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Lake Tahoe Wildfire; Pregnant Woman Killed; Dozens Killed, Wounded in Baghdad Hotel Bombing

Aired June 25, 2007 - 09:00   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Tony Harris.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm Heidi Collins.

Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on Monday morning. It's June 25th.

Here's what's on the rundown.

In the line of fire. Hundreds of homes near Lake Tahoe in jeopardy this hour. A fast-moving wildfire already destroyed 220 homes and other buildings.

HARRIS: This hotel attack one of several suicide bombings that hit Iraq today. The surge of violence killing dozens of people.

COLLINS: Ohio police officer Bobby Cutts facing arraignment today. Authorities say he killed girlfriend Jessie Davis and their unborn child. A friend also in court.

Murder investigation, in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: At the top this hour, an intense battle against a raging wildfire happening right now near Lake Tahoe, California. Dozens of homes and other buildings burned to the ground. Hundreds more threatened. At least 1,000 people have fled the flames.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is with us live from Meyers, California.

And Ted, if you would, describe the scene around you. Just about -- we can see first light.

RED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I'll tell you, the scene is devastating. The destruction that this fire caused in this area is unbelievable.

Home after home completely leveled. It is very, very depressing to see this and to know that the people that left here hoping that they would come back to something are going to come back to find virtually nothing.

You see behind us here a house that is just burning to the ground here. It has been burning all morning long. Firefighters just monitoring it, not much they can do.

You go across the street, same thing. Another house completely leveled down to the ground. And firefighters around that one, too.

What they're trying to do is just make sure that these homes which are basically hot spots don't ignite any more fires. You turn around and look on this side of the street, same story. Just complete devastation.

Just look at this house. Everything completely leveled.

Two thousand acres in all have been leveled in this area. Just about five miles away from south Lake Tahoe is where we are right now. And the head of the fire is heading towards south Lake Tahoe.

The good news is that Mother Nature is helping out. And now that it's first light, we expect the aerial attack on this fire to begin in earnest. That's something they could not do yesterday when the winds were in excess of 35 miles per hour. It brought this fire roaring through this area of homes, a lot of vacation homes and permanent residences, too. People were literally evacuating on foot.

Some people had an opportunity to gather some things in their vehicles. Others just left because they just simply did not have time.

Firefighters are hoping that they will get the upper hand sooner than later. It's only about five percent contained at this hour. But that could change once they start flying the planes and the helicopters and they can hit the front end of this.

Five hundred homes still in jeopardy. More than a thousand people evacuated. Fingers crossed that firefighters can make some headway today -- Tony.

HARRIS: And Ted, maybe you just answered this question. Maybe it's going to be the aerial assault, and perhaps firefighters being able to move more aggressively on the fire today. But I'm wondering -- I've heard numbers of an additional 500 homes in the fire's path.

Any hope for those houses?

ROWLANDS: Yes, sure. There's a lot of hope for those houses because of the change in the weather conditions.

You can see the smoke just going up from this house. That means that the wind obviously is not gusting like it was yesterday.

The firestorm that erupted yesterday was basically because of not only the dry conditions here, but the wind. And the big key here is the wind.

If the wind stays the way it is now -- of course it's going to fluctuate throughout the day -- it will give firefighters an opportunity to make some headway and, more importantly, save those homes so those homeowners don't have the horrific results that all of these folks are going to have to deal with here. It is a mess and it is very depressing.

HARRIS: CNN's Ted Rowlands for us in Meyers, California.

Ted, thank you.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: In southern Kentucky, a stomach-churning accident scene. At least one person dead, and The Associated Press now reporting 66 injured in a crash east of Bowling Green. It is on Interstate 65.

The bus slammed into the abutment of a concrete overpass, but it is not clear why. The charter company that owns the bus says it was rented by a family. They were returning from Alabama to Buffalo, New York, from a reunion there.

COLLINS: An Ohio police officer in court today facing murder charges in the case of that pregnant mother. The body of Jessie Davis found over the weekend. Boyfriend Bobby Cutts and another person under arrest.

Our Jim Acosta is on the case in Canton, Ohio.

Jim, tell us a little bit more, if you could, about that second arrest now.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, that arrest happened yesterday. And both Cutts and his associate, Myisha Ferrell, are scheduled to appear in court for an initial court appearance, is what they call it, at 3:00 this afternoon.

As I just mentioned, Myisha Ferrell's arrest, word of that arrest, came late in the day yesterday after authorities searched her home over the weekend. Authorities used a battering ram and had search warrants with them as they entered her apartment here in Canton, Ohio.

A neighbor who witnessed this search and overheard much of what investigators were talking about during that search told CNN that investigators were on the lookout for a comforter in that home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUSTIN LINDSTROM, NEIGHBOR: While they were here, the sheriffs were specifically asking about the comforter they found in my laundry in the basement. I mean, it was my comforter and all, but at the same time, you know, it doesn't take a genius to put that together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Genius, because a comforter went missing from the home of Jessie Davis around the time that she disappeared. And ever since her disappearance was noticed by her family members, police have been looking for that comforter.

It is part of the reason why authorities think and the family thinks that -- that little boy, that 2-year-old boy, Blake, who was left home alone after Jessie Davis disappeared from her house, kept saying, "Mommy's in the rug. Mommy's in the rug," mistaking a comforter for an oriental rug.

Now, one thing that we can also tell you is that the medical examiner in Summit County -- that is the county just to the north of here -- did confirm yesterday that the body that was discovered in an area, a wooded area next to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, is that of Jessie Davis. She was found carrying her unborn child. And Bobby Cutts, Jr., as you mentioned, is facing two counts of murder, one for the death of Jessie Davis, the other for her unborn child, possibly his unborn child -- Heidi.

COLLINS: It's such a sad story.

Jim, do we have any idea about the cause of death yet?

ACOSTA: We don't, and that's the big question right now. That is the big key piece of information that we just don't have at this point. And that will be coming out as part of this autopsy that is being performed by the Summit County medical examiner.

And one thing that we have heard in various reports about this case is that because Jessie Davis' body was out there for several days during days of intense heat here in Canton, Ohio, that her body -- and this is grim to talk about, obviously -- but was badly decomposed. And that may be complicating just the determination as to what the cause of death might be.

So, it's uncertain when we'll get that information.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we will check back with you should anything change there.

Jim Acosta, thanks so much.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A day of extraordinary violence in Iraq. Almost 200 people dead and wounded.

Suicide bombings across the country. One attack inside a Baghdad hotel. It was hosting tribal leaders striving for national unity.

CNN's Hala Gorani is in the Iraqi capital now.

Hala, tell us more about who was inside the hotel at the time.

HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, and this was supposed to be one of the -- if it's possible -- that is, possible at all in Baghdad -- one of the most secure buildings in the Iraqi capital. A suicide bomber was able to get through several layers of security, walk into the hotel lobby of the Mansour Hotel in downtown Baghdad, just a few hundred yards from the Green Zone, and detonate himself, killing at least 12 people and injuring dozens of others.

Now, this hotel, the Mansour, houses Western organizations. It also houses the Chinese Embassy. But today in particular, it was the venue for a tribal conference of sheikhs, of tribal sheikh leaders of Anbar Province, west of Baghdad.

Now, seven of those sheikhs, CNN has been able to confirm, have been killed in this attack, two bodyguards as well. An anchor for the state-run Iraqiya Television was killed in this attack as well. So, add that to the list off journalists who have lost their lives in this war.

Now, what is interesting potentially about this attack, as you see the pictures of the aftermath of the suicide bombings, is that these tribal leaders, many of those who attended this conference, had allied themselves with the United States coalition forces and Iraqi government forces to combat al Qaeda in Anbar Province. So, the finger is now being pointed by some at al Qaeda.

What is interesting is that this would therefore not make it a random attack against a target that is associated with Western interests, but a pinpointed attack against these tribal sheikhs who have formed alliances and who are cooperating with coalition forces -- Heidi.

COLLINS: And on top of that, hearing that it's supposed to be one of the most secure places, as we look at this video now, Hala. It is very upsetting.

Also, there was a U.S. soldier that was killed today. Can you tell us more about what happened there?

GORANI: Indeed, there was. Today, we understand one U.S. soldier was killed in a small arms fire attack in Baghdad. But you must add that really to the toll that we were able to put together for Saturday.

Twelve American soldiers died on Saturday, 10 in combat operations. This brings the total for June to 83, as the U.S. continues its strategy of troop increase across several provinces in Iraq -- Heidi.

COLLINS: CNN's Hala Gorani reporting live this morning from Baghdad.

Hala, thank you.

HARRIS: Can a pair of pants possibly be worth $54 million? Outrageous, some say. A court is set to have the last say. The decision right here.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ali Velshi in New York, "Minding Your Business".

Well, if you've got $50 million, you might want to think about donating it to charity, because Americans are some of the most charitable people in the world.

I'll have that for you when we come back in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's take you back out now to Lake Tahoe, California. First light. We are getting a good look at the devastation.

In all, some 220 homes destroyed, burned to the ground in many cases as the wind-whipped flames raced through the area. The winds have died down considerably so far today.

In all, more than 2,000 acres just southwest of Lake Tahoe burned. We're paying particular attention to Meyers, California.

At last check, the fire was less than five percent contained. A lieutenant for the El Dorado County Sheriff's Office says this thing is raging out of control.

There are a total of some 500 homes in the fire's path. An emergency declaration has been issued.

We'll get more information on the fire and the efforts of firefighters in a news conference scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time. We'll bring you portions of it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: Can't wait a hear this one. A verdict expected today in the $54 million pants lawsuit. Come on, admit it, you've been wanting to know, too.

D.C. administrative law Judge Roy Pearson claims his dry cleaner lost an expensive pair of pants. He alleges fraud, saying the cleaner did not live up to promises of satisfaction guaranteed.

He also wants money for pain and suffering, and for legal bills. Though he is representing himself. He's expensive.

HARRIS: Fifty-four million -- OK.

It is the gift of giving, and Americans give more to charity than just about anyone else. Not surprising, is it? That's according to a new study. Last year, Americans donated almost $300 billion to charity, a new record.

Ali Velshi is here "Minding Your Business".

No surprise that we give. We're generous. We're a generous people. But look at that number.

VELSHI: Yes.

HARRIS: Three hundred billion, Ali?

VELSHI: This is one of those things that I like to remind people of whenever we can.

HARRIS: Yes.

VELSHI: Americans really are very generous when it comes to giving.

Two hundred and ninety-five billion dollars in 2006, which topped 2005, which was also a record year, partially because of the hurricanes in the Gulf, but partially because of the tsunami. So Americans give here in the United States. They also give overseas.

Three-quarters of all of that money is donated, Tony, by individuals, which I think is a fascinating thing. Sixty-five percent of people with incomes under $100,000 do donate to charity.

Now, let's just look at who gets most of this. The biggest recipient is religious organizations. But remember, Tony, that a lot of religious organizations are also vehicles for charity work.

HARRIS: That's right.

VELSHI: And education is the second biggest. But, you know, we give to all sorts of things. And as a percentage of our GDP, of our entire economy, Americans give -- Americans are right at the top of the list, and they give way more than even the second closest, which is Great Britain.

So I think that's -- you know, that's some really interesting -- interesting and good stuff to know about.

HARRIS: Yes, it is. Is it true that charitable giving sort of tracks the health of the economy?

VELSHI: Yes, it does. In fact, there's sort of a rough formula that says the increase in charitable giving from one year over the previous year is about a third of the increase in the stock market.

So, if you look at last year, the stock market was up about 10 percent. Charitable giving was up about 3.3 percent. So it actually -- as people are feeling healthier about things all around, they give more.

The other thing to remember is, remember that people budget pretty tightly. So when there's an increase in their wealth, they then have a little more freedom to give to things that aren't their energy bill or their food bill or their mortgage payment.

So, it's a good thing to find out that when people get a windfall, they actually share that. So, if that dude gets his money for the trousers, cough it up.

HARRIS: Full circle. Tie it together. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning.

Ali, thanks.

VELSHI: See you, my friend.

COLLINS: Fire raging near Lake Tahoe this hour. Hundreds of homes burned, hundred more in jeopardy.

See all the morning's developments and some new pictures, too. Those shots are coming to us live now from KCRA.

HARRIS: Mobile homes on the move. Thousands of FEMA trailers are now being put to good use far away from the Gulf Coast. We will tell you where they're headed.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: High-tech cameras out in the desert. The government says they're looking for illegal immigrants, but some residents aren't so sure.

I'm Chris Lawrence, live in Arivaca, Arizona, with that story coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Coming up at the bottom of the hour. Welcome back, everyone, to the CNN NEWSROOM.

I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Good morning to you, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

Want to get straight to this story we've been following now for days, it seems, near Lake Tahoe, California. More than 1,000 people now on the run as a big wildfire spreads. The flame destroying more than 220 homes and other structures. Another 500 are threatened.

The battle an intense one, too. More than 600 firefighters on the front lines. The blaze has scorched at least 2,000 acres. It is no more than five percent contained.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We quickly want to go, actually, to Lake Tahoe, where they are having a press conference, and learn a little bit more about the situation as it stands.

Let's listen.

LT. KEVIN HOUSE, EL DORADO COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: ... is because some of them, they just said this entire street, all the homes were gone in this entire street and they didn't give us actual numbers. So we just have to estimate.

So we're giving a number of 220, but it could easily be a little bit more.

QUESTION: How can the community help out today if they feel a little helpless?

HOUSE: Yes. The question has to do with the community feeling helpless and whatnot. The best thing they can really do is stay home. Barton Hospital is actually saying they should keep the windows closed, try to stay out of this stuff as much as possible.

It's very congested. There's a lot of emergency personnel going on. The best thing they can do is just -- is stay home. If people want to help, you know, they have some needs at, you know, maybe at a shelter or something like that. But even that, we can only take so many people, and they're already very congested.

QUESTION: How widespread are the evacuations right now?

And do you think you'll have to do more?

HOUSE: Well, we're looking into that. And, again, it's going to depend on what -- what happens with the weather. We're trying to stay ahead of it and get into the areas where we're concerned that the fire is going to go. And then at that point we'll be able to make some determinations on whether or not more evacuations need to happen.

QUESTION: Can they be more aggressive in fighting this fire today?

HOUSE: Well, that's the whole plan. Yes, that's the plan, is to step up and be more aggressive with the air assault, as well as the ground crews that they have out there, you know, several hundreds of personal personnel out into the fields and, you know, they're just taking it one step at a time.

But the whole plan is to be -- is to be a lot more aggressive.

QUESTION: Is the air assault going to be coordinated at the airport? Are we going to see (INAUDIBLE) here today?

HOUSE: Well, actually, some already took off earlier this morning and they're just going to be coming in from wherever they're at and just going over the fire.

QUESTION: How many evacuations in total, people?

HOUSE: You know, it's -- it's really difficult for us to give you that estimate. We're -- we're putting out a number of somewhere in the vicinity of about 1,000. We know it's several hundred, but probably maximum of 1,000.

QUESTION: And, again, how many homes are directly threatened by the fire?

HOUSE: Well, again, it's all estimates. That's the best we can do. There's probably 500 homes -- somewhere in the vicinity of 500 homes. Some of these areas are kind of congested and then it's kind of opened up, and that's the concern that we have.

(CROSSTALK)

QUESTION: What kind of assistance for people who have lost their homes?

Any financial assistance? HOUSE: Well, yes. That -- we're in the process. Actually, that's part of what's happening down at the operations center here behind us and that has to do with -- with all the other funding and whatnot that comes with a disaster like this. They've already made the declarations and now it's a matter of, you know, government kind of getting involved and doing all the numbers things. It kind of gets out of our hands at that point.

QUESTION: When do you plan to launch the aerial assault today?

What time?

HOUSE: It's...

QUESTION: And you said nine helicopters are (INAUDIBLE)...

HOUSE: Yes. Yes. It's already -- it's actually already started. Yes, they're already -- they're already out and about. You'll see them over, you know, every once in a while, you'll hear them coming over and...

QUESTION: Nine helicopters. Any other aircraft?

HOUSE: Yes, I mean two -- two air tankers.

QUESTION: How's the mood in there with the firefighters who are coming out of the fire line?

HOUSE: Well, you know, it's -- that's one of the things -- I appreciate you asking that question. That's one of the things that people might take for granted, you know. These people that are out here working, there's a lot of stress and a lot of and things going on, not to mention that some of those firefighters, as well as the officers that are in the officer -- that are in the emergency center here, some of those people have homes of their own and they have family members that have lost homes. There's a -- there's a lot of emotion that goes on in there.

QUESTION: Twenty-five hundred acres is -- I mean we cover a lot of fires. That's not a huge fire by Western standards. But 220 homes?

HOUSE: Yes.

QUESTION: I mean how -- how big is that to this town?

HOUSE: Well, it's -- it's huge. As we reported last night, this is -- this is far and above the biggest disaster that's happened to this community, I don't know, probably in forever.

QUESTION: Can you characterize the communities that have been affected.

Are these like suburbs, vacation homes, what...

HOUSE: It's a little bit of both. There's a lot of people that live here year round and there's also -- a lot of the areas that we've talked about where there's, you know, vacation homes for people. And some of the -- some of the agencies are reporting receiving phone calls from, you know, from, you know, vacation spots, you know, Hawaii and places like that, because people, you know, have other homes here and they're just calling to check on the status of them.

QUESTION: Are there any injuries?

HOUSE: They've reported no injuries at this point.

QUESTION: Does that surprise you?

HOUSE: Well, it pleases me. It pleases all of us that that's the case and hopefully that -- hopefully that'll remain.

QUESTION: Anybody trapped in places where they can't move at this point? A trailer or...

HOUSE: Not that we're aware of. Some of the areas you can't even get into. But for the most part, we're not able to substantiate any injuries at this point.

QUESTION: Is there talk of setting up some sort of hot line for neighbors to call and find out if their neighborhood has been affected?

HOUSE: Yes, we're in the process of working on that. Hopefully when we come out in the next session here, hopefully they're going to have that information (INAUDIBLE).

QUESTION: Can you point to any reasons why 220 homes burned?

I mean is it a brush clearance problem?

What's going -- what happened that let it get so out of hand?

HOUSE: Well, I don't know if you would necessarily say out of hand. They just happened to be in the area. They just happened to be in line where -- where the fire was going. And it was, you know, it's a very, very hot, rapid burning fire. And it was just a very unfortunate thing.

QUESTION: Any confirmation on cause yet?

HOUSE: No. No.

OK.

QUESTION: All right, sir.

COLLINS: We have been listening in to Lieutenant Kevin House, coming to us from Lake Tahoe. Several questions -- good questions, too, one of them regarding why on earth 220 homes seemed to go up in flames so quickly. He said it was just unfortunate because it is such an incredibly hot and rapid moving fire. We've been hearing from Chad and from our Ted Rowlands, who's there on the scene, that that will change a little bit today in that the winds have died down.

He also mentioned, Lieutenant House, that they've already got planes up. They've got two air tankers and helicopters who are beginning the air assault today. They plan to be much more aggressive today, really going to step it up a bit, although he does explain that 1,000 people, he believes, roughly, have been evacuated and there could be more.

Still, as we reported earlier, about 500 homes still threatened. They've lost 220. At least 2,000 -- 2,500 or so -- acres have burned. Hopefully, they will have a chance to really get in there and change that whole scenario today. But at this point, still only 5 percent contained.

So we will continue to watch that story for you. South Lake Tahoe -- such a beautiful area, too. We'll watch it for you.

HARRIS: And this story we're watching, as well, this morning. In Southern Kentucky, a stomach churning accident scene. At least one person dead. And the Associated Press now reporting 66 people injured in that crash east of Bowling Green. It is on Interstate 65. The bus slammed into the abutment of a concrete overpass, but it is not clear why. The charter company that owns the bus says it was rented by family. They were returning to Alabama from a reunion in Buffalo, New York.

COLLINS: Border battle -- new cameras may be able to pick out immigrants miles away. But some people who live near the border feel the focus may be on them.

CNN's Chris Lawrence is in Arivaca, Arizona with this story -- so, Chris, people are starting to feel a little bit, what, like Big Brother watching?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It depends who you talk to, Heidi. You know, more illegal immigrants are arrested in this sector than any place else on the border. The government says those are the people that these cameras will be watching.

But some residents aren't so sure.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Ever get the feeling you're being watched?

Some folks in Arivaca, Arizona know it all too well

(on camera): Even from way out there, that camera can see all the way to your house?

MARY SCOTT, ARIVACA, ARIZONA RESIDENT:

Oh, yes. The technology experts say that these spy cameras could tell what book I was reading from here.

LAWRENCE: God.

SCOTT: It's amazing.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): Mary Scott was a Manhattan lawyer who moved here for privacy. She's a half mile from one of nine new towers designed to monitor the desert. They're part of a $70 million contract and rise almost 100 feet high, with radar and night vision -- a virtual fence that beams images back to Border Patrol stations. And they can tell what a person is wearing nine miles away.

Scott compares it to "The Truman Show," in which Jim Carey's entire life plays out in front of the camera.

(VIDEO CLIP FROM "THE TRUMAN SHOW," COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES)

SCOTT: We're "The Arivaca Show," you know? They're going to film us 24/7 and people we don't know sitting in rooms 75 miles away are going to be watching our lives pass before their eyes.

TOM KAY, ARIVACA, ARIZONA RESIDENT: That's an absolutely ridiculous statement, as far as I'm concerned.

LAWRENCE: Cattle rancher Tom Kay says the Border Patrol has enough on its plate, trying to stop thousands of people running across the border.

KAY: Why would they care what the people that live here are doing?

LAWRENCE: Kay has heard drug smugglers get into shootouts near his home.

KAY: If they stop let's say even 50 percent of it, or let's say 20 percent of it, they've done a hell of a job.

LAWRENCE: Mary Scott says something needs to be done to stop the illegal immigrants, just not here.

SCOTT: Put it to the south. Put it where people are, in fact, illegal migrants and drug smugglers, not citizens just trying to enjoy the world they've chosen to live in.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

LAWRENCE: The virtual fence was supposed to be operational this month, but glitches with the radar system have delayed it. That's important, because that Senate immigration bill hinges on whether the government can guarantee its ability to secure the border -- Heidi.

COLLINS: well, what kind of costs are we talking about here, then, Chris?

LAWRENCE: Well, the initial phase, you're talking about $70 million. And some people are upset because, you know, Boeing built it. And although they say they're urgently trying to fix the problems, they haven't set a target date as to when it will be operational.

And another problem people have is that earlier this month there was a hearing to update Congress on the status of the towers. There was no mention of any problems at that hearing. The day after the hearing is when they announced the delay.

COLLINS: Will there ever be any public hearings on that, where people of this town could actually go and tell their side of the story?

LAWRENCE: Well, technically there was. The residents here weren't too happy about it. Apparently they dropped off a pamphlet at the library and gave the residents about a day to figure out what was in it and to respond. The government says it was just an oversight, that they didn't mean to exclude Arivaca. But some of the residents here feel they just didn't get a fair shake in letting people know how they were going to feel about this.

COLLINS: Understood.

All right, CNN's Chris Lawrence, coming to us from Arizona this morning.

Chris, I'm sure we'll be watching this one as it develops.

Thank you.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

COLLINS: A new message from kidnapped BBC journalist Alan Johnston, held by militants. His plea and the new tape coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Snappy music means that it's time for us to talk about pod casting.

Are you -- sort of a personal question here first thing in the morning and all -- but are you pod casting yet?

It's the latest thing and the kids are all -- I'm sorry, Heidi.

You're having a sip of coffee.

But it is the latest thing that all the kids are into.

COLLINS: I'm pod casting.

HARRIS: Are you pod casting?

COLLINS: While I'm sipping my coffee.

HARRIS: All right. See, that's what I'm talking about. It gives you the ability to multitask. And we live in a multitasking world right now. No one pod casts the way we do. We call it the CNN NEWSROOM pod cast. It is available 24/7 right there on your iPod. No time like now. No day like today. Download it at cnn.com and check us out.

COLLINS: Ohio police officer Bobby Cutts, Jr. Heads to court this afternoon. He is accused of killing pregnant mom Jessie Davis and her unborn baby. Now, a friend of his is under arrest for obstruction of justice. Police in Canton, Ohio won't say how Myisha Ferrell is involved.

A neighbor says FBI agents searched Ferrell's apartment over the well, you know and carried out multiple bags of items.

HARRIS: Mobile homes on the move. You have seen pictures -- thousands of large trailer homes set aside for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Instead, they have been sitting empty. Now some of them are being put to use.

CNN's Susan Roesgen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

SUSAN ROESGEN, GULF COAST CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Since Hurricane Katrina, this is the scene that has amazed and angered people and politicians across the country. Even President Bush has demanded to know why thousand of unused mobile homes have been sitting empty in an Arkansas field. Your tax dollars, more than $300 million, paid for these mobile homes, intended to help ease the burden on those hit hardest by Katrina. But because of various federal rules, only a few hundred of these actually reached hurricane victims on the Gulf Coast.

SEN. TIM JOHNSON (D), SOUTH DAKOTA: This is a huge investment. All of them are sitting out in the mud in Hope, Arkansas right now. It seems to me that they ought to be able to part with at least some of them for some of the housing crisis problems we have in Indian country.

ROESGEN: South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson has been trying for the last year to get FEMA to send some of the mobile homes to Indian reservations, where decent housing is in short supply. Now, after months of negotiations, Johnson's office says the federal government has agreed to release 2,000 mobile homes, by calling them surplus inventory, freeing them up to be sent to Indian reservations in South Dakota and other states out West.

The rest of these mobile homes will remain unused for now, still on standby, awaiting the next disaster.

Susan Roesgen, CNN, New Orleans.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: A truck filling with water -- a 5-year-old saves herself and her sister.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAIGE WILSON, SAVED HIMSELF & SISTER: Well, I unbuckled our seat belts and I unbuckled Morgan's, too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: Little girl, big hero.

We'll tell you the story, coming up next in THE CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: A major summit on the Middle East gets underway today. But an early warning not to expect a big breakthrough on the peace process. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert calling today's summit merely a launching point for peace talks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II also on the guest list at the summit, hosted by Egypt.

HARRIS: Not going gray -- a 60th birthday celebration for an automotive icon.

CNN's Alessio Vinci rides along.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is perhaps no better way to celebrate Ferrari's 60th anniversary than catching a ride with Michael Schumacher -- the seven time Formula One champion, who retired last year after beating nearly every record in the business.

As we drove on Ferrari's hometown racetrack trailed by hundreds of fans, Schumacher says that words alone can't describe the feeling of driving such cars -- the power, the speed, of course, but there is something else.

LUCA CORDERO DI MONTEZEMOLO, FERRARI PRESIDENT: In the other teams, they have maybe a group of fans. We have a whole country.

VINCI: At the core of this bond between Ferrari and its obsessed public is a passion for beauty, style and elegance; a long history of victories, but also tragedies; and a company that managed to produce, over the years, hundreds of models, each appearing unique in its own way, all sharing a common thread.

DI MONTEZEMOLO: That -- that's one of my Ferraris.

That is a racing car but it's built for the -- built for the road.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And the noise.

VINCI: While other Ferrari lovers would call it music.

But what about it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's loud.

VINCI: The man behind Ferrari's success today is Luca Cordero Di Montezemolo. With Schumacher, he brought home five consecutive world championships between 2000 and 2004. But when he took over the company in the early 1990s, Ferrari had not won a season in 21 years. Its fabulous cars, meanwhile, remained unsold.

DI MONTEZEMOLO: I said listen, this is terrible for us because we are for exclusivity. I always say Ferrari is like a good looking woman -- not only good, you desire her, so wait.

VINCI: The formula for success was simple -- slow down production to the point need became greater than supply and boost the luxury field for the brand. It worked. And today thousands from all over the world drove their own Ferraris back to this small town in Northern Italy led by today's champions driving yesterday's cars, with a look very much into the future.

Alessio Vinci, CNN, Maranello, Italy.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

HARRIS: And still to come in the NEWSROOM, suicide attacks in Iraq, bombers strike across the country today. We will show you the devastating toll.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ted Rowlands live near Lake Tahoe.

Look at this devastation. A fire ripped through this region, destroying more than 200 homes. We'll have a live report coming up in the NEWSROOM.

NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What are you doing to impact your world today? From poverty to natural disasters, people all around the world need your help. And cnn.com can help you figure out where to start.

First, pick a cause. Then choose from the various charity organizations out there. You can find out about each of them from charitynavigator.org, an independent, non-profit group that evaluates and basically rates thousands of charities. Charity Navigator explains each group's mission, along with just how your donations are being spent and how a particular charity stacks up against its peers.

Find links to organizations where you can also donate your supplies and volunteer your time, like missionfish.org. Or you can support your favorite causes by trading on eBay and Volunteers of America, which finds charities that need your help in your own community. So take action. To learn how to impact your world today, go to cnn.com/impact.

For the Dot-Com Desk, I'm Nicole Lapin.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: A father and his daughter set for a day on the water. Matt Wilson says he set his truck's parking brake, then launched the boat. But the truck rolled back into the water with the kids still inside.

Natalie Arnold of affiliate WBAY picks up the story.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

MATT WILSON, FATHER: You know, the water was probably up into here and...

NATALIE ARNOLD, WBAY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What Matt Wilson didn't expect is how quickly the truck would fill with water.

M. WILSON: She was very frantic and screaming. I think she understood, you know, there was water in the truck. This is not normal.

ARNOLD: Paige is Wilson's 5-and-a-half-year-old daughter.

P. WILSON: Where the air comes from, the water was coming out.

ARNOLD: She watched as water poured out of the air vents.

P. WILSON: It looked like we were almost drowning. But we didn't. It didn't get like all filled up.

ARNOLD: Meanwhile, her father, with others, were frantically trying to get in. But the doors wouldn't budge. It was up to Paige.

P. WILSON: Well, I unbuckled our seatbelts and I unbuckled more than two.

ARNOLD: Who ultimately go out, with her 2-year-old sister.

P. WILSON: Daddy was trying to explain to tell me to open that button of the -- the window. Well, on the -- on the first try, I couldn't. On the second try I couldn't. So then the third try I did.

ARNOLD: Her father is very relieved.

M. WILSON: It was a good story in the end.

ARNOLD (on camera): And that father's hope is that all parents see this story and learn from his mistakes.

Reporting in Oshkosh, Natalie Arnold, Action 2 News.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

COLLINS: Good morning, everybody.

I'm Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris.

Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Here's what's on the rundown this hour.

Fire crews scrambling in Lake Tahoe right now. They're trying to keep flames away from hundreds of homes. Already 220 buildings have burned.

COLLINS: Ohio Police Officer Bobby Cutts on the other side of the law. He's due in court today, charged with killing his pregnant girlfriend. A woman also arrested in the case.

HARRIS: A family reunion ends in tragedy. A chartered bus veers off a Kentucky Interstate and slams into a bridge.

It is Monday, June 25th and you are in THE CNN NEWSROOM.

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