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Critical Supplies Trickle in For 'Quake Survivors; Bush Turns to Saudi Arabia & OPEC to Lower Gas Prices; Obama & Fellow Dems Battle Back After Bush's Harsh Critcism; Henry Paulson Expected to Address Housing Crisis

Aired May 16, 2008 - 10:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Critical supplies finally reach China's quake survivors. Aftershocks, landslides, all complicating life in the disaster zone.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: She escaped death in Iraq. Now, the reporter talks about breathing the fire of a car bomb. Today, Friday, May 16.

You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

WHITFIELD: Well, President Bush is on the road and your wallet is on his agenda. This hour he is in Saudi Arabia meeting with King Abdullah and oil is fueling much of their discussion.

CNN's White House correspondent, Ed Henry, joins us now from Riyadh -- Ed.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, after two days in Israel with one ally Mr. Bush now turning to another ally, Saudi Arabia. And getting the red carpet treatment already from King Abdullah. But obviously, as you mentioned, there is a big, big agenda here to deal with in private meetings at the king's horse farm.

Mr. Bush is urging the king to help get OPEC to keep the oil supply up to try and ease worldwide demand and try to lower those gas prices that are really soaring back home in the United States. But you will remember that a similar presidential plea back in January when Mr. Bush was last here, lobbying the king, it really fell flat and the king really did not follow up on increasing the oil supply. And since then, we have seen the impact oil has skyrocketed from about $92 a barrel in mid January when Mr. Bush was here, to $124 to $126 a barrel. Depending on which hour you are looking at.

Gas prices have risen from a national average of $3.06 per gallon back in mid January to around $3.77 again and counting. Depending on which day this week you take a look at. Obviously, it has all gone up. And so the bottom line is consumers really should not expect any major easing of that pain at the pump from these meetings here in Saudi Arabia. President Bush trying to push the king gently. But it is unlikely at this point that he's going to really see any kind of relief. And that's obviously difficult as the U.S. heads into those summer driving months where traditionally we have seen gasoline go up even more, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I think everyone is bracing for it and it only worsen.

Ed Henry, thank you so much, in Riyadh.

Well, another surge in gas prices. And looks like it is becoming the normal as we were just kind of underscoring the national average for a gallon of regular hits a new high, more than $3.78 a gallon. According to AAA, that's up a penny since yesterday. Mid grade gas, $4.02, premium $4.16 and diesel, $4.48 a gallon.

And what if gas sky rockets to $10 a gallon? And everything collapses? God, do we have to shoot to that?

CNN's Special Investigation Unit examines the "What If?" Watch "We Were Warned out of Gas," Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

HOLMES: Barack Obama fired up. And fighting back. He is taking aim today at comments by President Bush. Those comments about those that would appease terrorists. Dan Lothian is with the Election Express in Frankfort, Kentucky, another battleground.

Well, this battle is not between Obama and Clinton. It's between Obama and Bush.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

This battle really between Obama and Bush and CNN now has learned that Senator Barack Obama will respond more forcefully to the comments President Bush made yesterday while in Israel and he'll do that at a campaign stop in South Dakota. When President Bush made those remarks initially the Obama campaign fired back saying that it was nothing more than false political attacks.

Senator Obama released a statement in which he said in part, "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists."

Now, interestingly enough, this is a topic the two Democrats have been going back and forth on. Senator Clinton has been quite critical of Senator Obama in the past for his willingness to meet unconditionally with rogue leaders. But what's interesting is that yesterday Senator Clinton was not attacking Obama, attacking Obama rather. She was going after President Bush.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think what President Bush did today was to make an outrageous and deeply offensive comparison. I - I just rejected out of hand and I think any fair-minded American will have rejected it out of hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LOTHIAN: What this controversy though really shows is that this issue will be front and center in the general election. In fact, just yesterday Senator John McCain brought it up going after Obama saying - criticizing him rather for wanting and willing to meet unconditionally with those rogue leaders. But then again, this has been going sort of back and forth.

Senator McCain is now being criticized and an opinion piece in "The Washington Post" this morning for comments that he made in the past that he would meet unconditionally with Hamas. Well, again, as I said, it's tit for tat?

Now, the McCain campaign is firing back. Releasing a statement that in part says "there should be no confusion, John McCain has always believed that serious engagement would require mandatory conditions and Hamas must change itself fundamentally."

So, T.J., this is, yet, another controversy that involves all of those running in this presidential race, the Republicans, the Democrats, and President Bush.

Now, as for the candidates, McCain will be here later on today here in Kentucky. Senator Clinton campaigning out in Oregon. And, of course, Obama will be in South Dakota.

HOLMES: Oh, yes. There's still a primary there to talk about at some point, too.

LOTHIAN: That's right. A primary here in Kentucky next week and also, in Oregon.

HOLMES: Oh, yes. There is that as well in addition to all these stuff and of course, as you mentioned there, Obama is expected to respond. That happening around noontime today. We will carry that for you live right here on CNN. Again, thanks to our Dan Lothian there in Kentucky.

WHITFIELD: Just received now. New horrors in China. A strong aftershock rocks the devastated earthquake zone. Here's what we know, a 5.5 magnitude quake hit today, triggering landslides, blocking roads, burying vehicles, and a region already in ruins. It happened shortly after Chinese President Hu Jintao arrived for a first-hand look at the destruction. Frantic search and rescue efforts are now into day five. And the death toll continues to climb -- 21,500 people are now confirmed dead. Officials predict that the final death toll could top 50,000.

And some dramatic rescues are still actually taking place. A 5- year-old right there was pulled from the rubble of his collapsed kindergarten. And here, you will see rescuers pull a 76-year-old man out of the ruins of his crumbled home. Well, hope is running out for many trapped under tons of debris.

CNN's John Vause takes us now to ground zero in the city of Beichuan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This city was once home to 20,000 people. Now there is only utter devastation. It is not confirmed but word here is only 5,000 residents have survived. This man and his sister are looking for their mother. The neighbors called out to her yesterday. And she answered he says. But today, there's only silence. So, they sit there on the sidewalk.

At the end of their street, there is a pile of rubble. Three stories high. All that's left on an apartment block one on side and office building on the other. From a distance, the entire city looks as if the next aftershock might bring it all crashing down. Almost every building here has either been destroyed or is badly damaged. The injured are stretched out through the hills. No vehicles can make it in.

When the quake hit, this woman was shopping. She says that the ground started to shake. She ran and fell. That's all she remembers before being pulled from the rubble more than three days later. At the local middle school, there is a steady stream of tragedy. Parents wait, hoping each dead body is not their child. They are teenagers on the stretchers. The frozen expression on their face is of pain and fear.

Chen Ying has been here since the earthquake destroyed this five- story building. She watches and waits for her daughter. I just want to see her, she told me. If she's dead, I just want to see her body. No one knows how many students are still buried beneath this rubble. How many are alive and how many are dead. Some of the bodies were found embracing each other. Others were huddled underneath desks with their hands over their heads as if though protecting themselves from the falling debris.

With each stretcher, the quake's death toll grows ever higher. Authorities believe it could reach 50,000. 50,000 times there will be anguish like this. She just saw her daughter's body being carried away.

John Vause, CNN, Beichuan City, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Meanwhile, the Red Cross says the cyclone victims in Myanmar are in urgent need of clean water. And without it, survivors risk falling victim to diseases including dysentery that could lead to even more deaths in the days ahead. U.N. officials plan to visit Myanmar this weekend. They hope to persuade military government leaders there to grant more access for U.N. relief workers.

Myanmar says at least 43,000 people were killed in the cyclone almost two weeks ago. International relief groups estimate the death toll could pass 100,000.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's focus again on severe weather. Extremes. All over the map.

Rob Marciano is in the weather center and heat is still a big issue for folks out west.

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, big time. Temperatures near 100 degrees in the bay area today. That is definitely enough to scorch especially this time of year. It's an area of the country along the with the coastline, maritime climate. You know, you got that Pacific Ocean typically cooling you. Once in a while in the summertime, you get an offshore flow. Some warm air moving in. You got temperatures that are in the 90s and up over 100. But this time of year it's kind of unusual.

So, we saw some records today. I think bull's eye is going to be up in parts of western Oregon. The rest of the cascades could see temps rise 20, 25 degrees above their seasonal averages.

Here's some of the records yesterday. Covelo in California 104. The old record was 92. So, that record went bye-bye real quick. Oakland, 99; Sacramento 99; Medford, 98; 97 in San Francisco. And that certainly is unbearably warm for Rice O'Roni country. Shreveport, check out some of these totals from the rainfall in Louisiana the past three days, 10 inches, over 10 inches, almost 11 in Shreveport. Baton Rouge is nine; Lake Providence, Louisiana 6.8 and Little Rock, Arkansas in to the mix as well with four inches.

And we still have some rain, mostly east of Lafayette where a lot of that damage was done yesterday with those high winds and potential tornadoes. A lot of rain this morning in New Orleans, especially southeast, right along the mouth of the Mississippi. It is sliding east towards Gulfport, Biloxi, Mobile, Pensacola, almost all the way to Tallahassee. Some of these could become severe. Be aware of that as some of that moisture and energy rolls in off the Gulf of Mexico. It should stay mostly south, I think of Montgomery and Alabama and Atlanta.

Scranton, Pennsylvania, New York City, you're going to see on and off rainfall throughout the day. Pittsburgh, you are on the western fringes of this rain shield. So that's why we think this will probably hang around for a good chunk of today. Quick check on your Pittsburgh. Live shot for you. WPXI, beautiful downtown. I tell you what, there's nothing like coming through that tunnel and seeing the skyline of three rivers. It is a beautiful city. But today it is, well it is as gray as the steel they are so known for.

Zooming into the New York area, listen the airports are going to be an issue. That's for sure. Already seeing these delays pile up. And here are some of the latest. LaGuardia, an hour and 20 minutes. Newark, an hour and ten minutes. Philadelphia, an hour and 30 minutes. And these will probably hanging around for a good chunk of the day. So, pack your patience if you are taking off on this Friday for the weekend, so travel safe.

WHITFIELD: OK. Good advice.

HOLMES: Thank you, Rob.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Let's talk overseas again. We have been talking about the devastation from the earthquake in China. Upwards of 50,000 people now may have been killed. Of course, the search is still on for many missing. And those presumed dead. CNN's Eunice Yoon is in Yingxiu, China in the Sichuan Province.

And Eunice, what are you hearing about the continued search for any possible survivors?

VOICE OF EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I am in Yingxiu which is in Wanchan County which is very, very close to the epicenter of the earthquake. This town resembles a war zone. Almost every single structure that we've seen has been completely devastated. There are four to five-story buildings which are flattened. They are turned into piles of rubble.

The main streets in this town was completely destroyed. In fact, the mountains around this entire area, the shape of the mountains, has changed there. Because of the landslides and the mudslides which are continuing to go on, and we still feel aftershocks in this area. There's no electricity in the city. There is a power grid that's in front of me and it has been completely knocked out.

There are thousands of Chinese soldiers who are here and they have been pulling bodies out of the rubble all day. We saw several bodies, people coming out in body bags.

At one point there were three body bags piled on top of each other in a wheelbarrow that the soldiers have been continuing to pull out of the rubble. We tried to, again, get a number of the bodies from the military. They wouldn't confirm that number for us. But some of the local villagers who we spoke to told us only one-fifth of the people in this small town of 20,000 were able to survive -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh.

Eunice, it's so devastating just seeing these images that keep coming in. It is just so hard to comprehend. But while we see images of choppers that are making their way in, you talk about the military making their way in to some of these towns, are they able to get any heavy equipment in to try to move some of these rubble because, clearly, as you describe, three stories flattened. Too difficult just to do it, you know, with your bare hands.

YOON: Well, they are bringing in large equipment. And a lot of that is by hand. We saw some Chinese soldiers, a large group of Chinese soldiers, who are carrying a power generator over the mountains. I mean, it was incredible how long that would take. But these people were carrying it over to some of the towns, to this area. There are also some -- there are also some people who are coming over by boat.

And we did mention seeing boats which were carrying these large tractors as well as other types of equipment to this area. They were carrying them by raft and that -- those boats would end up getting relatively close to this area and, then of course, would make a very long journey over here. So we know that they are bringing some equipment here to try to help out with the rescue and relief effort. They are also using that equipment to rebuild a lot of the roads and the roads and the roads in just getting here actually took us between like nine to ten hours. The roads were so bad. They are so terribly cracked. There was a huge freeway that was in pieces, just in chunks.

If you look -- as we pass, there are several big bridges and they were in pieces. It was just a very difficult journey for a lot of these people who are villagers who are either going down to the closest -- more populated town or the people who are trying to - who are desperately trying to find their family members in this remote town -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Extraordinary, Eunice.

Now, what about China appealing to other Asian communities? I read that China was reaching out to a number of neighbors. Any help coming in?

YOON: Well, we haven't seen any help from international aid workers or anything. We have been mainly seeing the help coming in from the People's Liberation Army as well as some of the armed forces. They have really been coming in these massive contingents, regimen after regimen. Walking and waving, brandishing the flags from where they are from or these slogans to try to, you know, say they are - to try to encourage the troops to keep going.

So the bulk of the work, and the rescue and relief work is being done by the Chinese army. And right now, we are seeing a lot of the survivors in tents, sleeping in their cars, sleeping under tarps. And they have been rationing their food to about just one meal a day.

WHITFIELD: Eunice Yoon, thank you so much from Sichuan Province for that update.

HOLMES: Well, recovered from her war wounds. Now reporting again. Kimberly Dozier talks about the battle back from a bombing that killed her colleagues. That is next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Hello, I'm T.J. Holmes. A controversial endorsement for John McCain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I accepted his endorsement. I didn't endorse everything that he said. The point is that the fact that he's made an apology, I think is very helpful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: How a pastor's apology is playing in the campaign.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Police attacked by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle. This happened in Sri Lanka's capital, the bomber rammed his bike into a bus carrying riot police near the President's office. Officials say ten people were killed, 90 wounded. Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger Rebels are hitting the area. The President called the bombing an act of savagery.

WHITFIELD: Severely wounded in the war and now recovered and ready to return. Not as a soldier but as a journalist. CBS news correspondent Kimberly Dozier tells her story of survival in "Breathing the Fire." She joins us right now in the NEWSROOM.

Recovery because it was 2006, Memorial Day.

KIMBERLY DOZIER, AUTHOR "BREATHING THE FIRE": Almost two years ago.

WHITFIELD: Isn't that extraordinary that your convoy, along with an army captain, was detonated. Roadside bombs. Almost everyone around you died. You really did kind of die. Right?

DOZER: About five times. Yes.

WHITFIELD: Five times. And came back. And now you are kind of telling this story all over again. How are you doing? And how much does that - I guess you hear it enough. How are you doing? How's it feeling? But you get a variation of responses when you tell folks how you are doing from pity to empathy to even anger.

DOZIER: It's strange but people see you as a trauma patient. And they are not quite ready to see you recovered. It's part of the reason I wrote the book. But the other reason is that, you know, we always report the numbers of the dead. We seldom ever report the numbers of injured. And what I didn't even know as a journalist is that each one of those people getting injured could be starting a one- year to two-year battle to get back to some semblance of normalcy.

So, no, I'm not a soldier. I'm not wearing a uniform. But I did get to see one part of the journey of the combat injured. And I'm trying to bring that story of the doctors, the nurses, the corpsman, especially the physiotherapists, and how they got me walking again. And what it takes out of them. The toll it takes out of them fighting for all of us.

WHITFIELD: Your crew, the two gentlemen you were working with, an Iraqi translator, as well as an army captain, which you all were following, all died as part of your embed, all died. How much of that day, that experience, do you remember?

DOZIER: I never saw my colleagues on the ground. Paul Douglas and James Broelin were killed almost instantly. So was a Captain Alex Bunkhauser (ph) and his translator, Sam. We were all within 20 feet of a 500-pound car bomb. I do remember, though, 10, 15 minutes after the blast, the sergeant who was working on me, tying the tourniquets on me to save my life as I -- well as I bled out almost completely.

And then the next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital bed with my family around me. And from that moment, I started writing down what I could remember. Trying to take the normal journey of a trauma victim to a trauma survivor, piecing everything together. I just happened to be a reporter. So I needed a lot of details.

WHITFIELD: So, it's almost as if you treated your own life as a story.

DOZIER: Absolutely.

WHITFIELD: You know but you had to have the wherewithal to do that. Because it meant reliving it all over again. At what point did it evolve into a sizable project that it is now in book form and you are sharing it with everyone?

DOZIER: Well, a couple of the people I worked with at the Bethesda Naval Hospital, including a Franciscan monk who counseled survivors of 9/11. He kind of tricked me into writing it, saying oh but you write so well. Really, he know he was sending me on a grief process and that I talk about the incident over and over and over to try to find out the different details. I've had army and marine commanders since tell me they wish they could get their guys and gals to open up just a fraction of the way I did. They think they would have a whole lot fewer problems with combat stress down the line.

WHITFIELD: How did that help you, do you think?

DOZIER: Within a couple of months of the bombing, I stopped having the nightmares. I had a version of flashbacks those first two months. I could keel feel the blast going off again in the hospital bed. But that all stopped. I am one of the lucky ones. This is a path that worked for me. I'm hoping other people out there who hear about this will consider maybe that's a way that might work for them.

WHITFIELD: There was a moment, perhaps a really long moment, where you felt guilty because you were the lone survivor here. And had it not been for a colleague at ABC, Bob Woodruff, who went through something very similar in Iraq, he said something to you which helped you remove some of that guilt. What was it?

DOZIER: Well, he knew Paul and James. And he said, you know, your guys, they didn't get told what to do. No one told them where to go. They were at the top of their game, professionals who love their jobs. They chose to be there that day. If you take that choice away from them, you dishonor their memory. You got to respect who they were and what they chose to do. From then on, that's what I held on to. Every time I felt a twinge of guilt and I realized I needed to honor them. And the way they did their jobs and lived their lives.

WHITFIELD: And speaking of honor, you have been honored. Again, with this Congressional Medal of Honor. The highest in military distinction.

DOZIER: Actually, no, no, no. I didn't get a Congressional Medal of Honor. I got the Medal of Honor Societies Journalism award. Now, this is an amazing bunch of men who have been honored for their combat valor from World War II on. The survivors thus far.

There was something like 35 out of more than 100 who are living right now. And what they want to try to do is spread this idea to other Americans. You know, this is how you live your life. Honor, values that they feel are a little old fashioned maybe but need to be more part of our daily lives.

WHITFIELD: You are being treated as one of them as you were that faithful Memorial Day. You credit the fact of your survival that they treated you just like a soldier throughout.

DOZIER: Well, they treated me like one of their own. If I hadn't gotten combat aid immediately at the scene, I wouldn't be here talking to you.

WHITFIELD: Kimberly Dozier, "Breathing the fire." Extraordinary book and very courageous storytelling as well. The story of survival.

DOZIER: Thank you very much.

WHITFIELD: We appreciate your time.

HOLMES: Well, some days it just does not pay to go to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The fuel is what's stopping us now. I mean really, you know, right now, if we catch 700 pounds a day, the boat will just break even.

HOLMES: When what's in their net does not give them a net profit.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: And welcome back. You are in the NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.

Let's check on the numbers right now on Wall Street. Let's take a look at the big board. The DOW down a bit, just 18 points right now. Also, the NASDAQ, I believe I heard you right there, it is up 16 points right now. Down 16 points, excuse me. A lot of eyes on the NASDAQ, it's put together a string of four sessions that have been on the up and up. Also, a lot of people keeping an eye on what's happening in Saudi Arabia.

The president meeting, trying to boost oil production, possibly bring down some gas prices. Also Henry Paulson, the Treasury Secretary, expected to give a speech on the housing prices and the credit crunch. So, a lot of things going on, on Wall Street. We're keeping an eye on all the numbers.

Also, good living for generations, but with shrimp prices falling and fuel prices rising, more and more shrimpers are staying on land.

Here now, CNN's John Zarrella.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Shrimp nets hauling in their catch off the Florida coast. It's been done here for generations by people like captain George Williams. He has fished for shrimp for 40 years through good times and bad.

GEORGE WILLIAMS, SHRIMP BOAT CAPTION: The hook broke.

ZARRELLA: Lately, it's been bad. And Williams does not know how much longer he can hold on.

WILLIAMS: This used to be, you know, a real good job. You could make good money, you know, a real decent living at it. My two sons quit. One of them joined the Army.

ZARRELLA: There's still plenty of shrimp to catch but the price has plummeted at the same time, the cost of fuel has shot up. Dragging nets through water burns lots of fuel. A day on the water can easily cost over $1,000 in diesel. They call it trading shrimp for fuel. Some months it's better business not to go on the water.

FRANK TOEBBE, SHRIMPER: The fuel is what's stopping us now. I mean really, for the -- you know, right now if we catch 700 pounds a day, the boat will just break even.

ZARRELLA: The shrimp boat has been in dry dock for three months waiting for the height of the season to jump start their fortune. Hunting for white shrimp off Mayport, Florida today, a good catch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a start.

ZARRELLA: But by the new math of their industry, good is no longer good enough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And, here now, an example of how bad business is. Listen to this -- a first mate who went out for three weeks was paid nothing. The captain actually had to charge him $200 for meals.

What if gas skyrockets to $10 a gallon and everything collapses? CNN Special Investigation Unit examines the "What Ifs?" Watch "We Were Warned: Out of Gas," Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

WHITFIELD: The hold of the junta -- general's orders during Myanmar's disaster, adding to international outrage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: As if they hadn't been through enough, new horrors now in China. Strong aftershock rocked the devastated earthquake zone. Here's what we know: A 5.5 magnitude quake hit today triggering landslides, blocking roads, burying vehicles in a region already in ruins. It happened shortly after Chinese President Hu Jintao, arrived for a first-hand look at the destruction.

Frantic search and rescue efforts are now into day five. And the death toll climbs 21,500 people are now confirmed dead. And officials predict the final death toll could top 50,000. Some dramatic rescues are still taking place. A 5-year-old boy, this little boy right here, was pulled from the rubble of his collapsed kindergarten. And then take a look at this: We see rescuers pulling a 76-year-old man out of the ruins of his crumbled home.

HOLMES: The Red Cross say cyclone victims in Myanmar are in urgent need of clean water. Without it, survivors risk falling victim to diseases including dysentery, that could lead to even more deaths in the days ahead. U.N. officials plan to visit Myanmar this weekend. They hope to persuade military government leaders there to grant more access for U.N. relief workers. Myanmar says that at least 43,000 people were killed in the cyclone almost two weeks ago. International relief groups estimate the death toll could pass 100,000.

Myanmar's government under increased international pressure. The junta criticized for hindering access to cyclone victims and holding an election during times of disaster.

CNN's Sara Sidner, reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the public face of Myanmar's military junta. In a constitutional referendum, the ruling generals cast their ballots as cameras roll. Their propaganda professing Democratic ideals like this song which says: "We make our own democracy, everyone go vote."

(SINGING)

But critics say its form of democracy is a sham -- one designed to keep the military in power. The generals insisted on going forward with the vote, while hundreds of thousands of people were left waiting for help after Cyclone Nargis devastated parts of the country.

The military took control of Burma in a coup 46 years ago. The country's name was changed to Myanmar in 1989. Now 12 generals run an isolation nation that's been criticized for ignoring international opinion and cracking down on dissent -- 1988 -- the military junta crushes a student uprising with brutality and bullets.

Thousands are reported dead -- 1990 -- it ignores the results of the country's first free elections in 30 years. The democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who won the popular vote, was instead imprisoned. September 2007: This time Buddhist monks pay with their lives as the junta quashes a protest calling for democracy. The junta's current Senior General Than Shwe, has ruled the country since 1992. Since his reign, he has had palatial buildings built. This video of his daughter's glittering wedding gives you a glimpse of the leader's lavish lifestyle. A far cry from that of the poverty-stricken people he leads. The question being asked now: Will the military's actions of the past and it's slow reaction to the present disaster, turn the tide on the 400,000 strong military?

Sara Sidner, CNN, Bangkok.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And we know you may want to help. And at CNN.com we have a special page on the devastation in Myanmar, complete with links to aid agencies that are organizing help for the region. It's a chance for to you impact your world and let us be your guide.

WHITFIELD: No date? Well, don't bother showing up for the prom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should be allowed to go with whoever you want to. If you are paying to go to the prom you should be able to go with another girl if you want to, or another guy, it doesn't matter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Couples only -- school rules. In the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: An unlikely community for alleged sexual assault victims. Forming on the Internet, why one teenager went there -- straight ahead in the NEWSROOM.

HOLMES: All right. You got a dress, the tux, the photos. That's all standard fare on prom night. But a high school in New York is adding another item to that laundry list -- a date. St. Peters Catholic School For Girls on Staten Island is reportedly making boys a required accessory for the junior prom this year.

In other words, you single girls, don't even bother about putting the dress on. You're going have to sit this one out. The school, not saying exactly why they decided to make the prom couples only, but a student at the St. Peter's Boys School has a theory.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It might be because they are trying to limit the homosexuality in an all-girls Catholic school, which going to a Catholic school, it's pretty much you're taught against homosexuality.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Others speculate the school is just trying to keep the dance from becoming an ordinary party with girls going with their friends. However, the school isn't putting any of the same restrictions on the big dance of the year, the senior prom. Again, the restriction only applies to the junior prom. The senior prom event is open to couples and singles.

WHITFIELD: Oil prices continue to surge to new highs. Nobody likes that. While $4 gas becomes a reality in more places around the country, actually.

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

HOLMES: All right, well the president targets Democrats but John McCain gets caught in the appeasement cross fire.

A campaign spokeswoman responds live, right here in the NEWSROOM.

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HOLMES: More fallout today from President Bush's comments about appeasing terrorists. Barack Obama expected to rebuke the comments next hour. You will see that live, right here on CNN. But in the meantime, the McCain campaign rejecting any suggestion that McCain has changed position on engaging groups like Hamas.

McCain's senior policy adviser, Nancy Pfotenhauer, joins us from Arlington, Virginia.

Ma'am thank you for being here. We will remind people what we're talking about here and where this fallout and this accusation of your guy, Mr. McCain, being a flip-flopper. It came from Jamie Rubin, a former administration official in the Clinton White House, making some comments to us -- let's listen, then we will get into it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES RUBIN, FMR, ASST. SECY. OF STATE: This is the ultimate flip-flop in American politics. When he was in Davos, amongst the European crowd, and I interviewed him there two years ago, he was talking as if it was appropriate and natural and reasonable to negotiate with Hamas, the new government of the Palestinian territories. And then two years later, he's taking a very, very different position, saying anybody who wants to talk to them is somehow an equivalent to terrorists -- smearing people for suggesting that one would ought to talk to Hamas -- when it was he, himself, who was prepared to talk to Hamas two years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now Ms. Pfotenhauer, he was the one that did that interview. Are you saying he's recalling that correctly? Incorrectly? Or just kind of a difference of opinion about exactly what your candidate said?

NANCY PFOTENHAUER, MCCAIN SR. POLICY ADVISER: I think he is cherry-picking words in order to create a false impression that will be a distraction from the fact that Senator Barack Obama has pledged to unconditionally meet with leaders of rogue nations. And that is very dangerous and I believe, weak judgment in play, and Rubin's trying to create a distraction from that.

HOLMES: Well ma'am, that's not necessarily true about Obama. You talk about cherry-picking but Obama said on several occasions that he has rebuked Hamas and has said -- and I'm looking at a quote right here in my face from Obama -- that says: "We should not be dealing with Hamas until they recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and abide by previous agreements"

Now, Barack Obama has said that on several occasions it's not hard to find those quotes, so why are you and your campaign still coming out and saying he would meet with Hamas unconditionally?

PFOTENHAUER: Well, because he has made earlier statements that certainly imply that, whereas John McCain's record is completely clear on this. Whether you look at the press statements that were released literally the day after Hamas won that election, to interviews done on this network by people like Suzanne Malveaux, to the interviews he gave yesterday.

He has been incredibly clear and he has gone on and at extraordinary length on the topic. And he always said there are three specific conditions. One: That they must renounce violence. Two: That they must abandon their goal of eradicating Israel. And three: That they must accept a two-state solution. So we've been incredibly clear and he's given unfettered, almost unfettered access to the media, so this is ridiculous.

HOLMES: And again, you talk about the clear. And the reason people are having a hard time saying this is so clear because the quote itself, from McCain, says that: "The government sooner or later, they are the government, sooner or later, we are going to have to deal with them one way or another. I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas. It's the new reality in the Middle East."

Again, that's what lends to the confusion. You say unbelievably clear. But that sounds as if he is ready, willing, and saying that yes, we are going to have to deal with Hamas. No conditions listed in that quote from McCain.

PFOTENHAUER: No. Well, you can go back and literally pull the tapes from interviews with your own network to get the conditions that were laid out. And what he was saying is we need to deal with them in one way or another. And we have been in -- again, he's given chapter and verse on what he believes is the correct approach with them.

That's diplomatic isolation, that's working with our allies to withhold the financial and military -- try to slow down the financial and military options to perpetuate violence. And it's basically saying that they have to be able -- they have to be ready, willing and able to abandon their goal of eradicating Israel.

Now I think that Senator Obama has clearly tried to break from that very strong peace through strength -- if you will -- approach, of dealing with rogue nations. And he's got to take the downside with the upside. He's kind of the media darling because he is saying I want do this differently. And at the same time he's incurring, I think, potentially very dangerous consequences, and I'm not sure he is aware of that.

HOLMES: Why has McCain and the McCain campaign tied Obama to Hamas? We've heard itself several times, saying that Hamas has endorsed Obama. Just -- that sounds bad, when you link the two together. I mean it just kind of gives an impression and I -- we know where it comes. A Hamas spokesperson came out and did say this...

PFOTENHAUER: Yes, we didn't make that statement. Hamas made that statement.

HOLMES: OK, but at the same time, why put that out there? Why link them to that? I mean, you know he's not looking for the endorsement of Hamas. You know he -- again, has absolutely condemned what Hamas has done. So why link them together? It sounds like that old saying, dirty old politics.

PFOTENHAUER: I've got to tell you, I find it ironic that we are being accused of old-style dirty politics when Obama's definitely coming out of Chicago's "school of politic-ing" himself. We did not make that statement, as you correctly point out. Hamas made the statement. And all we said...

HOLMES: But why put it out there? Why keep repeating that?

PFOTENHAUER: And all we said -- and all we said...

HOLMES: Why repeat that?

PFOTENHAUER: We're not repeating it -- the media is perpetuating this. But let me be perfectly clear about what Senator McCain said. Senator McCain simply said that, obviously Hamas, believes that they're more likely to achieve their objectives with a -- you know, with a Obama administration. He has never once implied that he believes that Senator Barack Obama supports the methods or -- by which Hamas is trying to achieve their goals, or even their goals.

HOLMES: But, but this...

PFOTENHAUER: In fact, he's gone to pains to make sure it's clear that he does not believe that Barack Obama endorses Hamas' goals.

HOLMES: All right. Nancy Pfotenhauer, I wish we could keep you a little longer here. But we do thank you so much for taking the time out and being -- and coming on, and giving us the response to what happened this morning with Jamie Rubin, making those comments about your candidate being a flip-flopper.

We appreciate you, we'll see you again out there on the campaign.

PFOTENHAUER: Thank you, T.J. Take care.

HOLMES: All right, thanks. WHITFIELD: All right, trapped for days. Rescuers push ahead in China, saving one life at a time from the quake rubble.

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