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Levees Possibly Creating Disasters; Maya Angelou Interview; CNN Hero Tad Agoglia; Blackberry Slaves; Five Found Feet
Aired June 21, 2008 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CENTER: New pictures and new numbers. Corn and soy beans lost. Thousands of farmers could lose their livelihood. Damage from the floods keep adding up.
The presidential candidates are on our radar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
If I took whatever you took and I couldn't run any faster than I could run by myself, then I must have gotten some placebo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Olympian Chryste Gaines on drug use allegations, now back on track, hoping for a spot to Beijing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. MAYA ANGELOU: I think, I loved the fact that she lasted to the very end, I want a president to be that strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Dr. Maya Angelou talks about Hillary Clinton, today's youth and the government being in her bedroom, a one on one conversation coming up.
Hello, everyone, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. It's a river, not a roller coaster, but the ups and downs of the mighty Mississippi are making flood victims dizzy in Illinois and Missouri. First, the water level dropped of levee breaks upstream. And crest predictions came down as well. Today, though, an unexpected surge. And with it, new pressure on levees that are still intact and new anxiety all around. In Iowa, where three flooded rivers dumped all this water into the Mississippi, the agricultural secretary estimates that crop losses could hit $3 billion.
And don't think the losses won't affect you, whether you live in the Midwest or not, Jeff Caldwell is news and features editor for Agriculture.com, he's on the phone with me right now. So, Jeff, give me an idea, there is likely to be some kind of fallout if soy beans and corn crops are lost, already we've been experiencing high prices as a result of them being used for ethanol. All right, Jeff, are you there? All right, we're going to try and re-establish communication with Jeff Caldwell to talk more about how the damage from these crops from the Midwest flooding just might affect your wallet. All right, the community of Old Monroe, Missouri, is nestled between the Mississippi River and Highway 79, right now, the river has the upper hand. CNN's Reynolds Wolf is there. Reynolds, while the skies are somewhat sunny from the earlier live shot, you were still waist deep in water, where are you exactly?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are near the community of Old Monroe, which is now part of the Mississippi River, we've got the Quiver River witch is about a mile or so to the south, a tributary that feeds to the Mississippi River, but if you look behind me, you see the tree line, a lot of water where water has made its way around the levees and now blows up to our present position. A lot of flooded areas, including places a bit farther to the south.
We've got some new video we would like to share with you and the rest of America. This is in St. Peters. You can see the waters rising in some place, continuing, to, I guess you could say, drop in a few oh, but we've got a mess around over much of the area. If you look behind me, a few landmarks to show you, over here, I'm on a raised area, right over here on this build, I've been told by the local, the water levels here are eight feet above normal. Back over here, to my left, you can see a building over there with twin doors. I've been told those doors are about 17 feet in height and just from what I can gander, I would say maybe shave off about 7 feet, and probably about 10 feet is where your water level is.
As you come back to me one more time, our photojournalist is Emmanuel, if you can get a shot out there to show those clouds. Now, Fredericka, for the most part, we do have sunshine, but that's a big rain maker that you see off there in the distance. There's a chance we could have some fairly strong storms out here, it's certainly in the forecast today. There's a chance to see a few inches of rain in a few isolated spots. That being said, I don't think it's going to have a tremendous impact on what's happening here.
We do anticipate these waters to continue to drop bit by bit, I would say maybe by Thursday or Friday next week, people will be able to start heading back to their homes as these water levels begin to pull away. However, some people have been very impatient, getting out there on boats and looking around to see what's left, but for many people, it's just going to be the waiting game. It's a terrifying prospect for a lot of folks. They have flooding in this part of the world, but you need to leave some prized possessions back at home, you always wonder what's going to be left.
WHITFIELD: That's painful when so many folks go back hoping that something just might be salvalached but it's very different from flood damage, once everything is soggy and mucky even when the waters recedes, there's just nothing left to salvage.
WOLF: You're rightly right, you're right.
WHITFIELD: It's going to be painful. All right, Reynolds Wolf, thanks so much, appreciate it.
Speaking of loss, $3 billion of crop losses is the early estimate of how this Midwest flooding may be affecting your wallet as well. All that produce and groceries may be costing you more as a result. Jeff Caldwell is "News and Features" editor for Agriculture.com, we're going to try this again, we think he's on the phone with us still, Jeff, give me an idea just how this is going to impact all of us, not just those farmers, but all of us.
All right, second time, just not a charm here. Sorry about that we're going to try again later on. Maybe we can resume conversation with Jeff, but it's just not going to happen rate now.
Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras who is in the Weather Center, Jacqui just give me an idea, while that water is receding very slowly. The damage is done in most cases, but how about on the horizon? Hopefully no more rainfall.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, not a lot of rain, there is some rain in the forecast, Reynolds was talking about some of those darkening skies, but we don't think the rainfall in the next 24 to 48 hours is going to be having any type of impact on those floodwaters. That said, we have talked about the levees that have breached over the last couple of days, and that has really allowed many of the river levels to drop in some area, but the actual crest hasn't happened yet in some of these town, we're going to be watching these levels that have dropped to start to go back up over the next couple of days, but by mid-week at the absolute latest, the worst of this is over and all of the levels will be dropping for everybody, not just a few of the towns.
So lets go ahead and take a look, this is google earth, you've seen this map probably 100 times in the past three weeks, but just a reminder that all of those purple dots that you see in there, those are river gauges that are in major flood. That means way over what we normally see in terms of flooding. Because keep in mind, these areas flood all the time, red dots, that's what we call a moderate flood. Notice everything kind of stops short around the St. Louis area and we do think that's going to continue to hold through.
Let's talk about a couple of these specifically, the town of Canton, you are cresting as we speak, that the same story for you in the Quincy area, Hannibal, we're expecting to you crest, Sunday night. Clarksville, we think you're going to be cresting on probably Sunday night, maybe early Monday morning. Then you can see St. Louis, we're not too worried that that's going to be a major crest for you.
Now the crest levels are going to stay under record flood and that's changed a little bit and a lot of that has to do with some of these levee breaches, so we're not going to be seeing the 1993 records being broken in this part of Missouri like we did in Iowa and places like Illinois. So you know, it's kind of a catch 22, I guess, Fredericka in terms of folks have it bad, some have it really bad with those levee breaches, but the folks downstream really getting a better break, I guess, so to speak as a result of that.
WHITFIELD: We were all hoping for that, weren't we?
JERAS: Well, yeah, for a lot of people. WHITFIELD: I know. All right, Jacqui, thank you so much.
We talk about a lot of rain in this country, how about in India where it is monsoon season. This week, almost 3 million people are suffering on the Eastern edge of the country after days of nonstop downpours there. More than 50,000 people are reportedly waiting out the weather in government shelter, but most victims are stranded in isolated villages. Floods and mudslides are blamed for more than 50 deaths.
The United Nations top nuclear official issues a dire warning against attacking Iran. The plea follows reports that Israeli warplanes recently staged maneuvers, possible practice runs for strikes against Iranian nuclear installations. U.N. officials said strikes would be self-defeating and would inflame the Middle East.
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, DIRECTOR GENERAL IAEA, (via translator): In my opinion, any military strike is the worst thing that could happen now it would make the Middle East turn into a ball of fire, it is a lot worse than having sanctions and military strike will lead Iran even if it plans to manufacture nuclear weapon to establish a crash course to speed the process to have a weapon with the blessing of all Iranians, even though living in the west.
WHITFIELD: Iran is believed to be considering newly proposed talks on its nuclear program with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council.
On to Afghanistan now, a deadly upsurge in the battle against Taliban militants. Five more coalition troops were killed today, more than 30 so far this month, including 12 Americans, 9 Britons and two Canadians, one each from Romania, Poland and Hungary. Much of the fighting is taking place across southern Afghanistan where Taliban militants are entrenched.
A police raid, in a Mexico City night club ended in a deadly stampede where at least 12 people were trampled to death including two minors and three police officers. The police showed up looking for under age drinkers. They say the owner of the club caused the stampede by announcing the raid on the public address system. They also say the club was over crowded and didn't have enough emergency exits.
A busy week ahead in presidential politics, for Republican John McCain, it's about trying to raise big bucks. For Barack Obama, it's about teaming up with his former rival in the name of party unity.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): I shouldn't really have to show my id to travel in my own country. I will gladly go through the secondary screening to ensure that I am not a threat to anybody, but as for whom I am, that's really none of their business.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: You may not realize it, but you can get on a plane without showing a photo id, but starting today, the travel routine changes. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama blasting his Republican rival on several fronts today. At a meeting of mayors in Miami, Senator Obama accused Senator John McCain of focusing on tax breaks for wealthy Americans and ignoring the budget deficit many U.S. cities are facing.
Obama also talked about McCain's trip this week to flood zones in the Midwest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SENATOR BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator McCain and I have traveled recently to the areas that have been devastated by floods. I know that Senator McCain felt as strongly as I did feeling enormous sympathy for the victims of the recent flooding. I'm sure they appreciated the sentiment, but they probably would have appreciated it even more if Senator McCain hadn't opposed legislation to fund levees and flood control programs which he considers for.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Senator Obama is westward bound; he travels to New Mexico on Monday and then heads to Nevada. John McCain is taking the day off in his home state of Arizona. But yesterday, he was on the road talking trade in Canada. McCain defended NAFTA, a controversial free trade agreement that most businesses support but many unions oppose. McCain says the deal created 25 million jobs in the U.S. and more than 4 million in Canada. Senator Obama has called the pact a mistake and wants it renegotiated.
Well, the race for campaign cash is not quite as one sided as it used to be. While Senator Obama has raised nearly $175 million more than Senator McCain over the past year and a half, in the month of May, Obama slowed down a bit raising $22 million, his slimmest fund-raising month of the year. McCain raised $21 million in May, a larger than average take for him. Senator Obama is expected to meet with former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and her top fund raisers soon. The following day, both Democrats are scheduled to campaign together, that would be next week.
We'll get caught up on all the latest developments in the presidential race. Watch "This Week in Politics" with Tom Formen tonight at 6:00 Eastern only on CNN.
President Bush is taking to the airwaves, pushing Congress to lift its ban on offshore oil and gas drilling. In his weekly radio address today, Mr. Bush said the drilling could produce up to 18 billion barrels of oil over time and ease the energy crunch. Supporters of the ban reject that argument; they say it would take years for production to start. And would do nothing to lower gas prices.
We took a little dip over the last 24 hours; AAA says the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded fell to $4.07. With crude oil prices especially volatile these day, the latest development could have an impact on gasoline prices in the United States. Chevron has suspended its onshore oil production in Nigeria because of a pipeline breach. Nigeria media reports that militants sabotaged the pipeline but one major militant group denies it, the development could reduce production by about 120,000 barrels a day.
So what's behind these skyrocketing oil prices? The answer will likely spark a lot of debate at an International Energy Summit in Saudi Arabia tomorrow. The United States and Saudi Arabia aren't Seeing Eye to eye on the matter.
Well, today the U.S. energy secretary blamed the high prices on insufficient oil production, but in an exclusive interview with CNN, a key adviser to Saudi Arabia's oil minister says a number of factors have driven prices up, including speculators and currency fluctuations.
Well, you may think nothing of handing over your ID to security officers before you get on a plane, but you didn't have to. Not until today, that is. CNN's Jeanne Meserve explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nick is not your average traveler. He flies about once a month and when he does, he does something unthinkable to most of us. He refuses a routine security request.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): ID sir.
NICK: No, thank you.
MESERVE: He will not show transportation security officers his identification.
NICK: I should not have to show my id to travel in my own country; I will gladly go through the secondary screening to ensure that I am not a threat to anybody. But as to whom I am, that's none of their business.
MESERVE: Under current TSA policy, a traveler does not have to show an ID if they're willing to undergo a more intense security search.
But those changes on Saturday, passengers who willfully refuse to provide identification at checkpoints will no longer be allowed to fly.
KIP HAWLEY, TRANSPORTATION SECURITY ADMIN: We need to be able to stop somebody who we know is a terrorist from getting on the plane and it's not too much to ask to say just tell us who you are.
MESERVE: But civil liberties advocates say U.S. citizens should not have to show documents to travel within their own country.
JIM HARRISON, THE IDENTITY PROJECT: The TSA is increment mentally chipping away at the freedoms that Americans have. And the freedoms that we're talking about here are the fundamental right to travel. MESERVE: Although airlines check traveler's names against terror watch lists, the TSA says its document examinations provide another layer of security and turn up people traveling with fake IDs every week.
HAWLEY: To us it's not a philosophical argument, there are people trying to do harm, take down planes, we can't let them have vulnerability.
MESERVE: People who say their identities have been lost or stolen can still fly if they give the TSA information to help identify them but a clever terrorist could bluff their way through security and still get on an airplane.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Reagan National Airport.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Fighting the odds, two-time Olympic medalist Chryste Gaines wants to make a comeback, but now there are some hurdles, her age and a scandal in the past and a fellow runner implicating her in a steroid case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRYSTE GAINES: For anyone else to come and say, well, she's done this or she's done that, my performances speak for themselves, I didn't go from mediocre to great. My performances have been top ten in the world for years. And my take on that is if I took whatever you took and I couldn't run any faster than I could run by myself, then I must have gotten some placebo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: That's not where she left it; hear what else Chryste Gaines has to say in a special report next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Grit and determination are no stranger to Chryste Gaines the two times Olympic medalist now has her sights set on making a comeback. Well next weekend are the track and field Olympic trials. Among the competitors in next weeks a trials sprinter Gaines. But in the fast track world of sports there are always hurdles and in this case, it's age, heartache and a two-year ban from the sport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): All right, here we go.
WHITFIELD (voice over): Chryste Gaines on her mark.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Set.
WHITFIELD: To make Olympic history again. GAINES: It's different every time. The first time of course I didn't expect to go to the Olympics, so it was kind of a shocker. The second time was nerves. It was peak performance; it was everything had to be precise. This time it will be fun.
WHITFIELD: And she hopes it will set the record straight. After injury just before the 2004 Athens games and then a two-year ban from track and field based on allegation from former track mates, admitted dope, Kelly White and owner of the infamous Balco lab Victor Conte. How much of this is once again I want to prove my greatness and at the same time kind of clearing your name? Because there has been this dark cloud hanging over your head ever since being banned for two years?
GAINES: It's both. You know, I set out, I did my time quietly, but yes, I do want to prove that I can come back to greatness an I am as fast as I was.
WHITFIELD: Fast and determined. A national champion since her early teens. Gaines is now 37, chasing an individual event medal to add to her gold from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and bronze in the 2000 Sydney games, both medals in the 4 x 100 meter relay. Forever unsettled still unproven allegation of doping, Gaines said she has nothing to hide. Talks about it openly as an academic adviser at the Georgia Institute for Technology.
GAINES: Academics.
WHITFIELD: She hopes student athletes learn from her lesson. You've denied using the clear or THG, but you don't deny that you did use products from Balco Laboratories. But when you hear it from one of your former colleagues, fellow runners, Kelly White who said yes, she used it, she's dirty just like I am and just like there are others, what was that moment like? And how did you recover from that, if you will or rebound?
GAINES: Well, that moment was disheartening, because when you take someone in as a family member because we trained together, we were like a family.
WHITFIELD: Where did it come from?
GAINES: I don't know where it came from. Possibly because I dealt with Victor, she dealt with Victor. So know, probably he's giving me this or this so I'm sure he's telling her the same thing.
WHITFIELD: Is that kind of connotation if you get any product from Victor then it must mean it's that a banned substance? Never did anyone go to him just for supplements or just for manage that's on the up and up?
GAINES: I dealt with Victor since 1995 when it was just ZMA, when there was just protein powder. I've dealt with him since then. And you know for anyone else to come and say, oh, well, she's done this or she's done that, my performance speak for themselves. I didn't go from mediocre to great. My performance has been top ten in the world for years. And my take on that is if I took whatever you took and I couldn't run any faster than I could run by myself, then I must have gotten some placebo.
WHITFIELD: So you never failed a drug testing exam? There's never been any proof just someone's testimony?
GAINES: That's what they went on.
WHITFIELD: Did you want to or could you even have contested it?
GAINES: The court of Arbitrations for sports is the highest level you can go to, once they make ruling you have to adhere to it.
WHITFIELD: Did you feel like your career was over, because two years of not training?
GAINES: Did I felt wronged by a sport that I loved and had given my life too basically? To have that taken away from my solely on Kelly White's testimony, I was angry, very angry.
WHITFIELD: Banned from the sport, then another blow. Her teammate Marion Jones falls from grace, jeopardizing Gaines and the rest of the relay teams' bronze medal. Hear more from Chryste Gaines about the second part of our report to air in our next hour.
She's known as one of the greatest voices of our time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYA ANGELOU: I don't want government in my living room to tell me who I can and cannot entertain, but I do want government when it comes to health.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Just moments ago, I spoke with Maya Angelou, much more on our conversation straight ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Happening right now, battling the forces of nature, a wildfire in California's north central cost, prompts mandatory evacuation orders for thousands of residents. As firefighters not only battled the blaze, but blistering heat, much of the Western U.S. is weathering triple digit temperatures. Firefighter officials say they've got the 630 acre blaze now 90 percent contained.
And optimism swells along the banks of the Mississippi River as record floodwaters recede in some places and crucial levees remain in place and are holding. These new picture are provided to us by our St. Louis affiliate, KSDK. More flood-ravaged counties in Iowa have been added to the presidential disaster list and crop losses in the Hawkeye State are now estimated at $3 billion.
Fighting the mighty Mississippi, wrapping the river with levees and possibly creating a potential for disaster. Our Drew Griffen reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) DREW GRIFFIN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The problem may not the levees are failing, but too many levees are holding. Up and down this massive river basin for hundreds of years, farmers and cities and land developers have been trying to hold back one of Mother Nature's largest drainage pipes, the Mississippi.
TIM KUSKY, ST LOUIS UNIVERSITY: Since the 1700s, we have build more than 2,200 miles of levees along the whole river system. And altogether, it has had major effect.
GRIFFIN: St. Louis University Natural Sciences professor, Tim Kusky, says the effect can be seen quite clearly from the air. Once huge natural floodplains are developed into towns and shopping centers, entire cities, levees are made even stronger so that people living behind them feel safer.
KUSKY: So, what happens is we build levees along the river so we constrict the flow, to be a very, very narrow channel, but the same amount of water has to go through this narrow channel and also rises higher and higher and higher and then people think the levees are strong and they don't check them, then we find out they are weak and can potentially fail. So, we have a situation where the river has risen 15, 20 feet higher than it would have without the levees. And when it fails, it does so catastrophically.
GRIFFIN: Winfield, Missouri, today, says Kusky, is a classic example. That levee has breached in so many places, it is hard to tell it is even there. Unfortunately, he says, history has shown the reaction will be to rebuild the levee even higher and stronger.
(on camera): Back in 1993, this whole area was under 10 feet of water, a smaller levee had failed and turned this into an entire floodplain. What did they do? Well, instead of allowing Mother Nature to take its course, they built an even bigger levee there to protect it from the Missouri River, just beyond those trees.
(voice over): And right in that floodplain is one of the largest strip mall developments in the United States.
ADOLPHUS BUSCH, GREAT RIVERS HABITAT ALLIANCE: After the '93 flood we were told, of course, there would be no levees, no more projects, no more development in the floodplains because everyone had learned their lesson. And that went on for a few years, but of course, people soon forgot again and the development started.
GRIFFIN: Adolphus Busch, yes, one of the beer family Busches, now heads a group called the Great Rivers Habitat Alliance. There's no mistake he wants to stop levees from being built and stop development in the floodplains. Let the Mississippi flow naturally.
BUSCH: It's exactly what's happening now from Iowa all the way down to St. Louis, all these levees are breaking as the water comes through. Of course, that relieves the pressure for all of us downstream.
GRIFFIN: Mark Twain, who lived along this river, once said, 10,000 river commissions with the minds of the word at their back cannot tame that lawless stream. Why, say critics of our current efforts, do we think our levees can do any better?
Drew Griffin, CNN, St. Louis, Missouri.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And of course, you can help at cnn.com, we have a special page on the Midwestern flooding, plus links to aid agencies. It's a chance for to you impact your world.
Well, lots of people up and down the mighty Mississippi are breathing a little easier today, but the heat out West is brutal, triple digit temperatures. Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh yeah. Hey, Fredericka. Summer officially started yesterday evening and boy, kicking it off with a bang, here. This has been going on for a couple of days already. I believe today is day three. And look at your heat index already in Las Vegas, over 100 degrees, it feels like 103 and what, we're still at noon:30 here. So, we've got plenty of time to go, you get those temperatures still on the up and up, you're going to continue to see these temperatures stick around over the next couple of days.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WHITFIELD: Oh, no. All right, we're crossing our fingers and bracing. All right, thanks so much, Jacqui.
Well now, a conversation with a remarkable woman. Maya Angelou is hailed as one of the great voices of our time, the author, poet and former poet laureate is the keynote speaker at the national PTA convention in San Diego. Well today, she told me about her concerns about budget cuts in public schools impacting programs from art to physical education.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
When you talk about childhood obesity being one big problem, is this something that you think federal government should be more involved in? Does it...
MAYA ANGELOU, AUTHOR: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: In what way?
ANGELOU: I don't want government in my bedroom; I don't really want my government in my kitchen very much. Just make sure that the vittles I buy in the store are fresh and healthy I don't want government in my living room to tell me who I can and cannot entertain, but I do want government when it comes to health.
WHITFIELD: When we talk about the presidential candidates, your good friend Oprah Winfrey has been clear that she is campaigning for Barack Obama, but I understand you have been a strong Hillary Clinton supporter. ANGELOU: That's true.
WHITFIELD: So now it is Barack Obama who is the presumptive Democratic nominee, are you putting your full support behind him?
ANGELOU: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: Or is the jury still out?
ANGELOU: Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely behind him.
WHITFIELD: What do you like?
ANGELOU: I was with Hillary Clinton with all I have because I believe in her. And I think, I love the fact that lasted until the very end, I want a president to be that strong. However, since we are a democracy, majority wants Senator Obama, and she has done the best she could, then I know she's going to put everything she has behind Obama and so am I. I am his.
WHITFIELD: What did you like about Hillary Clinton?
ANGELOU: I like the fact that she's a woman. To become a woman, it's no small matter. It means you fall down and you get up. You fall down and you get up. You're knocked down sometimes and you get up. And get up still living it, still trying to smile, still try to be the best you can be. You know, when a woman walks in the room, people know a woman is here.
WHITFIELD: How are you hoping she may play a role in this general election?
ANGELOU: Whatever she decides to do, I'm going to support it.
WHITFIELD: Maya Angelou, thanks so much for your time, appreciate it.
ANGELOU: Thank you. Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: And happy belated birthday, you look incredible.
ANGELOU: Oh, Thank you, thank you.
WHITFIELD: Celebrating your 80th birthday this past April.
ANGELOU: I'm celebrating it now. It's my 80th year.
WHITFIELD: I like.
ANGELOU: And I'm celebrating right through the year. Thank you. Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: Continue with the festivities, then. Happy birthday.
ANGELOU: Thank you, thank you very much.
(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: And we'll have more on my conversation with Maya Angelou tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. Eastern, you don't want to miss it.
Also coming up, it's being called a pregnancy pact, 17, yes, 17 small town high schools are expecting, and school officials think some of the girls were united in their desire to have babies. How sex, insecurity and maybe statutory rape play into this very bizarre story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, "News Across America," now. Firefighters in Santa Cruz County, California, say they're close to containing a 600- plus acre wildfire. Some 2,000 residents had to evacuate. Officials believe a series of smaller grass fires converged and created one huge burn.
Northeast of New Orleans, traffic on Interstate 10 grinds to a halt after a tractor-trailer spilled thousands of gallons of hydrochloric acid. Louisiana authorities hope to reopen the highway soon.
And the FDA says that they are tracking the trail of salmonella tainted tomatoes. They are blamed for making more that 550 people sick in more than 30 states, and inspectors they're focusing on farms in Florida and Mexico.
Well, do you feel like your Blackberry is chaining you to your cubicle, like there's escape from work? Well, some workers say they feel exactly like that and they're looking for payback. CNN's Richard Roth reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD ROTH, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Blackberry is a constant companion.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I actually can't imagine life without it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I use it from the second I wake up to the second I go to bed.
ROTH: But the device can be a drag.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, this thing is like a ball and chain.
ROTH: Wired-up workers say they can't even escape from the job after hours. Now they want to get paid for it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I definitely think that we should be compensated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think people should be compensated for what they're being asked to do outside of work.
ROTH: Writers and producers at ABC News demanded payment for after- work usage and reached a settlement with management. Elsewhere, people keep multitasking while the office is closed. VALORIE BURTON, LIFE COACH: For some they feel like they're missing out on something. For others there really is a genuine fear that they will appear not to be a team player.
ROTH: And attorneys are sending a message to businesses: prepare for legal action.
JEFFREY SCHLOSSBERG, ATTORNEY: Employers don't really perceive that there's a problem or an issue with employees using their Blackberries outside of work. They don't see it.
ANDREW TSUNIS, BLACKBERRY USER: Well, I'm expecting a message any minute.
ROTH: Financier Andrew Tsunis is separated from his Blackberry only when taking midday naps.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please make sure to turn off your cell phone or your Blackberry.
ROTH: He doesn't expect his employees to be messaging at night.
TSUNIS: Compensating for using the Blackberry to work off hours. No, I don't think that's a good idea.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm America's strongest man.
ROTH: Maybe brute force can eliminate the problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very tough to get rid of those.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap! Be careful!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's really good.
ROTH (on camera): The world's strongest man in the United States could not destroy this Blackberry.
(voice over): But will companies be as tough when it comes to exhausted workers armed with the device.
Richard Roth, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: The mayor of Massachusetts says -- or rather a Massachusetts town, says that she has seen no evidence that a group of high school girls has a secret agreement to get pregnant. In all, 17 girls at Gloucester high school are having babies. "Time" magazine report half of them got pregnant on the purpose and all of them are younger than 16. One man says his stepdaughter was approached to join the so-called pregnancy pact, but refused.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED SORENSON, STEPDAUGHTER PRESSURED TO GET PREGNANT: There's a tremendous amount of peer pressure, negative peer pressure for as many girls as possible to join in this pact.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: The school superintendent believes at one girl had sex with a 24-year-old homeless man just to be part of the group.
Well, the story has raised enormous concerns. Coming up in our next hour, I'll talk with Dr. Susan Bartell, she's a psychologist who specializes in the issues facing teens, especially girls and you'll want to join us for that.
Well, their plans were made months ago, then the rains came and threatened to wash away their big day. But Daniel Ritter was determined to marry her National Guard soldier, record flood or not. So she traveled 180 miles across Iowa to where Specialist Curtis White was helping flood victims and the town of Columbus junction was more than happy to take a moment to help them celebrate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPEC CURTIS WHITE, GROOM: They needed something positive to come out of this and something to bring the whole community together and you know, I guess we're helping each other.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They've done it all, oh, you have flowers, you have a cake, there's everything.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those whom God has joined together, let no one come hell or high water, ever separate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, people in Columbus junction say helping the couple was the least that they could do after the National Guard came to their rescue last weekend.
Well, as record high floodwaters and breached levees forced thousands from their homes and businesses, this week's CNN Hero was on the scene to help and that's no surprise. In fact, when disasters of any kind hit cities and towns all across America, Tad Agoglia is ready to roll.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNOUNCER: We have 20 reports of tornadoes.
ANNOUNCER: Eight people were killed after severe weather.
ANNOUNCER: There it goes.
ANNOUNCER: Crews are fighting fires on several fronts.
TAD AGOGLIA, DISASTER RECOVERY SOLUTIONS INC: The most critical phase of a disaster is the first few days, that's when have you to find the people that are in desperate need of medical attention, food, water. But you pull up and there's a building lying in the middle of the road or if 20 miles is underwater, well, how do you get all those resources to those people?
I got this crazy idea to use one of my cranes and to respond to a disaster and just open up roads so that the real heroes have the resources they need to continue to serve.
My name is Tad Skyler Agoglia, I provide help and hope to those in their greatest hour of need. There's people on life support, people on oxygen, there's people that are going to die if we don't get there.
I put together a crew that stays on the road 12 months out of the year, responds to disasters all over America, free of charge.
Here's what I'm thinking, right, if we get on 65, we're right there.
As soon as we see a threat striking anywhere in the United States if we feel it's severe enough, we leave immediately.
You know where we can be of some help?
(BEGIN GRAPHIC)
Since May 2007, Tad has provided emergency aid to thousands of victims at 15 disaster sites across the United States -- free of charge.
(END GRAPHIC)
We see a lot of death, we see a lot of destruction, but there is something beautiful about looking at a disaster and seeing what good can come out of it. Oftentimes, I'm asked why I do this and I can't help but think, why aren't more people doing this?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: It was a CNN viewer just like you who told us about Tad Agoglia, in fact, this year, all of our CNN Heroes are extraordinary people that you've nominated our Web site. So go to cnn.com/heroes right now if you no someone who deserves to be a CNN Hero, tell us about them. You never know, you could see your hero right here on CNN.
Well, a bizarre mystery in Canada, body parts are washing up on the coast of British Columbia, a foot at a time, and Jeanne Moos is on the case.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's a mystery that has people in British Columbia baffled. Five human feet have washed up onshore in the past year, one foot at a time. CNN's Jeanne Moos takes a look at these macabre finds.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Finding your footing is one thing. Finding foot after foot is another.
ANNOUNCER: A severed human foot, this latest foot...
ANNOUNCER: Five different feet.
ANNOUNCER: The foot total is now six.
MOOS: Actually it's back down to five, but we'll get to that. We're talking about feet in shoes. Like the one seen in this exclusive photo obtained by "Global TV." One foot washing up on the coastline of Canada's British Columbia is weird enough, but then they started turning up right and left. Make that right, right, right, right and left.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A number of right feet.
ANNOUNCER: Now, a left foot.
MOOS: All found since last summer by people walking or fishing or walking the dog.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She wouldn't leave that running shoe.
MOOS: Folks wondered if they came from four bodies still missing from a nearby plane crash, feet could naturally break off from a decomposing body and buoyant sneakers could carry them with a current. On Wednesday, the sixth foot turned up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In a Adidas black men's shoe, size 10.
MOOS: But then authorities had to do a flip-flop. You can forget the six feet under jokes. Turns out the sixth foot was the skeleton of an animal paw placed in a sock and a shoe. Authorities call the apparent hoax reprehensible, but even with just five feet, we haven't seen such a mystery since Big Foot. The last time a lost and found limb caused such a brouhahas, was the custody fight over this guy's leg
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A real foot with five toes.
MOOS: After loosing it in a plane crash, he left embalmed limb in a barbeque cooker in a storage facility. When he didn't pay the rent, his belongings were auctioned off. The buyer, Shannon Whisnant ended up called 911.
OPERATOR: What's the problem there?
WHISNANT: I got a human foot.
OPERATOR: You have what?
WHISNANT: A human left foot.
MOOS (on camera): Now we tried to resist sinking to the level of making tasteless foot puns, so instead of me sticking my foot in my mouth, I figured I'd let folks on the Internet do it.
(voice over): They're commenting on the five found feet story with puns like "investigators are waiting for the other shoe to drop." "The grisly finds make aching feet seem unworthy of complaint." And "getting your feet wet sure beats finding a foot waterlogged."
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, straight ahead, two-time Olympic medalist Chryste Gaines wants to make a comeback. In part two of my interview, the sprinter talks about her age, alleged drug use, her return to the track coming up in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.
