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Colorado Fire 45 Percent Contained; Jason Leffler Passed Away

Aired June 15, 2013 - 15:59   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, again, everyone I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM. Some of the stories that we're following for you.

Indianapolis fire crews have a battle on their hands. Four different departments are fighting a huge fire at an industrial complex. No word on what caused this three-alarm fire. Officials say a large number of pallelets are inside the building. Crews have blocked off the area, and they are asking people to simply stay away.

Firefighters in Colorado are getting the upper hand on a dangerous wildfire there. The incident commander said this afternoon crews have the fire 45 percent contained, and now they are busy trying to knock down hot spots and o figure out if any other homes have been lost. Martin Savidge takes a closer look at how crews get it all under control.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the front lines of the Black Forest fire, this was the day crews were able to turn the corner from the air and on the ground, firefighters aggressively went after hot spots determined to prevent the deadly blaze from reigniting.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see this is a burn area.

SAVIDGE: The Falcon Fire Department was among the first to respond when the blaze broke out three days ago.

CHIEF VERNON CHAMPLIN, FALCON FIRE DEPT.: Here's a slurry plane coming over here and helicopter drops are coming over here behind us and they are working that northeast edge of the fire where the fire's most active right now.

SAVIDGE: Since then Falcon crews some full time, some volunteer, have been working round the clock. They do it not just because the fire's here but also because their heart is here. This is their community.

LT. CHRIS BENOIT, FALCON FIRE DEPT.: In two minutes, I mean, that fire can be on top of you and you got to check out and that's when you just got to pick up and leave, and it's unfortunate but, you know, we have to think about ourselves at times like this as well as thinking about the community.

SAVIDGE: Most of the work now is mop-up, but the danger's still real. This 30-foot flaming tree had to be taken down or it could have reignited a whole neighborhood.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey!

SAVIDGE: Work like this will keep fire crews busy for days.

In a now-empty fire station I spoke to the four fire chiefs whose small departments bravely first took on the fire Tuesday afternoon. They knew immediately it was bad, flames chewing through their neighborhoods faster than they could drive.

At best, each could only offer up one or two trucks and a handful of firefighters. At this home when fire crews knew they couldn't save it, they did the unbelievable, but firefighters carried on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as soon as they could haul it out, they regrouped, got in their apparatus and chased the fire front.

SAVIDGE: By the afternoon, the weather, that had been the enemy, suddenly became an ally.

(on camera): Most people don't like the rain out here at the Black Forest fire, you can bet the firefighters are loving it right now. The only problem is it comes with thunder and lightning which is always a possibility of more fire.

(voice-over): For the four fire chiefs who first fought the Black Forest fire, the end of that fight is finally in sight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thanks to Martin Savidge there for that up-close look.

George Howell is live for us right now in Colorado Springs. So, George, we got an update from officials a short time ago. Are they optimistic?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, absolutely. And you mentioned it at the start of the newscast, 45 percent containment. That is great news when you consider yesterday they were at 30 percent containment. It's a sign that firefighters are gaining ground on this fire, and as Martin mentioned in his piece, weather is now an ally. Maybe an ally again today.

We're seeing these big clouds move in overhead. These clouds could very well, Fredricka, bring thunderstorms today. And it's - it's a bag of mixed - of positives and negatives here, because what you have, you have the lightning on one hand which could start fires, but if there's a lot of rainfall, that's a great, great help to the firefighters that are out there trying to deal with it, so we're waiting and watching to see what happens here with the skies.

WHITFIELD: And what about for residents, of course, you know, a lot of people lost their homes? But are folks, you know, trying to be, I guess, half glass full hoping that their homes might be all right?

HOWELL: Well, yes. You know, what you find a lot of people, some 38,000 people, were forced to evacuate as this fire took hold here in the forest. But what you're finding now, some of these mandatory evacuations have been lifted.

For instance, in Colorado Springs, they lifted that mandatory evacuation. You find some people that are returning to their homes. But there are still others who are waiting for word, waiting to know that they can go back home. For instance, I spoke with one gentleman who has most of his belongings in the back of his car. He's just waiting to get word to go home. Listen to what he had to say -

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL (on camera): I see everything packed up there in the back.

TREVON MILLER, EVACUATED IN WILDFIRE: Yes. Everything in the back is my brother and my stuff. We had three other cars, too, that left our house and those were all packed with our family's supplies. We had about an hour to grab everything that we wanted or needed before leaving our house.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOWELL: So, you know, at this point he's waiting for word from these officials about, you know, what they're doing out there fighting this fire, but also watching the weather, because if we get more rainfall, it could be very good news, again, we're at 45 percent containment. Everybody hopes that that number will go up here over the next day or so.

WHITFIELD: All right, George Howell, thanks so much for keeping us posted from Colorado Springs.

All right. Now to a first of its kind kind of disclosure, it's in response to reports that the government snoops on your private information. The Justice Department is now letting tech giants reveal just how many requests they get from all levels of law enforcement, and that includes the agency at the heart of the government surveillance scandal. CNN's Rene Marsh has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Tech companies are now revealing new details on how many times they've been asked to turn over their users' information to government entities, including the National Security Agency. As part of its sweeping surveillance programs.

Facebook says it got 9,000 to 10,000 requests for its users' data during the last six months of 2012. And Microsoft says it received 6,000 to 7,000 requests in the same time frame. The Justice Department allowed the companies to go public after they and their customers complained. But it didn't allow the tech giants to say exactly how many requests involved national security versus other criminal investigations.

The DOJ saying the publication of these numbers will show that an extraordinarily small number of accounts are subject to legal process. The companies also were not allowed to say what kind of data's being handed over and whether that includes pictures and conversations, but CNN's law enforcement expert explains how data could be used -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What would that tell you as an investigator? Who are the friends? Who else is seeing that? Who are these pictures or messages intended for? What is the - an assessment, if you will, or a profile of the individual, is he narcissistic? Is he psychopathic?

MARSH: Facebook said of its 1.1 billion user accounts, less than one percent were handed to the government.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Rene Marsh now joining me live from Washington. So, Rene, not all the big tech companies did release this kind of information. Why not?

MARSH: Well, we know tech giant Google apparently, they don't think that the deal that these other tech companies struck with the federal government lets them be transparent enough and judging from the statement that Google released, they are clearly unhappy that it's not allowed to break out how many national security requests the government has made.

So, Google didn't release numbers like Facebook and Microsoft, but it's worth noting that in the past Google has released data on how much information they've handed over to the federal government as it relates to other criminal investigations.

WHITFIELD: OK. Rene Marsh, thanks so much, from Washington.

And the man who triggered the scrutiny on the tech giants was the focus of a rally in Hong Kong today. Edward Snowden leaked the documents that revealed the U.S. government's snooping. He fled to Hong Kong. Well, today, several hundred supporters marched through the city demanding protection for Snowden.

In Istanbul, Turkey, new clashes between police and protesters. Police have been firing tear gas and water cannons at demonstrators in two main squares. The protesters oppose a plan to replace one of those parks with a shopping mall. Turkey's prime minister had warned the area would be cleared for a ruling party rally tomorrow.

And a deadly hostage situation at a hospital in southwestern Pakistan is over. 23 people were killed in the siege, and during a separate bus blast today. They had been holding hundreds of patients, physicians, and nurses hostage. At the hospital where 20 students wounded in the bus blast were being treated.

And Iran has a new president. Voters there elected moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani. He spoke of reform without threatening Iran's supreme leader during his campaign, and he promised greater personal freedoms, a better economy, and he'll be addressing international concerns about Iran's nuclear program. Many children around the world struggle for the opportunity to get an education. And for girls, it can be even harder. That's the subject of a CNN film called "Girl Rising" which airs Sunday. Today we meet a girl from Nepal who wants a medical career.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): This is 16-year-old Pernima, she lives in (INAUDIBLE) Nepal. Pernima is one of the lucky ones. She's attending school.

PERNIMA: I'm proud of my school.

WHITFIELD: Girls in Nepal have a higher illiteracy rate than boys, Room to Read, a global nonprofit group that promotes literacy and gender equality in education, is trying to change that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The girls education program started out because we found out that most families if they were able to afford an education of one child, it was boys that got preferred over girls.

WHITFIELD: Pernima attended primary school, but government education is free only through the fifth grade. Organizations like Room to Read allow her to continue her education.

PERNIMA: I'm the first person needing education in my family. We are from the poor family, so we can't afford all to go to high school.

WHITFIELD: Pernima lives with her family above a carpet factory. Her father is paralyzed and her mother is blind. Without an education Pernima says she would probably end up working at the carpet factory, but now she has big dreams.

PERNIMA: I want to be an eye doctor when I grow up. And because my mother is blind, I want to be an eye doctor in the future.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Pernima is now 17 and waiting to find out if she passed her tenth grade final exam. You can see more stories just like this in the CNN film "Girl Rising" that's tomorrow night 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

The third round of the U.S. Open Golf Tournament is right now under way. And for once this week the weather is playing along. We'll tell you who's in the lead right now straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The countdown is on, just two days away now from our premiere of the new morning show right here on CNN, "New Day" begins Monday morning, 6:00 a.m. Eastern time. Chris Cuomo, Kate Bolduan, (INAUDIBLE) all starting your day with everything you need to know and you don't want to miss it, 6:00 a.m. Eastern time, Monday morning.

Phil Mickelson finished second at the U.S. Open five times, but he started the day on top of the leader board. Don Riddell joining us live at the tournament with a bleacher report update, OK, so how's he doing now?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS: He's hanging in there, not quite as good as yesterday and the day before, but he's in there with a shout, you know, Phil Mickelson would desperately, desperately love to win this championship. You talk about the record five runners-up finishes. It was in 1999 when that bad run of form began. But the next day he became a dad for the first time, Payne Stewart, the winner then got him on the green and said you're going to be a dad.

Tomorrow is father's day. He spent the buildup to this tournament out on the West Coast watching his daughter's middle school graduation and what a great story it would be, Fredricka, if he could pull it off. But it's a hard day for all of them out there today. He began the day as the joint leader at one under. He's played four holes but he made a bogey and dropped a short and he's now one behind. Still a lot of golf to be played out now.

WHITFIELD: Wow. And Phil Mickelson looking very - he looks a lot healthier these days, too, I know a lot of golfers are taking it very seriously to get really fit, et cetera. All in large part because of the guy named Tiger Woods who has been doing it for a while. He's gone five years without winning a major, which for him is really a lifetime, so how is he doing today?

RIDDELL: Yes, well, you know, he's desperate to win another major as well. He's had a good start to the season, hasn't he? He's won four times on the tour, but he really is struggling. This is a tough course. Tiger is finding it very, very difficult. He began the day four behind the lead on three under par. He's only got going just in the last kind of hour and a half or so, but he's already made three bogeys in six holes.

So, he now finds himself five over par. They call the third day at a golf tournament moving day which of course means you can move up the leader board but you can also move down the leader board and that's the direction Tiger's heading in right now.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right. Well, anything can happen out there, that's for sure, and I know you're going to keep us posted along the way.

Don Riddell, thanks so much, at the U.S. Open.

All right, a beloved NASCAR driver has passed away. Jason Leffler was considered one of the most versatile race car drivers on the track. Next why he will be in our memory for a long time. I'll share the experience I had with him, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Considered one of the most versatile race car drivers on the track, Jason Leffler made a mark. Sadly his love for the dirt track also led to his demise this week. The 37-year-old driver died in New Jersey at a sprint car race. Investigators are still trying to determine whether his vehicle had some sort of mechanical failure. Our hearts are broken. Leffler was a gentleman on and off the track. He was generous with his time two years ago at the Charlotte Motor Speedway where he not only took me for my first spin around the oval, but revealed his deep love for driving.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Jason Leffler considered this a privilege - getting behind the wheel of a race car. Taking it to top speed at open wheel divisions and all NASCAR series. But his career start and tragically his end would be on dirt. That was Wednesday night in New Jersey at the Bridgeport Speedway. Leffler in second place in the first heat away from other vehicles when his car hit the wall. Leffler trapped, extricated from the mangled metal, it was too late.

This sprint car race considered the minor league of racing. But Leffler was no stranger to high-profile events like Indy 500 and Daytona. His passing, a terrible loss to his fans, family, and the sport.

(on camera): OK, you know I'm a complete novice.

(voice-over): Long considered one of the most versatile drivers behind the wheel and I found to be one of the nicest.

(on camera): How fast we going?

(voice-over): Two years ago I had the time of my life meeting Jason Leffler. I didn't get behind the wheel, but better than that, I climbed into the passenger's seat. And from that point on - couldn't stop smiling. At least 180 miles per hour. For Leffler just another spin. For me, too thrilling.

(on camera): I want to be a race car driver.

JASON LEFFLER, NASCAR DRIVER: That was just a warm-up.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): At the time it was clear, he was excited about the sport -

LEFFLER: Like I always say it beats working for a living.

WHITFIELD: -- his career and possibly inspiring his now five-year-old son Charlie.

LEFFLER: Short of my son, Charlie, it's the most, you know, it's the biggest passion in my life so -

WHITFIELD (on camera): Do you see Charlie getting behind the wheel at four, five, or six when a lot of young racers now are starting out that early?

LEFFLER: Yes, if he wants to, you know, we're going to - I'm sure we'll present it to him. You know, he comes from a racing family, obviously not with just me but his grandfather and his uncles. And they all race, so he's surrounded by it. So, if he wants to do it, we'll put him in there. If he doesn't, if he wants to do something else, he's going to be free to do whatever he wants.

WHITFIELD: So Jason, for you, you know, you started at 12. The California Boy here, where did this spark of race car driving come from?

LEFFLER: It came at an early age. There's a local dirt track in southern California called Ascot Speedway which is really famous for its time and I go there every Saturday night with my dad and watch the sprint cars race, and from that moment on, from the very first time I went, I just was into racing, all types of racing, watched NASCAR on TV, sprint cars, anything I can get my hands on.

WHITFIELD: Do you think your family knew, uh-oh, he's been bitten by the bug, he's going to want to do this?

LEFFLER: My dad knew, he delayed - he got me a dirt bike and some other things that I think he thought would be cheaper in the long one before he got me a quarter midget. And he finally just gave in and just took off.

WHITFIELD: he caved.

LEFFLER: He caved in. He enjoyed it.

WHITFIELD (voice-over): And for more than 20 years behind the wheel, 10 of it professionally, so did Jason Leffler. He shared with me his three keys to greatness.

LEFFLER: Passion, number one. I think you have to have a passion for it. Opportunity. You know, whether that means, you know, the opportunity your parents provided for you, opportunities you got down the road. Third one, I don't know, you can't be fearful. You got to be brave.

WHITFIELD: Jason Leffler, brave and passionate. And now sorely missed.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Firefighters in Colorado are gaining more ground on a major wildfire. They say it's now 45 percent contained. But the fire had already burned down 473 homes. Sheriff's deputies say in some areas it's hard to tell if burned rubble used to be homes because it has been so badly destroyed.

Police in California say the man who went on that shooting rampage in Santa Monica left behind a farewell letter, they say 23-year-old John Zawahiri left it on his body. In it he apologized for killing his father and his brother.

Nelson Mandela is doing better. The South African civil right leader's grandson has confirmed the news according to South Africa's national news agency. Mandela has been in serious but stable condition since being rushed to the hospital with a recurring lung infection earlier this month. All right, that's going to do it for me. The "CNN Newsroom" continues at the top of the hour with Don Lemon. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

But, first, let's talk about sex. How to have a meaningful discussion with your kids before someone else does. Actually, it is Dr. Sanjay Gupta, M.D. who will be talking about that next.