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Holiday Trip Turns Deadly; Travel Delays; Top Terror Adviser Resigning; Waiting for Help in Bangladesh
Aired November 19, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins.
Watch events com in to the NEWSROOM live on this Monday morning. It is November 19th, and here's what's on the rundown.
A tour bus veers off the road in the middle of the night. Travelers headed for a holiday cruise end up in the hospital instead.
Thanksgiving drivers, stuff your turkey and your wallet. Gas closes on a record high.
The MySpace love affair that wasn't. A girl takes her life over a boy who never existed.
Online tragedy in the NEWSROOM.
A holiday trip turns deadly this morning in South Carolina. A charter bus crashed just after 1:00 a.m. on Interstate 26 in Dorchester County. The bus driver was killed, 31 passengers injured. One person was flown to a Charleston hospital in serious condition. The highway patrol says the other 30 people injured were taken to area hospitals.
The emergency medical services director says none of their injuries appear to be life threatening. About 60 people were on board the bus. They were headed to Miami for a holiday cruise.
We want to try to get more information now about this situation from the emergency medical services director for Dorchester County. Douglas Warren is joining us from Summerville, South Carolina.
Mr. Warren, tell us what you can about this accident this morning. Have you been able to learn any more about how it happened in the first place?
DOUGLAS WARREN, EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES DIRECTOR, DORCHESTER COUNTY: I really don't have a whole lot more information about how it happened. As you said a minute ago, it was a group that left St. Stephen (ph) this morning on their way to Miami. The bus veered off the road. The driver apparently slumped over and the bus veered off the road through a stand of trees and came to rest.
COLLINS: Wow. We have reported that the bus driver, unfortunately, was killed in this situation. Is that the same information that you have, one fatality?
WARREN: That is correct.
COLLINS: Any other vehicles involved? As we're looking at the video here, you know, it's pretty hard to tell oftentimes. And obviously this happened at night, so even harder to tell.
WARREN: Well, fortunately, there were no other vehicles. This is a pretty rural stretch of I-26. There were no other vehicles on the road at the time of this incident.
COLLINS: Yes, that is some good news, certainly.
Any idea -- if you could possibly give us more information about the current status of those people that were injured/ We said many of them had been taken to area hospitals.
WARREN: I don't have any further information on the status of the patients. I would assume that by now some of them, at least, have been treated and released. But I don't know that for sure.
COLLINS: All right. Very good.
Well, we appreciate your time here this morning.
Douglas Warren, he is the emergency medical service director for Dorchester County.
Once again, that accident happening in South Carolina. We will watch it for you.
Meanwhile, want to get directly to Bonnie Schneider, standing by in the weather center with some breaking news there.
Hi, Bonnie.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Heidi.
We are watching airport delays. They are just picking up for various reasons.
In the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, we're getting reporting of a power outage that's slowing things down at the airport. You're looking at Flight Explorer now, and we've programmed it to show all the planes that are in the air headed to the Dallas area. A little over 80 planes across the U.S. headed in that direction, and some of them are backed up due to this power outage.
Now, I'm going to walk over to the big board there and show you the numerous delays that we have currently. And it's not just in the Dallas area.
I mentioned that this particular airport delay is due to a power outage, but notice Atlanta, Chicago, this entire part of the country as you travel from east to west. We're getting weather-related delays, ground stops. And most of this is due to low clouds and fog. For example, in and around the Houston area, we have a dense fog advisory. The fog is so thick that it's limited in the type of planes that actually can land, depending on their flight instrumentation.
This is a live picture from Houston, courtesy of our affiliate KHOU. Visibility is near zero right now due to the fog, so the ground stop for Houston continues until 9:30 this morning.
We also have long ground delays at LaGuardia airport, one hour and 10 minutes. And this is still pretty early in the morning to have such lengthy delays. We're likely to see increase throughout the morning.
Philadelphia reporting 20-minute delays, so not so bad there.
And as we look ahead to the Thanksgiving holiday, the busiest travel day of the year, the day before, on Wednesday, just want to get you ready, because we're likely to see even more delays on Wednesday due to a front coming right through the U.S. This is going to produce a lot of rain and snow to areas into northern Minnesota, possibly Chicago for rain. And delays are likely through this entire region.
The good news is some of the airports on the East Coast should stay dry as we go towards the Thanksgiving Day holiday. But it was anything but, of course, due to the snow that we had in the forecast. Enough snow that fell earlier yesterday in and around New Jersey, where we had several inches of snow, and in parts of Pennsylvania, six inches of snow.
Looking ahead to some of the delays, what we can expect, I'll tell you, the snow may slow you down because the snow advisories for parts of Pennsylvania will actually continue straight until the rest of the morning hours. The advisories continue until 10:00 am.
Elsewhere across the country, fog slows you down in areas of the Southeast, but otherwise we're really looking at calmer conditions for a good portion of the country. Pacific Northwest not reporting delays just yet, but we do have rain in and around the Seattle area. So that may slow you down there as well -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right.
CNN's Bonnie Schneider watching a pretty nasty weather situation, that is for sure.
And so we want to talk a little bit more about that. Look at this now. These shots coming in from DFW, from our affiliate there, WFAA, in Dallas, Texas, looking at a whole bunch of planes doing a whole bunch of nothing.
There are obviously delays. Bonnie mentioned this power outage that we have been reporting to you on. And obviously when you have any type of power outage at an airport, you're going to have some serious delays. Hopefully, this is not indicative of what will be happening come, oh, let's say, Wednesday or maybe even Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. But obviously a lot of people doing some of their travel now to get in place for the Thanksgiving holiday.
And again, that live situation, which is nothing going on, actually, at DFW right now. So we are going to continue to keep our eye on that. Once again, a power outage there to watch for you this morning.
Meanwhile, want to give you a little bit more information about the holiday travel season. You should pack smart. In fact, that is the message from the Transportation Security Administration as you get ready to head out for the holidays.
CNN's Jeanne Meserve is at Reagan National Airport now with more on this.
Good morning to you there, Jeanne.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
If you're dreading those long security lines at the airport, the Transportation Security Administration is saying you can do something to make them shorter. They are putting out a public service announcement which will be on their Web site and posted elsewhere as well, which gives some tips on things travelers can do, including how to pack their carry-on bag.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Think layers. One layer of clothes, one layer of electronics. That way, it's easier for us to determine what's in your bag.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MESERVE: And obviously they want to look in your bag to look for IEDs or any components of IEDs. They say if they have to do a hand search, that will add an additional three minutes to your stop at security. And, of course, multiply that by the hundreds of people in line, and you have a significant delay.
They're also saying have your IDs out, ready to show, along with your ticket. And also remember that 311 rule: Three ounces of liquid, one-quart bag, one of them per person.
All of this, an effort to inform members of the public who may not travel on a regular basis, but will be traveling on this very busy holiday week.
Heidi, back to you.
COLLINS: Yes. And I just flew, Jeanne, and I was trying to shove so many of those little itty-bitty bottles inside that one-quart bag. It was really a task.
You know, we should probably talk about how busy this holiday season is going to be this year. It seems like every year we hear it's going to be the busiest ever.
MESERVE: Right. They're saying air travel should be up about four percent across the board. Some days it could be up as much as 20 percent.
The TSA says it is opening all the lanes, trying to make sure things will move quickly. And they promise that if your security line gets longer than 30 minutes, that TSA senior management will be informed and will try to take action. They're hoping it doesn't get that bad, but you know what it's like Thanksgiving time.
COLLINS: Yes.
MESERVE: Very busy.
COLLINS: Yes. Thankful to be back home once you get home.
All right. Jeanne Meserve, thanks so much, live from Reagan National Airport this morning.
MESERVE: You bet.
COLLINS: Sol, if you are heading home for Thanksgiving, are you going by car? Well, if you are, it's going to cost you.
Gas prices are up another 13 cents just in the past two weeks. The average for a gallon of self-serve regular now, $3.09. And that's just nine cents away from a new record.
Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez warns oil prices could soar to $200 a barrel if the U.S. attacks his country or Iran. Chavez, speaking at an OPEC summit in Saudi Arabia. The White House says the only people attacking Chavez are Venezuelans who want freedom and democracy.
Meanwhile, a surprise from the White House to tell you about this morning. President Bush's top terrorism adviser is resigning. Frances Townsend has been one of the president's go-to people on homeland security.
We want to go live now to our Brianna Keilar with the very latest on this.
Good morning to you, Brianna.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
And Fran Townsend, as well as the White House, says this has been in the works for a while, but obviously just becoming official today, that Frances Townsend, the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, the president's top homeland security adviser, is stepping down. And this is an announcement that comes at a critical time for the Bush administration, with the Iraq war as it is, with the downturn in the war in Afghanistan, because Townsend's vast experience obviously is in counterterrorism and identifying terrorist groups all around the world. She has been in this multi -- at the heart of a multi-dimensional approach, and not just in knocking down terrorist groups physically, but also going after their financial backing and really cutting them at the knees financially.
President Bush did release a statement saying that, "Fran has always provided wise counsel on how best to protect the American people from the threat of terrorism. She has been a steady leader in the effort to prevent and disrupt attacks and to better respond to natural disasters."
As we said, this has been in the works for a while. White House spokesperson Scott Stanzel telling us that Townsend had spoken to the president about wanting to pursue opportunities in the private sector, as she is expected to do at this point. And we're told that she will be leaving shortly after the first of January.
Townsend, obviously, part of a long line of close advisers to the president who have left this year and in recent months. Of course, close confidante Karl Rove, as well as Dan Bartlett, counselor to the president, and press secretary Tony Snow. So she is one of -- one of these trusted members of this inner circle who have departed in recent months -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Well, it may be way too early to ask you this, Brianna, but since we have you this morning, we're going to go for it. Any word yet on a possible replacement?
KEILAR: No word yet. And the official word from White House spokesman Scott Stanzel is that there is no announcement. But the hope is that when she does depart the White House shortly after the new year, there will be her replacement ready to take over -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Very good.
Brianna Keilar reporting for us outside the White House this morning.
Thank you, Brianna.
Two teens so infatuated with school shootings, German police say they were planning their own. Police say one of them had a Web page glorifying the 1999 Columbine massacre. Police questioned the teens and found weapons and bomb-making instructions. They say one of the teens killed himself, stepping in front of a street car.
Police believe the teens planned to carry out a school attack in Cologne tomorrow. That would have coincided with the first anniversary of another German school shooting.
The list is out: America's cities with the most crime. Are you living in a danger zone?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Growing desperation in Bangladesh. The military there now saying more than 3,000 people were killed by the massive cyclone that hit Thursday. That number could be more than double as searchers reach remote areas wiped out by the storm.
Boy, look at these pictures.
Many of those villages have been cut off from relief supplies. And the U.S. has promised to help, more than $2 million for relief. The Pentagon is also sending two Navy carriers to the area.
Thousands dead, hundreds of thousands of people left without food or shelter. There is a desperate effort under way right now to reach survivors of that devastating cyclone in Bangladesh.
CNN's Cal Perry is in Barisal City for us this morning.
Cal, what should we be watching for beyond the immediate concerns of the aid agencies there?
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we were actually out today with the aid organization Save the Children. We literally went by boat to one of the most remote areas of the country, literally landed on the shore and watched them unload aid to people that were desperate for food, water and shelter.
Now, they're telling us there are two concerns. The first and immediate concern, that the death toll could rise due to the effects of the storm directly. The second concern is more of a long-term concern.
This is a country that relies on the rice harvest that has been ruined. There are literally -- these aid groups are going to have to try to figure out a way to feed this country over the course of the next year.
And more immediate than that, even, is the concern of disease. There's a lot of stagnant water around. There's some concern with typhoid, cholera, and other types of diseases that are easily spread after these kinds of disasters. So there's both the short-term concerns from these aid groups and the long-term concerns -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes. And, of course, at this point, we are hearing all kinds of different numbers on the death toll.
Why is that? Obviously we're still waiting for them to reach these remote areas that we've been talking about.
PERRY: Well, that's the main reason. The main reason is that the government and a lot of these aid organizations simply have not gotten to some of these areas.
Now, the infrastructure of this country was literally brought to its knees by this storm. There are areas of this country where they simply do not have communications.
So aid organizations do expect that death toll to rise a little bit. And it's because they simply do not know what's out there. They're still exploring some of these areas. We actually interviewed a woman today in one of these very remote areas who didn't even know that the storm was coming. She didn't have a phone to begin with and she literally rode out the storm where she was.
It gives you an idea of the rural area we're talking about. I'm literally standing on the biggest plateau in the world, the biggest river system in the world. It's literally just a few feet above sea level. And when you think about a 15-foot storm surge coming through some of these areas, it can be absolutely devastating.
That's why we're getting conflicting numbers. The numbers may be low at this point. We're going to, of course, have to follow this over the next few days to see if those numbers rise.
COLLINS: Yes. Days and maybe even week, it appears.
All right. CNN's Cal Perry reporting live this morning from Barisal City, Bangladesh.
Thank you, Cal.
IT will be mostly dark Thanksgiving on the Great White Way. Broadway theater producers have canceled shows through next Sunday because of a stagehand strike. The move comes after a breakdown in talks last night. The strike has brought the curtain down on 27 Broadway shows since it began nine days ago. Eight Broadway productions under separate union contracts and off-Broadway shows do continue to run.
Heading back to the bargaining table in Hollywood. Striking writers there agree to return to contract talks with producer next Monday. The writers have been on strike for two weeks.
The issue? What they're paid when their work ends up on DVDs on the Internet. Since the strike began, late-night talk shows and some sitcoms have gone to reruns. Scripts are quickly running out on other shows.
A teen finds love on MySpace, but it was a trick with horrible consequences.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's as if my daughter would have killed herself with a gun. They loaded the gun for her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A girl's tragic death, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Want to get you back to the situation we first told you about just a little while ago here on CNN. You're looking at a live shot now of one of the control towers at DFW. And you see a series of planes just lined up there and not moving.
Here is what we know at this point.
Apparently, radio communication to the FAA's east and west towers was somehow disrupted around 7:00 this morning. That meant that the FAA had to declare a ground stop. So, obviously, no planes were moving at the time.
Then just about a minute later or so, the power to the east tower had been restored. So flights were beginning to take off. But the west tower apparently still down, and no one seems to know at this point how long that could last.
But interesting to point out that DFW is one of the only airports in the nation that actually track each plane on its tarmac, and then communicates back to the airlines if they've been waiting for more than 90 minute. What that means is then the airport can advise the airlines and they can go ahead and start bringing planes back to the gate.
So, if, in fact, you are awaiting a loved who might be coming out of DFW, that is the situation as we know it. So obviously going to be some delays, pretty significant delays, from the looks of it. But apparently things will be up and running at some point.
Right now, airlines are reporting 30-minute delays.
We'll keep our eye on that one for you.
The implosion of a famous south Florida hotel kicks up a cloud of dust. The Sheraton Bal Harbour destroyed to make room for another luxury resort. It took a while for the dust to settle, but when it did, Miami-Dade Search and Rescue Team used the rubble for a training exercise. The Sheraton was formerly the Americana hotel, a favorite of celebrities.
A driver loses control on a California interstate. The highway patrol says seven people were killed when an SUV ran off the road and landed upside down in a canal. Five of the victims were children. Officials say no one in the car was wearing a seat belt and there were no car seats for the children.
The Motor City says it got a bad rap. Detroit named the most dangerous city in America by CQ Press. That's part of "Congressional Quarterly."
Last year's crime leader, St. Louis, dropped to second place, followed by Flint, Michigan, Oakland, California, and Camden, New Jersey. The controversial list is based on FBI crime statistics, but even the FBI is critical of how the numbers are used.
Art Edwards with affiliate WDIV sampled reaction in Detroit.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ART EDWARDS, REPORTER, WDIV (voice over): The city of Detroit on a crisp, clear November evening. Lots of people on the streets in the popular Greektown area under the watchful eye of police.
In Campus Martius, where visitors sometimes stop to take pictures of all the lights, and around the Fox Theater, mostly these folks are unaware of the city's ranking as the most dangerous city in America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't agree at all. You see I'm here on a Sunday night, Greektown. I mean, it's a really good experience. I mean, we're at the bakery. Plenty of people in here. I don't think anybody is in fear at all.
ROSA CRUZ, DETROIT RESIDENT: I don't want to be on top of that statistic.
EDWARDS: Rosa Cruz lives in southwest Detroit behind a fence with a locked gate. She says lots of work still needs to be done in the city's neighborhoods.
CRUZ: And we can't leave it all to the police department. They have a lot to do. And we appreciate the work that they're doing. But they can't do it alone. We have to be their eyes and their ears.
EDWARDS: CQ Press puts out the report. The company calls its an independent publisher advancing democracy by informing citizens.
Police chief Ella Bully-Cumming has problems with the report and Detroit's number one ranking. She released a statement that says, in part, "Attached to the organization's press release are instructions on how to purchase the complete report. It really makes you wonder if the organization is tuly concerned with evaluating crime or increasing their profit."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Some cities, including Chicago and Minneapolis, were not included because the data was not available.
On the other hand, Mission Viejo, California, was named the safest city in America. It's followed by Clarkstown, New York; Brick Township, New Jersey; Amherst, New York; and Sugar Land, Texas.
Holiday plans tragically changed. A bus crash leaves a driver dead and passengers recovering from injuries.
The very latest coming up right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris has the day off.
A holiday trip turns deadly this morning in South Carolina. A charter bus crashed just after 1:00 on Interstate 26 in Dorchester County. The bus driver was killed, 31 passengers injured.
One person was flown to a Charleston hospital in serious condition. The highway patrol says the other 30 people injured were taken to area hospitals.
The emergency medical services director says none of their injuries appear to be life threatening. About 60 people were on board the bus. They were headed to Miami for a holiday cruise.
He picked the court and now the court picks him. Pakistan's supreme court today rejecting legal challenges to President General Pervez Musharraf's rule. The Pakistani leader appointed new judges more than two weeks ago when he declared a state of emergency. The court's decision opens the way for the Pakistani leader to serve another five-year term. Pro-democracy advocates have denounced the ruling.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration has been trying to convince the Pakistani leader to drop emergency rule, restore the constitution, and free political opponents.
There you go. That's a nice thing to see on Monday morning, isn't it? Big, fat diamonds.
Harry Winston Company opening the New York Stock Exchange with that Dow Jones Industrial bell about to ring in just a second. Hopefully they'll bring some sparkle to the numbers, huh?
There you have it, the opening bell.
As you know, likely, anyway, everyone has been watching pretty closely to these numbers. Dow Jones closed down about 66 points on Friday, ended up 13,176. So, we are going to be watching those numbers and see what could be happening this holiday week. Hopefully, like we said, something sparkly, huh?
Bonnie Schneider joining us now with the very latest on -- wow, looks like more airplanes and travel, possible delays. Right? You talked about the New York area. And then we've been talking about Dallas as well.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, and we're also talking about Atlanta. This is a live picture of a plane that's waiting to take off at the Atlanta airport. And it's not surprising, the fog has been so thick in and around the Atlanta area, that we do have a ground stop until 10:30 this morning. So, overcast skies in Atlanta, but some power outages have been, unfortunately, slow people down in Dallas, Texas. I want to show flight explorer now as we show you the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Now, some of the power outages are starting to get repaired a bit. So, we're getting some improvements, and that's evident, looking at flight explorer. What you're looking at here are all the planes that are taking off and leaving the airport. And you can see that many of them are starting to get going and get on their way. So, some improving conditions in Dallas that we still have delays. That is not the only place we have delays, even early in the morning. I want to show you a long list of airport delays with so many people traveling from Atlanta to Dallas down through Houston and also in Chicago.
Look at this, ground delays there at O'Hare. We'll see airport delays, an hour and ten minutes. And it's still early in the day. The dense fog, not just in Texas, but across much of the south has really been causing a lot of problems in Houston, for example, where visibility is down to zero this morning. So, we're having delays in Houston and also in the east coast.
Lots of delays due to low clouds. There was snow this morning in New York City. That changed over to rain. But look what's happening in LaGuardia Airport. Ground delays an hour and ten minutes. San Francisco, low clouds and fog, 40 minute delays. Philadelphia delay is not too bad only 20 minutes. But D.C., those delays are on the rise due to the poor visibility. And we have clouds and rain in the vicinity. Now, we're keeping you up-to-date on Holiday travel, weather information, not only through the CNN weather reports, but also on the right side and below your screen.
You'll find five-day forecasts, current weather conditions and real-time airport delays as we go straight through Thanksgiving. Another unique feature we have here on CNN is we can forecast future airport delays. What you can expect later this afternoon if you're flying, let's say, today after work. Here is what you can expect. Philadelphia looks like it will improve. And so does Chicago. But we do have troubled spots. For example in the south, Atlanta not reporting delays for the afternoon but we may see some of them in Tampa.
Also, as we travel to the west, things are looking great for travel in Phoenix, Salt Lake City and into Denver. But San Francisco, those delays should stick around at least through the morning hours due to fog and L.A. also going to be fog-related delays.
Now, some clouds are coming in to areas of the Pacific Northwest. So, we could possibly see some delays in and around Seattle, Port Land and the parts of Northern California. So, a lot of locations are going to be reporting likely delays as we go through the next couple of days. So, something we're watching very closely.
COLLINS: Yuck, Bonnie. The whole country looks like a big fat mess.
SCHNEIDER: It does. And it's so early still. Wait until we get to Wednesday when we have rain coming in through the Midwest. We're going to see more delays then as well.
COLLINS: Oh, all right, well, that's a shame. All right, Bonnie, thanks for watching it for us. We'll check back with you a little later.
A teenage girl kills herself after a dispute with an online boyfriend. But it turns out the boyfriend didn't exist. CNN's Gary Tuchman explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What happened here was horrifying. Why it might have happened will leave you incredulous.
TINA MEIER, MEGAN'S MOTHER: She was just a good girl.
TUCHMAN: Tina Meier of suburban St. Louis is the mother of Megan Meier who had lived a challenging childhood.
RON MEIER, MEGAN'S FATHER: She got bullied in school and she had big self esteem issues. She had struggled with depression since she was in the third grade.
TUCHMAN: Megan's mother and father allowed her to set up a MySpace account under their supervision and said their 13-year-old swooned when she got her first affectionate note ever from a boy named Josh Evans.
T. MEIER: He thought she was really pretty. Posting on comments on her picture as, you know, this is beautiful. Your eyes are beautiful.
TUCHMAN: For about a month, Josh sent her instant messages, saying things like lucky me and lucky you, because you are my number one. But Megan's mother and father started getting suspicious. Because although the notes were not explicit, their parental instinct told them something was not right.
T. MEIER: I did contact the police department. I called and went, asked to be transfer to the cyber crimes division to see how can I check to see if this MySpace account is real? Nothing you can do.
TUCHMAN: Then one day...
T. MEIER: It was a whirlwind. Josh saying horrible things to Megan. Megan saying things back to him.
TUCHMAN: Nasty messages from a boy who just a day before, meant everything to this lonely girl. One in particular cut deep.
R. MEIER: The world would be a better off place without you and [bleep], the rest of your life.
TUCHMAN: Megan was distraught beyond words.
T. MEIER: This is the part I'll never forgive myself for, because she was looking for me to help calm her down, like I normally always did, and be there for her. And I was upset with her because I didn't like the language that she was using and I was upset that she didn't listen to me and sign off when I told her to. And so I was aggravated with her about that and told her that she knew better. And she just said to me, you're supposed to be my mom. You're supposed to be on my side. And she took off running upstairs.
TUCHMAN: It was too quiet for too long in that upstairs bedroom. Megan was pronounced dead the next day. When Ron Meier came home from the hospital, he wanted to find Josh Evans. Let him know what he had done to his little girl. The first place he tried to look was Josh's MySpace page.
R. MEIER: It was deleted. The whole Josh Evans no longer existed.
TUCHMAN: A month past as the Meier's struggled with their grief searching for answers why their daughter went to such extremes and who was the boy who drove her there? Then a neighbor told them something stunning. Josh Evans was actually the creation of a mother who lived on the same block as the Meier's, a mother who actually went to Megan's funeral.
According to an official police report, that mother acknowledged it, through a report saying, in the months leading up to Meier's daughter suicide, she instigated and monitored a MySpace account which was created for the sole purpose of communicating with Meier's daughter. The Meier's were told the other family wanted to find out from Megan why she was having a dispute with her own 13-year-old daughter.
R. MEIER: As if my daughter would have killed herself with a gun, they loaded the gun for her.
TUCHMAN: We are not reporting the name of that other family to protect the identity of their daughter. But did go to their home to try and get their side of the story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is anybody home?
TUCHMAN: The woman's father answered the door. In a soft voice, the grandfather said it was sad, but then would not say if he thought the police report was wrong.
Have you talked to these people since then?
T. MEIER: Yes I have.
TUCHMAN: What have you said to them?
T. MEIER: Probably things that I can't say on camera.
TUCHMAN: What have they said back to you?
R. MEIER: Give it a rest.
T. MEIER: Give it a rest.
TUCHMAN: Now, at this point, if you're waiting to hear what law enforcement is doing in an effort to get Megan and her family some justice, well, you may be waiting forever. County prosecutors, the county sheriff's office and the FBI say there is no indication, whatsoever, a crime has been committed. So, there are no plans to do anything legally. After initially telling us they weren't even investigating the case anymore, the prosecutor is now telling CNN his office will review the situation. But more than a year has gone by since Megan hanged herself. Tina and Ron Meier, who have separated, partly because of the stress, were told by lawyers it was best to stay quiet. But they no longer are. They are angry and feel they owe it to Megan to speak out.
TUCHMAN: Maybe your story could help the welfare of another child.
R. MEIER: Absolutely.
T. MEIER: That's what we hope.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, O'Fallon, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: A devastating injury. Now football star Kevin Everett is back home and he has a message for his fans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: What would it take to get global warming covered as a campaign issue?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Perhaps if, you know, John Edwards' hair caught on fire or something like because of global warming.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Huh?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Dilemma for the green team just ahead in the NEWSROOM.
Encouraging news to tell you about this morning about injured NFL player Kevin Everett. After suffering a severe spinal cord injury in the season opener, Everett has a special message for his fans last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN EVERETT, INJURED FOOTBALL PLAYER: How are you doing, Buffalo? This is Kevin Everett. I'm out here in Houston working hard, at here rehabbing, just thinking about you guys.
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COLLINS: Everett told fans the good news. He was going home from the hospital and will have outpatient therapy for a fractured spinal cord. CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here now with more on this. This was one that really hit home for everybody. Hate to see when a player gets hurt like this.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, a crash like that. He couldn't move below the neck initially. I mean, it was really quite horrible. It's been quite a two months for Kevin Everett. But what we've learned now is that he has left the hospital. That he is doing physical and occupational therapy. Well, after the accident on September 9th, you see it here, doctors feared he would never walk again.
Well now, he sits in a wheelchair and uses his feet to push himself around and he can hold himself up briefly in a walker. And you heard him say I'm out here rehabbing. He spends four to five hours a day in physical and occupational therapy. And Kevin Everett put it best himself. He said I have a long journey to full recovery. That's how he put it.
COLLINS: Yes. It is such a long journey when we see injuries like this especially when talking about the spinal cord. Are they talking about him walking again? I mean, it sounds like really good news that there is feeling or some type of control in his feet.
COHEN: Well, they're being very smart right now and their not talking about anything in the future. Which is smart. Because, there is one doctor who said he is going to walk out of the hospital. He said that shortly after the accident and that's not happen. So, I think they're being very wise and not making any forecasts. All of these injuries are very -- they're unique. So, each one is different. You never quite know. Certainly, that is the hope. But that is not necessarily going to happen. But doctors have said that they've seen people with this type of injury make a full recovery.
COLLINS: Maybe we should talk a little bit more about what his specific injury was when this all happened.
COHEN: Right. What's important to know is that this was the C-3 and C-4 vertebrae. And those are, as you can see, right up near the neck. And as I said initially, he couldn't move below the neck. It seems incredible that you can have a fracture there so high up and make a full recovery. But doctors said they have seen it.
COLLINS: Boy, I hope we get to see it again.
COHEN: Let's hope.
COLLINS: All right, CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen. Thanks, Elizabeth.
British student murdered. American student suspected. Now, evidence from an Italian Villa may mark a new turn in the investigation.
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COLLINS: Unfortunately, don't have a lot of good news to share with you right now. If you or you have loved ones who are out there traveling. I wanna give you a look at this live shot now. Look at all those planes just sitting there, hoping that at some point they will be cleared for takeoff. There has been a problem at DFW. We learned about a little bit earlier this morning, radio communication was interrupted 7:00 a.m. this morning. There's east and west tower there, that the FAA handles.
The communications have been restored in the east tower, but not the west, which makes everything, basically, impossible to run. Air traffic control have to watch, obviously, all of those runways. And really going to be a situation there for quite some time. We are learning. This is also a picture out of Atlanta. As I said, major travel delay. Some of them weather, some of them technical. This one, a weather delay we've been learning from meteorologist Bonnie Schneider, that there is some serious visibility problems in the Atlanta area.
In fact, take a look now at all of the delays that we are looking at. Chicago, Dallas. We're looking at, let's see, ground stop on both of those, which is never a good sign. That means nothing is going in, nothing coming out. Then we've got New York City down there. You can see that area, about an hour and ten-minute delay. The first Dallas, one that you see is Love Field Dallas-Fort Worth. You see other there. In case you might be confused. But we are watching all of these delays and ground stops. We're going to keep you up to speed because of the very heavy travel for the Thanksgiving holiday.
Murder in Italy. American college student, one of three suspects in the killing of her roommate. Could new evidence point to a fourth suspect now? CNN's Jennifer Eccleston reports.
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JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police source close to the investigation tell CNN that further analysis of evidence taken from the murder scene revealed a bloody fingerprint on Meredith Kercher's bedroom pillow. They say the fingerprint does not match those of the three suspects. Amanda Knox, the 20-year-old American exchange student and Kercher's roommate, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, also a student and Patrick Lumumba, a Congolese pub owner are all being held in an Italian jail on suspicion of murder.
A judge's preliminary ruling issued on the 9th of November concluded that all three were present when Kercher died on November 1st. The ruling said, the 21-year-old British student's throat was cut with a knife as she fought off a sexual assault. It said she took two hours to die. All three suspects say they were not at the house on the night of the murder and deny any involvement in the killing. But, on Thursday, a forensics lab in Rome confirmed that a kitchen knife found in Sollecito's apartment had DNA from both Knox and the murdered student.
Still, his lawyer says that discovery does not implicate him, because Amanda Knox had access to his client's apartment. Other forensic evidence is still being examined. From the very beginning of this case, there has been widespread media speculation of a fourth suspect, due to leaked reports of DNA found in a toilet at the villa on Perugia lane. The police source tells CNN that DNA evidence is feces and not that of the three suspects. The source says the bloody fingerprint is "identifiable" but refused to confirm if the suspect had a criminal record. The source did say that it was very possible the suspect was a man and that the search for this individual is very intense. Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Rome.
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COLLINS: You may hear a lot about global warming. But is it drawing much attention in the presidential race? Here now is CNN's Bill Schneider, part of "The Best Political Team On Television."
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Environmental activists are frustrated. They want global warming to be a big issue in the presidential campaign. So, when coalition of environmental groups led by online magazine grist.org and public radio internationals "Living on Earth" held the first-ever presidential forum on global warming in Los Angeles this weekend. They invited 17 presidential candidates. Three showed up. They spoke passionately about the crisis.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot afford to fiddle while the world warms.
SCHNEIDER: They offered plans to fight global warming.
DENNIS KUCINICH, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You set forth a number of initiatives.
SCHNEIDER: Do voters care about the issue? They've seen Hurricane Katrina, California wildfires, the Asian tsunami, a cyclone in Bangladesh. Many have seen al Gore's Oscar-winning movie and heard about his Nobel peace prize. Now they're reading front-page stories about a U.N. report that calls the crisis so severe and so sweeping that urgent global action is needed.
JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are actually hungry to do something as a national community.
SCHNEIDER: The candidates are pushing the issue.
CLINTON: I speak about it everywhere that I go, to try to kind of get it into the blood stream of the presidential campaign.
SCHNEIDER: Why is it so difficult? The organizers of the forum blame the media. Oh, sure, the press covers the issue. CNN ran a week-long series "Planet in Peril." But they don't cover it as a campaign issue. Grist writer David Roberts argues that's because global warming doesn't fit the conventional model of political coverage.
DAVID ROBERTS, GRIST.ORG: And it doesn't fit very well into the horse race coverage. There's not really a hook with one candidate jabbing another or one candidate, you know, making gaff.
SCHNEIDER: The press wants conflict. Like a protestor confronting Senator Clinton at the global warming forum, can't resist that.
CLINTON: Were you invited to speak here this afternoon? SCHNEIDER: What would it take to get global warming covered as a campaign issue?
ROBERTS: Perhaps if, you know, John Edwards' hair caught on fire or something like because of global warming, then we could get it.
SCHNEIDER: The voters are concerned about global warming. The candidates here all had plans to deal with global warming. But this forum tried to deal with the most difficult issue of all. How to get global warming on to the political agenda. Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.
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COLLINS: Want the most up-to-the-minute political news anywhere available? Cnnpolitics.com is your one-stop shop. Get behind the scenes and details from CNN's best political team on television and see why it's the internet's premiere destination for political news. Cnnpolitics.com.
And you did it once. Now, its time for history to repeat itself. Go to cnn.com/youtube debates. And post your questions for the Republican presidential candidates. The debate? Wednesday, November 28th. Your voice will be heard only on CNN, your home for politics.
You could soon live in New York and travel to Paris and Venice in minutes.
Life in the movies, near London.
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COLLINS: Imagine living in the movies. That idea, a coming attraction near London. CNN's Jim Boulden explains.
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JIM BOULDEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The plot has been kept secret for months. Now, Pinewood Studios outside London has unleashed a blockbuster idea. It wants to create a massive outdoor film studio, comprising nearly two dozen permanent film locations.
IVAN DUNLEAVY, CEO, PINEWOOD STUDIOUS GROUP: If you have a big action movie and you want to blow things up, then you will do that. You make a temporary set. But for a lot of film makers, having the advantage of being in a real location is quite attractive.
BOULDEN: Well, not real locations, of course, but movie real. After a bit of Hollywood magic, right about here will be an English castle. Over there, the streets of Chicago, Boston and New York and, behind me, by those trees, will be Lake Como in Italy. And away in the corner will be an American college campus. But all of these buildings will be used for more than just film making.
The home to James Bond films wants to create a European Center for film, television and computer game making. So, to boost the British film industry. But the plot twist, Pinewood hopes to get planning permission by offering to build around 2,000 actual homes right on the lot.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These are real buildings. Behind the replica of those locations will be real houses.
BOULDEN: And the American college sets will be a real learning center.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Within the college campus, we will have a training zone for students, who can have the opportunity to not only live at Project Pinewood, but also work across the road at Pinewood Studios.
BOULDEN: Of course, this being Britain, Pinewood can't compete with the Southern California weather. That's why there are plans for the streets of Chicago and Paris and not, say, Miami. Pinewood is now looking for financial backing, including people in creative fields, who want to work and live on a New York street or along a Venetian canal. Jim Boulden, CNN, Iver Heath, England.
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COLLINS: Good morning, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins. You'll stay informed all day right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the run down.
Heading for a holiday cruise. Many of them wind up in a hospital instead. Deadly tour crash in South Carolina today.
A team member of President Bush's inner circle and a top advisor on terrorism, Fran Townsend makes her exit.
Surfing, diving, fishing, the beaches of Baja lure Americans tourist thought there's danger south of the border, this Monday, November 19th, you'll find out in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We are following some major travel delays across much of the U.S. Today, mostly because of weather, but the one you're looking at now coming from affiliate WFAA, a DFW is about something else entirely.
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