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Manhunt Still On For New Jersey Prison Escapees; Allegations of Abuse by Inmate; Helping During War Time; Fire on Eisenhower Executive Office Building
Aired December 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: Hi, I'm Heidi Collins. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Wednesday morning, December 19th. Here is what is on the rundown. A family goes in search of a Christmas tree. Now, they are the objects of a search. What happened to the Dominguez clan?
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: They are still cleaning up from the last storm and here comes another pacific blast today. Live to Oregon.
COLLINS: A TV reporter coping with a complex skin disorder while everyone watches. Fade to white in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: OK, at the top of this hour, unfolding right now, a desperate search in a storm. Heavy snow in northern California this morning is making it tougher to find a father and his three children. They went out on Sunday to cut down a Christmas tree and they haven't been seen since.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA SAMS, MOTHER OF MISSING KIDS: Freddie did call the pastor at our church and asked for a Christmas tree stand and so they were assuming that they were going to come before they got the tree. But they never showed up so they just assumed they didn't need it and that was the last thing they heard of them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Nearly 60 searchers are looking for the family this morning. Their pick-up truck was found Monday night. The children are 18, 14, and 12. We will continue to watch this story very closely this morning right here in the NEWSROOM. Good-looking family there.
COLLINS: We want to head to Rob Marciano who is standing by in the severe weather center talking more about everything that is happening in the Pacific northwest. The same area. What do we know at this point? Lots of swirling and whirling behind you...
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, yes, yes, we've got a couple of storms. The main storm that has dumped a whole lot of snow across the Sierras that has since -- they still have a snow advisory out and now, they are going to get more snow it looks like tonight. So, a couple of more inches to a couple of more feet, potentially, as we go on to the next 24 to 48 hours. Here is what it looked like just yesterday afternoon out at Plaster County, California, you know, over Downer Pass, heavy snow. I mean, the problem with the Cascades and the Sierras, it is the first line of defense when the storms come into the intercon USA so, they just get hammered. Unlike the Rocky Mountains, they get the heavier snow. So, that's the situation there as they continue to search. Conditions are a little bit better today than they were at that time last night so hopefully, they have better luck.
While clouds are still cast and showers are still holding on, there was a threat for seeing mudslides over the burned areas. Flash flood watches have since been released, but there's still some showers and hopefully that land will hold together. Pacific Northwest, here is the next plume of that moisture that will have winds with it. This storm is stronger than the one that came in yesterday and it's dumping heavier amounts of snow across parts of the Cascades. Live shot for you from Mt. Hood, just over a government camp and up to 4,500-foot mark. Live shots out there getting their gear ready to go as they continue to service their station.
We are zooming in closer to the I-5 corridor, here is where the heavy rain is. As you can see, it's coming in off the Pacific. We've seen wind gusts over 40 miles an hour and they could gust to 70 miles an hour as we go through the morning hours. Chris Lawrence -- right there in Vernonia which got flooded real bad with the last storm, Heidi and Tony, and the last thing those folks need is any more rain. Looks like they're going to get it here today and going through tonight as well.
HARRIS: Oh, man!
COLLINS: Yes, really, really rough weather, that's for sure. And, Rob, you mentioned Chris Lawrence -- I want to head out to him. Rob, thank you for that.
An Oregon town, in danger, preparing for that possible flooding again. CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Vernonia. It's a very frightening place at this time and he is with a family who has been through all of it. Chris, tell us what they're saying.
CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, they are saying, "Can we ever catch a break here?" I mean, this the mayor's home and it's just one of hundreds that had the waters just flooding in just a few weeks ago. So, folks here in Vernonia are definitely very, very anxious about that rain that is starting to fall outside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): An early December storm flooded hundreds of homes in Vernonia, Oregon. For too many residents, it wasn't the first time, it won't be the last.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Always worried. Always wondering.
LAWRENCE: Now, more rain is falling and everyone is bracing for the worse. SUSAN JENKINS, FLOOD VICTIM: We're not ready for this. It wasn't even in anybody's mind that it would happen.
LAWRENCE: Susan Jenkins says the water that flooded her home would be bad enough by itself.
JENKINS: The mud that comes through -- it's terrible. Just sludge.
LAWRENCE: All in your house?
JENKINS: All in my basement -- three feet of it.
LAWRENCE: The town's clinic is operating out of tents, after the building took on four feet of water. Some of the schools have been shut down and plans are under way to move them to higher ground. Some community leaders want to go even further and relocate the entire town of 2,000 people. But other residents say a move isn't feasible in a valley like this one.
UNIDENTIFIED OREGON RESIDENT: You got 300 houses down here that are flood prone and there just isn't enough high ground around here to do that and start all of the infrastructure again.
LAWRENCE: This round of rain isn't expected to be as fierce as the last storms that pounded the pacific northwest, but any significant rain could be enough to sink this battered town.
You just live with that fear?
JENKINS: If you want to live in Vernonia, yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: Yes, living in Vernonia also means ripping your home apart for several months, just to fix some of that damage from those floods. Now, the rookies are looking at damming,
The town is looking at several long-term solutions, including damming up the creek that runs just behind a lot at these homes, dredging the nearby river so it gives the water a little bit more room to go and maybe it doesn't over flow as much, and yes, even physically moving the town. I got to tell you, whatever they decide they are going to need a lot of help from the federal government to pay for this.
COLLINS: Boy, physically moving the town -- just unbelievable possibility there. All right, we know you'll stay on top of it for us. Chris Lawrence, thank you.
HARRIS: A major earthquake rocks Alaska's Aleutian islands. The magnitude 7.2-quake struck after midnight, Alaska time. No reports of injuries or damage. A tsunami warning was canceled shortly after it was issued. Tsunami experts say waves resulting from the quake didn't create any real threat. COLLINS: What did the White House know and when? New questions this morning about the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes. "The New York Times" reporting top White House lawyers were in the mix early on. White House correspondent Ed Henry reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, WHITE HOUSE: It's a White House version of political hot potato.
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: That question is best put to the Justice Department.
HENRY: Ask Spokeswoman Dana Perino about a federal judge ordering the Bush Administration to answer the question about the destruction of the interrogation videos...
PERINO: Nothing beyond what I'm referring you to the Justice Department.
HENRY: Is the White House making sure the CIA does not destroy any other tapes or potential evidence in terror cases?
PERINO: I refer you to the Justice Department.
HENRY: But, in fact, the Justice Department is not commenting on the judge's order, either, and is not being cooperative with congressional investigations to see if any laws were broken in the destruction of the CIA tapes. Attorney-General Michael Mukasey is refusing to provide any information to the House and Senate intelligence panels charging that would interfere with his own preliminary inquiry.
REP. PETE HOEKSTRA (R): We, in Congress, we have a job to do and we are going to do it. You in the executive branch, you've got a job to do. You go do your job. We're going to do our job.
HENRY: The top Republican on the House intelligence panel says it's not good enough for the executive branch to investigate itself. And he may support congressional subpoenas to force answers.
HOEKSTRA: There were misleading statements that came to the Intelligence Committee from the community regarding these tapes. You know, we have a constitutional responsibility to do our job and to hold the community accountable for the work that it has done or the work that it has not done.
HENRY: Will the White House comply with those subpoenas?
PERINO: I'm going to refer to you the Justice Department.
HENRY: The showdown comes Friday morning in federal court where the Bush Administration will face tough questions about the destruction of those CIA tapes and whether it defied a 2005 court order to provide possible evidence of torture.
Ed Henry, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: The New Hampshire primary -- now just 20 days away. And we have new numbers to tell you about this morning. A new CNN/WMUR poll shows Sen. Hillary Clinton leading her Democratic competitors -- 38 percent are choosing Clinton. Barack Obama, who just got "The Boston Globe's" endorsement over the weekend is second with 26 percent.
On the Republican side, shows Mitt Romney still in front with 34 percent and John McCain, who has been gathering endorsements left and right, is second with 22 percent, Rudy Giuliani -- 16 percent, Mike Huckabee -- 10 percent.
CNN's Senior Political Analyst Bill Schneider is in Manchester, New Hampshire.
Bill, good to see you...
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Hi, Tony!
HARRIS: ... and the hat. What explains the success at the moment of the Clinton and Romney campaigns?
SCHNEIDER: The economy and the focus on 'bread-and-butter' issues. They are rated -- they are given their best ratings on economic management, health care, social security, and domestic issues and what we've been seeing here in New Hampshire and in the rest of the country, as well, is that the focus is moving away from terrorism, the war in Iraq, and more towards domestic issues. Those are the issues where Hillary Clinton earns her best ratings and those are the issues where Mitt Romney, a former corporate executive and accomplished manager, also earns his best ratings, so that is why they are gaining support.
HARRIS: Hey, Bill, how firm is the support for these choices at this point?
SCHNEIDER: At this point, a lot of voters say they haven't really made up their minds at all. Actually, fewer than one in five Democrats -- I'm sorry -- Republicans say they have definitely made up their minds and for Democrats, it's fewer than one in three. About 40 percent of the voters say they still haven't decided. So there's still a lot of movement, a lot of change that can happen here in New Hampshire.
HARRIS: Amazing. 20 days until the primary. You wonder what the heck is it going to take at this point to move the undecideds. Bill Schneider, love the hat, in Manchester, New Hampshire for us this morning. Bill, thank you.
COLLINS: And Mike Huckabee is defending his new Christmas ad and poking fun at its critics. Some say, a white bookcase in the background of the ad is shaped like a cross and meant to be a subliminal message. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE HUCKABEE, PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT: It was a bookshelf behind me. A bookshelf. And, now, I have these people saying, "Oh, there was a subtle message there." Actually, I will confess this: if you play the spot backwards it says, "Paul is dead. Paul is dead. Paul is dead."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Huckabee said the spot was done at the last minute and he basically ad-libbed it. It will air in the early primary states of Iowa, South Carolina, and New Hampshire.
HARRIS: A sneak preview of Rudy Giuliani's new ad. It will be released today. In it, we see a lighter side of the Republican presidential candidate who is in front of a Christmas tree, talking about the lack time for holiday shopping so everyone is getting the same gift.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDOLPH GIULIANI, PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT: Probably a fruitcake or something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): A fruitcake -- what?
GIULIANI: It will be a really nice fruitcake with a big red bow on it or something like that. I'm Rudy Giuliani and I approved this message. Merry Christmas. Happy holidays.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: All right, there you go. We will see what Giuliani has to say about the ad later today when he joins Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" this afternoon for a rare one-on-one interview. That's 4:00 p. m., Eastern, and 1:00 p. m. Pacific.
COLLINS: She was killed in a car wreck or was she?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: I went into the room and I held her hand and her hand was still warm. I thought, "Oh, my gosh, there's still hope, there's still hope."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Premature death. Now a family wants answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Hey, welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. He says he is a black man turning white on TV. A reporter deals with a skin disorder. His audience watches.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: A tragedy on the tracks in Pakistan. Rescuers search for survivors in the crushed -- and look at these pictures. Twisted metal of a derailed passenger train -- hundreds were on board, dozens died, many more were injured, as you can imagine. The rescuers are using cranes and metal-cutting equipment to reach those still trapped. The cause of the derailment not yet known. Terrorism has not -- has not -- been ruled out.
COLLINS: More of his dark skin turns white with each passing year. Now, an African-American TV reporter in Detroit talks about his skin disease. Our Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, has more on this now. Vitiligo?
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That is what it's called, vitiligo. The best way I would think about is to think about, for some reason, the cells have produced pigment in your skin, are, for some reason recognized as foreign by your body. Your body wants to attack those cells. They make pigment, even in light-colored people, they still have these cells in them and they get attacked by your own body. It's an auto-immune problem. It affects all races. It's more noticeable of dark-skin, obviously, which is why you hear so much more. You can see those images there. It is called vitiligo and it's more common than we think.
COLLINS: I didn't realize it was autoimmune.
GUPTA: Yes. That's a lot of things that are autoimmune like lupus, for example, it's autoimmune. But if you really look at what causes a problem like this? It is this body, actually, attacking these pigment-producing cells.
COLLINS: Yes and how common is it, then?
GUPTA: It's hard to say exactly. But, they say, around two million people probably in the United States. It's maybe one out of every 100 adults or so. Tens of millions of people around the world and we're not sure exactly why some people get it, some people don't. There appears to be some sort of familial, some sort of genetic component to it. But, it just seems to come on. It can spread, as you saw in some of the videos there. Things like that.
COLLINS: What can he do? I mean, is there anything that he can take to stop it? Or...
GUPTA: First, we go with him because he is a television reporter so he is using lots of make-up to try and cover it and he's using dark make-up to cover up the white spots. There's really -- the treatment focuses on one of two areas: one is re-pigmentation -- adding pigment back -- and the other is de-pigmentation -- taking pigment away. The re-pigmentation, basically, you just take a medication and you expose that medication to UV light and that should cause some of the white spots to get dark again.
COLLINS: Really? GUPTA: De-pigmentation is like, what you think it is, which is to try and take away the rest of the dark areas of the skin to make it all white. People talked about this a lot with Michael Jackson, as you know. That's what he says has caused his skin problem, as well.
COLLINS: Yes, wow, I didn't know you could get that pigment to come back. If you were to do that, would it be as dark as his natural skin color?
GUPTA: The treatments don't seem to work very well so they seem to be sporadic and people have tried combining it with things like various herbs and stuff and people traveled around the world to try and get treatment. It's not a very good treatment. But the thing about it, as well, is it's not contagious. People think it's contagious. They call it the white leprosy and it's not. It's not cancerous. It's really a cosmetic problem.
COLLINS: Yes, well, anyway, we'll be watching that story, definitely. Wishing you the best of luck Sanjay. Thank you.
HARRIS: The foreclosure rates -- new numbers just in this morning. What it means for you if you're trying to buy or sell a house.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: A $555 billion-budget almost ready for the president's signature but does anyone really know what exactly is in it? Joe Johns is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was supposed to be different this time around. Ear-marked the special projects for the folks back home were supposed to be in plain view. The idea was to put things like money for bee research in Texas or for the father's day rally in Philadelphia out in the open so everybody could see them and this time, they are. Technically.
SEN. ROBERT BYRD (D), WEST VIRGINIA: It's clear as the noon day sun in a cloudless sky.
JOHNS: But there's a problem: keeping them honest. 9,000 ear- marks worth billions of dollars and who knows what else are literally buried and an enormous piece of legislation known as an Omnibus Spending Bill that is 3,500 pages long. It's being slammed through so congress can go home for the holidays.
STEVE ELLIS, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: This is a ridiculous way to run the government. And, you know, we were in this exact same position last year.
JOHNS: Do you know how long it takes to read a 3,500-page document full of mind-numbing legalese mumbo-jumbo? Maybe a speed- reader could do it but most people on Capitol Hill, probably, don't have a clue what's in this thing. And guess what? They're voting on it.
ELLIS: There's going to be errors and there's going to be buried treasure we won't know about until much later and after congress is already having their holiday punch.
JOHNS: We didn't print out the entire bill because we had a deadline to make but we got about a thousand pages or so just to give you a feel. Basically, what the government is doing with this is spending half a trillion dollars of your money.
REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: When you have a bill of 3,500 pages, you can find a few reasons to vote for the bill and you can probably find a whole lot of reasons to vote against the bill.
JOHNS: Now, this stack of paper is being used as a political weapon. Republicans are trying to whack the Democrats for their handling of the Spending Bill. The Democratic response? Most of the specific provisions of these bills have already been debated and approved.
UNIDENTIFIED CONGRESSMAN: That's four-and-a-half months to review the overwhelming majority of the substance of these bills.
JOHNS: Still, budget watchdogs say it could be weeks or months before we know what was buried in the bill. Joe Johns, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Worried about the housing market? I guess we all are a bit. New figures in this morning on foreclosure rates. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business," breaking down the numbers. Ali! Ali! Ali! Good morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mixed news on the foreclosures.
HARRIS: OK.
VELSHI: We get these reports every month. The piece of good news is that foreclosures in November were down 10 percent compared to October. Now, that is the good news because we haven't seen a double-digit drop in over a year. The bad news, of course, is that they are way higher than they were a year ago in November -- up 68 percent. This is probably trends better than worse, in terms of the news. The issue is, it even a trend? Is one month a trend? A lot of people are saying we're heading toward a lot more of these mortgage resets in 2008. So, before you all get carried away with the idea that the foreclosures are easing off...
HARRIS: Well, it feels like we're going in the right direction. Come on!
VELSHI: It absolutely feels like we're going in the right direction but these are month-to-month numbers. I would say when we get three months of those, we could probably get a better indication. HARRIS: You know, I've been thinking about the president's plan because I want the president to succeed with this plan but I've been thinking about it. Let's do a little role-playing here. You're the banker. You bundle up the securities and now they mortgaged bank securities and you sold them to me.
You know what and now, the president says we're going to freeze it. No, no, no, you're not! I want my money. And the resets apart of what I figured into my bottom line here. The plan is not going to work. I want the president to be successful but me, big money guy, I'm not going to let that happen.
VELSHI: Morgan-Stanley came out this morning, writing down another $5.7 billion -- with a "b" -- worth of mortgage worth as much so, this continues and it just goes to show you how intertwined this whole complicated mortgage system is. So, more of this to come.
HARRIS: How about my example -- was it okay?
VELSHI: It was an excellent example. I'm going to use that.
HARRIS: All right, Ali, great to see you. Ali Velshi.
COLLINS: Close encounter with the red planet. Looks like a white dot of light right here, though. That's Mars just at the center of this photo Now only about 55 million miles from the earth and pops around about every 26 months but you won't see Mars this close again until 2016. So, get a good look.
HARRIS: Yes, absolutely. An Iraqi mother, grateful for the help of Americans.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED IRAQI MOTHER (through translator): People in Iraq and in the Arab world think the Americans are the enemy -- it's just the opposite. They help me in the airport -- everywhere I go, the Americans help me. Let this truth be known.
HARRIS (voice-over): Her son, standing tall again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: It won't take a million to go straight to the White House now. Our Kathleen Koch is standing by. What is White House reaction, I understand, Kathleen, to the CIA tapes -- interrogation tapes -- they're all gone now but what is the reaction about all this that has been going on for the past few days?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, actually, the reaction is in an article that appeared on the front page of the "New York Times" that said there were at least four White House attorneys, among them a Harriet Myers, Alberta Gonzales, David Paddington, and John Billinger, who knew about the CIA tapes, interrogation tapes, who were involved in the discussion of whether or not they should be destroyed. Now, Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary, just put out a very lengthy statement saying that, it is in particular, the sub-heading, that the White House believes in this article was particularly misleading. It inaccurately says that the White House role was wider than it said.
Perino goes on to say that the cause of the preliminary inquiry that the White House does not publicly, you know, as we know, spoken about this in privy -- excuse me -- about this incident but she said, quote: "you knew we were at "Times'" inference that there was an effort to mislead in this matter as pernicious and troubling and we are formally requesting that the "New York Times" correct the sub- headline of the story.
Now, Perino, in her statement does go on and really criticizes the fact that much of the story is based on unnamed sources saying that it will not be surprising that this matter will be reported with a reliance on unnamed sources, individuals backing a full availability of the facts. It goes on to say that some of these sources will have widely -- wildly -- conflicting accounts of the facts. And, again, Perino winds up by saying they will continue not to comment directly on the destruction of the tapes whether it should have occurred, why it occurred, again, as long as the CIA and the Justice Department are conducting their preliminary inquiries. Heidi?
COLLINS: Well, it seems like there's a comment without making a comment -- it's what it appears to be, coming from the White House, yes?
KOCH: Quite so. Quite so. And we are, in just a few minutes, about to have a sort of informal meeting with Dana Perino at 9:30 and she will certainly going to get peppered with a lot of questions about this "New York Times" story and, I think, this is certainly their way of heading off at the press.
COLLINS: All right, we'll be watching that. Kathleen Koch, outside the White House this morning. Thanks, Kathleen.
KOCH: You bet.
HARRIS: A prisoner in a hard takedown.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Well, what do you think? Did deputies cross the line?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Oh, just past the bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone. We're close to Christmas, aren't we?
COLLINS: We are. My little boy keeps reminding me.
HARRIS: Is he like so ready and so excited.
COLLINS: Yes, out of his mind. HARRIS: Men, are you ready? Welcome back, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: And I'm Heidi Collins.
Want to tell you about this story. Coast-to-coast manhunt still going on for those two New Jersey prison escapees. We've been following this story closely for you right here in the NEWSROOM. Otis Blunt and Jose Espinosa made a movie-style escape on Saturday. I think, "Shaw Shank Redemption." Investigator says the menus improvised tools to remove cinderblock, then created a hole in the jail's outer wall. Police urge everyone to be on the lookout. Both men are considered dangerous. And $8,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their capture.
HARRIS: Allegations of over the top abuse leveled by an inmate. The entire episode caught on tape. CNN's Deborah Feyerick takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The standoff happened at the Hamilton County Justice Center in Cincinnati. Five inmates, each in solitary, jammed the doors to their cells and stuffed their toilets causing water to gush from the top tear of what's called l41 A-pod. Beyond duty captain issues a code red. It mobilizes the correctional emergency response team.
The eight sheriff deputies in full riot gear go cell-by-cell firing pepper spray, a mace-like agent, and rubber bullets from a shotgun, forcing the inmates to open their doors. The last cell belongs to 25-year-old Michael Jackson. A career criminal who has been in and out of jail since he was 12 years old. Records show, he has a history of getting into fights with other inmates and causing problems.
As he is carried from his cell, pepper spray burning his eyes, he makes a racial slur, directed at the deputy holding the pepper spray gun. Like the other inmates, he is placed in a restraint chair, his hands cuffed behind his feet. Seconds later, the sergeant fires three pepper spray pellets into Jackson's chest at point blank range.
Sheriff Simon Leis Jr. defends his deputies and says except for the foul language, they, in no way, crossed the line subduing Jackson because he was not secure. The sheriff says his deputy was only trying to frighten Jackson when he threatened to stun him with 50,000 volts.
SHERIFF SIMON LEIS, HAMILTON COUNTY JUSTICE CENTER: These people aren't rationally human beings and when you deal with people like that, you got to hand them accordingly.
FEYERICK: I met Jackson's mom, Jennifer, outside the justice center and together we visited her son. We asked him whether he was restrained when he was shot and he says, without a doubt, his hands were cuff and feet shackled and a strap tied around his legs. He showed me the marks on his chest, still visible four months after the incident. The sheriff says that this was a justified use of force.
JENNIFER JACKSON, INMATE MICHAEL JACKSON'S MOTHER: No, I don't feel it is justifiable. I live here in Hamilton County, Cincinnati. You cannot tie up a dog and shoot it. Even if you don't kill that dog, you can't shoot it.
FEYERICK: So, the fact they did it to your son is more horrifying to you?
JACKSON: Yes. Oh, definitely yes.
FEYERICK: The sheriff says this is the first time his emergency response team has been called in to handle five inmates at one time. He says he supports the actions of his deputies and has absolutely no intention of filing any disciplinary action. As for the inmate Michael Jackson, he admits he is not an innocent man and that he's been in trouble all his life but says he did not deserve to be treated this way. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, Cincinnati, Ohio.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Catching suspects with letters, promising a free flat screen TV. No one would fall for that old trick, right? Well, they did in Auburn, New York. Nearly 200 people with outstanding warrants got letters. More than a dozen showed up expecting to pick up their TV. Instead, they were arrested. The city manager came up with the sting idea.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK PALESH, CITY MANAGER, AUBURN, NEW YORK: When I looked at it, I said am I going to be dumb enough for fall for this? And I got to think like someone who has the beginnings of a criminal element in their mind.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Many of the people arrested are charged with writing bad checks.
HARRIS: Helping those most vulnerable at war time. Earlier this year, we told you about Mohammed, an Iraqi boy whose leg was blown off. CNN's Arwa Damon has the rest of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MOHAMMED RASOUL, IRAQI AMPUTEE: I am Mohammed from Fallujah, Iraq.
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And his struggle is almost over. (INAUDIBLE) bombs were exploded. Visiting America. He has made a short movie. And his mother, Jinan, has kept a journal of their remarkable journey. We left Fallujah, September 7th at 3:00, she reads. She is actually only writing down the events that take place in this book that she is keeping because her emotions are just too intense. About two years ago, Mohammed was outside his home when an explosion blew off his right leg and killed his 6-year-old cousin. CNN met him 15 months later.
RASOUL (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I remember everything going pitch black. My cousin died at the scene. I still hear her screams.
DAMON: Three times a week, he watered the tree he had planted at her grave. Thousands of miles away, on Staten Island, New York, Elissa Montani saw our story. She is the founder of the Global Medical Relief Fund.
ELISSA MONTANI, GLOBAL MEDICAL RELIEF FUND: All children are equal and these children need us. They need us so bad.
DAMON: So, she brought Mohammed and his mother to America and now, he is on his way to Shriners Children Hospital in Philadelphia which has pledged to provide Mohammed with free treatment and prosthetics until he is an adult.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, let me go get your leg -- the new leg, OK? And I'll be right back.
JINAN MOHAMMED, MOHAMMED'S MOTHER: I am very happy for this leg. I am very happy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're happy to have you. There we go. There you are. Try that out. Come on in.
MOHAMMED (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I am so happy, so happy. I am seeing him tall and big. It's a strange emotion. It's been two years since I last saw him standing like this.
Thank you very much. Everybody. Thank you very much.
DAMON: Mohammed has been through so much in his short life, but at least he is getting help. So many Iraqis children don't, whether they are innocent victims of war or just desperately in need of medical aid. It's not just the violence. It's the collapse of the health care system.
After four years of war, there's little medicine. Sanitation is almost nonexistent. Most of the country's doctors have fled abroad. Others have been killed. Child mortality has risen by more than a third. For the most part, the only way to help children is to get them out. Last month, the American charity, Operation Smile, brought about 50 Iraqi children to Jordan. These kids all have either cleft lips, palates or burns. Not life-threatening but surgery is life- altering.
DR. WILLIAM MCGEE: No child should have to live their life imprisoned in their own body for the lack of a 45-minute operation that can bring them to society and change their life.
DAMON: A life that can't be changed in their homeland. This baby already had an unsuccessful surgery in Iraq. I never imagined that we would be here. It was hard. Baghdad isn't easy. It's scary. Her father says. The charities that work with Iraqi kids know they could do more. The Global Medical Relief Fund has brought a dozen Iraqi kids to the U.S.
MONTANI: I function on a prayer. Literally. If I thought logical and I wasn't persistent, I wouldn't be where I am. We have no paid staff. We're not this big organization. We are very small, making huge -- making a huge impact on these children and these parents' lives.
DAMON: And that impact goes beyond the medical care.
MOHAMMED (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): People in Iraq and in the Arab world think the Americans are our enemy. It's just the opposite. They helped me in the airport. Everywhere I go, the Americans help me. Let this truth get out. You know, I stayed in Kuwait four days and no one helped me. They are Arabs. I didn't see help until I got here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love you.
MOHAMMED: I love you too.
DAMON: Mohammed may be just 12 years old but he knows he is one of a fortunate few.
RASOUL (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): I wish that they would help all of the other children like me that were harmed by the war, by the bombs in Iraq.
DAMON: At least he can make a new start in life.
RASOUL: I am very happy today.
DAMON: Arwa Damon, CNN, Philadelphia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Quickly here in the NEWSROOM, we are just noticing some pictures that are coming in, live pictures coming in to us from Washington, D.C. area. This is the Eisenhower Executive Building. If you know the area, it is the building that is across the street from the White House. There are significant smokes coming out of those windows there. That is not the only window that we've actually seen smoke coming out of either. Unfortunately, we do not know what is going on inside there at this moment.
We are making the calls and checking in with our correspondents who are close and in the area as well. But you can see some of the smoke rising out of the top, I believe, too. See that there, on the right-hand side of the screen? So, we are not sure what is happening but, again, we are looking at some live pictures coming in from Washington, D.C. This is the Eisenhower Executive Building across the street enter from the White House. So we will, of course, try to find out what is going on there and let you know just as soon as we have any information whatsoever.
To the New York Stock Exchange now. And the opening bell for this Wednesday. Looking at those numbers from yesterday, staying close to the positive. Double digits. Today, single digits. So, were up about eight or nine points or so. The NASDAQ is down four last we checked. So, we're going to be checking with Stephanie Elam today talking about, yes, foreclosures. We've been talking about those numbers and that issue for quite sometime so we're going to talk about it again today and give you a little bit of new insight on that.
HARRIS: Well, a Virginia mother is in trouble for a video of her 2-year-old. She posted on the Internet. Veronica De La Cruz looks at what was so offensive.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Quickly, we want to get you back to this breaking news that we're following, across the street, I should say, from the White House. You're looking at the executive office building. It's on fire. We can see the flames there, now inside the building.
HARRIS: Whoa!
COLLINS: We've just watched some of the firemen who are inside the building. Break out some of those windows and now we see these plumes of smoke coming out, just a rush of smoke. Again, this is the executive office building located next to the west wing. This is the building where a lot of the offices for the White House staff are located. A very, very old building. A beautiful building, but, now, on fire.
HARRIS: You know, this is a building where a lot of ceremonial events actually take place. We're talking about signings. We're talking about press opportunities as well. The president will do some high profile meetings and photo opposite from that building. We can recall seeing the shots repeatedly of the president walking from the west wing over to that building to hold an event or the other. And Kathleen Koch, who is involved, just moments ago getting some information on a story that you were just reporting just minutes ago on the air here. Kathleen, I know we pulled you from the White House gaggle. I don't know if you've had any opportunity to sort of get an assessment on what is going on here, but what do you know?
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, basically, I was pulled out of the informal meeting that Dana Perino has with the reporters every morning because they said the Eisenhower Executive Office Building right next to the White House is on fire. And I came out and I'm watching now on what appears to me, to be about the third floor of the EEOB. Dark, gray smoke. And I guess you have the shot as well pouring out of it. I can see it from right here, where I'm standing. When I came out, there was at least one fire engine in the driveway between the White House and the EEOB and then, as I was getting hooked up here, just a moment ago, firefighters went running down the pathway and I can hear more sirens so there may be more on the way.
They were also breaking windows out of the EEOB as I came running out. I don't hear them breaking the glass anymore but the smoke is certainly pouring out fast and furious. Now, I'm not exactly sure what offices are located in that part of the EEOB but the building has been under renovation for sometime. I was just in there a week or so ago. And as you go down the halls, you will suddenly enter an area where a wall is blocked off because they are doing some work. So, I don't know if this fire could have anything at all to do with the renovation and construction under way in some parts of the building, Tony.
COLLINS: Yes. It might be worth pointing out, too, Kathleen, that this is a very, very old building. According to some of our notes here, built between 1871 and 1888. It took about 17 years to complete this, quote, "masterpiece." It really is an architectural masterpiece. Can you give us an idea, Kathleen, just for people who may not be aware of typically, what would be going on in this building on a day like today? Maybe, how many people would be over there? I mean, obviously, it's a very large structure.
KOCH: It is very large structure. And Heidi, you may soon have some difficulty hearing me because, as I said, these sirens are getting louder and louder. And I see fire engines more pulling up here coming down Pennsylvania Avenue and looking like they are waiting, just a moment, to get through the security barriers that they have here on Pennsylvania Avenue. Obviously, they stopped traffic, you know, years ago on Pennsylvania Avenue. So, there are barriers that the vehicles have to pass through before they can get up to. But it looks like soon, we will have several engines working on this fire.
But as far as how many people work in the building, I will try to have my producer do a little research on it. But I will tell you, just counting here. Let me see, one, two, three, four, five, roughly about a six to seven-story building. And when I have been in there in the past, and I said, it's recently, just a couple of weeks ago, it is jam-packed with White House personnel. People who work in a support capacity for the president. And again, here comes some more engines.
HARRIS: Kathleen, well, you know what? We should probably take a moment here to welcome our international viewers who are joining us at this point in time, because this is a bit of an event that we're watching unfold here on live television. The Eisenhower Executive Office Building on fire right now. And Kathleen, what do you think? The third floor of the building?
KOCH: Well, that's what I see is the third floor. And, Tony, someone just informed me that apparently, the office from which all of that dark smoke is emanating is adjacent to the vice president's ceremonial office. So again, I don't know if that at all, is the area, any of the area that is being renovated right now. But again, there are staffers. This building is jam-packed with people...
HARRIS: You can't imagine that is a building. How old is that building? You can't imagine that building has, maybe it has, has been retrofitted with sprinklers. So, I mean, this is a situation where the fire goes until the firefighters can get there and do their work. You can see the firefighters on the scene right now, doing the best they can. And was there a moment in time, as we recap, this story for everyone watching where windows were actually knocked out there, Kathleen? KOCH: Yes, Yes, Tony. Again, as I was running out of the White House briefing room to come out here, to do this live report, I could hear the sound of glass being smashed.
HARRIS: Well, there goes one now. Yeah, there goes one now.
KOCH: Now I'm hearing some loud speakers as well. The firefighters communicating. I don't know if they're telling the personnel to get back. It's hard from my advantage point to make out what they are saying. But this building, again, I would assume that, that was part of the retrofit that they were working on. It was certainly modernizing it. But, again, being built between 1871 and 1888, it certainly would not, at least, originally have had modern smoke alarms, modern sprinkler system.
COLLINS: Hi, Kathleen. You know, just trying to bring some context here to what we are watching because it's difficult, when we switch from our live video back to the video that we had recorded just a few minutes ago, when all of this first began. But I will tell you, I'm watching this and I know you have a much better advantage point, obviously, than I do.
But, it seemed like the smoke was dying down for a bit and then they opened up some more windows and now, we have another rush of this plume of smoke that's coming out. I know that a second alarm, I'm being told a second alarm has been called to this fire so I'm wondering if you are noticing, see, there it is now in the background, even more fire crews showing up on the scene.
KOCH: I am, Heidi. And I'm seeing, they are now stringing fire hoses down the driveway. But what's interesting is I thought that the fire engine down at the end of the road was waiting to come down here to get through the barrier to help. But it appears to be stationary on the corner down there.
So, I don't know if firefighters now entering from the other corner of the building, that the fire is so extensive, that it is being fought from both sides, both the 17th street side and then, this side. So perhaps, you know, we need to get another crew over there, to the other side of the building to get advantage point of what is going on.
HARRIS: Sure. Look at the live pictures. I don't know, if you can, well, maybe you can see it from your advantage point. We're trying to get you as close as possible there, Kathleen, but there's a lot of smoke coming out on that building right now. And I'm wondering, I'm imagining that the building has been evacuated at this point in time. Another question I have is was the president letting the sign the Energy Bill from that building or from one of the rooms in the White House?
KOCH: No, Tony. He was going over to the Energy Department to sign the Energy Bill, so he wasn't planning on being in this building. And as far as people being evacuated, I think I would certainly make sense that they would have done that rapidly. However, I'll tell you from my advantage point here, at least I don't see crowds of people outside, you know, huddled, trying to stay warm.
So, if they have evacuated, perhaps, they have evacuated down to the southern end of this driveway which is immediately between the White House and the EEOB out of our point of view. Because right now -- or they could have also taken them out, certainly, on the 17th street side. I don't see anyone in the front of the building on Pennsylvania Avenue. So, one would certainly assume with a fire of this magnitude going on and the number of trucks we've seen responded, they would've gotten everyone out of the building, Tony.
HARRIS: And the other thing that occurs to me, Heidi and I were talking about it just a moment ago. We can clearly visualize a number of occasions we've seen the president walk over to that building for some kind of ceremonial event, a press event, a photo-op of some kind. That is a well-used building by a lot of the White House staffers and the president himself.
KOCH: It is, indeed. And the president does, as you mention, especially when he is expecting a larger audience, to have a number of events announcements over there and, again, we members of the press are allowed to walk across and into the building. Normally, that is an area of the building that is somewhat off limits to us. But, as I mentioned, there are staffer offices there. There is a cafeteria, obviously, in the building. There are medical facilities in the building. So, if anyone were to be injured, you could go over there and seek medical help.
A wide number of staffers and different uses for this building which truly is one of the most beautiful in Washington. I walk past it everyday, when I come to the White House and, to me, actually, it's very reminiscent of some of the beautiful old buildings in Paris. That's certainly what it reminds me of it. It's quite sad to see this dark smoke billowing out, but it seems to be decreasing now, Tony.
HARRIS: Well, that was my next question. You know, as you handle expertly the play-by-play for us, what are you seeing? I mean, we've got live pictures up and it looks like there is an area here.
KOCH: Its every time, they knock out another window.
HARRIS: Knock out another window, change an angle.
KOCH: Right. I was going to say. The smoke now is starting again. So, I don't know if it's confined to an area inside and the smoke is decreasing and then, they break another window and there is another, a new oxygen source for the fire and then, it flares up again. I'm hearing a banging. I don't know if that is breaking of glass. Why don't we turn our cameras around?
Now, we've panned around. And now, you can see it, from our advantage point between where we are and that driveway and the EEOB, there is a metal fence. And so, we stand over on this side. And this is the point of view again that you're seeing from my camera that we have.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, storm out another window. KOCH: Sirens coming. Yes?
HARRIS: Kathleen, I know, Heidi has got someone on the phone, we're going to talk to in just a moment. Maybe, you know, let me not ask you the question I was about to ask you and, Heidi, I know you'll take care of it with our guest.
COLLINS: Well now, just pointing out some other view that we're getting here. We can see them, sort of removing some furniture, I guess from one of those larger windows and doors there, just probably trying to clear some of the debris. So, they can get their work done. But again, every time, it seems like they knock out one of the windows, obviously, you're going to have a rush of that smoke just come billowing out. And boy, there is another one.
Every time they do that, obviously, it's still a very, very active fire. In fact, the person who can tell us most about us this is the D.C. Fire Department public information officer Allen Etter is on the line with us now. Allen, if you can hear me OK, tell us what you know, about what is going on inside the building.
ALLEN ETTER, D.C. FIRE DEPARTMENT: I can tell you that the situation is on the third floor.
COLLINS: OK.
ETTER: There, apparently, was a fire reported. What appears to be an electrical closet or possibly a telephone bank area. The firefighters responded very quickly. I got up there very quickly to make sure that they had this contained. Now, there's a lot of smoke. We're going to be here for a while to try to ventilate the smoke and make sure that -- and of course, the building has been evacuated. The whole building has been evacuated. We have no reports of injuries, which is very good news.
COLLINS: Yes, very good news. Allen, listen, while we have you on the line and while we are looking at the live pictures, tell us a little bit more about, exactly, how this works. I mean, obviously, the firemen get in there as fast as they can and they try to do this ventilation but it is a little alarming when you look at it, just so the late person, to see all that smoke come rushing out each time they knock out one of those windows.
ETTER: Well, you know, we want people to rest assured that we have this under control. We responded with a second alarm response, just to make sure that we have the proper manpower and the equipment here, to handle, if this evolves into something greater. Again, firefighters responded very quickly. We got up, we identified where the situation was but now, of course, the secret service is working with a number of agencies here on the scene to identify where the problem is and we have, you know, stage units outside which might be a little disturbing to some folks who are looking outside who aren't used to seeing this kind activity around here.
COLLINS: Yes, absolutely. ETTER: But, you know, again, we have no reports of injuries. We are working to go clear up the situation right now. There's a lot of smoke associated with this. So we're working very diligently with the folks in the building to make sure that nobody gets hurt.
COLLINS: Yes and you know, we've been talking a little bit about the renovations that has been going on there. Any idea from where you are and what you're hearing from crews inside about the type of system they may have had in place in that old, old building to contain fire or at least knock it down a bit? With sprinkler systems or is this completely being done by the fire crews?
ETTER: I don't have any information relative to that. I mean, I have not been inside. But, you know, I do know that some parts of the building are sprinklered. I don't know if sprinklers are activated in this case or not. I don't believe they did because there was an effort by firefighters to actually contain this fire so I don't know. You know, again, the issue at hand is the fact there's a smoke inside the building and we need to get that out of there before we can let people back in.
COLLINS: Yes. Certainly and you said, you're going to be there for a while, so we, of course, will be watching this very closely. Next to you, as all of these fire crews are inside trying to get this fire out. Again, if you are just joining us, you are looking at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. It's located next to the west wing of the White House. All kinds of offices in there for White House staff and the president has had an office there. Secretary of the State, Secretary of nave, of war. I mean, it just goes on and on. The history of this building is pretty incredible.
HARRIS: Allen, are you still on the line? Did we lose Allen? He's gone. OK. You know, just curious, are they dealing mostly of smoke event right now or there still flames associated with what's going on right now. Well, as we watch the scene unfold, once again we're coming up on the top of the hour. Want to welcome everyone back to the CNN NEWSROOM including our international viewers who are watching us right now from around the world. We are showing you pictures out of Washington, D.C., and a building very close to the White House. It is part of the White House campus really, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. A beautiful, ornate old building.
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