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Briefing on North Carolina Fire Victims; Slowly Inching Back Towards Normal Life in Southern California; Torture Talk

Aired October 29, 2007 - 14:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Dennis Pruitt, vice president of student affairs, getting ready to speak live about two college campuses in mourning right now. Seven students on a weekend getaway have been killed in a fire that tore through a North Carolina beach house. Six of the victims attended the University of South Carolina, the other victim was a Clemson student.
Let's listen in.

DENNIS PRUITT, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA VICE PRESIDENT, STUDENT AFFAIRS: It's been a long 24 hours at the University of South Carolina. I won't go through the details that we -- I think all of you know from yesterday, but as you -- as you come to realize, we've had 13 students at a house fire in Ocean Isle, North Carolina. One of those students was a student at Clemson University, six students from the University of South Carolina are presumed to have perished, and we have six students who have survived.

First, let me just say our condolences and sympathies are extended to the families of these individuals and to their communities, because these are families that are well established in their communities. Let me also say thank you on behalf of the University of South Carolina to the outpouring of offers of assistance from both the college communities across the country and from our local communities of South Carolina and Ohio and Florida. We really appreciate that.

Particularly, I want to say thank you to the Ocean Isle community, to those citizens, also to the mayor, to the law enforcement officials, the fire department, for the work they did. They showed incredible compassion for our students. They were caring towards them. They were very compassionate and sympathetic with the parents when they arrived, and we greatly appreciate the work that community did. We're indebted to them.

A brief update. We continue to reach out and offer assistance to members of our university family.

We did have some increased calls to our counseling center this morning. We have increased the number of lines we have there. We'll have extended hours at the counseling center tonight.

Most of the calls were from parents wanting to know what resources were available and how they might have those resources made available to their son or daughter. We were able to accommodate those individuals. As you know, yesterday we had a series of individual meetings and group meetings across the campus, and with individual groups and individual residence halls, and I think we were able to touch a number of the students there and give them the attention that they needed.

We are still awaiting confirmation of information on the death of the students from the authorities of North Carolina. We do not have any additional information on that at this point in time.

I will tell you though that the president of the university, Dr. Andrew Sorensen, this morning did make contact with the families of the individuals that we have presumed to have perished in that fire, had a conversation with those families, offered them the assistance of the University of South Carolina, offered them our sympathy and condolences. The families were appreciative of the calls. They were also very appreciative of the fact that the university is being respectful of their privacy at this point in time.

We will have following this briefing the availability of some grief counselors who have been working with the students, and they will be here to answer your questions about what we might have heard and how they've been dealing with this, how they've been working with these individual students.

You will notice when you exit the Russell House on the center of Green Street there is a gamecock painted on the street. And the university students have asked that we designate that as a physical location where other students might bring flowers or cards of sympathy or letters or notes both to the deceased and to the survivors, and to the parents and families of these students, and that's operational as I speak right now.

I can also tell you that if the families want a memorial service, if the students want a memorial service, we will have one. That will be probably at the end of the week or early next week. That will be after we have confirmation of the students' identifications.

However, tonight in this ballroom we're going to have a group gathering, kind of a grieving session, but an opportunity for students and faculty and members of the university family to come together. We'll share some information and we'll have one of our campus ministers present, we'll have a couple students speak. We'll have an opportunity for students to comfort each other, and we'll have grief counselors and other professionals here to assist those students with they're grieving.

And then we have arranged for students to go to locations afterwards if they need additional assistance after the meeting tonight here in the ballroom. That meeting is scheduled for 6:00 -- 6:00 p.m. here in the ballroom. After the conclusion of that service, that gathering, we will take the students out front to Green Street and we will all light candles to honor our fellow students.

I would ask that we have respect for these students that are about to speak. We have asked two students to come and speak with you and just share a brief statement, and as you can imagine this is a very difficult time for them.

One of them is Lauren Hodge, who is the president of Delta Delta Delta.

PHILLIPS: Dennis Pruitt, vice president of student affairs, there at the University of South Carolina talking about the candlelight vigils they're going to hold for the six victims of this fire at the beach house in North Carolina. They all attended the University of South Carolina. There was also a victim from Clemson University as well. There were seven students that were able to escape that fire.

We'll get back to the news conference now because we hear that we're going to hear from some students.

Let's listen in.

LAUREN HODGE, CHAPTER PRESIDENT, DELTA DELTA DELTA: As you can imagine, this has been an extremely difficult time for our chapter and for the entire campus as a whole. We have received numerous phone calls, e-mails, flowers and even food sent to the house. And it really means a lot to know that so many people are here for us through these hard times.

But this has also affected so many other people than just our chapter and our sorority. We have to keep in mind that it's affected the entire campus and all of the families of the members. And we've been in full support of the families and for everyone involved in this tragedy, and they are all in our thoughts and prayers.

We have ministers and counselors coming in throughout the week. There are chapter houses open to anyone who feels as if they want to come in and talk to a counselor or a minister. We have certain times scheduled that they will be at the house, and that's for USC students. We're trying to do as much as we can right now to help everyone cope with this problem and with this tragedy.

Again, thanks to everyone for the overwhelming support that we have received.

JAY LAURA, CHAPTER PRESIDENT, SIGMA ALPHA EPSILON: Excuse me. You're going to have to bear with me. I'm a little sick.

First, I would like to express my condolences for everyone who has been affected by this terrible tragedy, especially the families and friends of the victims and those who were blessed enough to have survived. In times like these, I'm reminded of how lucky I am to live in a state of south Carolina, attend the University of South Carolina, and be a part of Sigma Alpha Epsilon due to the amount of care and help my friends, my family, my friends' families, my fellow gamecocks and my fraternity brothers have offered and are receiving.

Most of my mind is currently dominated with grief, despair and sympathy for the victims' families, but there is a small part of my soul that is smiling today as I witnessed the spirit of our community as it comes together to support all those in need. This is the same spirit that brought these students together at Ocean Isle -- one of love, caring, fellowship and a shared sense of belonging.

I believe no matter who the victims of an incident like this were, our community would respond in the same manner. But I also believe that this outpouring of support is due to the character of the individuals whom we lost.

In SAE, we have a creed by which we live entitled "The True Gentleman" which is recited as follow: A true gentleman. "The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies; who does not make the poor man conscious of his poverty, the obscure man of his obscurity, or any man of his inferiority or deformity; who is himself humbled if necessity compels him to humble another; who does not flatter wealth, cringe before power, or boast of his own possessions or achievements; who speaks with frankness but always with sincerity and sympathy; whose deed follows his word; who thinks of the rights and feelings of others rather than his own; and who appears well in any company; a man with whom honor is sacred and virtue safe" -- John Walter Wayland.

The brothers whom we lost embody this creed, and I can imagine that those who they surrounded themselves with this past weekend exemplified these virtues also.

That being said, it helps to know that those who have been lost are now in a better place, free from the pain and strife of this sometimes cruel world. And it is with a heavy heart that I pray for their families and loved ones.

I would like to thank the University of South Carolina, especially president Dr. Sorensen, Dr. Dennis Pruitt, Jerry Brewer (ph), Gina Runion (ph), Anna Edwards (ph), David Rudiczak Baker (ph), Alex Wysocki (ph) and Nick Payne (ph) for their support and efforts. I would also like to that Sigma Alpha Epsilon, especially Mr. Goodell (ph), Reverend Peters, Tony Bascuzio (ph), Bill McLaveen (ph), John Dillard (ph) and all of my fraternity brothers.

In closing, I want everyone to pray for the victims, their families and those who were lucky enough to escape. If any place can come together to help in the healing process and the aftermath of an event like this, it is South Carolina. And I believe we will get through this terrible tragedy.

As Dr. Dennis Pruitt stated, we'll have a short ceremony tonight at 6:00 p.m., and I would like everyone to come and show their support.

Thank you.

PHILLIPS: Students speaking out for the first time. Chapter presidents of fraternity SAE and sorority TriDel. You heard from Lauren Hodge there and also Jay Laura.

Also this gentleman here, the vice president of student affairs, Dennis Pruitt, talking about the seven students that were killed on the weekend getaway, a fire that ripped through their North Carolina beach house. Six of the victims attended the University of South Carolina, the other victim was a Clemson student.

Amazingly, seven students were able to escape that fire. A number of them jumping out of the windows. Candlelight vigils going to be held to remember these students.

We'll follow all of it for you.

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: We want to turn now to new fallout over that fake news conference FEMA held last week on those California wildfires. Well, FEMA's P.R. chief, John Pat Philbin -- you see there -- was supposed to take a new job today as chief spokesman for the national intelligence director, but that ain't happening. No word on whether Philbin was fired just as he was about to start that new job. The fake news conference featured FEMA staffers not reporters, and they were not really throwing tough questions.

Meantime, arson investigators in southern California need your help. They're asking anybody with video or photos taken October 21st of the Santiago fire to come forward. They're looking for a suspect in the fire in Orange County which they have confirmed was arson. Several other fires also under investigation.

Firefighters are making some progress, and they're containing or close to containing most of the major fires, and that means some people can slowly inch back towards a normal life.

We're going to head out now to CNN's Kara Finnstrom, who's in California for us.

Hello there, Kara.

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.

Well, students at Poway High School behind me are attending their first day of classes since these wildfires began. We took some video this morning of those students piling off of the buses, out of their cars. They won't take part in outdoor activities today because the air quality sill isn't very good out here, but the students we spoke with say it just feels good to be back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For seven days of wildfire wars, it's been base camped to nearly 700 firefighters. Now the soot and ash are being blasted and wiped away, and the students are coming back to Poway High.

(on camera): You guys a little nervous about going back?

LYN GALE, STUDENT: Kind of.

FINNSTROM (voice over): Lyn Gale is one of 300 students in this district alone left homeless by the fires.

GALE: I got like photos and my camera, and this blanket I made.

SCOTT FISHER, PRINCIPAL, POWAY HIGH SCHOOL: Kids who lost textbooks and that kind of thing, we've already got them ready for them in the library.

FINNSTROM: The principal at Poway High says counselors, teachers and friends will help students try to regain some sense of normalcy after a week of horrific chaos.

Lyn Gale is struggling.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going up to see our home.

FINNSTROM: Lyn's family invited us long, as for the first time the children return to their neighborhood.

ALEX GALE, STUDENT: How did the fire get to our house?

FINNSTROM: Lyn became too emotional to go, but her brother and sister did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Kristen, that was your room.

KRISTEN GALE, STUDENT: My bedroom's right there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your bedroom -- no, your bedroom is this one right here.

FINNSTROM: Nine-year-old Alex and 13-year-old Kristen could barely recognize what they once called home.

KRISTEN GALE, STUDENT: When we were evacuating I really, really thought that we were coming back to a house that wasn't in ashes.

FINNSTROM: This week, with more than 30,000 other children in Poway, they'll start the overwhelming task of piecing whole lives back together.

A. GALE: I want to have a normal day and see my friends.

K. GALE: It's kind of been boring in the hotel that we're staying in, so...

FINNSTROM (on camera): So it will be good to get back with your friends.

GALE: Yes.

FINNSTROM (voice over): And going back to school will be that first step.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FINNSTROM: And as you might expect, a tough day for many of these students. School officials do tell us that school attendance is down slightly today -- T.J. HOLMES: All right. Trying to get back to some sense of normalcy.

Kara Finnstrom for us there in Poway.

Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: A U.S. Army general is being treated for wounds that he suffered today in Iraq. Pentagon sources tell CNN that Brigadier General Jeffrey Dorko was hit by shrapnel when an improvised explosive device blew up near his vehicle. It happened in north Baghdad.

Dorko is being flown to Germany for treatment right now. He's believed to be the highest ranking U.S. military officer wounded in the war so far.

HOLMES: Somehow she picked up a superbug, and then the wrong diagnosis gave MRSA a six-month head start.

PHILLIPS: Plus, remembering country music legend Porter Wagner from his rhinestone-studded suits -- look at that -- Otis came through with a little sound there. Let's listen to him. His hit-studded resume.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Coming up on 2:18 here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here are three of the stories we are working on.

(NEWSBREAK)

PHILLIPS: For Michael Mukasey the honeymoon may be over before he is even confirmed. The former federal judge was a popular choice to succeed Alberto Gonzales as attorney general and still seems likely to get the job, but like Gonzales, he is paying a price for congressional testimony that even some supporters find lacking.

CNN's Ed Henry explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After a smooth takeoff as President Bush's nominee for attorney general, Michael Mukasey has suddenly hit turbulence with key Republicans.

SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: If he does not believe that waterboarding is illegal, then that would really put doubts in my mind.

HENRY: At issue, Mukasey's murky answers at confirmation hearings about whether waterboarding, which simulates drowning, is torture or not when used to get information out of terror suspects.

MICHAEL MUKASEY, ATTORNEY GENERAL NOMINEE: If waterboarding is torture, torture is not constitutional.

HENRY: Republican John McCain, a former prisoner of war, expressed concern about such vagueness.

JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Anyone who says they don't know if waterboarding is torture or not has no experience in the conduct of warfare and national security.

HENRY: Pressed on whether this would lead him to vote against Mukasey's nomination, however, McCain hedged.

MCCAIN: I can't be that absolute, but I want to know his answer.

HENRY: But McCain has been absolute in knocking Republican presidential frontrunner Rudy Giuliani for saying he's not sure if waterboarding is torture, a sign perhaps that McCain is concerned that actually voting against the president's nominee would hurt his own White House bid.

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Look, McCain right now can't afford to alienate any more Republican voters. We are less than 70 days before Iowa voters, Iowa Republicans are going to vote for president.

HENRY: Likewise, Democratic presidential candidates are using the Mukasey nomination to impress their liberal base by bashing the president more than the nominee.

SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This administration has trampled all over the rule of law. I'm not about to confirm a nominee that would continue that process here.

HENRY (on camera): Bottom line is that senators in both parties will continue to raise sharp questions about Mukasey's semantical answers, but the nominee is expected to be confirmed, just with less support than first predicted.

Ed Henry, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: He considered Dick Cheney a friend and protege, but former president Gerald Ford feared Cheney would doom President Bush's re-election. Ford never said that in public, but he shared his views in private with journalist Thomas DeFrank, who's out with a book tomorrow called, "Write it When I'm Gone".

DeFrank says Ford suggested Rudy Giuliani as Cheney's replacement, but he resisted hints from Republicans to try to force Cheney off the ticket. Well, back in the day, Cheney was Ford's boy wonder. He was a mere 34 years old when Ford made him White House chief of staff.

Well, if you want the most up-to-the-minute political news anywhere, CNNPolitics.com is your one-stop shop. Get behind-the- scenes details from the best political team on television and see why it's the Internet's premier destination for political news. That's CNNPolitics.com.

PHILLIPS: A close encounter of the scary kind. Where did she pick up a deadly staph infection and how did she manage to beat it?

Coming up, a MRSA survivor shares her story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Children beaten, threatened and forced to work long hours without pay. Now the GAP is making a fashion statement.

That's ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: Also, a unique homecoming in Buffalo, New York. An American soldier comes home from Iraq to meet his five new sisters.

We'll explain this one.

(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 for Don Lemon.

Well, if your kids are just getting home from school, get them over to the television we have some important information for you, but also for those kids. We've got some potentially life-saving information on MRSA.

A few weeks ago you probably never heard about this thing and now it's all the buzz at schools, also at dinner tables. We'll talk to a young woman who survived the so-called super bug. That's all just ahead in NEWSROOM.

PHILLIPS: More than 10,000 kids are 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 was reported.

In the past few weeks, MRSA has been blamed for the death of a 17-year-old high school student in Virginia and a 12-year-old in New York. Now take a look at this. This is Shelby Hoff's right hand, and to your left. The swelling started after a visit to a gym. Now at first her doctor diagnosed it as gout, but it kept getting worse. She finally mentioned it to her chiropractor, who took one look, and sent her straight to the ER. Shelby Hoff joins us now from Chicago to pick up the story there.

Shelby, it looks like you're pretty darn lucky that you figured out it wasn't gout.

SHELBY HOFF, SURVIVED MRSA: I'm very lucky that it wasn't.

PHILLIPS: Tell me about -- what happened? You said you went to the gym and did you start seeing the symptoms as soon as you got home. Kind of tell me what happened? HOFF: I was a member of that gym for several years before any symptoms started. The weird thing about my MRSA infection is that it had two flare-ups before it became severe enough for me to go into the hospital. The first time, like I said, like you mentioned, my doctor diagnosed me as gout. Now, when I think of gout I think of Henry VIII, not a 19-year old vegan athlete, who is studying to be a personal trainer. So, that diagnosis was a little odd.

And the second time he thought it was inflammation possibly from a sports injury, but it still, you know, it still took a long time to go away and I had systemic symptoms. It felt like I had a short case of the flu. The third time it happened it started to spread and it overtook my entire hand, instead of just my wrist. And I felt like I had a severe case of the flu this time. And it slowly started to spread up my arm pretty much hour by hour, it would slowly spread up. And by the time I got to the hospital it was halfway up my forearm and a couple days after hospitalization it had spread past my elbow.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh!

HOFF: It looked like -- yeah, it was very swollen, very hot, very red. It had edema so when you like touched it had it would leave an imprint of your finger in the skin. And it eventually became so swollen that skin burst and shed like a snake which is a little creepy.

PHILLIPS: Oh, my gosh!

And so, now, you were having all these horrible symptoms and the doctors still couldn't figure out what it was, couldn't stop it? And your brother happened to be reading a magazine and was reading about MRSA and said to you, hey, sis, take a look at this, this might be the problem?

HOFF: Right, yes, he showed the article to my mom who then showed it to my doctors and from that, then, the ball got rolling. They put me on Vancomycin, which is referred to as the last resort antibiotic. It is extremely strong and causes horrible side effects, but after a couple of days on that the infection slowly started to go down. And since I start that to work they put a pick line in me, a long-term IV line.

I was in the hospital for six days and discharged with the pick line, because I had to get myself infusions of the Vancomycin once a day for about two months.

PHILLIPS: Shelby, this could have killed you because it leads to organ failure, right? That's sort of the way it starts with this sort of swelling and redness and then eventually your body starts to shut down.

HOFF: Any times it goes systemically, like in your bloodstream, it's very fast way to die from there because it's -- like you said, it overtakes your organs and it can go into your bones, it can go into your muscles. It's very, very virulent. It's extremely hard to kill. PHILLIPS: Now you're in school to become a nurse so I'm curious. This would be like the perfect way to pass all your tests. You're a living example of something that you're studying and finding out more about. Tell me, have you incorporated this into class, in school? Are you learning more about it? What about your doctor? Was your doctor surprised? And is this something that everybody there at the hospital is learning more about?

HOFF: Well, it has helped me with nursing school because it -- like for clinicals, I make sure that I'm very diligent about washing my hands and taking every precaution that I can to protect patients from, you know, any type of hospital acquired infection, or something I might bring in from the outside.

And it also has helped me with my studies as well because infection control is very important in nursing school. And far as my doctor he was surprised, because, you know, a couple years ago MRSA was not very well known. It was well known as a hospital infection and an infection for people in nursing homes, or people who have you know a lower immune system, but not in someone who is active and healthy, and people who worked out in a gym.

So that's probably why the hospital and my doctor it took them so long to figure out what was wrong with me, because that was the last thing on their minds to have such a huge infection.

PHILLIPS: Sure. And I think that a lot of people will learn from this and now and know to check more and ask more about it.

Now, just real quickly, on a lighter note, I understand your brother thinks that you're indebted to him now for the rest of your life? And that you're supposed to be doing all his chores because he says he saved your life?

HOFF: Yes, even though it was two years ago, I'm still doing all his chores, cleaning the bathroom, taking out the garbage, you name it.

PHILLIPS: Well, you tell your brother --

HOFF: But it's worth it.

PHILLIPS: Yeah, Jim needs to lay off a little bit, OK. Shelby Hoff.

HOFF: I agree.

PHILLIPS: Great. Thanks for telling us your story. We're so glad you have recovered.

HOFF: Thank you very much.

PHILLIPS: Staph infections are definitely nothing new and the bacteria is always trying to outwit the latest antibiotic. And when it comes to the toughest version, MRSA, there are actually two strains. According to the "Journal of the American Medical Association" hospital acquired MRSA most often hits people who are or have recently been in the hospital or in long-term care. Also, people who have had invasive procedures such as dialysis and people who have been on antibiotics.

Community-acquired MRSA is more common if you play contact sports, share towels or sports equipment, have a weakened immune system, or live in a crowded environment like prison. Both forms of MRSA are treatable, but the earlier, obviously, the better.

HOLMES: The security of Karbala Province, south of Baghdad, back in Iraqi hands. The Iraqi military assumed responsibility in an elaborate ceremony with the U.S. commander there, saying his troops are only a phone call away, if needed. Karbala, which is primarily Shiite, is the eighth province officially turned back to the Iraqis. Ten others are still under U.S. control. Basra is said to be handed over next week -- next actually, not next week -- but it is going to be handed over next and that's supposed to happen sometime before Christmas.

HOLMES: Church and state have a complicated relationship in America, but not in the military. Prayer, religion and clergy have all been front and center in all of America's wars in Iraq, no different. CNN's Alessio Vinci has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father in Heaven thy kingdom come --

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN INTL. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Patrolling the streets of Baghdad is risky business.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay on the gas, dude.

VINCI: Fear of getting stuck in hostile territory can require help from a higher power.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On Earth as it is in Heaven, give us this day our daily bread --

VINCI: For some soldiers a quick prayer releases tension and mixed with a little bit of black humor --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

VINCI: boosts morale.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Father, we're grateful to gather here in your presence.

VINCI: Faith plays a big role in the lives of many soldiers deployed in Iraq. Some gather for silent prayer before setting out on patrol. Others express their beliefs more openly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In your way in that you will watch after them.

VINCI: At church services held at most U.S. bases here, give soldiers a chance to pray together for friends lost in battle and family far away. Their faith also helps them deal with the anger and resentment that can, and often does, well up inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been having a lot of problems dealing with the fact that I heard my child's first cry on the phone. And right now, I'm having a lot of problems praising God because of bitterness.

VINCI: And that is why Army chaplains are always on hand to help ease the pain.

CHAPLAIN TIMOTHY WALLS, U.S. ARMY: Just like human nature, when things are going well and those times people tend not to look towards God as much. When things are very difficult, that forces us to come to our knees, and to come to God.

VINCI (on camera): Each battalion is assigned one Army chaplain, that's about a minister or priest for every 400 soldiers deployed here in Iraq. And they don't just deploy spiritual support but moral comfort. This Army sniper says faith is essential to achieve his duties, which include killing other human beings if necessary.

STAFF SGT. CESAR ORTIZ, U.S. ARMY: Me, personally, I've been to have faith and believe that there is somebody above that would forgive me of my sins and protect me always. And I feel like the decisions that I've made would never come back to haunt me.

VINCI: Faith and combat can be a difficult combination for believers, especially when the Sixth Commandment, "Thou Shalt Not Kill", isn't part of their mandate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Amen.

VINCI: Alessio Vinci, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right, listen to this. An American soldier comes home from Iraq to meet his five new sisters for the first time. No, his deployment wasn't that long and his parents weren't getting that busy. This happened over the weekend in Buffalo, New York. Daniel Walker was on duty in Iraq for two years, and his parents adopted the girls through foster care.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANIEL WALKER, U.S. AIR FORCE: I've been waiting for this day for a while, because it's pretty hard to have a phone conversation with new sisters and stuff and it's better to know them in person instead on the phone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Walker, and two other siblings, also adopted after spending three weeks at home. Walker will be stationed in Italy.

PHILLIPS: In bold, above the fold: Sex sells, especially when the sordid tale involves a royal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every pub, every person in the land is talking about who is this person and what exactly has gone on. It's intriguing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: You bet your bottom tuppence it is. That's a British thing.

HOLMES: My bottom what?

PHILLIPS: Coming up. Boy we're going south, aren't we?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Argentina's next president will be its current first lady. Yesterday voters made Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner the country's first elected female leader. She easily topped the field of 14 candidates after an unorthodox campaign, in which she refused to debate and spent lots of time abroad. Mrs. Fernandez de Kirchner is a lawyer and a senator and has been a top advisor to her husband, outgoing president Nester de Kirchner. He says he will be quite happy to be first gentleman.

HOLMES: Well, France's new president showing a bit of an angry side. Earlier this month Nicolas Sarkozy sat for an interview with "60 Minutes". Airing last night on CBS, it was aimed at introducing Sarkozy to an American audience. Well, here's what happened when the topic turned to questions about his wife, at the time, Cecilia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LESLEY STAHL, CORRESPONDENT, "60 MINUTES": Since we've been here that it seems every day we're hearing another story about your wife. What's going on?

NICOLAS SARKOZY, PRESIDENT, FRANCE (through translator): If I had something to say about Cecilia, I would certainly not do so here.

STAHL: But there's a great mystery. Everybody is asking, even your press secretary was asked at the briefing today. No comment?

SARKOZY (through translator): He was quite right to make no comment, and -- no comment. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Yes, and then he bounced. The interview took place two weeks before the Sarkozy's announced they were getting a divorce. He was a little on edge at the time. PHILLIPS: Sex, drugs and rocking the royals. London's abuzz over a busted blackmail plot and an alleged sex tape involving one of the queen's relatives. So, which royal is it? Buckingham Palace is mum, but suspected blackmailers have been named and some naughty details revealed. Keenan Simmons (ph) reports from ITV news out of London.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice over): Thirty-year-old Ian Strachan (ph) is described as a well-connected London socialite, and now he's charged with blackmail along with his friend Sean McGuiggan (ph). They are said to have made allegations against a member of the royal family, and demanded 50,000 pounds. The royal involved is in line to the throne, they are not a senior member of the family, but cannot be named because of a court order.

JAMES WHITTAKER, ROYAL WATCHER: When you have a story involving a member of the royal family, which is definitely the case in this instant, and blackmail and all sorts of naughty goings on at night, and at other times, of course it intrigues people. I mean, every pub, every person in the land is talking about who is this person and what exactly has gone on? It's intriguing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is thought that the two accused men played a videotape at a meeting in this hotel, a recording allegedly showing a royal assistant taking drugs and claiming to have sex with a member of the royal family. They said to have threatened to make the video public. A meeting had been set up by undercover detectives, and the two men were arrested. Ian Strachan (ph) and Sean McGuiggan (ph) will appear in at the Old Bailey in December, charged with blackmail. A member of the royal family, drugs, sex, quite a mix. Keenan Simmons (ph), ITV News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: After a grand ole life and career a country legend passes on. A look back at Porter Wagner, ahead in the NEWSROOM.

A.J. HAMMER, CNN ANCHOR, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm A.J. Hammer in New York.

Oprah Winfrey created a school to help young women in South Africa, but now she's apologizing to their parents. I'm going to tell you why next in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures out of Des Moines, Iowa. You can see the smoke billowing up. This is via our affiliate KCCI, bringing us this live picture. Apparently, there was an explosion at this company, Barton Solvents, is the name of the company. They make industrial chemicals like paint thinners, household cleaners, hydraulic oil, obviously solvents that are easily flammable.

But an explosion right now at Barton's Solvents in De Moines, Iowa. We're trying to get a closer picture, and get more details, find out if there were any injuries, if everybody was able to evacuate, what exactly happened. We're working the details. We'll bring it to you as soon as we can.

HOLMES: Oprah Winfrey justifiably proud of her academy for girls in South Africa, but now it's reduced her to tears. "Showbiz Tonight's" A.J. Hammer here with more on what happened at the school. Hey there, A.J.

HAMMER: Hey there, T.J.

Yes, this is very upsetting for Oprah. A dorm parent at the school has been accused of abusing some of the students there. Now reports surfaced last week that the matron at the school had fondled a student and that she had also thrown a girl against a wall and held her by her throat. Well, the matron and the principal of the school have both been placed on leave. According to reports in the South African press the principal apparently ignored complaints about the abuse.

Winfrey apologized, in person, to the parents of the students at a meeting in South Africa. And reporters on the scene said that she had to hold back tears. She had them in our eyes and she was telling those parents how that she felt she had disappointed them.

Now, T.J. the criminal investigation into these allegations is still going on, but Oprah Winfrey tried to reassure the parents that she would do everything possible to make sure that anyone who was guilty of abuse would be dealt with. But this is a real blow for something that is such a passion project for Oprah Winfrey.

HOLMES: Yeah, all that fanfare and it was such a positive thing. I remember when that school first opened, we certainly covered that story as well. Also, yes, too bad to hear some bad news coming out of there.

Also, some sad news coming out of the world of country music, lost a legend here.

HAMMER: That's right, 80-year-old country music legend Porter Wagner has passed away after his long fight with lung cancer. His name may not be all that familiar to the masses, but he definitely was one country music's biggest star. He signed his first deal back in 1955. He produced 81 music hits. And in the last year he had a comeback of sorts, by releasing a new album and opening up for the band The White Stripes at Madison Square Garden.

His most famous collaboration was with the great Dolly Parton. The two of them met in 1967 on Wagner's television show. Which by the way, ran for 21 years. Their partnership produced 19 duets. The two had an acrimonious split back in the mid-1970s, but they did reconcile. And were on good terms at the end of his life. In fact, in a statement today, Parton said losing Porter was like losing part of her family.

Coming up tonight on "Showbiz Tonight," sexy or sexist? A controversial new list names the women considered the unsexiest stars in Hollywood. Some of the names on this list, Sarah Jessica Parker and Madonna, but is the list offensive to women, or anybody for that matter? It's a heated debate tonight on TV's most provocative entertainment news show. See it at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on Headline Prime, for "Showbiz Tonight".

HOLMES: I don't know, A.J., that's not a tease to get somebody to watch. Tune in for the unsexiest women. That doesn't sound good.

HAMMER: People are fired up about it, though. We're going to get into it.

HOLMES: All right, A.J. We appreciate it. We'll see you.

HAMMER: You got it.

PHILLIPS: Eating burgers and getting 10 grand. You know who set the new world record? CNN chows down, straight ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: How fast can you eat a hamburger? How about 103 of them? Joey Chestnut, T.J.'s good friend, downed that many in eight minutes yesterday to set a world record in competitive eating.

Why do people do this?

HOLMES: He got paid.

PHILLIPS: The 23-year-old pit his gut against 12 others at the Fourth Annual Krystal Square Off in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Have you ever Krystal Burger?

HOLMES: Long time.

PHILLIPS: At about 3:00 a.m., in the morning, right? Chestnut's record surpasses that of eating legend Takeru Kobayashi, who won all three previous Krystal championships. Kobayashi didn't compete this year, though, due to lingering jaw pain after a tooth extraction. In addition to bragging rights, Chestnut won 10 grand.

HOLMES: Ten grand, just like that.

PHILLIPS: Can I think of better ways to try and make 10 grand.

HOLMES: I'm not getting 10 grand for doing this show with you today. So that doesn't sound like a bad way to go, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: I'm not force feeding you.

HOLMES: All right.

We will turn to the World Series, folks, and the Red Sox. It's Boston, they couldn't win one for 80 years and now they won two in the past four years. Yes, 89 years, and now they have two championships to brag about. The Red Sox swept their way to another title last night. As can you see there, the joyful Boston faithful in the streets after the team's 4-3 clincher over Colorado. Most of these folks, of course, fuelled by the adrenaline. Some, as you can imagine, were fuelled by beer, wine, liquor, shots, whatever.

Police reported a couple dozen disorderly conduct arrests. The team arrives home from dozen this afternoon about 3:30 Eastern and they will head to Fenway Park with a police escort and city and Sox officials will be planning a public celebration.

PHILLIPS: All right, I know you dig this.

HOLMES: Yes.

PHILLIPS: We've all been talking about this. One football team proved to have all the right moves this weekend, or all the right stuff, right? They happened to be lateral moves. Check out the last play of Saturday's game between Trinity University and Millsap College in Jackson, Mississippi.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three wide receivers to his left and two to the right. He takes the snap, there's only three men rushing for Millsap. Barmore (ph) throws it over the middle, complete to Thompson (ph). Thompson (ph) looking for a block. He laterals it to Curry (ph). And Curry (ph) laterals it again, and it's caught again. And Thomas (ph), now on the lateral, and now the lateral to Thompson (ph), and he laterals it back to Maddox (ph) on the other side. Maddox (ph) looking for a block, he fakes the lateral to Curry (ph). Now he laterals it to Curry (ph). Curry (ph) is at the 49 yard line, he's dancing around, the throws it back now to Maddox (ph), who throws it across the field to Barmore (ph) -- Barmore (ph) looking to run, he's looking for a block. He's got a convoy. He's going to throw it to Thompson -- Thomas (ph) at the 30 yard line, Thompson now laterals it back to Curry (ph) at the 35. They're running out of spaces. Curry (ph) fakes. He does a lateral --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go! Go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thomas has it, it's a go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go, go!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thomas had a chance to go. He laterals it. Now he will go to Maddux (ph). Maddux at the 30 yard line and now --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lateral!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lateral?! Curry's (ph) still going.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No way! No way!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Curry's still running to the touchdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com