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Giuliani's Game Plan; Clash At The Border; The Pill As Protector; Las Vegas Casino Fire
Aired January 25, 2008 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Egypt slams the door on Palestinians who have been pouring into that country from Gaza. Gazans won't take it lying down.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about protection. New proof birth control pills protect women against ovarian cancer years after they stop taking them.
Hello, everyone, I'm Kyra Phillips in the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta.
LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Tomorrow, for the second Saturday in a row, South Carolina voters will step into the spotlight. This time it is the Democrats. Each of the party hopefuls is trying to convince voters that he or she is the best hope for returning a Democrat to the White House.
Republicans, meantime, are in Florida four days away from their own primary showdown. Candidates McCain and Romney are leading most polls, but Rudy Giuliani, who staked his presidential hopes on Florida, vows to pull off a comeback.
Well, they're expected to criticize each other, but the Republican presidential candidate also spent much of their time, at least at last night's debate, criticizing Hillary Clinton. When they weren't doing that, they took turns talking about the economy. A common theme. Well, they like the stimulus package announced in Washington, but they think it could have been better.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, there's a great deal that is effective in his plan. I just wish it went further.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you vote for this compromise?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I will. And I'm disappointed because I think it's very important that we make the Bush tax cuts permanent. I voted to make them permanent twice already.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think this package, for what it does, is OK and I would support it, but it doesn't go far enough. I think in the face of what's been going on, which obviously is a matter of serious concern, we should be very aggressive. MIKE HUCKABEE, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the concerns that I have is that we'll probably end up borrowing this $150 billion from the Chinese. And when we get those rebate checks, most people are going to go out and buy stuff that's been imported from China. I have to wonder whose economy is going to be stimulated the most by the package.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Senator Clinton was a common theme or common target last night. The consensus, that she is probably going to be the Democratic nominee and that Republicans need someone who can beat her. John McCain criticized her policies on the Iraq War.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And I'm so proud of the job that the men and women in the military are doing there. And they don't want to us raise the white flag of surrender like Senator Clinton does. They know we can win.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The Florida Republican primary is Tuesday. Rudy Giuliani has treated the contest as a virtual must-win for his campaign and polls show John McCain and Mitt Romney leading the field.
PHILLIPS: "The New York Times" is weighing in on the White House race. And that's the lead-off item in our political ticker. Among the Democrats, "The Times" offers a strong endorsement of home state Senator Hillary Clinton, citing her experience as a key reason for the nod over Barack Obama. The paper's editorial board says that it has strong disagreements with all the Republican hopefuls, but the Republican endorsement goes to Senator John McCain. "The Times" praises McCain's willingness to work with Democrats. It also bashes former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, saying "Giuliani's arrogance and bad judgment are breathtaking."
He's now run for the presidency twice. Picked up some celebrity endorsement both times. And, once again, he's having to get out of the race. Democratic Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich called off his White House run just a little while ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, (D) OHIO: To those who supported this campaign with their energies and their hearts, I want you to know that we are transitioning the presidential campaign to move and based on integrity and based on practical ways in which we can affect policies at a local/national level. I'm no longer running for president, but I am intent on saving our nation from the destruction of our economic hopes and from the destruction of our Constitution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Kucinich has some work to do back home. He has a fight to keep his job in Congress, with four fellow Democrats running against him in the primary.
Democrat John Edwards is trying to capitalize on the bickering between his rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. He unveiled a new TV ad in South Carolina today that features clips of Obama and Clinton criticizing each other in Monday night's CNN debate. The ad repeats a line that Edwards has been using a lot lately, describing himself as part of the, "grown-up wing of the Democratic Party."
LEMON: Rudy Giuliani has made Florida his second home, banking on a big win in Tuesday's primary. Recently he's pounced on a problem facing a lot of Florida homeowners. As CNN's Dana Bash reports, it's not clear how much it will pay off at the polls.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Stroll with Juan Barceras through his middle-class south Florida neighborhood and hear typical tales like this.
JUAN BARCERAS, UNDECIDED REPUBLICAN: There's actually a neighbor that I -- that I know that used to live a couple blocks down. She actually moved to North Carolina. And, yes, it's because of the cost of living.
BASH: The cost of living has skyrocketed for Floridians like Barceras because of through-the-the roof home insurance premiums.
BARCERAS: Back in the year 2000, I was paying about $2,000 a year. And that included flood and the wind storm, casualty, everything included. And now I'm paying upwards of $8,000.
BASH: In fact, the Florida Insurance Commission says hurricane- weary insurance companies have more than tripled average premiums in the last seven years.
RUDY GIULIANI, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People throughout Florida have been telling me how difficult it is to get insurance. How expensive it is.
BASH: Suddenly, the GOP candidate with the most riding on Florida's primary, is calling for a national catastrophic insurance fund to help.
GIULIANI: The federal government would be a backstop so that people could get insurance.
BASH: Mitt Romney and John McCain are two Republicans lukewarm to the federal government stepping in. And Giuliani is now trying to capitalize with this new ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Only one Republican candidate has proven experience dealing with disaster.
BASH: But undecided Republican voters, like Juan Barceras, are skeptical. Calls Giuliani's new pitch shallow. BARCERAS: This problem didn't just, you know, arise this week or last month. This has been our ongoing problem for years here. And he really hasn't been talking about it.
BASH: He's openly frustrated, say no candidate is really addressing his economic concerns.
BARCERAS: But I still don't know who I'm going to vote for. I might just go ahead and vote for Ron Paul.
BASH: How come?
BARCERAS: You know what, might as well.
BASH: Protest vote?
BARCERAS: Probably.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: Now that would certainly be a blow to Rudy Giuliani. And it speaks to a much bigger issue for him here in the state of Florida, and that is that the pool of undecided voters like Juan Barceras, who's actually very, very small in the Republican primary contest. So it's going to be very hard for Giuliani, who has been here for quite some time, to try to get those votes because they already know who he is and what he's about.
Don.
LEMON: Dana, John McCain is making a new point today, talking about the need for the next president to be a leader, not a manager. What's that all about?
BASH: Very interesting. You know, as we are so, so close to this primary and the stakes are so high, particularly between John McCain and Mitt Romney, he's trying to distinguish himself and really sort of draw a line between who the two men are and what they represent. And it's basically, from his perspective, leadership versus management. He's really trying to take a shot at the fact that Mitt Romney is, I guess so far in some ways successfully been able to tout himself as a CEO, as Mr. Fix-it, the guy who's going to come in and help with the economy. And John McCain is saying, you know, you can hire anybody to do that kind of thing, but it takes a certain kind of person, he said, like me, to inspire people, to lead. So that is where he is trying to distinguish himself a lot more today between himself and Mitt Romney.
It's also interesting, Don, he is being very vigorous in trying to defend also his conservative credentials. That is another big, big challenge for John McCain in this primary. It's important to keep repeating that only Republicans can vote here. In the past, a lot of his support has come from independents. So he is going to have to prove that he can do well among conservatives. And Mitt Romney is, at least in the early polls, seem to be doing much better than him among conservatives. Don.
LEMON: All right. OK. Dana Bash, thank you very much for that report.
The at times bitter back-and-forth between the Clinton and Obama campaigns has caught the attention of Bill Clinton's former labor secretary. On his blog, Robert Reich has some strong words for the former president. Quoting here, "Bill Clinton's ill-tempered and ill- founded attacks on Barack Obama are doing no credit to the former president, his legacy, or his wife's campaign. Nor are they helping the Democratic Party. While it may be that all is fair in love and war and politics, it's not fair -- indeed, it's demeaning -- for a former president to say things that are patently untrue (such as Obama's anti-war position is a 'fairly tale') or to insinuate that Obama is injecting race into the race when the former president is himself doing it."
Robert Reich will join us in the next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM to talk more about the presidential race and his views on President Clinton. We'll also here from Congressman Kendrick Meek (ph), a Clinton supporter. That will happen at 3:00 p.m.
And time is winding down and the race is heating up for the freshest polls, the latest fights, the political ticker blog and more. Check out cnnpolitics.com.
PHILLIPS: After days of doing little or nothing, Egypt is getting serious about keeping Palestinians in Gaza. Our Ben Wedeman was there when troops moved in to reseal the border. He's safely back in Gaza City now.
Ben, tell us what you were able to see.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we saw was that the Egyptians are indeed stepping up their efforts to control the border. But they're having limited success. Now it's well known among Palestinians that the people of Gaza are hard to control and it seems that the Egyptians are getting a lesson in how hard it really is.
What we saw is that for a while the Egyptians were trying to stop people from going into Egypt, allowing Palestinians to go back to Gaza. But what happened when they tried to do that, was that the Palestinians started throwing rocks and shoes and cursing at the Egyptians. The Egyptians responded with cattle prods, with water cannons. And later in the afternoon, what the Palestinians did was they took a bulldozer and they opened up a new entrance into Egypt.
So it does appear that even though the Egyptians are trying to control the situation with tens of thousands of Palestinians, many of them very eager to get into Egypt and buy essential goods, that the Egyptians simply are not able to control the situation at the moment.
Kyra. PHILLIPS: All right, Ben Wedeman, we'll definitely follow it. Appreciate it. Just getting back into Gaza City. We'll stay in touch.
LEMON: He used to be part of the Clinton cabinet. Now he's taking his old boss to task. We'll ask former Labor Secretary Robert Reich why he's speaking out now.
PHILLIPS: And the professor rode a bicycle. See why Louis Mendoza (ph) pedaled across America and what he learned along the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: 2:13 Eastern Time right now. Here are some of the stories we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM.
President Bush calls on Congress to approve tax rebates without delay. But some Senate Democrats say that that plan should be amended to include extended unemployment benefits.
And after yesterday's rally, new uncertainty for the stock market. Dow Jones Industrial down right now 137 points.
A teenager is being held in Nashville, Tennessee, after being removed from a Southwest Airlines flight. Authorities say he had handcuffs, ropes and duct tape and he was planning to hijack the plane.
LEMON: Birth control pills have long been known to cut women's ovarian cancer risk. But get this, studies show that pills continue, continue, to cut the risk for years, even decades after women stop taking them. CNN's medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us.
Years after they stop taking them?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Years. And, you know what, this is so important because most women who get ovarian cancer get it after they've hit menopause. So they're not taking the pill anymore. So it's terrific to hear that possibly the pill could work for years after someone has stopped taking it.
Now, as Don said, there's been the suggestion for a long time that birth control pills are good at preventing getting ovarian cancer. But, boy, this is stronger than ever. Let's take a look at the results of this particular study. Huge study.
This study found that the pill prevented 200,000 cases of ovarian cancer in the past. And also prevented 100,000 women from dying of ovarian cancer. So that's in the past. Now let's look to the future.
It says that in the years to come, this group of scientists thinks that the pill will prevent 30,000 new cases of ovarian cancer. That is huge. Those numbers are huge. And cancer prevention is important no matter what type of cancer you're talking about. But, Don, it's especially important for something like ovarian cancer because there are so few symptoms. LEMON: OK.
COHEN: I mean you usually don't get it until -- you usually don't know you have it until it's pretty far along.
LEMON: OK. So if you're taking the pill, it's got to be a certain length. You just can't take it and get off. How long do you have to take the pill in order to be protected?
COHEN: They didn't give an exact number. They couldn't figure that out.
LEMON: OK.
COHEN: But what the researchers did find was that the women who took it longer were more likely to prevent ovarian cancer. So basically the longer, the better.
And let's look at some other benefits of the birth control pill. Studies have found also that it reduces the risk of uterine cancer and also of ovarian cysts and that it may prevent bone loss, anemia and acne. So several benefits there to the pill.
LEMON: OK. So I'm not saying, you know, that it sounds too good to be true, but there's always a downside. There's got to be.
COHEN: There is always a downside. There is always a downside. And what they found -- what doctors have found is that the downside of the pill can be that it reduces a women's sex drive. Now that's important for obvious reasons, for women and their spouses, or their mates. But also you're talking women stay on this for years and years and years. So years and years and years of a reduced sex drive. That's not necessarily a good thing. And also there has been some suggestion that the pill might lead to weight gain. Studies haven't found it, but women have just reported this anecdotally. There's also some question as to whether taking the pill increases the chance of getting breast cancer and cervical cancer. Jury's still out on that one.
LEMON: Decrease the sex drive.
COHEN: Yes. That's not a good thing. And not everyone reports it, but some women report that.
LEMON: All right. Thank you very much.
COHEN: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: A medical shocker from Australia. A 15-year-old liver patient transplant, Demi-Lee Brennan, is the first person ever known to switch blood types and take on the immune system of the organ donor. Demi Lee used to be "O" negative, but since transplant surgery six years ago, she's "O" positive. Her body's ability to accept a new liver and then produce new blood cells on its own has left doctors mystified. Her case could be a breakthrough for other transplant patients. LEMON: Hey, want some adventure? Well, if you've got six months and a bicycle, the United States awaits. And we'll talk with a man who did just that and found a world within himself along the way.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: T.J. Holmes over at the national desk, monitoring what looks like a pretty big fire at the Monte Carlo Casino in Vegas.
T.J., what do you know?
T.J. HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this appears to be significant. This is the south tower of the Monte Carlo. This is, I guess, not really one of those -- the most well known, extravagant, or really themed casinos. But you're seeing the picture here of the live picture here, the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Now we don't have a cause. No word on any injuries. But the picture we are seeing here and that we are just getting in really just a minute ago. So we're looking at this really for the first time with our viewers here. But it is apparently a significant fire. This is a 3,000-room hotel and casino, across from the MGM Grand. Also just across the corner from the New York New York. So it's really centrally located. And I guess if you could call it almost a budget casino, if you will. It doesn't really have a lot of the themes that some of the other one, but it will get the job done for you in Vegas. So a good value, if you will, there in Vegas.
But a hotel there that, again, we don't have word on what has caused this fire. We were just getting the information that this was a significant fire and that smoke could be seen for miles and now the pictures show up and it appears that a good chunk of the top of this hotel is on fire and has been destroyed at this point. Again, this is what appears to be the very top of this casino. Where you would apparently assume there would be some suites. But, again, 3,000 rooms.
And, again, as we're taking this picture in and seeing it for ourselves, it appears to have taken out a good chunk of the roof of this casino. We're trying to wait and get word here about what is happening on the lower floors. What they're doing with people. You would assume that they would be evacuating people at this point.
No word, again, what caused this fire. It apparently has been going on for a short time to have destroyed that much of the building at this point at the very top. But no word on injuries at this point. And we're trying to get more info about what's happening here on the ground.
So, guys, again, we're just going on what we're able to see on this picture right here, Kyra and Don. But it's apparent that this is a significant fire that is destroying a good chunk of the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Again, in the heart of the strip there. Again, it's not one of these hotels and casinos you hear awfully a whole lot about. It doesn't have some of the themes of the Lex (ph) or Excalibur, the MGM Grand, the Bellagio, the Venetian. Some of these you hear people talk about so many times. But I have stayed at this hotel and casino several times. It is, again, like you say, they promote themselves as a budget casino. A nice casino and hotel. But, again, it doesn't have . . .
PHILLIPS: And newly remodeled, too. I know they were just recently remodeled, T.J. This is also the hotel, I don't know if you were there, that Lance Burton, that musician, always performs at. That's what has brought a lot of people to that hotel there on the strip.
But, you're right, about 3,000 rooms. They evidently had built some new penthouse suites up there on top. So I do not know if that has anything to do with the rebuilding that they did or not, T.J., but it could tie in.
HOLMES: We don't -- yes, we don't know where those are. This is being described to us as being in the south tower of the hotel. The south tower roof. But I appears, again, in this picture, that the very top, good chunks have been taken out. But it also, it appears, if you go down guys there, a few floors, two, three, four, floors, it appears smoke is coming out another of another one of the rooms there just a few levels below the very top where the good chunk and it's burned out.
So you still -- you see smoke, almost what appears to be a few floors down even from the very roof of this, the very top, where it appears that the main fire has taken out a good chunk of this hotel. This has given us a better perspective, a wider perspective of this whole hotel and a good chunk of it and the roof there has apparently burned down.
And, again, the word is, the smoke can be seen for miles. But, guys, we're trying to get the information about evacuations. You assume they're getting everybody out of this hotel, which is no small feat trying to do that in Las Vegas. What do we have here. It's about . . .
LEMON: And, T.J., there was -- and since you've been talking, we saw the fire go from the roof down to those other floors. I'm sitting here watching it. Just so you know the information we're getting here, over 3,000 luxury rooms and, again, as Kyra said, the space penthouse suites, newly remodeled, conference rooms and what have you. Not sure if it was under construction or had -- it was completed. But usually when there -- and I don't want to speculate here, but when it's on the roof like this, it could possibly be, you know, an air- conditioning or a heating system that will cause that kind of thing.
And, again, as you said, it is a three-star, four-diamond, hospitality 24-hour service here. Again, these pictures, just so you know, our affiliates are helping us out, coming from KVBC in Las Vegas and also KTNV, two of our Las Vegas affiliates showing us these roof shots. The fire again there, T.J., as you said, coming from KTNV and then, again, KVBC.
But, again, what appears to be the top floor or at least the roof and then spread down at least -- what do we count here, one, two, three, four floors maybe below the fire is coming from this one window?
HOLMES: And we can't tell, guys -- and, again, just since the time we've been looking at this picture, it appears this fire has -- is spreading at least. But you see that very top floor there and you don't know and we can't tell, folks, if this thing had started on the actual roof or it started in an actual room and is spreading. But there's no question there, if you look about four floors down, three or four from the very top, there is smoke coming out of a window. So that would, obviously, have to be some room in that building.
Again, folks, we don't know if it started in a room and worked its way up or started on the roof or is working its way down in some way. We just do not know at this point and no word, folks, on injuries just yet. We are working to get that information for you.
But a heck of a sight and a heck of a sight there for folks in Las Vegas. And, again, this smoke, apparently, can be seen for miles from the Monte Carlo. A lot of people, of course, know Las Vegas, know it well, know the area. Many people have visited that place. But, again, this is one a lot of people you might just pass by. It's not the first casino you think about really when you go visit. It doesn't have some of the grander themes like the other ones.
LEMON: But it is right there on the strip.
HOLMES: It is perfect location. Centrally located in the heart of the strip there. And here we are getting some more live pictures. A close-up picture. KVBC, apparently, giving us this one. But a close-up. Can't get the vantage point from here, but certainly close. Can't tell what vantage point this is, the front or the back here.
PHILLIPS: That's right at the back.
LEMON: That's the back of the . . .
PHILLIPS: The back of the roof there. And apparently MGM-Mirage owns the Monte Carlo, T.J. We're trying to get in touch with them to see if they know anything.
Now, look at that. You can actually see the cameras right there. There's a number of security cameras actually right on the point of the fire. So my guess is security is going to be able to monitor other points of where the fire might be breaking out and where exactly it is. Even though it says it's on the roof, that was like the back of the roof.
LEMON: Yes, Kyra, I think so.
PHILLIPS: It looks like the fire's coming out of the windows.
LEMON: Sorry to interrupt you guys, we're going to list in to the KTNV chopper reporter real quick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The south of the Bellagio. So this is right in the heart of the resort corridors. It's just to the north of the New York New York. But right now the flames are confined to just the one property. The Monte Carlo is the only thing that's on fire right now on the strip. Firefighters not only on the scene on the ground, but we've also seen them on the rooftop there, on top of the Monte Carlo. We've also seen numerous evacuees coming out of the Monte Carlo in an orderly fashion.
It doesn't seem, at least from the exterior of the building, that anyone has started to panic yet because of this. There has been quite a bit of warning. When I say "warning," the flames have been confined to generally one spot of the hotel. So folks have probably been able to get out of those upper floors, assuming, of course, that the elevators are still working. And even if they're not, they've had ample time to be able to get down using the stairwells.
We did see one woman come out of the hotel wearing a wedding dress. Can you imagine that? Your wedding day and the hotel that you're staying in catches on fire. But, so far, it seems like people are coming out of the hotel in a very orderly fashion. Firefighters on the scene. And you can see them right there on top of the roof now trying to assess the situation. They're trying to figure out exactly how they're going to try to get this fire out.
LEMON: That is the chopper reporter from our affiliate there KVBC. Again, we want to remind you, too, if you're in this area, in the Las Vegas area, send us your I-Reports. Stay out of harm's way. But at cnn.com/ireport. So just go to our web site, you can click on the I-Report icon.
PHILLIPS: And what we know right now, 3,000 rooms here in the Monte Carlo Casino right there in the heart of the resort corridor on the strip. People evacuating right now. Firefighters on the roof of this hotel, trying to fight those flames coming out of some of the rooms right there on the very top. Not sure how it started, how far it is spreading. But you heard from the chopper reporters there, from one of our affiliates KVBC, that he, from the chopper, even saw a bride, Chad Myers, in her wedding dress, running out of the casino. Not a way you'd really want to start off the beginning of your marriage.
CHAD MYERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I saw that, too. And I've actually been monitoring. I've had time, because we haven't done a lot of weather today, I've had time to monitor these pictures most of the time that they've been up and those fires, those flames that are on a couple lower floors are because of this debris that's been falling from this facade.
This really is the top of the Monte Carlo. There are no rooms behind the word "Carlo" there. That is just like an old facade from almost like an old western building. Makes the building look a little bit taller.
But this facade has been dripping, just raining fire down onto another ledge about three stories down, and that's how that secondary fire has started. Of a little bit more concern because it is closer to more of the interior part of the Monte Carlo rather than just the top. They're having a very difficult time getting to this fire. I mean you've got to understand how many floors this is up. Let's go to Google Earth and I'll kind of give you a perspective on where the Monte Carlo is. Right next to the New York New York Casino. Very close to the large, large new construction project going between it and the Bellagio. And what we have behind this facade, all of the air-conditioning and the heating ducts. So it appears that the firefighters, when we had a picture of the other side, they were trying to attack those heating ducts there. But the facade is actually on the other side of a very strong wall and they're unable to get to these fires, in to these flames. And now we can actually see that there's more than one. They are going in different directions. One going to the left, one going to the right.
Here's our Google Earth, we'll bring you right on down to the Earth. And as we get down, that's 604, that would be Las Vegas boulevard, better known as the strip. We'll get all the way down to the top, here, of the Monte Carlo. And you'll be able to actually see all of these heating ducts that we're talking about here, in and behind the facade. Turn our 3-D buildings on, we'll zoom back out for you. This is amazing technology from Google Earth. You'll be able to see the entire strip, there, as if you were flying in a helicopter. There's New York, New York, there's the Monte Carlo.
There's looking west. We do believe that the fire is on what they call the South Tower. But it is now going from this tower, spreading fire here, all the way along the facade and to this tower here ,which would be the back side of the south and southeast wing there of the Monte Carlo -- guys?
PHILLIPS: So you're saying it -- from what you can see, from the live picture to your Google maps, that it looks like it's coming out of the heating ducts?
MYERS: Well that's -- it appears like where it probably started. That or, again, back up there into those brand new penthouse suites. Most of the flame and most of what the damage looks like is damage to only the facade at this time.
LEMON: OK, and, Chad, thank you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure.
LEMON: We heard T.J. say earlier, the smoke can be seen for miles around. Especially if you're there, right there, on the Las Vegas strip. One of our producers from CNN "Headline News" just happens to be there -- Darian Billington. He's on the strip now.
Are you driving, walking? Where are you, Darian and what are you seeing?
VOICE OF DARIAN BILLINGTON, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, Don. I'm about a mile away from the Monte Carlo Hotel and Casino. And you can see smoke billowing, like, a mile up in the air.
PHILLIPS: OK.
BILLINGTON: I'm on my way there with my camera crew. We'll be on the scene shortly.
LEMON: You there -- were you there just happening -- you just happened to be shooting a story? I would imagine you're there for what's going on this weekend with robin, because I know you worked with Robin Meade.
BILLINGTON: Yes, exactly. We've been helping Robin Meade as she's (INAUDIBLE) Miss America pageant.
LEMON: Yes she is judging the Miss America pageant this weekend. So, this is sort of happenstance that you are there. So you can see this, you're going to be there shortly. You can see smoke billowing up. You're about, what, a mile away or a just few blocks away from the Monte Carlo?
BILLINGTON: About a mile away from the Monte Carlo.
LEMON: Yes. What is it like -- traffic? Because we're looking at traffic here on the strip. Describe what you're seeing around you, the traffic, the people. And just give us an idea of sort of the flavor around you.
BILLINGTON: Madness. Traffic is backed up. Clouds are forming and -- some of the spectators, are looking and seeing what's happening. The fire is across the top of the casino, as you can probably see from the live pictures. Smoke billowing from the top, is going across the top. And right now, it's just one, more crowds are coming, traffic is stopping up and we're going to be there shortly.
LEMON: OK. So Darian, when you get there, stay with us and make sure you know, even if you don't have your camera up, we would love to talk to you. So just hang out. If you guys -- Kyra, if you have any questions for Darian, I'll let you jump in here.
PHILLIPS: Sure. I think just -- bringing everybody up to date right now. If you're just tuning in, there's a fire that has been burning for about 33 minutes now since we first got word from our affiliates there out of Las Vegas. These live pictures coming to us from our affiliate, KVBO. The Monte Carlo Hotel, about 3,000 rooms. A fire has started up on the roof, right now, it looks like.
The damage is only to the facade. We can't necessarily confirm that the fire is taking place in any of those penthouses. People are being evacuated. It's a three-alarm fire right now. Firefighters are on the roof, trying to figure how they're going to put that blaze out.
The MGM Mirage owns the Monte Carlo. We are trying to get in touch with them. We know that they had recently done some remodeling there at the Monte Carlo. But you can see this fire-breaking out and kind of spreading along the top of the roof there, on the facade on the south tower.
LEMON: And we just -- just so you know, because people may know it by different names. The ground was broken on this hotel March, 1995. Originally named The Grand Victoria. If you haven't been to Vegas in a while, it was The Grand Victoria and then MGM wasn't happy with that, shortened it to the Victoria. It was a joint venture between, as Kyra's been saying, the Mirage resorts and also Circus Circus Enterprises. It wanted to attract middle-income tourist eager to sample European elegance at budget prices here.
So, a lot of folks have stayed there, including our very own Richard Roth who is in New York. Richard stayed there recently.
Richard, tell us about this hotel, what it offers and what might we see on these floors that are burning here.
VOICE OF RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, usually in Vegas, the higher the floor, the bigger the rooms. The high rollers, the comps they call them, the people who are getting free rooms, being flown in from other cities around the world, as long as they gamble in that hotel. I'm certainly not at that level, though I did recently receive a card in the mail from the Monte Carlo offering a buffet if I would stay there.
It's important to note, when watching these scenes, that Las Vegas and hotel fires have a chilling history. When anyone of a certain age looking at this picture will certainly recall 1980, a fire at what was then known as the MGM Grand Hotel. It's now Bali's, on the other side of the street, you may have mentioned that, where 84 died and 785 injured. We're certainly not at that state right now. But that fire began on a lower level at a delicatessen. And it was, at the time, I think the second worst fire in U.S. history. It's the biggest disaster in Nevada history.
LEMON: And Richard, if I can jump here. But I want you to continue. But, that fire that you're talking about in 1980, I remember that and several fires in hotels. I remember in one terrible fire in New Orleans sort of changed the standards when it came to hotel rooms, sprinklers and also escape plans for hotels as well.
ROTH: That's right. The wiring inside one of the walls there in the MGM was used to power a refrigeration unit on a food display cabinet at the deli and the vibration caused the wires to rub against each other, that's where it started. They've been trying to improve hotel fire safety codes.
The Monte Carlo is not one of the giants of Las Vegas. As anyone who has been there knows, the city has changed dramatically along the strip, with hotels and mergers expanding, huge projects. Next to the Monte Carlo, I don't know if you mentioned, I believe it's called City Center, a huge three, four-block long project was under -- in progress. I think we've seen it in some of the shots behind that. Definitely tons of workmen. So if you stayed at the Monte Carlo, you had to know that you were nearby a massive project that was going up to the left if you walked out the left to the front door.
LEMON: And Richard, we just want to remind our viewers and tell them what they are seeing. This firefighters -- they're on the roof and it appears they are fighting that fire from the back side of the facade, Hanging over where it appears to be those flames and smoke coming from. PHILLIPS: Well the good news, it doesn't appear, we're not getting any word right now, that the fire is taking place in any of the rooms. So far, it looks like the damage is just to the facade and the fire's kind of spreading across the South Tower there. You can see the firefighters perched up there with the hoses trying to work the flames there from atop.
If you're just tuning in, this is the Monte Carlo Hotel. It's right there in the heart of the resort corridor, right on the strip. Right now, everybody is being evacuated from that hotel to take precaution. No immediate reports of injuries. I am getting word, though, that ambulances are en route. Some already arriving just in case there might be issues with smoke inhalation or anything like that for those that might have been close to the top.
This hotel had been remodeled recently. I don't know if that ties into any of this. And our Chad Myers was actually able to show us a more in-depth look of the layout of this hotel, showing us that a lot of the heating ducts are up in this area as well. It's possible the fire and the flames could be tied to that right now. But so far, we don't know how they started.
We were listening to one of the helicopter reporters with our affiliate KVBC, saying that, apparently, this fire has disrupted at least one wedding. We saw a bride running out the front of that casino in her wedding dress. Hopefully that's no indication to how her marriage is going to go.
But on a much serious note, Chad Myers, you're working those maps for us still over there. Let us know if you've got a new perspective or something that you can show us. But otherwise we're getting live pictures via our affiliates, right here on this shot from KTNV. You see some of the debris falling from the rooms there, some of the flames and fiery debris coming off. We saw the fire start at the center of that tower and it looks like, through the color of the smoke, you can tell the firefighters are successful in putting out the flames...
LEMON: OK.
PHILLIPS: ... as it works its way across to the other side of the facade. So, that's good news. Firefighters are -- are beating the flames in parts of where that fire is spreading. But right now, still no reports of any injuries. And no reports of fire-breaking out in any of the rooms at this time.
LEMON: Yes.
PHILLIPS: Still trying to get a visual, though, on that. Right now, it looks like the fire is still on the facade.
Chad, you're with us now. What can you tell us?
MYERS: What I can tell you is, I'm looking at -- I have like four different sources here -- that there really is very little water getting on this fire whatsoever. The firefighters having a very difficult time getting the hoses up and over the top of the facade to spray water on the fire. And there's no containment, whatsoever.
And what is concerning me is how this rain almost, r-a-i-n, of fire coming down and on to these floors, starting more fires on floors that are below where you're seeing the fire now. And that could cause more concern as they may have to have to be breaking out windows to get water on that facade itself.
PHILLIPS: But it doesn't look like it's in the rooms, right?
MYERS: No, absolutely not.
PHILLIPS: It looks like it's -- OK. It's just on the facade. Because they are making progress from the center. And if you look at the change of color in the smoke. Here we go. I can't -- does that look like a firefighters' helicopter or is that a news chopper? Can you tell?
LEMON: That appears to be some sort of city official helicopter. Usually the news helicopters, unless they're --
PHILLIPS: It does say police on it?
LEMON: It says police, yes.
PHILLIPS: OK, there we go, Rescue. All right, so obviously they're getting a visual from up top there.
Well Chad, that's good news if the fire is not reaching into the rooms and, that they are just working the outside of the facade. But obviously a tough fire to put out when you can't get water right on it, directly.
MYERS: It's probably this synthetic stucco that's on the outside of this building. Real stucco is made from concrete and mortar and they just kind of slather it on there and paint it. But if it's a synthetic, it actually will burn. Now, in between the synthetic stucco and the building is actually either a concrete block, that's called concrete blocks stucco, or they actually poured concrete wall. So there would be no way for the fire to actually get into the buildings, unless a window was broken or unless, for some reason, it could actually seep through cracks between the windowsill and the concrete block or the poured concrete itself.
So I don't think this is -- they're still in big trouble with this, trying to get a handle on these fires, especially now that you see the fires on the lower floors. Like four stories down from where that facade is on fire.
LEMON: Well Chad --
MYERS: I think they could care less that the facade burns, but they don't want it getting into these windows, getting into these rooms, because then you're in to sprinkler systems, then you're into real trouble.
LEMON: But if we're talking about a facade, and especially something -- a hotel that was reconstructed back in 90s -- the late mid 90s, mid-late 90s -- we may not be talking about concrete here. It could be stucco or some other type of...
MYERS: Correct.
LEMON: ... material that may -- burns more than concrete. So we'll --
MYERS: You can even spray this stuff on as well. It just depends what it was made from at the time. And, all the houses here in Atlanta are either stucco or really a synthetic stucco. And when you knock on the synthetic stucco, you can tell it's not stone. You can tell it is not a mortar mixture, but more of a -- almost like a styrofoam, a hardened type styrofoam that clearly will burn.
PHILLIPS: And if you're just tuning in, live pictures now from our KTNB out of Las Vegas, Nevada. A fire on the roof of the Monte Carlo Casino, right there in the heart of the resort corridor. It's on the strip. People being evacuated, right now, from that hotel. Looks like it's, from what Chad was seeing through his Google map's, it's up there near the heating ducts.
We're seeing damage in fire to the facade, the outside right there. Firefighters kind of started in the middle. They have been working their way around. You can see the change of color in the smoke, which is good news, it means they are getting parts of that blaze out. But as you can see, there are also -- a little bit of fiery debris that is coming down from the pressure of that water fighting those blazes. That's not good, because you don't know where that's going to land on other parts of the casino there.
And as Chad was pointing out, the amount of stucco, how flammable it is -- and that fire just continues to work its way around the edge of this hotel. Owned by the MGM Mirage. Trying to get in touch with them to get word on what they're doing. And of course, leads us to wonder what kind of evacuation procedures they have, sprinklers they have inside and if indeed they are able to respond to this in a quick fashion.
LEMON: Yes. And as I said earlier, owned by the Mirage Resorts and the Circus Enterprises. It's sort of a joint venture between them. And again as I said earlier, usually we don't want to speculate, but when you have fires like this, when you see them on the top, on the roof, usually it has something to do with either air- conditioning or heating. Don't know if that's the case here, but that's the usual cause when you have something like this.
Again, our Richard Roth, standing by on the phone, stayed there recently and he knows a couple of details about this. These top floors where we're seeing this, usually, Richard, you say for the high-rollers, the folks who are high betters and go to Las Vegas and stay at these hotels all the time?
ROTH: Well, I can't speculate about -- I'm not expert, necessarily, on that hotel. Some other points to remember, Las Vegas is a 24-hour city, and at this time of day perhaps in another city, you might think people are out at work. In Las Vegas, as you know, people fly in at all hours. People stay up until 7:00 in the morning and gamble, then go back to their room to sleep. You can hope that the proper alarms have gotten out to everyone in the hotel.
And as you also know, anyone who has been in a casino, they don't like to let you leave if you've got money. And when you're in the lobby floor and other parts, it's a maze of lights and wheels of slots and shouts. And you really have a hard time figuring out where every exit or entrance might be, though they have put up more signs since the 1980 fire.
On the upper floors, as with other large hotels in Vegas, these corridors go on for miles as these hotels have expanded dramatically and they are adding, I believe, 50,000 more hotel rooms this year in Las Vegas alone. They are worried about a glut (ph) regarding the dollar as the economy slumps. It can be difficult, I would imagine, just to find the right door to get out for those people who are now scrambling there.
LEMON: And Richard, just real quick to confirm some of that stuff that you said. This top floor, if you stay on this top floor, this is what we're hearing from our sources, it means you have arrived. You are staying at the top tier accommodation on this floor. You need a key card to get in, VIP, concierge service, exclusive lounge, 42 inch plasma televisions, complimentary Continental breakfasts, light lunches, all of that stuff when you're staying up there, if it is indeed happening on those top floors.
Richard, thank you very much.
ROTH: You know, the Monaco Suites they are called up there.
PHILLIPS: Stay with us, Richard. We want to go over to T.J. because he's getting some I-Reports in.
T.J., what are you monitoring?
HOLMES: We got -- always in these stories, some of the best reporters we have are the ones on the ground. The I-Reporters who are helping us out and Zach Sherman is one who is in town on business. I believe we have his picture, but also we have Zach on the phone, I believe. Take a look at this, this is a picture that Zach Sherman sent in to us from L.A., in town on business.
Zach, where are you right now?
Apparently don't have Zach on the phone I'm told. We just have Zach's picture here, is the story I'm told. But this is Zach Sherman's picture, from L.A., in town on business. Said traffic is a mess out there right now. But this is a shot he took from his vantage point, took from his iPhone he said actually. And the first thing he thought of was to send this picture back to his office and tell his office to get it to CNN I-Report as quickly as possible. So that was one picture that we have. We are monitoring several others, guys. That's just one we want to bring to you right quick. If we get more, we certainly will keep passing them along. LEMON: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: The address -- what is it, cnn.com/i-reports. Send us your videos, your pictures. Call in to us, tell us what you are seeing and what you are observing and.
If you are just tuning in, live pictures right now from one of our affiliates out of Las Vegas, KVBC. As you can see, firefighters definitely making progress from where that fire started on the facade of the Monte Carlo casino. But still having to work it. Some of that fiery debris landing on the lower levels of that hotel -- 3,000 rooms in this casino, three-alarm fire. It's right in the heart of the resort corridor on the strip corridor.
People being evacuated right now. Possibly this came from the heating ducts. Those are connected to the roof there -- right up there on top of that hotel. No immediate reports of injuries, but ambulances are there on the scene and firefighters are on the roof working the flames.
LEMON: And Chad Myers, I think you are still listening in, because we've been getting information in back and forth here and not keeping an eye on the pictures probably as much as you have.
This that you see there on the right side of the building, this appears to be newer, because at first it appeared to be right next to the Carlo in Monte Carlo. And it appears to have spread along this building to the right. Am I correct in that assumption?
MYERS: Yes, and that wing there that you see to the right, right where the letters N-V are, for Las Vegas, Nevada, that is actually the wing that points directly to New York, New York. And that's where the biggest fire has been in the past few minutes. But it appears that the left wing, or what we would actually consider the wing that points to the west, where the words Monte Carlo are still there. It appears that they really have knocked down that part of the fire significantly.
LEMON: Yes. I -- Kyra just mentioned that. It does. But it seems like it certainly has picked up on the right side of this. But, again, when you have buildings like this, this many people, this many floors, this big, of course, there are very strict provisions about sprinkler systems and what have you. And I'm sure the sprinklers working inside of the building are helping as well.
But also, we saw a picture, just a mile -- just a couple of seconds ago of firefighters on the back side of that building attacking it from the back side of the roof. We're going to listen in now to our coverage from KVBC. We're back here on CNN U.S. in a second.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not as thick, it's not as dark as it was. And you also mentioned the backup on Interstate 15 has got to be at least a mile or two in both directions. They've also closed off traffic on the Las Vegas strip, all the way from Tropicana up to Harmon. Right now no traffic being allowed right in front of the Monte Carlo and traffic backed up in both directions for at least a mile or two, although we have not noticed any impact on the nearby McCarran (ph) Airport. Flights are still coming in and leaving the airport as normal. But we're seeing about, oh, I would say normal traffic at the McCarran Airport. Back to you.
LEMON: All right, again, that is the chopper pilot from our affiliate there in Las Vegas, KVBC. And again, if you're just joining us, we are following breaking news. This is the CNN NEWSROOM. Kyra Phillips and Don Lemon reporting here. A fire that has been happening for maybe about 30 minutes or so, we've been reporting on it, maybe a little bit longer. Happening at the Monte Carlo Casino and Resort Hotel in Las Vegas.
It appears to be on the top floor of this hotel. And as you can see from the pictures here, it has spread to some of the lower floors on the hotel. Evacuations in progress, firefighters and emergency workers on the scene at this hotel.
PHILLIPS: On the phone with us now, Larry Ayala. He is a resident there of Las Vegas. He's right across the street from the Monte Carlo right now.
Larry, tell us what you're seeing. Give us sort of a visual and feel for the scene right now.
VOICE OF LARRY AYALA, LAS VEGAS RESIDENT: They have it under control pretty good. But to the far right of the building the flames are moving to the furthest far right of the casino itself. The far left, which has (INAUDIBLE) down to about the sixth -- six floors down from the top of the building, they have it under control, but the damage looks very extreme.
PHILLIPS: Now Larry, can you tell, or do you know, have you heard anything there from the firefighters or anyone on the ground, if the fire is, indeed, in any of those rooms, or is it just on the facade of the Monte Carlo Casino?
AYALA: It started in the middle of the casino where I assume there's some suites on the top floor and started spreading to the right or the left.
PHILLIPS: But you don't know if they're inside the suites, the fire is inside of the suites or not?
AYALA: No, I haven't heard from anything. All I know is one is that one of the gentleman that was here recently getting some gas, he said his father was an engineer, and he said that foam on each level, probably added to the fire. Because under the stucco, they had foam there and that's what contributed.
PHILLIPS: OK. And our Chad Myers was actually mentioning how that building was made and that could possibly be why it is spreading and why it keeps catching. So have you -- are there people still evacuating the Monte Carlo right now?
AYALA: From what I understand, there is a fellow employee that works with me, his girlfriend works in the cage and they have evacuated everybody out of the building. So, I assume that the fire department does have control and the emergency people that do help out are there.
PHILLIPS: Do you still see people coming out of the hotel?
AYALA: No. I can't see the ground level. I can just see the casino itself down to about maybe the first five floors. I can't see on account of my view with the In and Out Burger. But the rest of the casino itself and the fire itself I can see very well.
PHILLIPS: And what are some of the other casinos that are right there, close to the Monte Carlo, Larry?
AYALA: You have the new City Center to the left of the Monte Carlo that they are building. It's brand spanking new. And to the right you have New York, New York, which is part of the MGM Grand scheme itself.
LEMON: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right. So, right now we are talking with Larry Ayala. He is a Vegas resident there. He's right across the street and has a pretty good eye on the fire right there, on the Monte Carlo Casino. These pictures now coming to us from our affiliate, KVVU.
Larry, thank you so much.
If you're just tuning in, there's a three-alarm fire taking place on top of the Monte Carlo Casino -- 3,000 rooms. Not quite sure if that fire has reached any of those penthouse apartments there at top. We're still trying to confirm if the fire is just on the facade of that building. Right now no immediate reports of injury.
LEMON: Yes. And I just -- I want to cap on that, Kyra. Clark County Fire Department, I'm hearing from our producers, no injuries reported at this time, which is amazing considering these pictures if you're looking at them. One of our photographers is there, Rick Blackburn is a CNN photographer. He's on the scene.
We want to go to him to find out his vantage point and what he's seeing and hearing around him -- Ric?
VOICE OF RIC BLACKBURN, CNN PHOTOGRAPHER: Good morning, Don. It's about five minutes to noon here in Las Vegas. And I woke up seeing this on television this morning and immediately looked out my window. I could see it from my hotel room. And we are actually turning on to Harmon Avenue, which runs almost right into the Monte Carlo hotel. This is right next door to the New York, New York mega- hotel also.
LEMON: So you're on your way to the scene here, I would imagine. Are you there on business, correct?
BLACKBURN: Correct. We're here with Robin Meade, doing the Miss America pageant tonight. It's supposed to take place this evening. And, of course, this is taking precedence over that with us right now, so --
LEMON: And -- I would imagine. And that's something we talked about earlier, that Robin is going to be a judge in that. And the important part is that there are a lot of people in town, because this is a huge event that's happening in Las Vegas, the Miss America pageant. And also, people are in town, Ric, always for Las Vegas, because it's a city that people want to go to, people love to gamble. So, you're turning on, tell us about traffic. What people are doing around you, and what you're hearing from folks.
BLACKBURN: We're -- we're actually -- the traffic is moving kind of smoothly right now. But I imagine the closer we get to the hotel that I could -- I see police cars blocking intersections ahead of me. So we have our CNN vehicle and we're going to try and get as close as we can to the actual fire. We can see the smoke billowing right now. But we are not -- we're being blocked by the other huge hotels right now. But we're turning onto Harmon and we should have some more to give you in the next couple of minutes here.
LEMON: Yes, you and Darian, please stay with us, and update us as much as possible on this fire. And we are watching it. I mean, it looks like on the left side -- Ric, thank you very much.
Kyra, it looks like on the left side that they kind of knocked it down on the roof. But as we heard from the caller, it looks like it's spreading to the right side of the building and that's where firefighters are going to have to focus on now.
PHILLIPS: And our local resident there, Larry Ayala, who lives there in Vegas, said that the facade there is of stucco and foam. So as the firefighters are fighting the flames up top on the roof there, some of that fiery debris is falling down and then catching fire on other parts of the facade on the front of that casino.
We're still not sure and can't quite get a clear indication whether the fire has indeed gone inside the casino, if it is inside any of those rooms or the penthouses there on top. There are 3,000 rooms in this casino. It's right there in the heart of the resort corridor. It's on the strip. People have been evacuated. Our local resident Larry Ayala said that he had talked to a friend of his who works there in the cage in the hotel. She got out, but everybody was being evacuated. Don't know how the fire started yet. There are heating ducts up there on the roof. That is a possibility that something went wrong in one of those.
But firefighters are actually on top of the roof, and they've sort of each taken -- a couple firefighters have taken sections of that roof. One is manning the ladder, the other is on top of the ladder and they are spraying downward on the flames, trying to put out the fire. But then that's what's causing some of the fiery debris to catch on the lower levels of that casino.
This is where Lance Bertan (ph) the magician performs, a lot of people know the Monte Carlo for that. It's a three-alarm fire we're told. The hotel owned by the MGM Mirage. They have not come out with a comment or any type of statement. No immediate injuries being reported at this time.
LEMON: Yes. That's the good news we heard just moments ago from the Clark County Fire Department that there were no injuries. And again, because, as Kyra said, that foam and stucco, that may be burning. That could be good news in this. That could be the exterior that we're seeing burning and not necessarily the interior. But too early to figure that out. We want to listen in now to our affiliate coverage from KVVU for a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Bellagio, the Monte Carlo, New York, New York, MGM Grand, those hotels have been evacuated. But we're almost an hour into this fire and we still have not heard about the major evacuations from the Monte Carlo. Or maybe we have. Has the Monte Carlo started evacuating their guests at this time? I'm not really sure. I haven't gotten official -- it is official now that the Monte Carlo has evacuated at this time.
So, wow, this is -- just unbelievable here. If you are heading down to the Las Vegas strip, traffic has been diverted. Las Vegas boulevard between Harmon and Tropicana is completely shut down. If you have guests or family or friends here in town trying to check in there, it is not going to happen at this point. Four workers are trapped on the roof. And we are getting more information. Matt is on the scene.
Matt, tell us what you've learned? We have some pretty incredible pictures here, right now, my friend.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is really incredible. I have never seen anything like this. We're just going to push back into this building. It says it all. This Monte Carlo building is completely on fire. The whole upper portion of this building is destroyed. It looks completely gutted. But it does -- there is some good news. It does really look like the firefighters are making some headway.
I don't see as much black smoke as we saw originally when we first got on scene and the flames, they're not as high. But you still see the upper portion of this building still on fire. And as for traffic, we've been moved several times, as they continue to bring in more firefighters and more emergency personnel to help out this blaze. I just saw pass me a lot of Henderson firefighters with big ladder trucks helping out. They just drove past us, they gave us a wave.
So obviously metro and Las Vegas fire departments and the county for that matter, they're going to be needing extra resources in this fire. And as you touched on, I think that everyone has been evacuated from this building. They have been evacuated from the nearby buildings as well, the New York, New York and the City Center, which is still under construction at this point in time. But originally when I first talked to a few people that had been evacuated, they were carrying out all their things, they found out from us, on the news, from our cut-ins, that the building was on fire, because they said that the emergency alarm went off, but they were never told to leave the building.
Again, you're still looking at this building still on flames, on fire. And the upper part of this building caught fire first. That's what started to fall down and catch the other parts of this building on fire, and then that has moved into the center of the building, gutted out all these penthouses and all the upper portion of this building -- Monica?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And, Matt, we just learned, we were talking about evacuations earlier. And we were saying that several, including New York,New York, MGM Grand, Bellagio and City Center were being evacuated. We just got a call from Bellagio. Bellagio says that are not evacuating. Just a little nugget there for your information. The Bellagio is not being evacuated for those of you trying to get to that area.
But Matt, can you tell us anything about the workers being trapped on the roof? We heard there are four workers trapped on the roof. I know all this information is kind of hard to get right now. But have you heard anything about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I haven't. And actually, I've been looking at the rooftop as I've been talking to you. I haven't seen anybody up on the rooftop, which is some good news. But over here, Jason, let's pan over to that side of the building. I think that you can see what appears to be some windows that are open at this point in time. I was watching those, a few minutes ago, and it looked like the firefighters were up there, knocking out the glass, using that as an area to shoot with their hoses to put out that part of the building that was on fire. So, I think that obviously, those areas have been evacuated.
LEMON: It is 3:00 Eastern time. You're watching the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Don Lemon here with Kyra Phillips.
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