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NEWS STREAM

Car Bomb Kills 18 In Beirut; Interim Egyptian Government Presses Forward With Road Map; Young Asiana Flight Survivors Speak Out; San Francisco Firefighters Describe Scene; Quebec Train Crash Survivors Go Home; Sepp Blatter Vows To Fight Against Travel Restrictions For Palestinian Footballers

Aired July 09, 2013 - 08:00   ET

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

KRISTIE LU STOUT, HOST: Stories of heroism in the middle of a disaster: we'll hear from the flight attendant who risked her life to get passengers to safety.

And we'll show you a unique village in the Netherlands where everyone has dementia.

A car bomb has rocked has rocked the Lebanese capital of Beirut. And according to Lebanon's national news agency, at least 18 people have been wounded.

The explosion was so powerful, it damaged surrounding buildings several stories up and vehicles on the street caught on fire.

Now the blast happened about four hours ago in the southern neighborhood of Beir al-Abed (ph). And for the very latest, let's go straight to Mohamed Jamjoom from Beirut. And Mohammed, you went to the site of the explosion, what did you see?

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kristie, the scene was one of great concern. And the overwhelming worry that was expressed to us by the bystanders and the eyewitnesses that came to the scene shortly after the explosion was one of anger and one of worry. Angry, because this happened, because it endangered so many lives, because they're fearful this will happen again; worry, because they believe that this is a direct result of Hezbollah's intervention in the Syrian war. Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group, they started sending thousands of fighters into Syria to help bolster Syrian forces and their fighting against rebels there in the past couple of months.

Because of that, the Syrian military has been able to kind of turn the tide, get momentum, take over key areas that had been strongholds in the rebels in Syria.

But that has meant that there has been a rising tide of anger towards Hezbollah here in Lebanon, because people are worried that the Syrian civil war, that it was already spilling over into Lebanon, a place that is very fragile, a place that is fraught with so many tensions and so much divisiveness.

They worried that this intervention would only make things worse.

In the past several weeks, we've seen a lot of tension, a lot of strife in Sunni neighborhoods in Beirut, and outside of Beirut, people that are really angry at what Hezbollah is doing.

Now, today we see this attack in the Hezbollah stronghold, a neighborhood called Beir el Abed (ph) in (inaudible), which is a southern suburb of Beirut. At least 53 people injured, several ministers went to the scene, two when we were there.

Before we got there, though, the interior minister had toured the site. And because there is so much anger directed at him and the Lebanese government, because of some of their policies, we were told by many eyewitnesses that the interior minister was actually accosted, that several people threw bottles at him, that he fled the scene as a result.

So it really goes to show just how tense things are beginning here in Lebanon, this tiny country of only 4 million people right next door to Syria, a country who for so many months people have been concerned that there would be a continuation of spillover from the violence in Syria. Every couple of weeks, some new incidents it seems. Now, today, a real concern that this is just the first of other attacks that might happen.

Many people I spoke with on the scene said they felt that something like this was coming, they just didn't know when or how it would happen -- Kristie.

LU STOUT: There are worries that this could spiral further. Could it perhaps even turn into a civil war inside Lebanon?

JAMJOOM: There is great concern about that. One of the reasons for that, of course, is because Lebanon did experience its own very brutal civil war that lasted for 15 years from 1975 to 1990. So whenever there is a bout of violence here in Lebanon, that is something that comes foremost to the minds of Lebanese who lived through the civil war. That's one of the reasons people have been so concerned about the Syrian civil war and about Lebanon being so inextricably linked to Syria and being sucked into the vortex of the Syrian civil war.

Now you have this rising tide of Sunni anger here, Sunni Muslim anger in the country. You also have a rising tide of Shiite anger. It seems the sectarian lines are deepening. That is cause for great concern inside Lebanon, great concern for the region, and a lot of worry, as you said, from people I heard from today that perhaps it is not too much of a stretch to believe that if things continue to go off the rails when it comes to Syrian and Lebanon's involvement, that there could be more fighting inside Lebanon in the months to come.

LU STOUT: A sectarian division inside Lebanon and especially the violence today with that blast in Beirut. Very worrying indeed. Mohammed Jamjoom reporting for us live, thank you.

Now emotions are also high in Egypt's capital. Funerals are expected for victims of the violence outside the Republican Guard headquarters. And there are fears that there could be renewed fighting. 51 people were killed in Monday's clashes. And why it happened is under investigation.

Now meanwhile, state television has reported a constitutional decree by interim president Adly Mansour that would limit his power. And it lays out a timetable for an election by the end of the year.

Now it has been six days since the military removed President Mohamed Morsy. Reza Sayah is watching developments in Egypt's capital. He joins us now.

And Reza, what is the situation on the streets of Cairo today?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORREPSONDENT: Still lots of uncertainty, lots of anxiety. Today, as you mentioned, funerals have been arranged for some of the fatalities yesterday. So certainly the potential for an emotional day to turn into a violent day in this conflict where you have one side that seems to be winning. They're happy with the country moving forward. These are the liberals, the secularists, the moderates, even supporters of the military who want to push forward with the new transitional government.

And then you have the other side, a side that's increasingly cornered and isolated. This side is, of course, supporters of the ousted President Mohamed Morsy and the Muslim Brotherhood.

They are outraged. And they're crying out for this process with which the transitional government is moving forward to stop. And they're also crying out for justice for what happened yesterday. They want the armed forces to be held accountable.

At this point, we're still getting all sorts of conflicting accounts that makes it very difficult to figure out exactly what happened yesterday with the clashes in front of the presidential guard. The armed forces held a news conference along with police yesterday. They're blaming an armed group of terrorists. They showed video purportedly of protesters firing on to troops.

And then you had the protesters, the Muslim Brotherhood saying, no, it was the armed forces who started this clash. They have their own video showing soldiers purportedly firing on to protesters.

In the meantime, this transitional government moving forward with establishing the process by which a vote will take place for the constitution, the new election and new parliamentary elections.

Last night, the interim president setting a timetable, a framework with which all this will happen. In 15 days, a panel will review the new constitution. And Kristie, if all goes smoothly, if all goes well, in as little as four or five months, we could have a nationwide vote for the constitution and then elections for the new president and the new parliament.

But standing in the way of the process is the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of the president who are very angry.

LU STOUT: That's right, on the day of these deadly clashes, you have the interim President Mansour pushing ahead with the political road map with this decree. But given the violence, is his new timetable even realistic?

SAYAH: Well, the transitional government says it is realistic. And there's all kinds of indications that they want to move forward with this transition. They don't want to delay.

And the question is, what will the Muslim Brotherhood do? What will supporters of Mr. Morsy do? Are they going to take measures to derail this process? Because they're certainly not happy.

The transitional president has pointed out that they want the Muslim Brotherhood to be included. Absolutely no is the answer from the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of the president. They say the only way that they're going to get involved in anything is if they have their ousted president back. That seems to be unlikely, which raises a whole lot of questions.

Where do we go from here? What does the transitional government do to ease the anger of the Muslim Brotherhood, supporters of the president. At this point, really no one knows.

LU STOUT: Yeah, where do we go from here? How bad is it going to get? I mean, Reza, when you were reporting there last week, the general mood was jubilant. I mean, there were celebrations. Now, is there a sense of foreboding, of fear of what could happen next?

SAYAH: Well, you clearly get the impression that the jubilation, that the celebration has died down. And you also get the impression that one side wants to move the country forward, they want to establish a new transitional government that would lead to a permanent government. But again, on the other side, you have the Muslim Brotherhood, supporters of the president, what an astonishing reversal of fortune for them.

Remember, a week ago, they had their president in place. But within days, the president was ousted, their leaders have been detained, held in custody. And there seems to be a campaign, they think, for this new government and security forces to stifle and sideline them.

So, the question is, what will they do in response? Will they back down, or will they dig in, continue to fight, escalate things? Again, these are among the unknowns in the coming days and weeks, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, Reza Sayah on the story for us, joining us live from Cairo, thank you.

Now, Turkish authorities have quickly moved to quell protests in Istanbul. Demonstrators gathered in Gezi Park on Monday. It was the first time it reopened since last month's crackdown on anti-government protesters. And activists say officers detained about 80 people.

Riot police pushed the demonstrators out of the area using tear gas and water cannon.

Remember, back in late May, a sit-in at Gezi Park triggered nationwide protests against Prime Minister Rejep Tayyip Erdogan.

Now U.S. investigators looking into the crash of Asiana flight 214 say it is, quote, too early to conclude pilot error. Now the National Transportation Safety Board is working to find out what the plane's four pilots did during the 72 hours before the crash. They want to determine if fatigue or illness may have played a roll.

They're still looking at the aircraft's computer system.

Now Boeing 777's can land automatically, but it is not clear if that system was being used on Saturday, or if the crew was manually controlling the descent.

Now the NTSB says that the plane was flying far slower than recommended on its approach to San Francisco International Airport.

Now the president of Asiana Airlines has met with the families of the two teenaged girls killed in Saturday's crash, but as he offered his condolences, in Seoul's Incheon airport, he was confronted by the father of one of the Chinese students.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I am very dissatisfied. We're meeting with the sort of problems at the very start. Very dissatisfied.

YOON YOUNG-DOO, PRESIDENT, ASIANA AIRLINES (through translator): I offer an apology to the family, shocked by this sudden accident.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: Ye Mengyuang and Wang Lijian were traveling to a summer camp at a Christian school near Los Angeles when they were killed in the crash.

Now one Asiana Airlines flight attendant is being called a hero for her part in helping passengers escape the burning plane.

And Ian Lee joins us now from CNN Seoul with her story D Ian.

IAN LEE, CNN INTERNAITONAL CORREPSONDENT: Well, Kristie, that's exactly right, that's what D people are calling her a hero.

We heard D also heard from the chief of the San Francisco Fire Department that said that she was amazed when she arrived there and the flight crew were very calm, very collected, getting people off that plane. And they say that if it weren't for the fast acting attendance who were on there to get people off, it could have been a lot worse.

These people, you know, wanted to say that the cabin, the chief flight attendant in the cabin, had a broken tailbone at the time, but still was able to get all the passengers off the plane D quite heroic.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE YOON HYE, ASIANA FLIGHT ATTENDENT (through translator): First, after the plane stopped completely, I went into the cockpit to see whether the captain was alive or not. I knocked the cockpit door. The captain opened it. And I asked, are you OK, captain?

And he said, yes. I am OK.

I asked, should I perform evacuations?

And he told me to wait.

So I closed the door and made an announcement because the passengers were upset. And things were confusing.

I said, ladies and gentlemen, our plane has completely stopped. Please remain seated. The plane will not move anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEE: Well, and Kristie, you can see, you know, there was a little bit of confusion there for a while, but they acted. They got everyone calm. And they were able to get everyone off that plane safe and sound. There were injuries.

But, really, the authorities are saying if it weren't for the fast acting flight attendants, there could have been more injuries, some more casualties.

LU STOUT: Yeah, her account is incredible.

Lee, definitely heroes. We will see other flight attendants on board.

Can you tell us more about how the airline, Asiana, is reaching out to the victims' families?

LEE: Well, this is the one thing that the CEO really emphasized. He's going to be traveling to San Francisco on kind of a two-part journey. The first part, a very apologetic tour talking to the different agencies that are involved, apologizing. Bu also apologizing to the victims.

And he said that he was going to make available resources to get family members, to get victims where they need to go and deliver people where they need to be. And also said that people who were injured, they would be taking care of them with their injuries.

LU STOUT: Yeah, it is a dramatic story of heroism and loss. Ian Lee reporting live for us from Seoul, thank you.

Now you are watching News Stream. And still to come, hundreds of residents of the Canadian town devastated by a deadly train derailment, return to their homes. The hunt for the dozen still missing continues.

Hiding in plain sight, under a cowboy hat, revelations from a leaked report about how Osama bin Laden spent his final days.

And how smoggy scenes like this are shortening the life span in China.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Now, some of the 1,500 people forced from their homes by a train crash can return on Tuesday.

Now they had to leave after a train carrying crude oil derailed and crashed, causing a huge explosion. At least 13 people were killed, 37 are still missing. And Paula Newton is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Local officials have been blunt about what this kind of inferno would have meant for victims. The fire might be out, but the devastation makes clear what happened to people who were in their homes, at work, at a pub on a Friday night. Police had warned the death toll would rise.

BENDIT RICHARD, QUEBEC PROVINCIAL POLICE: As we are speaking right now, we have found eight more victims inside of the rooms, so that leads us to 13 victims.?

NEWTON: And dozens more are still missing. Forensic specialists have asked victims' families for hair samples, clothing, anything to help identify their loved ones.??

(on-camera): Well, people here are just starting to come to terms with the devastation. As you can see, this train literally slammed into this small town and the homes here are always very, very close to the tracks. It's always been that way. Usually, they're traveling between five and 10 miles an hour. On that night, this train was going at least between 30 and 40 miles an hour.??

(voice-over): Sonya Pepin heard the train like never before that night. The tracks are just a few feet from her home, and she says the whole house shook. And then, this family got the news. She says they are mourning her brother-in-law who they assume was killed in the explosion. She says she never wants to see a train on these tracks again.

Police say they aren't ruling anything out, including sabotage. At issue now, both here and in the United States, is transporting crude oil safe? According to the rail industry, the amount of crude traveling by tanker car has grown exponentially in the last five years and many wonder if safety standards have kept up.??

Paula Newton, CNN, Lac-Meganic, Quebec.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And there's new information about how the late al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden spent almost 10 years in hiding after the September 11 attacks on the United States before U.S. Navy SEALs found and killed bin Laden in May 2011 here in Abbottabad, a city north of the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

But according to a leaked report being widely published in Pakistani media, bin Laden had been hiding out in this house with his family for about six years.

So how did he go undetected for so long? Well, reports says bin Laden shaved off his beard, which made him unrecognizable to police who once pulled over his driver while bin Laden was in the car.

And while living in the Abbotabad compound, he spent most of his time doting on his children and grandchildren who were not allowed to play with other kids in the neighborhood.

Now bin Laden would often garden with them. And he wore a cowboy hat to obscure his features from other people and satellite cameras.

Now, the Pakistani government has always criticized the U.S. for not informing it of its secret raid on bin Laden's compound. And CNN security analyst Peter Bergen says the report also addresses surveillance along Pakistan's borders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BERGEN, CNN SECURITY ANALYST: One thing that the Pakistani military is definitely going to sort of reform, I think, is the idea that it doesn't need to worry about its western border with obviously the U.S. helicopters took off from Afghanistan when they went into Pakistan. And one of the messages of the report is that the radar systems weren't really looking for that kind of intrusion from the Afghan side of the border.

I can't imagine that that hasn't been fixed in the two years since bin Laden was killed sine this was really an embarrassment for the Pakistani government and military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LU STOUT: CNN security analyst Peter Bergen there.

Now you are watching News Stream. And still to come, the number of people suffering from Dementia is expected to double by 2030, but one Dutch village is inspiring a new way of caring for them. Doctor Sanjay Gupta joins us for a special report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: From Hong Kong, you are back watching News Stream.

Now you've probably seen an image like this one before, the Chinese capital, Beijing, on a heavily polluted day. And now a new study by a team of international researchers says that pollution is cutting life expectancy in northern China by an average of five-and-a-half years.

Now the study says the 500 million people living north of the Hwei (ph) River have been suffering from higher rates of stroke, heart disease and cancer. That's because China provides free heating during the winter for those areas. But that heating comes from burning coal. In fact, China now burns almost 4 billion tons of coal every year, nearly as much as the rest of the world combined.

Our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour asks China's ambassador to China about the pollution problem.

CUI: We have 1.3 billion people, about 20 percent of the global population. And they want a better life. Some of them want like the Americans, a big house, maybe two cars per family. But this will not be possible if we really want to preserve the environment.

So we are in the process of changing people's perceptions that we have to keep a proper balance between their aspirations for a better life and the need to preserve the environment for future generations. We're just in the middle of doing this.??

We just cannot follow you old path. We have to open up a new path of sustainable development.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Tiankai Cui there.

Now, we want to take you next to The Netherlands. And just outside of Amsterdam, in the city of Vace (ph), lies a unique village. Now every resident here had dementia. And Hogeway was built especially for them.

Now CNN's chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta traveled there. He joins us now live from CNN Center.

Sanjay, you have called this place, Hogeway, quote, "one of the most humane things you've ever seen." Tell us about it.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, when you think about people with dementia and what happens to them, you think of anonymous buildings, blaring TVs, lots of medications, just not a very good life. But what if you could create a village specifically for people with severe dementia.

Everyone who lives there has severe dementia. And everyone who works there knows how to care for those people. That's exactly what this place is.

And I had a chance to sit down and talk to the founder about why this place was created in the first place. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: This is the site where there used to be a previous nursing home, right? You worked at that nursing home. You had a transformation, if you will, yourself where you basically decided that wasn't good enough. Was there a moment or was there some particular event that really sparked that for you?

YVONNE VAN AMERONGEN, CO-FOUNDER HOGEWEY: For me, personally, that was the moment that my mother called me and told me that my father had passed away suddenly. Nothing was wrong with him, he just had a heart attack and he died. And one of the first things I thought was, thank god he never got to be in a nursing home, that's crazy that I had to think that.

I'm in the management of nursing home and I don't want my father to come there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GUPTA: It was a really sort of life altering experience for her to realize that the existing nursing homes just weren't the right place for her own parents.

You know, incidentally, Kristie, they find the people who live in Hogewey, they tend to eat better, these patients with severe dementia. They tend to take fewer medications. They tend to get more exercise. And they seem to be happier as well, Kristie, a very important thing, hard to measure. But that's what life could be like for the tens of millions of people who have severe dementia.

LU STOUT: Patients get healthier, happier in Hogewey. Who is eligible to become a resident? And how to families get a loved member in?

GUPTA: Well, right now at this particular village, there's only 152 spaces for residents. The people who live there have severe dementia. So this isn't mild or moderate dementia, these are people who need 24 care. And also, they go through a normal application process. They have to apply like they would apply to any other place that has facilities for people with severe dementia.

But as you might imagine, not only in the Netherlands, but now around the world, this is becoming a more popular sort of model. And they hope to expand it.

LU STOUT: And you got to spend a few days inside the village, what is daily life like there?

GUPTA: You know, it was interesting. At first you have a hard time even distinguishing who are the patients versus who are the caretakers. You know, it's not like they're wearing name badges or you'd have a way to differentiate. What you come to realize is that whether you're in a restaurant, a hair salon, a store, that the people who are working in those places in addition to, you know, being employees of those establishments, they also know how to care for people with severe dementia.

So it was this really symbiotic sort of relationship. And it seemed like a fairly happy and pleasant place.

They can't leave this particular place. This is where they're going to spend the rest of their lives, but overall the mood and the demeanor seemed much more positive than what you're used to seeing.

LU STOUT: And many families now finding hope in a very, very special place.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for your reporting. Thank you for joining us

And do tune in on Friday for the premiere of our World's Untold Stories documentary Dementia Village airs 11;30 pm here in Hong Kong, that's 7:30 in Abu Dhabi.

Now survivors of Asiana Airlines flight 214 are speaking out about their ordeal. And next on News Stream, we'll hear from some of the youngest people who were on board as they recalled the moment their plane crashed on landing.

And later, head of FIFA takes a stand on Middle East tensions. Sepp Blatter tries to ease travel restrictions for Palestinian footballers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

?LU STOUT: Let's take you live to Quebec where police are holding a press conference in the aftermath of a train crash disaster. Let's listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LU STOUT: OK, our apologies there, we don't have translation available. We were hoping to get it translated into English what the police there in Quebec there are saying about the runaway train crash that took place over the weekend. We may get English just in a second, but we are tuning into this live press conference there in Quebec to learn more details about what happened over the weekend, this deadly train derailment and inferno that happened in Quebec.

Let's try one more time to listen in.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

LU STOUT: --any news breaking from this moment, anything of note we'll be sure to bring it to you right here on CNN. Our apologies for that.

Now, the pilot who was flying Asiana Airlines flight 214 when it crashed will be interviewed by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board this Tuesday. Now the plane was flying far slower than it should have before it crashed in San Francisco on Saturday. And the NTSB says it was traveling at around 196 kilometers an hour on impact. It should have been approaching the runway at 253 kilometers an hour.

And the plane, it left behind a path of debris when it hit the airport seawall and then spun out of control.

Here you can see the aircraft's landing gear and fuselage all scattered along the runway.

Now investigators say that a significant part of plane's tail was left in the water.

And Sara Sidner has been speaking with some of the survivors. And she joins us live from San Francisco general hospital. And Sara, what have the survivors told you about what happened in the moments leading up to the crash?

SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kristie, we talked to three children, all under the age of 16. And one of them told us that just before the crash, the pilot came on and said please make sure your seat belts are fashioned, which is pretty normal. And so they didn't think anything of it. And then suddenly everything went wrong.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Oh, it's an accident.??

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The chaos of a plane crash, the sudden impact, the spinning, the dust, the fire, and then, the desperate scramble to stay alive.

ESTHER JANG, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: There was no warning or anything. It was just -- it just happened. ??SIDNER: 15-year-old Esther, 13-year-old Joseph, 11-year-old Sarah Jane and their parents were all inside that plane, returning from a family vacation. ??E. JANG: It was like, we were all bouncing all over the place. I just remember there being dust everywhere and I was freaking out and then it just stopped. ??

SIDNER: At first, the Jang siblings weren't even sure they had survived the crash. ??

JOSEPH JANG, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: I was also calling out for my parents and I was -- well, I couldn't breathe for like -- because I got the wind knocked out of me. So I couldn't breathe for a couple of seconds. ??

E. JANG: So after everything stopped and then I realized I was alive, and I looked over, and I saw my brother and sister. They were both fine. And then I looked over at my mom and my dad, and they were both on the floor, because their seats fell down. And then I called their names out, and they both, like, moaned kind of. ??

SIDNER: All five of them were hurt. The Jang family was sitting in the back of the plane when the tail hit the seawall. Their heads snapped forward, luggage fell, and seats buckled, making it challenging for them to escape quickly. ??

SARAH JANE JANG, PLANE CRASH SURVIVOR: Well, since the chairs fell on us, it was hard to get out. ??

E. JANG: Someone helped us out, and then my brother and sister both went out an exit on my right, and then I realized that I was limping, so I -- and their exit did not have a slide, so a flight attendant brought me to another exit, which had a slide, which was on the opposite side of the plane. ??

SIDNER: The entire Jang family eventually made it out alive. ??

J. JANG: When we all were reunited, like, my family and I, I was really glad, so I started crying.

SIDNER: The Jangs set out for a memorable trip, the first time the children were going to South Korea, for a glimpse of their heritage. But on the way home, they ended up learning a frightening lesson of survival.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: NOW, the three children and their father were treated here at San Francisco General Hospital, but their mother was treated in a different hospital and when we talked to them, they hadn't been able to actually see her because she is in a different hospital. But they were able to talk to her. And she is still in the hospital suffering from injuries.

Also, Kristie, get this, they don't live here. They need to take another flight to Colorado and said they were scared about it, but that they knew that this was a very unusual thing to happen and that they would be able to get on another plane D Kristie.

LU STOUT: Yeah, and here's hoping that the children would get a chance to hug their mother soon. What they went through is incredible. And they were remarkably composed in their account with you in that report just then.

As a result of this tragedy that happened, we know that two young women died. There were a number of injured passengers there and some quickly serious. So what is the update on their condition?

SIDNER: I can tell you that at last count there were 17 people in this hospital alone. And, you know, the 182 people that were injured in this crash were spread out across 11 Bay Area hospitals. We do know now that at least two people, according to doctors here at San Francisco General, two of the patients had been paralyzed because of this crash.

We also know that the family members that are here trying to get here from China have arrived. So the family members of the two 16-year-old students who died in the crash and the family members of the other large number of Chinese passengers, many of them on their way to summer camp here, they have arrived. And so hopefully they'll be able to meet up with some of their family members today D Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right, hopefully. Thank you so much for that update.

Sara Sidner joining us live from San Francisco, thank you.

Now first responders raced to the scene to help passengers escape the burning plane. And Gary Tuchman caught up with two firefighters who were among the first to reach the plane.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was only seconds after Asiana Flight 214 hit the seawall at San Francisco Airport that firefighter, Crissy Emmons, found out about it.

LT. CRISSY EMMONS, SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT: The alert tone was sounded and the voice said, alert 3, alert 3, plane crash, plane crash. TUCHMAN: Firefighter, Dave Monteverde, works with Lieutenant Emmons. They're based at the airport.

(on camera): How quickly did you get to the site of the crash?

LT. DAVE MONTEVERDI, SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT: From the time the run came in, I'd say we were in there in a minute, less than a minute.

EMMONS: We were very quick to the scene.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Lieutenants Emmons and Monteverdi were the first, first responders, to board the stricken Boeing 777.

EMMONS: We climbed up the chute that deployed on the left-hand side.

MONTEVERDI: We've extinguished some fire that was inside. We conducted a search, and then we worked our way backwards, and the remaining passengers were in the back of the aircraft that weren't able to get out.

EMMONS: It was more a chaotic situation in the back. It was not as neat as in the front of the plane.

TUCHMAN: Both San Francisco firefighters initially saw four passengers trapped in the back of the plane.

(on camera): And tell me why they weren't able to get out?

MONTEVERDI: Most of them -- one was going in and out of consciousness. The other was just stunned and groaning. I think another -- passenger had multiple in her leg possibly. There was another who trapped in the overhead bins may have collapsed on her.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Lieutenant Emmons also saw a fifth person who is lying flat.

EMMONS: She was moaning. There were sounds coming from her, the language, you know, everybody in my mind was critical and we need to get off that plane.

MONTEVERDI: We had to get her and brought her out, and we started carrying the others out.

TUCHMAN: Meanwhile, the situation was getting even more dangerous on the plane.

MONTEVERDI: Once we saw the black smoke coming toward us and we had to get the last passenger off, we pretty much grabbed and ran -- not ran, but you know we hurried out of there.

TUCHMAN (on camera): How concerned were you that you were in imminent danger of getting hurt or losing your life. You know better than I do that plane goes up fast?

EMMONS: I didn't think of that, my concern was getting the passengers off the plane. TUCHMAN: If you didn't get them out as quickly as you did, they may not have survived?

MONTEVERDI: That's correct.

TUCHMAN: You saved their lives.

MONTEVERDI: I guess you could say it that way, yes.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, San Francisco.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now torrential rainfall has created serious rescue situations in Toronto. Let's get the latest now with Samantha Moore. She's standing by at the world weather center -- Samantha.

SAMANTHA MOORE, CNN WEATHER CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kristie.

Boy, things got really rough yesterday afternoon and evening. We had a cluster of thunderstorms that moved through there and dropped some very heavy rain. The rain started mid-afternoon and then you can see it here really coming down during the evening hours. And then it just kept coming. Huge drops, sheets of water, making it pretty much impossible to get out there on the roadways.

And there were flooded roadways. In fact, you can see them here in this video from Toronto during the time of the flooding. This is the Dawn River overflowing its banks.

Just look at how briskly that rainfall is moving here. It's just incredible. Submerging the cars. Water going up over the wind shields in many instances. And it was not just the cars, it was also the trains. We have some video also of a Go Train submerged in water. The water levels rising in the lower part of the train car.

But up above, you can see that's where most of the passengers went to avoid the flood waters. So there were no reports of injuries, even though this train was actually submerged in the flood water.

And it looks like we'll see more rain later on today. And when you -- there's the emergency workers hard at work keeping everyone safe. Thank you very much guys for keeping them safe.

This is what we're seeing as far as the rainfall goes. There was over 1.6 millimeters (sic) and that is over the monthly average of 68 millimeters. That's about one-and-a-half times what they'd seen the entire month of July. Incredible.

Heavy rain also in -- will be moving in, most likely to Taiwan by the end of the week from a strengthening typhoon, this is Typhoon Soulik moving to the west/northwest at 19 miles per hour. 160 mile per hour max sustained winds with gusts up to 195 kilometers per hour.

Look at how expansive this storm is. Look how well defined the eye is as well. It is a very well organized system. And it is making tracks, it looks like, taking it north of Taiwan by around Friday morning.

This is what we're looking as far as the timing on this system, continuing to strengthen as it approaches the coast itself with that expansive wind field.

Now, of course, this is the cone of uncertainty, so it could go a little bit to the south or a little bit to the north. So everyone in this region needs to pay attention to what's going on as we near the end of the week, because the conditions here very favorable for a continued intensification -- not a lot of wind shear, the water temperatures are incredibly warm, a lot of energy, a lot of latent energy for this system to continue to strengthen and drop a lot of heavy rain and bring in those incredibly strong winds.

In fact, look at this wind field, look how tightly wrapped this system will be as it approaches Taiwan.

Now this is during the next 48 hours, but it's going to continue that movement to the west-northwest. And we'll watch as we head toward the later parts of the week, because the models are not in complete agreement, but definitely Taiwan and those areas all across the southeastern coast of China need to keep very aware of what's going on as we head in through the next few days, Kristie.

LU STOUT: All right. Samantha Moore there, thank you.

Now a question, can football help bring peace to the Middle East? How FIFA chief Sepp Blatter certainly thinks so. And he's hoping to use his position to help ease travel restrictions for Palestinian athletes between Israel and the West Bank.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

And this week's addition of Leading Women, from factory worker to real estate mogul, Pauline Chiou finds out whether Zhang Xin, the CEO of SOHO China ever envisioned her level of success.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAULINE CHIOU, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRSEPONDENT: Zhang Xin is at the peak of her career. At the age of 48, she leads SOHO China, the biggest commercial property developer in China. Forbes estimates her net worth is north of $3 billion. But she never had grand ambitions when she was a child working in a Beijing factory, she just knew she had to leave China.

ZHANG XIN, CEO, SOHO CHINA: When I look back in life, this is all like -- it's all very random. Who would have thought, you know, China would become where it is today? And who would have thought that Beijing, the city I grew up with millions of bicycles would become like this, right? And likewise, when I was in the factory I had no idea, you know, what life was waiting for me.

I knew just one thing is I want to get out.

CHIOU: So at the age of 14, Zhang went to Hong Kong where she worked in factories until she saved enough money to go to England. Zhang studied economics in the UK, then got a job on Wall Street.

And during that time, as you were growing up and getting educated as a young girl and then a young adult, did you have a sense that you were going to make it big somehow?

XIN: No, no. No. I mean, it's -- we don't plan -- you know, we human beings don't have it -- or I don't have the capacity to plan that far ahead. So most people would have stayed at a comfortable job as an investment banker, but I was very much looking for another outlet to come back to China.

CHIOU: Zhang had a sense China was on the verge of big changes in the early 90s. She came back to Beijing and met her husband, Pan Shiyi who was just starting out in the real estate business.

They formed the company that would propel them to the top. It is her husband who is her best sounding board.

XIN: The two of us are each other's mentors, not so much a mentor, but each other's advisers. There would be moments that I'm tired, you know, I don't want to. And then he will pick me up. There will be moments that he's tired, that he doesn't have the energy and then I will pick him up.

CHIOU: Zhang is among a handful of self-made women billionaires in China, but like any working mother, she tries to find the right work-family balance. Her focus at home is quality time with her two sons.

XIN: We try so hard to give them a normal life. And I know, you know, no matter how hard we try it's still not normal. I'm very religious on having breakfast with them every morning, having dinner with them every evening. You know, those are the things that it gives me a real sense of reality what is, you know, the world outside business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And for more on Zhang Xin, just log on to CNN.com/LeadingWomen. And next week, we have a new Leading Woman for you, Ilene Gordon is one of just 21 women leading a Fortune 500 company. She heads up Ingredion, it's a global Ingredient maker that works with food companies like Nestle, Kraft and Unilever.

Now, China recently introduced a law that requires adult children to visit their elderly parents. But already, some people are offering them a way out. Coming up on News Stream, we'll tell you what's going on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LU STOUT: Welcome back.

Now can FIFA chief Sepp Blatter succeed where so many world leaders have failed? Now the head of football's world governing body pledged his support to the Palestinian football team and help end Israeli travel restrictions on players.

Now Vladimir Duthiers sat down with Blatter who was on a tour of the West Bank to talk about why he is so passionate about the cause.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VLADIMIR DUTHIERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What a difference in venue. A week ago, FIFA President Sepp Blatter sat with 70,000 people in the Maracana watching Brazil playing Spain. Today, the most important man in world football watched Palestinian children training on a new football field he dedicated in the West Bank, then received an honorary doctorate from Al-Najar (ph) National University before heading to a ceremony to open the new headquarters of the Palestinian Football Federation, which sits in the shadow of the Israeli West Bank separation barrier.

(on camera): This wall separating the West Bank from Jerusalem gives you a really good idea of what the Palestinian athletes are up against. Typically, Israeli security forces control movement between the West Bank and Gaza. And they frequently prevent Palestinian athletes from traveling between the two areas.

But at a speech in front of a crowd that was on their feet and cheering, Sepp Blatter told them that he was prepared to fight for their cause.

SEPP BLATTER, FIFA PRESIDENT: We have agreed that we will go on a mission to try to solve this problem. I know the problem, because I'm a regular visitor to Palestine. And I know what happened.

DUTHIERS: You said something that was very touching earlier today, you said that although you're a citizen of the world, your heart beats for Palestine. Where does that spirit come from?

BLATTER: My heart is beating for them, because I know -- I know the problems that are here and how much it affects the athletes, players, coaches when they have to wait and when they are not sure if they can travel or not travel. So that's why I said, my heart beats for you.

DUTHIERS: This three day trip to the West Bank sends an important message to the world. And Blatter says he's prepared to deliver that message to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

BLATTER: I have (inaudible), you know, and I know what are the problems here. And I know how the problems can be solved. Ask him to Mr. Prime Minister, please have a look on that and look forward to solve and try to solve this problem.

DUTHIERS: A problem Blatter agreed to address during the 2013 FIFA congress at the request of the president of the Palestinian Football Federation Jibril Rajoub.

Rajoub says he intends to keep up the pressure until Israel eases the travel restrictions placed on Palestinian athletes, especially those that live in Gaza.

JIBRIL RAJOUB, PALESTINIAN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION HEAD: If the Israelis are not going to respect the FIFA statutes, we have to go back to the congress. And there's the issue. And I think no one has the right to refuse or to reject or not to abide with the statutes of the FIFA.

DUTHIERS: But Blatter says he's optimistic.

BLATTER: In the FIFA, we can prepare a better future, or a better world, though football, through discipline, respect, fair play, the emotions we are giving to the world, the hope we have in our game.

Football is there to connect people. And that's why here in this region where they live together on the same -- on the same territory, I have to say, then they should not separate the people, they should connect the people. And this is the message, the message for the world, but in this case, specifically here.

DUTHIERS: And if that happens, Sepp Blatter and football will have gone a long way for promoting peace than those trying to put together a political process.

Vladimir Duthiers, CNN, The West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: Now last week, a new law went into effect in China that requires adults to frequently visit their elderly parents. They also have to make sure that the financial and spiritual needs are met.

Now David McKenzie explained why it was felt that this law was needed. And here a bit of that report.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: China's one-child policy and better health care has created an aging society on an enormous scale. In a country famed for its family ties, those bonds are breaking.

DONG WEI, SURPERVISING NURSE, SONG TANG HOSPICE: In the past, many young Chinese knew that they should live with their parents and take care of them when they are old, but that tradition is dying in China as the economy develops in our society.

MCKENZIE: She says young people are often ashamed to leave their parents here.

But 83-year-old Yao (ph), who is visiting his ailing sister, says this is their future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): The path of sending elderly to nursing homes in China is inevitable. Young people are able to help elder parents financially, but it isn't possible to rely on young people to take care of their elderly parents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LU STOUT: And that was a part of David McKenzie's report last week.

Now remember, China has a modest pension system, so the elderly usually depend on their children for support. And parents can take their children to court for failing to follow the new law, though it's unclear what penalty they might face.

Still, some Chinese entrepreneurs see a business opportunity. And this add on Taobao.com (ph) is one of several that offers to care for the elderly. Now this vendor says that she will chat with elderly parents for 200 yuan and hour, that's around $30.

And the next one, it charges a bit less, and even offers to bring your mother flowers.

It's unclear if these services actually follow the law or not, but there is certainly a huge market.

According to Xinhua, a third of China's population will be classified as elderly by year 2050.

And that is News Stream. But the news continues at CNN. World Business Today is next.

END