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Seven Students Dead in Beach House Fire; FEMA Apologized for Fake Press Conference; Brigadier General Wounded in Iraq

Aired October 29, 2007 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CO-HOST: Disaster on Ocean Isle Beach. A house full of college students burns to the ground. Now, two South Carolina campuses are mourning. We're going to get the latest from the scene.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: Also, when is a FEMA news conference not really a FEMA news conference? Well, if FEMA employees are asking the questions, that's usually a pretty good sign. Today, FEMA's director is apologizing for all that. Got to hear that story.

But hello to you all. T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon at CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Two southern universities are grieving right now for seven students killed in this inferno. You can see what the flames did to this beach house and the students' plans for a coastal get away. Six students escaped with their lives.

Reporter Will Frampton of CNN affiliate WLXTX [sic] joins us now by phone from Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina.

Will, can you bring us up to date on what happened?

WILL FRAMPTON, WLTX CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, as you've already said, it was seven dead and six got out. We were talking to someone who actually captured it on video last night. And they said that they actually heard explosions going off. That's how huge the fire was. There were possibly propane tanks back there. The person who captured the video said they saw explosions happening back there. So it was just a massive fireball.

Really, if you look at the house, it's completely gutted. It's a wonder that anyone got out, considering how many were lost. The fact that six survived is, you know, a blessing in so many ways. But yes, that's...

PHILLIPS: So how did those six get out, Will?

FRAMPTON: Well, we heard that there were people actually yelling at them from the outside, people who were walking by right when the flames got really intense. And basically telling them to jump out the windows. At least one of them did, so we've been told.

And so that's the story of some survival right there. We're hoping to catch up with them and talk with them later, hear their story.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll follow up. Will Frampton of CNN affiliate WX -- WLTX. He's joining us on the phone there from Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. We'll follow up with Will.

Well, the University of South Carolina plans a news conference next hour. You'll see it live, 2 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

HOLMES: Want to let you know that we're expecting a news conference any time now from wildfire officials in Southern California, specifically this time in Orange County.

There you see where they are getting ready. We're expecting it -- we were expecting it at the top of the hour, but certainly a couple minutes behind but do expect it. Looks like a lot of activity there. And they could be coming at any moment, as we expect.

But getting an update about the fires, a few still going there in Southern California. As we know, they have just been going through it the past -- the past week or so with thousands of structures -- structures burned, including a couple thousand homes.

But getting an update on the fires, also on the arson investigation. That is under way right now, a search for people they believe that did intentionally set these fires. So we're going to monitor the press conference as the information begins to come out, there's pertinent information we need to pass along to you, we certainly will do so.

Also another story we have been watching and kind of a strange one here. A real apology we're getting, and there is real outrage, as well, over a fake news conference. This is Washington last Tuesday. This looks legit. FEMA talking about the response to the California wildfires.

But FEMA staffers, not real reporters, were the ones lobbing the questions at deputy administrator Harvey Johnson. As you can imagine, they were, you know, the underhand softball type questions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you -- are you happy with FEMA's response so far?

HARVEY JOHNSON, DEPUTY FEMA ADMINISTRATOR: I'm very happy with FEMA's response so far.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, not the toughest question you've ever heard at a press conference. Well, homeland security chief Michael Chertoff is none too happy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government. I made it unambiguously clear in Anglo-Saxon prose that it's not to ever happen again. And there will be appropriate disciplinary action taken against those who exhibited what I regard as extraordinarily poor judgment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Anglo-Saxon prose, Jeanne Meserve. You can't get any more clear than that.

Our Jeanne Meserve, she heard today from FEMA's very apologetic director. She's with us now from Orange County, California.

What in the world were they thinking, Jeanne?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's what David Paulison is asking. He actually called me this morning. I imagine he called some other reporters, too, to make a personal apology and to promise that this would never happen again.

He called the circumstances ridiculous. He said policies are going to change in the future. The press will be given more time to get to news conferences so they'll be able to be there in person. And if there's a call-in feature, unlike what happened last Tuesday, when reporters could only listen to answers, in the future they will be able to ask questions, as well.

Paulison said he was particularly upset that this happened in the midst of the California wildfires, because his agency had been receiving pretty positive reviews for the -- its response that it was making. And he felt that this sort of knocked the pins out from under the agency, negated all the positive publicity they were getting out here.

He says disciplinary action is going to be taken against some employees, but he wouldn't give us the specifics on that. But a very apologetic director of FEMA -- T.J.

HOLMES: We'll move on to what they were talking about at that fake news conference, which was kind of an update on the California wildfires. Give us the update, as well, on the arson investigation.

MESERVE: Well, at this press conference, which is just starting right now, we don't expect to hear too much new about the investigation, because it's going at a very methodical pace right now.

According to the officials I've spoken with, they are following up on the leads they've gotten on a telephone hotline. They've gotten close to 1,000 calls by some -- by some accounts, and according to some officials, they have at this point followed up on about 70 percent of those, in some cases not just calling people back who filed a tip, but going out and doing personal interviews to pursue whatever avenues there might be.

But at this point we are told still no search warrants, still no suspects in this arson investigation -- T.J. HOLMES: All right. Jeanne Meserve there for us, where that press conference is about to happen. We're -- we're going to be listening in. Jeanne's going to listen in as information comes out.

So there it is. It is getting under way. We do have our ears on it. And again, if something jumps out there at that press conference, we certainly will pass that along to you.

Of course, a lot of people have been moved by what they've seen in California. And we're giving you a chance to do something about it. You can help victims of the California wildfires through our Impact Your World initiative. You can go to CNN.com/impact to see all of the ways that you can help.

PHILLIPS: Investigators on Hawaii's big island are on the lookout for possible arsonists. They say that nine fires started in dry grass over the weekend, all within minutes of one another. Hundreds of people have been evacuated. About 400 are back home today, though some of the fires are still burning. So far no one has been hurt and no homes have been damaged.

Fifteen-year-old Robert Reed grabbed his camera when he saw the smoke. His parents agreed that he could be a CNN I-Reporter if he stayed out of harm's way. Well, Robert tells us most of the fires and the evacuations were on the west side of the big island around Kona. He says that there haven't been any lightning strikes or storms, so how the fires started is still a mystery.

HOLMES: Well, a new storm starting in the Caribbean, and it's already causing a lot of headaches. Chad Myers over at the hurricane headquarters.

The first headache was just me getting the name right. Noel, Noelle, what to call this thing? Noel.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Noel, because it's the boy. I guess Noelle actually would be the girl. But we had Melissa, and then we have Olga after that, so this is actually a male storm. Although every time I get those questions, "Is it a boy or is it a girl," no, actually a hurricane is always an "it." It's an "it", even if it has a boy or a girl's name. But there you go, Noel.

Now, here right over to the Dominican Republic and also Haiti. The low not that far, really, from Port-au-Prince.

We have a couple of I-Reports that I want to show you, from Maria Pereyra from Santo Domingo. She actually was right in the middle of this, took these pictures as the water came rushing down out of the rivers and into the streets. This is what Santo Domingo looked like last night.

In fact, she's back out again, taking more pictures for us today in the daylight, getting them to us. But this storm basically formed right over the Haiti/DR line. And now it's just raining, and it's not moving very much. And that's where all of this flooding is coming from right now. We'll take you to a radar out of Puerto Rico. The Puerto Rico radar is actually coming out here from San Juan, but it can see an awful lot of this rainfall, to the east of Puerto Rico and to the south and southwest of Puerto Rico into the Dominican Republic.

The forecast for Noel is actually to get up, and take up into the Turks and Caicos, and then a big right turn out into the ocean. But don't let your guard down, Florida or the Gulf Coast, because there are some outliers here that would take it into the Gulf of Mexico. Not as a hurricane but certainly as a rainmaker.

And if we can get this up into Atlanta, it wouldn't be such a bad thing as the tropical system just making a bunch of rain. Well, we'll have to see. But the official forecast right now out of the hurricane center, almost makes it a hurricane but not quite. And then turns it away from the U.S. on up toward the northeast. Winds right now 45, gusting to 60 miles per hour.

T.J., Kyra, back to you.

HOLMES: All right. I appreciate you keeping an eye. We'll see you again here soon.

PHILLIPS: Police in Minnesota say that an online job offer may have led to a murder. They're investigating the death of a young woman who apparently answered an ad for a nanny. That job was posted on the popular Internet bulletin board Craig's List.

Investigators say that Katherine Olson's friends just saw her on Thursday when she went to meet someone about this ad. Well, the next day her body was found in the trunk of her car.

Police have arrested a 19-year-old suspect. Formal charges expected tomorrow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NANCY OLSON, MOTHER OF SLAIN WOMAN: She found things online, and we would wring our hands and say, "Have you checked these people out?"

SARAH RICHTER, SISTER OF SLAIN WOMAN: It seemed kind of fishy, but she was just going to check it out and meet them.

ROLF OLSON, FATHER OF SLAIN WOMAN: It didn't work, she assumed she'd be able to turn around and leave and come home. And it didn't work out that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Right now there's no word on how Olson was killed.

KARE-TV in Minneapolis talked with the founder of Craig's List. Craig Newmark said that he thinks Olson's death is the first ever linked to its site in its 12 years that it's been online.

Want to get you now to Ocean -- Orange County, California, rather. Fire officials talking about the arson investigation. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... photographs or video of the fire, and so I ask that you assist us in getting out the information to those people that, if they were in that area and have video of or footage, film footage of the fire between 5:55 and 6:15 that day. That film of people at that area, in other words, other photographers or people observing the fire, or of the fire, to please contact our arson tip line, which is 800-450-8282.

We'd like to talk to them. They are not suspects. We just want to see that video.

I also would ask that if that video footage or photographs are not from that location or within that time window, please don't call the tip line with that information at this point. It will overwhelm our investigators. So it's that very narrow window of time we're looking for the community's assistance.

The next topic I'd like to talk about is the rehabilitation of the canyons. These are very, very important watershed areas. And part of the tactical strategy that's been employed by the...

PHILLIPS: Chip Prather. He's the Orange County fire chief. Just held -- or he's holding a news conference right now. But he mentioned what's going on with the arson investigation. He's asked the -- apparently, a lot of information is getting fed in. There's talk of videotape that might help lead to who is responsible in this investigation regarding arson.

Now giving a tip line number: 1-800-450-8282. Once again, the tip line, arson tip line for those California fires: 1-800-450-828. The chief thinking that they're honing in on possibly who is responsible for the start of these fires. They're getting information by the minute.

We'll continue to follow this news conference. We'll have more, of course, after the break.

Also, a California couple had watched flames destroy their home and take their neighbor's lives. We're going to tell you how they were able to survive. It's nothing short of amazement. Believe me, we'll have their story, coming up.

HOLMES: Also, children sold into slave labor, making clothes overseas for some stuff you might have in the closet, for the Gap. Shocking allegations bring action from the retailer's president.

PHILLIPS: And about one in 150 children in the U.S. have autism. Can spotting it early really help? You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: One-fifteen Eastern Time now. Here are some of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM. We're awaiting a news conference next hour from the University of South Carolina, a campus now in mourning. Six of the seven college students killed in a weekend beach house fire were from that school. Still no word on the cause of the blaze in neighboring North Carolina.

We're getting briefed this hour from Southern California firefighters. They're containing or close to containing most of the wildfires in that region. They're bracing for a possible pickup in the wind.

The armed robbery case against O.J. Simpson is still growing. A third defendant has now agreed to plead guilty and testify against Simpson. Michael McClinton allegedly brandished a gun during the alleged robbery in a Las Vegas hotel.

HOLMES: Well, the Gap. Just about all of us have something hanging in the closet that comes from the store. Well, how would you feel if you knew children as young as 10 were working in horrible conditions to make that stuff? Well, absolute horror, sickening, and that's what the head of the Gap is describing, the child labor situation in India.

Those words and actions prompted by those reports that children that young, as 10, were working in some horrible conditions, cranking out the clothes for the store.

CNN's Alina Cho has the latest here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARKA HANSEN, PRESIDENT, GAP NORTH AMERICA: That subcontractor will -- they -- their relationship with us is terminated, and as I said, we'll convene the entire region together to talk again about what our compliance is.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Gap's president, Marka Hansen, told me last night the company takes full responsibility for what happened and has launched a full scale investigation.

Now a London newspaper first broke the story. Its investigation found children working as virtual slaves at a factory in India. "The Observer" reports the kids slept on the roof. And when they misbehaved, in some cases they were hit with rubber pipes.

Now, the child laborers were helping to make beaded blouses for Gap Kids. Gap's president told me the subcontractor hired for the job actually farmed out the work to a factory that was not properly vetted.

HANSEN: It's absolute horror. You know, it's just -- it's sickening. There's nothing I can tell you but you know, as a mother, child labor is absolutely unacceptable for us as corporation, for me as an individual. I can't think of -- anything worse.

CHO: According to UNICEF as many as 80 million children are working in India. It is widely known as the child labor capital of the world.

The Gap, for its part, is sending a top executive to meet with Indian suppliers. That will happen by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, the products that were supposed to be shipped out in time for the Christmas season will never hit the stores. We are told the blouses have been destroyed.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well, he says he stayed in prison on principle. A newly freed Genarlow Wilson talking freely to CNN. His plans for the future, straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Barbra Streisand can sing all that she wants -- Otis, we should have cued up the song -- but people who need people are apparently a shrinking breed.

A new survey on relationships shows that nearly one in four Americans wouldn't mind living alone as long as they have Internet access. It's not just the companionship found on porn sites but connections available via social networking online.

Singles are more apt to say Internet champ -- or companionship, rather, is enough for them. And so do those who consider themselves politically progressive, rather than conservative.

At least your computer never steals all the covers in the middle of the night.

HOLMES: I need a friend. OK?

PHILLIPS: I'm sorry to leave you hanging on that one.

HOLMES: I need a friend that's there. You know, I even get upset that, when we have to toss to Susan Lisovicz, who's over at the stock exchange, that she can't be here with us. Susan...

PHILLIPS: Talking about Internet porn. Sorry, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I do -- I do have some interesting correspondence with both of you, but it would not fall in that category. Let's just clear the air about that.

HOLMES: Well, hello. We're talking about one of the most profitable firms down there on Wall Street, maybe pushing out the chief executive. Going to explain to us now, might be the biggest casualty we've seen so far from all this mortgage meltdown and the credit crunch.

LISOVICZ: Let's go back to that Barbra Streisand song. People who don't need people? Merrill Lynch may have lost confidence in its chief executive, T.J.

Numerous reports now saying Merrill chief Stan O'Neal likely to resign under pressure. O'Neal remade the company by cutting its workforce and reshaping its structure. The company grew profitable, but O'Neal also alienated and pushed out many senior managers.

He also steered the company into riskier businesses, including mortgage lending.

But after Merrill last week posted its biggest quarterly loss ever, O'Neal found himself isolated. In the three months from July through September, just three months, the company wrote off nearly $8 billion in mortgage-related losses.

The final straw seemed to be O'Neal's decision, also out last week, to approach a rival bank about a possible merger, but he did so without the approval of Merrill's board of directors. And the timing was not good -- T.J.

HOLMES: That does not sound good. And we're talking Merrill Lynch here, but it's not just Merrill Lynch when it comes to these mortgage problems. They're not the only ones.

LISOVICZ: That's right. There are other -- other people who have gone before him. But not at that title. Not yet, anyway.

A number of investment and retail banks have taken a hit because of the mortgage weakness. UBS already said it's writing down the value of some of its assets by more than $3 billion. Its head of investment banking resigned a month ago, and now the company says it may have even more write-downs because the housing and credit markets just seem to be getting worst.

The co-head of investment banking at Citigroup also resigned because of mortgage-related losses, and Bear Stearns forced out some of its executives. So heads are rolling because of this.

And because of the continuing weakness in the housing sector, investors are hoping for another interest rate cut when the Fed meets this Wednesday.

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: In the next hour, a dispute over one of the nation's biggest environmental disasters goes to the high court, the Supreme Court. The Exxon Valdez case. We will have details in the next hour.

In the meantime, I'll throw it back to you, T.J. And Kyra, just think of the fun we'd have if we were all together.

HOLMES: Too much fun. We couldn't get much work done, Susan, so this might be for the best.

LISOVICZ: All right.

HOLMES: All right. We appreciate you. We'll see you again here shortly.

LISOVICZ: Got it.

PHILLIPS: Word coming in to us now out of Iraq. Apparently, a brigadier general has been wounded. Barbara Starr is working the details for us right now as it's coming in.

Barbara, what do we know?

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, CNN has confirmed that Brigadier General Jeffrey Dorko, who is the ranking official with the Army Corps of Engineers, was wounded this morning, non-life- threatening injuries -- non-life-threatening -- by an IED attack when his convoy was hit just outside of Baghdad.

His driver has already been treated and released. But we are told Brigadier General Dorko has already been evacuated to Landstuhl Hospital. His family has been informed. He apparently has some shrapnel wounds that need to be treated. He was flown out earlier today.

And, to state the obvious, Kyra, at this point, we do believe this is the first general officer, person of that rank, to be hit by an IED. It simply underscores that these weapons know no rank, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Barbara Starr, we'll continue to follow up with you throughout the afternoon. Appreciate it.

HOLMES: Well, seeing the signs and time to make a difference. Pediatricians make a new push to inform parents about autism. What you need to know. Stick around, in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.

HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes, sitting in today for Don Lemon.

Flames closing in, nowhere to run, except the swimming pool maybe. May have saved the lives of a quick-thinking California couple. Their friends, however, not so lucky.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But first here, we're going to take a look at this tragedy. Take a look at this house here.

Seven young lives lost when this North Carolina beach house erupted into that storm of flames you're seeing there. Six were students at the University of South Carolina. A seventh student was a student at Clemson University.

Six other South Carolina students escaped this fire, one by jumping from the upper floors. You can see from the flames, the smoke and the aftermath, they just couldn't get back inside to help their friends. Witnesses in the community as you can imagine, in shock right now.

GEORGE SMITH, WITNESS: The house was completely engulfed with flames from the ground up to 20 feet above the top of the house. Everything, I never seen a fire that quick so fast.

BETTY SMITH, NEIGHBOR: I opened the door, on the T canal on the end I could see this house just engulfed in flames. When we got out there we could start hearing things exploding, windows were like you could hear breaking.

HOLMES: Investigators believe the fire started accidentally on an outside deck. That area is more charred than the rest of the house. Of course you can imagine the toll something like this would take on the college community, especially the University of South Carolina lost six in the fire. Grief counselors are on the scene there at the school trying to help out. And earlier South Carolina's vice president of student affairs spoke to us about the bond the students share.

DENNIS PRUITT, V.P. FOR STUDENT AFFAIRS: South Carolina's a tight knit state. Students become integrated in the communities and families and some of the students were from Darlington, some were from Greensville.

Yesterday actually, we had group meetings with the two fraternity groups and other students. We had grief counselors, we had ministers, we had other support staff to spend time with these students to give a listening ear. Today we'll be doing the same and with individual follow-up with some of the students.

HOLMES: The university is planning a service on campus to help students cope with the loss. Also, school officials at south Carolina will hold a news conference in the next hour scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. eastern time. You can catch that here on CNN.

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Real quickly before we go out to Rancho Bernardo in California, to update you on the conditions with the fires, we're just getting word in right now that the head of FEMA P.R., that one we've been telling you about that headed up the fake news conference, apparently we are being told he has lost his job. He was supposed to move over to the Department of National Intelligence, we're now getting word that that will not happen. Jeanne Meserve up and ready to tell us. She is there at the news conference just getting the news in.

Jean, bring us the update. Was he resigned or he wasn't going to get the job because of what happened?

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's unclear. He is John Philbin. He is known as Pat Philbil. He was head of external affairs at FEMA. Thursday was his last day. He left not because of that press conference but because he had applied and gotten a job as head of public affairs for the director of national intelligence. We checked with the DNI's office as recently as this morning and appeared things were going forward. But now a statement has been issued. Let me read it to you. "We do not normally comment on personnel matters. However, we can confirm that Mr. Philbin is not nor is he scheduled to be the director of public affairs for national intelligence". That's the sum total of what it says.

Now, I asked Director Paulison about Pat Philbin this morning when I spoke with him on the phone. I felt if he felt it was appropriate for someone like Philbin who had been involved in this staged press conference to get another job, and arguably more prestigious job in the federal government. He refused to comment saying that's between Mr. Philbin and his boss. Someone made a decision Mr. Philbin will not take that job.

Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Have we heard from Philbin, is he talking, Jeanne, or is it too soon to know?

MESERVE: You know, I've been out of Washington and I'm not exactly certain what he may have said to the public. Director Paulison told me he received an e-mail from Philbin and in that Philbin had taken full responsibility for the press conference. However, Paulison cautioned that he's still checking this out doing interviews, talking to people to get the lay of the land. It may be some others share in that responsibility. He did say there had been some reprimands handed out to FEMA employees, refused to answer the question whether Mr. Philbin was amongst those who received a reprimand.

Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jeanne Meserve, thank you.

HOLMES: Fighting the flames, sifting the ashes for clues. Firefighters are close to containing the wildfires that scorched more than half a million acres. They are bracing for a possible pick-up in the winds. Investigators are trying to find out who set the Santiago fire in Orange County. They're also investigating several other fires. We're hearing from scores of people who lost everything except their lives.

And CNN's Reggie Aqui is in Rancho Bernardo of a couple who found salvation in their swimming pool. Hello to you, Reggie.

REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey T.J. It's an incredible story. It's almost hard to believe. We'll get to that. But I want to show you this house that we found this morning. Just 24 hours ago it was covered in rubble. Look at it now. Thanks to 30 church volunteers who came and helped this family it's now completely clear. All of the rubble now in a pile and what was their front yard. So, as this family gets ready to start again, another family that we talked to the one you just mentioned, they are still recovering from this incredible survival story. They couldn't drive out, they couldn't run out. So they had to swim.

DINA BIELASZ, WILDFIRE SURVIVOR: I just can't believe it.

AQUI: Dina and Dr. Roger Bielasz couldn't save their house. Their house saved them.

DR. ROGER BIELASZ, WILDFIRE SURVIVOR: I saw the power line go down and the fire start. It started coming this way so I said we got to go. We put our shoes on.

AQUI: But there was nowhere to run. They live at the edge of a San Diego mountain. It drops into the canyon on three sides, so when the fire came without warning to evacuate, the couple was trapped. At first they huddled in the garage.

BIELASZ: I started to kind of freak out. He says you know what, follow my voice, just stay here. We're going to stay here as long as we can until we can't breathe. Then we're going to go out and we'll go to the pool.

AQUI: The pool, the place the couple decided years ago was a refuge of last resort. But fire blocked their path from the garage to the water. They took the chance and made it. At first, in the shallow end. But it was too close to their flame-engulfed home so they swam deeper.

BIELASZ: We ducked under that overhang.

AQUI: How long?

BIELASZ: Three hours.

BIELASZ: Because that was the farthest spot away from the house. But then there were too many embers. We felt we were too exposed. That's when we had our hands out of the water and we used you know, rocks and we used those to work our way over to that side underneat that ledge. I think about three hours.

BIELASZ: Three hours. Actually, it was eternity and a half.

BIELASZ: Yes.

AQUI: They waited there until it was safe to get out of the chilly water, and walk to find help. But then more worry. Before the fire they told their neighbors about their pool plan. But where were they?

BIELASZ: My friends Chris and Vickie. We lost our friends.

AQUI: Chris Bane and Victoria Fox didn't make it to the pool because they never made it out of their house. Authorities found their bodies last week. The fire took so much.

BIELASZ: The thing that's most important to me is right here.

AQUI: But they are thankful for each other and a backyard savior.

BIELASZ: I'm keeping the pool. I'm keeping the pool.

AQUI: You know, at one point they actually thought they were going to get rid of the pool. They said you know, this is a lot of maintenance, a lot of hard work with the Santa Ana winds blowing debris in there. Let's fill it in. Well, today T.J., they are awfully glad they decided to keep it.

HOLMES: Reggie, that is unbelievable. That whole story, the fact they survived but then the back story about possibly getting rid of the pool. I think you're right. They will never let that pool go. Reggie, we appreciate you bringing us that story.

PHILLIPS: The donation, $1 thousand. The sentiment, priceless. California wildfire victims getting money and sympathy from the war zone. You're seeing U.S. marines and Iraqi troops at a training camp east of Baghdad. The marine in charge there tells CNN his Iraqi counterparts gave him a check for $1,000, get this, to help victims of the southern California wildfires. Many of the marines are from Camp Pendleton, and the U.S. marine base is in the San Diego area. Marine Colonel Maxfield says in all the time he's been in Iraq he's never been so moved. We got an e-mail from him. We booked him to talk to us. And coming up we're going to hear from him in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Well, it's over now it appears for Genarlow Wilson. He said it was about clearing his name. He was in church yesterday after leaving prison on Friday. His term cut short by the state supreme court and ruled his 10-year sentence was cruel and unusual. Six co- defendants cut deals. He didn't because it would have been accepting the label of sex offender. His offense at the age of 17 was consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl.

GENARLOW WILSON, FORMER PRISONER: It was just about the time, you know, it was the principle. It was that you know, I didn't want to be labeled as a sex offender because I'm not one. I might have had lesser time, but then again, I would have nowhere to go. Because I would have no home, I wouldn't be able to stay with my mother because I have a little sister. When you're a sex offender you can't be around kids. That's like I can't even have kids myself. So, what is the point of life?

HOLMES: Well, later today you can see Rick Sanchez's entire interview with Genarlow Wilson. "OUT IN THE OPEN" airs at 8 eastern, 5 pacific right here on CNN and we're going to be chatting with our Rick Sanchez during our 3:00 hour right here in the NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: Seeing the signs and time to make a difference. Pediatricians make a push to inform parents about autism. What you need to know straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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PHILLIPS: More than 10,000 kids getting a day off from school in Pikeville, Kentucky, thanks to a super bug named MRSA. All of the schools in the Pikeville system are getting scrubbed down after just one case of the drug resistant staph infection that was reported. In the past weeks, MRSA has been blamed for the death of a 17-year-old high school student in Virginia and a 12-year-old in Brooklyn, New York. Later in the NEWSROOM, we're going to hear from a MRSA survivor about her frightening experience.

Now, anybody can develop a deadly super bug infection. Do you know how you can be exposed? Fredricka Whitfield has the facts for us.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Infections caused by a germ that spreads rapidly through hospitals and nursing homes now kills more Americans than AIDS. The drug resistant germ is called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA. Researchers estimate that MRSA infected more than 94,000 people in one year in 2005. And an estimated 19,000 nearly one in every five died, compared to some 17,000 deaths from AIDS.

Researchers say the bacteria can be brought into health care facilities by patients and visitors who may show no symptoms. While many infections are hospital related, MRSA is also popping up in prisons, gyms and crowded urban neighborhoods.

Researchers began to see drug resistant variants of staph bacteria beginning in the 1960s. Medical experts attribute the emergence of the so-called super bug to three factors; the indiscriminant use of antibiotics, patients failing to use all their prescribed antibiotics and the use of antibiotics in animal feed. In each instance, a bacteria is not completely obliterated which can lead to mutations that are resistant to standard antibiotics.

MRSA infection rates are highest among the elderly, African Americans and people who have chronic diseases. They spend more time in hospitals, increasing their exposure.

HOLMES: Chances are you know a family with an autistic child. After all, autism affects 1 in 150. It's not clear what causes it but we're learning more how to spot it. Here now our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: In the new report, the American Academy of Pediatrics is urging parents to be aware of the early signs of autism. And the reason is that the earlier autism is caught, the better a child can get the help that he or she needs.

The American Academy of Pediatrics isn't just telling parent what is to look for. They are showing them. On the Internet are videos of children who are typical and video of children who have autism to help parents discern the difference.

First of all, look at this video of a typical child. The child is engaged with the two adults who are on either side of him. The child is engaged with the Big Bird stuffed animal, offering a bottle, smiling, is clearly aware of what's going on around him and connected to what's going on around him. But take a look at this child who has autism. The same two people are there, the same Big Bird doll, but the child is really just interested in the toys that are in front of him. When an adult does try to engage with him, he really doesn't want anything to do with it. He doesn't want anything to do with Big Bird. There's no smiling. And these are some of the signs that experts say parents need to pay attention to and bring them to the attention of their pediatrician.

So, to sum up, these are the signs of autism; the red flags that pediatricians say you should pay attention to. First, if your child at one year is not babbling and that is the ma-ma, ba-ba sound, if your child's not babbling and isn't pointing at objects or pointing at people, that's a red flag. If at 16 months your child hasn't said any words, you should talk to your doctor. If at 2 years your child isn't saying phrases, that's another thing you should bring to the attention of your doctor.

Now of course, it's very important to remember that no one thing means autism. A lot of parents might think gosh, my child isn't saying words and they are 1 year old or my child is doing for example some of those repetitive behaviors, constantly picking up a toy and putting it down which can be another sign of autism. No one behavior is something to be worried about. Doctors say it's the full range. If your child isn't saying words, and isn't making eye contact, and isn't smiling, those are things you need to talk to your doctor about.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: He's the president's choice for attorney general but not the choice of some key senators. Not yet anyway. There's something he has to clarify about torture. That story straight ahead.

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PHILLIPS: The donation, $1,000. The sentiment, priceless. California wildfire victims getting money and sympathy from the war zone. You're seeing U.S. and Iraqi troops right here at a training camp east of Baghdad. The American soldier in charge there tells CNN that his Iraqi counterpart gave him a check for $1,000. You know what it was for? To help victims of the southern California wildfires. They had been tracking the news and they heard about it. And many of the U.S. troops at the camp are from Camp Pendleton. So you're making the connection because the U.S. marine base is in the San Diego area.

Army Colonel Darel Maxfield says in all the time that he has been in Iraq he has never been so moved. He actually sent us e-mail telling us about what happened. I want to hear more from Colonel Maxfield himself. He joins us now on the phone from Iraq.

Darel, good to talk to you again. You and I both have had the chance to spend time with the Colonel Abass, the Iraqi military colonel who put this effort together. He's quite the character, so I bet you're not surprised that he actually did something like this.

COL. DAREL MAXFIELD, SENIOR U.S. MILITARY OFFICIAL: He is that. He is a character. And no, I'm not surprised. He makes a great deal of -- he speaks with great pride when he points out he was the first Iraqi to enlist in the new Iraqi army. And he has called us his brothers and his partners at public meetings in public formations where it really is a risk in this neck of the woods to say that sort of thing. So, he is a character and he has become a great friend of ours and of mine.

PHILLIPS: Well and Darel, I remember watching him with members of his Iraqi troops working side by side with you guys, and training side by side, and he always kept a sense of humor. He had quite the leadership skills and personality.

And so, tell me how this all happened. Did he call you into the room and say gentlemen, we'd like to talk to you about something?

MAXFIELD: Well, yes. He did, actually, Kyra. He asked us, all of the Americans, both contractors and military and all of his senior staff, to come and join him after a training day. We were all tired and it has been a number of -- it has been a series of days, so we were kind of tired. But he said that he had a matter of utmost concern and asked us to come over and be part of something that he wanted deeply to talk about. Of course, Colonel Abbas, when the post commander asks everybody to come in, of course we thought something horrible happen sod we all reported. And after we called the groups to attention he came in and thanked us and sat down and started to become emotional and he then kind of went back and read the letter that I think I sent you.

PHILLIPS: You sure did.

MAXFIELD: If I didn't I will. But he read it verbatim and then spoke at great length and of course as you know, Iraqi leaders can speak at great length about some of the really -- things that -- some of the things that they wanted us to know. And amongst them were the things that we have tried to help bring to their nation on a positive side. And he was very eloquent, very beautiful and it was elegant in its own way. Even though it was broken English, it was very beautiful.

PHILLIPS: I want to read part of that e-mail that you sent me, Darel. Colonel Abbas says that "I'm honored to participate by sending you a simple fund of $1,000, the American people in San Diego City, to lowering their suffering from the wildfire. That's for the feeling of being brothers and friends and for the great connections we have together."

You know as well as I know for the Iraqi people, family is everything. And it's obvious that all of you have become a family there. Tell me, was he and other members of his Iraqi battalion watching the news or was it just the talks that they were having with marines from Camp Pendleton to where they saw -- this has been so devastating to marines' families back in San Diego and other people here in the San Diego area.

MAXFIELD: He and his officers watched the news every day. You would be amazed. You'll have mud huts here that really probably don't cost 100 bucks to put together, yet everybody has a satellite dish. And so you will find that they know very well what the news is, and then they watch the American news particularly, obviously for its political ramifications, and they have followed that story with great interest. His emotion was not only for the marines at Pendleton but the sailors in San Diego and the soldiers from the area as well. Had we had air force folks, I'm sure he would have made them part of his gesture as well. It was not just one. The senior advisor that you met last summer, Jeff, he has been replaced by a soldier named Mark Werner. Wonderful people who work very hard. He embraces them not just as colleagues but as friends and his brothers. And the term he uses strategically is brothers. He tries to make it family as close as he can.

PHILLIPS: It's an amazing story. Colonel Darel Maxfield bringing us this story there of Colonel Abass there, the commander of the Iraqi army there at Camp Besmaya. Darel, thanks for sharing this. We salute Colonel Abass and you for telling us a bit of good news there out of Camp Besmaya. I really appreciate it.

MAXFIELD: Thank you, come back and see us sometime.

PHILLIPS: Absolutely.

T.J.

HOLMES: Here we're waiting on news, you see on the left side of the screen a live picture, waiting on a press conference at the university of South Carolina. Officials are going to update the community and their campus community about six individuals, six students from South Carolina killed in that fire. You see it on the right of your screen. That fire was in North Carolina at a beach house. Six students from South Carolina. That school were killed, one student from Clemson. We'll see you after this break.

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