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Tracking the Hurricanes; Pope Benedict in Britain; Boxed In by Crime; Researchers Find A Layer Of Oil In Sediment In The Gulf, Near The BP Well

Aired September 18, 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: A look at our headlines, right now. Hurricane Igor is bearing down or Bermuda, the storm is also set to impact the East Coast this week. We'll have much more on Igor in a moment. And a message of thanks for a former prisoner in Iran. American hiker, Sarah Shourd, is on her way back to the U.S. but she had plenty to say before getting on the plane.

And the dangers of bacterial meningitis, a potentially deadly infection. We'll examine how you can protect your family.

We're watching the progress of two strong storms, right now. Tropical Depression Karl has been battering southern Mexico for about 24 hours, now. Flooding and mudslides are the main dangers, there. Meanwhile in the Atlantic, we're keeping an eye on hurricane Igor. That's the storm that is closing in on Bermuda. Our Reynolds Wolf is there in Bermuda where they are bracing for a potential hit.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm coming to you from Elbow Beach, Bermuda. This is an area that just in 2003 was ravaged by Hurricane Fabian. This storm Igor that may be coming through is a hurricane that is following a very similar path, and might bring some of the same type of damage. Now, Fabian, just to recall, was a storm that killed four people, caused all kinds of damage across the island and knocked power out in some places for up to three days. This time with this particular storm, Igor, we spoke with the Minister David Burch. He says they're ready.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID BURCH, BERMUDA PUBLIC SAFETY MINISTER: We're ready. I'm very pleased to say that, you know, we are taking it seriously, and we don't normally because we got threats of hurricanes all the time. But we have an emergency management organization that's well geared up for this, and I'm pleased to say that people are taking it seriously and they are prepared for it. We will suffer some damage, no doubt about it. This is probably the biggest storm we have had in about 23 years, probably a little stronger than Fabian even, which was seven years ago.

But people are prepared and we build for hurricanes. So I'm not at all concerned about damage or loss of life if people do what they're supposed to do and people do what they are prepared to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WOLF: Now, for comparison's sake, Igor is a much bigger store than Fabian. It's much wider. So keeping that in mind, if the storm just comes close, it's going to be big enough to cause all kinds of damage in Bermuda. That's the latest. Let's send it back to you in the studio.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Reynolds Wolf, thank you so much in a very windy Bermuda. The surf is certainly kicking up there. Jacqui Jeras in the weather center here. So Igor would be the first threat and then Karl or does it matter in the timeline? Don't know?

JACQUI JERAS, AMD METEOROLOGIST: Karl is pretty much over with. Maybe just some showers and thundershowers. Igor is one of the big focuses that we're dealing with yet here for today as this is a powerful hurricane and could make landfall in Bermuda. You know, this is a huge hurricane, and so even if that eye wall doesn't make it on shore, they are going to be likely getting hit with hurricane force winds at times and certainly tropical storm force sustained winds, not to mention huge waves that are going to be pushing through as well.

There you can see Igor and take a look, yes, this is the island. Those are the islands that we're talking about, right up there in that little tiny dot. You can almost hardly see it. OK. Karl faded out over here. We got a tropical wave in the gulf. We'll talk about that in a second. We've got Julia right here, which is a tropical storm, 50-mile-per-hour winds, heading northward, not going to bother anybody.

And then we've got this tropical wave way, out here in the Cape Verde Islands, which has some potential, medium chance of becoming our next named storm. If so, it's name would be Lisa. Let's talk about Igor and where that thing is going to be heading. This is a category 2 hurricane right now, maximum sustained winds 105 miles per hour.

You have to get up to 111 in order for it to be a category 3. We were there earlier today. A little bit of weakening. It will likely fluctuate a little bit in intensity. Folks in Bermuda should be prepared for a major hurricane at landfall. You can see it's right in the center of that cone of uncertainty and landfall would begin, we think late tomorrow or early Monday morning. Now, you can see the forecast path. And where that thing is going to be moving. And so we're expecting that northerly turn.

We already have cloudiness and we saw the waves in Reynolds' live shot there, but we are expecting conditions to go downhill. Tropical force winds could arrive even later on tonight. Now, what about the U.S.? Are we going to see any impact here? You bet we are, the same way that we did with Earl and Danielle.

We've got a high risk of rip currents here on the Atlantic coast, particularly it's going to be bad into the Carolinas. Now, another thing that we're keeping our eye on here is that disturbance, I mentioned, in the Gulf of Mexico. This isn't really have anything to do with Karl, maybe a little bit of moisture from Karl that got wrapped up in this, but this is what we call an upper level disturbance.

And so right now, it doesn't have a circulation, so it's not a tropical storm or even a tropical depression. It's kind of a wave as we would call it or a cluster of thunderstorms. And the concern here is not necessarily that it has much time to turn into a tropical storm, but it's going to bring torrential downpours.

Look at all the rain already from Houston down towards the south and west. We've got flood watches which are in effect here. Three to five inches can be expected easily with some isolated heavier amount. And Texas has been hard hit with a couple of different tropical depressions and storms already in the last couple of weeks. And so adding more insult to injury with all this moisture, we're going to likely see river flooding in the next couple of days as well as flash flooding from some of these isolated heavier showers and thunderstorms. There you can see those flood watches which are in effect, Corpus Christi down towards Victoria and into Brownsville. Those will be the impact areas that we'll be concerned with. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jacqui, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

In the meantime, let's talk about the Pope's visit in Great Britain. He addressed a painful issue on the third day of his trip to Great Britain, the child sex abuse case scandal that has rocked the church. Pope Benedict XVI met with five abuse victims in London and at a morning mass at Westminster Cathedral. The Pontiff expressed "deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes."

Well, that wasn't enough to dissuade thousands of people from protesting the Pope's visit. They gathered near Hyde Park where the Pontiff led a prayer vigil for the beatification of a British cardinal.

Also, (INAUDIBLE) a freed American hiker is talking about her ordeal. Coming up, hear what Sarah Shourd had to say about her release from an Iranian prison.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A standoff in Odessa, Texas is now over, according to the local newspaper, the "Odessa American." A gunman had held law enforcement at bay for more than 20 hours. The standoff began after two deputies and a civilian had been shot. According to the newspaper, the civilian victim had entered the suspect's property to repossess a trailer and just over an hour ago, the "Odessa American" reported the suspect was taken into custody after smoke bombs were dropped on his property.

And studies suggest that there's still discrimination against minorities when employers hire and if you're black male and have a criminal record, getting a job is even tougher. Stephanie Elam found some state and local governments trying to change that, but for many it's still an uphill struggle.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) GENE MAYS, COLLEGE DROPOUT: Here's a basketball.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Gene Mays knows all too well what a criminal record can do to a job search. Once the top of his class in high school, Mays dropped out of college and began selling coke to support his habit.

MAYS: Once I started doing cocaine, it just shot straight to the top as far as my priority list.

ELAM: In 1989, he went to jail for drug trafficking. He served his time, paid his dues.

MAYS: October 7th, 1997, that's the day that I got clean.

ELAM: Flash forward a decade. Mays, now married and a father, was studying to become an electrician to better provide for his family.

MAYS: I did something they said had never been done, and that was got 100 on each of the 12 tests during my first year.

ELAM: Despite this, the city of Cincinnati revoked its electrician job offer. David Singleton is Mays' lawyer.

DAVID SINGLETON, EXEC. DIR., OHIO JUSTICE AND POLICY CENTER: The city looked at Gene, saw that he had two felony convictions in his past, and said therefore, you can't work for the city. It didn't care about his rehabilitation, it didn't care that he was ranked number one in his class each of the five years of the electrician's training program.

ELAM: Singleton successfully fought to get Cincinnati to ban the box, removing the criminal history question from its job application. Employers are still free to ask the question later in the hiring process. The point is to give ex-offenders a chance at an interview.

SINGLETON: It's not felon first, employment programs, what it is it's giving people a fair shot to compete for jobs where they're qualified.

ELAM (on camera): So this box issue, is it more of an issue for people of color, for black men?

SINGLETON: Statistics bear out that if you're a person of color, you're more likely to be the focus of the police, you're more than likely to wind up in the criminal justice system.

ELAM (voice-over): This summer, Connecticut joined Minnesota and New Mexico in banning the box on state job applications while Massachusetts and Hawaii banned all employers from using the box. Massachusetts state representative James Miceli is against softening these laws.

JAMES MICELI, MASS. STATE HOUSE REPRESENTATIVE: I want to give everyone access to all of the information regarding someone's criminal record that they can get. Why not disclose everything up front? ELAM: But Victor Garcia, a professor of surgery and pediatrics in Ohio believes there's a direct correlation between unemployment and the young people who end up in his emergency room.

VICTOR GARCIA, SURGERY AND PEDIATRICS PROFESSOR: Chronic joblessness is a direct cause or the growth of the illegal economy and with that is a culture of gunshot wounds.

ELAM: Now clean for nearly 13 years, Mays is working for a transit company, but he never did get that electrician's job.

MAYS: Once a felon, always a felon. And so that's what generally leads a person back to the life of crime, because they feel like once they've committed a crime, that it's no use now. What I hope can come out of this is that those same individuals that were thinking like that can now have a sense of hope.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And this program note, fighting the financial crisis from the pulpit. The black church has fought for civil and human rights and now is waging war on debt. "Almighty Debt, a Black in America Special," that's coming Thursday, October 21st at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN.

All right. This might be the perfect weekend for a family night out at the movies because there's something for everyone. We'll see what's making the grade.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's a day of celebration in Chile, it's independence day. 33 miners trapped underground for a month and a half are also celebrating, because they are now one step closer to freedom.

Here's CNN's Karl Penhaul.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mid morning, and a breakthrough in the rescue effort.

BRANDON FISHER, DRILLING COMPANY PRESIDENT: Communication started happening with the miners. They were a big part of that process, letting us know how far we were from them. They were able to pull the plug out and what we call sound or measure, where our bit is, so we could mark the point on the drill pipe and break through.

PENHAUL: Fisher's U.S. based company owns the drill bit that's punched a 12-inch or 30 cm shaft to almost half a mile of rock, down to where the 33 miners are trapped. The rig, known as Plan "B," is owned by a Chilean company. It is one of three trying to save the miners. It began drilling just two weeks ago.

FISHER: We had kind of a late start and we've come out of the gate rather fast. PENHAUL: But the hardest job may still lie ahead. Rescuers must drill down again to take the hole twice as wide, big enough to reach the men back to the surface.

(on camera): I mean, the million dollar question, I guess, is how long is it going to take to widen this hole?

RICHARD SOPPE, DRILLING COMPANY EXECUTIVE: How high is up? That's hard to predict.

PENHAUL (voice-over): Chile's mine minister Laurence Golborne said it could still take at least six weeks.

LAURENCE GOLBORNE, CHILEAN MINING MINISTER: You can imagine this as we are eating hear donuts and in this part, we are eating the center part of the doughnut, which is smaller. And now we have to eat the whole part of the doughnut. So it's a lot more material that we have to remove. It will take more time.

PENHAUL (on camera): But it's still far from clear that Plan "B" will be the plan that rescues the miners. Over there, an oil rig known as Plan "C." That in theory can drill much faster than the other two options but it's unlikely to be fired up until probably Monday.

(voice-over): As the drills grind away, families camp out at the mine are preparing a cookout for Chile's independence day celebrations this weekend.

For the trapped miners, chefs prepare a treat of empanadas, pastries stuffed with meat, onions and olives. They'll get a barbecued fillet steak underground, too. Minister Golborne says he's bet rescuers another barbecue, depending on which team can pull the miners back to earth quickest.

GOLBORNE: No matter which men arrives earlier, I will be very happy if we can pay that debt as soon as possible.

PENHAUL: Karl Penhaul, CNN, San Jose Mine, northern Chile.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.

A 41-year-old grandmother could become the first woman executed in Virginia in nearly a century. Governor Bob McDonald refused to issue a stay for Theresa Lewis. She was sentenced to death for the slayings of her husband and step son back in 2002. Her lawyer says Lewis was manipulated by two male co-conspirators who were the triggermen. She is scheduled to die by lethal injection on Thursday.

And freed American hiker Sarah Shourd addresses the media today in Oman before getting on a plane bound for the U.S.. She thanked all the people who worked to secure her release and said she hopes two other Americans would get out soon. Shourd was one of three Americans held in an Iranian prison. She was released this week. Her fiance and a friend are still being held as suspected spies. Lindsay Lohan could soon find herself back behind bars. The young actress admits that she failed a recent drug test. She tweeted that she was working hard to overcome her addiction after her brief stint in jail and rehab, Lohan still on probation for drunk driving. The judge has warned the starlet that if she slipped up again, she would wind up back in jail.

OK. So whether you're looking for love and laughs or action and adventure, it's all available to you this weekend in the theaters. Jen Yamato of movies.com joins us from Los Angeles with today's movie review. Good to see you, Jen.

JEN YAMATO, FILM CRITIC, MOVIES.COM: Hi. Really excited to be here. You're right, we have a lot of different kinds of movies.

WHITFIELD: Yes, beginning with "Alpha and Omega," kind of a fun cutesy movie. Is this a G movie? Or PG?

JEN: "Alpha and Omega" is a really strange movie.

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK, a strange G movie, 3-D too, about two wolves with nothing in common but somehow they got stuck together. So let's check out a little clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Well, lots of sound effects. Jen, didn't you like this, will the kiddies enjoy this?

YAMATO: You know, I'm not sure kids will really enjoy this.

WHITFIELD: Really?

YAMATO: I'm not sure if adults will enjoy it. It's kind of a strange blend of, well, first you got a road trip, it's a buddy comedy. It's a fish out of water tale, it's an opposites attract romance, all about (INAUDIBLE) wolves who sing and talk and fall in love. What I found most strange about this story is that it's basically a kid's movie about wolves mating.

WHITFIELD: I don't know if I want my five-year-old seeing that one.

YAMATO: Exactly. Unless, you know, unless you really are desperate for something, and you're prepared, you have to be prepared for your kids to ask those questions afterwards.

WHITFIELD: Oh, no. So what was your grade?

YAMATO: I give it a C minus. Because on top of that strangeness, the animation is rudimentary. In the age of Pixar and great animated films like "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and "How to Train Your Dragon." It almost feels like a step backwards and the 3-D is definitely not worth it.

WHITFIELD: Oh, gosh. All right. Let's talk about "Easy A." This is something that's supposed to appeal to kind of teenagers about some clean-cut high school student who want to be popular and I guess goes the unconventional, which is now maybe now the more conventional route. Let's take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Brandon, just a couple hours ago, you told me you were (INAUDIBLE) gay.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: True, but you said I should pretend to be straight.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I didn't mean with me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that Brandon?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grunt and make it convincing.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't stop!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ready for the grand finale.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Now I'm embarrassed. Is my mom watching? OK. When I said conventional route, I was talking about social media but what do you think about this movie?

YAMATO: It really is rather unconventional when you consider what kind of movies we see these days in the realm of teen comedies. This is very funny, it's very sweet, and it's very chaste considering it's a movie about sex. It actually has no sex at all in it. It pays homage to John Hughes and to those '80s movies that we all love.

At times, that sort of awareness can be a little too clever, like movie is a little too satisfied with its own cleverness. But what absolutely carries this film is Emma Stone. She has been on my radar for a couple of years. She has supporting turns in "Super Bad," "Zombieland," movies like "The Rocker" that weren't so, you know, good, but this is her -

WHITFIELD: You're too kind.

YAMATO: Well, this is her first leading role and it's a perfect role for her. She's sassy.

WHITFIELD: It's great. So you like it?

YAMATO: I give it a solid B because of Emma Stone. I really hope to see more of her.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let's talk about "The Town," that's been quite the buzz. Ben Affleck, this is kind of bank robbery meets love story or something. So let's take a peek.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A few days ago, my bank was robbed. Four men. Took it over, open the safe. They took me as a hostage. They blindfolded me and drove me around. Then they stopped and let me out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm sorry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not your fault. The FBI guy told me it was like I was still in mourning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FBI?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Did you like this one? Lots of dialogue right now but surely there's also lots of action, too. What did you think?

YAMATO: Yes, actually "The Town" is really, really solid. I think that's really the best word to describe it. Ben Affleck stars and directs this movie. I would say acting wise, he's understated, not stellar. It's not, I think, the best work he's done as an actor.

But as a director, I think this is a movie that's going to prove that "Gone Baby Gone" was not a fluke and that he got that Oscar back in the day for a reason.

WHITFIELD: Right. And the same thing.

Directing, producing and acting at the time. He did it all.

(CROSSTALK)

YAMATO: This is his second movie as a director and he really shows some aptitude for blending the emotional, with really stirring action.

WHITFIELD: So what was your grade?

YAMATO: Really tight. I give this an A minus. I really enjoyed it. It's got great action. Actually, it gives you a really good sense of place for this neighborhood in Boston called Charlestown, which apparently creates generation after generation of criminal and bank robbers. But overall, it is the most solid film that we've seen in a little while.

WHITFIELD: Very nice.

YAMATO: I'd like to see more of it come award season.

WHITFIELD: OK. I don't want to rush you but we only got 25 seconds left and I want to get in this what's supposed to be a kind of creepy movie. I know it's supposed to be a thriller and scary, but it kind of makes me laugh, the premise of it, but this is "Devil." Everyone gets trapped in an elevator, right? And among them, the devil.

YAMATO: Yes. Five people are trapped in an elevator.

WHITFIELD: OK. I don't know if we have time to really watch it. So we'll have to talk over it. What did you think?

YAMATO: (INAUDIBLE) M. Shymalan which I think it scared a lot of people off, but for all of you out there, do not let that name M. Night Shymalan deter you from seeing this movie, because it really is a tight little thriller/horror movie. It's not really gory at all.

WHITFIELD: What it is, it's a mind game.

YAMATO: It's really well directed by John Eric Dowdell, who made "Quarantine" years ago. And what I appreciated most about it is that it kept things simple. You know, it didn't go for the overblown theatrics or even crazy visuals. It kept things to the basics and I think that's kind of what works about it. There's sort of a similarity in themes at least with another horror movie that we saw recently, "The Last Exorcism," the difference is "The Devil" didn't completely bottom out at the end.

WHITFIELD: What was your grade?

YAMATO: It's very tight. I give it a "B."

WHITFIELD: You gave it a "B."

YAMATO: Go see it.

WHITFIELD: Well, you don't want to see this kind of movie with me because I would be screaming the entire time. Because you know, (INAUDIBLE) every move will make me scream.

YAMATO: Yes, me too. Me too.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jen Yamato, thank you very much. Lots of fun. Movies.com, thanks for joining us from L.A..

YAMATO: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. I'm (INAUDIBLE) serious in a minute because Hurricane Igor is threatening Bermuda. We'll get the latest on that track.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Freed American hiker Sarah Shourd is on her way home to the U.S. today. She gave a heartfelt thank you to those who helped free her from an Iranian prison.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

I will always associate your country with the first breath of my freedom. The sweet smell of sandalwood and the chance to stand by the ocean listening to the waves. I thank the good hospitable people of Oman for your support and ask you to please, please extend your prayers to my fiance Shane, and my friend, Josh.

In sha Allah (ph), they will soon be free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Shourd was arrested in July of last year along with her boyfriend, Shane Bauer, and their friend, Josh Fattal. They were accused of illegally crossing the border into Iran and accused of spying. On September 9, top Iranian officials announced plans to release Shourd. Iranian judiciary officials reversed that announcement just a few days later. But then two days after that, they announced that Shourd could be released on bail. Omani sources reportedly posted $500,000 bail and Shourd was flown from Iran to Amman this past Tuesday.

Meantime back in this country now. BP is optimistic that the now-plugged well in the Gulf of Mexico will permanently be sealed soon. The company has pumped cement into the bottom of the Macondo well. And you're now looking at some new images that we just received. They began pulling out sections of the drill pipe today. The well was the heart of the largest oil spill in history. Once the cement hardens, the well will be officially be dead. Of course, throughout the day they are going to continue to do some pressure testing to see if it is indeed viable. >

All right. So many still question what happened to all the oil that gushed into the Gulf of Mexico. A recent report says a majority of it was captured, burned off or taken care of by dispersants. But that left a large portion still unaccounted for. Now some researchers believe they have found it. Here's Brian Todd.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A deepwater CIS in the Gulf and a potentially ominous finding. Researchers discover what they say is a substantial layer of oil in the sediment in areas near the Deepwater Horizon spill.

The team, led by a University of Georgia marine science professor, canvassed an area as close as two miles from the wellhead and as far away as 80 miles. In several samples from the sea floor, they found concentrations of oil seeping as much as two inches into the sediment.

(On camera): We're going to go to the source and speak to Doctor Samantha Joye on a research vessel about 10 miles south, about 25 nautical miles east of the wellhead. She's on the research vessel the Oceanus. We're going to call that right now.

(Voice over): I asked Joy about other scientists who question her findings, including those who say so much oil seeps into the gulf naturally every year that some of this might not even be from the Deepwater Horizon spill. SAMUEL WALKER, SR., NAT'L. OCEANIC & ATMOSPHERIC ADM.: There's spillage from other vessels. There's leakage from pipelines. There is all sorts of things like that. So to find oil in the Gulf of Mexico either in the sediments or water column is not an unusual thing.

TODD (on camera): How do you come to believe that the oil you found is from the Gulf oil spill and the BP situation?

DR. SAMANTHA JOYE, RESEARCHER, UNIV. OF GEORGIA: We have samples that were collected in May, early in May, on the (INAUDIBLE) cruise, from many of the same sites we're sampling right now. In May, this layer was not present. It was not here. This layer has developed over the last four months.

TODD (voice over): Joye concedes they won't know for sure that this oil is from the Deepwater Horizon spill until they chemically fingerprint it when they get back to their labs. Joye discovered dead organisms underneath the oily sediment and worries about marine life that would feed off those organisms.

(On camera): What kinds of organisms are exposed to this oil. Well, anything that forages to the bottom. Any fish, invertebrate, any squid, octopus, anything that is going to the bottom looking for food is going to be exposed to the material.

TODD (voice over): Then, Joye says, that could deprive other fish up the chain from a healthy food source. An official with NOAA tells CNN this finding does not necessarily contradict a government study issued last month saying about 75 percent of the oil from the spill was either captured, evaporated naturally or dispersed into the water column in microscopic droplets. The official says the oil in these samples could be part of the 25 percent that got away. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: CNN is your Hurricane Headquarters. Right now we're watching Hurricane Igor as it moves closer to Bermuda. This is what Igor looks like from space. Pretty dramatic images there. The island nation is bracing for a direct hit. Meanwhile in Southern Mexico, Karl is causing problems. These pictures were sent to us by one of our iReporters in Boca Del Rio. It's now just a tropical depression, but it is still dumping lots of rain on vulnerable areas.

Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center. A lot to keep an eye on.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, we have Julia out there as well as two other tropical disturbances, so things continue to remain well above average and very active in the Atlantic. And we'll show you where all those storms are on the big picture here.

This is Igor. This is Julia. Karl kind of fizzled away here, but they have a new tropical wave into the western Gulf. And then we've got one right here off the Cape Verde Islands that has some potential for development in the next couple of days. Now Igor remains a primary concern right now. This is a powerful hurricane, a Category 2. Maximum sustained winds around 105 miles an hour. You've got to get up to 111 to be a considered a Category 3, a major hurricane. We were at that status earlier today, a little bit of weakening, but changes in intensity like this are very common. So you need to be prepared here for a major land falling hurricane.

This will happen late Sunday into early Monday. And you can see Bermuda right in the center of that cone of uncertainty. But whether we get a direct hit, meaning the eye wall would make its way onshore, or not. Either way you slice it, this is a huge storm and it they will be feeling the full brunt of this system. And get some nasty waves, which have already been starting to come in and we'll start to feel those tropical storm force winds. And probably even hurricane force as we head into tomorrow.

Now, even though Karl is out there a little bit of that moisture got wrapped up in this little upper level disturbance in the western Gulf of Mexico. Here you can see Texas, and this is going to be bringing in torrential downpours. Rainfall here is already extremely heavy. And you can see this impact will be from about Houston stretching down towards Brownsville and South Padre Island.

You can easily see 2 to 5 inches of rainfall between now and Monday, with some isolated heavier amounts. They're a real concern because Texas already very saturated and we can see some significant river flooding here in the next couple of days, so not a good beach weekend for those folks and real concern about that flood threat.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes, big concerns there. Thanks, Jacqui, appreciate that.

A California woman beating the odds and winning a battle with a deadly form of meningitis. She tells us about her terrifying ordeal, live right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Incredible progress in the rescue of trapped miners in Chile. A bore hole has reached the 33 miners who have been trapped underground since early August. However, officials caution the hole must be widened before the miners can squeeze through. The process will take weeks.

Automaker Toyota has reached an undisclosed settlement with the families of four people killed in a fatal Lexus crash last year. Lexus is Toyota's luxury brand. An investigation shows the accelerator pedal probably got stuck on an improperly installed floor mat. The car was unable to break properly. One family lawyer says Toyota did not admit liability.

Tragedy after a touchdown last night in Texas. Star high school quarterback Reggie Garrett collapsed on the sidelines after completing a touchdown pass. Garrett was a senior and straight-a student in Orange, Texas. He was being recruited by several top university football programs. The coach says he had a history of seizure, but an autopsy will determine the cause of death.

Back to school, and bacterial meningitis is a big concern for a lot of parents and students right now. It's a disease that can kill healthy, young people with frightening speed. Kyla Winters contracted meningitis a year ago and it left her kidneys damaged, and forced doctors to amputate both legs below the knees and her fingers. And she received a kidney from her twin sister.

Kyla joins us now from San Diego, along with Dr. J.J. Levenstein in Los Angeles.

So let's begin with you, Kyla. How are you feeling first of all?

KYLA WINTERS, CONTRACTED BACTERIAL MENINGITIS: Thanks for having me.

Pretty good. We had the kidney surgery just three weeks ago, and both my sister Leann and I are recovering.

WHITFIELD: OK.

WINTERS: We're doing a lot better.

WHITFIELD: That's great, but I know it's been a long haul along the way. How old were you when you contracted meningitis?

WINTERS: I was 38. It was a little older for me.

WHITFIELD: How do you suppose you were exposed to it?

WINTERS: We have no idea. The doctors have no idea. I guess you can catch it like a common cold and just some people are more susceptible.

WHITFIELD: And what were the symptoms for you? What point did you realize something is really wrong?

WINTERS: My memory is a little bit unclear about it, but I guess I had a fever and vomiting and just felt very feverish and sick. And I knew something was wrong.

WHITFIELD: Because it could be confused with a whole lot of other things.

WINTERS: I guess that's true. But I was sick during the evening and in the morning, I never called the ambulance -- a friend did, but I said you need to call an ambulance. I knew something severe was going on.

WHITFIELD: Once you got to the doctor, what was the diagnosis, prognosis, what was the treatment? What was said to you?

WINTERS: Well, I don't have a very clear memory of anything. In fact, I was in ICU for six weeks and there's something called ICU psychosis. That leads to a lot of memory loss. But my sisters have told me that what occurred is they said that I had less than 10 percent chance to survive. And I had kidney failure, the very next day, August 25th. And on October 5th, they amputated by legs below the knee, and all my fingers were amputated.

WHITFIELD: And in a very courageous way your twin sister actually ended up being a real godsend for you, too. Explain how.

WINTERS: Well, not only did she give me a kidney but she moved her entire family down from the Bay Area to take care of me and to get me on the road to recovery and help me with rehab. My other sisters were extraordinary in a support system for both my sister and myself. So the family has been there for us, including my dad has flown across country from Florida. My mother has come down from L.A., as well.

WHITFIELD: Incredible support system you had there.

So Doctor J.J. Levenstein, let me bring you into the equation here. Is this experience that Kyla had very common?

DR. J.J. LEVENSTEIN, PEDIATRICIAN: Well, with the particular type of meningitis that she had, called meningococcal, meningitis, about 50 percent are estimated to have blood born infection that causes very rapid organ system failure, and a lack of blood flow to the extremities, and is responsible often in 1 percent to 10 percent cases for amputations, for organ failure and profound shock and profound need for medical support.

WHITFIELD: And so who is at risk particularly? It's very random exposure, but are some more vulnerable than others?

LEVENSTEIN: Oh, the answer to that certainly is yes. It's thought that the germs that lead to this type of meningitis live in the nose and throat of 5 percent to 10 percent of humans at any given time. And with a simple act, such as a sneeze, or sharing of saliva, or intimate physical face-to-face contact, if you are a vulnerable person; if you're very young, under the age of one, if you have immune deficiencies, if you have no spleen. If you are a college freshman living in a dorm in crowded conditions, where you're not sleeping very well, you're exposed to secondhand smoke. Your health may not be in the most optimum condition. Those are the groups who are thought to be at most risk as well as folks who work in microbiological laboratories and have exposure to this. Military recruits and the elderly, as well.

WHITFIELD: What are protections? How can one protect themselves against this kind of exposure under any number of those things that you just mentioned?

LEVENSTEIN: Well, I think on a global basis, one of the best things that we can do is immunize against this type of meningitis. There are four strains that are responsible for disease in general. And three of them are very common in the United States. Two can be immunized against with current vaccines. And the American Council on Immunization Practices, in the United States, is recommending that 11 and 12-year-olds, and certainly all adolescents up to the age of 18 be immunized at 100 percent . And for those individuals who have medical conditions where they're at higher risk, even adults or younger children, that immunization of those groups is also recommended. So prevention is a big part of this.

On an individual basis, what can we do? Share saliva less. Not share food and utensils. Try to also recognize that if we had some of these worrisome symptoms that we would seek medical care early, because early intervention results in better outcomes.

WHITFIELD: Early is the key. Dr. J.J. Levenstein, thanks very much from Los Angeles.

And Kyla Winters coming to us from San Diego. Thanks for your time. Both of you ladies.

WINTERS: Thank you.

LEVENSTEIN: Good luck, Kyla.

WHITFIELD: All the best, Kyla.

WINTERS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: We'll get the latest news from our Political Ticker, right after this as well.

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WHITFIELD: Time for "CNN = Politics" update.

We're keeping an eye on all the latest headlines on the CNN.com Political Ticker. Here's what's crossing right now.

A win for Indiana Congressman Mike Pence just over an hour ago. He finished first in the presidential straw poll done at the Values Voter Summit in Washington. It's a major gathering of social conservatives. Former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was second. He won the poll last year. And Sarah Palin finished fifth.

And Delaware Senate Candidate Christine O'Donnell could have some explaining to do. A clip has surfaced from "Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher" back in 1999, and it says that she admitted to dabbling in witchcraft when she was younger. Maher aired it on his HBO show last night and says he'll play more clips if she doesn't come on his show. O'Donnell meanwhile has canceled planned appearances on two Sunday morning talk shows.

And there's actually a primary today in Hawaii, the intrigue is on the Democrat side where they're choosing a gubernatorial candidate. Democrats are hoping to recapture the governor's manage in President Obama's home state after eight years. Republican Governor Linda Lingle is term limited.

For the latest political news, go to CNNPolitics.com. All right. There are plenty of ways to get around Washington, D.C. to see the sites. CNN Photojournalist John Bodner shows us where pedicabs are growing in popularity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rides and tours, folks. Memorials, White House, Capitol, Air & Space Museum.

GREG ROTH, PEDICAB DRIVER: I left my job in October to take some time off and re-evaluate what I was going to do with my life.

I can't see how this could possibly go wrong.

Pedicabbing is part of a personal transitional strategy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm a student. This is my summer job, so making some money doing this. Even if I don't make a whole lot of money at the end of the day, I have rode a bike and got my exercise in.

EILEEN KERKESLAGER, PEDICAB DRIVER: I've been doing it for about two years now. I love it. The road we're about to turn on, Pennsylvania, is my favorite road to ride on because we have a bike lane right in the middle of the road.

ROTH: The business is not just the taxi business, but it's also the tour business.

That's where the term came from.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, because they were hanging out in the lobby.

ROTH: They were just hanging out waiting to give them money for whatever they wanted.

What I learned from it was, A, how to sell rides.

Rides and toys! Save your legs, see the sights.

B, a little bit more about the city I've lived in for 10 years but really haven't experienced enough of.

Have you seen the monument yet?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's right there.

C, how to motivate myself and work for myself. And D, I guess, to get in shape.

What's up, my man? There's a really wide mix of folks. People that are working this part time while they're doing something else. We've got lawyers, personal trainers. And even though this isn't a long-term strategy for me, it's been a really great thing to do. I'll always remember pedicabbing and I might even continue to do it on the weekends for a long time, if I end up getting a full-time job, because I like it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That's one way of getting around. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thanks so much for being with me all day long. Don lemon is coming up next. He'll bring us a live report from Kabul with the latest on the elections in Afghanistan. Also, this week, "The Wall Street Journal" released a list of the top 25 universities that employers recruit from. The results just might surprise you.

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