Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Wildfires in California; Child Kidnap Case Expands; Mobile Home Massacre; Lost at Sea; Remembering Ted Kennedy
Aired August 30, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN GUEST ANCHOR: Thank you so much for joining us tonight. I'm Brianna Keilar.
And our top story, California on fire and under a state of emergency. Fast moving wildfires have forced thousands of people from their homes. Not everyone is heeding the mandatory evacuation.
Here's what we know right now about the wildfires that are whipping through the southern part of the state. Authorities say three people were burned in the L.A. County wildfires because they did not listen to evacuation orders. Now, that blaze has been growing since Wednesday and now scorched more than 35,000 acres.
The U.S. Forestry Service reports some 10,000 homes -- 10,000 of them -- have been evacuated and more people and homes are being put at risk as the fires move toward the town of Afton; all of this prompting Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency in Los Angeles County today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: I also want to urge everyone living near any of the fires, please listen and follow the evacuation orders from local officials. They will not tell to you evacuate if it is not necessary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The fierce flames have Californians in their path preparing for the worst. Reports of injuries and homes destroyed have many worried for their own safety.
And CNN Kara Finnstrom joining us now live from La Canada, Flintridge, California. This is in Los Angeles County, Kara, and a lot of the people there, I mean, this must be such a scary experience for them.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It really has, Brianna. I mean people in these neighborhoods say they have lived here for 50 years and they really haven't seen anything quite like this. Let me show you one of the latest areas that is burning. You can see this hillside just above me here and the fire burning down, now the neighborhoods just beneath that hillside on high alert.
But overnight, what this fire did was it just exploded. It actually more than quadrupled in size and it actually burned up right up to the homes in this neighborhood. And joining us live now, I want to bring in Neliya and her daughter Gina. They actually have had to evacuate twice because this fire has been a little bit hard to predict. They thought that it had kind of subsided and that they were save but they had to evacuate again last night.
And you were describing to me the intensity of the fire as it moved in. Could you recount that for us?
GINA ZAMPARELLI, RESIDENT: Absolutely. Last night we came up here and we were over in our neighbor's yard across the street from here. And we looked up on the ridge where our houses were on a dead-ended street and the whole perimeter was on fire and slowly moving down.
And my neighbors and I were trying to stay calm. Suddenly the hillside absolutely exploded into flames. And we thought our houses were gone. And it was a very, very sleepless night last night to come back to find that the mountain side had burned all the way to our side walks, to our curbs, but our houses are still standing.
FINNSTROM: A lot of people feeling very fortunate here and we talk a lot about getting people out of harm's way. But there are some things that are very important to people and you were saying that you were very distressed because you have quite an art collection in your home.
NELIYA ZAMPARELLI, REISDENT: Yes, I do. We have a beautiful, beautiful art collection which I had to leave behind because we couldn't take it with us. It's very difficult. And some of the pieces dated back before the time of Christ and I just didn't want all of that to burn, but our lives were more important.
FINNSTROM: Neliya and Gina, two of the people that we have met here; lots of families have been coming through this area. This is an area, Brianna, that is not under a mandatory evacuation, so we've been talking with families who have been gathering here, getting something water, talking to police officers and just keeping an eye on the hillside hoping that this fire does not move back into these neighborhoods.
KEILAR: Just unreal that from someone's front yard that is what they're looking at right behind you, Kara. Kara Finnstrom for us there on La Canada, Flintridge -- what a mouthful -- thanks Kara.
Let's check in now and see if the weather is going to provide any relief. We heard Jacqui Jeras who is in our CNN Weather Center that woman says that she had a sleepless night last night. Do you think more ahead?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, do I think so. In fact, the estimated containment date on this thing is more than a week away. It's a week from Tuesday is what they're getting now; 5 percent containment. That's it.
And weather-wise, nothing is really helping us out. The winds are calm, but the problem when you have relatively calm winds is that you tend to get the gusts especially over the ridge tops and into the canyons. And when that happens the fire can move erratically. It can get blown in one direction and then back in the other when there's no one main steering mechanism.
Relative humidity 5 percent to 10 percent -- that's way beyond critically low. Temperatures in the upper 90s to lower triple digits. Those sustained winds as I mentioned, pretty calm, but we're get something gusts -- 20 plus miles an hour.
Take a look at this picture from Mt. Wilson observatory. The fire now here is within about did two miles, so this area is being threatened. And we're going to continue to see problems with these fires kind of jumping and also starting new spot fires as some of the fires burn uphill. They can advance very, very rapidly.
Temperatures going down just a little bit the next couple of days, Brianna, but really not much to make a difference.
KEILAR: Unreal -- estimated containment in about a week. That is really unreal.
Jacqui Jeras for us in the Weather Center, thank you so much.
And also from California tonight: new developments in that disturbing case of Jaycee Lee Dugard. She is the child kidnap victim who was found alive after 18 years of captivity.
A trio of police agencies are now looking at whether her alleged abductor, 58-year-old registered sex offender Phillip Garrido may be linked to several unsolved murders of prostitutes. Today police combed the property of Garrido's neighbor but emphasized he's not a person of interest in the case.
Here's Rick Vincent with a recap of what we know.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICK VINCENT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Police in Antioch, California expanded their crime scene this weekend to include the home of a neighbor. That property reportedly was where a call was made in 2006 to report children in tents in the backyard of Phillip and Nancy Garrido. An officer did come by but did not go into the back yard, something officials admit should have been more thoroughly investigated.
The Garridos are accused of kidnapping Jaycee Lee Dugard from near her home in 1991 and forcing her and her two children fathered by Phillip Garrido to live in a squalid shed behind the home.
Police are looking in to the possibility of involvement of the Garridos in other unsolved cases. Minnie Norrell (ph) says police are investigating if there is a link to the disappearance of this her daughter who was killed.
MINNIE NORRELL, MOTHER OF DECEASED DAUGHTER: I'm hoping it will bring an end to a story; to my daughter's story. VINCENT: Meanwhile, about 50 people held a get together to celebrate Dugard's discovery. Despite the passing of time, her abduction was not forgotten by long time residents.
APRIL KIRKUFF, REMEMBERS ABDUCTION: I drive by their house every day and I pray for her often. And I just -- it's just hard to contain because when you think about somebody all the time.
VINCENT: The Garridos face 29 counts related to the kidnapping including rape. They've pleaded not guilty.
I'm Rick Vincent reporting from Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: We'll have much more on the bizarre case in a moment. We'll be asking a psychologist how Jaycee and her two children allegedly fathered by her kidnapper can recover and resume a normal life. That is in had 20 minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.
And tomorrow on "LARRY KING LIVE" Phillip Garrido's previous victim speaks out. What does she say about the man who attacked her and is accused of kidnapping Jaycee? Plus Jaycee's stepfather will tell us how she's doing now.
"LARRY KING LIVE" tomorrow night at 8:00 Eastern.
Police in Georgia are still trying to find out how and why 7 people were killed in a mobile home park. The victims were found dead in a trailer at the New Hope Park in Brunswick yesterday. Two other victims survived the slaying but are in critical condition today.
Glenn County police don't have a suspect or a motive and that's why the Chief Matt Doering urging Brunswick residents to be cautious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF MATT DOERING, GLENN COUNTY: There is cause for concern. I'm not going to mislead you or the members of the public. You have a right to know we do have concern. And we do.
And I would not say don't let's your guard down. And I wish I could give you more. I don't want to be misleading to the public or the community. If I would say anything else, I would.
It's tough. We just simply don't have a whole lot to go on and I'm not going to sit there and tell everybody not to be cautious because people need to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Police have been speaking with this man as a person of interest, 22-year-old Guy Heinze Jr. He was arrested Saturday night. Heinze is related to one of the victims and was the one who actually called 911 after he says he discovered the bodies, but he is not being called a suspect at this point. A simple fishing trip turns in to a week lost at sea -- a week lost at sea -- can you imagine that, for three men. We'll have a remarkable story of survival.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I had A sickness in my heart and today I can say it has been cured completely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: He thought his son was dead. An emotional reunion, 11 years later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Lost at sea for more than a week: gone so long that even the Coast Guard gave up hope. But three fishing buddies survived living on bubble gum, crackers, of course some will power and courage, as well.
You'll see them there stepping back on to dry land early today. That was after spending eight days -- can you can believe that -- eight days just clinging to their capsized catamaran in the Gulf of Mexico. James Phillips, Curt Hall, Tressler Hawkins: they were spotted by a boater yesterday one day after the official Coast Guard search was called off.
And our Fredricka Whitfield spoke with one of the fishermen who describes the rescue 180 miles from land.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRESSEL HAWKINS, RESCUED BOATER: He was bringing his boat back to the house and we were actually on the last o ring that was out. I believe he told me it was 220 miles south. So we were an extra 120 miles south of where we should have been.
And we kind of flagged them down it took us a while for us to catch his attention.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sure you couldn't believe your eyes.
HAWKINS: Oh, yes. We were all crying, celebrating. And, I mean, if the TV was right there when he pulled up in front of us, it was just amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The Coast Guard says the men weathered the ordeal pretty well, all things considered. In fact all three of them turned down medical attention once they were plucked to safety. Time is running out for thousands of New Jersey property owners who haven't paid their water bills. The city of Newark plans to start shutting off their water tomorrow.
For the first round, they're going to target 1,600 of the worst offenders, officials saying that unpaid bills total about $29 million. Critics say the shutoffs will penalize innocent tenants whose landlords have not paid their bills.
The Lion of the Senate has now been laid to rest, but Ted Kennedy's death could breathe now life into the President's fight for health care reform.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Less than 12 hours after Ted Kennedy was buried, his gravesite now open for public viewing at Arlington National Cemetery. The site features a 2.5 foot marble cross as well as a marble marker. A temporary rope line has been set up so that people can approach Kennedy's gravesite and a permanent walkway is planned.
Kennedy, of course, was buried just after sunset last night following a morning mass in Boston that featured a eulogy by President Obama.
Ted Kennedy once called health care "the cause of my life." And it's hard to talk about the current national debate without noting his influence.
This morning his niece, Maria Shriver, talked about Senator Kennedy's life time of service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MARIA SHRIVER, TED KENNEDY'S NIECE: I think he thought with the election of Barack Obama this country was on the verge of seeing so many of his dreams realized. And I think that will be realized. I think a lot has been written about how much his voice has been missed and I think it has.
But I think perhaps his passing will reinvigorate people to get it done and he gave his life to that. But he gave his life to so many things. So he saw so much of what he fought for accomplished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Kennedy's long time senate colleague and friend Orrin Hatch, a Republican, was a frequent opponent on legislative matters, but he was also quite a friend. He tells our John King that the two men never let political differences affect their relationship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: We were called the odd couple where I'm Conservative, he was the leading liberal champion in the Senate. We used to get in some tremendous rows, but in the end, we were able to put together some of the most important health care bills and other bills in history. (END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Senator Kennedy's presence isn't likely to be forgotten as the debate returns to Capitol Hill following the recess.
Kate Bolduan in Washington, with more on what's on tap for the next round of this raging battle.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, after some time away and the death of a leading champion of health care reform, Congress and the President return and face a long road ahead when it comes to the President's number one domestic priority.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: President Obama is returning from a week's vacation and Congress will soon follow suit, all heading back to Washington having made limited progress this summer in the debate over health care reform.
Already one key Democrat is calling for a change of mood.
SEN. CHRISTOPHER DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: Put behind us the blistering days of August and to enter the cool days of September and start acting like senators again where we respect each other.
BOLDUAN: Sunday, following burial of Senator Edward Kennedy, a champion of health care reform, Democratic lawmakers hoped Kennedy's memory will inspire passage of the sweeping health care overhaul.
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I hope it means that people are going to sort of step back, take a deep breath and try to figure out how we can have a good, open discussion and get away from the politics.
BOLDUAN: But what of the government-run public option, the center piece of the House Democratic proposal and an issue that has left negotiations in the Senate stalled? The now senior senator from Massachusetts suggests Democrats may need to follow Senator Kennedy's legacy of compromise.
KERRY: He would fight for it, but if he didn't see the ability to get it done, he would not throw the baby out with the bath water.
BOLDUAN: Republican Senator Orrin Hatch, a close friend of Kennedy's, says his absence will be felt as major issues like cost continue to divide both parties and chambers of Congress.
HATCH: In the long run, it's better to have a bipartisan compromise situation than it is to have one side just ram their own ideas through without any consideration for the other side. And we're talking about one-sixth of the American economy. That's pretty doggone important and you just can't do it in a partisan way.
(END VIDEOTAPE) BOLDUAN: President Obama will be in Washington Monday and Tuesday. He then leaves for the presidential retreat at Camp David for the rest of the week. Congress returns to once again take up the health care debate after Labor Day -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Coming up at 9:00 eastern, a very special "Larry King Live," the best of Larry's interviews with Senator Ted Kennedy; 20 years of candid conversations. Again, that's coming up at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney is at it again criticizing President Obama and his national security policies. Cheney tells Fox News that he thinks Attorney General Eric Holder's recent decision to launch a review of CIA terror interrogations is purely political.
He also accuses President Obama of reversing himself.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had the President of the United States, President Obama, tell us a few months ago there wouldn't be any investigation like this. That there would not be any look back at CIA personnel who were carrying out the policies of the prior administration. Now they get a little heat from the left wing of the Democratic Party and they're reversing course on that.
The President is the chief law enforcement officer in the administration. He's now saying this isn't anything that he's got anything to do with. He's up on vacation at Martha's Vine yard and his Attorney General is going back and doing something that the President said some months ago they wouldn't do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: President Obama has said that CIA operatives who worked within Justice Department guidelines will not be prosecuted.
And the questions just keep on coming about this case of the kidnapped girl found after 18 years in California. One of the most asked, what is the chance that Jaycee Dugard and her two children can adjust to a normal life?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: In Antioch, California, police have brought cadaver dogs in to search the property next door to the home of where Jaycee Dugard was a kidnap victim for 18 years. Police say accused kidnapper, Phillip Garrido used to live in a shed on the next door property. And the question now is whether Garrido is linked to other crimes in the area including the unsolved murders of several prostitutes in the 1990s.
Garrido is believed to be the father of Dugard's two daughters who lived in primitive conditions in Garrido's backyard. The long time mystery was solved last week when Garrido took the two younger girls to the U.C. Berkeley campus and aroused the suspicion of campus police.
All of us want to know what is next for Jaycee Dugard and her two daughters. How will they adjust to their new reality? Apparently the girls have never been to school. They've never seen a doctor and so their interaction with the world has been severely limited. As you just saw, they lived in an environment that makes camping seem luxurious, quite frankly.
Susan Bartell is a psychologist who specializes in working with young girls. She's joining us now from New York.
Thank you so much for being with us.
And I just want to tell you this story has really -- it's interested a lot of people. It's our number one story on cnn.com, so we've actually got some viewers who have some questions for you.
The first one if from marieDM123, she says California kidnap story question, what will help the children of kidnapped suspect cope with who they are and how others will treat them.
Which I think is a pretty interesting question. What about how others will treat them.
SUSAN BARTELL, CHILD PSYCHOLOGIST: It's a very interesting question Brianna. We focused a lot on Jaycee, but her children are every bit as much victims and they are going to require an enormous amount of psychological treatment.
They have known no other life and they're going to need a team of specialists to help them get through this. They're going to need to learn how to go to school. They're going to need to learn how to make friend. They're going to need to learn how to interact with people.
And what's most interesting is for the kids and for Jaycee herself is that people think that this is just so wonderful that she's back with her family, people envision embracing daughter and mom and her stepfather and her sister, but for her and even for her kids, that's probably not what's happening. She probably actually misses captivity and the kids probably do, too.
This is going to be a very, very slow process of bringing them into the world that we know and helping them adjust to a very, very different life than they have experienced; for the kids their whole life and for her more than half her life.
BRIANNA: Especially for these young girls, 11 and 15. I mean these are critical years in the life of any young woman, but you have lot of experience especially dealing with girls of this age.
What do you make of the two Berkeley police officers who saw them and they said what really caught their eye was how robotic the girls were. In fact, the younger one, the 11-year-old, one of the police officers said it was like she was piercing her with her eyes.
What do you make of this behavior? Have you seen this in other children who have maybe suffered a trauma?
BARTELL: Yes, absolutely. I'm sure they're extremely depressed. I'm sure they have repressed every possible normal emotion that children, particularly girls who are pre-adolescent and adolescent should be experiencing. And they're completely traumatized.
So you would expect that girls who have been over and over again -- possibly these girls have been sexually abused, as well, I would not be surprised -- have sort of cut off normal emotion from their daily experience. And in order to survive, in order to cope with the trauma, they've just cut themselves off from any kind of normal emotion and that's what they were observing.
KEILER: And let's go back now to another question from one of our viewers. This tweet coming in from ilovemytroops asking, "If or how/when will the children of Jaycee be told about their father." That is beyond disturbing given coverage in the media. Of course this is assuming that these girls don't know the circumstances around their mother's kidnapping.
How are they going to be told about this and how will they accept this?
BARTELL: They will have to be cold. You can't keep something like this a secret. And in fact, because of it being in the media, they may already know. And certainly they will have to be told in a very gentle way because from their perspective, if they know that he's their father from Jaycee or from him, himself, then they know already. They may not understand the circumstances of it.
But they do need to be told at some point that this is wrong. That this is not the way things are supposed to happen, the way any abused child needs to understand that this is not the way things are supposed to happen.
So it will have to be done in a supportive environment with a lot of psychological therapy. And hopefully they'll be in good hands when they get psychological treatment and will be told while they're getting therapy when they are at the right time.
And it might be at different times for each of the girls because their ages are so different. They may be ready at different times to understand what is going on and what has occurred to them and to their mom through these many years.
KEILER: And let's talk about what happened to their mom, Jaycee Dugard. Kidnapped at 11, a child herself, having her first child at 14 years old -- how does that affect her development at a key period in adolescence and her ability to be a mother to these kids?
BARTELL: It completely stunts her development first of all. And it also happened in captivity. So it wasn't like she was a teen mom who was in a world of a supportive family who was helping her be a teen mom, which is a very, very different experience. She was a teen mom in captivity hidden in a very unusual situation, very traumatic, abused. So we understand that this is something that will be very hard for her to recover from. It completely stunted her development. This is not a girl who had a normal adolescence by any stretch of the imagination, very, very traumatized and it's going to take a long, long time to recover from this if she's able to recover from it.
KEILAR: So many questions here, but Susan Bartell, thanks so much for helping us answer some of them.
BARTELL: Thanks Brianna.
KEILAR: And coming up tonight at 10:00 to talk to us about the Dugard case, marc Klaas. You of course will recall he lost his 12-year-old daughter, Paulie, in 1993 to a man who kidnapped her from a slumber party. And since then, Klaas has become a highly visible advocate to protect children from sexual predators.
More controversy surrounding the Lockerbie Bomber. His freedom was tied to a secret oil deal between the UK and Libyan governments, a charge UK officials flatly deny. CNN's Phil Black reports from London's 10 Downing Street.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPODENT (voice-over): This is the Lockerbie bomber. In a hospital on a drip breathing through an oxygen mask. Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi looks like a dying man. According to a British journalist invited to his bedside, he was unable to independently verify the state of al-Megrahi's health. Asked if his release from prison in Scotland was linked to British trade deals, he could not or could not offer an answer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you feel that you were released because of a commercial deal with Britain and Libya? He can't -- he's too sick.
BLACK: But that is the question that is still being asked in Britain especially after this story in the "Sunday Times" newspaper. Its headline, "Lockerbie bomber set free for oil."
JACK STRAW, BRITISH JUSTICE SECRETARY: The "Sunday Times" headline suggesting that Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi was released as a result of a deal for oil is wholly untrue. There was no deal for the release of Mr. Megrahi.
BLACK: The paper says an oil exploration deal between Libya and British company, BP, was only ratified by Libya's parliament after the British government agreed a prisoner transfer deal between the countries would not exclude al-Megrahi specifically. Britain's Justice Secretary Jack Straw admits the government had pushed for al- Megrahi not to be eligible for transfer under the agreement, but Libya refused and Britain relented. But the deal always allowed for the Scottish government to veto any transfer.
STRAW: To underline this point, what makes the allegation absurd is that this debate is academic. There has been no release understand the prisoner transfer agreement. BLACK: Al-Megrahi's application under the transfer agreement was refused by the Scottish government. Instead, he was released under Scottish law on compassionate grounds because he's dying of cancer. Scotland's first minister insists justice was his government's only consideration.
ALEX SALMOND, SCOTTISH FIRST MINISTER: If you have to make a difficult controversial decision, a challenging decision, for goodness sake, let's take it for the right reasons and the right reasons were to release a dying man on compassionate terms and not to let any other factor, international politics, trade, whatever oil deals may or may not have been made let alone any of these to affect the decision.
BLACK: The families of Lockerbie's victims believe it's all more fuel for the growing suspicion here, the trade and al-Megrahi's freedom were discussed by Britain and Libya at the same time.
PAMELA DIX, LOCKERBIE BOMBING VICTIM'S SISTER: Jack Straw indicates that it is academic to discuss the prison transfer agreement because Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds is an insult.
BLACK (on camera): Opposition political parties are now growing louder in their calls for an open inquiry to examine Britain's relationship with Libya and the extent to which al-Megrahi has been mentioned in negotiations between the two countries. One opposition politician says that now seems British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been hiding behind the Scottish government's compassion for a dying man while really being influenced by his own compassion for commerce.
Phil Black, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Four years ago this weekend, that is when the lives of people living in New Orleans were changed forever. People like the producer, director, writer of a documentary on the devastation left by Katrina. There she is, Yasmin Gabriel who was a student when the powerful storm hit. She's going to join us next.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Plus, I'm CNN meteorologist, Jacqui Jeras. We are just about at the peak of hurricane season now. And the tropics are starting to heat up. We got a major hurricane in the Pacific and an area of disturbed weather that looks rather interesting in the Atlantic. We'll show you it. Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: More than 35,000 acres scorched, thousands of homes evacuated. This is what raging wildfires have left in their wake in Southern California. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency after returning from the funeral of Senator Ted Kennedy. The blaze has been growing since Wednesday and the U.S. Forest Service reports some 10,000 homes have now been evacuated.
Let's check in now with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras. She's in the CNN weather center to tell us what lies ahead for the weather in that region. Jacqui.
JERAS: More hot, dry conditions. Unfortunately, Brianna, really no breaks here. You know, the winds have been a little bit gusty today and we just found this image from NASA that shows you the fire location and there are heat signatures here. And then you can also see - there you can see that smoke, it extends all the way into Nevada and we're also seeing it down here into the coastal areas where you see it in a little bit and that's indicative that we've had winds which have been changeable, which certainly makes things more difficult to fight for these fires.
Our I-reporters have been catching some incredible and dramatic photos. These from Don Hannah and there you can see the orange glow into the night sky. Don said he woke up at 4:00 this morning because he could just smell the smoke. He says he's been smelling it for three days. Unfortunately, it looks like we're going to have another three days easy where we're going to continue to see these hot, dry conditions. Temperatures a little bit cooler into the next couple of days.
Now, some other weather makers going on. We've got some action going on in the tropics. Take a look at this thing. This is Hurricane Jimena. And it is a powerful category 4 storm. Look at this, these winds are 140 miles per hour with gusts stronger than that. The forecast track with Jimena is bringing it up towards Baja, California. So we may be dealing with a landfall and major hurricanes.
Some folks were hoping that some of this moistures could get up into the fires in California. We don't think that's going to happen. Maybe into Arizona, maybe into New Mexico if we're real lucky with that. Some other weather makers going on across the U.S. for today, are the critical fire conditions that are spreading to the Great Basin as well as upper level disturbance moves on in there and some heavy rainfall across the southeastern corridor causing a little bit of urban flooding and a lot of delays if you're trying to travel.
Late in the weekend, Brianna, it is the last weekend of August. Can you believe it? A lot of people trying to get that beach weekend in still.
KEILAR: I know. The community pool where I live is only open for another week. I'm devastated.
JERAS: Get your sun tan location on, girl.
KEILAR: I know, right. All right. Jacqui, thank you so much for that.
Well, four years ago, Hurricane Katrina bludgeoned the Gulf Coast killing more than 1,400 people in New Orleans alone. This weekend, the city is pausing to remember.
Those ringing bells recalled the first moment the first levee gave way letting loose a deadly flood that left much of the city under water. Mayor Ray Nagin was at Saturday's ceremony thanking city residents for their resilience. President Obama marked Katrina's anniversary by pledging to go cut through the bureaucratic red tape. He says his White House is dedicated to keeping recovery efforts on track and he promised to visit by the end of the year, but some Louisiana Democrats told our John King actions speak louder than words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I'm a Democrat, and this is a Democratic president, I would describe myself as slightly myth that he hadn't been down yet.
SEN. MARY LANDRIEU (D), LOUISIANA: The president, I believed promised he'd be there before the end the year and I think that's important. People want to see him. We love having his cabinet secretaries. We're appreciative of the break through we're trying to get on flood control and flood restoration and wetlands restoration and water management.
We're pleased that our schools which, by the way, would not have happened without Ted Kennedy's support, the first senator to call me after that disaster. I want to give him credit and honor. So we're looking forward to seeing the president before the end of the year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Since taking office, the president has sent 11 cabinet members. You heard Senator Landrieu refer to them, to the Gulf Coast to check out progress and figure out how to speed up repairs.
The sights, the sounds and the horrors from Hurricane Katrina. They are still imprinted on many of our minds four years later. But one New Orleans college student says part of the story went untold. So Yasmin Gabriel grabbed a camera, went to work introducing her own documentary. Yasmin, thanks so much for joining us. Tell us what motivated you to start filming this.
YASMIN GABRIEL, PRODUCER, "PICKING UP THE PIECES": Well, Brianna, it was kind of like my therapy tool. I used it just because so many people, the media had different images of us, but they weren't images that looked like myself, so I just grabbed the camera and decided to try to document more or less what was going on in New Orleans. And I found a story within that documentation about college students and how we were affected by Hurricane Katrina.
KEILAR: So you left the University of New Orleans after the storm. You finished your undergraduate studies somewhere else. You are now a law student at Howard University in Washington, D.C.. So you've had to move away from New Orleans. But when was the last time you visited and what are your thoughts on this the close of the fourth anniversary?
GABRIEL: I was actually - Brianna, I was at home about a month ago working on another project for Howard University School of Law and I just went in, drove around the city and to see that there's very slow progress. You know, we live in the greatest country in the world, but let alone in my neighborhood, I don't have a hospital. So it's kind of weird to go back home and see that there's not very much progress going on.
Four years from now, you would think there would be at least some businesses in the neighborhood of New Orleans east, which there is very, very little. So it's kind of disappointing.
KEILAR: And what do you think about college students in the area? There has been some speculation about, you know, if you had enough money to move away from the area, maybe you did. There's been speculation about a brain drain in the area. Can you speak to that?
GABRIEL: Yes, there is kind of a brain drain about, you know, young people, but there are so many young people who are not from New Orleans who are there. I'm (INAUDIBLE) right now that we're having on tomorrow who are two D.C. residents who are just coming together to raise funds. They went down to New Orleans during the Essence Music Festival and was able to see first hand, you know, that New Orleans needed so much help.
So there are so many young people who are just because you're not there doesn't mean your heart's not there. So I think there are a lot of young people who want to give back to the city of New Orleans, but at the same time, who are physically down on the ground and we do need more help and more young people to kind of pull up their boot straps and get down in there.
KEILAR: And just the last question for you. We love checking with you every year but one of the things you've done, Yasmin, is you founded and organization called Upgrade America. What is this about?
GABRIEL: Upgrade America kind of sprouted out of Katrina. It's kind of a social organization that allow young people to channel their energy into being - in order to empower each other and kind of move forward and be positive. We like to do positive things in the community. So rather than complaining about the problem, we try to upgrade America.
So, you know, we do everything from ballot guides during this last presidential location to going back to New Orleans and rebuilding, also dealing with D.C. - issues here in D.C., as well. So we do a lot of different things. We're just trying to Upgrade America using young people's energy.
KEILAR: Right. Four years later, Yasmin Gabriel, thanks so much for talking to us and for making a difference.
GABRIEL: Thank you, Brianna, very much. I certainly appreciate it.
KEILAR: And we'll check back in with you I'm sure on the fifth anniversary, as well.
GABRIEL: Thank you very much. Have a great day.
KEILAR: You, too.
GABRIEL: Bye-bye.
KEILAR: Well, it is news that came a little too late for big papi. A federal appeals court ruled federal agents had no right to seize players drug test results which were supposed to be anonymous.
Plus the emotional reunion of a father with a son that he thought was dead for more than a decade.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: It's one of the biggest sports stories of the week. A federal appeals court says federal agents were wrong to seize what were supposed to be the anonymous drug test results of major league baseball players back in 2003. So to talk about this, let's bring in now sports business analyst, Rick Horrow.
First, Rick, though let's talk a little bit about golf. I hate missing a close putt as much as the next person, but I imagine it was really rough for Tiger Woods. Tell us about this kind of amazing end at the Barclays.
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Well, let's not cry over Tiger Woods. He's making $100 million a year off the course and he's done quite well. But he did not win a major this year. And Heath Slocum, 124th rated in this tournament barely got in, wins by one shot at the Barclays. The officials, though, at Barclays are incredibly excited about the economic impact. Liberty National, by the way, is a stone's throw from the Statute of Liberty. The weather was beautiful. The economic impact was stupendous. Tiger didn't win, but Barclays sure won.
KEILAR: Let's - I mean, we all love an underdog. So that's always a good thing for Heath Slocum. Let's get back to the federal court ruling that major league baseball had no right to release these drug tests or really for these drug tests, the results of them were leaked. This coming too late, of course, for some players. A-Rod among them. What happens now?
HORROW: Well, you know, the bottom line was the federal agents were told that they exceeded their authority and we just got the opinion in and Alex Kozinski, the chief judge for the Ninth Circuit wrote that the judge - the case showed a deliberate overreaching by the government in an effort to get data which lacked probable cause.
But again, as you said, David Ortiz, too late. Alex Rodriguez, too late. Sammy Souza, too late. Manny Ramirez, probably too late. 100 individuals on the list, there were 10 that were the subject of the warrant. The other 90, it keeps leaking out. Everybody understands that leaking is a crime. But again as you said that doesn't help the guys whose info is already out there. And if the government chooses not to appeal they can't use the information at subsequent trials. But a lot of people would say the harm, Brianna, has already been done.
KEILAR: Yes, I think a lot of people would say that. And, of course, we know baseball, Rick. Big money. But, big money in the Little League World series going on right now. California beat Taiwan just a few hours ago. What's up with this?
HORROW: Well, what's up with it is these 12-year-olds in and of themselves are making a lot of money for Williams Port and the surrounding environments. 17 major national sponsors. Big time television as we know. This event, by the way, started in 1947. Nobody would have contemplated that. We have 5,000 of these leagues all over the country. 2.5 million kids playing baseball and softball in these organized leagues. And also in many countries around the globe play ball indeed.
KEILAR: All right. Should have said California beat Taipei. I think I may have gotten it wrong there. I'm not sure what I said, Rick. But thanks for joining us talking about the business of sports. We appreciate it, as always.
HORROW: The kids are going to be unhappy with you.
KEILAR: I know. That's why I had to correct myself. Thanks, Rick.
Born in China, raised in America, and now a tearful reunion with a family that he hardly knows.
CNN's John Voss has the unforgettable story of Christian Norris who wanted to be reunited with his family back in China but was not at all prepared for the emotions it caused.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In an instant it all came out. Anguish, guilt, and joy of finding a child they thought was lost forever, 11 long years ago. That child is Christian Norris, 17 now and seemingly unmoved by this outpouring of emotion. Perhaps because both men, his birth father and uncle are distant memories.
CHRISTIAN NORRIS, DISAPPEARED AT AGE 6: I don't really remember my dad that much. I just remember my uncle a lot. He raised me most of the time.
VAUSE: Christian was raised in this small village always thinking his uncle was his father because his parents, doctors in a nearby town, had two sons violating China's strict one child policy.
JIN XIAOWANG, CHRISTIAN'S BIRTH UNCLE (through translator): They felt conflicted. They were afraid it might affect their jobs. So they brought him to me.
VAUSE: Says his uncle. When he was six, Christian went to live with his birth parents so he could attend school and was told they were a foster family. But after a few months as he returned home to the village by bus, he disappeared. The details aren't clear, but it could have been up to a year later when police brought him to an orphanage, hundreds of miles away in a neighboring province. Eventually adopted by Julia, a volunteer at the orphanage from the U.S..
(on camera): Did you expect the outpouring of emotion when his uncle and dad just grabbed him and broke down crying.
JULIA NORRIS, CHRISTIAN'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER: No, not that much. No. It was heartbreaking. I mean, I just - my heart breaks for the family that they have missed out on these years with him.
VAUSE (voice-over): Painful years of never knowing what happened.
JIN GAOKE, CHRISTIAN'S BIRTH FATHER (through translator): I have had a sickness in my heart. Today I can say it has been cured completely.
VAUSE: Says his birth father. This reunion was set in motion three years ago when Christian asked to find his family in China. Their first day together spent touring Beijing. Holding hands, slowly reconnecting.
(on camera): Christian's past might be here in China, but he has grown up American, spending most of his life in the United States. And for now, at least, that's where he says he sees his future.
(voice-over): A decision which his Chinese family say they will respect but -
GAOKE (through translator): He has grown, taller, bigger but inside Chinese blood is still flowing in his veins.
VAUSE: Says his father. After so many years apart they're hoping not to let go again.
John Vause, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: It was the final farewell to the man known as "the lion of the Senate."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TED KENNEDY, JR., EDWARD KENNEDY'S SON: The work goes on. The cause endures. The hope still lives. And the dream shall never die. I love you, dad, I always will. And I miss you already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Ted Kennedy's farewell. A sight to see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: This just in to CNN. The president of Colombia has H1/N1, the influenza virus commonly called swine flu. The president fell Alvaro Uribe fell ill Friday, the same day that he was attending a South American summit in Argentina. All of the other leaders who met with Mr. Uribe at the summit are being contacted about this development.
And he is in stable condition and is being treated at the presidential palace in Bogota. I'm Brianna Keilar. Don Lemon will be back with all the day's news tonight at 10:00 Eastern.
"State of the Union" with John King is up next. But before we go, here are some of the sights and sounds as the nation said its long, and heartfelt good-bye to Senator Ted Kennedy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We gather today as a community drawn from across the nation to entrust the life of Senator Edward Kennedy into the hands of god and to provide you consolation and support.
TED KENNEDY JR., SON: The work goes on. The cause endures. The hope still lives. And the dream shall never die. I love you, dad. I always will. And I miss you already.
TEDDY KENNEDY, GRANDSON: For my grandfather's brave promise last summer that the work begins anew, the hope rises again, and the dream lives on. We pray to the Lord.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: A champion for those who had none, the soul of the Democratic Party, and the lion of the United States Senate.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
