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Remembering Oklahoma City; 13-Year-Old Trying to Scale Everest

Aired April 19, 2010 - 09:59   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Ladies and gentlemen, you're seeing a live picture now of the memorial ceremony about to take place just getting under way in Oklahoma City commemorating the 15th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing that killed 168 people. They are going to observe a moment of silence at the exact moment the bomb went off, 9:02 Central time, 10:02 Eastern time. In just a moment we'll dip back into this ceremony.

But first we do want to go ahead and give you a look at some other stories that we are keeping an eye on. We'll get right back to this moment.

First, an issue and story we have been keeping an eye on really for the past several days, that big eruption of that Icelandic volcano. The volcano ash advisory office in London now reporting that the eruption has virtually ceased and the thousands of travelers remain stranded by cancelled flights, Britain calling out the Royal Navy to bring home some of their stranded passengers.

Also, the shuttle not coming home today. Blame the bad weather over Florida, forced NASA to keep the Shuttle Discovery stay in orbit an extra day and try landing again tomorrow, just after sun rise. If things aren't clear in Florida, NASA might go with plan b. You know they have C, D, E and F as always at NASA. They will bring the crew into Edwards Air Force Base in California if they need to.

Also, survivors still being pulled from the rubble in China, five days now after that major earthquake hit. One of the people found today was a four-year-old girl. State media puts the death toll at 1,944, another 12,000 injured. Food aid and portable toilets are now finally getting to some of the victims who are now living in makeshift tent cities.

And as we showed you just a moment ago, we're going to get you back now to Oklahoma City, back to those live pictures of the memorial ceremony just getting under way.

Let's go ahead and take a listen in.

JOHN RACHELS, OKLAHOMA CITY NATIONAL FOUNDATION, CHAIRMAN: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome. I'm John Rachels, chairman of the Oklahoma City National Foundation.

This morning we have several special guests with us. We have Secretary Janet Napolitano, United States Department of Homeland Security; Governor Brad Henry and first lady Kim Henry; Lieutenant Governor Jerry Askins (ph); Mayor Mick Cornett; State Superintendent of Public Construction Sandy Garrett; Congresswoman Mary Fallon Ford Bell; Executive Director of the American Association of Museums, Governor Frank and Kathy Keating; Anthony Russell, regional administrator FEMA Region Six; and Robin Finnigan (ph), regional administrator FEMA Region Eight. And thank you all for joining us on this important day.

Fifteen years ago, April 19th began as a beautiful day. However, the beauty we enjoyed on that day was erased in an instant at 9:02 a.m. in those moments and hours that followed, hundreds, even thousands of people rushed in to help us. Just doing their job, they would say. However, in doing so, they became heroes to us all.

One such hero who was just doing his job was patrolling interstate 35 near Perry, Oklahoma, when he noticed a car missing a license plate. He pulled the driver of the car over. His actions on that day were the first step in bringing justice to the perpetrators of the events that occurred on this site. That trooper is here with us today. Please welcome Retired Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper and current Noble County Sheriff, Charlie Hanger. Charlie

(APPLAUSE)

SHERIFF CHARLIE HANGER, NOBLE COUNTY: We come here to remember those who were killed, those who survived, and those changed forever. May all who leave here know the impact of violence. May this memorial offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity.

Please join me in 168 seconds of silence.

(MOMENT OF SILENCE OBSERVED)

HOLMES: All right. Keeping an eye on the memorial taking place now. Again, 168 seconds of silence observed for the 168 victims of that terror attack. Homegrown terror attack, but a terror attack nonetheless. It happened 15 years ago today; 168 people killed, 19 of them children. You saw there one of the troopers who stepped up. We're looking at some images here now.

The trooper who stepped up is a guy who actually placed McVeigh under arrest back then, who came up to led us in the 168 seconds of silence. Again, can you believe it was 15 years ago today, one of the moments when a lot of people if you are of a certain age can remember where you were when you got word. This changed the way that people viewed terrorism, domestic terrorism and viewed the way and just how susceptible we were to such attacks, also tapped into the anger that many people had, a growing anger and militias and hate groups. So it just really opened people's eyes to a lot of things going on in the country.

Certainly, we will never be the same again. That was a time when at the time was the deadliest terror attack we had ever seen, and of course, many years later came 9/11. But again, among those 168 were 19 children. They were at a day care center inside the Murrah Federal Building that day when that blasts sheared pretty much a whole side of that building off. Somehow though six of the children survived. Here's the story of one of them, P.J. Allen, in his own words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy cow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At the time of the bombing, P.J. was 18 months. He had inhaled much of the gas from the bombing. His lungs were severely damaged. Irreparable.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is albuterol. It opens up my lungs. If god could save me from second and third-degree burns and a broken arm he must have something special planned.

P.J. ALLEN, OKLAHOMA SURVIVOR: I'm P.J. Allen. I'm 16 years old. I would like to be a mechanical engineer. I like math. It fascinates me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Looks like you're doing good.

ALLEN: I got my trach out in '06. I felt relieved to have it gone. Over time my injuries have healed and I'm breathing a little bit better. It's like a sign of growth.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so happy to go home.

ALLEN: I don't remember what happened since I was so little. So in a way it's like it never happened, but it did. I try to remember those who didn't make it and how their families were affected. When the explosion happened there was chaos and everybody was scared, but now it's a beautiful place to remember those who died. I thank god every day that I made it and the others as well and that we're doing OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Coming back at 8:00 tonight, Oklahoma survivors in their own words, some 15 years later. Stay with us for that.

Also, a breaking story we're just getting to the newsroom a short time ago, two Al Qaeda leaders in Iraq, two of the most wanted in Iraq, were killed in a security operation. This happened in Al Anbar province. Iraq's prime minister Nuri Al Malaki announced that security forces that killed the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq and also killed the leader of the Islamic state of Iraq. That's another insurgent group with ties to Al Qaeda.

Well, you got your climbing gear, got your bottled oxygen and got your math homework? Yes. This could be the first time that someone brought their homework to Mount Everest. Then again, he could be the youngest person to get to the top of the world. We're going to be talking to this young man, coming up.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Another overachiever. God bless him. All right. Good morning, everybody. I'm Rob Marciano, at the CNN severe weather center. We'll talk more about the ash. The volcano is beginning to maybe take a little breather. Hopefully it's permanent. Plus we'll the national forecast in just a few minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Well, Sir Edmund Hillary of New Zealand was the first to do it. Jordan Romero of California trying to be the youngest to do it. Do what? Summit Mount Everest. All 29,000 feet and change and making it back down.

Jordan and his dad, Paul, with us from Everest base camp on the mountain. They are getting used to the altitude. Guys, I see you and I think you can hear me. But there he is, 13-year-old, Jordan.

Jordan, you tell me, whose idea was this? Was this all your idea or did dad kind of say, hey, how would you like to do this, and you got on board?

JORDAN ROMERO, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: Oh, yes. It was totally all my idea. I mean, I was - this is part of my seven summit quest also known as the highest mountain on every continent quest. I set out to do this when I was nine years old. And this will be the seventh of the eight summits.

HOLMES: Now, this is not something easy to do physically. But also a lot of - it takes a lot of mental fortitude to be able do something like this. So what do you find most challenging, Jordan, the physical aspect or actually getting your mind right and actually trying to soldier through a lot of things you're going to face on the mountain?

JORDAN ROMERO: All of it is tough. I mean, the physical aspect has definitely been tough. It's a beautiful day, and it was quite hilly. But it was nice. It was good exercise. Mentally, you know, the mountain requires, a, a lot of patience. It can look like a beautiful day and you're not going up to the summit. So it's both physically and mentally challenging (INAUDIBLE).

HOLMES: To your dad there now - and, Dad Paul, I think you can hear me as well. I know you are an experienced climber, an experienced outdoorsman. What did you think though? Did you have some concerns when you think about putting your 13-year-old child on a mountain that you certainly know the experiences you have of just how dangerous something like this can be?

PAUL ROMERO, MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: Of course, I had tons of apprehensions, and tons of questions in my own mind, but, you know, it's been my job as a dad to show the world to Jordan, help him be a big strong young man and to do good for the world and to do good for himself. To Everest specifically we have taken a super, super methodical, surgical approach to this. We have trained and prepared. We traveled the world climbing. We have an amazing team.

The Sherpas we have with us are phenomenal human beings. And it just seems to be going well. Jordan is as strong as any adult athlete or climber that I would want to go out with. He's no longer a kid going on a trip with us. He's a climbing partner. He's got so much respect for what we're doing and for the mountain and for the ethics of what goes on here. It's not a little kid headed to the Himalayas to climb. (INAUDIBLE) into this.

HOLMES: I know a lot of people and you have heard some of the criticism out there. Like you say, at 13 with at much experience as he has, it's better than (INAUDIBLE) an older person, a grown person who's 50 or 60 trying to do it. so he's in better shape doing it than some of them. But the criticism that you do here is that parents these days are pushing kids, younger and younger to do bigger and greater things, pushing them physically and mentally sometimes. But I will let you go ahead and address some of the questions that you know, people who are watching this right now would have about isn't this just a little too young and a little too dangerous?

PAUL ROMERO: You heard it from Jordan himself. This was all his idea. Now a dad doesn't just let a kid do anything he wants to do. That would be completely nuts. But what's in a number? What does 13 really represent? You know, if he was a Massai warrior he'd be out slaying a lion on his 13th birthday. Do we tell them they're too young?

You know, there's just not much about the number. This boy's been all over the world. He's 5'10", 160 pounds. He's stronger than most adult athletes I know. We just got an amazing team. It's easy for folks at home that don't know us, that don't know Jordan to just look at that number, that 13 and say, what the heck are these guys doing? It's not like that at all. (INAUDIBLE)

We're not hanging off a cliff edge. We're out there climbing. It's a very slow, methodical and well thought out adventure we're on here. If it's the first of many times to do this, then so be it.

HOLMES: Well, last thing then. Just got to go quickly here to Jordan to let him answer this one. And that is understand he has a lot of homework. He might be the first kid to actually take homework to Mount Everest with him, the first climber to do that. And also, I had to ask this as well - Jordan, good luck to you but what does your mom think about you out there in the mountains?

PAUL ROMERO: Jordan, answer him about how much homework did you bring and what does your mom think?

JORDAN ROMERO: I brought a ton of homework. Pretty much it was just simple. I mean, a bunch of math homework. But, hey, I've just been told to read some books, and fill out some book reports. Also what else, fill out a journal entry. So hopefully by the end of the trip and I can just look back. (INAUDIBLE)

My mom - she's really, really very supportive of it. She loves what I'm doing. Of course, you know, with mom. (INAUDIBLE) She's not stopping me. HOLMES: Well, guys, good luck to you. Really. We're going to keep up with you and really, good luck. We'll be watching. We know he's in good physical shape and in good hands like you said, dad. But, really, to both of you guys, be safe, please, be careful. We look forward to talking to you after a successful summit. We'll talk to you soon. Thanks so much.

PAUL ROMERO: Thanks for the opportunity to let us chat with you.

HOLMES: All right. We'll keep an eye on him, 13 years old trying to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Wow, what were you doing at 13? Don't answer that.

A lot of you know Spirit Airlines has been all over the news lately for its new carry-on bag policy. They're going to charge up to $45 for the privilege carrying on. You heard me right. This could be the start of a new trend some were saying but it's not necessarily flying with other carriers.

At least five saying they promise they are not going to do what Spirit is doing. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: A reminder, we're keeping an eye on. This is going on right now. A live picture of the memorial in Oklahoma City, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of that bombing, 15 years ago today, at 168 lives were taken at the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, if it can tear up a million dollar jet engine, imagine what it will do to your lungs. We're talking about this incredible plume of volcanic ash spewed from that glacier in Iceland. It's backed up European air traffic big time and it's got the World Health Organization issuing warnings for Europeans not to go outside or risk potential problems, especially people with respiratory problems such as asthma, but some experts say the warning is a wee bit exaggerated.

Rob? I don't know, you see that thing hover you, you don't want to breathe that in whether you got asthma or not.

MARCIANO: No. I don't want to go out there and take a big deep breath of air. Are you kidding me? But the good news, T.J., is that, you know, for the first time since this whole ordeal, the latest advisory that we've gotten is that the volcano at least, at the very least temporarily has ceased erupting.

So we'll see if that's a long-term trend. We certainly hope so. Because it has certainly spewed a lot of stuff into the air. It's not only unhealthy for people but obviously for air travel. That has been - has rippled through the entire world as far as ramifications go. All right. Rippling through Europe is this jet stream which is still pretty strong. Not quite as concentrated as last week. It's a little bit more west to east. So that's a typical weather pattern. So it's kind of spreading things out just a little bit.

But at the mid and lower parts of the atmosphere, things are kind of heading backwards a little bit. This is one of the advisories. You can see the red circle. That's mid and lower levels of the atmosphere, actually brings that ash back into northern America. That's the set-up at the mid levels right now and on the surface. Low pressure here. High pressure there so kind of filtering things back towards North America. And there have been some flights cancelled across Newfoundland, St. John's there because of some ash as far west as the eastern provinces of Canada.

So I don't think we'll get into the northeast and we'll certainly see how this progresses now that the thing isn't erupting as vigorously. And definitely affecting millions of people now, even on this side of the pond. T.J..

HOLMES: That's good news to hear that for the time being it's ceased. But we don't know what that thing is going to do later.

MARCIANO: Exactly. Plus, the volcano right next to it, which a lot of scientists are more worried about that thing going now. because they typically erupt in some sort of tandem fashion.

HOLMES: All right. Well, we appreciate you as always. Quick break. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: In Oklahoma City today, they are remembering the victims of an extremist, Timothy McVeigh. He killed 168 people 15 years ago today. His anti-government views pushed him over the edge. President Clinton was in office at the time. He spoke with our Wolf Blitzer about extremists and had a warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: The circumstances have a lot of parallels. For example, there's the same kind of economic and social upheaval now as there was then. I'd say in 1993, the economy for most average people who were likely to be drawn into this was not quite as bad as today, but the social upheaval was greater. There was more crime, more gang violence. There was more sense of disintegration after the Cold War.

So, there were big psychological pressures. Then you had the rise of the extremist voices on talk radio. Here you've got a zillion Internet sites. People pumping up a lot of --

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "THE SITUATION ROOM": You're saying it could be potentially worse today because of this echo chamber today? CLINTON: Yes. The echo chamber is bigger today. And there are more voices in it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Joining me now, Mark Potock, director of the Intelligent Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Sir, always good to have you on. You heard the president there -- President Clinton -- talking about the echo chamber and some of the parallels. Do you agree it's just as bad, if you will, that anti- government anger, sentiment, the same we have now that was kind of the same as the lead-up to the Oklahoma City bombing?

MARK POTOCK, DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE PROJECT, SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER: Yes. I very much agree with what president Clinton said. I think we are in a very similar time. It feels, just as he said, that in some ways the anger out there is broader and deeper. I very much agree, too, with what he said about the role of the Internet, commentators and politicians as well who have very much been feeding the fire.

Back in the '90s there was certainly talk radio and some angry hosts out there kind of pushing the militia movement along. Today, we see some similar kinds of voices, sometimes coming from the Congress itself and sometimes from very large cable television shows.

HOLMES: You talk about some of that that comes talk radio and things on the Internet and everybody can spew, if you will, out there on a different Web site. Does it always coincide, however, these times when we see more hanger, hate groups, militia groups popping up with -- there has to be -- I mean, some down economic times or a big issue in Washington and that coupled with commentators sends it over the edge?

POTOK: Well, yes. I think a number of things are going on. I think what you're suggesting is right. Back in the day, back in the 1990s, when really the first wave of the militia movement happened, it was really set up -- in particular by the events in Waco. A lot of people who analyze this situation say -- and I think they're right -- is that all that's really lacking in terms of comparing this moment to 1995 is a real spark, something that will simply ignite the fury out there.

You know, what the reality is we have already begun to see very serious criminal manifestations of this kind of resurgence of the radical right. One need only think back to last week and the members of the Hutaree militia in the upper Midwest. An amazing plot to kill hundreds of police officers.

HOLMES: Last thing. Is there a way -- do you have numbers of just how many more of these groups have been popping up? Is it a disturbing number that continue to show up -- hate groups, militia groups? POTOK: Yes. We counted almost a thousand hate groups out there very recently. In addition, there is an expansion of about 80 percent of the number of hard-line anti-immigration groups. Most astoundingly of all, a huge growth, 244 percent by our count, of the anti-government patriot groups, the militias. That's 363 new groups in a single year. It's really quite something.

HOLMES: Mark Potok, we need to have you back often to get more in depth to some of the numbers you're seeing and certainly something you have been studying for quite some time. Some disturbing, sobering news to hear on this anniversary.

Mark, good to see you, as always. We'll talk to you soon, all right?

POTOK: Thanks for having me.

HOLMES: All right. Some nuclear fears in a small time -- small town -- when prime real estate for a couple of new reactors, but at what cost? It's a CNN Special Investigation. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Making headlines today.

They won't fight the fine, but Toyota Motors is denying the government's accusation that it tried to hide a safety problem with its sticking gas pedals. Today, Toyota accepting a record $16.4 million dollar fine for Toyota's failure to promptly report the issue. Toyota will have 30 days to pay up.

Pope Benedict celebrating his five-year anniversary at the helm of the Catholic Church. His tenure so far has been blemished by the ongoing priest sex abuse scandal. Today, the Pontiff will mark his anniversary with a speech about St. Peter's Square.

A quick break. And we're right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Get back to breaking news we told you about from Iraq. Two of the most wanted terrorists in Iraq have been killed. We want to turn live to our Mohammed Jamjoon, who joins us now from Baghdad.

Mohammed, thank you for hopping on and joining us here. Explain to the viewers how big of a deal these two are who have now been killed.

MOHAMMED JAMJOON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: T.J., in a statement, the U.S. military is calling this a potentially devastating blow to al Qaeda and Iraq. And in the past hour, we have also heard from Iraqi's prime minister Nouri al-Malaki. These are the top two al Qaeda leaders in Iraq. The head of al Qaeda in Iraq, al- Masari (ph) and the head of the Islamic state of Iraq, that's umbrella group that includes al Qaeda and Iraq. That's Abu al Magdadi (ph). They have both been killed. This was in a joint operation that included -- it was fronted by Iraqi security forces, supported by the Americans.

It happened, according to the prime minister, in the past few days. This is a very big blow to al Qaeda here, although we have seen in the past other leaders killed and are captured, and the group has been resilient and has been able to reform and get new leadership. But as of now, everybody here saying a big blow to al Qaeda in Iraq and a big blow to the structure of the organization.

HOLMES: Mohammed, you call it a big blow. Is there any suspicion that these two were involved or had a hand in some of the recent attacks that you covered there? The recent attacks that came in, around and after the parliamentary elections in early March?

JAMJOON: Well, since last August, actually, we have seen repeated attacks, the coordinated car bomb attacks or bombings that happened in and around Baghdad, usually hitting four to five government locations. Sometimes embassies, sometimes residences.

A lot of the times, Iraqi officials have been quick to point the finger to these two groups: al Qaeda in Iraq or the Islamic state of Iraq, headed by these two men In the past few weeks, they have said they are continuing to try to plan the attacks. So, right now, the hope among Iraqi and U.S. officials is this will deal a big blow to them, and they won't be able to pull off massive attacks any time soon.

HOLMES: Talk about the hopes of Iraqi and American officials. Was this a joint effort? There have been questions about will Iraqi security forces be able to step up, secure the country when Americans pull back more and more this summer. So, who was involved in the operation?

JAMJOON: That continues to be -- that's a good question. Right now, what we know is it was Iraqi military and U.S. military supporting the Iraqi military. Iraqi military was fronting this operation.

But to your other question, everybody is wondering are the Iraqi security forces able to secure this country, especially since the U.S. withdrew from the cities, you have seen more attacks in and around Baghdad targeting heavily protected areas. Very heavily protected buildings, government installations and the like. And they continue.

The more that happens, the more people, the more residents question if Iraqi security forces and if the government here will be able to protect the government and will be able to combat these terrorist elements. T.J.?

HOLMES: Mohammed Jamjoon for us live in Baghdad. Mohammed, we appreciate you as always.

Up next here, is nuclear power the problem? A small town dealing with an advanced cancer rate now worried about a new reactor. This is a CNN Special Investigation.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: President Obama's big push for nuclear energy brings us to a small town not used to be in the spotlight. Shell Bluff (ph), Bird Country, Georgia. It's where there's already has two nuclear reactors. The president wants two new nuclear reactors to be built, but there is a problem. Here it is. People in Shell Bluff say they are afraid of more reactors because they say people in the community are dying from cancer. They want to know why. In fact, the county's death rate from cancer, 51 percent higher than the national average.

CNN Special Investigations Unit correspondent Abbie Boudreau went to this town. How would they know one way or another? I guess that's the big question. They don't know what's causing it, they don't know what the issue is now. Scary stuff.

ABBIE BOUDREAU, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: That's the big question. How do they know if they are safe or not? The people of Shells Bluff want someone to figure out why the cancer rates are so high there. This town already has two reactors, and on top of that, it's across the river from an old nuclear weapons plant, which is a superfund toxic site. We went to Shell Bluff where the ground has already been broken for new reactors to let them voice their own opinions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOUDREAU: These are the first reactors being built in the United States in nearly 30 years. We're about to meet this one woman. This is Annie Laura Stevens. And she's actually here with her brother who recently passed away. She lives in Shell Bluff. And she has concerns about the two new reactors, as well as the two existing reactors that are in her town.

(voice-over): Shell Bluff is located in Burke County, Georgia. Its cancer death rate is 51 percent higher than the national average, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

ANNIE LAURA STEVENS, BROTHER DIED OF CANCER: Come in.

BOUDREAU (on camera): Hi.

STEVENS: Hi.

BOUDREAU: I'm Abbie.

STEVENS: Hello. Hello, Abbie. How are you doing?

BOUDREAU: Nice to meet you.

STEVENS: Well, thank you. Nice to meet you, too.

BOUDREAU: Right away, she introduces us to a local reverend. He knew we were here doing a story on the reactors and he is concerned about his congregation.

REV. CHARLES UTLEY: Yes, you hear that there's a lot of cancer, related cancer, maybe respiratory and circulatory things that's going on with them. You know, why is there so much in such a small population?

BOUDREAU (voice-over): This community fears contamination from both the nearby nuclear power plant and an old nuclear weapons facility. A superfund toxic site across the river.

In 1991, the National Cancer Institute studied all counties near nuclear facilities and found no increased risk for cancer. But another study in 2007 focused only on Burke County. Now it found that since the reactors have been built, cancer rates have risen by 25 percent. But the study doesn't say why.

(on camera): Earlier I showed you the picture of Annie Laura's brother Hiram (ph), who died of cancer in 2008. After we left the church, we met Hiram's wife, Jannie.

JANNIE HOWARD, HUSBAND DIED OF CANCER: Why, you know. How could -- I mean, you know, for him to be the type man he was, how could this just happen like that, and so quick?

BOUDREAU: I talked to a few people at the bible study who said they didn't want the new reactors in. How did you feel?

HOWARD: Well, I don't think anybody really want them near.

BOUDREAU: Why not?

HOWARD: I mean, because they're right on, like, right on top of us.

BOUDREAU: Do you think the president has done enough to make sure that people like you are safe before new reactors are built?

HOWARD: He probably don't even know we live there.

STEVENS: That's exactly right.

HOWARD: He doesn't know we're down here.

STEVENS: He doesn't know we're down here.

BOUDREAU: We're back in Annie Laura's house. She showed us this emergency information pamphlet about what they need to do in case there is some sort of leak at Plant Vogtle (ph), which is the nuclear plant in town. And we were looking at it and noticed that she circled her evacuation route. And next to it she says "have mercy upon us all."

(voice-over): The Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows power plants to monitor themselves to see if they're contaminating the environment. Both the NRC and the plant's operator say the facility is safe. (on camera): It's the morning of day two here in Shell Bluff. We're headed over to the church right now. I think that more people are realizing that CNN is in town. And people are sort of reaching out, wanting to talk and tell their stories.

LINA HOWARD TRAVIS: We had protests, and we voiced our opinion, and we didn't want them, but it's just, you know -- we're just the little peons. So this is after she had cancer.

BOUDREAU: The people that we've talked to are concerned that people in their family are getting sick and even dying from cancer. But they're not saying that it's caused -- they're not saying the cancer is caused from the reactors. They're just concerned, and they have questions about why so many of their family members are dying from cancer.

TRAVIS: Not only the older folks. You're talking about the young folks are dying with cancer, throat cancer, stomach cancer. And it's from what, the food? Water? Is it in the air?

BOUDREAU: We're about to meet with a couple of the guys who do environmental testing at nuclear sites throughout the state of Georgia.

I'm Abbie.

JIM SOMERVILLE (ph): Jim Somerville (ph). Nice to meet you.

BOUDREAU: Nice to meet you.

JIM HARDEMAN: Hi, Abbie. Jim Hardeman.

BOUDREAU: Hi.

HARDEMAN: Nice to meet you.

BOUDREAU: So all this stuff is for your environmental testing.

HARDEMAN: All this stuff was for environmental testing.

BOUDREAU: And now it's just sitting here in a warehouse or what?

HARDEMAN: Yes. Most of this equipment was taken out of service at the end of 2004.

BOUDREAU: OK.

HARDEMAN: When our federal funding ran out.

BOUDREAU: And how much federal funding do you get?

HARDEMAN: Right now, none.

BOUDREAU: Nothing?

HARDEMAN: Nothing. BOUDREAU (voice-over): Hardeman says they're still doing limited environmental monitoring around the reactors, and he does feel they're safe.

(on camera): How is anybody supposed to do a long-term health study on people in Shell Bluff?

HARDEMAN: That's a good question. I don't have a good answer to it.

BOUDREAU: OK.

HARDEMAN: I really don't. I mean, you can't do that kind of study unless you've got the data to base it on. I mean, otherwise, you're just speculating as to what might be there or what might not.

BOUDREAU: Well, we're leaving here with so many questions. I mean, who's watching out for these people? Where is the government accountability? They want there to be a long-term health study, and they don't understand why no one is knocking on their door asking for blood samples or hair samples or whatever the case may be. Why no one is testing their well water. And those the kinds of things that they're hoping will happen before two new reactors are built in their community.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Just days after leaving Shell Bluff, we talked to the Department of Energy about what we learned. Since then, the department now plans to reinstate its federal funding to the state of Georgia for independent environmental monitoring. The money will officially be designated to the superfund toxic site across the river. But depending upon how much funding the state gets will determine the amount of additional testing that can be done in other parts of this community.

So, this is really good news for them. Because that's what they want. They want to know some answers. They want testing to be done.

HOLMES: There are studies as well. It seems one study says this. Another says that. Is there a plan for another that could be a definitive health study about what in the world is going on there?

BOUDREAU: Yes. And hopefully, it will start this summer. We talked to the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The agency will now commission a new national health study to re-examine the cancer risks for people living near nuclear power plants. Like I said, T.J., that should get started this summer. So, hopefully these people with questions will, over the next several months and several years, get some answers.

HOLMES: And you can tell. Like you said, you were there. They knew you were in town. People were itching to talk about it and maybe get the word out about what's going on.

Abbie Boudreau, always good work. Our Special Investigations Unit. Thank you very much.

BOUDREAU: Thanks.

We'll be looking ahead to the next hour in the NEWSROOM.

The Internet has opened so many social networking sites, but it also opened a whole new can of worms. It's also become a tool for hate mongers. We'll see how these Web sites are being monitored. Stay here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. This is how it usually works in the airline industry. When one carrier adds a new fee, the other carriers rush to do the same thing. But maybe not the case this time. Other carriers promising they will not make you pay for your carry-on luggage after Spirit Airlines says they will start the new policy.

CNN's Christine Romans in New York to talk about this. I guess we better make them sign contracts in blood on this thing, Christine. I'm not going to believe it until I see it.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I guess usually when you have a new fee crop up in the industry, you don't have a bunch of senators out there screaming and yelling and saying, hey, wait a minute, we just found a way to tax you more on those fees.

So, you're right. After Spirit Airlines said it would be charging up to $45 to stow your carry-on in the overhead bin, Chuck Schumer, the senator from New York, made five -- I shouldn't say made them promise -- he got five airlines to promise that they would not follow suit. Among them, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, United, U.S. Airways and JetBlue. JetBlue, which of course has been very, very slow to follow in the trend of adding fees to everything. They don't want to, shall we say, tick off their core customers.

But Spirit Airlines is sticking to its guns, T.J., and says it will continue to try this new way of charging people a fee for the services they use because they say it's a free market. And if you don't like it, you don't bring a bag. I guess.

HOLMES: Absolutely. I had an interview with the CEO of Spirit Airlines this weekend. He defended it, saying this is what works for his customers and his airline. He's not asking anybody else to do it. But he says his customers will respond, and if you check your bag, you have a lower ticket price is how he kind of justifies this thing, Christine. But once again --

ROMANS: And the unbundling. I mean, this is what we -- consumers call it nickel-and-diming. The industry calls it unbundling where they take apart piece by pieceand charge you for what you use. And I think this trend persists. I think this isn't going to go away. I think the carry-on bags in the overhead, I think Chuck Schumer and others in Congress will make sure the big guys don't try to do it, too. HOLMES: All right. Christine Romans, always good to see you. Thank you so much.

ROMANS: Bye-bye.

HOLMES: I get to go from Christine to my man Tony Harris now. I need to hand this thing over. Tony, can you imagine?