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Vermont Towns Cut Off; Drought in Texas; Atlantic Tropical Storm Katia; Obama's Jobs Address To Congress; Department Of Justice Sues AT&T; Wildfires Burning Out Of Control; DOJ To Block AT&T Merger; Using Admissions Consultant

Aired August 31, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Suzanne. I'm right there with you, I'd go for the bacon, too, no question.

Well, too much water and too much drought, the end result is disaster in the valleys of Vermont, in the parched plains of Texas. We begin this hour with the ongoing impact of Irene.

In New Jersey, they're still doing round the clock rescues around the surging Passaic River. People, families, pets, picked up a few at a time, hundreds in all, by first responders in rafts.

In Vermont, they're still trying to reach entire towns. You're looking at iReport photos of railroad tracks near the town of Braintree, with the ground washed out from under this. Floods wiped out almost 300 roads and bridges in Vermont alone, isolating 13 communities.

As of this morning, relief workers on four-wheel drive vehicles have made their way into 12 of them. From North Carolina to Maine, more than 1.8 million homes and businesses are still waiting for the power to come back. That's down from more than six million on Sunday. Forty-three deaths now blamed on the hurricane turn tropical storm. One victim was an 82-year-old survivor of the holocaust. At least two people died while trying to rescue others.

I want to get back to New Jersey now where they can't even think about recovery while they are still doing rescues and evacuations. CNN's Chris Knowles is in Little Falls, a name that no longer fits of course. Chris, we know that the Passaic River is at record levels. Any sign at all that it's on its way down?

CHRIS KNOWLES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'll tell you what, Randi, we've been here for about nine hours or so, this thing hasn't moved an inch. The Passaic River already swollen with record rainfall in August, then hit with another ten inches of rain from this hurricane, and all the tributaries and all the branches of other rivers. Nine others in New Jersey now way above record flood stage, and just rolling at this hour. It's going to take days for this thing to move at all.

I think perhaps by Friday morning, we could begin to see some relief and some recession of the Passaic, and the other rivers in this portion of New Jersey. And that can't come too soon for the people who've been here out of their homes and right now have their homes surrounded by water. On their way here to this site, we passed many streets that are blocked by police and emergency crews. The houses, the businesses, restaurants throwing away thousands of dollars of food every day, still getting deliveries of food they can't use or have any thought of serving.

And then there's the power outages. There is probably right now still almost a quarter of a million people without power in the state of New Jersey alone, many more in Connecticut and up in Vermont. It's a situation that instead of shrinking seems to be getting bigger by the day.

KAYE: Seems that way, Chris. I want to ask you about the rescue efforts. I mean, are the rescue teams actually out there actively looking for people or are they waiting for distress calls to come in? How does it work?

KNOWLES: In Patterson, right now, they are waiting for calls. They have the boats on standby, and the mayor and fire department have said that say whenever they receive a call, they're ready to go right then because they realize just how serious it is. When somebody calls, I hate to say it, it's almost too late. The waters rise so fast, so quickly, the reaction time has to be in seconds.

KAYE: And is there still room in the shelters? Where are they taking all these people?

KNOWLES: Well, that's the other thing, Randi. They are all stuck for the most part in schools. Schools that are set to open for students next week. And some of them have already been flooded. There's a local high school here that we had mentioned a little bit earlier, have instruments floating in the music room. Their cafeteria has several inches of water on the floor there. All these schools serving as shelters or flooded won't be opening on time next week.

Chris Knowles in Little Falls, New Jersey. Chris, thank you very much, appreciate that update.

From one extreme now to the other. They pay a lot for a good hard rain in Texas these days where drought conditions range from extreme to exceptional. Right now, they're also battling a wildfire that's destroyed at least 20 homes and threatened many more. It's in Palo Pinto County, due west of Dallas. I'll speak live with the county sheriff and a former Dallas Cowboy who's now an evacuee, coming up in just a few minutes.

And we want to update you on the wild files in Oklahoma that we first told you about yesterday. Fire officials in Oklahoma City say the church in this picture and more than a dozen homes along with more than 600 acres were burned by the wind-driven fires. Residents and several other homes were forced to evacuate. Three firefighters were treated for minor injuries. The fires broke out early in the afternoon and officials say they were finally contained late last night.

In the Atlantic, tropical storm, Katia, is gaining strength and could become a hurricane today. The storm has maximum sustained winds of 65 miles an hour and is about 1,000 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands. The National Hurricane Center says Katia is expected to become a major hurricane with winds above 110 miles an hour by Sunday. Forecasters say it's too early to know if it will pose a threat to land. And there is also another tropical disturbance apparently making its way toward the Gulf of Mexico right now. And that could cause some problems for the holiday weekend coming up. Jacqui Jeras is here to tell us all about that. Hope these aren't big problem, Jacqui.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, they could be potentially, we're worried about a lot of rain. Somebody definitely is going to get some torrential downpours, we're just 100 percent sure who that's going to be just yet. And we want to give a heads up, because so many people going towards the beaches, and this could impact so many people.

All right, this is the big cluster that we're talking about here. This big blob of showers and thunderstorms in the Yucatan Channel bringing some wet weather over towards Cancun, potentially in the western parts of Cuba. Now, this thing is going to be drifting on up towards the north and moving into the Gulf over the next two days. Some of the computer models are developing the lull out to the west, others bringing a little closure (ph) into the north right now.

And we've also got a big blob over into eastern Florida which could all get sucked into it. So, this is going to be a huge moisture maker. Look at the water temperatures, we're talking near 90 degrees up here near the coast. So, this is bathwater that is just ripe for a potential development to support something, so we could see a tropical storm. Most of the models are developing at least that, they're just not consistent in where they are going. But look at the moisture potential, I don't want you to focus where it is because it might go toward Texas which would make a lot of people happy, wouldn't it? But we're talking over six inches of rain easy, that's just in the next 48 hours. We'll keep you up to date if this changes -- Randi.

KAYE: All right, Jacqui, thank you very much. And we'll keep an eye on that for you, of course.

Now, to some other big stories that we're following right now. President Obama saying the nation faces unprecedented economic challenges is requesting time to deliver his long-awaited jobs speech with joint session of Congress. In a letter to the speaker of the house and Senate majority leader, Mr. Obama said he'd like to do it in prime time one week from today at 8:00 Eastern.

The President says he'll lay out a series of bipartisan proposals that lawmakers could act on immediately to continue to rebuild the economy. He says his plans would strengthen small businesses, help the unemployed get back to work, and put more money in the paychecks of middle class and working Americans. And he says his plans would still reduce the deficit.

The justice department suing to block AT&T's deal to buy T- Mobile. The government says the proposed $39 billion merger would substantially reduce competition and increase costs. Deputy attorney general, James Kohl, says the merger would result in tens of millions of consumers facing higher prices, fewer choices and lower quality in products for mobile wireless services. AT&T says the deal is needed to expand its vast 4G wireless network to compete with Verizon.

A trio of wildfires is keeping firefighters in three states awfully busy. And residents of one north Texas town was forced to evacuate their homes again. We'll talk to one family, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Hi. Weather and a little rain equals a tinderbox for fires. Three states now trying to get the upper hand on flames that are burning through thousands of acres. Check out the marsh fire in Louisiana. The situation is so bad there that a state of emergency has been declared in New Orleans. National guard helicopters are dumping water on the fire to get it under control. The smoky haze is a real issue for people suffering with asthma and other respiratory conditions. Now, let's go to Oklahoma City where this wildfire has burned more than a dozen homes and 600 acres in just a matter of hours. Firefighters are blaming drought conditions and strong winds are helping spread the flames. Hundreds of homes have been evacuated.

And now to north Texas where a massive wildfire is burning out of control in Palo Pinto county. So far, at least 7,500 acres have been consumed by fire. The fast-moving wildfire has yet to be contained, 125 homes have been evacuated, at least 20 homes so far have actually been lost.

This is the second time this year that people living in Palo Pinto county Texas have dealt with a massive wildfire. Back in April, several families living in Possum Kingdom Lake lost their homes and almost the entire city had to evacuate. Now people are frustrated and worried that they may lose everything all over again. Joining me now on the phone is Sylvia and Jerry Overton who actually had to evacuate their home in Possum Kingdom Lake. Sylvia and Jerry, thank you so much. Jerry, let me start with you. First, tell me when did you have to leave your home?

JERRY OVERTON, POSSUM KINGDOM LAKE (via telephone): We had to leave the home probably around 4:00 or 5:00 yesterday afternoon when the fire got away from the firemen and was continuing on to the north setting houses on fire, and so the only escape route that we had at that time was the marina. So, most of us went down to it and got on our boats taking other people with us that didn't have boats and evacuating over to the Harbor Inn, which is across the lake from us.

KAYE: How close was the fire? I mean, did you feel as though you had enough warning?

OVERTON: Well, it went fast. When I heard about it, I was in Graham, Texas, and I got a phone call saying that there was a large fire on Ranch 101, which was on the south side of 16 down toward Whataburger. So anyway, I came home directly, I called my wife on the way, asked her what she was seeing, and she said there was a large amount of smoke and fire. So, that was at about 2:00 in the afternoon. When I went down, I got in touch with some of our people that run the brush fire -- the truck, and saw that it was moving pretty fast.

So, I then went back to the house and alerted my wife who gathered up stuff and the dogs and told her to be alerted to it. Then I went back with my -- with another friend and as we have done with the past fire in April, we then started looking to see what we could do to put out small fires. And then it just got away.

KAYE: Yes.

OVERTON: So, we went back at that time and got the family and went to the marina, and went out in the water and stayed there, watching the smoke and fire consume houses and et cetera, and then finally went on over across the lake to the Harbor Inn.

KAYE: So, you did have to evacuate then back in April?

OVERTON: They had us evacuate back in April. I, along with another man, stayed at the Cliffs. It wasn't at that time directly you know in our line. It did get close-up to the edge of our -- the Cliff's resort area, but at that time, yes, everybody was evacuated except for two of us fellows.

KAYE: Jerry, if you could just hand the phone to your wife, Sylvia, there, I would like to ask her a question as well.

OVERTON: Sure, here she is.

SYLVIA OVERTON, POSSUM KINGDOM LAKE (via telephone): Hello?

KAYE: Hi, Sylvia. I'm sorry to hear that you're going through this once again. Do you have an idea of the condition is of your home?

SYLVIA OVERTON: Well, our home, my husband just got back from it, and it is OK. It's probably got some smoke damage inside, except the windows were pretty tight, we closed everything and turned off all the electricity. And so, there might be a little smoke damage in it, but it is OK. When I left yesterday -- left the house, smoke was black and very think and you had to drive through it.

KAYE: Tell me about that. How scary of a moment was that for you?

SYLVIA OVERTON: Well, the first fires back in April was scary, but this was horrific. This time I really felt that we would lose everything. And what I was concerned about was our lives, our friends' lives, even our pets. And, it's funny, you don't think about what you will take, but I just threw things in. I don't even know what I have in the car right now. But I just threw things in, grabbed the dogs, put them in, and when I was driving through the smoke, it's so black, as I pulled out of the drive, you couldn't really see, but I made it through. I was following my husband, and made it through where I could get to the marina. And then we got on the boat and got across. KAYE: And any idea when you might be able to return home and where you're going to stay until then?

S. OVERTON: Well, the guys were over there this morning, but the electricity will be out for about two or three weeks. So it will be at least that, with the heat as hot as it is down here in Texas, that it's going to be two or three weeks before we can get back in our house and get everything going again.

But the utility company is wonderful. They're working great. The harbor here has offered us rooms if we'd like. Friends have called offering us their places. It's just been -- it's just been wonderful living here. And it's a beautiful place. And -- but it really looks horrific right now. And hopefully some rain will come and things will green up. Who knows. But it's really bad.

KAYE: Yes, let's hope so. I'm sure it's very difficult to see it burn. Sylvia and Jerry Overton, certainly appreciate you taking the time at such a tough time for both of you to speak with us.

S. OVERTON: You're welcome.

KAYE: Thank you so much. And best of luck getting back to your home as soon as possible.

S. OVERTON: Thank you.

KAYE: And coming up in the next hour, we're going to check in with our own Jim Spellman, who is making his way to the frontlines of that fire.

Banks are dropping fees. Yes, you heard me right. The who, what and why and what it might all mean to you in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Welcome back. A bit of good news in today's "Your Money." Some of the country's largest banks giving Hurricane Irene victims a break. JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo are waiving several bank fees like overdraft fees, late fees and ATM fees for customers affected by Irene. In addition, customers who are desperate for cash will be permitted to make early withdrawals on certificates of deposit without an extra charge. If you're coping with Irene's aftermath, you might want to check with your bank to see if they're doing something similar.

And this. Just two hours ago, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court to block AT&T's proposed acquisition of T-Mobile. The merger would have created the largest wireless company in the United States. Felecia Taylor joins us live from the New York Stock Exchange with much more on this.

So, Felicia, what prompted this lawsuit today?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Basically this all has to do with competition. The Department of Justice wants to make sure that completion stays in the marketplace. And here's why. A combined AT&T and T-Mobile would have 130 million subscribers. Along with Verizon, they'd control about 90 percent of the wireless market. So that effectively takes out competition. Less competition often comes at the consumer's expense.

James Cole, the deputy attorney general, explained the reasoning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COLE, DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: The department filed its lawsuit because we feel the combination of AT&T and T-Mobile would result in tens of millions of consumers all across the United States facing higher prices, fewer choices, and lower quality products for their mobile wireless services.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAYLOR: So it's not just about price competition, though. The FCC says competition breeds innovation. Basically it forces companies to kind of stay on top of their game. And, frankly, T-Mobile has been one of the greatest innovators out there. If they merged with AT&T, or "Ma Bell," it may not be as willing to kind of go out and innovate as often as it has in the past so far.

Randi.

KAYE: So now what? Is the merger dead then or is there still hope for it?

TAYLOR: Yes, absolutely. I mean it doesn't mean that this isn't -- that they can't rework it and still actually have a deal go through. If you remember, back in April, the very same thing happened with Google when it wanted to buy an airline search company. The government opposed it, but it went through when Google made some concessions. So at today's news conference, the government said the door is open for AT&T to propose remedies to the deal. And Ma Bell has already said it would bring back about 5,000 call center jobs to the United States as a succession. But analyst say this legal battle could actually drag on for years. And, frankly, it's already been dragging on for quite some time as it is.

Randi.

KAYE: Yes. All right, Felicia Taylor, appreciate the update. Thank you.

High achieving college applicants are paying admission consultants to help them get into the college of their choice. Is it worth it? Alison Kosik goes in-depth.

And Tiger Woods talks to CNN's Fredricka Whitfield about his return to golf. That's coming up after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Getting into college isn't easy with the application process getting increasingly competitive. So to gain an edge, some students are paying for admissions consultants. So, is it worth it? And, perhaps, more importantly, is this even fair? Alison Kosik goes "In Depth" to get some answers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Danniel Sastow applied to college, he had his heart set on Cornell.

DANNIEL SASTOW, COLLEGE FRESHMAN (ph): I worked hard for four years. I want to like get into the college that I wanted to. I don't want to let myself down.

KOSIK: Hoping to stand out from a growing pool of top notch applicants, Danniel and his family hired a college admissions consultant.

D. SASTOW: I applied to like 10 to 11, 12 colleges. It just took the stress off knowing that, like, I didn't have to research on my own, figure it out. It was just a professional was there to guide me.

GARY SASTOW, DANNIEL'S FATHER: The reality is that a lot of his co-applicants and friends were all getting assistance in that regard. And to some extent, you feel as if, well, if we're not doing that as well, then maybe he's potentially somewhat disadvantaged.

KOSIK: Last year, ivy league Cornell University received over 36,000 applications to fill 6,500 slots for its incoming freshman class. With such intense competition, students are looking for any edge they can get. Consultants say that's what they provide.

JUDAH KRAUT, COLLEGE ADMISSIONS COUNSELOR: It's more like helping a student tease out what their brand is. Just really conveying who they are as a person and the kinds of talents and skills that they're going to bring to the school.

KOSIK: But critics say admissions consultants give an unfair advantage to wealthier applicants.

KRAUT: They're looking at a bill of $150,000 to $200,000, you know, just for the college education alone. So, you know, if they're spending an extra $2,000 or $3,000 on services like ours to make sure that they're getting into the right private college, et cetera, that, you know, seems like a good investment.

KOSIK: But with the right planning, consultants may not be necessary.

KRAUT: Become engaged in a couple of things, you know, that either you feel passionate about or that you're particularly skilled at.

D. SASTOW: My advice would be is to really stick to a schedule. There's so much stuff going on with your friends, the last year of school, work, extracurriculars, and you really need time to focus.

KOSIK: Luckily for Danniel, his focus paid off and he got into his dream school.

G. SASTOW: All of a sudden I did hear a shriek and a yell and he came to tell me and it was a terrific moment.

D. SASTOW: It was amazing. It was the best feeling.

KOSIK: Alison Kosik, CNN New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Since returning to golf, Tiger Woods hasn't really had the stellar performances that we were used to seeing before the sex scandal sidelined him. So in an interview earlier today in the CNN NEWSROOM, Woods talked about being picked to be on the U.S. team for the President's Cup in Australia in November, even though he's missed a number of tournaments this summer due to injury. He says he just needs to keep playing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: It's just a matter of me getting the reps in now. Just hitting thousands of balls, and, obviously, playing competitive rounds and building the confidence and, you know, eventually, you know, winning golf tournaments.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Woods next tournament is The Frys.com Open in early October.

Up next, Stanley Cup shocker. Hockey's century old championship trophy takes a tumble.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It's about half past the hour and here's a look at the headlines and some other news that you may have missed.

The man who served as the top U.S. commander in Iraq and Afghanistan has stepped down to take the head position at the CIA. At a ceremony earlier today, U.S. Army General David Petraeus ended his military career.

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn sang Petraeus' praises during that ceremony.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM LYNN, UNITED STATES DEPUTY SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: It's rare for a leader to have both the endurance and charisma to lead troops in war and the force of mind to shape the strategy for that war. But David Petraeus has distinguished himself at each.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Petraeus assumes his new role at the CIA on September 6. In a letter sent to leaders of the House and Senate, President Obama has requested a joint session of Congress on September 7 for his long-awaited jobs speech. The president says he intends on laying out a series of bipartisan proposals to help strengthen the American economy.

Earlier today in the Rose Garden, he called on Congress to act quickly to renew the surface transportation bill. The president says the nation faces dire consequences if swift action is not taken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If we allow the transportation bill to expire, over 4,000 workers will be immediately furloughed without pay. If it's delayed for just 10 days, it will lose nearly $1 billion in highway funding. That's money we can never get back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: The current bill expires at the end of September.

A Maryland man held in connection with the disappearance of a American woman in Aruba appeared in court again, and the judge is expected to announce a decision on his possible release later today. Gary Giordano was arrested by Aruban police three days after Robyn Gardner was last seen on an Aruba beach. The pair arrived in Aruba together in late July. Giordano said he feared for his life during a snorkeling trip and signaled for her to follow him back to the shore, the last time he saw her.

After being hospitalized last week in critical condition, polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs has been upgraded to serious condition. You will remember Jeffs was convicted of aggravated of aggravated sexual assault on two young girls and is serving a life sentence in a Texas prison. He fell ill after fasting. Prison officials did not consider it a hunger strike since he was eating, but -- quote -- "not as much as he should."

Weighing a bit more than 30 pounds, the Stanley Cup poses no problem for a star hockey player to hoist up, as you see there, but this table however might need a stronger set of legs. Oh, yes. Former Bruins star Michael Ryder was escorting the NHL's championship trophy through Canada Tuesday when the table being used to display it, as you can see, gave way. Maybe it was the table or maybe it was a strong breeze. Who knows. Either way the table was set up again with no issues and a bystander casually remarked, first ding of the day.

A picturesque resort town in Mexico paralyzed by drug violence. But you will be surprised what group is taking things into its own hands -- the latest on that in 75 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Kidnappings, murders, extortion, and shootings and mass graves, that's the reality that has rocked the picturesque resort town of Acapulco, Mexico, where a wave of drug violence has turned life here into a gruesome fight to survive.

Now the violence is hitting schools. The impact is actually pretty shocking.

Let's bring in our Rafael Romo, who has been digging into this story.

What is happening there? It's now hitting schools?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Exactly.

Well, it started a couple weeks ago as a rumor, kind of an urban myth, somebody saying that masked men were going to schools and threatening teachers that if they did not give them money, those making more than $500 or more were going to get targeted, killed, and their schools were going to be attacked.

At the time, it was just a rumor, but now more and more reports have surfaced. And finally education officials went to Acapulco to find out what was happening, and as many as 100 schools have closed because teachers say we don't want to go unless you guarantee our safety.

There was a meeting last night and it was officially recognized that 70 to 80 schools are now closed.

KAYE: Wow.

ROMO: They were asking police to do something about it, and today was supposed to be the day in which they were going to launch a huge operation and it didn't happen. So many teachers just refuse to go back to school unless they get some sort of guarantee that they will not get attacked.

KAYE: It's understandable though that they are concerned, because this is not anything new, right? There has been a wave of violence there.

ROMO: There has been a wave of violence.

And just to put it into perspective, those schools involved are in the outskirts of Acapulco. However, there has been an increase in violence inside Acapulco itself, the coastal avenue, very famous with foreign tourists. There have been shoot-outs there, so the concern is definitely there.

KAYE: What are they doing? Is there any type of increased security there to make people feel safer?

ROMO: Well, the federal government -- I was there in March and I saw a strong presence of federal police and also military who are there patrolling the streets, but it seems like turf wars between the cartels operating in that area are really just way too powerful and everywhere, and it's just a violence that is very difficult to control. KAYE: As you know, this is a big tourist destination for a lot of people from the United States, so are travelers safe, are tourists safe there in Acapulco, do you think?

ROMO: So far, no tourist, no foreigner has been attacked.

However, like I was telling you before, there have been shoot- outs in some of the tourist areas, and the potential to be caught in the crossfire is definitely there. But as far as we know, so far, no foreigner has been targeted.

KAYE: Yes. The last thing you want to do though is go on vacation and feel like you can't leave your hotel room.

ROMO: Exactly.

KAYE: So, all right. Well, thank you for the update, Rafael. Appreciate that.

The U.N. says Tripoli faces an alarming situation and time is of the essence, but the Libyan people are not the only ones at risk. The latest developments live from the Libyan capital right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In Libya, the hunt continues for Moammar Gadhafi, his whereabouts still a mystery. At the same time, rebel forces are gearing up for major battles if the Gadhafi troops don't surrender by Saturday.

But for the first time in more than 40 years, the Libyan people are celebrating the end of the Muslim holy month free from Gadhafi's one-man rule. That said, Tripoli still faces a long road to recovery. In fact right now the U.N. says the capital faces an alarming situation due to the fact that 60 percent of the city is without water and without sanitation. Residents also face food shortages.

Joining us now for much more on the conditions in Tripoli is CNN's Nic Robertson.

Nic, what is the latest that you have on the water and food situation there?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the water situation is the most pressing. This city normally, according to the U.N., needs about 4.5 million tons of water a day. There's an emergency situation. They say 1.5 million tons a day should cover emergency needs.

Tomorrow they say they hope to bring in half a million tons, by the end of the week, three million tons. And all of this comes in sort of liter-and-a-half bottles of water. So that gives you an idea just how desperate the water situation here is.

Tomorrow they hope to have one-third of the emergency requirement,, nothing close to the normal requirement. The city is very, very short of water. Water tanks are available in some areas of the city that have been water pumped from private wells. But Gadhafi's forces are believed to have destroyed or at least immobilized the wells a long way south of here, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds miles south into the desert, immobilized those wells there so that the city is absolutely, absolutely starving for water.

Food is not quite such a tough situation. Some of the local farms are getting produce to the markets here, but it's far, far short of what the city is normally used to. But just the system essentially for right now has broken down, Randi.

KAYE: And, Nic, maybe you could set us straight on this. Is there any truth to word that we're getting that the rebels have actually rejected an offer from U.N. peacekeepers to help fix this?

ROBERTSON: Well, what the rebels are saying is they don't want U.N. peacekeepers on the ground. And that has pretty much been their position throughout all of this. They don't want to get, you know, U.N. soldiers here on the ground.

But what they do want is the U.N. to help with the humanitarian side, not the security side. They say that they can give the rebels advice on security, but they don't want those troops on the ground, the so-called blue helmets. Yes, the humanitarian aid, no to troops on the ground -- Randi.

KAYE: And what is the latest on the hunt for Gadhafi? Is there any possibility at all that he will come forward and possibly surrender?

ROBERTSON: It seems really unlikely. I have been in e-mail communication with one of his sons, Saadi Gadhafi. He was considering the idea of coming to Tripoli to negotiate a cease-fire with the rebels.

The rebels then indicated that he was talking about a surrender, and I said to him, are you talking about a surrender? And he said absolutely not. These rebels, he said, have destroyed the country and he's not about to surrender to them.

But it's clear that he and his father and his other brothers are in an increasingly tough position, and they have nowhere to go or apparently nowhere to run to, and certainly the rebels are not going to negotiate with them. They would only accept their surrender. The rebels say he can come to Tripoli, but they're going to put him on trial, Randi.

KAYE: Nic, I know you have been very busy there not only watching the food and water shortages, but I understand that you also actually checked on the zoo animals there in Tripoli. What is the situation for them?

ROBERTSON: You know, for the animals at the zoo, the situation is, if you will, worse than for the people, because at least people understand what is happening and can go out and try and do something about it. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: We've just come into Tripoli's main zoo. The gates were locked. We were told that it had been under renovation for the last three years, that there weren't any animals here.

We're just getting a look around. I can see a vulture up there, certainly a huge bird of prey.

(voice-over): As I'm looking at it, we hear a lion roaring.

(on camera): It's an eerie feeling walking around here. You don't know what you're going to bump into. The gunfire is still going on.

Most of the cages seem empty. But I just trying to follow the sound of the roaring. There he is. There he is. Tiger.

He's seen us. Just looking at him, you can see how thin he is the way he's walking. Those thighs, so skinny against his back. He looks like he's going in there to get shade.

(voice-over): Then we see the lions, the male particularly skinny, the deep scar on his head.

(on camera): There's no one here to tell us how often they're being fed, how much they're getting fed. We don't even know if there's a vet here to look after them. All we've seen so far is the food left by the giant tortoises.

These lions look like they're just not getting enough to eat.

(voice-over): Suddenly, we get some answers.

(on camera): The zookeeper has arrived. I'm going to ask him about the animals.

Assalamu Alaikum. How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fine.

ROBERTSON: Fine? Fine.

So what about the animals? Are they getting enough food, the lions, the tigers?

(voice-over): He tells me for seven days the animals got nothing. Now, 10 of the 200 staff have returned. They're trying to feed all the animals, the big cats get only half the food they need.

But their biggest problem is water. He takes us to see the hippos. Of all the animals, they seem the most forlorn.

ROBERTSON: The keeper tells us that he tried to get some more water in here, even laid this plastic pipe on the floor right into the tank here with hippopotami, but it didn't work. And they're just left with a rank, fetid water. Even they don't seem to want to go into.

(voice-over): They're struggling to keep up, so many animals to feed, hyenas, bears, monkeys, deer, emus, but it's the big cats, the meat eaters, they can't feed enough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON: And really, it's the water is just the most pressing thing. The keepers fear that if the animals don't get enough water, they will continue to dehydrate and their suffering will continue there, Randi.

KAYE: Nic, I found that story so disturbing to see those animals suffering that way. Is there any more that they can do? Is there any help on the way for them?

ROBERTSON: Well, the keepers hope that more keepers will come back to work. Obviously, they are competing for food in the marketplaces.

They don't have money to go out and buy food for the animals. Again, the system is broken down. Certainly there are some international organizations that would like to come to Libya and help, and they are getting in touch with Libyan authorities to see if they can bring in the necessary drugs, medication for the animals that they would want to be able to provide, and also make sure that the Libyan authorities, the National Transitional Council, actually want them to come in and help.

And I think the only indications are that at a humanitarian level, the government is open to that kind of assistance, but it will still take days at the very earliest before any of this kind of help can actually get here, Randi.

KAYE: Nic Robertson, wow, that story just breaks my heart. Thank you very much for bringing that to us.

Take a look at this tiny flying drone. Next, we will tell you how it could alleviate poverty and accelerate economic growth for a billion people. Don't go anywhere.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Every day on this show, we do a segment called the "Big I." It's about big ideas, innovations and solutions to problems.

In today's "Big I," we're looking at a device its creators believe could help the billion-plus people in poverty today. When you hear the word drone, you may think of this, unmanned aerial vehicles working as our military's eyes from above, even able to take out enemies.

But Singularity University started a project to develop a different kind of drone. The Matternet, just a prototype now, is being built to -- quote -- "alleviate poverty and accelerate economic growth by transporting goods to regions with no road infrastructure." That's right. These little guys could actually bring food and medicine to all areas of the world, inaccessible villages in Africa, possibly even those stranded in disasters like Hurricane Irene.

Today, the currently prototype can carry a little over two pounds for nearly two miles. The target to is to carry about four-and-a-half pounds for at least six miles. That would be something.

For much more about the Matternet drone project, you can check out my Facebook page at Facebook/RandiKayeCNN.

Poet Maya Angelou says an inscription on the new Martin Luther King Memorial needs to be changed.

And with Governor Rick Perry leading in another poll, Mitt Romney is changing his campaign strategy -- details on both those stories right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Poet Maya Angelou has a big problem with the quote on the new Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Two months before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave a sermon where he said -- quote -- "If you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice, say that I was a drum major for peace, I was a drum major for righteousness, and all of the other shallow things will not matter."

Now, because of lack of space, the quote on the monument was paraphrased to say this: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness."

Angelou says that shortened inscription is misleading and changes the meaning completely. "The 'if' clause that left out is salient. Leaving it out changes the meaning completely. It makes him seem an egoist. He would have never said that of himself."

Angelou is listed on the council picked to select inscriptions for the memorial, but did not attend the inscription meetings.

And now let's continue in Washington, shall we?

I want to check in with our Jim Acosta, who is watching all things on the "Political Ticker" for us.

Jim, I understand Rick Perry now leading in yet another poll.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Randi, it might be time to start calling Rick Perry the frontrunner in the GOP field.

One poll, a campaign could say, is an outlier in political-speak, but two polls, that's part of a trend. And this new poll from Quinnipiac that just came out today shows that Rick Perry has a pretty sizable lead right now. Take a look at this. Want to show you the numbers from this, because it's interesting to see Rick Perry at 24 percent, Mitt Romney, who everybody was calling the front-runner until a few days ago, at 18 percent, Sarah Palin at 11 percent, and she hasn't even decided whether or not she's going to get into this race, or at least she hasn't said so publicly.

So this is really shaping up as a two-man contest, if you look at this Quinnipiac poll and the CNN/ORC poll that came out earlier this week. So, it might be time to start calling Rick Perry the front- runner in this field. And because of that, Randi, it's no surprise to see Mitt Romney is starting to tinker with his campaign strategy.

He had been, up until this point, keeping the Tea Party sort of at arm's length as he goes for the GOP nomination. Now he seems to be giving them a pretty tight bear hug. This weekend, Mitt Romney is going to be up in New Hampshire on Sunday evening for a Tea Party Express event. The Tea Party Express, as you know, has that bus that is going across the country right now. They will be co-hosting a debate with CNN later on in September, on September 12.

And so Mitt Romney will be talking to the Tea Party Express on Sunday night, and then on Monday going to a presidential candidate forum being hosted by Jim DeMint, the senator from South Carolina. That will happen down in South Carolina.

And DeMint, as you know, Randi, is a big Tea Party organizer, a big Tea Party godfather, if you will. So, Governor Romney is certainly changing his strategy when it comes to appealing to Tea Party voters.

I just spoke with a representative from a major Tea Party group here in Washington called FreedomWorks. They have actually bailed from the Tea Party Express bus tour. They had a person who was riding along with the Tea Party Express bus earlier that week. That person actually bailed from the bus because of FreedomWorks having a serious disagreement with the Tea Party Express over whether or not Mitt Romney should even speak to a Tea Party group.

And they're saying that some FreedomWorks activists and Tea Party activists will be protesting against Mitt Romney at this Tea Party event on Sunday evening. So it is starting to get very interesting. And it's another example that the Tea Party is really going to be a big, dominant force in this upcoming fight for the GOP nomination, Randi.

KAYE: Oh, yes, maybe the dominant force.

What about Sarah Palin? We heard so many times that she was getting close possibly to making a decision.

Any word on when she actually might decide or what she's up to?

ACOSTA: Well, she is supposed to attend -- at least at this point, we think she's going to attend a Tea Party rally out in Iowa over Labor Day weekend.

And there's been some confusion over this, because at one point, it's been reported that she is going. And then there are some reports that come out that say she's not going. Some of this might have to do with the fact that Christine O'Donnell was supposed to share the same stage with her at this Tea Party event in Iowa.

And Sarah Palin being in and being out at that event seems to be coinciding with Christine O'Donnell being invited and disinvited from that same event. So, it's interesting to watch that. We don't know what to make of it.

Sarah Palin has said that she's probably not going to announce that she's going to run for president this weekend, that that is probably going to come a little later in September. But she obviously is a factor in this. She may be the X-factor in all of this. And whether she jumps in could change all of this all over again -- Randi.

KAYE: And Giuliani, is he off the table?

ACOSTA: Rudy Giuliani, you know, that's an interesting question.

I have read reports that he has said that he's not going to make any kind of announcement on this until after the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

As you know, Randi, the 10th anniversary is coming up. Rudy Giuliani will obviously be very visible during that time.

He, as you remember, was walking the streets of lower Manhattan that morning of September 11th. And so I think the Giuliani folks would like to see that anniversary pass before they make that final decision.

And it's going to be interesting to note, Randi, that coming up in September, in just about a week from now, there's that big debate that's happening out in Los Angeles, a Republican debate that's happening that will be Rick Perry's first debate, as a matter of fact. And as you heard earlier today, President Obama has scheduled this big address to Congress.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

ACOSTA: You know, he's asked for this joint address to Congress to talk about his jobs plan. It's supposed to happen on the very same night as that GOP debate. So never a dull moment.

KAYE: We'll see. No, certainly not. Well, we covered a lot of territory there, Jim. Thank you very much. Good to see you.

ACOSTA: You bet.