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San Bruno Neighborhood Up in Flames; Hurricane Igor Gaining Strength; Tea Party Movement Sweeps the Country
Aired September 12, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: San Bruno, California residents are going back to their homes, three days after that devastating natural gas explosion. And then there are also new pictures we're beginning to get in about how strong that explosion was.
And Hurricane Igor is now a major category 4 storm. We'll tell you where it is and where it's headed.
And today's question in the chat room - are your pants lying to you? Why your size 36 pants may not be.
Hello, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We get started with the latest from San Bruno, California. Some residents are being escorted back into their homes right now. But residents whose homes were badly damaged won't be among those going back today. We're expecting to hear an update from the coroner's office as well, shortly on the examination of new remains found in the debris. It's unknown right now if the remains are human or animal. Six people are still unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, the investigation is moving forward. They're trying to determine what caused the blast. CNN's Ted Rowlands is in San Bruno with more on what investigators are looking for.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Surveillance video from inside Lenardi's Grocery Store, a quarter-mile from the explosion, shows the power of the blast and then chaos. Watch closely at first, people stop what they're doing. And then a few seconds later, the doors are literally pushed in by the force of the explosion.
Frantic customers are seen running from one of the exits, while others try desperately to get out of the store. One of the victims, 20-year- old Jessica Morales worked at this very store. Jessica's friend, Dayna Hernandez, showed us Jessica's Facebook page, which today is filled with condolence messages.
According to Dayna, Jessica's boyfriend, who is hospitalized with third-degree burns, was with Jessica when she died.
DAYNA HERNANDEZ, VICTIM'S FRIEND: He tried to go back in and save her, but he couldn't do anything. Because the fire, I guess was getting to her.
ROWLANDS: At least four people lost their lives in this tragedy. And cadaver dogs are being used to search for the missing. But because of the intensity of the blast, it is possible, investigators say, the missing, if they were killed, may never be found.
Meanwhile, pressure is building for answers, as to exactly what could have caused this explosion.
SEN. BARBARA BOXER (D), CALIFORNIA: Many questions must be answered by all of us whose job it is to protect our people. What was the cause of this blast of course, first and foremost. Were there reports that there were odors escaping from the pipeline? If there were those reports, what actions took place in response to those complaints? Does danger lie in similar pipelines in populated areas? Is there enough monitoring going on?
ROWLANDS: The local gas company, PG&E, said they're scouring through records to verify reports that people smelled gas in the days before the explosion. More than 1,000 people showed up to a community meeting, many of them demanding answers as to when they'd be able to get back into their homes and if their neighborhood is truly safe.
(on camera): The National Transportation Safety Board is the lead agency in the investigation. At this point, they have not come to any conclusions and they warn that it could take months before a cause is determined.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, San Bruno, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And another fire to tell you about in Colorado, and more evacuations. A bush fire has broken out in Loveland, that's north of Boulder, where firefighters have been working to contain a massive blaze for almost a week. We're getting word that about 100 homes in that vicinity are being evacuated.
And in Boulder, calm weather has allowed firefighters to contain much of that massive wildfire, which began last Monday. The fire engulfed more than 6,400 acres and destroyed nearly 170 homes. Since dry weather and light winds are expected, authorities hope to fully contain the blaze in the next couple of days.
Meantime, there's growing concern in the Atlantic because of that, what appears to be quite the monster. Hurricane Igor, now a major hurricane. Jacqui Jeras is in the weather center tracking it for us. What's it doing? How big?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Wow. It's been really intensifying big-time today. It went through a rapid intensification cycle. We were looking at a category 2 hurricane this morning. Now we're looking at a category 4.
Take a look at this monster. I think that's a great word, Fredricka. Monster of a storm. Very well-defined eye. Very symmetrical. Take a look at that. Good outflow, as we call it. Very light winds, allowing the system to kind of ventilate and help to continue to build. And the water temperatures out ahead of this thing are very, very warm. So it should allow it to continue to stay strong and maybe even intensify it a little bit more.
The maximum winds, 135 miles per hour. So that is definitely a major hurricane, my friends. Speaking of those water temperatures, this will kind of help explain. One of the reasons why we intensified so much. These are the water temperatures in the Atlantic basin. There you can see outlined in white, there's the coastline of the United States and here's the Caribbean Sea here and Igor is right about in this area. So it's been moving off the coast of Africa in warm-enough waters, but now it's heading into even these warmer waters, about 86 degrees or so, and that's what's allowing it to get a little bit stronger at this time.
Here's the forecast track for you. And it shows you, it stays at major category 4 strength throughout the period. And this is the location by Thursday, so it's going to take its time moving on through here. And the good news is right now best estimates is that it's going to stay north of the Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico, and kind of do almost an Earl.
So we'll have to watch what happens in time. We're not letting the U.S. off the hook just yet. But right now things are looking a little more favorable for us.
Now there's another system that we're keeping our eye on. This is just a disturbed area of weather in the Caribbean. But a high potential that this could develop into our next tropical depression. If so, the computer models bringing that in a westerly direction. And the best one we'll show you real quick where they're going to be heading we think over the next 24 hours, 48. And then you can see them moving over towards the Yucatan, so hopefully that will hold with time.
We've got TD 12, which is just east of Igor. So we've got three different things that we're watching, Fredricka, getting very active.
WHITFIELD: Tropical depression 12. Oh, my god.
JERAS: Yes. It's near the Cape Verde Islands.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. This has been a pretty active season, all of a sudden.
JERAS: Very active, yes.
WHITFIELD: We're pretty far down in the alphabet.
JERAS: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, we're on nine.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: So we're getting close to verifying the forecast for the year, too. WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Jacqui, appreciate it. Thank you.
All right. A waiting game for the three American hikers detained in Iran. For days, Tehran has been going back and forth over whether it will release one of them, Sarah Shourd. And now her family is being asked to post a half million dollars bail.
CNN's Susan Candiotti has been in touch with the family of all three hikers from the very beginning of this ordeal so she's joining us right now from New York. Susan, once and if bail is posted, how long might she stay in Iran or be returned?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well all of this, these are questions that we're all trying to get answers for. A lot of it unclear at this point, Fred. The question is like everything else in this case that's been dragging on for more than a year, there's no, we have no idea yet whether she will be released in the coming days.
Iran's official news agency says all her family has to do is turn over a half million dollars in bail and Sarah Shourd will be freed. The Iranian lawyer hired by the American hiker's family tells CNN that everything is in place, except for the $500,000. He made the comment after being allowed to visit with all three hikers, today for the first time in a year.
The lawyer says they are quoting here, doing well, but Sarah's mother said her daughter's health is a huge concern. Because Sarah discovered a lump in one of her breasts, has other gynecological issues, and she is depressed. She's the only one of the three who has been isolated 23 hours a day. This is what Sarah said about the loneliness last May.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SARAH SHOURD, DETAINED HIKER IN IRAN: ... is decent, it's really difficult being alone. Shaune and Josh are in the room together but I'm alone. That's the most difficult thing for me. But I see others twice a day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CANDIOTTI: Now, that's the only time we saw Sarah and fellow hiker Shane Bauer, Sarah's fiancee and Josh Vitale, during that one and only family visit last May in Iran. They were arrested, as you recall, a little over a year ago and charged with spying during a hike.
Their families deny it and have said all along if the hikers crossed the border, it was by accident. Now, late last week, Iranian officials announced that Shourd would be released yesterday, Saturday, as a gesture to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. But the rug was pulled out from the families after prosecutors say legal procedures were not complete.
So now the moms are again on the edge of their seats while this bail issue is addressed. Their representatives say the families are not making any comment at this particular stage. WHITFIELD: So Susan, it's being called bail. But at the same time there are economic sanctions on Iran. Can this family deliver, if they have the $500,000 to give?
CANDIOTTI: Well, of course, no one knows the answer for sure. But certainly there is some precedent for it. We know that a Canadian "Newsweek" reporter, for example, did post bail a while back. And he was allowed to leave the country. That's probably what would happen here. And in the "Newsweek" reporter's case, they simply convicted him in absentia.
But we know that the Swiss are working with the State Department on this. The State Department has said so. The White House' spokesman told "Meet the Press" today, senior adviser to the president, David Axelrod, told "Meet the Press" that the White House is keeping an eye on this situation. So we'll have to see what develops. But it is possible for money to be delivered to the Swiss in Tehran. They're working on our behalf and perhaps the money could be transferred to the Iranian judiciary from there.
WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti in New York. Thank so much.
Let's talk politics. Coming up, the tea party taking on the GOP establishment. The mantra might be, if you can't join them, beat them? The story, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. The tea party movement is hoping for some big victories in November. And there's already speculation about how that could change Congress. Former Senate Republican leader, Trent Lott, was on CNN's "State of the Union" today, and he says victorious tea party candidates could have a big impact if they work with GOP leaders on a common agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRENT LOTT (R), FMR. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Well, when they get here, they want to do something about bad legislation, more regulations, too much spending, too much taxation. They want to get something done. They need to be, the leaders need to be able to work with the people that come into the House and Senate.
It's not a matter of trying to get them to change their position. They're going to bring enthusiasm and new ideas and pressures in Washington and I think that's good. But I do think the leadership has got to, you know, learn very quickly, to work with them and to turn it into positive energy and I believe they will. I think that John Boehner, as the next speaker will do that. And I think Mitch McConnell and John Kyle will do it in the Senate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Former Republican House majority leader, Dick Armey, also on the program today, somewhat different take, calling tea party candidates "independent minded," with "no particular appreciation for the performance of either party in the past several years." Armey says that's why they're running for office.
So various tea party groups are holding rallies around the country today, hoping to energize the base in these final weeks before election. The three biggest gatherings are in St. Louis, Sacramento and Washington, D.C..
Shannon Travis is at the Washington rally. And so Shannon, we just heard from Trent Lott. Is the tea party moving towards a merger, so to speak, with the Republican Party?
SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, Fred, I have to tell you that just listening to Trent Lott and Dick Armey, they're putting it a lot more politely than the activists here are putting it with. Matt Kibbe who works with Dick Armey over at Freedom Works is describing it as a hostile takeover. That's what they want to do with the Republican Party. Not so much merge with it or join with it, but basically take it over.
They feel that the Republican Party is rife with too many what they call Rhinos. Republicans in name only. Republicans that they consider to be too either moderate or perhaps even liberal. And they're on a path to power to purge the party. What the activists tell me as often as I've been covering these rallies and covering the movement, they tell me they're on a path to purge the Republican Party from those moderate Republicans.
WHITFIELD: So is there a feeling, Shannon, that this hostile takeover could actually happen because there's a ground swell of support within the Republican Party that says, we are willing to be taken over? We are willing to identify with these philosophies of the tea party movement?
TRAVIS: That's a great question. It depends on who you talk to. These activists feel that it is possible. They cite wins in Alaska against Senator Lisa Murkowsky. They cite the wins in other places. Helping propel Sharon Angle of Nevada to the GOP nomination. So they say that it is possible to take over the Republican Party.
Other people you speak with might say, you know, they've had some wins, they've had some success. But they've also had some losses in some congressional races. And also another thing to note is, as we see what some people are calling Republican cannibalism. Republicans fighting Republicans.
Some people feel that this might actually give democrats a chance to pick up some seats or maybe even be competitive in some races that they might not have been ordinarily be competitive in. Because you have some conservatives fighting a more moderate Republican. So that might actually cancel out some votes. So it depends, we're not really sure what's going to happen. We won't really know until mid-term.
WHITFIELD: So Shannon and you may have already done so. But if you were to walk around the crowd there and ask people their party affiliation. What would they likely say? Because there is no tea party movement, party affiliation on the ballot, it's either Republican, Democrat or independent, what would the majority of these people say they are? They associate themselves with?
TRAVIS: That's right. We want to be clear that there is no official third tea party. But great question, I've asked many people that question as I've traveled with the tea party. A lot of them, many of them would describe themselves simply as conservatives. Some of them say that they're Republicans. I've only met literally just a handful of people who say that they were Democrats or perhaps even independent.
So and polls actually reflect that as well. So most of the people in the crowd in my travels and in probably likely this crowd as well, are either conservatives or Republicans. But not necessarily Republicans that are loyal to the Republican Party. Republicans that believe in the ideals, but feel like Republican leaders are not, not protecting those ideals enough.
WHITFIELD: Shannon Travis, thanks so much. And I'm going to talk to you again in the 5:00 Eastern hour. And at that time I'm going to ask you, too, how this tea party movement gathering is different or similar from the many that you've attended in the past year and we're also going to be looking at the tea party's mantra of heading into the election, being all about making big government smaller. We'll zero in on the big issues there, (INAUDIBLE) the ones that they are purposely avoiding. That's coming up in the next hour, 5:00 Eastern time.
And when we come back, your pants may say one size, but your waistline may say quite another. The tale of those lying pants up next in the chat room, of course.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.
The top U.S. point man on North Korea has arrived in Seoul, South Korea today. Stephen Bosworth is there to discuss the resumption of the six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear program. The American delegation will have talks in Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing.
A massive manhunt is under way for 85 inmates who escaped from a prison in Northern Mexico. Official say the prisoners used a ladder to escape. 44 corrections officers have been detained on suspicion of corruption. The facility is located near the U.S. border.
And one day after the ninth anniversary of 9/11, the head of the Homeland Security Department is weighing in on how U.S. security has improved since those attacks. Janet Napolitano said the U.S. is safer now. But she says there is no one 100 percent guarantee the country won't be attacked again. And she adds the U.S. will never be totally immune from terror threats.
All right. How much is just enough when it comes to financial happiness? And Jacqui Jeras will be joining me as well. To help answer that question. In the chat room.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: OK. We will soon get back to the NEWSROOM because right now, time for a little chat room. These are some of the favorite topics that Jacqui Jeras and I like to talk about that we wish we could make room somewhere else in the show, but instead we nestle them all right here. Kind of fun stuff.
JERAS: These are good ones today.
WHITFIELD: Yes, they are good ones.
JERAS: They'll impact a lot of people.
WHITFIELD: Yes. Beginning with, you know, how many times are you driving through a neighborhood and you might see signs that say "slow down" or you have speed bump -
JERAS: Right.
WHITFIELD: - to make people slow down, particularly if there are children in the neighborhood. In Canada, yes, they took it a little bit further. Doesn't that look like a kid running after a ball.
JERAS: You get up close though and you can tell it's not quite it.
WHITFIELD: Right. It's an optical illusion. It's actually a painted image on the street. The idea to make people slow down. And so far, it's been very effective.
JERAS: Interesting.
WHITFIELD: Isn't that fascinating?
JERAS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: I know. You kind of, you're tricked. Tricked a little bit. But the object is, to make you slow down. Because oftentimes, the signs and the speed bumps just don't do it.
JERAS: They don't, yes. And you can damage your car with those speed bumps, too, from time to time. But some people, I've heard a little controversy about this. We talked about this in the NEWSROOM a little bit today. And some people were saying you know, there's a little bit of danger possibly involved with doing something like that, too, because people might stomp on their brakes and you know, maybe they swerve out of the way and they could have an accident there themselves by trying to avoid that.
WHITFIELD: Or word getting out there is this optical illusion and then some are not necessarily believe it, or they've been down that street before.
JERAS: It's just one of the -
WHITFIELD: Right. And they're going to find out when it turns to be a real child running after the ball and then hence you got another (INAUDIBLE).
JERAS: I tell you, I got a soccer match yesterday, people were rushing through the parking lot. I couldn't believe it. I'm like, hello, there are children everywhere.
WHITFIELD: Yes. You know what happens. People get so comfortable behind the wheels. (INAUDIBLE) careful.
JERAS: We're all so busy.
WHITFIELD: I know, on a hurry, and on a schedule.
JERAS: Slow down.
WHITFIELD: Yes, you know, something that happens to guys, apparently, it happens to women all the time. You're reaching for a size 10, you know, or you're a size 12, an eight, et cetera and the sizes just don't correspond. We're talking shopping now. The sizes don't correspond with what you think you are.
JERAS: So true.
WHITFIELD: Apparently it's happening to dudes, too.
JERAS: Yes, and if you ever try something on and you go, oh, my gosh, I'm a size six. I lost 20 lbs., maybe I didn't.
WHITFIELD: This is how it's happening to guys, apparently on esquire.com. A reporter set out and talked about how excited he was about his, you know, size 36. You know, going to one store and it was, you know, 36. A true 36. We're talking inches, 36 inches. Why is it that 36 inches measures out something different - if you have a different store, a different designer, et cetera. And here were the disparities.
JERAS: Take the measuring tape and literally, we shot all of these different stores. These are dress pants, not blue jeans, and I'm going to suspect that blue jeans will probably be a little bit different.
WHITFIELD: Heck, I don't know.
JERAS: I think 36 is a 36 in blue jeans. But in dress pants, yes, up to five inches.
WHITFIELD: Yes, that's a big difference.
JERAS: Did you see those stores in there. Do you shop at any of them?
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: Can we put that back up?
WHITFIELD: H&M, the Gap.
JERAS: Let's see some of those stores.
WHITFIELD: Old Navy? These are very popular.
JERAS: Yes, three inches at The Gap.
WHITFIELD: Yes, very popular places. Everybody has probably had this experience. But, you know, what's reaffirming now when you see, you know, this article and you say, you know what, I'm not crazy, that happened to me.
JERAS: I know.
WHITFIELD: You know, how did I gain weight or lose weight.
JERAS: It makes you feel better. It really does.
WHITFIELD: I know, people are so married and committed to these numbers.
JERAS: Yes. So watch the little extra inch an your own, right?
WHITFIELD: That's right. What's next for us?
Speaking of numbers -
JERAS: Happiness.
WHITFIELD: Yes, measuring happiness. You know, they say money isn't everything. That shouldn't be at the root of all happiness. But the reality is, we know sometimes it is.
JERAS: It can afford a wide selection of misery.
WHITFIELD: Right.
JERAS: That's one of my favorite quotes.
WHITFIELD: But now, it's not an issue of how much. What's the threshold? You know, that allows you to be happy. What do you need?
JERAS: This new survey was done, right, and participants were asked to answer questions about how happy they were with their life overall and then provided a bunch of information about their gender, how much they made, you know, whether or not they were married and that type of thing.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
JERAS: And found out that 73 percent of those people earning above $75,000 a year were happiest. Yes, but there was a limit, if you made too much more than that -
WHITFIELD: It brings all the problems.
JERAS: Your level of happiness apparently leveled off a little bit.
WHITFIELD: If you have friends that you probably shouldn't have, that kind of thing?
JERAS: I don't know.
WHITFIELD: Or just too many problems? When you have so much more money and then you overspent -
JERAS: Too much temptation?
WHITFIELD: Yes. And then I guess your priorities are askew because now you're measuring things by the dollar?
Hey, I'm just asking the question. I don't know the answer.
JERAS: I know.
WHITFIELD: It's just one of those rhetorical questions.
JERAS: People who made less than $50,000 were the unhappiest. Maybe if you're comfortable, but not to wealthy -
WHITFIELD: Right.
JERAS: You feel better.
WHITFIELD: It's stressful if you can't pay the bills. I get that.
JERAS: Yes, the other thing they also said was more happiness comes with age. People are unhappy, unhappiest between 35 and 44.
WHITFIELD: Interesting, so as you age, you become a lot more mature about the perspective of things, you get it, you've had life experience under your belt. And so maybe you don't sweat the small stuff as they say as much, too.
JERAS: Perhaps, and people in that unhappy age group apparently a lot of it had to do with having stress because of children. Having issues with their children.
WHITFIELD: That's interesting. Your voice got really low on that one.
(CROSSTALK)
JERAS: Because I have children. And they might be somewhere in that age range, perhaps.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right.
JERAS: And Democrats and Republicans, by the way, equally as happy.
WHITFIELD: OK. Very good. It's a nonpartisan kind of thing. All right. Jacqui, thanks, we're going to talk a little bit later more about Igor. Nobody's happy about that. It's getting bigger.
JERAS: Not so much. It's a powerful one.
WHITFIELD: We'll talk about that. That's a different scale of happiness right there.
All right. Thanks a lot, Jacqui.
All right. One tea party candidate for senator is considered a sure thing for election in November. We'll take you to Utah for a look at Mike Lee. That's not him right there. But we're going to take you to Utah.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Pretty sizeable Tea Party movement rally taking place right now in Washington, D.C. It's one of a series of gatherings taking place across the country as Tea Party activists try to build momentum, going into the November election. And nearly all of the Tea Party-backed candidates for the U.S. Senate are in tight races by the way. But not Utah where Republican Mike Lee is almost a shoe-in. Here's CNN's Jim Acosta.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: George Washington was the original Tea Party man.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Vowing to bring a Tea Party revolution to Washington, the Republican running for the U.S. Senate in Utah, Mike Lee, is a fire-breathing defender of what's become the bible for this political movement, the U.S. constitution.
MIKE LEE, (R) UTAH SENATE CANDIDATE: I hereby question you, I will not vote for a single bill that I can't justify based on the text under the original U.S. constitution.
ACOSTA: But at the same time Lee, a lawyer who once clerked for Supreme Court Justice Sam Alito also talks about change in the constitution. Lee says he would alter the 14th amendment taking away automatic citizenship for people born in the U.S. He also supports amendments requiring balanced budgets and term limits for Congress.
You talk about defending the constitution, but yet you want to change the constitution. Isn't there a contradiction there?
LEE: Not at all. The constitution was made to be amended from time to time. Sometimes we have to do that in order to make the constitution more true to the American dream.
ACOSTA: He's even questioning the 17th amendment which allows voters to directly elect Senators, something state lawmakers use to do.
LEE: People would be better off if their Senators, when they deliver the messages to Washington, remember the sovereignty of the states.
ACOSTA: And Democrats like to point out that Lee also favors privatizing Social Security.
LEE: So it's not real popular to be the bad guy to come along and say, we have to roll that back, we have to phase it out.
ACOSTA: Roll it back and phase it out.
LEE: Phasing it out, rolling it back, all of these are certainly options.
SAM GRANATO, (D) UTAH SENATE CANDIDATE: Take a guy like me, who is not extreme, I'm mainstream. What they see it what they get.
ACOSTA: Salt Lake City food distributor, Sam Granato is the long-shot Democrat in the race, he's trying to exploit hard feelings among some Utah Republicans who are still mad at the Tea Party for backing Lee over the more moderate incumbent Senator Bob Bennett for the GOP nomination.
GRANATO: Since the ouster of Senator Bennett, I've had more Republicans, moderate Republicans calling, coming to help us.
ACOSTA: Like Senator Bennett's son.
JIM BENNETT, SEN. BOB BENNETT'S SON: When we tried to get Bob Bennett to speak to the Tea Party, they said he's not welcome here; he will be booed if he comes.
ACOSTA: But other Republicans like Whit Lund are looking forward, not back.
WHIT LUND, LEE SUPPORTER: This would be a Harry Reid and dear old Nancy Pelosi.
ACOSTA: You're that angry?
LUND: Ticked off would be a better term.
ACOSTA: Just like the Tea Party Mike Lee wants to pull the Republican Party as far to the right as he can. And that might work in reliably red Utah.
If you're looking for one Tea Party guy to get in there, it's probably going to be Mike Lee.
KIRK JOWERS, POLITICAL ANALYST, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: Mike Lee is a lock unless the unthinkable happens.
LEE: This is the year that we take that power back. It belongs to us, let's bring about that change and it all starts right here.
ACOSTA: The question is whether Lee's Tea Party principles will work in Washington.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Salt Lake City.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk about another storm, a real one in the Atlantic. Hurricane Igor is now a major hurricane. Jacqui Jeras is tracking the storm for us now. Igor. JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The storm really intensified this afternoon, Fredricka. In fact the National Hurricane Center sent out a special statement in the middle of the day, when they weren't planning on it, because we had such rapid intensification, they upgraded the status of the storm to be a category 4 now. We started earlier in the day as a category 2. So maximum sustained winds at 135 miles per hour, gusts well beyond that. Storm is moving in a westerly direction. Look at this thing on satellite. It's very symmetrical. It's almost perfectly round here. We've got great outflow ahead of it. And look at the eye of this thing a very well-defined eye. Can you see the stadium effect as we call it and the eye is about 20 nautical miles across?
Now take a look over here. This is the Leeward Islands all the way over there. So this is still hundreds of miles away from land. So it's in the middle of nowhere right now and not bothering anybody. But will it stay that way? The official forecast track even brings the cone of uncertainty just to the north of the islands. That's good news; we've got a little weakness in our subtropical ridge. So hopefully we'll be doing one of these once again almost a similar Earl path. But right now most models bring it farther away from the U.S. coastline. We are not going to give you a free pass just yet with Igor; it's something we'll need to watch closely. Right now the best estimate is hopefully that it will stay away.
All right. One other system that we are going to be watching, just is not a named storm like this yet, it's a cluster of thunderstorms that we've been tracking across the Caribbean. And it has some potential here as it moves westward, that it could get organized and become a tropical depression. The Hurricane Center has put a high threat area on this for that possible development. If it does get a name, it would be named Julia. That's the next name on the list. Now, let's take a look at those forecast models and show you where they're going.
A little bit of discrepancy with a couple of them. The overall consensus brings it toward the Yucatan and just a quick little peek at tomorrow. Because it is back to work and back to reality for all of you. Overall we're looking at some relatively benign weather across the U.S... The northeast however will see some scattered showers and thundershowers; you could have a few travel delays there as well as south Florida. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. What a way to start the new work week.
JERAS: Not bad.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jacqui, appreciate that.
Off to India now, where more than 4,000 people in low-lying areas of New Delhi are moving to higher ground. The Yumana River is on the rise because of recent flooding in other parts of that country. Officials say the evacuations are just a precaution at this point. And flooding in the capital is not imminent.
And holding out hope in Chile, families staying as close as possible to those trapped miners. Coming up, we'll visit their camp on the surface. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now. American Sarah Shourd is expected to be released by Iran once her family comes up with $500,000 in bail money. A lawyer representing Shourd says her release could come as early as today. Shourd and two other Americans hikers accused of spying have been detained in Iran for more than year now. Iran says they crossed the border from Iraq illegally.
And in San Bruno, California, some of the people driven from their homes by a natural gas explosion and fire are now returning to their neighborhood. But those whose homes were destroyed will not be allowed back in. The blast and fire killed at least four people; six others are still unaccounted for.
And some comforts of home are being sent down to the 33 miners trapped under ground in Chile, a power line has been dropped down so that they can have electric lights and they're also getting cigarettes, the miners are splitting two packs a day.
The miners could be stuck deep underground until Christmas, since the ordeal began last month, families and friends have been keeping vigil on the surface. Wanting to be close to their trapped loved ones. Here's CNN's Patrick Oppmann.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For everyone but the 32 miners, trapped in their own underground purgatory, Milton Avalos meets the day sitting in the chair he slept in. A fire barely wards off the frigid desert night. A miner himself, he keeps vigil. That's all he can do.
MILTON AVALOS, TRAPPED MINER'S UNCLE (via translator): There's nothing you can do, so many times we've offered to help with the rescue, but they won't let us. In the morning, Miguel Valenzuela cleans to pass the time, he lights candles to the Saints for a successful rescue. He is his Routine and he says it keeps him sane.
MIGUEL VALENZUELA, FRIEND OF TRAPPED MINERS (via translator): I walk around, I go to the meetings, I play cards and I cook for families. You have to keep yourself entertained. The Barren Desert is not an easy place to live. Everything has to be trucked in. Including the food in this woman's kitchen.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): We've received a lot of donations, both pantries are full.
OPPMANN: Which is a good thing since she cooks lunch for 250 people. The camp started because family members wanted to wait on the same earth holding its miners, but it has become its own kind of community.
Life here has its own rhythms, families while away the hours, workers clock in for their shifts and hope hangs in the air that word will come today from the trapped miners, all in the backdrop of constant drilling. Maria Segovia spends her afternoon delivering the letter that will soon journey deep underground to her brother Dario (ph). Then she returns to tent she shares with her sister, bread warms and water boils in the fire nearby until her brother is freed, this will be home.
MARIA SEGOVIA, TRAPPED MINER'S SISTER (via translator): I had no idea who these people were. But I look at them now and we are family. Worrying about another, chatting, fighting together. Here, 33 families became one.
OPPMANN: Out back, Maria has a shrine to her little brother. If she saw him today, this is what she would tell him.
SEGOVIA (via Translator): We will never leave you. Whatever happens happens. But we will be strong in our hearts. Because we love you here.
OPPMANN: Day becomes night again and different rituals begin. Pick-up soccer game, police flown in from the capital walk a new beat. Prayers are said. And the miners' families hope the long wait is now one day less.
Patrick Oppmann, CNN, at the San Jose Mine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: And much more in the NEWS ROOM right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Time now for CNN equals politics update. We're keeping an eye on all the latest headlines on the CNN.com political ticker. And here's what's crossing right now. Despite polls predicting big Republican gains in November, a top Democratic leader claims the Democrats will retain control of the House. House majority leader, Steny Hoyer concedes that his party will lose some ground, but says Democrats will keep enough seats to maintain a majority.
And White House adviser David Axelrod confirms that chief of staff Rahm Emanual is looking at the possibility of running for mayor of Chicago. Long time Mayor Richard M. Daily (ph) has announced that he will not be seek reelection.
And Delaware Republicans will choose a candidate for Senate this week in a race that will be the next big test of the Tea Party movement's power. Moderate Mike Castle is facing a tough challenge from Christine O'Donnell who has been endorsed by the Tea Party movement.
For the latest political news, CNNPOLITICS.com is the place to be.
All right. Men, busting out of their best moves on the dance floor. Might be surprised, I know, what a segue, that their favorite moves may not be appealing to women after all. CNN's Josh Levs is here, he has been studying this fascinating new study on dancing. The mechanics of dancing and how people are looking at them.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Is this as perplexing to you as it is to everyone else, right? No one can understand what we are about to see. Let me just tell everyone the basic idea. What they do, the researchers they set up a bunch of guys out onto the dance floor and then they videotaped them. And they took their dance moves and they mapped them on to this. Go ahead with the video. These genderless, featureless figures and they showed a bunch of women, 35 women some moves and the women said you know what is hot and what's not. So this right here is the video of what is not.
WHITFIELD: Traveling around the dance floor.
LEVS: It looks like he lost something on the ground.
But the surprise is the next video. Which is the allegedly hot dance moves, men and women alike don't understand that.
WHITFIELD: That is a major goof. No, that is goober all the way. No way.
LEVS: Listen to this, listen to the specifics here, they mapped it out -- they found that the hot moves that the women like involved movements of the left wrist and shoulder and neck and the right knee and the torso. The torso is like a lot of the body.
WHITFIELD: That would really - yes.
LEVS: Let's split them, you can see bad and good right next to each other. All the women that we're showing this to are like, what?
WHITFIELD: I want to see someone really do that.
LEVS: Well my fear --
WHITFIELD: I realize they blended a few good moves.
LEVS: There are some people out there who might think, this is the way to go. If they do this, what if they end up looking like these guys from "A night at the Roxbury."
WHITFIELD: You know what the is reminding me of? I mean everyone is seeing "Seinfeld" and Elaine and her little -- that's what it reminds me of.
LEVS: Our own Reynolds Wolf, a good dancer --
WHITFIELD: Do we get to see?
LEVS: I talked about it this morning, and Reynolds, of course being Reynolds Wolf our meteorologist, couldn't resist. Take a look at Reynolds, smooth action on the floor.
WHITFIELD: I thought TJ was about to join in.
LEVS: We got a little slow action for you.
WHITFIELD: Moon walking. Go Reynolds.
LEVS: Still better than the genderless figures. He's got some stuff.
WHITFIELD: He's working it on the floor. TJ is -- TJ is doing the move we just saw, he's doing a little walking.
LEVS: He's just trying to get out of there.
WHITFIELD: I'm trying to make fun of TJ.
LEVS: He's not here to defend himself.
So one thing I don't get it. I got two movie clips for you. First of all, think of it this way. Do not end up looking like these guys, from "Night at the Roxbury." Because I'm really concerned if you read this study too literally. You'll start moving your head --
WHITFIELD: See what I'm saying?
LEVS: The good dancers in those videos? Not working. The study out of North Umbria University in England. Maybe there's a cultural gap here. Maybe in England, it's hot? But the real surprise here is that in that movie, "The Rocky Horror Picture show" this dance has actually some of the good moves. Take a look at this.
WHITFIELD: What?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): Let's do the time warp again you've got to jump to the left and step to the right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: I've been looking at the allegedly good dancer. There are some similarities in there, too. You either follow or don't follow.
WHITFIELD: It works when it's choreographed. Because everyone is doing it and you get cool points, but when you're the only one?
LEVS: You set the record straight. For everyone watching out there, was the figure hot or not?
WHITFIELD: Me?
LEVS: Was the figure hot?
WHITFIELD: I was not seeing hot. It was a little chilly-Willy to me. It was way away from hot.
LEVS: You better get in touch with these researchers.
WHITFIELD: I thought usually hip action was probably the thing. That's at the core of good dancing. A little hip action. But the left arm? You got to watch the left arm?
LEVS: I have no idea. My wife saw this and was like; do not take any pointers from this. WHITFIELD: The next time, the next time you get Reynolds dancing I want to see you and TJ joining in.
LEVS: I'll run away. That's my cardinal rule for TV, not ever dancing. I'll link the whole thing for you on Facebook and twitter. Tell us what you think. Tell us if there's something that we're missing.
WHITFIELD: Help me out. I like it. That was fun.
We're going to rock on.
LEVS: See new a few; I've got viral videos coming up.
WHITFIELD: Much more after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: After the worst floods in memory it's been a somber day and a holiday for Pakistani Muslims. CNN Fredrick Pleitgen reports on the end of Ramadan.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRED PLEITGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Imam speaks of peace and the need to end wars, at prayers celebrating the festival of Eid and marking the end of Ramadan fasting. But many have little to be joyful about. Displaced by the floods, which have gripped this country. Most of those attending the prayers now stay in this camp for displaced people. Wasil Khan's house was badly damaged.
WASIL KHAN, DISPLACED BY FLOODS (via Translator): We're not celebrating this Eid properly, and that's very hard for us. Most of our relatives are displaced we can't even meet them.
PLEITGEN: They share the tent with two other families, 14 people sleep here and Wasil Khan says his youngest child has a heart condition and can't get proper medical treatment. At least for Eid, the most important Muslim holiday, a charity group is offering those who have lost everything some relief. Handing out gift packets and organizing special activities for the displayed. The Eid gift packages consist of several items, we had some shoes here and also people get new clothes and some food packets and also the families all get a gift donation of money as well, which equals about $30 and that is significant especially in these times of hardship.
(voice-over): The Minhaj Welfare Foundation is a well-known Pakistani charity group and has organized the Eid gifts for about 600 people staying at the camp.
MUSHTAQ SUHARWARDI, MINHAJ WELFARE FOUNDATION (through translator): The pleasure of worship is helping people in need. By God, when we go in the field and help the victims, we find satisfaction.
PLEITGEN: Wasil Khan (ph) got his gift. Since the flooding, he owns little else. It's been a month since he was forced to evacuate his family from their home. He took me back to the now ruined building, which he says was submerged for four days.
(on camera): So he says even though some of the walls are still standing, the structure is just so damaged that he can't move back in here right now. You can see over there, the wall is just totally destroyed.
(voice-over): Back at the camp, many share a similar fate, their houses destroyed, most of their belongings lost. Little gifts can go a long way. On this special Muslim holiday, it seems the greatest gift they received was a reason to smile. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Nowshera, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: To find out how you can make a difference and help provide relief for the flood victims of Pakistan, visit our "Impact Your World" page, CNN.com/impact.
