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Seismic Activity on the New Madrid Fault; Mexican Troops Take Over Border City; Wimbledon Heats Up

Aired June 22, 2005 - 14:31   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Our top stories.
The Pentagon reports the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado failed to accommodate religious diversity. Military investigators found no overt discrimination, but they say a perception of religious intolerance persists at the school. Complaints said evangelical Christians wielding too much influence at the school prompted the investigation.

The West Nile virus is back. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says this year's first case of human illness was reported in Kansas. Infected mosquitoes spread the disease. 14 states have already reported West Nile infections in birds, mosquitoes or horses this year.

A luxury store in Paris apologizes to Oprah Winfrey. The daytime talk show host arrived at Hermes about 15 minutes after the store closed for a private P.R. event. A clerk and store manager reportedly rebuffed Winfrey. She went to the store to buy a watch for her friend Tina Turner, who was going to be her dinner partner that night. Hermes regrets not only being able to accommodate the star, but apparently they extended an invitation for her to come at another time.

And now CNN.com is offering a whole new way to get the headlines. Just log onto our Web site and click on "watch" to check out the most popular stories, everything from politics and sports to entertainment. And best thing, it's free, on CNN.com.

Now, a check on the seismic zone that has triggered the most violent earthquakes North America has known. No, it's not in California. It's the New Madrid fault, which is centered in the town of New Madrid in Missouri and runs north/south along the Mississippi Valley. It has spawned four earthquakes this year alone.

Our John Zarrella has been checking out some of the underground activity and joins us from Miami. And this certainly comes as a surprise to a lot of people -- John.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know, Fredricka. I was going to say, you know, when you and I and everyone else think about earthquakes and the big one, we tend to think of California, maybe a little lesser extent, to Alaska. But the reality is the two of the largest earthquakes, the two largest earthquakes recorded in the contiguous 48 states, took place in 1811 and 1812 in New Madrid, Missouri. And what's interesting about that is, of course, we don't think of that. But that area encompasses five states. It encompasses southern Illinois, Arkansas -- not only southern Illinois and Arkansas, but Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Now, there's been a raging debate about the New Madrid fault. About five years ago, six years ago, 1999, a study came out. And that study indicated, well, maybe the risk is not that great, not as great as everyone had thought for a major earthquake. Well, now a new study based on satellite imagery, geostationary satellite imagery, new technology, has come out and said that, in fact, this study -- that there is a risk, a risk of another great quake somewhere in the next 500 years. And even more specifically, risks of class six earthquakes, magnitude six and greater earthquakes. There is a big potential for those.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL ELLIS, EARTHQUAKE RESEARCHER: The probability of a reoccurrence of 1811, 1812 type event is about 7 to 10 percent in the next 50 years. But more significantly than that, the probability of a magnitude six or greater in the next 50 years is between about 25 and 40 percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZARRELLA: Now, the study was done by the Center for Earthquake Research and Information, which is attached to the University of Memphis. And of course, all this raises the issue of safety. Of course, places like Memphis, Tennessee, construction issues, building code issues, reinforcing of existing structures like bridges, like hospitals. And all of that, of course, costs money.

But the bottom line is that this new study, based on some of the latest scientific technology out there, says that, in fact, there, is a risk and a significant risk of strong earthquakes in that New Madrid zone. And that contradicts earlier studies that had come out that said, well, maybe the risk really isn't there. So looks like we're back to where we started from about five, six years ago, as far as New Madrid goes.

But the bottom line, the scientists say, don't get all worked up about it. Because the fact is, no matter where you live in the United States, you get hit with a earthquake, there's not a heck of a lot we can do about it.

WHITFIELD: No.

ZARRELLA: We certainly can't prevent it -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Don't get worked up about, but it sure is interesting to nice to know about all these great details and facts, which, John, we can hear a little bit more about -- in fact, a lot more, tonight on "ANDERSON'S COOPER'S 360," where you'll be bringing us a complete report on New Madrid, on that fault line. And that's at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time. We'll be looking for that. Thanks, John. ZARRELLA: Thanks, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, after dozens of killings, the mayor of Nuevo Laredo decided drastic action was needed. So the small Mexican town is firing 150 police officers in hopes to have a new police chief this week. It's just across the Rio Grande from Laredo, Texas. The last police chief lasted only eight hours in his new job before he was killed. Now, officials on the Texas side of the border fear the bad guys may cross the river to their town.

Here's CNN's Bill Tucker.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Lawlessness, violence, Nuevo Laredo is a city out of control. More than 70 people have been killed in the city so far this year. The latest murder, a man killed in a hail of bullets outside a hotel.

Despite being under the control of Mexico's federales, the violence conditions, and only a river separates the dos Laredos, Laredo and Nuevo Laredo.

SHERIFF RICK FLORES, WEBB COUNTY, TEXAS: I've never seen anything like this before. It reminds me of watching television, you know, where there's rocket-propelled grenades, bazookas, automatic weapons and gunfire, right in the middle of broad daylight, with 50 calibers mounted on Suburbans. You know, I've never seen any of that. I thought it was only in the movies.

TUCKER: So far the violence of Nuevo Laredo has not spread to Laredo, but fear of the violence is scaring the tourists away.

DANIEL PEREIDA, RIO GRANDA PLAZA HOTEL: We have seen some cancellations. The entire city has seen cancellations.

TUCKER: The ties between the two Laredos are deep: cultural, personal and economic. Eight thousand trucks come across the border into the U.S. daily, loaded with goods made in Mexico. Tens of thousands of people cross over from Mexico every day to work, shop, or go to school.

The Laredo police are diligent in their efforts of preventing the spread of violence north, assigning officers to work with customs and border patrol, immigration and customs enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Agency. The strategy is working, but resources are strained.

AGUSTIN DOVALINA, LAREDO POLICE CHIEF: There's been an enormous amount of violence. There's been an increase, a very marked increase in the homicide rate, and the crimes of violence that occurring across the border, obviously. And it causes us grave concern over on this side.

TUCKER (on camera): It all comes down to this river. The Rio Grande is the only thing that divides the two Laredos. And if people can cross it illegally to come into the United States, there is no reason to believe that violence won't, as well.

Bill Tucker, CNN, Laredo, Texas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Action all over the All England Club outside London today. It's the third day of Wimbledon. We'll go inside today's action with Murphy Jensen. He's not playing until next week, so he's reporting for us today, next on LIVE FROM.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Sibila Vargas in Hollywood. Tomcat prances on the Brit's (INAUDIBLE) for the final European premiere of "War of the Worlds." And we're krumping at the opening of a new documentary, "Rise." I'll have all that and more when CNN'S LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: If anything, the music will get you started and jolted. For the past few days, we've been telling you about the new feature of free video clips on CNN.com. Now we want to show the ones drawing the most visits, and joining us with more on that is CNN.com's Veronica De La Cruz.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: Hello.

WHITFIELD: Hi. All right, what's on tap? Seems like a lot of exciting stuff that people can choose from.

DE LA CRUZ: A lot, and it is finally all free.

WHITFIELD: Love that.

DE LA CRUZ: Exactly. Well, Fredricka, you can where browse and you can search 14 different categories. One of my favorites is "Most Popular" which shows you the video clips receiving the most clicks. Now, you log onto CNN.com, look for the green watchbox and click on "Browse and Search," and then you're going to go to the menu and select the category that you want to watch.

Now, once you're there, you're going to click on a tab called "Most Popular." For example, if you're interest in political news, Fredricka, you want to click on "Politics," and you're going to find this. Right now, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger may not be popular with Californians, right now, but the story about his falling approval rating is popular with our CNN.com users.

WHITFIELD: Interesting.

DE LA CRUZ: Now, if entertainment news is what you're looking for, Fredricka, check out the entertainment section for the most popular video in that category, and it seems the top movie quotes of all time are piquing people's interest, and I think we just saw Robert DeNiro in -- what was that? "Taxi Driver"? What did he say there?

WHITFIELD: You looking at me? DE LA CRUZ: You looking at me? Exactly, and that's what people are interested in, and don't forget -- you can sort and search the most popular stories at CNN.com. It's all free, finally.

WHITFIELD: Love the free part. I can hear the clicks right now.

DE LA CRUZ: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Folks are all over it. All right, thanks a lot, Veronica.

DE LA CRUZ: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: And, we'll be right back with more of LIVE FROM right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Day three at Wimbledon, and among the women, top seed Lindsay Davenport has advanced. Among the men, defending champion Roger Federer had an easy time beating Czech Ivo Minar today.

For a closer look at this year's big stars, let's bring in Murphy Jensen -- hello, Murphy -- one-half of the famous Jensen brothers. Good to see you.

MURPHY JENSEN, PRO TENNIS PLAYER: We had a great day today. Lindsay Davenport -- I just spent some time with her, Fredricka, and she says hello and congratulations.

WHITFIELD: Well, thanks so much, Lindsay, how thoughtful. I appreciate that -- and congrats to her for advancing.

JENSEN: Yes, she's rolling. She's really playing the ball well. After losing early in the French, she's had a lot of time to prepare. This surface here on grass really suits her game -- and the biggest news, Justine Henin-Hardenne going down yesterday to Eleni Daniilidou. A big shock, but her hero was Pete Sampras, so no shock to me.

WHITFIELD: Well -- wow, that's pretty amazing for Henin- Hardenne, I mean, given that she's -- what, two-time French Open champ. And what happened? Just a tough transition to go from the French Open, then just two weeks later, Wimbledon, completely different surfaces? Why is that such a big challenge?

JENSEN: Well, it's big challenge because the French Open has a high bouncing surface. When the ball hits the surface, it comes very high up. She comes straight to here with no practice, and here on the grass, the ball skids very low. You've got to practice on the grass to win on the grass.

WHITFIELD: I think it was Andy Roddick who actually said, you know, this is really where a tennis player finds out if they are a complete player, to make that transition from clay to grass. How's he doing, by the way?

JENSEN: There's no more man than Andy Roddick. I saw him down in Wimbledon Village. He's serving 150 miles an hour.

WHITFIELD: Unbelievable!

JENSEN: He's loving the grass and he wants to square off with Roger Federer, and I can't see why it's not going to happen again.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, what about Rafael Nadal? He's coming from a great French Open win, and he really is kind of the new little heartthrob. Might he be a serious contender?

JENSEN: If he doesn't tear his pants on the court. I mean, everyone -- all the girls are coming up to center court, yes. All -- there -- you'll see like 75 per -- he is basically the Kournikova of men's tennis. This guy is out there with his muscles and his beautiful hair. I mean, I want his leftovers.

WHITFIELD: His pants are a little snug -- a little long and a little snug.

JENSEN: Seriously, though, I thought Vince Spadea was going to challenge him but he's riding with so much confidence -- he is our -- today's Bjorn Borg, but he's got those big, heavy, western grips, crazy grips, but he's wily. He's a matador. He's a bullfighter from Spain. He's awesome.

WHITFIELD: And someone else who's getting attention out there, not just on the court, but everywhere you're seeing Maria Sharapova so much more, and this time, you're seeing a little flare in her outfit. We know Wimbledon is a little conservative -- folks can only do but so much -- but she's found an interesting way to kind of get some extra attention, and it's shiny and gold, right?

JENSEN: Well, she's going gold. She has a pair of 18-karat gold shoes. That was the first thing she showed me when we hung out the other day. We went on a little horse -- I was riding horses through the Wimbledon Village, but she goes -- yes -- she says, you've got to see these shoes. And I said, yes, they're nice. She says, no, they're powdered gold and they're amazing. I'm thinking, why -- I'm thinking to myself, why didn't I win Wimbledon? I was so close.

WHITFIELD: Well, your chance is coming, you and your brother, Luke, and, you know, hopefully, you know, you'll get a little doubles' champ.

JENSEN: We're in the dinosaur division next week, so any of your old-timer tennis players want to come on over to see some overweight, balding, you know, gray-haired tennis players, you come see me lose in the first round.

You know, I'm more impressed with Sharapova because she's back and doing what most sex symbols in the game of tennis don't do, and that's focus. She doesn't want to be a movie star. She wants to make the big bucks and she wants to do it through winning.

WHITFIELD: And we'll see if she's a repeat champ. All right, Murphy Jensen. Thanks so much. JENSEN: It's...

WHITFIELD:: Sorry.

JENSEN: Yes, Fredricka!

WHITFIELD: I don't mean to cut you off, there, but thanks so much. Good to see you and hey, good luck to you and your brother, Luke.

JENSEN: Yes, you too, hon.

WHITFIELD: He is so cute. All right, thanks a lot, Murphy.

JENSEN: Tally ho!

WHITFIELD: Tally ho!

JENSEN: Tally ho.

WHITFIELD: Ta ta.

All right. Well, they're here. They're there. They're everywhere. Entertainment correspondent Sibilia Vargas is live in Hollywood with the latest on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes sightings. All over the map, aren't they?

VARGAS: Tally ho!

Everywhere it's beginning to feel a lot like, where in the world is Waldo? Only this time it's Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The latest Tom-Kat sighting was is Madrid, Spain. It's the final stop for the European premiere of "War of Worlds." Cruise and his real-life leading-lady were the toast of the paparazzi as they cuddled and posed for pictures. Oh, aren't they so cute? Cruise answered questions and this time around, I'm happy to report, he was not (INAUDIBLE). "War of the Worlds" opens in theaters across the U.S. next week.

And, a former "American Idol" contestant had an opening of his own. Corey Clark is celebrating the debut of his self-titled CD. Clark serenaded his fans with the single "Out of Control." You may remember Clark as the ousted "American Idol" that was in the center of the involving Paula Abdul. The singer cleared the air about the song he wrote, called "Politics."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COREY CLARK, FMR. "AMERICAN IDOL CONTESTANT: It's not, you know, necessarily about Paul. I mean, the song is called "Politics." It is about an older woman that kind of takes advantage of a younger guy and ends up dissing him at the end of the relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VARGAS: I guess we'll have to read between the lines. And finally, you may want to put on your dancing shoes for this one, Fredricka. A dance craze that started in the hood goes mainstream in the new movie "Rise," which held its premiere in Los Angeles last night.

Some of the dancers -- the movie's dancers posed for their close- ups as they made their way down the red carpet. Now, the documentary from David LaChapelle focuses on high energy moves called krumping that started on the streets of South Central L.A.

Krumping has become so popular, there are even competitions held that are attended by thousands of people. Some dancers say it actually helps keep them out of trouble. Interesting. Now, if you want to get your groove on, you can catch "Rise" in limited release Friday.

Fredricka, I've got some good moves, but I don't know if I can keep up with that. What about you?

WHITFIELD: Yes. No, I hear, Sibila, you got a little krump in your step.

VARGAS: Yes, a little bit. You, too.

WHITFIELD: All right, good job.

VARGAS: You, too. I know that.

WHITFIELD: Oh, no, I can't krump like that. All right, thanks a lot, Sibila.

VARGAS: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, bumpy times for another American car company. No krump in their step. Job cuts are around the corner. Kathleen Hays has a check on the business headlines from the New York Stock Exchange when LIVE continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Well, from hero to villain? Tough times for California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Why he's slipping in the polls and may not run for re-election.

And while most eyes are focused on Iraq, trouble is brewing in Afghanistan. There are signs of a well-hidden, well armed, well financed insurgency. CNN's Barbara Starr on the front lines with U.S. troops when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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