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Colorado Fires Chase 9,000 from Homes; Snowden Speaks Out in Hong Kong; Leak Reporter Fires Back at Rep. King; FEMA Declares No Major Disaster in Texas; Ten-Year-Old Gets Adult Donor Lungs; Rising Home Prices, Rising Demand; More Controversy over Rape
Aired June 13, 2013 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now in NEWSROOM, breaking overnight Colorado tinder box.
PAULA WARREN, EL PASO COUNTY RESIDENT: I thought I had about an hour and it turned out to be about 20 minutes.
COSTELLO: Residents literally running for their lives. The massive Black Forest fire living up to its name.
SHERIFF TERRY MAKETA, EL PASO COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: We do have very dry conditions. The possibilities for this fire to continue to spread are extreme.
COSTELLO: Also, dollars denied.
MAYOR TOMMY MUSKA, WEST, TEXAS: I don't know if we needed about 50 more houses to blow up or five more firemen to die to make it a disaster.
COSTELLO: FEMA denying Governor Perry's request for money to rebuild schools, roads and lives. Was this promise from the president --
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we stand with you and we do not forget. We'll be there even after the cameras leave.
COSTELLO: -- an empty one?
Plus, Marine missing in Mexico. Armando Torres kidnapped with his father and uncle. This hour his wife and sister join us.
And Roger and the Redskins. The NFL commish backing the football team's name, saying it's a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride respect. Looks like first down and miles to go on this one.
You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for being with me. We begin this morning in central Colorado where strong winds are pushing two wildfires across tinder dry brush. The numbers are staggering.
Take a look at this live picture. Close to 100 homes now lost, 9,000 people on the run from those advancing flames. Right now evacuation orders blanket a sprawling 55 square miles and the inferno shifting with the winds.
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MAKETA: The fire has now doubled back. Properties that we identified as standing are now engulfed in flames.
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COSTELLO: CNN's Dan Simon joins us now from Colorado Springs.
Good morning, Dan.
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. This fire is still zero percent contained which is pretty remarkable considering all these aircraft you have fighting this fire, dozens of aircraft dropping water, dropping retardant, and now you have 500 firefighters on the ground. Just goes to show you that the weather still has the upper hand.
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SIMON (voice-over): Multiple wildfires burning out of control across Colorado. Forcing thousands more to flee their homes. Hundreds of firefighters trying to gain control of the wind whipped flames as the evacuation areas grow.
MAKETA: We've had incredible wind shifting and the winds have remained pretty consistent and that has done a lot of things we were not really expecting.
SIMON: On Wednesday the fires roared through thousands of acres in mere hours, fueled by hot temperatures, dry brush and gusty winds.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We watched the plumes of smoke as they were rolling, as the fire was rolling over our neighborhood.
SIMON: And there is no sign of slowing down. This Boy Scout camp heeding the warnings and heading out of harm's way.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do want to make sure that they're going to be safe.
SIMON: Cows and horses taken to safety and this baby deer carried out by a firefighter as the out of control inferno puts everything and everybody in danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go.
WARREN: Sheriff came down and said, you're going now and this part, not knowing whether I have a house or don't is the worst. SIMON: About 60 miles to the southwest, a smaller wildfire threatening the iconic Royal Gorge Suspension bridge. Its structural integrity now being evaluated.
And this sobering image snapped at a local baseball game gives a glimpse of the incredible size of these unpredictable fires.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIMON: Things have gotten so bad that at one point one of the evacuation shelters had to be evacuated itself because the smoke was just so thick in the area.
Carol, as you can tell right now it's a bit calm. Temperatures a little cooler, but we're expecting temperatures in the 90s today and winds expected to kick up. You might see gusts as much as 40 miles per hour.
Back to you.
COSTELLO: That won't help at all. Dan Simon reporting live from Colorado Springs this morning.
High winds and hail heading towards the Washington, D.C., area today. Those storms have already left a path of destruction across the Midwest. This funnel cloud hit near the town of Bellman, Iowa. No one was hurt thankfully but one home and several businesses were destroyed. Trees and power lines taking a direct blow, creating a dangerous situation.
Those storms also pounded Chicago. Check out that amazing image. The city's tallest building struck by lightning.
Meteorologist Indra Petersons joins us now.
So tell us more. Is this the derecho that's coming or is the derecho done?
INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, they're calling the threat over derecho. But it was over 240 miles long of strong wind. A lot of the winds aren't as low to the surface. They were not calling it a derecho right now. Yes, the threat is still there, but much less than what we saw yesterday.
Either way, though, you can tell the reason we were concern would that, we were looking at this very long line of storms. We started yesterday around Iowa and now you can tell the line of storm is continuing to push off to the East Coast, seeing some bans moving to New York and even D.C. with some of that heavier rain now pushing through.
So what we're going to be monitoring here really is the severe weather threat as we continue in through the afternoon. What happens is the low actually pushed a little bit farther to the east. So with that, we saw the jet stream dip were enhancing our threat today. And you can actually tell where that low is where we have the moderate risk. So it's not just D.C., I mean, we're talking about Pennsylvania down through Virginia and then the slight right -- look at how far that extends. From Pennsylvania really all the way down through the Gulf states and with that 70 million of you have that threat, again. Not just for tornadoes and wind, but heavy rain. A lot of flooding.
And keep in mind, Carol, we're talking about places that are already five, six inches above average of rainfall by this time of year. It's rain that we do not need.
COSTELLO: You're not kidding. Indra Petersons, thanks so much.
Breaking news to tell you about right now as it relates to that deadly building collapse in Philadelphia last week. A source telling CNN the man who had inspected the building before its demolition has committed suicide. Police believe he died of a gunshot wound. In the meantime, the man who was operating the crane that knocked down the building has been charged with six counts of manslaughter.
As we get more information on this story, of course, we'll pass it along to you.
The head of the National Security Administration, the NSA, says he will now try to declassify secret court opinions that make it possible for the government to snoop through your phone records.
And in his first appearance since the NSA leaks, the agency's director defended the surveillance program.
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GEN. KEVIN ALEXANDER, DIRECTOR NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY: I do think what we're doing does protect American civil liberties and privacy. From the perspective is that we're trying to hide something because we did something wrong. We're not. We want to tell you what we're doing and tell you that it's right and let the American people see this. I think that's important, but I don't want to jeopardize the security of our country or our allies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: General Keith Alexander also says collecting millions of phone records help prevent dozens of terrorists attacks but he was not specific and today another bombshell from the former NSA contractor who leaked classified information.
Edward Snowden telling the "South China Morning Post" the U.S. has been hacking computer networks around the globe for years, including hundreds of computers in China. The paper says it viewed documents supporting the claim but was not able to verify them.
CNN's Anna Coren has more from Hong Kong on the whereabouts of Snowden and I assume he's still underground -- Anna.
ANNA COREN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, Edward Snowden certainly dropped an explosive bombshell during that interview, accusing the United States of hacking computers here in Hong Kong as well as in mainland China since 2009.
Now the "South China Morning Post," they viewed this documents but are yet to verify them. But if true this certainly complicates the relationship between the United States and China. For months now America has been accusing China of cyber hacking. This is something that was even brought up between President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in California last weekend.
Now Snowden says that Washington is bullying Hong Kong to extradite him. Well, he says he will fight any extradition and the U.S. government, a process that could take months, if not years -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Anna Coren, reporting from Hong Kong.
Snowden was leaking information to Glenn Greenwald, the columnist from the "Guardian" newspaper. Now Greenwald is coming under fire from politicians like Congressman Peter King who claimed he was threatening to disclose names of CIA agents and also suggested journalists should be prosecuted for publishing classified information. The journalist, Greenwald, responded on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
GLENN GREENWALD, THE GUARDIAN: I was really staggered that a United States congressman, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee could actually go on national television and make up an accusation. Literally fabricate out of whole cloth mainly that I have threatened to uncover the names of covert CIA agents as a way of arguing for my arrests and prosecution inside the United States for the crime of doing journalism.
I mean, it's bad enough to call for that, it's extraordinarily menacing that he did so based on a complete falsehood. The idea that I ever threatened that. I did not nor would I ever.
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COSTELLO: Congressman King did not respond to a CNN request to clarify his comments.
Deadly explosions at a fertilizer plant leave a small Texas town absolutely decimated. Fifteen deaths and many homes and businesses leveled. That was the scene in west Texas just two months ago. Now as people there try to rebuild, they're learning FEMA may not pay out as much as initially thought.
Ed Lavandera joins me now from west Texas to tell us why. Good morning, Ed.
ED LAVANDERA CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol. Well, the city of West needs more than $100 million to repair things like infrastructure, the school you see behind me. But it is caught up in a political showdown between the -- Obama administration and Texas Republicans.
And in this political showdown over who is going to off up the most disaster aid, the town of west is caught in the middle.
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MUSKA: Well, this, whoever is here they just moved out. But we're destroying our house and rebuilding.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: On a drive around town West Mayor Tommy Muska the longer it takes his city, the more likely his neighbors will never move back.
MUSKA: My job is get this town back and built up.
LAVANDERA: But the mayor's job is getting harder. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has denied Texas Governor Rick Perry's request, A, to build schools, roads, as well as water sewage lines. The news stinks.
MUSKA: I don't know. I don't know if we needed -- 50 more houses to blow up or five more firearm to die to make it a disaster? I don't know. I don't know what their -- I don't know what their definition is of a disaster.
LAVANDERA: After the explosion, politicians rolled into town making big promises. Governor Rick Perry.
GOV. RICK PERRY (R), TEXAS: We will never forget what happened.
LAVANDERA: And President Obama.
OBAMA: We stand with you and we do not forget. And we'll be there, even after the cameras leave.
LAVANDERA: Our cameras are still here and this little town needs help. In a letter to Governor Perry, FEMA says the remaining costs for permanent work is within the capabilities of the state and affected local government.
State officials accuse President Obama of turning his back on the people of West. But even despite Texas' robust and healthy budget, state officials haven't provided enough disaster relief to cover the rebuilding costs either.
MUSKA: We're third page news.
LAVANDERA: Mayor Muska says the city has a $2 million yearly budget and needs $17 million to repair the damaged infrastructure. And officials say the school system is lacking about $25 million to rebuild two destroyed schools. Mayor Muska says without the disaster aid, he might only be able to afford gravel roads in the destroyed neighborhoods.
(On camera): So when you tell folks here in town that they might be driving on gravel roads in these neighborhoods, how is that going?
MUSKA: I haven't told them yet. But we'll see.
LAVANDERA: You're not looking forward to that?
MUSKA: They're going to understand. I mean, they're going to have to understand it.
LAVANDERA (voice-over): While the politicians haggle, Mayor Muska and his neighbors sit and wait.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: FEMA says it has already provided a great deal of support, including approving costs for 75 percent of the cleanup as well as $7 million to individual residents who have applied for help. But Texas Governor Rick Perry says he will appeal this latest FEMA decision. So the townsfolk here in West continue to wait -- Carol.
COSTELLO: What about the fertilizer plant and the people who own that? Do they owe the town any help monetarily?
LAVANDERA: Well, the insurance policy that they have on that plant is very minimal. It would come nowhere near close to paying for what is need here in this town. So not a lot of help expected from that source. There are other insurance policies and that sort of thing that are paying for much like the school rebuilding, but even then that's about $100 million they need for the schools. The insurance policy there accounts for about almost $60 million.
So there's still about $25, $30 million short on what they're going to need there. The school behind me. This is the high school. It might look OK from the outside. But I've walked through it. You'd be stunned at the amount of damage. Just the shock wave alone from the explosion caused there.
So they're trying to figure out whether or not they'll even be able to salvage a portion of this high school or have to rebuild altogether.
COSTELLO: Ed Lavandera reporting live from West, Texas, this morning.
The racing world mourning the death of NASCAR driver Jason Leffler, killed in a crash at the New Jersey speedway. The 37-year-old Leffler was taking part in a sprint car race heat. Yahoo! Sports reports his car flipped on the track's front stretch. Leffler spent most of his career in nationwide series winning two races and having 107 top 100 finishes. The single father leaves behind his 5-year-old son Charlie Dena Leffler.
Ten-year-old Sarah Murnaghan is recovering this morning after getting a brand new set of lungs from an adult donor. Sarah is the little girl from Pennsylvania whose story has sparked a national debate over transplant rules. Earlier this week, a transplant committee that sets those rules temporarily changed its policy to give kids younger than 12 equal access to adult organs.
CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll is in Philadelphia.
So, Jason, how is Sarah doing?
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, she's still resting, Carol, as you can imagine, after such a difficult long surgery -- a surgery lasting about six hours. Yesterday, her parents throughout the morning and throughout the day yesterday have been by her side nonstop, waiting for her to wake up. They want to be there for her as soon as she opens her eyes to let her know what has happened to tell them in their own way what has happened to her.
As you know, doctors yesterday said that they face no special challenges in resizing the lungs so it could fit into Sarah. Her parents basically have been telling me how excited they have been when they got the news that a lung donor had become available. This has been a very traumatic time for the family throughout the past several weeks leading up to what happened yesterday.
As you know, Sarah had been very, very sick and that's part of the reason why the surgery took so long. She was so sick, extra special care had to be taken in her situation to make sure the transplant went off as successfully as it did. When I spoke to Sarah's mother, she really wanted to drive home the point of who she was most grateful to for making this day possible.
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CARROLL: Do we know anything about the donor?
JANET MURNAGHAN, DAUGHTER RECEIVED LUNG TRANSPLANT: They don't tell you anything. But that donor is her hero, our hero of this story. But she wouldn't have had access to that hero if it weren't for the change.
This is a lobar transplant. This is an adult donor. This is a lung that she wouldn't have had the opportunity to have access to just two weeks ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: From this point on, Carol, the family is just taking it one step at a time. One day at a time. They still know it is a long road to recovery. But, once again, they're very grateful that Sarah is finally on that road -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes. And there is a chance that her body could reject the transplanted lungs, right?
CARROLL: That's very true. There's always the risk of rejection. Also, the risk of infection, as well. So, still a lot of variables to do for Sarah to have to deal with for the family to have to deal with.
But they've been prepared for this for quite some time, carol. They knew about the risks. They knew about everything that a lung transplant patient has to go through post surgery. So, once again, all they can do at this point is just take it one step at a time.
COSTELLO: All right. Jason Carroll, reporting live for us this morning, thank you.
Flag on the play, coming up in THE NEWSROOM, the controversial nickname Redskins is under fire and so is a top power player who is defending the nickname. This is your two-minute warning. Just ahead in THE NEWSROOM.
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COSTELLO: Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Time to check our top stories.
The NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is under fire this morning after defending the Redskins nickname for Washington, D.C.'s team. In a letter to Congress, Goodell backed away from calls to condemn the name and instead said it represented courage, pride and respect.
The Native American group called the nickname insulting and racially insensitive.
Supposed to do some sound there, but there wasn't. As you can see, there she is.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Royal princess.
COSTELLO: All right, that was duchess of Cambridge. She's christening the Royal Princess. The former Kate Middleton carried out the honors for the cruise ship this morning. Another christening on the horizon, too -- she's due to deliver reportedly in about a month.
Turning now to your money.
Home repossessions are on the rise, while that may be bad news, that is bad news actually for homeowners, but it turns out good news for others?
Alison Kosik is at New York Stock Exchange to explain it all.
Good morning, Alison.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Clearly, Carol, it's not good if you are the one being kicked out of your home. There is a silver lining because the silver lining is for those looking to buy a home. It means even more properties out there on the market for those buyers or perspective buyers to choose from.
But realty track says is that foreclosures actually rose 11 percent in May from the previous month and we're seeing increases happening in 33 states. Now, because of how high demands for homes have been lately. The supply of homes on the market has been getting tighter and tighter. So, this line of foreclosures will wind up boosting inventories and help keep prices under control.
And, of course, you know, this is good for banks because as the economy has been stabilizing, home prices have been rising. So, banks have become more comfortable with the value of the properties that they're holding and ultimately completing the foreclosure process and getting them back out to the market.
Also, Carol, with the rise in prices, they're able to recoup more of the losses they took on these homes in the first place -- Carol. COSTELLO: That probably means the banks more aggressive when it comes to repoing homes. If you are underwater on your mortgage, what should you do?
KOSIK: Yes, that is the by-product and analysts say they should expect to see a notice coming soon. Meaning banks have little motivation at this point to hold back on foreclosing now. So, if you haven't paid your mortgage in months or even in years, you should brace yourself because the pace is also picking up, because banks are getting big back logs out of their pipelines.
You know, these foreclosures, they've been artificially depressed for a while and investigations following the housing crisis, along with changes in government regulations that slowed the rate of these banks seizing these homes. But what we're seeing happen now is that this is picking back up, again, as things get back to normal in the housing sector -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Alison Kosik reporting live from New York Stock Exchange.
Still ahead in THE NEWSROOM -- seriously, it's happened, again. Another comment about rape and pregnancy lands another congressman in trouble.
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REP. TRENT FRANKS (R), ARIZONA: Before when my friends on the left side of the aisle here tried to make rape and incest the subject because, you know, the incidents of rape and resulting in pregnancy are very low.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Well, tell you what Representative Trent Franks says he really meant to say.
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COSTELLO: Oh, welcome back. Back tracking from another politician over comments about rape and pregnancy. Now, Republican Representative Trent Franks of Arizona is telling his staff to fasten their seat belts.
Athena Jones has more for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New controversy this morning after Republican Congressman Trent Franks said this about rape.
FRANKS: The incidents of rape resulting in pregnancy are very low.
JONES: His remarks came during a discussion in Congress about a proposal to ban abortions after 20 weeks, and brought an immediate challenge from a fellow House member.
REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D), CALIFORNIA: There is no scientific basis for that. And the idea that the Republican man on this committee think they can tell the women of America that they have to carry to term the product of a rape is outrageous.
JONES: Franks later tried to clarify his remarks saying that he meant to say the number of abortions due to rape after the sixth month of gestation would be low. He blamed Democrats for taking his words out of context.
Remember Missouri Republican Todd Akin? Here's what he said last fall.
REP. TODD AKIN (R), MISSOURI: If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
JONES: It's a self-inflicted wound many believe cost him and the GOP a Senate seat. And politicians aren't alone when it comes to remarks that many women find offensive. Listen to this from billionaire hedge fund guru Paul Tudor Jones in April.
PAUL TUDOR JONES, TUDOR INVESTMENTS: You will never see as many great women investors or traders as men, period, end of story.
JONES: Tudor Jones was explaining his view that children were the ultimate career killer for female traders.
TUDOR JONES: As soon as that baby's lips touch that girl's bosom, forget it. Every desire to understand, every desire to understand what is going to make this go up or going to go down is going to be overwhelmed by the most beautiful experience, which a man will never, which a man will never share about a motive connection between that mother and that baby.
JONES: Tudor Jones later said his comments were about global traders who were on call all the time. But that did little to end the outrage or the feeling that some men are just out of touch.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: Athena Jones joins us.
Yes, way out of touch. So, going back to Congressman Franks and his comments about pregnancy and rape. What is he saying today, Athena?
JONES: Good morning, Carol.
