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Seven People Killed in Arkansas Storms; President Bush on the Economy; Honoring Sergeant Merlin German
Aired May 02, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news now -- straight to the CNN Weather Center, where we have tornado warnings.
Chad Myers looking at all of it for us -- Chad.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, nothing on the ground reported, guys for the next -- or last 45 minutes. We still have tornado warnings in effect, which means that there is still some spin on Doppler radar, but there have been so many people out there looking at these today, I think we probably would have some confirmation if indeed we had some tornadoes on the ground.
We will kind of take you on a tour. Memphis there, right above the word breaking news, the storms are very spotty over you. They are all broken up. There's no real threat at this point yet for Memphis, as it goes.
Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to take you in and I'm going to push you into a couple of different storms north of Dyersburg. We're going to move all the way up even into Kentucky. That's where one of the tornado warnings is. I have not seen anything on the ground with that at all.
And then here toward Pascola, now we're in the boot heel of Missouri. That storm has been rotating for a while. Then we get back down a little bit closer to Little Rock. They have boxed this area up. There are three separate tornado warnings, although some of it have been canceled. Still, there's just rotation all over the place. Still nothing, though, that I can confirm to tell you that it's actually been on the ground.
One area that I do know that's on the ground is Carlisle. I will -- slid you all the way down into Shreveport. And this is eastern Tennessee and you can see there are no warnings, at least at this point.
The one area that we're trying to get ahold of officials in Carlisle, Arkansas. We have been trying to get ahold of officials now for about 15 or 20 minutes, and no one is answering our phones. That's probably because the power lines and the phone lines are down.
We are trying to get that. We do know that spotters reported a tornado that went right over the I-40 and then right into Carlisle. Tornadoes have flipped over cars on I-40 and have made damage in Carlisle. At this point in time, we don't know how much. We do know that one more person has lost their life today, seven tornadoes -- seven deaths now from tornadoes. This last one was in Hensley, Arkansas.
And I reported on that, Hensley, Arkansas, as soon as I walked in this building. About 12:40 this afternoon Eastern time, 11:40 local, that tornado was on the ground in Hensley, and we knew it. And we were trying to give people enough -- enough time to get out of the way. And, sometimes, you just can't.
LEMON: Wow. All right, Chad Myers, we will continue to check back with you. Thank you, sir.
MELISSA LONG, CNN ANCHOR: The video helps you to see this next story. It was Greensburg, Kansas, almost a year ago, destruction everywhere.
Well, Greensburg today is a much different place. And then just wait. It may in fact be the greenest town in America.
CNN's Rob Marciano saw for himself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): A massive tornado, almost two miles wide tears through a tiny town. Almost nothing is left.
One year later residents understand that how they rebuild will determine the town's future. And Greensburg is, well, going green. Windmills are popping up like the winter wheat and even conservative farmers are getting on board.
DANIEL WALLACH, DIRECTOR, GREENSBURG GREENTOWN: All you have to say to them is if you could save $200 a month on your utility bill by harnessing this wind, what do you think?
MARCIANO: Here green has no political party.
MIKE ESTES, BTI GREENSBURG: I don't think it's red or blue to be green. I think green is green, and green makes sense, and it also saves you green, you know. That's the other thing.
MARCIANO: For the Estes, the fourth generation family business is a John Deere dealership and the tornado hit them especially hard.
ESTES: Steel twisted inside the brick and the miles per hour that it had to have to pick combines up that weigh 20,000 pounds plus and that equipment that headed right into harvest, gone.
MARCIANO: Rebuilding the new John Deere site is just getting started, and you got it, it's going to be green.
ESTES: Below us is hydronic in-floor heating. We put hydronic heating in here so that the heat will be radiant from the base of the floor up.
MARCIANO: Is that more efficient than your other -- ESTES: Much, much more efficient. When we drain the oil out of our machines it's going to go into a tank. That tank will then house the oil that's going to be burned that will heat the water in this floor.
At present, that particular windmill is powering this job site, which to our --
MARCIANO: And when it's completed more than half of the dealership's electricity will come from the wind.
ESTES: My granddad would -- trust me, he liked to save energy, and he was an environmentally conscious person as was my dad. Farmers are environmentalists.
MARCIANO: And farmers here hope to turn their town's tragedy into an environmental triumph.
Rob Marciano, CNN, Greensburg, Kansas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, after months of dismal economic news, you can't blame us for asking, is this the light at the end of the tunnel? The signs of hope are modest and could be short-lived, but things that were going up are going down today, and things that were going down are finally going up.
On the decline, the unemployment rate, down one-tenth of a percentage point from last month, and the price of gasoline down one- tenth of a penny from yesterday. So, what is going up? Well, the Dow industrial average still on the plus side today, after rising above the 13000 mark.
Well, it's actually just trading down at four points, but, still, it could change before we get to the closing bell in about an hour.
President Bush says the economy is sure to get better and the tax rebates hitting the bank accounts this week, well, he says they will help. The president gave an economic pep talk in suburban Saint Louis today.
CNN White House correspondent Ed Henry has all the details for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: With Democrats charging that he's out of touch on the economy, President Bush continues to insist the country is not in recession, but today in Saint Louis, he did acknowledge that we're in a fix and it's going to take a long time to get out of it.
After touring the headquarters of an information technology company here, Mr. Bush said that a mixed jobs report today is adding to anxiety all across the country about the credit crisis and those soaring gas prices.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, there was another report out that showed that we lost 20,000 jobs last month, even though the unemployment rate dropped to 5 percent. In other words, the unemployment rate went down. And, again, that's a sign that this economy is not as robust as any of us would like it.
HENRY: The president is under great political pressure to show he's doing something about it, so he's touting those tax rebate checks that started going out this week electronically. Next week, they will start going out by snail mail.
But Democrats like Rahm Emanuel are charging the country may already be in recession and if the president wants to be realistic, he needs to start working with Congress on a second economic stimulus package, Mr. Bush rejecting that so far, saying he wants to give the first one a chance to work.
Ed Henry, CNN, with the president in Saint Louis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: The term love/hate relationship could have been invented for credit cards. If you think you deserve a break from the high rates and fees, well, the feds are now agreeing. Regulators are considering new ways to fight what they call unfair and deceptive practices.
New rules under consideration would give us more time to pay our monthly bills. It would also ban the practice of slapping higher rates on preexisting balances. Now, the Federal Reserve Board is expected to sign off on the plan this afternoon. The banking industry is claiming the changes would hurt consumers through higher prices and less available credit.
Well, President Bush filled in the outlines today of another war funding request. Back in February, you may remember that he told Congress he would want $70 billion to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through the end of his term in office. Well, the breakdown came out today.
The bulk, $45 billion for combat operations. And then here's the really big number. Congressional analysts say the running cost of Iraq, Afghanistan and the war on terror is nearing $900 billion.
LEMON: Well, maybe it's the Reverend Wright effect. Maybe it was Hillary Clinton's win in Pennsylvania, but something, something has cut into Barack Obama's lead in the Democratic presidential race.
A nationwide CNN/Opinion Research poll shows a virtual dead heat, with 46 percent backing Obama and 45 percent favoring Clinton. Six weeks ago, though, Obama was ahead by seven points. That same poll has both Obama and Clinton beating John McCain in a head-to-head matchup, Clinton by five points, Obama by four points.
Well, this week ahead -- this week, I should say, about a dozen superdelegates have done their part to end the suspense in the Democratic presidential marathon.
And CNN's Tom Foreman reports the pace of pledging may start to pick up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The superdelegates who have declared a choice have not been moving much lately, a little bit, but not much. They started out this year favoring Hillary Clinton massively. Now, however, her lead is down to about 20 people and sticking pretty much around there.
So, the number that really matters is this one, the undeclared. And this group actually contains two subgroups with different motivations guiding their decision.
The first is all the Democratic governors, representatives and senators. Eighty of those folks are undeclared. We don't know which way they are going to go. So far, members of this group have favored Obama, just barely. Look at the numbers right there. The rest are expected to follow this trend, because many serve in states that Obama has won, and they don't want to go against the will of the voters, because, frankly, those are the voters that they will need for their own reelections.
So, Clinton's main target is the other group, superdelegates who have a vote because the party considers them important Democratic activists at the state or national level. About 200 of these people are undeclared at this point. And when you look at those who have declared, you can see that she was winning that group quite handily. They are more likely to be concerned about this question of electability, which candidate can beat John McCain in November.
And this is the group Clinton is pounding on over Obama's preacher problems. Now, all of that said, however, you have to know that, undeniably, this remains an uphill battle for Clinton. Remember, Obama is ahead in the popular vote, the delegate count, and states won. So, many experienced political analysts and reporters believe the bulk of the undeclared superdelegates are leaning his way, and they are just waiting for him to win a couple more states, so they can say the voters have spoken, and now we will, too.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, thank you very much for that, Tom.
Well, there might be a minimum voting age, but there certainly is no maximum. We will meet some of the more, shall we say, seasoned members of the electorate who are making their voices heard.
LONG: Now, there's plenty of freight to haul, but some truckers are parking their rigs. We are going to talk to one trucker and his wife to find out why they're doing it.
LEMON: And talk about a tough P.R. job. Convince the world, despite appearances, that your city is not friendly to terrorists. The mayor of Karachi, Pakistan, makes the D.C. rounds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LONG: Gasoline prices are down a little today, but still way above last year's levels. And that is causing big problems for truckers, who drove their rigs to Washington, D.C., this week to protest.
Dan Little helped to organize that protest. He joins us now live from Kansas City.
Dan, thank you for your time.
DAN LITTLE, TRUCK DRIVER: Thank you.
LONG: Dan, so many people are grumbling and understandably about the high price at the gas pump. But how is it affecting you and all of your colleagues?
LITTLE: Well, it's tripled our operating cost. Our normal fuel costs on ratio would be 25 percent to 30 percent. And owner-operators and trucking companies now are paying 60 percent to 70 percent just for their fuel.
LONG: So, that means that you have made the difficult decision to actually let your rig sit idle and not take jobs?
LITTLE: Yes, ma'am. If you're losing money going down the road or you're losing money sitting at home, at least sitting at home, you're not wearing your truck out.
LONG: Now, as we are looking at some of the video from protests earlier in the week -- that was from April 28 in Washington -- there was one sign in particular that said, empty tanks plus empty pockets equals empty fridges.
Help us to understand how it's just going to have a ripple effect and affect all of us.
LITTLE: Well, you know, we can raise our rates and raise our rates and raise our rates, but that money or that cost is going to be passed on to the consumer.
And you have people out here today that are living paycheck to paycheck that can't afford it. I mean, they have to make the decision whether to buy groceries today or buy gas to go to work in hopes that tomorrow, things will get better. And a lot of them are choosing to buy gas, rather than groceries.
LONG: Dan, this owner-operated trucking business has been in your family for three generations now. It's all you know. What are you going to do?
LITTLE: Well, you know, we really don't know. I'm like everybody else, in hopes that things will start to get better. I believe that they will in the long run. It's just a matter of can we hold out until then.
LONG: So, you have started a grassroots group in order to pressure Washington. Tell us what you're doing.
LITTLE: Well, back in the middle of March, I called for a shutdown on April 1, and we had a tremendous amount of support nationwide through both trucking companies and individuals and owner- operators, and also through people who just said that they support us. They support what we're doing.
We have 89 percent of the American public behind us. They understand too that there's no reason for this fuel to be this way or these expenses to be this way.
And since that time, we have started Owner Operators United. It's a new association. It's a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit corporation that we hope to take into the future, so that we're not in this position again.
We hope to educate the drivers and their families from the inside out, and to also have an ear in Washington, where we can learn about these laws before they're actually put into effect. A lot of these laws are put on the books on the back of another bill. And we don't hear about them until they're already initiated.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: OK. So, Owners Operated United is your grassroots group. You have the support from all of your colleagues in the industry -- or many of your colleagues, I should say, in the industry.
And you said you have an 89 percent support level from the American public, from consumers. So, what do you hope they will do to support you and support the challenges your industry is facing?
LITTLE: Well, there's a bill in Congress right now, 2910 bill. It's the Truck Act. It will force the shippers and these brokers to give 100 percent pass-through on the fuel surcharges.
LONG: OK.
LITTLE: Fuel surcharges were put into play to make -- kind of cut us some slack on these fuel costs. They're an add-on to the freight rate.
LONG: Dan Little, we are just about out of time. I just want to thank you again for coming in to tell us about your organization again, Owners Operated United, which you can find online, and also for coming into the studio today. We appreciate it. We know you had a long drive, so we appreciate it.
LITTLE: Yes, ma'am. Thank you.
LONG: Thank you, Dan. Good luck to you.
LEMON: A U.S. Marine who never gave up through more than 100 post-war surgeries, Barbara Starr will tell us the story of the late Sergeant Merlin German.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, new information now on our developing news here in the CNN NEWSROOM, as you can see.
It's out of Eagle Rock, California. Thank you, KABC, for those pictures. It involves that mountain lion that we have telling you that is on the loose. Apparently, there's two different scenarios here. One sighting happened earlier. This is Gilroy, California. But this one we're talking about is just outside of Los Angeles about nine miles in Eagle Rock, California.
The latest information we have on this, and this is according to a Wendell Bowers, who is with the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services. He said someone called the LAPD this morning to report a mountain lion on the loose in Eagle Rock in that area northeast of Los Angeles. Fish and Game approached an area where they thought the mountain lion might be, and a domestic cat jumped out, perhaps a very large one, but still not a mountain lion.
But they are still checking there to make sure to see if there is indeed a mountain lion on the loose. They believe it is. And they're checking. We will get more information. We will bring it to you in the NEWSROOM -- Melissa.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
LEMON: Well, growing up, Brandon Hollas says he ate what was in front of him, and he certainly paid the price, he says. His story is today's fit Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Brandon Hollas grew up in the small Texas town of Cameron where eating healthy was an after thought.
BRANDON HOLLAS, LOST 180 POUNDS: We are allowed to eat chili cheese nachos for lunch and with grandma's cookie's on the side and a Dr. Pepper. They have made that lunch for several days of the week. GUPTA: As Brandon grew older, the nachos, cookies and most of all the soda would catch up to his. I would drink about six pack a day which was 200 calories a pop. By college, he weighs close to 400 pounds, until:
HOLLAS: I had actually a cousin that before the age of 11 was fully diagnosed with diabetes. And I think that really, really opened my eyes that there's some serious health problem if I don't do something about it.
GUPTA: So, he began reading up on health and fitness at the school's library. He also began working out.
HOLLAS: Within six months I had dropped 50 pounds.
GUPTA: Now, almost half his former size, Brandon says a lack of education contributed to his weight gain.
HOLLAS: I didn't really know much about portion control or good nutrition growing up. I just knew I liked the food that was in front of me and didn't think about the sacrifices.
GUPTA: Brandon is happier. He is healthier and he is preparing to finish his masters' degree. He is also in prime shape for perhaps the biggest day of his life. His upcoming wedding.
HOLLAS: My name is Brandon Hollas and I have lost 180 pounds.
GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: Congratulations, Brandon.
Coming up, we're going to focus on the severe weather, nasty weather in Arkansas, deadly storms in that state.
You're looking right now, however, at pictures from Tulsa, Oklahoma. We will continue to follow the damage and continue to follow this wicked weather on this Friday afternoon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right, no rest this weekend for thousands of people in Tornado Alley whose towns got pounded overnight and today by vicious and deadly storms. Three communities in Arkansas got the worst news -- seven people dead when monster winds toppled trees and flipped mobile homes.
Kansas City, on the Missouri side -- look at these smashed up homes. There are more than 200 of them after a wind, hail and heavy rain system whipped through overnight. Somehow, nobody was seriously hurt in this.
And in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at least three tornadoes touched down late Thursday, throwing cars around and knocking out power to about 10,000 homes.
More breaking news now from the CNN Severe Weather Center. Let's get over to Chad Myers.
Chad, we've been talking about Carlisle a lot, right?
MYERS: Yes. We actually talked to some people in Carlisle. And there is some damage, mainly roof damage, which kinds of leads you to believe maybe an F1 or maybe an F2. And -- but the town of Carlisle is closed, so people are not able to look around at what is going on. We're still getting to the emergency managers. They're obviously busy. So we are going to get to you what we can.
Right now, no fatalities, no injuries from that town, but we do know that it went right across I-40 right through Carlisle. So here you go. Memphis on the bottom of your screen, right above the word "breaking news." And we'll kind of zoom around a little bit for you. A very impressive looking hook on a storm near Mark Treat (ph). There we go, right there. And that is going to move to the northeast at about 45 miles per hour.
Another storm here, to the southwest of Forrest City. See that little dangly part there west of Forrest City, right down, just dangling across the interstate. That dangly part is the hook that we always look for. It's the mezocyclone (ph). It is the part of the storm that is the most dangerous. And, actually, one of our employees here, out on a storm chasing mission, out toward Oxford in Mississippi -- although up toward Abbeville here. That is the next one that looks like a big hook. You see how it's got that round little shape to it?
Well, that's what we look for. That's when we say Doppler indicated something. The radar indicates it by just the signature on the radar and how the rain is wrapping around, how the wind is spinning and, obviously, somewhere in the back of that storm where the wind is spinning, a tornado could fall out.
We'll keep you advised. Right now, I have not had a confirmed tornado on the ground for over an hour. That's great. Now, we have tornado warnings, which means, yes, there could be a tornado fall out of the storm, but right now nothing on the ground.
LEMON: All right, hey, Chad, I'm getting some information here. I just want to tell you, we're talking about Carlisle, right. And this is
This from the "Carlisle Independent." you're talking about the roof there. The roof is off, part of the fire station. The old depot sustained some roof damage. They're building a new senior center and part of that roof is gone. They closed the city, the through traffic. As you said, the city is closed. We've gotten word of several houses that sustained roof damage there.
So everything you said is right on. But is it pretty much over for these guys?
MYERS: I've got to say, Carlisle three times and the word tornado because of three different storms.
LEMON: Yes.
MYERS: But, yes, for Carlisle it's completely over. The closest storm is about 40 miles east of you. And Memphis, though, although it's raining now and kind of -- it's what you call ruining the air mass because it's raining and it's cooler -- not as hot, as you may get a bigger storm...
LEMON: Right.
MYERS: There was a storm to your west. That may come into your city in probably the next hour. We'll keep watching that from for Memphis, Tennessee. LEMON: OK, great.
Chad Myers. Thank you, sir.
MYERS: Sure.
LONG: We're continuing to follow the severe weather not only in Oklahoma, but also in Arkansas.
Joining us live on the line right now is Sheriff Bradley Scott. He is with the law enforcement there and he joins us now to help us to better understand just how nasty those storms have been in his community.
And I understand you also have three fatalities?
SHERIFF BRADLEY SCOTT, VAN BUREN COUNTY, ARKANSAS: Yes, ma'am, we have. We had three fatalities. We had two adults and one child that was killed this morning in a tornado.
LONG: Were they all members of the same family?
SCOTT: Yes, they were.
LONG: So tell us what led to their deaths. Tell us about the damage right around their home and then in the surrounding community.
SCOTT: Well, the house that they were in took a direct hit -- sustained a direct hit. It was totally destroyed. We had six other injuries that were transported to the hospital. We had three businesses that were completely destroyed. We had 28 homes destroyed. We had one church that was destroyed, six chicken houses. We had seven other homes with minor damage and three homes with major damage. The tornado came through, but about approximately 8:00 this morning, 8:00, 8:30.
LONG: OK. 8:00 a.m. 8:30 a.m. Everybody's getting ready to head to school, head to work.
SCOTT: Right.
LONG: Tell me about the warnings you had and tell me about what the reaction has been today.
SCOTT: We did have pretty good response from our local media. They did get it out on the air. I think we would have probably had more fatalities had we not had the warning. You know, it's hard to prepare for something when you take a direct hit. There's just really no place to go. And I don't think these people did anything wrong. I just think they were in the wrong place.
LONG: Right.
SCOTT: This is the second one we've been hit by this year. The first half of this year we were hit by one. We're in North Central Arkansas. We were hit by one on February the 5th, we were hit. And then we were hit by another one today.
LONG: There are people that may be listening, sheriff, who have never lived through a tornado, who maybe don't have any relatives that happen to live in an area of the country that have ever sustained tornadoes.
What does it feel like, what does it sound like and what does the damage look like as you're looking at your community?
SCOTT: Well, for these families that have taken -- that have taken a direct hit from this tornado, you're talking about -- the city looks just like a bomb hit a house. I mean there's nothing left but the foundation. Everything you own is gone. Everything is strewn for miles and miles. It's just totally devastating for a family to lose everything.
LONG: So, at this point, what does your community need?
SCOTT: Right now -- right now we've just completed the search -- the house-to-house search to make sure everybody was accounted for. And we've done that now. And now we just start cleaning up.
And as far as the sheriff's department goes, and the -- we're going to try to provide security for these people, because looting has always been a problem when stuff like this happens. So we're going to do our best to take care of our citizens.
A lot of people -- we live in a great place. A lot of people are stepping up and helping. And we're going to get through it again. It's just going to take one -- one step at a time.
LONG: And the second hit, you said, just this year alone.
SCOTT: Yes.
LONG: Sheriff Bradley Scott from Van Buren County telling us about the damage and deaths in Damascus, Arkansas.
Sheriff Bradley Scott, thank you so much.
LEMON: Well, the struggle is over for a determined U.S. Marine. Sergeant Merlin German suffered grievous wounds in the war in Iraq. But the death of his spirit would be an inspiration to other wounded vets.
His story now from CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr -- Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Don, so many days in this country, the names and the faces of the fallen really just pass us by. And a lot of people think it's very important to pause and remember.
This young man was exceptional. In fact, Sergeant Merlin German passed away several days ago. But his death was just announced by the Pentagon and has caught a lot of people by surprise. He was actually injured back in February of 2005 in an IED attack. He was burned over 97 percent of his body. And at that time, the doctors gave him no chance of survival.
But this young man persevered for 500 days in the hospital, more than a hundred surgeries and medical procedures. One of his doctors told me earlier today he just simply defied all the odds. He was a Marine and he fought back.
He died very unexpectedly after another skin graft type procedure. He had been surrounded by family and friends, but nobody expected this.
He was really known within the Marine Corps, within the wounded community, as the miracle Marine -- a young man who defied all the odds for more than three years of terrible injuries, finally passing away just a few days ago.
And we should tell you that Sergeant Merlin German was 22 years old when he died -- Don.
LEMON: All right. Barbara Starr. A very touching story. And our hearts go out to his family and friends, as well.
Thank you very much for that.
Well, the friendship with Pakistan isn't exactly what it was. A power shift and Pakistan's new relationship with extremists is testing that bond. So the State Department is working to build bridges with Pakistan's future.
CNN's Zain Verjee tagged along with a young Pakistani leader getting the VIP treatment in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayor, how are you?
Good to see you.
MAYOR SYED MUSTAFA KAMAL, KARACHI, PAKISTAN: (INAUDIBLE). How are you?
Good to see you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's great to see you again.
KAMAL: Thank you so much.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Syed Kamal is getting star treatment at the State Department. The mayor of Karachi is a guest with a mission.
(on-camera): What's the experience been like for you here on the State Department program?
KAMAL: Well, it's been quite overwhelming, I mean, the kind of response I'm getting.
VERJEE (voice-over): The State Department brings in thousands of people each year from all over the world to promote understanding. Kamal's got a packed schedule that keeps him and his escorts on the run.
KAMAL: It's good to see people and meet people.
VERJEE: A visit to Capitol Hill...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had snow this weekend in Minnesota.
KAMAL: Oh.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that's what it looked like back home.
VERJEE: The New York Stock Exchange, Houston, then Chicago.
KAMAL: I'm really glad that I've got this chance to explain my city.
VERJEE: His sprawling port city, one of the world's largest -- 16 million people -- can be scary. It's where Al Qaeda leaders have been captured, where terrorists tried to assassinate Benazir Bhutto and where journalist Daniel Pearl was killed.
The mayor has got a tough job to remake the image.
KAMAL: That's what I'm here for.
VERJEE: The U.S. says al Qaeda has a free run of Pakistan's tribal areas, free to plot terror attacks against the U.S.
(on-camera): Is this new government going to be as committed to fighting terrorism as Musharraf says he was?
KAMAL: Well, the way they have been committing to the war, I think they are serious, but only time will tell.
VERJEE (voice-over): The U.S. hopes that cultivating a young Pakistani politician now will help the relationship bloom later.
Zain Verjee, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LONG: A fire in the street at Harvard Square. What happened next, as you can see, all caught on camera.
LEMON: 9-1-1 operators are supposed to assume the worst. But one in Wisconsin didn't. Now a college student is dead. We'll look at what went wrong.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK).
LONG: The yard around Austria's house of horrors is being probed for additional dungeons. Police plan to bring in sonar equipment to eliminate the chance that Josef Fritzl built more than one underground prison, where he allegedly held his daughter as a slave for 24 years. The 73-year-old Fritzl has confessed to fathering seven children by his daughter, three of whom he also kept in that dungeon.
And CNN will take a look at this tragic and grizzly story this weekend -- "Monster Dad: House of Horrors" airs tomorrow night, Saturday night, 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
LEMON: New investigations into the killing of a student at the University of Wisconsin. Who killed her and why did no one respond to her 9-1-1 call?
Reporter Brendan Conway of affiliate WISN has that story for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENDAN CONWAY, WISN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): According to new information from the Madison Police Department, Brittany Zimmerman may have spent her final moments waiting for help from 911. Investigators say the 21-year-old U.W. student, who was stabbed and beaten to death in her off-campus apartment, called 911 the day she died. But emergency operators never contacted police. Officials with the 911 Center say Zimmerman's call was silent. But police tell a much different story, saying it was a call for help.
CHIEF NOBLE WRAY, MADISON, WISCONSIN POLICE: It would be accurate to state that there is evidence contained in the call which should have resulted in a Madison police officer being dispatched.
CONWAY: According to police, not only did the 9-1-1 operator fail to contact them, she also didn't call Zimmerman back, which is policy.
JOE NORWICK, DIRECTOR, DANE COUNTY PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION: The dispatcher proceeded to answer another 9-1-1 call that was waiting to be answered.
CONWAY: Both police and the County-run 9-1-1 system are pointing the finger at each other. Police say they should have been notified of the call, 9-1-1 officials blame the police department's policy of only responding to 9-1-1 calls if they know it's an emergency.
NORWICK: The 9-1-1 Center has notified the Madison Police Department on several occasions and other agencies in Dane County that it is willing and able immediately to begin dispatching officers to these types of calls.
WRAY: The Madison Police Department was notified of the call and no officer was sent.
CONWAY (on-camera): The 9-1-1 operator at the center of all of this has not been disciplined. Authorities say there is an internal investigation underway and that should be done soon.
Reporting in Madison, Brendan Conway, WISN 12 News. (END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. And the 9-1-1 Center says between 10 and 15 percent of the calls received are hang-ups here.
All right, we want to get you now to some developing news. We've been telling you about the flooding that's been happening in Maine. And it has really been devastating there. The river actually crested lower than they thought, so it sort of provided a bit of reprieve. But, still a terrible situation.
Joining us on the phone Governor John Baldacci.
Tell us what you're seeing now.
GOV. JOHN BALDACCI, MAINE: Well, what we're seeing now is the water has come down about four feet. It's about at flood levels. We are now trying to assess the damage. And it's enormous. But we're very, very thankful there was no loss of life. We had a lot of heroics by our Fish and Wildlife and their hover craft and by the Boy Scouts and the local police department getting the elderly out with oxygen tanks and the prescription drugs.
LEMON: Wow!
BALDACCI: It's amazing we didn't lose anybody. And, you know, people here have a great attitude. And they're saying look, we can always replace and repair property damage, but you can't do that with your mother or father or aunt or uncle.
So we're very lucky. People are recognizing we have an enormous task in front of us, but have got great spirits about them.
LEMON: And we have been reporting here on CNN -- I think I remember reporting yesterday that the St. John's River crested lower than you thought it might. So it did help you out a little bit. But still, the river -- you know, the floodwaters went over the banks in many places and you got this.
BALDACCI: Yes. That flood area went -- it kept below the 31 feet. So that protected a small part of the downtown. But all around the downtown and in the neighborhoods and community, part of it, it also got flooded out. So it was like the only area that didn't get flooded out all the way around it.
I've also talked to Premier Grand (ph), because we have a Canadian count, an international bridge that connects our two regions, our two countries, has been inoperable. And the prime minister of Canada is visiting with him today and we'll be meeting with him next week to figure out logistics between our two countries.
But the public has been great. their support has been enormous.
LEMON: OK. About 1,000 residents evacuated, as many as 140 homes were flooded.
What are you doing with these people who were evacuated?
BALDACCI: Well, you know, this is a rural part of Maine. And, you know, we had a shelter set up, but very few came because their relatives and friends took them in, neighbors did. This is a community that supports each other. And they've got great spirits about themselves and, you know, even had their kids coming from downstate, upstate and taking care of their parents, their aunts and uncles, their grandparents.
So it's everybody is taking care of everybody. And so they're still being evacuated. They're not allowed to go back in until we check the integrity with the Army Corps of this levee to make sure it doesn't have any weaknesses.
LEMON: And the good news -- no loss of life, as you said.
All right. Governor John Baldacci of Maine.
We appreciate you joining us. Best of luck to you.
LONG: I think he's already hung up. Yes, well, of course, he'll keep us posted about his state. And, of course, the St.
John's river and how it's also affecting New Brunswick.
Now there is, certainly, a minimum voting age, but no maximum. We're going to meet some of the more seasoned, wise, experienced members of the electorate whop are making their voices heard.
LEMON: Fire in the street at Harvard Square. What happened next -- it was all caught on camera.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK).
LONG: On this Friday afternoon, here are some of the stories you find most interesting online today -- the video stories.
There's the house of horrors in Austria. We have a report on how that monster dad lived a double life 24 years.
Love this vehicle.
What do you think? Is it a jet? A motorcycle maybe? A car?
Well, yes, actually, it's all three. A handyman hot rod fan built it in his garage. That's neat.
And a Florida woman losing her job as a teacher because of a part-time job in a -- well, kind of unteacher like. You can watch this report and decide for yourself if she was treated fairly.
All these stories and much more online at CNN.com.
LEMON: What was she doing that was un-teacherlike? You've got to log on to find out, right?
LONG: Well, we had the picture.
LEMON: Really?
LONG: Yes.
LEMON: I didn't see it. I saw the picture but I...
LONG: I don't think we can (INAUDIBLE).
LEMON: It's Friday. I'm a little -- I'm a little slow at times.
LONG: Well, but it was fast.
LEMON: OK.
LONG: It was a tease.
LEMON: All right.
LONG: Yes.
LEMON: Got you.
LONG: OK.
LEMON: All right, we've heard much about young voters this year, a whole lot about that. But vintage voters are pretty jazzed, too. That's a good way of putting it. Two grandmas backing two Democrats made their cases on "AMERICAN MORNING".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP FROM "AMERICAN MORNING")
JEAN WEISS, OBAMA SUPPORTER: He is not an African-American candidate, he's an American candidate. And at that Democratic debate, when all of them were up there, her experience -- you saw what went on in Washington with her experience, didn't you?
And we don't want to do it like that anymore. He is -- he has the wisdom. When they asked him the question, would you sit down at a table with your enemies, he said yes I will. That was not being naive, that was not being inexperienced, that was being wise.
MARGARET O'BRIEN, CLINTON SUPPORTER: I want a woman in that White House and the reason for that is this is a couple that have been blessed. They are politically and every way that you can think of matching with all the people who have gone before them. You had George and Martha Washington. You had Ronald and Nancy Reagan. You had Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. All of these people have been blessed -- and I also am a Christian -- to sit in that Oval Office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Very nice, both of them. Well, Mrs. Weiss, the first lady we heard from, was so animated at an Obama event, he offered to make her his running mate.
That would be very interesting. We'll see. Maybe that will be like breaking news one day on "THE SITUATION ROOM".
Let's check in now with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
LONG: Hello, Wolf.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: That would be a bombshell, not just breaking news.
All right guys, thanks very much.
Coming up at the top of the hour, Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul on his new book, his followers, why he's not supporting John McCain, why he hasn't dropped out of the race yet. We'll also get a surprising admission of which Democrat he likes.
Also, secret tapes reveal that the Vietnam War took a political toll on President Lyndon Johnson. You'll hear him struggling on whether or not to run for reelection. The secret recordings show his mind set days before his historic announcement.
And the woman famous for getting celebrities to tell all appears ready to tell all herself. One item Barbara Walters admits in her forthcoming book -- an affair with America's first African-American senator.
All that, guys, and a lot more coming up right here in "THE SITUATION ROOM".
LEMON: I think that's what you call a bombshell, right, Wolf, don't you think?
BLITZER: Yes. I would think.
LEMON: Yes.
LONG: A reflective situation coming up.
LEMON: I'm looking forward to that.
LONG: We're looking forward to it.
Also coming up, a wrap of the week on Wall Street coming up on the closing bell. It's trading up a little bit, above 13,000 today, as well. We'll check in with Stephanie Elam.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK).
LEMON: Well, caught on camera -- chaos in Olympia, Washington after anti-war and immigration rights -- a march there turned violent. Six people were arrested after demonstrators burst into the state capital building. They tossed rocks through windows and scuffled with police.
And a fire in the street -- literally -- this morning at Harvard Square. This underground fire is being blamed on a cable failure -- a scary sight. No one was injured, though. LONG: The closing bell is just about to ring on Wall Street and Stephanie Elam is there for us.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: I can see you in the preview monitor, Stephanie.
LONG: Oh, yes?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Do you like that?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: You've got one of the -- that's exactly the hat we're talking about...
(CROSSTALK)
LONG: It's perfect for the Derby.
LEMON: I'm sure my mom has one just like it. My grandmother before her had one and they all wore them to church on Easter. And you're going to (INAUDIBLE).
LONG: (INAUDIBLE) flowers out.
ELAM: I -- well, there's a lot going on back here. You just can't see it because it looks like a sombrero. But there's a lot of hats on my head right now.
LEMON: That's a good hat, though. Yes.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
ELAM: You guys have a good weekend.
LONG: You too. And they're going to need the hats...
LEMON: Umbrella.
LONG: ... it's raining there right now.
LEMON: An umbrella.
All right. Have a good weekend. Stephanie, thank you.
Now it's time to turn it over to "THE SITUATION ROOM" and Mr. Wolf Blitzer.
