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Flooding Forces People From Homes; Wild Fires In Three States; Protests Turn Violent In Turkey; Battling Wild Fires In The West ; Lung Fight; Military Chiefs Testify; Last Bombing Survivor Leaves Boston Hospital; Mom Fights Off Kidnapper; McMansions Making A Comeback; Apparent Gas Explosion At Nyack College; Judge Accepts Holmes Plea; McMansions Make a Comeback

Aired June 04, 2013 - 13:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: A levee breach in Missouri forces hundreds to leave their homes could get worse today. We are live from the flood zone. And while fires raging in three states threatening thousands of homes. Plus, protests turn violent in Turkey and they show this signs of letting up. This is CNN NEWSROOM, and I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Parts of the Midwest under water right now. There is more rain in the forecast. Crews helped hundreds of people get in safe ground. This was in West Alton, Missouri. This is after a levee broke. Everybody just worried about staying safe.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People could be locked into their house if they can have a way to get through the water, if the water gets two, three foot deep, they're stuck in the house if don't evacuate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be safe than sorry, you know? I don't want to take the chances.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: It's hard to believe, five months ago, people in this community were dealing with a drought. Well now, West Alton, Missouri, coming together to deal with another disaster. Martin Savidge, he's there.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Suzanne. Take a look at this. I am standing on a road that leads into the small town of West Alton, Missouri. It's closed, the road, but that's because of what's happening. This is the Mississippi River that is literally washing over this road and heading directly into town. This is the second flood they event that this area has seen in the last six weeks. That means the flood protection system, the levees, the sand bags, they've all been under a lot of strain. Last night in West Alton, there was a breach and that forced at least several hundred people to be ready to evacuate. A number of residents said they didn't have to be told twice. They were ready to move to higher ground.

There is a concern for many areas all along the Mississippi River north of St. Louis. Their hope is that the river is going to crest today. As bad as this is, it could have been worse. But until the water recedes, no one's going to be breathing easy -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Martin. Firefighters, they're continuing to battle, to beat back the wildfires. That's out in western United States. The fire just north of L.A. about 60 percent contained. People now get a chance to go home. But as you can imagine, they've suffered serious damage.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've had the smoke coming over in years before but it's never this close and never that big.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's like the whole canyon is just going to blow up. Literally, the whole canyon's going to blow up and we're going to be screwed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Dan Simon in the fire zone. Dan, you're actually at a checkpoint where folks are hoping to get back to houses there. And you heard the woman saying, you know, she really thought things were not going to work out so well. Is there a certain sense of anxiety as people look to see if their homes are still standing?

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is some of that, Suzanne. But I think there's also relief that the evacuation orders have now been lifted and now people can go back to their homes. As you said, we're at a checkpoint. You can see the highway patrol officer right there checking people's I.D.s, making sure that residents are -- you know, are going back to the appropriate places. As far as the fire is concerned, Suzanne, you said 60 percent containment. At this point, 32,000 acres burned. And the important thing to remember right now, the fire is burning away from residential areas so there's some relief there. But we've seen a number of helicopters in the sky, firefighters still tackling this fire aggressively. But the good news is that the fire is burning away from homes -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, Dan, this is one fire that's burning away from the houses but all indications that this is going to be a pretty active wildfire season. Are they going to expect more of these?

SIMON: Absolutely. You know, this is just a preview. And the reason why is there's not a whole lot of moisture in the ground and that's because there wasn't a lot of rain in this area, not a lot of snow either. And the important thing also to remember is that in a lot of these areas, the brush hasn't burned for many decades. You have so much quote, unquote, "fuel on the ground," just waiting to be burned. And so, National Fire Center, they monitor, you know, the while fire situation in California and throughout the west coast and they say this is going to be a very active season. So, what they're telling homeowners to do is to really be proactive and to clear brush around their homes to see if they can try to alleviate some of the risk -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Yes, good advice. It is going to be a wild ride. Thank you, Dan, I appreciate it.

This is really a tough story here. This is about a mother's fight to get a lung transparent -- transplant, rather, for her dying 10-year- old daughter. This battle now is on Capitol Hill. This is about Sarah Murnaghan. She has cystic fibrosis since birth. You can see her there. She could die within weeks without a transplant. Well, her mom, Janet Murnaghan, she has asked Kathleen Sebelius, who is the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to change the rules to allow her to have a transplant because right now children under 12, they don't have priority over adults on a waiting list who also need lungs. There are not enough children's lungs to go around. And the secretary has asked that these rules actually be reviewed. But today, during a hearing on a totally separate issue, Georgia Congressman Tom Price asked Secretary Sebelius to explain why more cannot be done.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, SECRETARY, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES: First, as a mother and a grandmother, I can't imagine anything more agonizing than what the Murnaghans are going through. And I talked to Janet Murnaghan, the mother of Sarah, about this case. What I've also done is looked very carefully at the history of the rules around lung transplant --

TOM PRICE (R), GEORGIA: With all due respect madam secretary, --

SEBELIUS: -- and organ transplant.

PRICE: -- it simply --

SEBELIUS: Dr. Price, --

PRICE: -- I'm going to reclaim my time. It simply takes your signature. It simply takes your signature. A study, I know you have ordered, and I appreciate that but a study will take over a year. This young lady will be dead. I want to move on to a concern that many --

SEBELIUS: Others will --

PRICE: Madam secretary --

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring in Jason Carroll who's following this. Jason, you know, I mean, it's a very, very tough spot that she is in. In all fairness to her, and this hearing, this proceeding, is she doing that she possibly can?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's a tough situation for Sebelius. But arguably, it's an even tougher situation for children like Sarah and, for that matter, adults who are waiting for a -- for a lung transplant or any sort of transplant. But let's get back to, first, what happened just a few hours ago. It was just supposed to be a budget hearing that Sebelius -- where Sebelius was. But she faced some very tough questions about whether the department guidelines are standing in the way of this little girl getting the medical care that she needs and needs very desperately.

MALVEAUX: OK.

CARROLL: Just to recap just a little bit. Sarah's Murnaghan's parents say that their daughter -- if their daughter does not get that lung transplant, she will die. They say it could now just be a matter of weeks or months for her. Right now, she is on the wait list for children but not the one for adults. Her parents are asking that guidelines be changed so that Sarah, and for that matter all children in critical situations like her, can then be moved to the adult list. And Sebelius was continually pressed on the issue just a few hours ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEBELIUS: Unfortunately, there are about 40 very seriously ill Pennsylvanians over the age of 12 also waiting for a lung transplant and three other children in the Philadelphia hospital at the same acuity rate as Sarah waiting for a lung transplant. The worst of all worlds, in my mind, is to have some individual pick and choose who lives and who dies. I think you want to process where it's guided by medical science and medical experts.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: And because she wants to know more about that process, Sebelius says she has, in fact, ordered a transplant policy review. But you now know that a policy change, if that were to take effect, could take years. The Murnaghans don't have that kind of time. In fact, the Murnaghans heard about what Sebelius said today during the hearing and issued the following statement. It reads, in part, Secretary Sebelius has said that if she makes an exception for Sarah, she will have to make an exception for all children. We are confused, to say the least, by this. We haven't asked that an exception be made just for Sarah. What we are asking is that all children in similar situations be treated the same as adults in the system for the allocation of lungs. Basically, what the parents are saying, Suzanne, is they just want a fair system for everyone whether you be a child or an adult.

This is such a hard thing to see unfold because, Jason, you know, it really is just weeks --

CARROLL: Yes.

MALVEAUX: -- that they have to resolve this, at least in terms of this little girl and what ends up happening, her fate. Jason, please keep us posted. We really appreciate it.

CARROLL: You bet.

MALVEAUX: We are also watching this. This is a battle against sexual assault in the military. And it has now led to what is being called an unprecedented hearing. This is on Capitol Hill today. You've got top leaders of the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Marines, all called to testify before a Senate panel. Just look at that picture there. They are considering a controversial bill that would give uniform prosecutors, instead of commanders, the authority to investigate sexual assault cases. The military's brass is against this proposal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. MARTIN DEMPSEY, CHAIRMAN, JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF: The role of the commander should remain central. Our goals should be to hold commanders more accountable, not render them less able to help us correct the crisis.

GEN. RAYMOND ODIERNO, CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. ARMY: Removing commanders, making commanders less responsible, less accountable will not work.

GEN. JAMES F. AMOS, COMMANDER, U.S. MARINE CORPS.: Commanding officers are charged with establishing and training to standards and uniformly enforcing those standards. A unit will rise or fall as a direct result of the leadership of its commanding officer. Commanding officer never delegate responsibility. They should never be forced to delegate their authority.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Well, there are advocacy groups and some lawmakers who say, you know, a change is needed because the commanders have failed to address this pervasive problem.

Here is also what we're working on for this hour. After a 11 surgeries, 11, that's right, the last Boston bombing victim is leaving the hospital. But she wants your help. She is looking for the woman who never left her side during those frantic moments after the blast.

And a mom's three-year-old boy just playing in the backyard when someone in a mask tried to snatch him. What she did might have saved her son's life.

And, Plus, McMansions making a comeback. That is right. People moving back into bigger homes. So, is it a sign to the economy now getting better? That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: I want to bring you some breaking news here. This is out of New York. There is a gas explosion that took place. This is in Nyack College. This is in New York. And this is about 19 miles north of Manhattan. There was a gas -- an apparent gas explosion. We have been told that one person is injured. This is -- the school was actually not in session at the time of the explosion. You might have not heard of this school, but it's a small Christian college that is in Nyack, New York. And so far, all we have here, well, you see there on the ground that there are crews. But that one person was injured and that this explosion happened earlier in the day. No classes in session.

And the Colorado movie theater shooting suspect, James Holmes, well, he was in court today. And the Denver area judge accepted his plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. His previous not guilty plea was entered by the judge on behalf. That was in March. Well now, Holmes is accused of opening fire in a movie theater during the Bat Man film, "The Dark Knight Rises."

You might recall 12 people died from that shooting and Holmes faces murder and other charges in the July shooting in Aurora. Holmes is going to be taken to a mental health facility to be evaluated.

You hear this all the time about kids being abducted, but this is not something that you often hear. This is about a woman who says there's was a person wearing a mask trying to take her 3-year-old son while he was playing in the backyard. Now this happened near Seattle. She believes it was a man and she says he got pretty far before she actually was able to grab and stop him. She said she had the child but tripped and dropped him. She didn't want to be on camera. But she does explain what happened during that moment. This is through our affiliate KCPQ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I kind of like went after him and he took a couple of steps and he fell, he tripped or he fell down. And as he fell my son fell with him. My son hit the ground. And as soon as my son was on the ground I jumped on top of my son and that's when he started hitting and punching me and he was bent over. And I just continued to kick and punch him back and try to get him away from me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Amazing story. She describes this man as tall and lanky, wearing a black ski mask, black gloves and black clothing.

Another story, House Republicans demanding some answers now from the Obama administration about who gave the order to target Tea Party groups that applied for tax exempt status.

We are now looking here, this is a live picture, and they are taking testimony from folks who say they were unfairly targeted by the IRS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN KOOKOGEY, LINCHPINS OF LIBERTY: As of today, I've been waiting for 29 months without status. In the interim, I lost a $30,000 launch grant from a reputable nonprofit whose executive director advised me that he had never seen such treatment of a 501(c)(3) applicant of this in 25 years of making grants.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

Hearing on Capitol Hill not the only problem for the IRS. You've been following this story, a stinging report out from the Treasury Department's inspector general about IRS spending now. Want to bring in Dana Bash on Capitol Hill who's got her hands on this report.

And, Dana, simply tell us what is in it and how damaging is it? DANA BASH, SR. U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Those people are looking at IRS and already thinking what could be worse, they haven't read this report. It is -- you really have to read it to believe it, Suzanne. The focus for the most part is on one conference that the IRS had for over 2,000 employees in Anaheim, California, in 2010. They spent $4 million on that.

Let me just go through some of the specifics which, again, are pretty shocking. They spent on outside event planners $66,500 each -- that's what each was paid. And, by the way, they were hired outside, even though the IRS has a division inside to do exactly this.

Not just that, they got 5 percent commission on hotel rooms. So they had no incentive at all to negotiate lower prices.

In addition to that, there were speakers brought in. One of them was paid $17,000 for what was called Leadership through Art. And what that speaker did was painted real-time U2's Bono, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein and others. And in fact, some people, IRA employees who attended, got to take them home; others were sold for charity.

A second speaker was paid $27,500 including first--class airfare. And I just had to show you this because there were also speaking workshops around. One of them was called "Political Savvy, How Not To Shoot Yourself In The Foot."

MALVEAUX: You know, if it wasn't real it would be comical. But tell us, does this have anything, those videos that we've seen from the IRS that have been playing, the Cupid Shuffle, the "Star Trek" spoof, all these other things -- you broke these stories, are these all part of that same conference that they're talking about in this report?

Are these other conferences that were taking place where they're using funds to do this kind of thing?

BASH: They were made -- these videos were made for this particular conference. And this is another thing that is just shocking and infuriating, frankly; I think you can say that objectively. Here's why.

The inspector general says that they believe that these videos cost $50,187 to make. They believe that it was 62 staff hours at about $50 an hour. But here's the kicker, Suzanne. The IRS isn't sure how much all of this cost, because they didn't save the documents on how much they spent.

So again, this is the IRS, which requires all of us to save all of our documents when we do our taxes. I think the takeaway may be as the next time you or I are God forbid audited we should say I'll show you mine if you show me yours.

MALVEAUX: Yes, Look at "Star Trek" video. Unbelievable there. One thing I'm a little confused by. Why did they make all these videos to begin with? What is that all about, really?

BASH: They said that they were leadership training videos, and that they were in keeping, at least, the "Star Trek" one, in keeping with the theme of the conference, which is Leadership into the Future.

They insisted in a previous report to Congress about this that they actually saved money because they could show this video not just at this conference but around the country at various offices.

But again, the fact that this report also says that they spent $2,400 just to get the TV studio in Maryland to do this. Never mind what it costs to do "Star Trek" makeup and costumes and everything else.

They admitted, the IRS, it was very much ill advised. And I also should say that the IRS is making very clear that this would not happen today. They said that the policies, procedures, that the rules have changed so that they insist that this kind of excess won't happen right now.

MALVEAUX: Unbelievable.

BASH: The other thing is that the time frame, this was 2010. This was almost exactly when the targeting of Tea Party groups happened and the IRS has said that part of the issue is that they were overwhelmed, understaffed. Maybe some of that money was being spent on conferences and not on that.

MALVEAUX: Well, there you go. Dana, thank you so much for bringing us some very insight on that report. And obviously this controversy's not going to go away as more information comes out about just the enormous amount of alleged waste there.

Dana, thank you. Thanks again. Appreciate it.

Bigger homes now making a comeback. That is right. After downsizing, people are now ready to move back into all those big mansions. What does this mean for the economy? Straight up ahead.

Plus -- the new Google Glasses. Well, they can pretty much do everything, right? But gambling, watching porn, off the list. Forbidden. Up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: So this is interesting. People who own Google Glasses not going to be able to watch porn on them, that's right. Google has banned sexually explicit content on the eyewear. So Google Glasses, they allow you to look at photos or video. And Porn App for the glasses went on the market -- this was just hours before that ban went into effect, but a dozen Google Glass owners actually have that. But the company behind the porn app says it will make changes to comply with the new policy somehow. Apps that show gratuitous violence or hate speech, gambling also banned on Google Glass.

And a plane -- this is pretty cool -- that uses the sun for power just finishing a flight -- this is from Dallas to St. Louis as part of the Solar Impulse's attempt to make a record breaking tour across the United States one leg at a time. So earlier this month, the Impulse became the first manned plane to fly for 24 hours on nothing but solar powered batteries. This is only the beginning for solar powered flight. The plane's tiny cockpit can only hold the pilot, no passengers, no bathroom. So the rest of the plane mostly wings carrying lots of solar panels to soak up the sun's energy. The thing goes pretty slow as well, about 43 miles an hour.

And looking at the economy, now that it's improving, Americans demanding some bigger houses. Could it be the return of the McMansion? Alison Kosik live from the New York Stock Exchange. All right. Houses are getting bigger. People are loving the big houses here. Do we think it's going to last?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It very well could. The McMansions are making a comeback, Suzanne, because home builders are getting back to the attitude that bigger is better. There's a new Census Bureau report that shows that over past three years the average size of a new home has actually grown 8 percent, up to a record 2,300 square feet last year.

Now some have speculated right after the housing boom that that's the end of the McMansion. But as younger buyers moved into smaller places, they wanted -- because younger buyers had moved into smaller places, closer to big cities, and baby boomers wound up downsizing after their kids moved out.

But then analysts are now saying that it's not that people wanted the less space. They just couldn't afford it. Now that the economy is improving, people are making more money, they've got stable jobs and they can now afford it.

The National Association Of Home Builders found buyers prefer a median home size of just over 2,200 feet, that's about in line with the census average. That actually jives with what builders are seeing. GL Homes for example says their four-bedroom home consistently outsells the three-bedroom one, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: So, Alison, people are saying they want bigger homes, more space. Is there anything else, any other things that are actually pushing people to buy these much bigger houses?

KOSIK: Well, we all love to have families stay with us, right?

MALVEAUX: Sure, yes, we do, a couple days.

KOSIK: One factor actually could be that a lot of families these days, are doubling up, meaning multiple generations are living under one roof. Homebuilder Lanar (ph), actually said its next-gen houses with an actual separate suite for a mother-in-law or maybe a child who moved home after college are becoming very popular models.

But there's a wealth of that going on here, too,. The people who get approved for these big loans, they tend to be more affluent. So once the credit lines loosen up and lending actually returns to normal, lower income borrowers will start buying again and when they do, they'll be buying those smaller houses and that could very well push the average home size back down, Suzanne. MALVEAUX: Yes. Makes sense, the sandwich generation. All right, Alison, thank you. Good to see you.

Well, this started out simply as a protest against constructing a park, right? Now it's turned into much, much more. We're going to be live in Turkey, up next.

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