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Nine Iowa Rivers Above Historic Flood Levels; U.S. Image Around the World Improving Slightly; Tasty Alternative in Your Backyard; Is Pakistan Backing Off Islamic Militants
Aired June 13, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
You'll see events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Friday the 13th of June.
Here's what's on the rundown.
New flooding woes for the Midwest. Thousands of people evacuated. A levee break may mean no way out for others.
HARRIS: Signs in trouble with talks with Baghdad over the future U.S. troops in Iraq. Would the Iraqis chose Iran to be their next big brother?
COLLINS: And another pain in the pocketbook for airline passengers. More carriers charging for bags. In the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: And at the top of this hour, an Iowa town under water this morning. The Midwest battered by more record floods and reeling from deadly tornadoes. A huge section of downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa is submerged.
We will take you there live.
Also, mourning four boy scouts killed when a tornado flattened their Iowa camp.
And cleaning up the damage from tornadoes that killed at least two people in Kansas.
COLLINS: Iowa's governor gets a firsthand look at the flood damage this morning.
Our Betty Nguyen has been watching the water rise. She is live from Cedar Rapids, Iowa now.
Good morning to you, Betty.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
Talk about firsthand look. This is a neighborhood. Get this, in the 500-year flood zone. But no more. It is flooded. In fact, we've seen ducks swimming through this neighborhood.
Take a look at the water level. I'm standing in water that is about a foot deep. But that doesn't even compare to the water behind me.
As I step back a little bit, you can see the fire hydrant under water, at least partially. You go 19 blocks that way, that's downtown. Downtown is under water, and the Cedar River is cresting at this hour. They're expecting it to crest at 32 feet.
So give -- to give you an example of what that means around here, the last time it crested was in 1929. Before that, in 1851. Both at 20 feet. We're looking at 32 feet today. So this is epic proportions.
Folks in this neighborhood -- well, they tried their best to get out before the floodwaters got into their homes. We have some video of the fire department that actually had to come and tow a couple guys in a boat from this neighborhood. People are just really, Heidi, doing the best that they can to salvage what they can.
And when we talk about the numbers, I want to give you an idea of how this is affecting people. Some 7,000 homes and businesses have been evacuated. That's 19,000 people. On top of that, the Mercy Hospital, one of the largest hospitals here, that had to be evacuated overnight because of the floodwaters. 176 patients had to be sent elsewhere.
And when you look at neighborhoods and the floodwaters, I want you to take a look to my left over here. This is a home that from the outside looks like it's pretty much survived this flood, right? You can still see the grass and I can even walk up to the steps over here.
But take a look at the video that we shot just moments ago when the owner went inside to see his basement. That basement is under water. A lot of these homes look just like that, basements filled with water. You see debris floating inside. And this water is dirty, and it is full of who knows what.
On top of this, this is not only causing a lot of problems for the homeowners here, but when you look at the monetary damage, they are estimating that it is going to cost somewhere around $500 million. That's half a billion dollars. That gives you the scope of this problem.
But what is so amazing, though, is that no one was killed in any of these floods so far. So that is the good news. But the bad news is, along with the water that's filling these homes, is the fact that the water department is having a hard time keeping up with capacity.
They are only running at about 25 percent so they are asking residents to not use the water. Only for drinking purposes. Don't wash your clothes. Don't take a shower. Don't do any of those things because if they continue to do it, then they will see a water shortage. Again, we're looking at a lot of problems. But I guess the good news in all of it is, despite how bad it is, Heidi, this Cedar River is going to crest today. It is cresting at this hour, and hopefully after that point, at 32 feet, they will start to dry out because these folks have a lot of work to do -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Yes, I'm sure that that will be quite a shock if it does get dry there. They've been experiencing this for so many days now.
NGUYEN: Yes.
COLLINS: CNN's Betty Nguyen in Cedar Rapids, Iowa for us this morning.
Betty, thank you.
The devastating toll of a deadly twister in Iowa painfully evident on these faces we're about to see.
About 100 people gathered last night at a memorial vigil to honor four boy scouts. They were killed after a tornado tore through their camp in western Iowa on Wednesday. The twister's 145-mile-per-hour winds destroyed a building where the scouts had taken shelter.
At least 12 people injured at the Boy Scout camp are still in the hospital.
We want to take a moment to head on over to Reynolds Wolf who is standing by in the Weather Center now. We've got still have all of this weather across the country to talk about. Mainly right now we're talking about that flooding that we saw Betty Nguyen walking through in Iowa.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Yes, that's what I thought you're going to say, unfortunately.
Boy, but we do know (INAUDIBLE) at least we know where it's coming from.
HARRIS: That's right.
COLLINS: Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: Anytime.
COLLINS: Meanwhile, people in Kansas are picking up the pieces today. They're cleaning up from a series of deadly tornadoes that ravaged much of the state on Wednesday. Hardest hit was Chapman -- look at that -- a small town about 70 miles west of Topeka.
The storm there killed one woman and damaged or destroyed 60 percent of the town. Another man died when a twister slammed into the tiny town of Soldier, that's northwest of Topeka. So far this year, 172 tornadoes have been reported in Kansas. That's more than any other state.
PHILLIPS: The end game. That's right, the end game in Iraq. Is that country ready to go it alone? Just last hour we got word of a possible change in long-term security talks with the United States.
Let's get right to Baghdad now and CNN's Michael Ware.
Michael, what are you hearing?
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right, Tony. This is a potentially make-or-break moment for the U.S. mission here in Iraq. And this is going to directly impact on the presidential campaign. We're going to start hearing -- waiting to hear from the nominees about this.
What we're seeing is the U.N. mandate allowing for the presence of U.S. troops in this country allowing, authorizing the war, is coming to an end. The clock is ticking to the end of the year.
So Washington and Baghdad are trying to come to an agreement to regulate the future presence of U.S. troops during the next presidency. However, those talks are stalled.
Iraqi prime minister came out this morning and said they're virtually in deadlock. We know from one of his aides that America this week presented a second draft of the agreement. In principal, said the Iraqis, if it's the same as the first, we're going to reject it.
What we're also hearing from the Iraqi government is that they may go it alone, using a hangover snippet of war left over from the original American occupation authority of Paul Bremer. They could create their own legislation in their own Congress or parliament, and thereby dictate to America what U.S. troops can and cannot do in this country, where they can go, where they must stay, and how many you're allowed to have.
So you may see the Iraqis taking over this war, and you may see a lot of U.S. gains being drawn back -- Tony?
HARRIS: Michael, Michael, so let's take this apart a bit.
So there is a possibility that the Iraqis may come up with an agreement that essentially dictates terms of U.S. forces presence in the country in terms of numbers and responsibilities. Is there -- I know this is all about a negotiation, but is there anything to indicate -- well, have you heard any reaction from the David Satterfields of the world to what you're reporting now?
WARE: Well, I can't speak openly about background conversations I've had with senior U.S. officials involved in the negotiations, but I can tell you that the American negotiators do accept that this option of Iraq going it alone, passing its own laws, and essentially jamming them down the throats of the next president, is a legally viable option.
You can have an agreement within America or a country has its own right to pass its own laws about other troops in its country...
HARRIS: Michael, let me stop you there. Let me stop you there.
WARE: ... in negotiations and Washington accepts that.
HARRIS: To what extent is Iran -- because we know there have been high-level visits, the highest level visits between Iraq and Iran. To what extent is Iran dictating this new thinking by the Iraqis?
WARE: Well, put it this way, Tony. It's not quite winner-takes- all, high stakes poker here, but it's very close to that. In many, many ways, the agreement that Washington can make at all with Baghdad or the legislation the Iraqis create will tell you a lot. It will be we barometer about whether Americans' mission here, whether the Iraqi war is a victory or a defeat.
Because depending on how this plays out, we could see Iran secure the upper hand it's been trying to get with influence in this country or whether America can prevent that.
At stake is the arming, training and equipping of the Iraqi security forces. Right now America does that. The Iranians, for two years, have been saying, we're more than ready to step in and do that instead of the Americans.
The Iraqi intelligence services, one was created by the CIA, today is still run by the CIA. The Iraqis want that back and want to join it with the other intelligence agency in this country supported by Iran.
What do you think that's going to do for American influence in this country and what message will it send to the region -- Tony ?
HARRIS: You have given us a lot to think about, Michael Ware in Baghdad this morning for us. Michael, thank you.
COLLINS: He did more in a few years than most people do in a lifetime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was going to write a cookbook.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was never sitting down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Food drive, whether it was starting collections at school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: A boy scout gone after the tornado hit, but not forgotten. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back, everyone. I'm Heidi Collins. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Rumor control. The Obama campaign fights back against smears on the Internet.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: Live breaking news, unfolding developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Historic floods, deadly tornadoes, severe storms making their mark on the Midwest this week. This morning downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa is under water. Can you imagine that? Across the state, nine rivers are at or above record flood levels, and it is the same story across much of the region.
On top of the flooding, tornadoes tore across the region this week. And two people were killed in Kansas. Four boy scouts died when a twister hit their camp in Iowa.
COLLINS: The boy scouts who were killed left a lasting impression on everyone who knew them.
Here's Owen Lei from our affiliate KETV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OWEN LEI, KETV REPORTER (voice over): Common bonds run thick between Josh Fennen, Ben Petrzilka and Sam Thomsen. All three young men of faith emerging leaders, Omaha Boy Scouts, all three lives cut short.
LARRY THOMSEN, FATHER OF SAM THOMSEN: He loved sports, but he also liked to play the piano and play the guitar. He liked to play chess and Xbox is one of his favorite things.
LEI: It's hard for a father to think about his son in past tense.
Sam Thomsen would have turned 14 on Monday.
THOMSEN: He was a teenager. Yes, he'd grumble about mowing the yard and things like that. But he always turn around and do it.
LEI: Sam loved basketball and Southwest Church of Christ. Pastor Jim White says he grew up here, even gave a sermon once.
JIM WHITE, SAM THOMSEN'S PASTOR: But I was so impressed with his maturity and his level of thinking, and he just did a wonderful job in that. And I will always remember him standing right there and giving that speech.
LEI: Those who know Josh Fennen all seem to focus on his creativity.
JACK CORMACI, FRIEND OF JOSH FENNEN: He always came up with fun games to play, always got an idea in his head of what to do. So you're never bored with you're with him.
LEI: Jack Cormaci calls Josh his best friend. He says Josh loved electronics but also the outdoors.
CORMACI: He was a good hiker because he knew what to do, how to start fires. And he's good with pocket knives.
LEI: John Nordmeyer calls his nephew Ben Petrzilka amazing.
JOHN NORDMEYER, UNCLE OF BEN PETRZILKA: Just by being around him you were a better person.
LEI: That's why Ben's family wants to help build storm shelters at the Little Sioux Scout Camp, call it an Eagle Scout project Ben clearly would approve.
NORDMEYER: Though we have lost Ben, we want to do something, you know, for the future and for the other boy scouts.
LEI: Because the common bonds between these young men, you see it most of all in their loved ones, people, who in mourning themselves, still put others first.
NORDMEYER: He believed in the Boy Scouts and lived, you know, their motto.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Iowa's governor is expected to speak about the tragedy later this morning. We, of course, will bring that to you live when it happens.
HARRIS: This has been an extremely deadly year for twisters. Forecasters say so far tornadoes have killed 118 people, making it the deadliest year for twisters since 1998 when 132 people were killed. The only year worst than that? 1953 when 519 died.
COLLINS: The battle in northern California's fierce flames. Several major wildfires are scorching thousands of acres and threatening homes. This fire is in the town of Paradise. It's burned through nearly 30 square miles and destroyed at least 10 homes. Not such a paradise right now, unfortunately.
30,000 people live in the area. All of them ordered to evacuate and all roads leading into the town have now been closed.
About 900 firefighters are battling this blaze near Santa Cruz. About 1,000 people have been told to get out. Right now the fire is just 25 percent contained.
Then a third fire in Monterey County has charred 28 square miles there. HARRIS: Murder on a country road. Two girls shot to death and now police say they may have a new lead. Police will tell us the latest on the investigation coming up.
ANNOUNCER: "Making Their Mark" is sponsored by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Well, you know your money is not going as far as it used to. Today some new measures on how much your dollar seems to be shrinking.
I'm sure you want to hear this, right?
First up, the inflation we are facing at the cash register. The government's measure at the retail level is called the consumer price index. And minutes ago we did learn that it rose six-tenth of a percent last month. That's the biggest climb since November. Higher energy prices are blamed.
Also, new. A staggering increase in the number of Americans losing their homes. Bank repossessions booted 73,000 owners from their homes just last month. That increase nothing short of breathtaking. A 158 percent spike from May of last year.
Unbelievable.
So how are the markets reacting to all of this?
CNN's Susan Lisovicz will have the very latest from Wall Street, a live report from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange coming up in just a few minutes.
HARRIS: So if you want to fly this summer, you might want to pack a few extra bucks. United Airlines and U.S. Airways have announced they, too, will start charging passengers for all checked luggage.
American Airlines started the trend and now all three will charge 15 bucks for the first bag. The price goes even higher for additional bags.
The airlines are looking for ways to offset the soaring cost of fuel.
And here's another sign of the turbulent times. U.S. Airways is doing away with the free drinks we've all come to expect. That includes soda, coffee, bottled water and juice. Beginning in August, they'll cost coach passengers 2 bucks each.
My goodness.
COLLINS: Presidential politics. Republican John McCain solo in New Jersey this morning. Another in his series of town hall meetings. Democratic rival Barack Obama rejecting McCain's invitation to join the tour. Obama plans to talk to senior citizens later today in Columbus, Ohio.
And switching gears a bit, libertarian Republican Ron Paul suspends his presidential campaign and no endorsement for John McCain either. Paul says he wants to see his party's presumptive nominee change some of his positions.
HARRIS: Fighting back against rumors. The Obama campaign on the offensive with a new Web site.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Barack Obama has had enough. While he's been dogged by rumors over the Internet for months, it was the claim that his wife Michelle was on videotape in church referring to someone as "whitey" that propelled his campaign to fight back.
His new Web site www.fightthesmears.com takes on that rumor first. It cites conservative Republican blogs and talk show host Rush Limbaugh as the sources behind the smear.
RUSH LIMBAUGH, TALK SHOW HOST: They're waiting to use it in October of Michelle going nuts in the church, too, talking about whitey this and whitey that.
MALVEAUX: The Web site counters the truth is no such tape exists.
The rumor hit Obama directly last week when a newspaper reporter confronted him with it.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRES. NOMINEE: There is dirt and lies that are circulated in e-mail, and they pump them out long enough until finally you, a mainstream reporter, asks me about them. And then that gives legs to the story.
MALVEAUX: Another story Obama confronted is the claim he attended a radical Muslim school.
OBAMA: This is the same kind of nonsense that we started with the madrasas in which CNN had to fly to Jakarta to disprove it.
MALVEAUX: Obama's Web site actually has a link to CNN's report which debunks the false rumor.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The deputy headmaster tell me he's unaware that his school has been labeled an Islamic madrasa by some in the United States and bristles at the thought.
MALVEAUX: Obama's Web site states he is not a Muslim but a Christian. A photo shows he was sworn into the U.S. Senate with his hand was on a family bible, not the Koran. And there's video showing him leading the pledge of allegiance.
OBAMA: Pledge allegiance...
MALVEAUX: Debunking the rumor he refuses to do so.
The persistent false claims have been frustrating.
OBAMA: Simply because something appears in an e-mail that should lend it no more credence than if you heard it on the corner.
MALVEAUX: Conventional wisdom has been for candidates to ignore the buzz and hope that the vitriol goes away.
ALEX WELLEN, CNNPOLITICS.COM: At the lightning speed at which rumors are being spread, it's wise for a lot of these campaigns, and they're learning this, to respond in a way that kind of debunks the information quickly.
MALVEAUX (on camera): Obama's campaign aides say the best antidote to a smear campaign is the truth. And it's the campaign's responsibility to make sure the most accurate information about Obama is out there.
The Web site also encourages supporters to fight false claims by sending mass e-mails discrediting the Internet buzz.
Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Paris, the latest stop on President Bush's European farewell tour, touched down just moments ago. The president and first lady spent the morning meeting with Pope Benedict in Rome.
Now President Bush is turning his attention to a speech highlighting a mend in transatlantic relations fractured over the war in Iraq. The speech also commemorates the 60th anniversary of the start of the Marshall plan, that massive U.S. aid program that helped rebuilt Europe after World War II.
We're going to bring you the president's remarks live at the bottom of the hour right here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. A town submerged. Thousands of people evacuated this morning in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The city's swamped by record floods battering the Midwest. Rescuers had to use boats as you see here to get some of the residents to safety.
Nine Iowa rivers are at above historic flood levels. That flooding even forced the evacuation of a hospital in Cedar Rapids. More than 170 patients had to be taken to other hospitals in the region. Flooding also causing problems in parts of Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Michigan, and Missouri.
HARRIS: Let's get to Reynolds Wolf now in the severe weather center.
And Reynolds, if we could -- boy, let's start with that touch of good news that's been so long since we've had any for our friends there in the Midwest.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Yes. And unfortunately, they're not going to be able to dry out in time for all of those rain events that are going to happen over the weekend.
All right, thanks so much, Reynolds.
HARRIS: The head of the Federal Emergency Management Administration heads to flood-ravaged, Cedar Rapids, Iowa today. Our Gary Tuchman is there and shows us how residents are coping with this catastrophe.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a catastrophic flood in progress. Dazed people watching their neighborhood fill with water, not knowing what to do next.
It's pretty startling, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I can't even think right now.
TUCHMAN: When we first arrived in the southwestern part of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, water from the nearby Cedar River was just starting to rise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go.
TUCHMAN: But it was only the beginning. Suddenly, we saw telephone poles floating down the streets. The powerful currents of the rapidly escalating waters started pushing huge dumpsters. The water started lapping up to homes.
(on camera): We've been on the street for just 15 minutes and the rain is now coming down heavily. Before when I was walking here, the water was up to my knees. Now, it's getting closer to my waist. Within a couple of hours, who knows how high it will go.
(voice-over): And that's a very frightening feeling for the people who are helplessly watching the river come perilously close to their living rooms.
(on camera): How worried are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I think I'm past worried. I'm just sad. This is where I grew up. TUCHMAN (voice-over): We are with Rochelle Charnowski as the water starts coming into her home. It's the first house she ever bought.
ROCHELLE CHARNOWSKI, CEDAR RAPIDS RESIDENT: I got off to work at about 12:00 and this has come up probably four feet in the last hour and a half. I don't even know what time it is right now.
TUCHMAN: You look outside the window right now, you see, you know, wood floating around and refrigerators and it looks like you're living on a canal in Venice. Is there anything you can do?
CHARNOWSKI: Just hope and pray that we might be able to salvage something out of it all.
TUCHMAN: This man rescued his dogs out of his home that is already under water.
TUCHMAN (on camera): It's such a helpless feeling, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you can do nothing. I was going to ride it out, but can't.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Good Samaritans in monster trucks prowled the streets looking for people who might need rescue. It looks like New Orleans after Katrina. The roadways are waterways. (INAUDIBLE). Lives are now changed. And it all happened in a matter of a few hours.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Unbelievable there.
Also we want to take a look quickly at the opening bell. It happen just a couple of minutes ago -- New York Stock Exchange of course. Yesterday, kind of a -- it was a positive close but it wasn't all that brilliant that's for sure. We were up by the end of the day by 57 points. Right now, the opening bell showing positive 46 points or so. We're going to be watching all the business stories as usual throughout the morning.
HARRIS: And we are awaiting a speech from President Bush. He is now in Paris. There he is. In his remarks this morning, the president will highlight amend in transatlantic relations fractured by the war in Iraq.
He will also commemorate the 60th anniversary of the start of the Marshall Plan. That massive U.S. aid program as you'll recall helped rebuild Europe after World War II. We will bring you the president's comments in just a couple of moments. Right here in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: U.S. image around the world improving slightly. A new study says that's partly because President Bush is leaving office soon. Our Jill Dougherty has details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The United States' image around the world is still reeling from the Iraq War. But the new Pew Global Attitude Survey conducted in 24 countries has some encouraging news for the U.S. Since last year, favorable views of the United States are up significantly in ten of those countries.
Citizens in most of the Muslim world still are overwhelmingly negative about the U.S. Another headline, in many countries people are fascinate with the U.S. presidential election.
ANDREW KOHUT, PEW RESEARCH CENTER: But the poll found many people in the survey, majorities in some countries saying that they've been paying close attention to the American election.
In fact, in Japan we had 83 percent of the people we polled saying that they were following the election news very or fairly closely, which compares to 80 percent in the United States. It's just unbelievable.
DOUGHERTY: In fact, in half of the countries surveyed, at least 40 percent of the people said they were following the U.S. election. In nine of the countries, more than half of the people felt the next U.S. president will bring change for the better in America's foreign policy.
The survey interviewed 25,000 people. And in nearly every country surveyed, Barack Obama was the candidate of choice. More people expressed confidence in him than in John McCain. The survey has one warning sign for the U.S., in 18 of the 24 countries, people said their own country's economy is bad and they blame the U.S. for its strong negative influence.
(on camera): The survey indicates there's a connection between the slight improvement in America's image and interest in the election. People are more positive because they think a new U.S. president means change.
Jill Dougherty, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Soaring fuel costs, you're paying them at the grocery store whether you realize it or not. We look for a tasty alternative in your backyard.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: We want to send it over to Reynolds Wolf in the severe weather center.
And Reynolds, I understand we've got some pictures in from Northern California wildfires there. Why don't you do a little show and tell for us?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. Let's go right to the new video. This is in Butte County, California. And you can see the fires -- I mean, kind of hard to miss it with this video as we prompt it up for you. There it is. This is compliments of KCRA where in Butte County, they've closed all roads to the Community of Paradise.
It's a town of about 30,000 residents, some 90 miles north of Sacramento. This fire that you see here started on Wednesday. It's grown to 19,000 acres and then fire is only 10 percent contained.
Yes, that's one of many fires we've been seeing in parts of northern and central California. This is also a case here. This is a live image in Butte County.
In Felton, California, firefighters are also battling a wildfire in the Santa Cruz Mountains. They're expected to get a little bit of help from Mother Nature. They have some cooler and more moisture -- cooler air and more moisture coming in from the Pacific.
I believe in the foreground you saw either a firefighter or someone. We've got a big team of people. In fact, in that particular fire, they have over 900 firefighters that are joining the fray. Doing what they can to combat the blaze. Conditions there also improving a little bit.
Another one in Monterey County. A fire burning in the Ventana Wilderness. That is about 40 percent contained. So there is some good news out there. However, the one we first mentioned in Butte County, only 10 percent contained, they're going to have to work kind of hard for that.
HARRIS: (INAUDIBLE).
COLLINS: Hey, Reynolds, real quick, super dry there right now, yes? I mean, when we're talking about or thinking about the Midwest and how sopping wet it is there, West Coast, much, much drier.
WOLF: Absolutely warm. And you have to remember it's a Mediterranean style climate. Especially closer to the coast near Monterey. But the farther north you go, you should be getting more precipitation. And that's usually the case up in parts of the -- when you get into the northern end of the San Joaquin Valley. They use to have a little bit more rainfall and that is certainly going to come.
Certainly, the additional moisture they're going to get from the coast will going to help. But still a fire of that magnitude is just tremendous. And we're talking about 19,000 acres.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Unbelievable.
WOLF: Only 10 percent contained. COLLINS: Yes.
WOLF: So it's going to be a real struggle.
COLLINS: Yes. Darn it. All right. Well, thank you, Reynolds. We'll check back with you a little bit later on.
Meanwhile, I'm sure you're feeling it, too. We are all paying for higher fuel costs from our gas tanks to our grocery bills. But if you're hungry for bargains, the answer may be closer than you think.
CNN's Rob Marciano explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JENNIFER CRAIG, LITE CITY FARMS, WOODY CREEK, COLORADO: We're going to slide down here into the garden.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Jennifer Craig is part of a growing movement in agriculture, one that's steering away from the high cost of fuel.
CRAIG: The price of fuel is definitely going to shift the way we grow food, and I really hope so if that's the case.
MARCIANO: While most U.S. produce travels an average of 1500 miles from the farm to your table, Craig's crops are delivered within 15 miles of her ranch using a fraction of the gasoline of larger commercial farms. And being that close to market also means ultra fresh products for the consumer.
So from the time we cut this, when is it going to market?
CRAIG: Well, it will be delivered this afternoon.
MARCIANO: Nice.
Fresh and easier to trace if you're worried about food safety.
JEROME OSENTOWSKI, CENTRAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN PERMACULTURE INST.: A one liner for this week would be -- do you know where your tomato is grown.
MARCIANO: Buying at a farmer's market puts the customer face to face with the person who grew the food.
THOMAS CAMERON, CARBONDALE FARMERS MARKET: I see it as that people really want an opportunity to connect with where their food comes from.
RYAN HARDY, EXECUTIVE CHEF, THE LITTLE NELL: So here we have some of the produce that we actually put into place on a daily basis here.
MARCIANO: Ryan Hardy grows it, buys it, and cooks it. He's a farmer and chef at a local five star restaurant. HARDY: We're in what we call the drip room, and this is where we cure all of our meats and cheeses and set aside some of our preserves.
MARCIANO: Stock produce, we talk dairy, but meats, you're telling me these big pig legs are coming from your farm?
HARDY: They are, they are.
MARCIANO: Organic or not, the hanging hams are a little creepy.
HARDY: These are really some of the most beautiful greens that we've been able to pull out of the gardens here recently. So we have things like little local Swiss chard. Some of these turnips when they come out are just -- it's so fresh and this has been on the ground in less than a day.
MARCIANO: And the color just jumps out at you.
HARDY: It really does.
MARCIANO: And if gas prices continue to jump higher, small organic farms will give the big boys a run for their money.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Hey, cool story. Rob Marciano joining us live now from one of my most favorite places on earth.
I'm glad at least you're there in Aspen, Colorado, Rob. You did mention in the piece that the produce in the United States travels an average of 1,500 miles from field to fridge?
So when you go to the grocery store, how do you know where it's from? I mean, sometimes there's little sticker that say, you know, coming from Chile or coming from California, but you really don't have any idea for sure.
MARCIANO: Well, that's one way, but they're not labeled for sure like that. I mean, if you know where Dole gets its pineapples from or (INAUDIBLE) get its bananas from, you would know that.
But you know, the U.N. has spurred this initiative to maybe label it much like a nutrition label on your food. You would have this food mileage label. And Iowa State went to work on something like this.
Check out some of these examples. First off, say you bought an apple that was grown in Iowa. On average, it would travel 50 or 60 miles. That would be labeled on the low side of environmental transportation meter.
But if you were to buy, say, grapes in the middle of the winter time, they would come from Chile, you've got to get them on a boat, you've got to get them on a truck, 7,000 miles later, they're into your grocery store. So that would be on the high side of transportation. So that's kind of in the works as far as lowering the carbon footprint. And with the price of gas going up and up, you know, there's going to be an equilibrium where, you know, locally grown food may actually become cheaper and healthier and tastier than the more mass-produced stuff. So that's the trend that's going on right now.
COLLINS: Yes. Can't believe that one gentleman said that those carrots -- I think it was carrots are going to be on the market in just a couple of hours from where you guys were picking them. Very cool.
But, you know, since you're in Aspen, I'm wondering what are the snow conditions like out there, Rob?
MARCIANO: Well, funny you should ask.
COLLINS: Funny, isn't it?
MARCIANO: Record snow pack. Role that beautiful (INAUDIBLE) footage, if you will. They're going to open the mountain for the first time they've ever done this in June.
COLLINS: Oh, there you are. No, no.
MARCIANO: No, that's not me, but it's definitely some folks having fun up there. They're opening the mountain for the first time in June. They've seen twice as much snow as they typically seen. It's been an epic year. They haven't seen snow like this for 30 years.
So there was concern for flooding, but it's been so cold here this spring that that snow still lock up in the mountains. So they're hoping to get it down in a very orderly fashion. Coincidentally, not only they are opening the mountains this weekend, I didn't notice --
COLLINS: You're killing me.
MARCIANO: But (INAUDIBLE) magazine is having some sort of a classic where, you know, celebrity chefs come in and may celebrate eating local food.
COLLINS: I see. The food and wine banner there behind you. Excellent.
MARCIANO: Oh there's wine. I didn't notice that either.
COLLINS: Yes. Yes. Hey, quickly, I do want to ask you about Aspen opening the mountain. It's mostly natural snow that they're using? They're not pumping in the manmade snow up there? They have that much?
MARCIANO: Oh, no, no. It's all natural up there. They've got it up on Ajax Mountain. At the top 1,000 feet are skiable. And (INAUDIBLE) right up there, it looks -- it's not too thin.
COLLINS: I mean, if you have done it. MARCIANO: I have to, you know, perhaps borrow somebody's sticks and check it out.
COLLINS: Yes, maybe. Maybe. Next time, we're going to fight you a lot harder for these assignments. Clearly, I can see that.
MARCIANO: You just got to learn how to pitch it. Tony, I know you guys can vote them out. You're welcome to join us.
COLLINS: Rob Marciano on the road in Aspen, Colorado. Thank you, Rob.
HARRIS: Friday the 13th, Rob. We investigate witch hunts deep in Kenya in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Is Pakistan backing off Islamic militants?
CNN's Barbara Starr is just back from a briefing by General Dan McNeill, the outgoing commander in Afghanistan.
Barbara, good to see you. What is the general saying?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, very quiet spoken General Dan McNeill but very scathing in his indictment this morning of Pakistan cracking down on militants along its remote border region with Afghanistan. And of course, that is critical to the U.S. participation in the war on terror.
General McNeill telling reporters today that he sees Pakistan not cracking down. In fact, he sees something very different going on. Have a listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
New government more or less is installed, and it suddenly -- then we seem to have yet another change. The tact to take is we're going to enter into dialogue with the insurgents and we're going to have -- I think they're typically referred to in the newspapers as peace deals. Even though the history is that those peace deals have not worked, not worked not very well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: Very quiet words from General McNeill, Tony, but extremely significant. The new Pakistani government is cutting what the U.S. refers to as peace deals with the Taliban, al Qaeda and other militants in the borer region, that is leading to a rising attacks against U.S. forces across the border in Afghanistan.
It is making that al Qaeda safe haven in Pakistan even deeper and stronger. General McNeill and other commanders very concerned about it and just one of the latest indicators, the military just put out a press release this morning telling us that there was an attack by a group of up to 100 militants against coalition forces in Afghanistan. That is the largest grouping they tell us of militants in one area so far this year.
The latest estimate now is that there are up to 20,000 insurgents operating in Afghanistan. Nobody knows how many across the border in Pakistan. Very difficult, very growing threat situation there according to General McNeill.
Tony?
HARRIS: Barbara, you can certainly understand the frustration from the general. But I have to ask you, how much of this push back? Is it push back to the harsh rhetoric from the Pakistani military over U.S. air strike earlier this week?
STARR: Well, you know, that is why the air strike really came at the worst possible time for U.S.-Pakistani military relations because General McNeill is underscoring that the U.S. military, the Bush administration is trying to get the Pakistanis to crack down, and they're not doing it, in the U.S. view.
The Pakistanis, of course -- the Pakistani military is largely seen as being way too close to the U.S. military by its own people. This attack has come, Pakistani troops were killed, and it's just leading to a lot of bad feelings all the way around so tough days ahead.
HARRIS: Yes. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr for us. Barbara, thank you.
STARR: Sure.
COLLINS: A suburban Atlanta family is in a hospital this morning after a daring home invasion and a life-saving escape. It happened Wednesday in Dekalb County.
Police say a woman and her children were taken hostage and tied up by two gunmen. The woman was pistol whipped and bleeding from the face. She was forced to call her husband saying she was sick and he needed to come home. He did. But just as the gunman were about to force him to withdraw $100,000 from the bank, she escaped still tied to a chair and flagged down a motorist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was duct taped to a chair with handcuffs on. She was bloody. Somebody beat her up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was telling us that her kids are in there. They said they're going to kill the kids.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God, when I saw the kids come out and they were OK, I was so happy for her. I was so happy for her because, I mean, she was just hysterical.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Police believe the gunmen may have known the husband. They are looking for a white SUV that may have been used in the home invasion.
HARRIS: He did more in a few years that most people do in a lifetime.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was trying to write a cookbook.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was nervous sitting down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Food drives, whether it was starting collections at school.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: A boy scout gone after the tornado hit but not forgotten.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the run-down.
What's at the movies? A flooding story, unbelievable but true, one city in a 500-year old flood zone. Other parts of the Midwest dealing with breach levees and closed highways.
COLLINS: So what's causing these floods of historic proportion? We're going to explain the omega effect. Heard of it? Today, Friday the 13th. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Some interesting news that we are watching. Coming out of NASA. And actually, some of the videos that they are getting.
