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Hunt for Suspects in Two Shootings in Missouri; More Fighting with ISIS in Syria Border; O'Hare's Cancellations; Violent Protests in Hong Kong; Obama: U.S. Intelligence Underestimated ISIS; Police: Cop- Killing Suspect Planned For Years; Fighting ISIS From The Sea; Volcano Erupts, Dozens Feared Dead

Aired September 28, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: One in Ferguson and one in St. Louis. The Ferguson police officer was shot in the arm while on patrol. And in a separate incident just three hours later, someone shot at an off duty officer, St. Louis police officer in a drive-by, but he was not hit. These incidents have both communities on edge now but in Ferguson, protests continued more than a month after an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a white police office. One protest got out of hand just a few days ago after the Ferguson police chief tried to address them.

Let's go now to CNN's Sara Sidner who is in Ferguson.

So Sara, what are police saying about these incidents now?

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: At this point both officers are going to be fine, non-life threatening injuries. But there is still a manhunt underway. They have not caught any of the suspects. The one here in Ferguson, we are standing outside of the community center, where that shooting actually happened around the back. Then the suspect, according to police, ran into the woods there.

They are still looking for him. He has not been apprehended at this point in time. I can tell you though that the mood here, it's been quiet but there is this sense of underlying tension. We see that every now and then especially when police come out or the, for example, one of the police agencies not just the Ferguson police but one of the other police agencies like the Missouri Highway Patrol comes out and starts talking while the crowds are there addressing the crowds.

We have seen a lot of this back and forth where an officer will say something or the police chief will say something and there is a huge amount of distrust and mistrust with what is being said from authorities. A lot of people not wanting to hear or simply not believing what it is they are hearing.

Another thing that is happening here, Fredricka, that is significant is that when you talk to some of the people in the neighborhood whether you're talking to African-Americans, whether you're talking to people who are white, they both feel that this has changed Ferguson forever. And there is tension here. Both say there is a great deal of tension and some of that tension isn't just between the folks that are directly targeting police and that feel targeted by police but also between the neighborhood and between the residents.

The racial tensions here have heightened and people don't think that is ever going to change. I want you to listen to one of the neighbors in this neighborhood who talked to us. Her family is a long line of police officers and she talked about what it's like just going to the store, just going around trying to do your business here in Ferguson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER (on camera): When you say it's scary, what are you experiencing now?

TESSA FERGUSON, RESIDENT: Yelling, screaming.

CHRISTINE, FERGUSON, RESIDENT: A lot of anger wherever you go. Manners seem to have gone out of the window when you're going to the grocery store. And it could be on both sides of the fence. You don't know where anybody stands.

As far as scariness, when the lights go out you're waiting to hear the helicopter. You're wondering where it's at. We feel as if we liver in a war zone. I mean, our families they don't want to come visit us here any more. They would like us to move.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: And black folks say they feel the same way. They feel like they live in a war zone. Some of the communities here feel as though they are targeted as well. So you are hearing this sort of simmering tension not just between police and residents but between residents and other residents. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Sara Sidner. Thanks so much, in Ferguson.

Overseas now, in Syria, there is new fighting today along the border with Turkey. ISIS forces were pushed back from the town of Kabani (ph) by Kurdish forces but ISIS fighters have now mounted a counter offensive and are pushing back towards the town. CNN's Arwa Damon explains why this is a strategically important location.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: At one point the only position that the Kurds had preventing ISIS from entering the town of Kabani (ph) to the west was that hill top. But then we saw them using artillery, 50 caliber machine guns to drive ISIS fighters back, managing to gain another strategic hill top in the process.

ISIS moved in to this area of Syria well over a week ago, very rapidly taking over dozens of villages and towns and sending around 200,000 people fleeing for their lives into Turkey. Kabani (ph) was and still is the last town standing.

Ever since the fighting broke out this close to the Turkish border, these various hill tips have been filled with spectators watching the battle unfold in front of them. The Kurds managed to regain strategic territory by pushing ISIS off of the hill top that ISIS used to control farther into the distance. We can barely see them from where we are, but those three villages, they are still under ISIS control and they are coming under sporadic small arm, heavy machine gun and artillery fire.

Despite the fact that the Kurds at least at this front line did manage to push ISIS back. They are still calling for additional support. They want those coalition aircraft to come and strike at this various targets because Kabani (ph) still remains a city under siege, the last town standing in this part of north western Syria that has not fallen to ISIS. But at this stage without additional support it is unclear how long this Kurdish fighting force can keep ISIS at bay.

Arwa Damon, CNN, along the Turkey-Syria border.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: So how much of a threat is ISIS along the Turkish-Syrian border? Let me bring in now CNN military analyst, Lt. Col. Mark Hertling. He is a former commanding general in the U.S. Army and joins me now from Orlando. All right. So CNN spoke to an official in the town of Kabani (ph) a short time ago and he said this, "We need help. We need weapons. We need more effective air strikes." How soon might they be able to get that kind of help?

LT. COL. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Fredricka, this is just like many of the other towns that have been overtaken by ISIS. It happens to be the one where the media is right now, the ones that is showing the strategic conflict between ISIS and the Kurdish forces in Syria. You know in this kind of an event, again, the strikes that have gone into Syria thus far have been strategic air strikes on predetermined target. It's relatively easy to do those when compared to combat air patrols over two forces that are engaged in battle. It's a whole lot tougher to strike an enemy force when they're in contact with the Kurds.

WHITFIELD: And is too much being expected, you know, from these coalition air strikes, for example, in bringing in some sort of assistance?

HERTLING: Yes, absolutely. And I'm glad you asked that, Fred. You know, we have been at this for a just little bit more than a week. There have been an air campaign ongoing in Iraq, supporting ground forces of both the Iraqi security forces and the Pashmir in the north. But the strikes in Syria are on precision targets. Predetermined targets, the ones that the president approved, that General Austin gave him.

So I think it's a little bit too early to start saying "Hey we have got to get aircraft over the battlefield, supporting the Kurds in this territory edge (ph)." As much as they would like them there right now it's part of the long war and the new normal in this area. I think there's got to be a lot more resolution in Syria before any kind of strikes can go against enemy forces.

WHITFIELD: So that has been a consistent message across the board. This is going to be a long drawn out battle or war. But then help people understand what are the levels of expectations, the phases of expectations? I know it's complicated right now but what should be expected and when?

HERTLING: Listening to your great program today, and the number of times you had a lot of experts talking about strategy and what we should do next, I mean strategy bubbles in a pot. There has to be a little bit of time to let things develop. And we can't do strategy by the media with a bunch of different voices saying "hey, we need to do this. We need to do this first."

The president has laid out a campaign plan. It consists of an element in Iraq and an element in Syria. And as much as people would like to move forces around the battlefield and strike targets that happen to be at the forefront or on the daily news blast it doesn't happen that way. This will be as so many people have said, a long fight. It takes time for that stew to boil and to get the right thing. If we expect things in the next few weeks or even the next few months to be accomplished, we're just trying to fight the forces back and blunt ISIS so we can go after them in different ways in the future.

WHITFIELD: All right. Mark Hertling, thank you so much. Good to see you.

HERTLING: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And a third day of cancellations, more than 600 flights in and out of Chicago are grounded. What is the impact on travel across the U.S.?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Thousands of passengers across the country are still trying to get home after more delays and cancellations at Chicago's O'Hare and Midway Airports. The airlines have been scrambling since Friday after a worker allegedly tried to destroy the FAA's Chicago Control Center with fire.

CNN's Nick Valencia is at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. So Nick, what more do we know about how flights are being impacted across the country as a result of what's happening in Chicago?

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. I just got off the phone with the communications director for the airport here in Atlanta and he tells me things are running smoothly here just sort of typical Sunday travel day but that's not the case for those flying out of Chicago.

You look at Midway International, you look at O'Hare International and you have more than 600 flights still cancelled after that control center was allegedly sabotaged by one of its own workers. You're looking at delays between 30 and 40 minutes. That is significantly better from what we saw on Friday, with the height of the chaos had more than 2,000 flights stranded and hours long delays. So there is good news as the FAA and the airports there in Chicago continue their progress to try to get things back on track. Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. So Nick, we hear that it could take weeks before they get all the parts they need or fix the problem. That's not very comforting for a lot of travelers is it?

VALENCIA: No, that's not very comforting for a lot of travelers. And you see here although it's not being affected here in Atlanta, there are some travelers showing up incredulous. Is this going to impact my flight? I spoke to one traveler earlier who thought the problems in Chicago were impacting his flight turned out to be another reason.

But we did speak to the FAA earlier. We're waiting for a new statement. They released one overnight. I want to read part of that here for our viewers saying "After inspecting the damaged equipment at the Chicago Enroute Center, the FAA has decided to completely replace the central communications network in a different part of the same building to restore the system as quickly as possible." That control center just outside of Chicago. Very critical and instrumental in controlling flights on time throughout the nation.

So even still today, we saw thousands of passengers stranded, stuck in long lines. Again, that's not the case here in Atlanta, if you are watching us inside this airport, you're going to be on time. Things are running smoothly. But in Chicago you got the 600 flights, Fred, still cancelled, creating a headache. And as you mentioned, it could take weeks. But we just don't know - the truth is we just don't know when things will get back to normal there.

WHITFIELD: And then what about for this worker who is now facing charges of intentionally setting a fire?

VALENCIA: Yes, Brian Howard, we know that he worked there at that control center in Aurora, Illinois for about eight years and he had recently been given a notice that he was going to get transferred to Hawaii. We don't know how much that played in his part for his alleged sabotage. He tried to take his own life as well as setting that control center on fire. We do know though that he is facing 20 years if convicted. No court date set just yet. But we'll keep an eye on it, Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. Nick Valencia, thanks so much. There in Atlanta.

So what is the long term impact at the FAA's control center in Chicago as this investigation continues to play out? I think we have with us aviation analyst, Miles O'Brien with us, an FAA certified pilot and joining us from our Boston bureau. Good to see you. OK. This was a pretty unsettling moment on Friday, losing a big air traffic control center certainly affects more than just Chicago, doesn't it?

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: Especially when it's Chicago or Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. Number one and number two on the list as far as busy hubs in this country. The good news is it happened at about 6:00 in the morning. If it had been right in the middle of what they call the push, the rush hour for airplanes, this could have been much worse. Or imagine if it had been really bad weather or thunderstorms, any number of scenarios. So there were some things that were actually some silver linings in all of this in the way that it all played out and lets remember that everything was safe, nobody got hurt through all this. There were a lot of people inconvenienced and that's a problem.

WHITFIELD: So what are the security implications of what happened? That have happened, that it allegedly involved a worker there. Does this kind reveal some vulnerabilities that have been overlooked or it's just an anomaly?

O'BRIEN: Well, it doesn't happen everyday certainly but it does point out a couple of things. First of all, the FAA will probably be rethinking its internal security for its contractors that have access to sensitive equipment rooms just like this. But the other thing that it points out, Fredricka, is the system is not as redundant as it can and should be. We're talking about technology that was state of the art in 1951, essentially. The air traffic control system has been very slow to modernize.

Just this past week the Inspector General, the Department of Transportation released a report on one of the key modernization components of what they call next generation, next gen for the FAA. And it's really, the whole roll out has been bungled and it's taken decades to get this thing going and we're still waiting for next generation which would give us satellite capability for air traffic control.

WHITFIELD: I don't know, is archaic the wrong word to use then with some of these equipment?

O'BRIEN: That's a good word.

WHITFIELD: OK. If that's the case is that what's explaining why it will take so long - weeks perhaps to repair.

O'BRIEN: Well, perhaps some of it is just finding the right parts that match this old system but it is a system that really works these controllers, pull it off kind of in spite of the technology not because of it. It's kind of heroic what they do. They're doing 10 lbs of work in a five lb. bag and it's high time that Congress properly fund this next generation technology. The FAA get busy with it, the airlines stop balking about putting all the equipment on their airplanes to make it work. It would provide many more layers of redundancy and capability if something like this happened.

WHITFIELD: And then, you know, that you would have this happen at a major airport of Chicago. What kind of signal is being sent now to control centers at other major airports? Is it time to start revamping? Looking at their vulnerabilities, is that happening likely?

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, they are doing a great job sort of picking up for each other. Indianapolis Center is doing a lot of work to pick up for what Chicago Center should have done. South Bend approach, which is another layer of approach control is helping out as well. The system does have a lot of resiliency that happens in spite of the fact that it's really old technology. But it's time to start moving this into a new era where we're not relying on spinning radars, we're relying on orbiting satellites instead, which give much greater precision, put a lot of collision avoidance capability right in the cockpit.

You know, we should point out that the collision avoidance systems that are on aircraft now might have very well saved the day during this whole event as things are playing out. It's a good thing we had that capability.

WHITFIELD: All right. Good to know. Miles O'Brien, good to see you. Thanks so much.

O'BRIEN: Pleasure, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Protests erupt in violence in Hong Kong. We'll tell you why tens of thousands of people filled the streets.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Dozens of people in Hong Kong have been injured after pro- democracy protests turned violent. It started out as a peaceful demonstration and was met with batons and tear gas by police. It follows a week of boycotts by students. They want the Chinese government to rescind a decision to allow only candidates chosen by Beijing to run in Hong Kong elections. Hong Kong's leaders have called on the protesters to simply go home.

CNN's Ivan Watson is right in the middle of the demonstrations there with the gas masks.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): You can see the demonstrators clashing. They have continued with the tactics of civil disobedience trying to stand in the way, why police aren't using force but they are vastly outnumbered. Look at this.

(INAUDIBLE)

This is very tense situation as the demonstrators I estimate tens of thousands of them have blocked off the central artery through Hong Kong as part of the pro-democracy protests and they're pleading on their hands and knees. And you can see trying not to use force on the demonstrators. The university students, teenagers who boycotted classes for the week to protest against new election regulations. As their leaders were arrested in the dozens by police on Friday, the tear gas now going to be enveloped in tear gas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Wow. Ivan Watson in the middle of it all there in Hong Kong.

Straight ahead, President Obama said the U.S. intelligence community underestimated the threat of ISIS. We'll discuss it in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Charges are expected to be filed tomorrow against Aldin Alexander Nolan, the suspect in a gruesome killing near Oklahoma City. Police say Nolan beheaded a co-worker and wounded another before being shot by a company executive. The attack happened just after Nolan had been fired. The FBI is investigating after co-workers told authorities Nolan tried to convert them to Islam. The suspect remained hospitalize. Police interviewed him yesterday after he regained consciousness.

An investigator say the search for missing University of Virginia student Hannah Graham could be extended all the way to Texas. The suspect in her disappearance Jessie Matthew was arrested in Texas and then returned to Virginia. Matthew is believed to be the last person to have seen Graham before she vanished two weeks ago.

And the newest member of the Clinton family is only two days old now, but she's already a social media star. Chelsea Clinton and her husband, Mark Mezvinsky welcomed their daughter, Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky, into the world on Friday. When they shared their first family photo on Facebook, well, it received nearly 170,000 likes and nearly 10,000 comments.

At the Ryder Cup, no miracle come back for the United States. Now even with those bright red pants. Two years ago, the Europeans overcame a 10-6 deficit to win on the final day. This year it was the U.S. trailing 10-6 before today's final match play in Scotland.

But the Europeans prevailed easily by five points to take their third straight Ryder Cup. And now to the ongoing airstrikes on ISIS in both Syria and Iraq as the coalition works to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIS, questions remain how did the terror group grow so big so fast?

In an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes," President Obama admits the U.S. intelligence community under estimated the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think our heads of the intelligence community, Jim Clapper, has acknowledged that I think they under estimated what had been taking place in Syria.

Essentially what happened with ISIL was that you had al Qaeda and Iraq, which was a vicious group, but our Marines were able to quash with the help of Sunni tribes.

They went back underground, but under the past couple of years, during the chaos where essentially you have huge swaths of the country that are completely ungoverned. They were able to reconstitute themselves and take advantage of that chaos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Erin McPike joining me now from the White House. So Erin, what is the White House saying about the early coalition effort does thus far against ISIS? ERIN MCPIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fred, so far what we are hearing from the administration is that they are pleased with how progress is making way in Iraq and they are urging patients in Syria in part because some of the airstrikes we have seen over the last two days were near civilians areas and took a lot of planning, but they had been planning for a long time.

But they are especially urging patience with respect to Syria because of what you have just played. President Obama in that interview essentially saying that there was a Middle Eastern country that had descended into chaos.

That a terrorist group took advantage of that and that is the context for him to battle terrorism going forward. I want to play more of that interview for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is one of the challenges that we are going to have generally is where you've got states that are failing or in the midst of civil war, these kinds of organizations thrive. That's why it's so important for us to recognize part of our solution here is going be military.

We just have to push them back and shrink their space and go after their command and control and their capacity and their weapons and fuelling and cut off their financing and work to eliminate the flow of foreign fighters. But we also have to come up with political solutions in Iraq and Syria in particular but in the Middle East as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCPIKE: But this idea that al Qaeda was able to reconstitute itself as ISIS in Syria by taking advantage of chaos in Syria, what is to say that that can't happen again and especially after airstrikes and other efforts that are underway in Syria now -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Erin McPike, thank you so much. Tracking a fugitive, Pennsylvania authorities maybe closing in on an alleged cop killer hiding in the woods. What strategies are they using to find him? A master tracker gives us a lesson next.

But first, actor, Seth Rogen is using his comedy skills to raise money for a cause that is near to his heart. Here is Chris Cuomo with his very personal story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS CUOMO, CNN ANCHOR, "NEW DAY" (voice-over): When Seth Rogen's mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer's, he and his wife, Lauren, struggle to find hope.

SETH ROGEN, ACTOR: The more it was affecting us, the more we learn about it, you realize there is no treatment of any sort at all that could do anything to slow the progression of the disease. CUOMO: Out of their frustration, "Hilarity For Charity" was born. An event where star comedians tell jokes, raise money and shine a light on Alzheimer's disease.

ROGEN: The only thing we know is kind of comedy and the people we have access to are comedians and that's a stuff we like to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You combine the caramel, sugar in a bowl. Take off all of your clothes and look at yourself in the mirror.

LAUREN MILLER, SETH ROGEN'S WIFE: Our main focus is to raise awareness of Alzheimer's among young people.

ROGEN: The idea of trying to provide caretakers for people who just can't afford them is something that we want to do with the money that our charity raises.

CUOMO: Whether it's a trip to Capitol Hill or an evening telling jokes, for the Rogens the message is the same. Alzheimer's can affect everyone.

ROGEN: I don't think people understand that it's not their grandparents being affected, it's their parents being affected and soon enough it's them being affected.

MILLER: The rate at which Alzheimer's is growing, it will come for us if we don't go after it. We have to be the answer to that problem. If we don't come together to do it then it is really coming for us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Just a reminder, Anthony's Bourdain's "PARTS UNKNOWN," the new season premiering tonight 9:00 right here on CNN. Anthony takes us on quite the adventure to Shanghai. Tune in tonight.

All right, now let's go to Pennsylvania where police say they have evidence that a fugitive survivalist had planned his attack on troopers for years. Erin Frein is still on the run, two weeks after that ambush that left one state trooper dead and another injured.

Police believe Frein is hiding in a three square mile area in the dense woods of the Pocono Mountains. But just how did they track him to those woods. CNN's Gary Tuchman got a lesson on that from one of the best trackers in the game.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are hundreds of thousands of acres in the wilderness of the (inaudible) National Forest in North Carolina and places like this are where fugitives often gravitate. Patrick Paton knows that firsthand.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be a master tracker, you have to really enjoy the woods and it has to be in your blood. TUCHMAN: Paton was the lead tracker in the ultimately successful five- year search for Eric Rudolph, the so-called Atlanta Olympic Park bomber. Rudolph was found right in this area and Paton returns here with us to give us a tracking lesson. Footprints have been left for us. Our pretend fugitive is a size 11 to 12 shoe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stride that we teach is measured from the toe of one shoe to the heel of the other shoe. This is approximately 20.5 inches.

TUCHMAN: You follow footprints as long as you can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See how fresh it looks? Here is your disturbance right in here.

TUCHMAN: A tracker could even tell when the bad guy is getting weary and maybe easier to catch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can see here the fugitive looks like they may be getting tired and starting to drag their foot.

TUCHMAN: Figuring out the stride keeps you going in the right direction even when the prints start to fade.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's our right. Where is the left going to be? 18 to 21 inches. What do you think it is? Do you like it right there? I'll buy that. This is the next right.

TUCHMAN (on camera): Yep. Next left here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very good. So you're finding it.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): When prints disappear, there are many other things to look for, disrupted vegetation, rocks, litter, are all telling clues known as signs.

(on camera): The signs that are found on a tracking mission are rarely dramatic instead they are like pieces of a puzzle. This is truly a science.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See that leaf right here? How it's turned up? Is that the normal of everything else around here?

TUCHMAN: No, it's different.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's probably our fugitive right there.

TUCHMAN (voice-over): Even branches could give a fugitive away.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is not where it's supposed to be. That's where it's supposed to be. It hangs like that. But when I walk through it, it sticks back like that.

TUCHMAN (on camera): On the other side of the tree.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That confirms everything else you know. TUCHMAN (voice-over): Ultimately, the trail takes us down to the river.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that a right or a left?

TUCHMAN (on camera): Left. And it makes sense because why would he go for a walk in the water if he doesn't have to, right.

(voice-over): Our trail goes cold, which is what trackers deal with all the time. But even on a cold trail, trackers can never be too vigilant on searching for dangerous criminals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So here we are, Gary, and it looks like we have lost our fugitive. We used a hand signal like this because we don't want to make noise. Stealth is our ally.

TUCHMAN: It can be a long tedious process. Something a tracker must be willing to deal with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Patient is truly a virtue for a tracker.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And fighting ISIS by sea, we will take you aboard the USS war ship that launched some of the coalition's first strikes. But first a mother is helping other moms who know all too well how expensive a new baby can be. Meet CNN Hero, Brigitte Cutler.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love being a mom. It's a most rewarding thing I've ever experienced. On the flip side, the financial burden of having a child is just tremendous. So many people have such an abundance, and so many others strive to afford even the basics. Who wants to water?

I remember reading an article and it was about a mother who decided to give her child up for adoption because she couldn't stand to hear her crying from hunger. I just thought that no mother should ever be faced with that choice. That was when I decided that I need to do something.

I started to collect excess baby gear and that was when this was born. Boys' clothes are to the left. Girls on the right. We like to call them shopping days because they're essentially shopping. They're just not paying anything for them.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every child deserves a fair start. And if what we're doing helps bridge the gap between people from different backgrounds, even in a small way, then it's definitely worth all the hard work.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. Turning back to the global fight against the extremist militant group, ISIS, the U.S.-led coalition is carrying out airstrikes in Northern Syria this weekend. Many of those attacks begin and end at sea.

CNN's Becky Anderson boarded the "USS George H.W. Bush" in the Persian Gulf to get a firsthand look at the U.S.-led coalition's mission in action.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Sunrise over the deck of the "USS George H.W. Bush." On board, the crew of this 90,000 tons of U.S. national sovereignty prepare for the day's critical missions.

(on camera): Some 5,000 people employed on this ship tending to around about 60 jets and it was these jets on August 6 that dropped the first bombs on Iraq in this latest conflict against ISIS.

(voice-over): In June, midway through a nine-month tour this $6 billion military asset was redeployed to the Persian Gulf where it's now a key component in operations against ISIS. Captain Dan Cheever, a 20-year Navy veteran and a fighter pilot himself oversees the ship's strike planes.

CAPT. DAN CHEEVER, USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH: So the mission is to project power from the carrier over both Iraq and Syria to defeat the terrorist enemy.

ANDERSON: The USS George H.W. Bush is the flagship of carrier strike group two, which also includes five destroyers and a cruiser, all under the command of Rear Admiral DeWolfe C. Miller.

(on camera): Chuck Hagel has said that air power alone will not degrade and destroy ISIS. Do you agree?

REAR ADMIRAL DEWOLFE MILLER: Good question. My focus is on that air power. Are we being effective in how we do it? I will tell you that we have seen great effect on the ground in Iraq when working with the Iraqi security forces. This isn't going be measured in weeks and months. This is going to be years. I do agree with Secretary Hagel that it will take a combination of forces on the ground and air power to achieve that.

ANDERSON (voice-over): To stand on the bridge of this 4-1/2 carrier is to understand the enormity of the task required of a naval captain.

(on camera): This is the size, I believe, of the Empire State. It has some 5,000 staffs, many of whom are young men and women living on this ship together for months at a time. You have got millions of tons of fuel and more. What keep you awake at night?

CAPT. ANDREW LOISELLE, COMMANDING OFFICER, USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH: Absolutely it does. I'm on duty 24/7.

ANDERSON (voice-over): My time brings no respite from the noise and punishing work. These planes are returning from another mission. The sun set over the gulf hours ago. A days' job is never done for these men and women of the U.S. Navy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Becky Anderson reporting. Aircraft is taking off from that USS George H.W. Bush as often as every 55 seconds.

All right, dozens are feared dead or buried alive after a volcano erupts in Japan and now scientists are warning it could explode again.

And don't forget the premiere episode of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING." It airs tonight 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

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WHITFIELD: OK. Quick baseball note for you right now, a milestone for the Washington Nationals on the last day of their regular season. Take a look. All right! That miraculous diving catch, it preserved a no- hitter for pitcher, Jordan Zimmerman. It was the first no hitter for the team since they moved to Washington nine years ago. Go Nationals go. They are excited. What a great moment.

All right, now on to Japan, the bodies of four men have been carried to the bottom of a volcano that suddenly erupted. At least 31 people are presumed dead at the Mount Ontake. Dozens more may be trapped or buried underneath the ash, but officials have no idea exactly how many people are missing or where they might be. CNN's Will Ripley has the story from the base of the volcano.

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One by one, they are carried off the mountain. More than 30 people with no pulse, in a state of cardiac arrest, all of them near the summit when the mountain erupted.

Home video shows a giant plume of gas and ash surrounding and blinding these hikers in seconds. Security cameras captured Mount Ontake rumbling to life Saturday. Its first major eruption in 35 years.

More than 200 climbers came to Japan's second highest volcano for the peak of autumn viewing. So many people were near the summit, says this hiker. Everyone started running, but some were hurt and couldn't move.

The volcano's rising plume is disrupting air travel. Volcanic ash is raining down hundreds of rescuers below. They face danger from nearly continuous seismic activity and the looming threat of another big eruption possible in the coming days.

Please help us says (inaudible) Tokoro, his son and his girlfriend reached the summit just minutes before noon Saturday, just when Ontake blew its top. Both are still missing. Now Tokoro sits on the floor this evacuation center waiting.

All I can do is beg for your help to get us information, he says. Please. As each hour passes, desperation grows. Families are waiting for word on their loved ones who were dangerously close to a sweeping volcano that suddenly woke up. Will Ripley, CNN, Mount Ontake, Japan.

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WHITFIELD: And violent storms hit Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport this weekend, shutting it down for an hour. Parts of the roof were blown right off and some passengers had to wait out the wind, thunder and lighting in the planes on the tarmac.

The Phoenix Fire Department reported that during the storm emergency crews received more than 70 weather related emergency calls about traffic accidents and downed power lines and trees.

All right, thanks so much for spending your Sunday with us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now with Poppy Harlow in New York.