CNN's Jessica Yellin has the answers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's plenty of enthusiasm at Florida's Democratic State Party convention with excited delegates and a little Bush bashing.
BUSH IMPERSONATOR: Or to put it in Mexican food lingo, me casa is nachos.
YELLIN: It's got everything you'd expect, except presidential candidates. Only Mike Gravel is speaking here. Yes, this is Florida, a key battleground in 2008. But no Clinton, no Obama, no Edwards.
Local party leaders are trying to put a positive spin on the low turnout.
KAREN THURMAN, FLORIDA STATE DEMOCRATIC PARTY: I think there's some disappointment, sure. I'm not going to diminish that. But I do think that, because they're not here, people see kind of a different kind of grassroots organization moving, doing the kinds of things that are necessary to win.
YELLIN: Delegates have a different take.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm angry, absolutely.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Florida. We're a little bit different than everybody else.
YELLIN: So what's going on? Florida moved its primary date to January 29th, earlier than Super Tuesday. The Democratic National Committee didn't want that, so they stripped Florida of its votes of the national convention next year, and candidates agreed not to campaign here.
In the meantime, Republicans are regularly crisscrossing the state, getting a jumpstart wooing Florida voters.
MITT ROMNEY, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Florida is going to be a critical state for anyone.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whenever I come to Florida, I feel like I'm at home.
YELLIN: The big question is, will the Republicans benefit next November because the Democrats shunned the state's primary.
One Democratic analyst says, no way.
PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL CONTRIBUTOR: They're not going to be able to win Florida just by saying last year the Democrats didn't hold a primary here.
YELLIN (on camera): So who does this help? Analysts say it will most likely help the front runner, Hillary Clinton. She's not investing money on ads or campaigning here. But still, she remains ahead in state polls.
Jessica Yellin, CNN, Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: How NASA is pitching in to help fight the fires in southern California, straight ahead.
Plus, Clinton clan hugfest. Find out what Hillary Clinton got for her 60th birthday in about seven minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Firefighters battling those deadly blazes in California can use just about any help they can get, and this week, they certainly got it. A NASA unmanned room gave them unprecedented views of the fires.
CNN's chief technology and environment correspondent Miles O'Brien has this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Approved for NASA 870.
HERMAN POSADA, NASA: Roger.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CHIEF TECHNOLOGY & ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Herman Posada is on the front lines of the California fires, even though he's sitting in an air-conditioned trailer 150 miles away at Edwards Air Force Base.
POSADA: It's taken the hazards. Pilots being in the cockpit and transformed it.
O'BRIEN: Offering firefighters an unprecedented nearly real-time view of the fire lines, using an infrared sensor, which sees through the smoke and clearly defines the hotspots.
POSADA: This is the active fire. This area has been burned already. It's the hottest area, the white.
O'BRIEN: Spending a lot of time in the trenches with firefighters, learning what tools they need.
DON SULLIVAN, NASA AMES ENGINEER: We've developed infrared images that are used by the interpreters who really need to know how hot the fire is and where is it going to be in a couple hours or tomorrow?
O'BRIEN: The aircraft is a civilian version of the Predator B. Armed versions are widely used n by the military in Iraq and by the CIA.
Econa (ph) is a Choctaw Indian name for intelligent, conscious or aware.
(on camera): The fitting gask (ph) is the infrared camera, the most important instrument on this aircraft when it comes to dealing with forest fires. This is a 45-degree camera that is in the visual range. This whole pod, though, is completely modular. You can take something out, put something else on there and use it for other scientific experiments if you need to.
(voice-over): NASA will use it as a way to test new applications for unmanned aircraft. Perhaps they'll find ways to make it easier to fly.
I watched Herman as he brought it in for a landing. It's a lot harder than being in the cockpit.
POSADA: All you have is sight. All your other senses have been removed. You're just relying on the monitor.
O'BRIEN: Miles O'Brien, CNN, Edwards Air Force Base, California. (END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hillary hugged Chelsea.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I love you so much, honey. I love you so much, oh.
MOOS: Hillary hugged Bill. Hillary hugged Billy. Bill hugged Billy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LONG: It is a Clinton family hugfest, and it's a story that Jeanne Moos embraces for us, straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: It has been a Hillary Rodham Clinton love fest in New York. A lot of hugs, tender words and, oh, yes, of course, the birthday cake. Before she blew out the 60 candles, you can guess what she wished for.
CNN's Jeanne Moos checks out her birthday bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOOS: When you're turning 60 and running for president Elvis Costello sings "Happy Birthday" to you. A far cry from her 53rd birthday when she was running for the Senate and reporters gave her a cupcake with a candle that blew out.
CLINTON: A senate seat sounds like a really good idea.
MOOS: The White House sounds even better. This was a birthday celebration-fundraiser. As a headliner put it: "It's my 60th party and I'll charge $2300 if I want to." Elvis Costello performed and Billy Crystal handled the hecklers.
AUDIENCE: Go Red Sox.
BILLY CRYSTAL, COMEDIAN AND HOST: Just jump out of the balcony. Let's just do it now.
MOOS: And there was birthday hugging galore. Hillary hugged Chelsea, Hillary hugged Bill. Bill hugged Billy. While they were listening to Hillary speak, Chelsea held her father's hand. Bill Clinton reminisced about all those birthdays he and Hillary spent together in 32 years of marriage.
BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: She was just 23 when we met. Poor child didn't know any better than to talk to me.
Hillary in her 60th year still looking very beautiful. We love you and I'm so proud of you. Happy birthday. Come up here.
MOOS: Up she came. If you neglected to send Hillary a gift, you could always send one of these electronic birthday cards, conveniently available on Hillary's campaign web site.
Bill invites folks to sign her card.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CLINTON: What's your birthday wish for Hillary? Let her know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Bet she's wishing for Iowa and New Hampshire. But when you send this birthday greeting, you're greeted with contribute.
Celebs singing to presidents and would-be presidents are nothing new. Though, Elvis Costello is no Marilyn Monroe, we've come a long way, to a possible Mrs. Costello from Ms. Monroe.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
LONG: I love Jeanne's stories. There's so much more ahead tonight on CNN tonight, an encore presentation, a special with Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Jeff Corwin team up to explore the world's environmental issues.
But first, "Lou Dobbs this Week" starts right now.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
