Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

China Quake Devastation Grows; Flames Across Florida; Putting off Retirement

Aired May 13, 2008 - 14:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: The People's Liberation Army overcoming landslides and rainstorms to try to liberate earthquake victims in China. Soldiers by the thousands have made their way to the epicenter where thousands are trapped or dead.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Also, a CNN special investigations. The case of the missing air marshals. Our Drew Griffin broke the news that 99 percent of U.S. airline flights are not covered. Now Congress wants to know why.

Good afternoon, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes, at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.

KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, at the international desk here in the CNN NEWSROOM, where the quake in China is just one of the huge stories that we are covering.

You will see them all right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

A desperate search for survivors going on now in China. So far, workers are finding far more bodies in the rubble from yesterday's catastrophic earthquake.

China's state-run news agency says more than 12,000 people are dead in one province alone. More than 18,000 are said to be trapped in rubble in a single city.

Thousands more are reported dead or buried elsewhere. That includes children who are trapped in collapsed schools.

Rescue teams have finally reached the quake's epicenter. The Chinese military saying more than 1,000 people have been pulled from the rubble so far. Their conditions are not known at this point.

One of the things that we have been doing here at the international desk is monitoring video coming in from Chinese state- run television. Let's go ahead and listen in, because they're actually talking about some tram rescues and we want to hear what they're saying.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... disaster-stricken areas, and he also...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Class was in session. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Water, supplies and transportation export to be restored as soon as possible.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The national rescue team raced (ph) in no time when they arrived just hours later.

At 4:20 Tuesday morning, faint cries were heard from (INAUDIBLE) ruins. Rescuers were determined to get everyone out.

The (INAUDIBLE) spot in the suburbs of (INAUDIBLE), a dozen tourists from Taiwan were trapped midway on the causeway down here. Local firefighters got them to safe ground by 2:00 in the afternoon.

The quake just about leveled the seat of Wenchuan (ph) County, completely paralyzing local transport and the utilities. PRA personnel and volunteers have been busy digging through the rubble. Having no heavy machinery, they've had to improvise with what was at hand. More than 700 local (INAUDIBLE) workers were immediately deployed in the hardest-hit areas like Beichuan, Manxiou (ph) and Dudunyan (ph).

(INAUDIBLE), CCTV.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Now, this part of China not the most quake-prone region in the world. But when they happen in this area, they really tend to be deadly.

Chad Myers taking a look at this in the CNN Weather Center.

Chad, I mean, I know there was a huge earthquake back, I believe, in the '70s, right?

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, '70, '73, '76, all bad years there. And when you talk about a ring of fire -- because there's volcanoes and earthquakes. And what you see behind me here, that's the West Coast of the United States. I'm going to take you on a tour.

These are all the earthquakes in the past 40 years. You can't even see Japan, covered up by earthquakes, by all these epicenters. I'll zoom on a little bit.

You'll also see the epicenters and the quakes and the faults here around Banda Aceh. We can barely even see Micronesia and Indonesia here.

But now we're going to turn our attention to China. You don't see that concentration or the line. You see almost like a shotgun pattern up here in the Tibetan Plateau.

But we're going to zoom in a little bit more. We're going to tell you why. Because right down here at Chengdu, you are going to see the flat lands turn into mountains.

We'll back you up a little bit. You'll be able to see where we are. There's all the way out there into China.

Now we're going to turn our attention down to where the epicenter was. Very mountainous region right through there.

Now, I'm going to take you in one more time and I'm going to show you one more thing. See, we're going to back you out a little bit farther here. This is a plateau down here to the south. Under the word "Breaking News" -- I'll move it up a little more -- that's almost 400 feet above sea level.

And you look at the mountains, they're 15,000 feet above sea level. So where was the quake? Right there in the mountainous region.

I'm going to back you up a little bit and going to take you right into the epicenter itself. And we're going to fly you around at this point in time right through the mountain range, and you can see the valley, the significant valley. And I'll turn on the shake and I'll turn on the quake. There it was. I'll turn off the fault, because it's a little bit -- there's the epicenter right through the valley, right through this very, very mountainous region.

Now let's try to realize what these rescuers are going through.

Look at this terrain. You're going to lose -- you're going to lose rocks off the tops of these mountains. All of these roads that are trying to get from Chengdu back here into the middle of the Sichuan Province and Wenchuan. We do know that 11,000 people live in that valley right down there.

I mean, that is just an impossibility to get to them at this point, and they are on their own for a while. But I know they're doing everything they can to get to these people. But it is some rough territory. You think the Rockies are rough, that -- the Rockies don't even compare to the topography here in central China -- Brianna.

KEILAR: That really gives us a sense, Chad. Thanks for that.

Now, of course some of the most amazing video, some of the most -- some of the video that's just really giving us a perspective as to what is happening in these areas that are very hard to get to, we're getting from iReports. We're going to be showing you some iReports coming up in just a he moment.

T.J., over to you.

HOLMES: All right, Brianna. Thank you so much.

And we will also be talking about, again, Myanmar and what's happening there. And some more U.S. aid possibly getting in there.

Also, we will be talking about what's happening in West Virginia today, possibly a huge victory for Hillary Clinton.

Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: We now want to turn to a press conference happening in Florida right now about the situation there after a state of emergency was declared because of some wildfires that have broken out and burned thousands of acres. Several officials are there. The governor of Florida is there as well, Charlie Crist. We're expecting him to step up to that microphone, but we'll go ahead and listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... the other counties are sending resources.

I just did hear from Chief Farmer (ph) that there is an issue about air support. We need air support in order to protect these homes, and as soon as I finish here, I'm going to be calling back to the state EOC in Tallahassee and see if we can't get some more air support in here so that we can assure that homes are protected.

Thank you, Governor.

And I also want to thank all the local people here who are working so hard.

GOV. CHARLIE CRIST (R), FLORIDA: Thank you, CFO.

As I said, Director Fugate is here, Craig Fugate. I can't say enough good things about this man. He's such a great public servant. Served the administration before I got elected governor. Comes with great experience and just a great heart more than any other thing.

So, Craig, if you could please give us an update, we'd appreciate it.

CRAIG FUGATE, DIRECTOR OF FLORIDA DIVISION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thank you, Governor.

As the governor said, we have a lot of fires burning in state. But in emergency management, we say all disasters are local. But we never said you're by yourself. A lot of the folks here are from here, but a lot of folks have come from distant lands to help their neighbors in their time of need.

Over here to the left, we've got representatives of Florida Division of Forestry, and (INAUDIBLE) overhead team. These guys have been with me through wildfires, hurricanes, going to Katrina. These are some of the best firefighters in the nation, and they're here helping these counties and these cities deal with these fires.

And that's what we do in Florida. As Governor Crist says, you know, we hope things never happen, but when they do, we're a team. We're going to bring folks together. We're going to take care of the emergency, take care of our citizens.

We've lost some homes, but we haven't lost any lives. We want to keep it that way. The most important thing people can do is heed their local officials, particularly if the evacuations are called for. Smoke on the highway, slow down, turn your lights on. When they're stopping traffic, avoid those areas.

We've not lost any lives this fire season. We'd like to keep it this way, but that's going to be up to the folks following these directions and being safe, because these firefighters, these paramedics, these law enforcement officers, they're doing everything they can to protect people's homes right now. Don't add to their workload.

Thank you.

CRIST: Thank you, Craig. Thank you very much.

I also want to acknowledge Commissioner of Agriculture Charles Bronson. His division of forestry early has -- god bless you -- that's important, too. But Commissioner Bronson has done a great job, and he's got some update on some of these figures.

So Charlie, if you'd do that, that would be great. Thank you.

CHARLES BRONSON, COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE: Well, as the governor said, I had a briefing from our forestry personnel as soon as we landed here. And things are heating up again. We can tell from the air.

The one thing I want to say is, it's miraculous to me to see how close some of those hot fires got to homes, yet the homes were saved, which is a testament to the cooperation between our Division of Forestry firefighters out in the woodland areas and your local fire departments that have worked their rear ends off to try to save as many homes as possible, even though we've lost some. And I feel bad for the families that lost their homes.

I think that cooperation shows that when we can get our wildland firefighters and...

HOLMES: All right. We're listening in here to what's happening at this press conference there in Florida, about the wildfires that have taken place. We'll have to get the more updated numbers exactly about the homes, but, in fact, some homes have been destroyed by these fires that have burned some thousands and thousands of acres there in parts of Florida during a really dry season that they're in right now.

Had a lot of dry, hot, windy weather. The winds have come down, we understand, a little bit today, which has helped out and has lent to some containment. But those fires continue, and as we heard, they still need some support, need some air support as well. But a state of emergency has been declared there in Florida.

We are keeping an eye on the situation there.

KEILAR: A third U.S. plane has brought tons more relief into Myanmar. We're talking water, blankets, mosquito nets. And the White House promising more, in fact. The USS Essex was expected to arrive off Myanmar today, ready to help, but Myanmar's military government still will not let outsiders in to deliver supplies to the areas that need it so badly.

The head of the U.S. Pacific Command has been meeting with junta leaders trying to change their minds. He says they don't seem too concerned about the crisis. They even say things are getting back to normal. Meantime, some Australian relief workers say they're seeing rotten rice in some of the hardest-hit areas.

HOLMES: Well, a few months ago, the state of West Virginia was expected to be an afterthought in the presidential primaries. Now it's front and center in the Democratic battle.

West Virginia voters are expected to give Hillary Clinton a huge win today. Polls close in about five hours, at 7:30 Eastern Time. What would a blowout Clinton victory in West Virginia mean? Does it mean anything?

We'll check in later this hour with our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider.

Also, all the latest campaign news at your fingerprints. Just go to CNN.com/politics -- or rather, that's CNNPolitics.com. We also have analysis from the best political team on television. All there, CNNPolitics.com.

KEILAR: Well, they're supposed to be called the golden years, but for many empty-nesters looking forward to retirement, growing expenses, shrinking 401(k)s, they are putting their plans on hold.

CNN's Allan Chernoff introduces us to one couple who was ready to call it a day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Charles and Anna Burge had already started packing, expecting they'd retire this year to their condominium in Florida. They wrapped up the china, took down pictures, and filled up cardboard boxes.

CHARLES BURGE, DELAYING RETIREMENT: Where you're standing now, our dining room table was here. We sold our kitchen table.

CHERNOFF: But then the housing market collapsed, and then the stock market took a hit, bruising the Burges' 401(k) retirement account. And now the price of gas is soaring.

(on-camera): Does it make sense to retire now?

BURGE: No. Do I want to retire now? Yes.

CHERNOFF (voice-over): Charles and Anna's dream of an early retirement is on hold, even though 53-year-old Charles can get an annual pension worth nearly two-thirds of his salary if he retires from his job as a superintendent with the New York City Sanitation Department.

BURGE: I have college to pay for. I have gas to pay for in three cars. It just doesn't make sense.

CHERNOFF: The value of their family home has dropped, and realtors warn the couple it could take nearly a year to sell, even at today's reduced price, which they would need to do to retire.

ANNA BURGE, DELAYING RETIREMENT: I was very disappointed. I was crying. I just wanted to go.

CHERNOFF (on-camera): A growing number of aging baby boomers are deferring dreams of retirement. In the past year, nearly a million Americans aged 55 to 64 have rejoined the workforce. And another 400,000 over the age of 65 have gone back to work.

(voice-over): Financial planner David Frisch says Charles is only one of his clients who is putting off retirement.

DAVID FRISCH, FRISCH FINANCIAL GROUP: People are scared. People are scared. The ultimate question is, how long is the market going to be suffering? How much will expenses rise? How long will it take for the housing market to come back into play?

CHERNOFF: Charles now plans to retire in three years, when he hopes the real estate market will have recovered. Anna is counting on it, leaving her fine china exactly where it is.

A. BURGE: Now everything stay in the box. It's -- it's too much -- too aggravation to take everything out of the box again and then start to pack again. So everything is going to be in the box.

CHERNOFF (on-camera): For three years?

A. BURGE: For three years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Well, the slumping economy is actually affecting you in more ways than you know. You can check out CNNMoney.com's special report. It's called "ISSUE #1."

From protecting your money to finding a job that's right for you, there's a ton of information that could save you money and even some misery. Plus, we've got interactive tools and a whole lot more. Again, all of that at CNNMoney.com.

HOLMES: Well, a shortage of a highly-popular item on the menu could have you looking for alternatives to fill your dinner plate. We'll look at what's happening to wild salmon and how experts hope to fix the problem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Wild salmon is wildly popular in grocery stores and restaurants, but the resulting decline in the salmon population means that it's now off limits to fishermen out West.

Our Dan Simon examines the impact on a planet in peril.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The future of salmon begins right here, at what you might call a fish factory. Most wild salmon are born in manmade hatcheries like this one.

In California, they were built in the 1950s to offset the creation of dams. Today, the role they play is more vital than ever for an entire species and an industry that depends on it. For the first time ever, salmon fishing has been outlawed off the West Coast this year, and probably next year too.

RUSS OTT, COMMERCIAL FISHERMAN: We don't have an 8:00 to 5:00 job. We have to go work for our money. And when you take that away from working people, man, you've stabbed us in the heart.

SIMON: The government tracks the number of salmon by county counting how many come back to their native fresh waters to spawn, or reproduce. In 2002, about 800,000 salmon returned to California rivers. A banner year. But last year, officials say the number dropped to only 90,000.

DICK POOL, SPORT FISHING REPRESENTATIVE: It's almost a total collapse of a fish that's been a mainstay for decades.

SIMON (on-camera): There is universal agreement the numbers are dangerously low. And most fishermen will tell you they agree with canceling the season. But what caused the salmon to decline, well, that has sparked an angry debate.

(voice-over): Fishermen say it's a pumping problem. Too much water in recent years taken out of California rivers for drinking water and farm irrigation. But government officials say poor ocean conditions, including pollution, are to blame.

Everyone is hoping the fish hatcheries will succeed in bringing the salmon back. In the meantime, some fishermen are headed north.

OTT: I've just got to move on to the next fishing hole that's open, you know, which is in Alaska.

SIMON: But others who don't want to be away from their families are headed to the dock to look for other jobs.

Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.

(BUSINESS REPORT)

KEILAR: Well, here's a quick look at what's hot at CNN.com.

Talk about pressure. An 18-year-old girl has a lot to gain if she passes her GED test. A diploma, plus her dad gets out of jail. A judge tossed pop in the slammer after the girl failed the test before. And back by popular demand, yes, the skimpy prom dress that people -- they just can't just stop talking about. Houston school officials thought it was too hot for the prom. It, of course, was the hottest story yesterday.

People, you picked it, not me.

Plus, the other very big story that we're watching here in the NEWSROOM, also a big story online, people getting their updates from the growing crisis in China.

You can check out all of these stories at CNN.com.

HOLMES: Well, a CNN Special Investigations Unit report uncovered a disturbing fact. Only a very small percentage of flights in the U.S. have air marshals on board. Now federal security officials are disputing the report on Capitol Hill.

Our Drew Griffin, who broke the story, will join us with the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A desperate search for survivors going on in China right now. But so far, workers are finding far more bodies in the rubble from yesterday's catastrophic earthquake.

China's state-run news agency says more than 12,000 people are dead in one province alone. More than 18,000 are said to be trapped in rubble in a single city. Thousands more are reported dead or buried elsewhere, including children trapped in collapsed schools.

Rescue teams have finally reached the quake's epicenter. The Chinese military says more than 1,000 people have been pulled from the rubble so far. They're conditions not known.

And as we cover the aftermath, we can also share the harrowing moments when the quake struck. Melissa Block of National Public Radio was one of the few Western journalists in China when the ground started shaking. She was recording an interview for another story at the time. She sent us this audiotape. You'll hear first the quake. Then, you'll hear Melissa as she realizes what's happening.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

MELISSA BLOCK, CO-HOST NPR, "ALL THINGS CONSIDERED": What's going on? The whole building is shaking. The whole building is shaking. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. We're in the middle of an earthquake. The whole block is shaking.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HOLMES: And you hear her there, just couldn't really understand, and figure out what was happening all around her, but yes, in fact, that was an earthquake. Again, that was Melissa Block, co-host of NPR's "All Things Considered."

KEILAR: Authorities in Myanmar now say more than 30,000 people were killed in last week's cyclone. The U.S. and the U.N. say the true figure may actually top 100,000 and many of the dead are children.

Now, CNN normally doesn't show images of children who have died, but for this, we are making an exception, and we want you to be warned that the images are very disturbing, but they do show what surviving children are going through. Those kids, some suddenly orphaned, are fighting to find clean water, food, and shelter.

And CNN's Dan Rivers reports they may suffer psychologically for years to come.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They lie as if asleep, their young voices silent, their bodies untended. Children by the thousands have perished in Cyclone Nargis's indiscriminate fury.

Many of those who survived probably can't understand why there's no clean water, no food, why their parents aren't alive, a generation blighted by tragedy. The aid agency Save the Children estimates up to 40 percent of the dead and missing are children. And UNICEF says disease could take even more.

RICHARD BRIDLE, UNICEF: Children are going to be more at risk of malnutrition, diarrhea, dang gi fever, malaria and other diseases than will adults.

RIVERS: Some aid agencies, including World Vision, are setting up special child-friendly spaces where they can help children cope physically and mentally. This girl says simply, "thank you," to the donors. But she says, "they need more help."

The situation's also tough on parents, who have left their children to come to neighboring Thailand to work. This man is lucky. He says he's heard from his wife in Myanmar. He says she and their three-year-old son are alive, but the little boy has severe cuts that now have become infected. His feelings about the lack of medicine are clear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really angry, very much angry.

RIVERS: He doesn't want to be named because he's deserted the army. But is frustrated more isn't being done to help children like his. He says, "We don't have enough assistance from the government. We don't have any other help from outside. Right now, there is a lot of disease, diarrhea, they should give assistance to the people who really need it."

(on-camera): Myanmar's lost children are foremost in the thoughts of exiles here in Thailand, men and women who have come here to earn money, who are now desperate for news of their kids. (voice-over): And after the immediate emergency, it may be months or years before the surviving children are back to any semblance of normality.

SAMSON JEYAKUMAR, WORLD VISION: What has happened in them? That's going to leave a scar in their life. In fact, it could even alter their personality over the time. They may change from who they are to a different way of being. And the ability to relate to people may change, and their orientation towards God and religion could possibly change.

RIVERS: The children of Cyclone Nargis, their eyes have seen death in all its terrible hues. Vivid memories that may well haunt them forever.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Dan's piece gives you an idea of how bad things are there in Myanmar. And we know that you may want to help. So, at CNN.com, we've got a special page there on the devastation in Myanmar, it's complete with links to reputable aid agencies that are organizing help for that region's children. It is a chance for you to impact your world.

HOLMES: It is exactly what they do not need. Some areas hit by deadly tornadoes over the weekend see more storms barrel their way. This just ain't right -- Chad?

MYERS: Well, they're starting right now, T.J., but they probably will start to get really going after dark and those are the most dangerous type of storms, because they're harder for spotters to see. They're harder to get the warnings out on time, although the weather service does obviously look at the doppler radar and when one is spinning, it'll put a warning on it.

So, if it is a dark storm late, late tonight, you need to be prepared for a warning. And the only way to really do that, if you can't hear a siren, have a TV or radio on, and certainly to have your NOAA weather radio on tonight, because the storms could go all the way through after midnight. And those after midnight storms when you're asleep -- well, if you have nothing to wake you up, other than maybe a barking dog because he can hear or she can hear something, then you're kind of in trouble. This is one of those nights where it could go into the evening hours.

Severe weather threat all the way from Picher, Oklahoma, back into Missouri. I mean, Springfield and Branson, all the way back down to Dallas/Ft. Worth because of this. It is snowing in Colorado. It is so cold coming down from the mountains, six to 12 inches of snow in the higher elevations. Glenwood Springs, and up above like in Aspen, 8,000 feet and above, 12 inches of new snow coming down with this.

And that's the cold air that's going to punch down into Oklahoma, Kansas and Texas, that will fire storms off later on today. Also, dry air coming out of the mountains too, it's called the dry line. As all those fronts intersect, then you have the potential for twisting winds and twisting storms, and obviously tornadoes as well.

We'll watch it for you all night long. We'll keep you advised -- T.J.

HOLMES: We know you will, Chad. Here we go again.

MYERS: Yes.

HOLMES: Thank you so much. We'll check in with you again later.

MYERS: All right.

KEILAR: West Virginia of course the latest stop on the road to the White House. Hillary Clinton expected to trounce her rival Barack Obama in today's Democratic primary there, but will a huge win really matter?

Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider joining us now from New York. So, Bill, that's the question. Does a win matter?

WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, technically, she could still win the nomination, but it looks very unlikely, especially, or even if she does very well in West Virginia, there's still a daunting number of delegates that she's behind. And she'd have to win such a high percentage of the remaining delegates to be chosen, and that's a very small number, that it'd be very difficult for her to overtake Barack Obama.

It will matter, not because she's likely to win the nomination, but it'll send a powerful message that there are a lot of Democrats out there that Barack Obama is just not reaching, and she knows how to reach them.

KEILAR: But, Bill, Senator Obama, he's outspending Senator Clinton in West Virginia, though he's not expected to win there. What could this mean for him if he becomes the Democratic nominee? Is he going to have a hard time winning over rural blue collar voters?

SCHNEIDER: It means that he's going to have to listen to what Senator Clinton is saying and figure out why she is reaching those voters. The Democrats need them in order to build their majority. These are the voters who used to be Democrats. They're not there anymore. What she says to them is, I'll work for you. I'll deliver for you. I'll fight for you.

He has a powerful message of hope and inspiration, but they want -- these people are hurting and they want to hear, what are you going to do for me now, right now, that's going to make my life better? And he's got to listen to that so that he can figure out how he can imitate that message, quite frankly, and get through to those voters.

KIELAR: And a lot of people in many places, other than West Virginia asking that question as well.

Our senior political analyst, Bill Schneider, thanks so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

KEILAR: A Texas man faces criminal charges after using his cell phone during a flight. He says it was a matter of life and death.

And are you feeling the pinch? A tough economy puts the squeeze on some, but not all small businesses.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: It's 41 after the hour, and here are three of the stories that we're working on in the CNN NEWSROOM. Rescuers in central China, they are desperately digging through the rubble trying to find survivors from yesterday's catastrophic earthquake. More than 12,000 people are reported dead -- this in one town alone -- and more than 18,000 are feared buried in the rubble of one city.

A mother from that Texas polygamous sect that has given birth to a baby which state officials -- she did give birth to a baby and state officials immediately took it into custody. This is actually the second baby born into state custody since last month's raid on that ranch. Officials are not sure how old the mother of the child is.

Detroit's city council has started on a path toward ousting Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. They voted 5-4 today to start the process here. Kilpatrick and his former top aid are facing perjury charges for allegedly lying about their affair.

HOLMES: Well, Congress hopes it will tame oil prices. Experts say it is nothing more than a drop in the bucket. A six-month pause in shipments to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve passed the Senate today, and it didn't pass by a little -- 97-1 was the vote. President Bush opposes it for national reasons security he says. The measure's sponsor looks at it this way...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D), NORTH DAKOTA: When the American consumer is being burned at the stake by energy prices, the government ought not be carrying the wood. Sticking oil underground is wrong at this point in time, and this amendment simply says stop it. Halt it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You might be wondering about that lone No vote, that came from Colorado Republican, Wayne Allard. The House is expected to pass a similar measure later on today.

KEILAR: Well it's hard to cut back on gas, even harder to skimp on food of course. But cigars, gourmet pizza? Life's little luxuries can be casualties of an economic slowdown, but not necessarily.

CNN's John Zarrella has the tale of two businesses in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For four years, John Fedoruk has watched his business go up in smoke. That's good, when you run Three J's Cigar shop in Davie, Florida.

JOHN FEDORUK, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: Six and seven eights by 48, give me a couple of those.

ZARRELLA: But now, Fedoruk finds himself searching for new ways to bring in business.

FEDORUK: I have to get somebody to go out to the golf courses and hand out a free cigar with my business card.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

ZARRELLA: Fedoruk says business is off 10 percent. Smokers say their cigar money now goes into their gas tank.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was smoking about two a day. But in the last month I've cut back to like one a day, because the gas prices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So I find myself now trying to smoke a less expensive cigar.

ZARRELLA: The smokers say they're eating out less too. Many restaurants are suffering.

But at Anthony's Coal-Fired Pizza, people are loosening their belts, not tightening them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't give up the good food.

ZARRELLA: In a tough economy, people are still going to eat out, says owner Anthony Bruno.

ANTHONY BRUNO, SMALL BUSINESS OWNER: I think they just care about their dollar a little bit more. They'll still spend it, as long as they know they're getting something and they can count on it.

ZARRELLA: Bruno's costs have gone up. Flour doubled in price. But Bruno says business is up 25 percent at this gourmet pizza, chicken wings and salad restaurant. And the poor economy actually helped the company's expansion plans.

BRUNO: We can get a little better deals, a little better locations, little less money.

ZARRELLA: It's a concept that Bruno says just caught fire, sort of like the pizzas.

John Zarrella, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A Texas man faces criminal charges after using his cell phone during a flight. He says it was a matter of life and death.

KEILAR: Bowling or billiards? Pantsuits or jeans? Move on or move over? Our Jeanne Moos ties up some loose ends on the campaign trail.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: There is concern on Capitol Hill over a CNN special investigations unit report that found fewer than 1 percent of domestic flights have air marshals on board. Today the head of the TSA told a Senate committee our report was flat out wrong, but gave few specifics.

SIU correspondent, Drew Griffin, broke the story.

Wrong, Drew?

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: That's what he says.

HOLMES: That's what he said?

GRIFFIN: Yes, exactly.

It was a Senate Commerce Committee starting to question TSA director Kip Hawley about our report and his response. Our report came from dozens of air marshals, pilots, federal law enforcement agents, all saying that the air marshals are missing in action on almost all flights in the U.S.

In fact, the number we've been given, both before and after this report was less than 1 percent of the 28,000 flights a day are actually covered. The transportation security administration told us at the time we were wrong. But today, Senator John Kerry told the TSA's Kip Hawley, he's hearing the same thing we did.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I have now gotten dozens of e-mails from current and former federal air marshals reaffirming the CNN report, speaking of high turnover rates, inadequate training for new employees, abusive management, abusive traveling privileges and discrimination and sexism.

KIP HAWLEY, TSA ADMINISTRATOR: We have, as you mentioned, thousands of air marshals. We run thousands and thousands of missions a month all over the world. Our federal air marshals are among the best trained, highest marksmanship, best trained officers. We like the reassurance, we like the deterrent. But make no mistake, the No. 1 capacity the federal air marshals service is to stop attacks cold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Hawley told senators our report was not only wrong, it was completely wrong, T.J., and that thousands of flights are being covered. He also said the marshal service strategically targets high- risk flights.

That's not what we continue to hear. In fact, we reported just a few weeks ago federal air marshals telling us they being assigned very low-risk flights, repeated short hops between certain cities like Vegas to Phoenix on discount carriers just to give the appearance that more flights are being covered.

The TSA won't release the actual numbers to us or give us anymore information, saying this is all part of national security.

HOLMES: OK. Not just wrong, completely wrong. But they won't give us numbers, won't give you numbers, to show us how that report is wrong. Everything we're hearing, everything you're hearing, is that 1 percent number. John Kerry, the senator there, saying that's what he's hearing.

GRIFFIN: It's somewhat understandable that they won't give us the numbers. We're talking about national security. But now we've got the Senate and members of the House questioning behind the scenes and what we're thinking and what we're sort of being told by House staffers is that indeed the questioning is a little more stringent behind closed doors and that attention is being brought to bear on this issue.

HOLMES: And you have brought a lot of attention to this issue, as well. Drew Griffin on the story. I know we'll get an update from you again, and maybe -- don't know if they'll finally give Drew Griffin some credit and say your report was right. We don't expect that.

We appreciate you, buddy.

KEILAR: Well, a passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight facing disorderly conduct charges for talking on his cell phone. He says the call was a matter of life and death. Joe Jones received a ticket from police in Dallas after his flight arrived from Austin.

In flight cell phone calls violate federal flight regulations. The airline says flight attendants tried numerous times to get Jones offer the phone, but a business associate says Jones' father's heart had stopped and the call was from a cardiac unit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CLAYTON, FRIEND OF ACCUSED: He felt like it was life or death. And still does. And -- felt like he had to make that phone call.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARYL KRAUSE, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES: At that particular moment was not the time to probably negotiate.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Southwest says it could have been fined up to $25,000 for allowing the cell phone call and Jones could have been fined as well.

HOLMES: The number of survivors pulled from the rubble, far too few, the number of bodies, far too many. Growing devastation and a growing death count in earthquake ravished China. We'll take you there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Some odds and ends now, mostly from the campaign trail. Reported as only our Jeanne Moos can.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Will the billiard ball eclipse the bowling ball? Barack Obama sure seemed more at home on a West Virginia pool table.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The sign of a misspent youth.

MOOS: He still managed to just barely lose.

There's no losing sight of Hillary. What can a candidate do to make a gloomy day sunnier? Wear yellow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please don't stop. Don't stop.

MOOS: And what can a Hillary impersonator do to make herself schtick (ph) funnier? Wear yellow while explaining why Hillary would be a better candidate against John McCain.

AMY POEHLER, "SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE": My supporters are racist.

MOOS: That's modeled after an actual Hillary outfit.

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ...Celestial choirs will be singing...

MOOS: Yellow is her favorite color. And while we're on the subject of outfits, the press was accused of swooning and CNN.com was mocked...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wearing jeans.

MOOS: ... for showing one of the first sightings ever of Barack Obama ever wearing jeans, aboard his campaign plane. But remember the last president who looked good in jeans.

Hillary looks pretty good on the hood of the Hillary Mobile. An Arizona artist has been driving the 'Hill Car' to campaign rallies, an artist who wears an actual Hillary pantsuit. But enough about what's being worn. Listen to what's being said. Calling someone alive, dead. That's what Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe did referring to Tim Russert's father.

TERRY MCAULIFFE, CLINTON CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN: Big Russ, if he were sitting here today, nothing's impossible. Jack McAuliffe, if you're with us today -- they're probably both in heaven, Tim, probably having a scotch, looking down saying, this fight goes on.

TIM RUSSERT, NEWS ANCHOR: Big Russ is in the barcalounger still watching this. God bless him.

MOOS: But that's not as bad as the Bill O'Reilly meltdown prompted by the teleprompter that is circulating on the web.

BILL O'REILLY, INSIDE EDITION: I can't read it. There's no words on it.

MOOS: It's an old video from O'Reilly's days at Inside Edition.

O'REILLY: Do it live! I'll write it and we'll do it live.

MOOS: We'll move on to the moveon.org folks, who announced the winners of their Obama in 30 seconds competition.

(on-camera): The winner for funniest ad goes to one entitled "It Could Happen to You."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never thought it could happen to me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been living with it for a while now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got it from her.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This could happen to anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is your brain.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is your brain on hope.

MOOS: Here's hoping I never get caught on tape the way Bill O'Reilly did.

O'REILLY: This (EXPLETIVE DELETED)

MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Sichuan Province, after the quake, more than 12,000 dead, more than twice that many hurt or trapped, 3.5 million homes destroyed.

KEILAR: Chinese leaders vowing to move mountains to rescue the victims and care for survivors, and the U.S. is ready to help.

Hi there, I'm Brianna Keilar at the international desk in the CNN NEWSROOM. New reports this hour on the devastation in China and how the world is responding.

HOLMES: And good afternoon to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes and you are the in the CNN NEWSROOM.

KEILAR: Rescue teams are finally at the epicenter of that catastrophic earthquake in China, but their efforts there and elsewhere proving more difficult and more tragic by the hour. They're pulling some survivors from the rubble, but finding many more bodies.

More than 12,000 people reported dead in one province alone. More than 18,000 feared buried in just one city. Millions of others are homeless, and desperate for help.