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Reaction To Obama's Speech; Blast & Fire Destroy Neighborhood; Ground Zero Memorial Preview

Aired September 10, 2010 - 12:47   ET

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

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Different parts of the country. It's a different stake in Ohio than it is in Missouri, than it is in Colorado. This is a very complicated 50-piece puzzle. The president's trying to help today. We've got seven weeks to go. We're all going to have a lot of fun covering what is a fascinating campaign.

But at the moment, we're going to turn things over to our friend Tony Harris at the CNN NEWSROOM in Atlanta and he'll continue the conversation throughout the day.

Hey, Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Terrific job. Terrific job, everyone. And our thanks to the best political team on television.

Let's do this. Let's get you caught up on our top stories right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And let's start with the aftermath of an inferno. Crews will begin going house to house searching for victims of a deadly gas line explosion near San Francisco. Officials say at least four people are dead. The blast set off a massive fire in the San Bruno neighborhood. Dozens of homes destroyed or heavily damaged. Residents had to run for their lives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You could start to feel the heat coming through the window and we started to see the window crack from the heat. So I decided to go in the room, put on some shoes, and we grabbed my dog, my wife and my son and we went out in the backyard and we went around the side of the house out of the gate, and our gate was already on fire. And when I stepped out into the backyard, I could see the stucco popping off of my neighbor's house behind us. So I knew it was intense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Dan Simon has been on the story all night and into the morning and he joins us now from San Bruno.

And, Dan, if you would, tell us where things stand right now.

DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, Tony. We're looking really at three central questions here -- how many people died, what caused this explosion, and how many structures destroyed? So let's kind of tackle them one by one, not really in that order, though. Let's first talk about how this happened.

Well, there were some people who live in that neighborhood who say that for about three weeks or so they detected the smell of natural gas. And at one point one person claims that PG&E, the utility company, actually came out to investigate. Well, short time ago there was a news conference and the president of PG&E addressed that question, and we want to roll that sound and take a look at that first.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LT. GOV ABEL MALDONADO, CALIFORNIA: I have heard news accounts about customers reporting that PG&E -- to PG&E that they had smelled gas in the area previously. Right now we haven't got confirmation about that, but we have records that we are going back right this minute to try to confirm what exactly those phone calls looked like and when they occurred. And we will report back as soon as we know something.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIMON: The PG&E president also saying that they detected no previous problems with that natural gas pipe. No pressure problems with it. And he said at this point they actually have not been able to get close to the wreckage, if you will, to inspect it to see what might have gone wrong, because right now he says it is not a safe area.

Let's talk about fatalities. Right now we are told that four people are confirmed dead, but authorities still believe that they are likely to find more bodies as they canvas the homes this morning and bring in cadaver dogs. We're told that about 50 people were taken to local hospitals for various injuries, as well, Tony.

And in terms of the damage to these structures, we are told that 38 homes were destroyed. That's a bit of a reduction from what we were told earlier. Earlier we were told it was more than 50. And a significant reduction in the amount of homes damaged. This morning we were told that there were more than 100 homes damaged. Well now the official count is at seven.

Why that enormous disparity? Well, originally they were counting minor damage, things like problems with shingles, shingles that may have been burned. Right now they are only talking about significant damage, and that number is at seven.

So those are the three issues we're talking about. We've gotten a little bit more information. But in terms of that critical question in terms of what caused this explosion, still no closer in getting to the truth there, Tony.

HARRIS: OK. Dan Simon, that's a lot of information. Well done. Dan Simon for us this afternoon.

Let's do this. Let's talk about this with our Chad Myers.

And, Chad, at the height of this, you could see in some of the video the winds were really kicking around those flames.

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Yes.

HARRIS: And, you know, we -- it was bad. But it could have always been worse. And it looked like the firefighters did a pretty good job, as best they could, at containing it.

MYERS: They did. They did the best job they could, and would have loved to have winds like this that they have right now, 8, 3, 9, 5, 7, 4. But, unfortunately, let me take you to what they did have. Here are the hours up to and then past where we have wind gusts there, 21 miles per hour, 21, 17. And you get winds like that, and you can get sparks to go from one house to another, obviously.

We saw in Detroit, what, five days ago, when fires were going in Detroit, and one house would catch fire and then it literally, because the winds were 40, they were going from house to house to house, shingle to shingle to shingle.

And this is also -- when you get a heat ball like you had yesterday with this nat gas heat, you actually can start the house on fire just because the heat can go through the window and literally start the curtains on fire and the house burns from the inside out. Not so much even from the outside in. And that's one of the things -- one of the things they tell people to do in the fire areas, when they say evacuate, they -- a forest fire, a wild land fire, get the curtains out of the way so that if he is coming through the glass of your windows, the curtains don't catch on fire and then your house doesn't burn from the inside out. It's amazing.

HARRIS: Wow. All right, Chad, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

Tomorrow marks the ninth anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Take a look at these live pictures now from New York's Ground Zero where the memorial will be open and ready for viewing next year. We are bringing you an update on the efforts to build that memorial.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: This just in to CNN. We've gotten a statement from Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf. He is the man, as you know, the imam in charge of a proposed Islamic community center and mosque near Ground Zero. And here is the statement.

"I am prepared to consider meeting with anyone who is seriously committed to pursuing peace. We have no such meeting planned at this time. Our plans for the community center have not changed. With the solemn day of September 11th upon us, I encourage everyone to take time for prayer and reflection." As you know, Pastor Terry Jones, the pastor who had announced plans to burn Korans tomorrow, is now planning to head to New York to meet with the imam. We have no idea if that meeting is still on. The statement we are getting from the imam is that it is not on. So we don't know if that will change the plans of Pastor Jones. We will keep you updated, of course, on developments in this story.

Wall Street pauses to remember the victims of September 11th. Trading halted on the New York Stock Exchange today for a moment of silence. Of course, tomorrow marks the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

A memorial to the victims of the September 11th attacks at the World Trade Center site is expected to be finished next year. Here is a live picture of Ground Zero right now. Joining me with a preview of the site is Joseph Daniels. He is the president and CEO of the National September 11th Memorial and Museum.

Good to see you, sir. Thanks for your time. Thanks for sticking around for us.

JOSEPH DANIELS, PRESIDENT, SEPT 11 MEMORIAL: Thanks for having me.

HARRIS: So I've got to ask you, as the president and CEO of this National September 11th Memorial and Museum, you wake up every day with what goal in mind, driven by what philosophy or singular guiding thought?

DANIELS: You know, on the tenth anniversary of the attacks next year, we know the entire world is going to be fixated on the World Trade Center site on Ground Zero, maybe in a way that it hasn't been for a number of years. And we feel a responsibility from the city of New York, from this entire nation, to be able to present a memorial that is open and that inspires. And that's our goal.

HARRIS: Well, speaking of goals, have you reached your fund- raising goals for the memorial and museum? Will you have enough money to finish the memorial and museum?

DANIELS: You know, when Mayor Mike Bloomberg, who is the chairman of the memorial and museum, got involved a couple years back, it gave such an incredible energy shot to the fund-raising. We've raised over $360 million. We have a quarter of a million donors from all 50 states, from 39 different countries. Everybody recognizes that 9/11 was a global event and really want -- they want to be a part of opening this memorial on the tenth anniversary.

HARRIS: Well, begs the question, will you be ready?

DANIELS: You know, I do wake up every single morning thinking about it. And what gives me the most confidence is that the folks that are working on this project, the thousands of workers on the World Trade Center site every day, they're not treating this like any other job. They are getting up and working with an emotional commitment and with passion that gives us all a lot of confidence that this will get done. That when the cameras are on Ground Zero next year, there will be a memorial to the 2,982 victims in a grove of trees with the two largest man-made water falls in this country in the very footprint of the twin towers. And I have a lot of confidence that we're going to make that date.

HARRIS: Joseph, thanks for sticking around. We are so flat out of time. But the best with your plans and your efforts to move forward to have the memorial and museum ready to go this time next year. Thanks for your time.

DANIELS: Thanks so much.

HARRIS: Let's take a break.

Ali Velshi is next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right, let's go for a Friday. Let's ramp up the news machine. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Ali Velshi.

ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR: Tony, you have yourself a fantastic afternoon.

HARRIS: Thank you, sir.