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Suspect in the Etan Patz Missing Case Confessed; Tropical Storm Beryl Hit Florida and Georgia; Robert Griffin III has Chosen by Washington Redskins; Forty Nine of the Victims in Houla Syria Massacre are Children;
Aired May 27, 2012 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN HOST (voice-over): A relaxing holiday weekend, and dangerous rip currents?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's incredibly dangerous right now.
CHO: Sun seekers ordered to leave, and it's only going to get worse.
Damaging winds and rising floodwaters are next.
An army general speaks out about military suicide.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off the ground!
CHO: Is it tough love, or has the military turned its back on vets?
And this. Is it a bird, a plane? Nope. It's a purple dot, or is it? Our eyes are on the skies, and this peculiar Sunday night mystery.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Hi, everybody, it's 10:00 in the east. Glad you're with us. I'm Alina Cho sitting in for Don Lemon tonight.
And we begin with the bad weather bearing down on the southeast. Tropical storm Beryl fast approaching hurricane strength and near landfall. You can see the palm trees struggling against the wind earlier today. Waves surging on shore.
Now, this is Jekyll Island, Georgia you are looking at. Flooding obviously a big concern, and beaches all along the southeast coast are posting warnings about the dangers of rip currents.
For the past 24 hours, lifeguards and EMTs have been working overtime rescuing those who have ignored the warnings.
Our Jacqui Jeras is watching it all for us.
So, Jacqui, a couple of questions. Number one, pretty close to hurricane strength, right?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
CHO: And how close are we to landfall?
JERAS: We're close. You know, just within n hour or two potentially of landfall. But, you know, landfall not necessary so important with this storm. Because it is a big storm, and there are going to be some very widespread impacts.
There, you can see the rain which has been coming down the last couple of hours, extremely heavy, and the winds have been picking up. This is a much different storm than what we were dealing with yesterday. Beaches have been closed. The rip currents have been a big issue, and as we head through the nighttime hours tonight, we are going to be worried about power outages, trees coming down and then our big concern will focus on inland flooding which could be as much as six plus, maybe isolated spots to up to a foot of rainfall in the next 24 hours.
This is what beryl looks like over the open waters. It is kind of difficult to pick out the center of circulation. We will zoom in and give you an idea of how close it is towards Jacksonville beach, and we think it is somewhere maybe about 25, 30 miles away from the coast. If you do the math, it's moving west around 10 miles per hour, so we're talking maybe midnight tonight for that landfall.
Intensity of this storm now, maximum sustained winds, 75 miles per hour. I think it is certainly likely that we're going to see some gusts along the coast that could be reaching that hurricane force strength, so that will certainly cause some damage associated with that.
The track of this thing, after it continues to move westward tonight, we are going to start to see it hook on up to the north, move through the Carolinas, and then eventually make its way off the shore.
So, it is really going to slow down in forward speed as it makes this turn, and that's one of the many reasons why flooding will be such a big issue. In fact, we have already heard reports of some heavy rainfall, one to two inches per hour coming along with it, and this is a computer model forecast that shows you the next 48 hours of where we think most of that will be.
Now, there's been a big problem with drought in north Florida and southern parts of Georgia, so, the rain is welcome news. But, this is so much at one time, and the ground is very hard. It is dry, and it is kind of cracked even in some spots, so we'll see a lot of runoff.
We are also getting some surge along the coastal areas, so be aware of that. You need to stay indoors tonight. I know it's tempting to go out and see how things are going, but when we are talking about such a strong tropical storm, nearly a hurricane, you know, it really doesn't make a difference if you call this a cat one or if you call this a strong tropical storm. The consequences of this are certainly going to be the same and really widespread in this part of the country.
Such a bummer, Alina.
CHO: I know.
JERAS: You know, over the holiday weekend when people want to go to Florida. They want to go to Georgia and enjoy those beaches.
CHO: That's right. These are vacation spots.
All right, Jacqui. We'll be checking back with you throughout the hour. Thanks for the update.
We are going to move to New York now where CNN has obtained some new information about the man charged with killing Etan Patz. Remember, that is the 6-year-old boy who disappeared from a Sojo street corner 33 years ago.
Our Susan Candiotti today visited the church where suspect Pedro Hernandez and his family are members.
You spoke with the pastor, Susan. What did he tell you?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: First of all, Alina, he said that the first thing he talked about with the congregation at his services today, and we heard this, he asked all of them to pray for the Pedro Hernandez family, both him, his wife and teenage daughter. And he also told us while visiting with us that he felt that, well, first of all that, he got a phone call -- rather, a personal visit from Hernandez's wife and teenage daughter on Thursday. This was the day after police had picked him up and taken in for questioning. And he said they came in crying and weeping. They were very emotional.
He said he had the impression that they were completely blind- sided by the fact that Pedro had been picked up and taken in by police for questioning. He said that he did not think that his wife had any idea that her husband had allegedly confessed to police, said that he didn't have the impression that she had a clue about what had happened allegedly so many years ago, that he might have played a role in the death of Etan Patz, although he added that he did not ask her directly about that - Alina.
CHO: All right, Susan. This is a case, obviously, over the last 33 years that is seen many, many twists and turns. What's the latest now. What's next in the investigation?
CANDIOTTI: The investigators, Alina, are very, very hard at work trying to come up with some evidence to bolster his claim that he strangled to death this little boy and then put his body, Etan Patz's body in a trash can bag and did away with him. They have acknowledged that they have no physical evidence so far and as well no motive. So, investigators are literally pounding the streets trying to talk to anyone they can about this.
As we all know and recall, Pedro Hernandez remains or was put under a suicide watch on Friday.
And the next legal step is that they are conducting as the court has ordered a psychiatric evaluation of him after the defense revealed that Mr. Hernandez has a long history of various psychiatric disorders. He is bipolar. He is schizophrenic and suffers from hallucinations, according to his defense attorney. And so, a grand jury will also be getting together, and they will decide whether to indict Mr. Hernandez on the second-degree murder charge.
CHO: That's right. Bottom line, Susan, investigators are in the unusual position now of having to prove that Hernandez did what he said he did. So, we will have to wait to see what happens on that.
Susan Candiotti, live from New York. Susan, thank you, as always.
CANDIOTTI: You're welcome.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Turn to politics now and blame it on the ego.
Former New York city mayor Rudy Giuliani said, yes, it was his ego. That was the reason he took jabs at Mitt Romney during the 2008 GOP presidential campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUDY GIULIANI (R), FORMER NEW YORK MAYOR: Well, I mean, there's a certain amount of personal ego in that. At that point I was probably comparing his record to my record, and maybe it was circumstances or whatever, but I had massive reduction in unemployment. He had a reduction in unemployment of about eight, 10, I think with 15 percent. I had a reduction of unemployment of 50 percent. They had a growth of jobs of about 40,000. We had a growth of jobs of about 500,000 so I was comparing what I thought was my far superior record to his otherwise decent record, but the numbers weren't as great. That's all part of campaigning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. Hard to tell from what you just heard from him, but Giuliani has thrown his support behind Romney. He told CNN's Candy Crowley the digs, well, that's just all part of the campaign.
Defense secretary Leon Panetta took aim at Romney today for the candidate's attacks on the withdrawal strategy in Afghanistan. Romney has criticized the 2014 date for pulling out of Afghanistan saying that publicizing a timeline is naive.
Today on ABC's "This Week," Panetta said the Republican criticism is all campaign rhetoric.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEON PANETTA, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I think you've got 50 nations in NATO that agree to a plan in Afghanistan. It's the Lisbon agreement. An agreement that, you know, others, President Bush, President Obama, everyone has agreed is the direction that we go in, in Afghanistan. What is that direction? It's to take us to a point where we draw down by the end of 2014. That is the plan that has been agreed to. And it's a plan that is working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Panetta went on to say that the 2014 withdrawal timeline is the only way to ensure a successful transition to Afghan forces, and as you just heard he says the plan is working.
It is a memorial day weekend, of course, the time to honor those who died defending our freedom. But we are also taking time to remember those missing in action.
Every memorial day thousands of motorcyclists honor these people by gathering in Washington for rolling thunder. Many of you have heard about this. This year one soldier in particular, army sergeant Bo Bergdahl stands out as the America's only known prisoner of war. He was captured in Afghanistan in 2009, and today his father made him a promise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT BERGDAHL, FATHER OF AMERICA'S ONLY PRISONER OF WAR: Thanks to you our POWS and MIAS are never forgotten and never will be forgotten.
Bo, if you can hear me, are you not forgotten and so help me God you will come home. We will not leave you behind.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Today a rare emergency meeting of the U.N. security council.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
CHO: One topic on the agenda, of course, is Syria. After more than 100 civilians were killed on Friday, many of them, nearly half young children. Protesters say the international community isn't doing enough.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK0
CHO: The U.N. security council has condemned Friday's massacre in the Syrian town of Houla, and it isn't buying the government's explanation that that was the work of terrorists. One hundred eight civilians were killed, nearly half of them young children. The opposition says this was the work of the military, and the U.N. agrees.
After a rare emergency meeting today, the U.N. security council issued a statement pointing at forces loyal to President Bashar Al Assad. Meanwhile, Syrian protesters are growing frustrated by what it calls the international community's inaction.
CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom has more from Lebanon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Time and again over the past several months we've seen -- we've seen international pressures stepped up on Syria, whether it be the U.N. or other agencies. We've seen the EU impose sanctions. Arab league monitors were in there a couple months ago. Now there are U.N. observers there, about 300 on the ground, and yet no matter who is there or what type of pressure is being applied on the Syrian regime to end the cycle of violence, the brutal crackdown that has been going on for 15 months doesn't seem to be ending.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: The U.N. wants to see Syria implement a peace plan, but in towns like Houla, it appears there's little chance for a cease-fire.
ITN's Alex Thompson traveled to Houla and filed this report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEX THOMPSON, ITN REPORTER (voice-over): Houla today, so far the world has seen only fleeting glimpses from rebel cameras. We're in the southern suburbs, not exactly controlled by the Syrian army, but they are here. We can only film covertly, and they are scared, very scared.
Who knows how many dead bodies lie around here. When I pulled the blanket back, it revealed an old man way past fighting age with a gunshot wound.
For well over an hour we were pinned down here by sniper rounds, terrorists, said the Syrian army, their word for rebels. And about ten meters away from this position, one of the soldiers was hit and taken away quickly, but he left his mark on this town.
Because the fighting continues in this town, it's impossible to verify exactly what happened here. There are no eyewitnesses. There are no civilians. They have all been forced out by the fighting, clearly going on all around this town today.
But this is rebel-held Houla, a ghost town. Ask yourself this then. Why did people flee the area held by the army but remain in the rebel-held zone?
After Friday's massacre here, just who are the people afraid of? In these empty streets, the answer seems glaringly obvious.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Officials in Afghanistan blame a NATO air strike for killing eight civilians this weekend, most of them children. It happened in a province south of Kabul.
According to U.S. military spokesman, the support air strike was called in by NATO troops who were under fire from insurgents. NATO officials say they are aware of the incident and are investigating.
A general's words about military suicides causes an uproar. I talked with a woman who was directly affected by those words. Her husband, a marine, killed himself.
(COMMERCIAL BEAK)
CHO: It's memorial day weekend, and in between all of the picnics and the beach and tomorrow's day off, we are remembering the men and women who died while serving our country.
The Pentagon, specifically the army, is reporting a spike in the number of suicides in the ranks of active duty soldiers, National Guardsmen and reservists, 278 people in the army took his or her own life last year alone.
This week the commanding general of Fort Bliss took back some of the comments he made. His personal opinion about military suicide and the people who chose to do it, but the damage was already done.
Major general Dana Pittard wrote these words on the Fort Bliss Web site.
"I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act." He went on to say "soldiers who commit suicide leave their families, their buddies and their units to literally clean up their mess. There is nothing noble about suicide."
The general says he wrote those words when he was frustrated by a rash of suicides on his base. But even though he retracted those words, clarified his feelings, it speaks to a culture in the military where people contemplating suicide are often reluctant to get help.
Well, last night right here on CNN, I spoke to a woman who not only works with service members suffering from mental health issues. She's an expert for personal reasons. Her husband, a marine corps officer, killed himself five years ago, and this is part of our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIM RUOCCO, MARINE HUSBAND SUFFERED FROM PTSD: Yes, I mean, I was really sad to hear the comment, and, you know, it's too bad because we -- if we know about mental health and people who are considering suicide, that they are -- the last thing they are thinking about is dumping their baggage.
They are really feeling like they are no longer valuable to their unit, they are no longer valuable to their families. They feel like they have nothing left to give and that everyone will be better off without them, and it's a mental health issue and an injury issue, not an issue of selfishness or trying to drop their pack or leave their problems for other people.
CHO: Tell me about your husband, John. It's been seven years now since he killed himself.
RUOCCO: Yes.
CHO: So tragically.
RUOCCO: Yes.
CHO: What happened?
RUOCCO: Well, he -- you know, it was a culmination of trauma and loss and untreated depression. And in the military, so often, our men and women are asked to live very stressful lives with very little sleep. They are sacrificing a lot. They are separated from their support systems. They get exposed to a lot of trauma in their lives and going to seek help is often not seen as a strong thing to do but maybe a something that is week or something you should avoid.
But in my husband's case, when he started to really suffer, he was afraid to ask for help for fear of how that would change the way people viewed him.
CHO: That's right. There's that stigma, right, that we hear so much about.
RUOCCO: Yes.
CHO: With the military. I want to play some tape of vice president Biden. He was at an event yesterday in Washington.
RUOCCO: Yes.
CHO: You were there.
RUOCCO: Yes.
CHO: And he made some pretty powerful comments. Let's watch.
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That black hole you feel in your chest, like you're being sucked back into it, looking at your kids, and most of you have kids here, and knowing it was the first time in my career, in my life, I'm saying that someone could go out and I probably shouldn't say this with the press here.
But, no, it is more important - you are more important.
For the first time in my life I understood how someone can consciously decide to commit suicide, not because they were deranged, not because they were nuts, because they have been to the top of the mountain, and they just knew in their heart that they would never get there again, that never going to get, never going to be that way ever again.
CHO: Pretty powerful stuff, Kim. What was your reaction? You were there in the room.
RUOCCO: Well, I was amazed because vice president Biden was speaking to 2,000 of our survivors who were gathered for a weekend of -- of support around their grief. And for him to speak so candidly about his own loss and his own thoughts and feelings really touched our survivors and really made them feel like they were heard and that people really understood their loss.
So, I -- I was really grateful to the vice president for opening up his heart and for letting us know that we weren't alone in our grief and some of our struggles around grief.
CHO: And, you know, it's been seven years, as I mentioned, since your husband killed himself. I'm curious to know from your standpoint whether you think the military has gotten any better in terms of helping people who come back from war zones and who suffer from PTSD and who might be on the edge. Have you noticed a difference since John?
RUOCCO: Well, I've noticed people working really hard to make changes and providing -- putting in a lot of programs and doing a lot of different things to try to prevent suicides. And I know that the leaders really care, but we've got to do more. We've got to know that our -- if we're asking our troops to go in harm's way over and over again and to be exposed to all kinds of trauma, that people shouldn't have to see as human beings, that we have got to expect them to need psychological care, the same way that they need physical care. And I feel like it just needs to be incorporated in part of our treatment when they come back, that everybody is expected to have psychological care along with their physical care and just expecting a lot.
CHO: Well Kim, I think it's important to note that you personally work with families who have lost loved ones, and you have something coming up this weekend, don't you?
RUOCCO: This weekend we have about 100 survivors of suicide, military suicide at our event, and in October we get about 500 survivors of suicide and a good grief camp for children, all who have lost someone in the military to suicide. So, we been together to support one another and also to provide some hints about what happened and maybe what some of the cracks are and try to help the military fill those cracks.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: We have heard from a lot of you already about the subject just since yesterday, so up next my conversation with the military legal expert. Should the military be held accountable?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: As we look ahead to memorial day, we're focusing on the challenges facing our troops after they come home. Some recent comments by an army general calling suicide a, quote, "selfish act" got a lot of us talking. Now, before the break, you heard from a woman who lost her husband, a marine, to suicide. Now, my conversation with Randy Kravis, he is an attorney who began his legal career in the Navy jag core and I asked him if there's a legal basis for holding the military accountable for suicides in the ranks.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RANDY KRAVIS CRIMINAL DEFENSE APPELLATE ATTORNEY: I think there's a two-part answer. I think there is a legal aspect and moral aspect. Legally I think it would be very, very difficult for a family of a service member who commits suicide to actually sue the military, and the reason is there's this thing called the Ferris doctrine, based on a case called Ferris in the United States that came out in the 1950s. And it basically says that when a service member is injured as part of his service, he cannot sue the military. The military has the immunity.
Well, last year, a case came out where the family of a service member who committed suicide, tried to sue the military, the court said, no way.
CHO: But, you say they have a moral obligation.
KRAVIS: Well, that's the other side of it, and that's a trickier question. As a former jag officer I can tell you that when you -- when you join the military, you know that there is the possibility that there are going to be sort of stressors, certain dangers that you're going to face that most people in the civilian world aren't going to face.
So, as sad as it is for me to say, I think to the extent a suicide is a result of the normal stressors of military life or even the hors of battle -- of the battlefield. I don't know if we can hold the military accountable for that.
CHO: All right. We were talking about this before we went on the air tonight, but I think part of the problem, too, and don't you agree, is that not enough is being done to help assimilate these veterans back into society, so they are coming home. This is a bad economy, they can't find a job. They are having trouble living with their wives and their children again, and they are getting really depressed.
I mean, isn't that part of the problem is there aren't enough programs in place to help them feel a part of society?
KRAVIS: I absolutely agree with you. I think you are absolutely right. That is part of the problem, and that goes back to the moral issue, the question of whether the military is morally responsible for the well-being of our service members.
I think they are. To the extent that the military can do something to help these service members, and they don't, then they are morally responsible when a suicide occurs.
CHO: Well, when you are looking at suicides going up, not down, this is a real problem that the military needs to address.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Now the big stories in the week ahead from the White House to wall street. Our correspondents are going to tell you what you need to know in the coming week, and we begin tonight with the president's plans.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dan Lothian at the White House.
President Obama and the first lady will mark memorial day and the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam war by attending a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. They will also meet with gold star families.
On Tuesday Mr. Obama will award the presidential medal of freedom. Former astronaut John Glenn and former secretary of state Madeleine Albright are among the recipients.
Then on Thursday former president George W. Bush and his wife will be here at the White House for the official unveiling of their portraits.
And finally on Friday president Obama hits the road, traveling to Minnesota and Illinois for events on the economy and the campaign.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: I'm Paul Steinhauser at the CNN political desk.
Mitt Romney teams up with Donald trump Tuesday at Trump's Las Vegas hotel for a fund-raiser for Romney. Now, Trump flirted with his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination last year.
Also Tuesday, Texas holds its primary, and Romney is expected to easily win, and he could capture enough delegates to officially clinch the Republican presidential nomination.
POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM CORRESPONDENT: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York.
Well, the market is close on Monday for memorial day, but wall street is gearing up for the all important jobs report coming on Friday morning.
Before that though, we will get come key economic news including the latest case-shiller report on home prices in major cities across the country and a look at consumer confidence and construction spending.
We'll also get a revised reading of first-quarter GDP. That is the broadest measure of how much the U.S. economy is growing. We'll track that and all of the business news of the week for you on CNN money.
A.J. HAMMER, HLN HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's" A.J. Hammer. Here is what we are watching this week.
Showbiz is on location at the fifth season premiere of one of my favorite shows, "True Blood" and I go one-on-one with the always provocative Margaret Cho.
Get ready for a freaky hilarious "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" interview you do not want to miss, at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and pacific on HLN.
CHO: We move now to Syria. The recent attack in Houla result in the death of more than 100 civilians, nearly half of them children.
We have to warn you that we're about to show you some images of those children. The images are disturbing and not appropriate for all viewers. But we believe that given the nature of the attack and the number of civilians, including these children, showing some of these images is appropriate and necessary in fact to convey the extent of this crime against humanity. This is the first time we're able to bring you these images, and CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMJOOM (voice-over): In Houla more burials, more than 100 dead, so many, so many in one day, and such grief and such rage. Forty nine of the victims that posed no threat to anybody, least of all the regime in Damascus, they were children, not yet 10 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): My God, I washed the dead bodies of nine children. One was less than 9-months-old. Why are they treating us like animals? We are humans. Did the infant carry an RPG? Was he a fighter? He was a baby. He had a pacifier in his mouth. What was his guilt? Why was he killed?
JAMJOOM: Opposition activists accuse the Syrian militia and its thuggish militia of carrying out this massacre. The Syrian government blamed terrorists for the killings and called the allegation against them, a tsunami of lies.
JIHAD MAKDISSI, SYRIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN: We absolutely deny that the government armed forces had any responsibility in committing such massacre and we strongly condemn the terrorist massacre.
JAMJOOM: The United Kingdom's foreign minister said the world have heard that line from the Syria and it backers before.
WILLIAM HAGUE, BRITISH FOREIGN MINISTER: It is a familiar tactics of the Assad regime to blame others in the country to try to get out of responsibility for the scale of death and destruction.
JAMJOOM: In Houla, more amateur video attesting to that death and destruction. Here the bodies of more than a score of women and children stuffed into a small room, and these pictures are the ones we warned you about. Pictures agonizing to watch. Children's bodies mangled and bloodied, some with skulls torn open.
U.N. observers arriving on Saturday to begin their investigation found a mass grave. With no power to stop the violence, they issued yet another call for calm and reason.
MARTIN GRIFFIN, DEPUTY HEAD, U.N. MISSION, SYRIA: The first thing to do is to stop the fighting, stop the violence, so that we can then get on to helping the wounded and, of course, the bodies of those people who lost their lives.
JAMJOOM: The United Nations security council rushed into a special but brief meeting. The deputy ambassador from Russia, which can veto any security council resolution, dashed any hope for quick action.
ALEXANDER PANKIN, RUSSIAN ENVOY TO U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL: It is difficult to imagine that the Syrian government would not only shell and mortar but also use point blank execution against 40-plus women, 30-plus children under age 10.
JAMJOOM: And as outrage continues to mount around the world, the finger-pointing goes on in a massacre hard to comprehend for its brutality. The young continue to pay a price for a cease-fire written on paper only.
Mohammed Jamjoom, CNN, Beirut.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: The latest on tropical storm beryl is next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: A relaxing holiday weekend and dangerous rip currents?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is incredibly dangerous right now.
CHO: Sun-seekers ordered to leave, and it's only going to get worse.
Damaging winds and rising floodwaters are next.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: And a reset and have a look now at the day's headlines.
Investigators are looking into reports that a NATO attack killed eight civilians, including six children in Afghanistan. Reports from the eastern province say last night's attack wiped out an entire family. NATO officials say insurgents in the area attacked security troops and that those troops asked for air support.
We have new information now in the Etan Patz case, the little boy who disappeared 33 years ago from a New York street corner. The pastor at the church attended by suspect Pedro Hernandez tells CNN that Hernandez is quiet, shy, quote, "socially awkward." The pastor also described Hernandez's wife as, quote, "shell shocked," and he says members of the congregation are now looking at ways to help the family.
Before you go to bed tonight and when you wake up tomorrow, will you feel the effects of tropical storm Beryl. That's if you live along the Georgia and Florida coast.
Heavy rains are expected, and that means flooding could be a problem, especially inland. Tonight, palm trees are struggling against the surging winds here at Ponte Vedra Beach, in Florida.
Meanwhile, beaches all along the southeast coast are posting warnings about the dangers of rip currents. For the past 24 hours or so, lifeguards and EMTs have been working overtime to rescue all of those people who ignored the warnings.
Our Jacqui Jeras is here with me to have a look at this.
Part of the problem, Jacqui, first of all, landfall is expected around midnight, but part of the problem is this is a really slow moving storm, isn't it?
JERAS: It is. So many people traveling through Florida tomorrow, you know. You know, you have got the i-95 corridor, you've got the 75 corridor, and all of those areas could see some heavy rain and flooding, so people really need to bear that in mind.
Now, the worst of the conditions in terms of the strong winds we think is coming into play right now, between now and midnight, we think will be the worse. So, that's when tree limbs are going to come out, power outages occur. We already had reports of 23,000 people in Jacksonville now without power.
We have an unofficial wind gust report of 87 miles per hour on top of the Matthews bridge. That's unofficial, but we've seen 50 and 60-mile-per-hour gusts in that area now.
Now, this is the radar picture. This shows you the storm and how large it is. We have seen rain bands from southern Georgia stretching al through southern parts of Florida. The center of circulation, it's very broad so it's kind of difficult to find even as you take a look at the velocity motor, the winds and Doppler radar to be able to identify it. So, we can you say we are in the process of landfall, and some of the worst conditions are now inland, even west of the Jacksonville. And that's where we're seeing the heavy thunderstorms and the heavy downpours as well.
So, you can see that this is the back side of the storm, and we will see a couple of hours with those conditions continuing to go downhill.
This is the satellite picture. This is where we have our statistics to talk about intensity. The maximum winds that have been found sustained, 70 miles per hour, so that is just shy of hurricane status, and we don't want you to focus on whether or not this is a tropical storm or hurricane because there is very little difference between the two when we're talking about, you know, four miles per hour. Now, these are some of the wind reports that we have seen so far, from 63 miles per hour there to Kings Bay Naval Base around 60, Jacksonville beach officially at 56 miles per hour. But we can see a few of those nudging up towards hurricane strength, and that is going to continue to be the concern.
Now, storm makes landfall in the next couple of hours here at the latest, and then it's going to start to take that right-hand turn. We do think it's going to be weakening throughout the day tomorrow. That is the good news, but the bad news is that this slow turn means it's just going to sit here and rain throughout much of the day for tomorrow.
Then it's going to make a right-hand turn and move and kind of scrape along the coasts of the Carolinas before it moves back over open water which we think will probably happen sometime on Wednesday. So this kind of a scrape and with the winds coming at you for this long we could be seeing some beach erosion, too, as the waves continue to be rough and push along the coast, so you still can't get in the water for a good couple of days yet.
This is a rainfall forecast. One computer model predicting pretty widespread amounts here between four and eight inches, and so when we're talking about an area of the country that's been drought ridden, this is a lot of rain in a short period of time, so this will be quite a bit of runoff.
There you can see the i-10 corridor. We are talking about 75 and 95, so you can see all that have within this area, so travelers really need to be careful and not cross any roads that have water over them, Alina. You know, you never know how deep it is.
CHO: That's right.
JERAS: Or what the condition of the road might be underneath. There have been some roads and which have closed down. Of course, the beaches, you can walk on the beaches but you don't want to get in the water anyway, so tomorrow is a day to just kind a stay put and wait until this gets out of here before you travel.
CHO: Yes. if you can or be very, very careful if you're heading home and you are on the road.
All right, Jacqui Jeras. We will be checking back with you on last time before the end of the hour. Thank you so much.
Well, a different kind of controversy for pop star lady Gaga after criticisms from conservative Muslims, she pulls out of sold-out shows in Indonesia worried about safety.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Well, football season is months away but Robert Griffin III already has fans talking. He is the highly regarded quarterback taking by the Washington Redskins in the NFL draft. Former pro running back Jamal Anderson recently spoke with Griffin, and he told me about their conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMAL ANDERSON, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Robert Griffin III talked to me about a number of different things. He also talked to me about his politics, his expectations to being a Washington Redskins quarterback.
We talked about the Redskins lack of success in the playoffs. You're going to see a clip of him right here talking about what it was like in his mindset going into Washington, D.C. and who he supports politically.
ROBERT GRIFFIN III, WASHINGTON REDSKINS QUARTERBACK: Whenever I step on the field, I know I'm not going to get caught off guard and if I do it's not going to happen twice. So, you trust your preparation. Know that all the hard work that you put in to get to where you want to go doesn't have to be in sports but in anything. Know that all the hard work you put into that can help you be successful as long as you truly believe that you did everything you possibly could. I just like to stay out of that.
ANDERSON: Right.
GRIFFIN: And let the politicians and everyone that wants to talk about politics do that.
ANDERSON: Romney or on Obama, got to ask you. This is CNN, got to ask you.
GRIFFIN: I mean, Obama is the president right now, and I am the quarterback of the Washington Redskins, so I've got to go with Obama. We are in the same city. We got this.
(LAUGHTER)
CHO: And there you have it.
ANDERSON: You know, he is such a fantastic talent.
CHO: Seems like a real nice guy.
ANDERSON: He is a very, very impressive guy. I'm very, very impressed with the Redskins. Watched him a number of times. I had the opportunity to watch him live.
CHO: How old is he, young?
ANDERSON: He's young. He is only 21-years-old. So, here is the guy who is going to be the future of the Redskins, so polished. He was a world class athlete in track as well so high expectations for Robert Griffin and the Redskins. But, I can't say enough of how impressed I am with him and also Andrew Luck. But all these interviews are going to roll out come football season. So, I'm excited about it.
CHO: Good. Good. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Well, Griffin has a degree in political science and he told Jamal that he wants to get his law degree. So, don't rule out a political career just yet.
Full disclosure, this next segment is a quite simply as guilty pleasure. Beyonce kicks it off. She is back on stage for the first time after giving birth to her baby Blue Ivy. It is so hot even the Obama ladies were in attendance. There you see her on the red carpet looking great.
Michelle, Malia and Sasha rocked out at the concert. There are four shows in all. Last night was second of the four.
And also, if you are wondering how Beyonce lost all of that baby weight. She always looks great. She lost 60 pounds, you know. Lettuce, is what she says, lettuce. That's right. Just some greens and a lot of time on the treadmill.
And Lady Gaga cancelling a sold-out show in Jakarta, Indonesia for security reasons. conservative Malcolm say her costumes and dance moves are just too risky. Someone who tweet the fans, she said, she was quote, "just as devastated as you are."
Safe to say most of us feel as though we spend way too much time at work. I know I do occasionally.
Well, this guy literally lived at work. He showered there, ate there and slept there, too. Wait until you hear what happened when his bosses found out.
And we want all of you to stay connected to CNN even on the go, so a reminder, grab your mobile phone. Go to CNN.com/TV or get on your desktop or your laptop. You can also watch CNN live.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: All right. We've all heard about the workers who let their jobs take over their lives. And then there's a young man who spent a couple of months living at his workplace, literally. Well, now all that have dedication is finally paying off.
Linda Yee of San Francisco affiliate KPIX has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LINDA YEE, REPORTER, KPIX (voice-over): Eric Simons literally lives and breathes his job.
ERIC SIMONS, FOUNDER, CLASSCONNECT: Wow, that kid works really hard, and, I mean, because I was.
YEE: That's because he spent long, very long hours, at his computer every night. He was squatting at AOL's headquarters when he ran out of rent money. SIMONS: It was like one day I was like walking out and there's this couch and I'm like, that's interesting. Like I could totally sleep on that couch.
YEE: Simons was hired by Silicon Valley investors to work in a new incubator, a group that focusing on new ideas. They work out of rented space in AOL's Palo alto headquarters. But when the program ended, Simons wanted to keep going to perfect his idea that would help teachers revolutionize education. It wasn't hard to just move right on in to AOL.
One of your bedrooms.
SIMONS: Yes. And then in the morning, I would come there and before I would work in the day, come there and work out and take a shower so I was always like -- the only thing I wasn't doing was just sleeping there.
YEE: He stored his stuff in two lockers outside the company gym, and he helped himself to AOL's food.
SIMONS: They would put out the food and that included like a cup of noodles, like the ramen stuff, trail mix, Doritos, snacks like that.
YEE: For nearly two months, he kept up this ruse working in the incubator offices in the first floor and sneaking up to the third floor where he would get a few hours of shut eye. It's where the security guards never patrolled.
No one caught on, but there were whispers. One night the building manager found him, and it was over. But Simons says he did what he had to do to build his company now called classconnect.
SIMONS: I -- I couldn't imagine going home and -- and basically closing up shop and saying, OK, I'm done.
YEE: He didn't go home and now venture capitalists are investing. Simons is living in a rented house and there has been no backlash from AOL. And he says if he had to he'd do it all over again.
SIMONS: I'm 20, like I don't really have - I have nothing to lose. I got no money and a place to stay, it is like, OK.
YEE: In Palo alto, Linda Yee, CBS 5.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: A town in Missouri is being visited, looking up for weeks now. They have been seeing this. See that purple dot there? What is it? That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: All right. It's time for Sunday night mysteries. Jacqui Jeras is back, so they are seeing UFOs in Missouri, come on.
JERAS: Well, can you judge for yourself. Take a look at video. It's pretty impressive. This has actually been going on for a couple of weeks, believe it or not. This is in blue springs, Missouri. And first, go round they actually brought out experts to take a look at this, UFO experts.
At first they thought it was just a star, the brightest star in the constellation of lira, and then there was another sighting and started flashing all these different colors that you see there.
CHO: You live in the skies all the time. What do you think it is?
JERAS: I don't see that. Do you see that?
CHO: Not something you see every day.
JERAS: Yes. And so, there are a lot of people who have seen this. Nobody seems to have a good explanation for what it is, so it might be one of those mysteries that we never saw.
CHO: Maybe.
JERAS: Interesting.
CHO: All right, Jacqui Jeras, thanks so much.
I'm Alina Cho at the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Have a good night and a great week. I will see you back in New York. And Don will be back next weekend.
