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State Department Cuts Deal With Blackwater; 911 Calls: Beach House Fire; Online Ad Killing
Aired October 30, 2007 - 08:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.
Watch events come in to the NEWSROOM live on this Tuesday morning. It's October 30th.
Here's what's on the rundown.
"Keeping Them Honest." The State Department cuts a deal with Blackwater bodyguards in the killing of Iraqi civilians. Who approved it?
We're looking for answers.
And despite pleas for help -- when a North Carolina beach house goes up in flames. You'll hear the 911 calls and the latest on the investigation.
And a young woman's online job search leads to her death. Today, charges expected. You'll hear from police live, right here in the NEWSROOM.
New controversy this morning over Blackwater bodyguards in Iraq. Iraq says the U.S. contractors gunned down civilians in cold blood. Allegations Blackwater denies.
Today, CNN has learned today the State Department has promised limited immunity. That is stirring outrage.
CNN State Department Correspondent Zain Verjee is "Keeping Them Honest" this morning.
Zain, good morning to you.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
COLLINS: Who exactly granted this immunity?
VERJEE: Well, the State Department's diplomatic security investigators granted the immunity. They are kind of like the police. They do protection, investigation, law enforcement. That's the arm they are that operates within the State Department.
They needed to get an accounting of what happened, so they've offered this limited use immunity that essentially means, according to U.S. officials that we've spoken to, that they were promised they would not be criminally charged for anything that they said as long as their statements were true. It's not really clear, Heidi, who exactly granted it or when.
COLLINS: But it seems so strange. I'm not sure I've ever heard of this type of authority exercised by the State Department before. It sounds like it should be something that is, you know, handled by a prosecutor of some type.
VERJEE: Right. Well, legally, the State Department's diplomatic security does not have the power or the authority to make those kinds of decisions. It's usually done in consultation with federal prosecutors.
Now, a senior State Department official that we just spoke to says that diplomatic security does not have the right or the ability to grant immunity to people, and they didn't grant immunity, this official says. The official adds that they have not taken any actions that will inhibit prosecutors.
U.S. officials that we've spoken to, too, say that what this is, this deal, doesn't necessarily mean that the guards will never be prosecuted. What it does do though, Heidi, it really complicates efforts to bring criminal charges to the case.
COLLINS: OK. Well, that being said, what about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice? Did she sign off on this?
VERJEE: Well, it appears as though she may not have even been aware. The State Department spokesman, Sean McCormack, says whatever arrangements were made were not sanctioned by the senior management of the State Department. Secretary Rice though, has taken some very swift steps in the wake of the Blackwater incident on September 16th to improve State Department oversight and management of those security contractors in Iraq -- Heidi.
COLLINS: It seems weird she doesn't know about it. All right.
Well, I'm sure that you are still working your sources on this one. We will stay on top of it.
Zain Verjee, thank you.
Let's go ahead and take a closer look now at Blackwater USA.
The North Carolina-based contractor has about 1,000 armed men in Iraq. They perform duties once reserved for soldiers like guarding convoys and protecting officials. Since 2001, Blackwater has won more than $1 billion in contracts from the U.S. government. Contractors can make more than $30,000 in a single month.
To North Carolina now. Frantic 911 calls from witnesses to a tragedy. This morning, we are hearing from people who saw that beach house on fire and tried to save lives.
Our Alina Cho has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No definitive word on a cause yet. It could be up to a month before we know for sure, but there are several published reports this morning that the fire may have started in the back of the house. Possibly on the back deck.
Fire officials do not suspect foul play. They do believe it was an accident.
Also, for the first time, we're hearing those frantic 911 calls alerting authorities the house on North Carolina's coast was on fire.
DISPATCHER: 911, what is your emergency?
CALLER: Yes, I'm out on the beach. A man is screaming and jumped out the window of a house and is totally engulfed in flames.
DISPATCHER: OK, we've got people on the way. Thank you.
CHO: The fire broke out early Sunday morning. The kids were there for a weekend getaway. It was supposed to be a weekend of fun. Seven students died. The father of one of the victims spoke to CNN affiliate WKYC.
TERRY WALDEN, DAUGHTER DIED IN FIRE: We've really come to grips with the fact that she's not coming back. That is going to be the hardest part.
CHO: That was Terry Walden. He lost his daughter Allison in the fire. She was a 19-year-old sophomore at the University of South Carolina.
Six students miraculously survived. Funerals are being planned for this weekend. And grief counselors are on hand to help the thousands of students at two universities deal with this tragedy.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Surviving a tragedy and living to tell. This morning, a young student who did make it through this fatal beach house fire is talking about how he got out alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FREDERICK "TRIP" WYLIE, FIRE SURVIVOR: I pulled the blinds off the window and kind of -- just kicked in the window. And, I mean, that was the only option you really had, was to, you know, jump out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The owner of the house that burned down, whose daughter survived, says simply this, "We are living a nightmare." (WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Real headlines now over a fake news conference. We told you about this scandal: FEMA holding a news conferences over its handling of the southern California wildfires. The only problem, those were FEMA staffers posing as reporters. And now the man who oversaw the blunder is out of a job. FEMA says John Pat Philbin won't go to work for the director of national intelligence as planned.
And now this. She was killed after answering an online ad for a baby-sitting job. This morning, new developments expected. We're going to talk with Minnesota police in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Charges expected this morning in the death of a woman who answered a Craigslist ad. Minnesota police say the suspect is 19 years old.
Police believe he placed the online nanny ad. They say he lives just blocks from where the found the body of Katherine Olson. Still no word on a motive.
Olson was a Craigslist regular. She landed jobs through the Internet before. One time she worked in Turkey.
Hundreds are expected at her funeral, which will take place tomorrow.
Want to go a little bit further into the investigation now. The Savage, Minnesota, Police Department is handling this case. On the phone right now is police captain Dave Muelken.
Captain, thanks for being with us.
I wonder, can you tell me how police first learned that this woman was missing?
CAPT. DAVID MUELKEN, SAVAGE POLICE DEPT.: Well, we were first notified when her purse was discovered by a city employee in a dumpster in one of our city parks. We attempted to contact Katherine Olson and make arrangements to get her purse and belongings back to her.
Several hours later, we received information from her roommate and her mother that she had not been seen since 8:00 the morning before. And that started a missing persons investigation.
COLLINS: How long after you found the purse did you actually discover that she was no longer alive?
MUELKEN: Well, within three or four hours after we began searching for her as a missing person, we discovered her vehicle in a park that was about a half mile from where we started our search. And unfortunately, we also found her body in the trunk of that car.
COLLINS: Yes. Wow.
We have reported here that she has actually answered these Craigslist ads before. Had you been looking into that information as well?
MUELKEN: We're investigating both the activity of our victim and our suspect on Craigslist.
COLLINS: Can you tell me anything about the suspect that you have? We know that he's 19 years old.
MUELKEN: He's 19 years old. He does not have a criminal history as an adult. He has some minor contacts with the police as a juvenile. Nothing violent and nothing serious.
COLLINS: Any idea if, for certain, he was the one who placed the ad?
MUELKEN: We're very confident that he is the one that did that, and our investigation is ongoing to confirm that.
COLLINS: Is he the only suspect?
MUELKEN: At this time, yes.
COLLINS: What about Craigslist? Have you been able to special with the creator of Craigslist or work with them in any way?
MUELKEN: Our investigators are working with Craigslist, and as far as I know, we've had complete cooperation.
COLLINS: OK. Good.
Tell me, quickly, what happens in court this morning?
MUELKEN: This morning, he'll be formally charged with a criminal complaint and would be before the court for possible posting bond or bail.
COLLINS: All right.
Well, we appreciate your time here. I know the investigation is ongoing.
Police Captain Dave Muelken from Savage, Minnesota.
Thank you very much, with the very latest on the death of Katherine Ann Olson.
Meanwhile, now, a sweat shop and young children working as virtual slaves. An American clothing giant now under fire. The GAP is dealing with the fallout and vowing to make it right.
"Keeping Them Honest," CNN's Alina Cho with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHO (voice-over): Ten-year-old Amitosh has been robbed of his childhood, one of many children working 16-hour days at this sweatshop in India, as reported by journalist Dan McDougall in the British newspaper "The Observer."
In these photos, Amitosh is doing intricate embroidery on blouses for children, under a brand name most people know, the Gap.
DAN MCDOUGALL, "THE OBSERVER": On one of the floors, a latrine had over-spilled, and there was excrement on the floor. And it was running down the side of the gutters, and there was quite a putrid smell.
CHO: The photos tell the story. The children, McDougall says, slept on the roof. This child doing beadwork looks even younger than 10. He says they come from poor villages to India's capital, New Delhi, crammed onto trains nicknamed the "Child Labor Express."
MCDOUGALL: The parents are effectively conned. And they sell their children for as little as $20, with the promise that more money will come.
CHO: According to Save the Children, there are 80 million child laborers in India, why it is often called the child labor capital of the world.
GEOFFREY KEELE, COMMUNICATION OFFICER, UNICEF: The conditions that some of these children work in are quite squalid and very severe.
CHO (on camera): The filthy factories in India are a far cry from the pristine stores on New York's Fifth Avenue. The blouses made at the sweatshop were supposed to end up at GapKids stores like this one. But those blouses will never hit store shelves. The Gap says they have been destroyed.
MARKA HANSEN, PRESIDENT, GAP NORTH AMERICA: And it's deeply, deeply disturbing to all of us. So, I feel violated, and I feel very, very upset and angry.
CHO (voice-over): The Gap says the Indian vendor farmed out the work to a subcontractor that was not approved by the company. And, though the Gap takes full responsibility, some argue, consumers share the blame.
MCDOUGALL: The insatiable craze for cheap clothing, you know, in America and in the U.K. right now is leading to more and more contracts being sent to the developing world. It's like a vicious circle. In the end, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.
CHO: McDougall says the factory where these children work was raided, but no one knows how many other sweatshops exist, with children working like Amitosh working like slaves for customers and companies a world away.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: And just to let you know, we did invite the president of Gap, Marka Hansen, to join us this morning in the NEWSROOM. She declined our request.
Oil prices break another record. So are gas prices right behind? We're "Minding Your Business" when we come back in just a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Searching for a so-called superbug. Loyola University Medical Center near Chicago plans to screen every single patient for the staph germ known as MRSA. Under state law, hospitals already must screen patients who are considered high risk or are in intensive care. A handful of other hospitals in Illinois do standard screening as well. Those who test positive will be isolated.
Killed by the deadly superbug. Now the family of a 12-year-old victim is ready to sue. Should the hospital have known better?
Here is CNN's Jim Acosta with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Two days before Omar Rivera apparently died from the superbug MRSA, the 12-year-old was rushed to the emergency room at this city hospital in New York. But according to the family's lawyer, the hospital mistakenly diagnosed Omar as having an allergic reaction and sent him home with Benadryl.
The hospital says it treated Omar for non-MRSA related conditions and will be closely examining what more could have been done to detect the infection.
PAUL WEITZ, RIVERA'S ATTORNEY: They should have admitted Omar. And I think had they admitted him, there is a very real possibility that he would be alive today.
ACOSTA (on camera): And you can see that in the lab?
(voice over): Columbia University researcher Dr. Frank Lowy cautions it's time for East Coast hospitals to be on the lookout for the Penicillin-resistant staph infection. Lowy says cases of the bacteria started showing up in larger numbers out West and then slowly moved to the Northeast.
DR. FRANK LOWY, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY STAPH RESEARCHER: Health care personnel may not have been as familiar as people in other areas of the country that these strains were now becoming more prevalent.
ACOSTA: With the superbug spreading, there are calls on the government to start doing a better job of tracking MRSA's movement on a national level.
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: As long as our hospitals, labs don't have to report the incidents of the illness, we'll never know where the next case could pop up and whether we have it fully under control.
ACOSTA: And there are no national standards for schools to notify parents when the bacteria shows up in students. Parents at Omar Rivera's school in New York didn't know about the seventh grader's case until 11 days after he died.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Parents need to be informed right away, and let them use their own judgments.
ACOSTA: Contrast that with Pikeville, Kentucky, where officials shut down an entire district of 23 schools after a non-fatal case of MRSA surfaced there. Dr. Lowy says notifying parents is a good first step.
LOWY: I do think it probably is worthwhile, if there are cases within a school system or a daycare facility, that some sort of advisory be sent out to parents and other people so that precautions can be appropriately instituted.
ACOSTA: Precautions as simple as hand washing and bandages can stop the superbug.
(on camera): As for Omar Rivera, his mother's attorney says it's pretty clear to him that he has a good case of medical negligence to try in court.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: In just about a half an hour or so we are expecting a news conference where we will hear more about this family and them going ahead and suing the hospital.
Also, our Allan Chernoff is going to be at that news conference. He'll give us the very latest just as soon as it happens.
So stick around for that.
(BUSINESS REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back on this Tuesday morning, everybody, 9:30 Eastern Time.
We want to let you know that we are watching the podium at the White House for President Bush to come out shortly after meeting with GOP leadership. He's going to make a few comments likely regarding SCHIP, the Children's Health Care Program, and FISA, and a couple of other appropriations-type bills.
So we are going to be following that and bring it to you just as soon as he comes out.
Meanwhile, new outrage this morning over last month's deadly shooting of Iraqi civilians. Sources familiar with the case tell CNN the State Department has promised limited immunity to some of the Blackwater bodyguards that were involved.
As you may remember, the U.S. contractor says its workers came under attack in Baghdad and returned fire in self-defense. Seventeen Iraqi civilians were killed, dozens wounded. Iraqi authorities have called the killings "premeditated murder."
The FBI has been investigating the shootings and has refused to comment on the immunity reports, but a short time ago we learned Iraq's parliament is being stirred to action. It's drafting a new law that would require security companies there to obey Iraqi laws with no possible immunity.
The U.S. casualty rate in Iraq now lower but U.S. troops are still in the line of fire, regardless of rank. More now from CNN's senior pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The numbers may be coming down, but many parts of Iraq remain a deadly combat zone. Just ask army First Lieutenant Ryan Miller who is recovering in Germany after his Stryker fighting vehicle took a direct hit from an armor-piercing EFP.
RYAN MILLER, FIRST LIEUTENANT U.S. ARMY: We were driving by and, all of a sudden, boom. And that was it. I could tell right away. And I was in, you know, the back of that truck which was basically the closest thing, you know, you can get to hell, you know, on this earth.
MCINTYRE: These days, Miller has a lot of company at the Landstuhl Medical Center where wounded American soldiers are first taken including now, the most senior U.S. officer injured an IED attack. Brigadier General Jeffrey Dorko whose army core of engineers' convoy protected by private contractors was attacked Monday. General Dorko's shrapnel wounds like Lieutenant Miller's are not life- threatening but another soldier in Miller's vehicle was, one of the almost three dozen U.S. deaths in Iraq this month.
A dramatic drop since the peak month of the surge when more than 125 Americans were killed. What does it mean? Some analysts like Kathleen Hicks of the Center For Strategic And International Studies, which build itself as bipartisan believes it has less to do with the success of the surge and more to do with ethnic cleansing that has resulted from four years of sectarian killing.
KATHLEEN HICKS, CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES: So what you're seeing is really an area that used to be ethnically divided where the U.S. would take casualties on attempting to keep parties apart are now completely a unified in their sectarian make up. And so, the U.S. isn't any longer keeping parties apart. They're keeping themselves apart.
MCINTYRE: The surge was supposed to buy time for political reconciliation. So, the real test will be if the reduction in violence continues as the U.S. draws down its troops in the months ahead. Jamie McIntyre, CNN, the Pentagon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: Japan's Justice Minister really put a split in it. He tells reporter, he has a friend of a friend who is an al Qaeda terrorist. The man involved in a deadly Bali bombing in 2002. The Justice Minister says the man traveled in and out of Japan several times. He later tried to clear up his comments, saying he didn't really know him. He says, they have a mutual friend in a butterfly collecting club. He was trying to use the story as an example of why Japan is implementing new fingerprinting and photograph requirements for people entering the country.
Freed after serving two years in prison for having oral sex with a 15-year-old when he was 17. Genarlow Wilson speaks to our Rick Sanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GENARLOW WILSON, FORMER PRISONER: It was very difficult for me, especially having to -- I was labeled as a sex offender. You know, basically a predator. But that is something that I never gave myself that label. I accepted the situation that I was in.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But the sexual offender label makes you what people would refer to as a child molester. That is a heavy rap, isn't it?
WILSON: Yes, sir, it is. You know, it's something that, you know, I never would allow myself to be, you know, or be labeled as, so, you know, it was difficult for me, you know, just to be incarcerated for something of that nature.
SANCHEZ: Did you cry?
WILSON: In the beginning, you know, it was so hurtful, you know? And just to know how I was being labeled and treated and what I was being portrayed as, yes, you know, it forced me to shed tears numerous times.
SANCHEZ: Most people would say 17-year-old guy having sex with a 15-year-old ends up with ten years in prison hard time, rapist, murderers, labeled as sexual offender, child molester, that ain't right.
WILSON: Of course, I believe that it was absurd. But, you know, I had to look at it at, you know, these gentlemen were doing their job and, you know, they felt like that they were carrying out the law and, you know, as prosecutors and you have to maintain the image of being tough, you know? So I don't place the blame on any of them. You know? We did everything that we had to do throughout the court system and justice was finally prevailed.
SANCHEZ: The girl who was involved, do you ever talk to her? Have you ever apologized to her? WILSON: Well, for the most part, I think what happened that night, I don't think any of us made very wise decisions, you know? But I don't think that any of us can go back then and change what happened.
SANCHEZ: Do you feel like you should have been punished for it?
WILSON: Possibly, but I don't think as harsh. You know? I believe it's something that, you know, could have been settled between parents or, you know, something that, you know, stir us up and make us -- just teach us a lesson, but I don't think it should, you know, ever come this far.
SANCHEZ: When I went to see you in prison, I remember I talked to you as if you were my son. And I said, Genarlow, you know what you did was stupid, right and you said, yes, sir, it was. You still believe what you did was stupid?
WILSON: Oh, absolutely. And, you know, I don't condone it. I wouldn't tell anyone to go out and do that for themselves, you know? It was just something that I had to mature from, you know? Because us as teenagers, we all make stupid decisions and, you know, make idiotic moves, but that's part of being a teen. You know? You have to live and learn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: Wilson is now 21. He says, he would like to go to college and major in either sociology or business and we will be following that story as we have them here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Meanwhile, I just want to let you know, we are still waiting for the president. He should be coming out within the next couple of minutes. We've gotten that two-minute warning as we always do. He will be making a statement after meeting with GOP leadership on a number of different topics so we will watch that one for you very closely.
Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is tracking tropical storm Noel. She is live now from our severe weather center. Good morning to you, once again, Jacqui.
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: All right, Jacqui, we know you're watching it closely. Perfect timing too because the president is just about to come to the podium. So, we want to go ahead and get directly to the president coming from the White House after meeting with GOP leadership.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: I just had a very constructive and important meeting with the leadership and members of the Republican members of the United States House of Representatives. I want to thank you all for coming down and thank you for your leadership. Congress is not getting its work done. We're near the end of the year and there really isn't much to show for it. The House of Representatives has wasted valuable time on a constant stream of investigations and the Senate has wasted valuable time on an endless series of failed votes to pull our troops out of Iraq. And, yet, there is important work to be done on behalf of the American people. They have not been able to send a single annual appropriations bill to my desk and that is the worst record for a congress in 20 years. And important responsibilities of the congress is to pass appropriations bills and, yet, the leadership, it's on the hill now, cannot get that job done.
They've also passed an endless series of tax increases. You know, they proposed tax increases in the farm bill, the energy bill, the small business bill and of course the Schip bill. I haven't seen a bill. They could not solve without shoving a tax hike into it. In other words, they believe in raising taxes and we don't. Spending is skyrocketing under their leadership; at least proposed spending is skyrocketing under their leadership. After all, they're trying to spend an additional $205 billion over the next five years. Some have said, well, take doesn't matter much, is not that much money.
Well, $205 billion over the next five years in the real word amounts to this $4.7 million per hour, every hour for every day, for the next five years. That's a lot of money. And that doesn't even includes spending that would pay for 2 million people to move from private health insurance to inefficient lower quality government run program. Spying on it, does not have a chance of becoming law, the senate will now take up the second Schip bill that House passed last week.
I believe the Senate is wasting valuable time. This bill remarkably manages to spend more money over five years than the first bill did. After going alone and going nowhere, Congress should instead work with the administration on a bill that puts poor children first. A bill that will take care of the poor children that the initial bill said we got to do. A bill that would stop diverting money to adults.
You realize some major states in the United States spend more money on adults than they do on children. We want a bill that enrolls the more than 500,000 poor children currently eligible for the program. They were not a part of the program. We want to sit down in good faith and come up with a bill that is responsible. Because congress has been unable or unwilling to get its basic job done of passing spending bills.
There are now reports that Congressional leaders may be considering combining the Veterans and Department of Defense Appropriations Bills and then add a bloated Labor Health and Education Spending bill to both of them. It's hard to imagine a more cynical political strategy than trying to hold hostage funding for our troops in combat, and our wounded warriors in order to extract $11 billion in additional social spending. I hope media reports about such a strategy are wrong. I really do. If they're not, the reports of the strategy are true; I will veto such a three-bill pileup. Congress should pass each bill one at a time in a physically responsible manner that reflects agreement between the Legislate branch and executive branch. I again ask congress to send me a clean veterans funding bill that we have already agreed to by Veterans Day. So, we can keep America's promise to those who have defended our freedom and are recovering from injury. I again urge them to pass a clean defense appropriations bill and a war supplemental bill to fund our troops in combat.
I know some on the Democrat side didn't agree with my decision to send troops in, but it seems like we ought to be able to agree that we're going to support our troops who are in harm's way. I know the members feel that way standing with me. I hope the leadership feels that way. And they are to give me a bill that funds, among other things, bullets and body armor and protection against IEDs and mine resistant ambush protective vehicles. It would be irresponsible to not give our troops the resources they need to get their job done because Congress was unable to get its job done. Again, I want to thank the members here. I appreciate us working together for the good of the United States of America. God bless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So, there you have it. President Bush with the GOP leadership that he has just come out of a meeting with, standing behind him there. Mostly, talking about Schip. It is a bill that we have been talking about quite a bit here as well. And CNN's Jessica Yellin is standing by now from our D.C. Bureau to tell us more about this. Probably want to get everybody up to speed. Where do we stand out, Jessica, with Schip?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, even when you cover Congress it's hard to keep up with the latest twists and turns on this. Schip has now been voted on three times in the U.S. House and each time won a majority but not enough to override the President's veto. So, the senate is going to vote on the latest version sometime maybe this week and the president is already expected to veto that latest version as well. So, what you hear is a real deadlock between those who support the bill and the Republicans and the president who oppose it. Neither side really willing to give any more at this point.
And both sides saying this was really about highlighting with their own priorities are. That's what they say, but privately you can tell it's really also very political fight looking toward the 2008 election.
COLLINS: Yes. Very political indeed. And what about the three- bill pileup he talks about?
YELLIN: Right. Well, what the president is doing today is really taking advantage of the Bully Pulpit and the fact that Congress approval rating is so low right now to try to hit the Democrats who are running Congress and accusing them of gridlock and failing to promote anyone's agenda. Not doing the people's business. The trouble with all this is while none of those appropriations bills has yet come to the president, it's true, the Republican Congress didn't do much better and that is when they controlled both Congress and the White House. So, this is sort of how our government now works and it's become a very partisan fight over spending this year.
With this, the president promised early on that he would block all of the Congress' appropriations bills because he says there are $22 billion over but as one spokesperson to Harry Reid said taking advice on spending from President Bush is like taking hunting advice from Dick Cheney, neither is a very good idea. A little hostility there.
COLLINS: Just a little. All right, Jessica Yellin coming from our D.C. Bureau today. Normally, following at Capitol Hill. Thanks so much, Jessica.
Well, keeping them honest. Homes destroyed by fire. Should they be rebuilt? In some cases, the government has a plan. The investigation is coming up.
Meanwhile, this morning's opening bell. There you have it just a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, starting off on this Tuesday morning to the negative. 40 points down with the DOW Jones Industrial average resting right now at about 13830. We're going to be checking into our business stories. As I'm sure you've already heard, its oil and that is the story today. Very high oil prices. So, we're going to find out what that means for your wallet coming up in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
News as it develops as only CNN can bring it to you. See for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Homes destroyed by Mother Nature. Should you rebuild? Sometimes the government helps you decide that. CNN's Kathleen Koch is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What will you do now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Start over.
COOK: Here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Look how beautiful it is.
KOCH: Beautiful, but risky. Should homes be rebuilt if they are likely to be destroyed again? That is the question officials in the Midwest ask themselves in 1993 after massive floods caused $16 billion in damage across nine states. They worked for the Federal Government to buy out more than 10,000 properties so it wouldn't happen again. Entire cities like Valmeyer, Illinois moved to higher ground.
ROBERT RIPPLEMEYER, FORMER MONROE COUNTY BOARD CHAIRMAN: There was no danger for flood whatsoever, you know, with the city moving where it did. And that worked out real well. KOCH: Since then, the government has bought out 33,000 homes and returned the land to green space. On all, buyouts are working. In Washington State, since the raging river lived up to its name last November with heavy flooding, only 4 of 90 homeowners have responded to buy-out offers. But in (INAUDIBLE), New Jersey where the Frampton river floods sometimes twice a year, most are happy to have a way out. So you're ready to leave?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're ready to leave. It was just the insecurity.
KOCH: The city has bought out 35 homes and is trying to buy more.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was the one way that we know we can absolutely guarantee the people are taken out of harm's way.
KOCH: But on the Mississippi Gulf Coast people are angry to learn more than two years after Katrina, that federal buy-outs might be offered. Laurie Williford says her family might have been interested a year ago.
LAURIE WILLIFORD, BAY ST. LOUIS RESIDENT: We would of have considered at that point. Because, we were still doing a lot of cleaning up and we didn't even start build our house until June of this year.
KOCH: The St. Louis mayor Eddie Favre, says the buyout talk is undercutting the rebuilding effort
EDDIE FAVRE, MAYOR, BAY ST. LOUIS MISSISSIPPI: So, it's kind of got everything on hold right now. It's a bad situation.
KOCH: So, why no buyouts in areas where fires destroy homes year after year? First, buyouts are voluntary. Second, the Federal Government says no state has ever requested buyouts after a fire. Keeping them honest, we took a look at why. Half of homeowners who lose property in floods have no insurance for it and depend on federal help. Not so with fires.
DAVID MAURSTAND, DIRECTOR FEMA: Most people have fire insurance. They have it to a limit which gives them the means to be able to begin the rebuilding process.
KOCH: Also, federal buyouts have to be cost effective and the lands burning in Southern California are often pricey real estate. But the cycle of burning and rebuilding is also expensive and a growing number say it should stop.
SCOTT BOLLENS, PROFESSOR, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE: The amount of money spent in firefighting. The amount of federal aid that now has to go in to help these areas; it's a tremendous societal cost.
KOCH: The problem is?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're not going anywhere. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, California fires is just a part of living in California.
KOCH: Most Californians aren't interesting in getting out of Mother Nature's way. Kathleen Koch, CNN, Washington.
COLLINS: Trampled by the team. A cheerleader caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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COLLINS: Cheerleading can be pretty dangerous duty, you know? Especially, when the entire football team can't see you. Here's Luke Duecy (ph) our affiliate KOMO in Seattle.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DUECY: You've seen the hit. Now meet the 18-year-old cheerleader who got trampled.
Hurt?
CALI KALTSCHMIDT, HIGH SCHOOL CHEERLEADER: It hurts bad.
DUECY: Cali Kaltschmidt.
KALTSCHMIDT: Well, probably, something that I don't want to be known for, I guess. I mean, it was really embarrassing.
DUECY: At halftime, Cali said she saw something wrong with their team banner.
KALTSCHMIDT: They put the sign up and it was kind of an angle and it wasn't ready for the boys to run out yet.
DUECY: But when she tried to make one last adjustment, 50 football players were sprinting right for her.
KALTSCHMIDT: Smack! Got ran into and sacked.
DUECY: And this is Zach, six feet tall, 245 pounds. He says at the time he didn't even know what he ran into.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I just slipped and fell.
DUECY: But Cali got the last laugh. Taking another look now in slow motion, you can actually see her take down the much bigger lineman straight to the turf.
Did you apologize?
KALTSCHMIDT: A while later, he got around to it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's in the middle the game.
KALTSCHMIDT: It's okay. I understand. DUECY: But Cali story doesn't end there. During our interview, we found out she didn't just have a bad night.
KALTSCHMIDT: I got in a car accident on Thursday. The day before the game that morning, totaled my car and I got like a bruise on my neck from the seat belt.
DUECY: she had a bad week!
KALTSCHMIDT: The next day, I got trampled by the football players.
DUECY: And even though she got a few bruises here and there...
KALTSCHMIDT: (INAUDIBLE)
DUECY: Cali insists that she is OK.
KALTSCHMIDT: I'm good! I'm fine!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: As for the game, Auburn High won 37-6. I hope they won't want to run her over every week as a good luck charm, that's for sure. That would be very nice.
Hit by tropical storm Noel. The Caribbean in the path of a strong storm. New pictures of the destruction coming to us from you, our I-report viewers, in just a moment.
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