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Iraq National Assembly Cannot Agree; Hurricane Katrina Batters South Florida; Boxing Big in Colombia; BRAC Closes Bases; Pregnant Girls in Ohio

Aired August 26, 2005 - 14:00   ET

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

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Jacqui Jeras in the CNN Weather Center. Hurricane Katrina is gaining strength and will likely become a major hurricane before it strikes next. We'll have the details coming up.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, LIVEFROM: Also our guest today is a true hero, one of only a handful of soldiers to receive the nation's second highest military honor for service in Iraq. His story of bravery and heart coming up.

MARLON BRANDO, COLOMBIAN BOXER (translator): When I become a professional, I'll build them a house with three floors out of brick and a swimming pool.

PHILLIPS: And speaking of heart, meet a young boxer named Marlon Brando fighting for a life outside the nightmare of poverty. This time, he is a contender.

From the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Kyra Phillips. This hour of CNN LIVEFROM starts right now.

V-E Day in doubt South Dakota, victory for Ellsworth. A cold war cornerstone of the U.S. nuclear deterrent, the air force base was targeted for closure by the Pentagon but the base closing commission has other ideas. And a bomb shell reversal, the panel decided to spare the home of the nation's fleet of b-1 bombers and South Dakota's second largest employer.

We're also getting word the commission has balked at closing Cannon Air Force Base as well. That's in New Mexico. CNN's David Ensor is following the fallout at the Pentagon. Hi David. What do you know?

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra as you say, just minutes ago, the commission decided to give Cannon Air Force Base another chance. It's just barely hanging onto life. They voted to basically put it on what you might call standby or mothballs. It will not be closed. They say until 2009, the end of the year then, and until then, the air force secretary is supposed to be looking for a new mission for it. It's going to lose all its f-16 aircraft in the meantime. So, whether it will survive or not is an open question, but at least it isn't dead yet.

And as you mentioned, the big news of the day, Ellsworth Air Force Base in the Dakotas has been kept alive by an overwhelming vote. The commission decided that that base, which was scheduled by the Pentagon for closure, should be kept open. Now, this is one of the two big bases for b-1 bombers in the United States. It was a question of jobs, a lot of jobs, in an area where no private employers would be moving in. It's too rural. If they closed it, there just would be very high unemployment there.

All of the politicians in the area were obviously celebrating but none more than Senator John Thune, who campaigned last time saying he could do a better job of keeping the base open and was worried that if he hadn't succeeded, he might have been in trouble next time around. Here's Thune.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN THUNE, (R) SOUTH DAKOTA: This would have caused enormous harm to my state. We are absolutely delighted and thrilled to be able to get this base off the list because of what it means to South Dakota. The politics will take care of itself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENSOR: This afternoon as we progress the base commission will be looking at proposals by the Pentagon to strip aircraft from scores of or dozens, I should say, of international guard facilities around the country. Almost all the governors in the country are against it, but it looks like there will be a lot of this going on.

Kyra.

PHILLIPS: David Ensor, we'll continue to follow. Thank you.

ANNOUNCER: CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

PHILLIPS: Deadly storm has moved out of Florida for now but it's likely coming back stronger than ever. Hurricane Katrina was a category 1 storm when it came ashore along Florida's south Atlantic coast last night. That's considered a minimal hurricane but Katrina made a direct hit on metro Miami, dumping as much as 15 inches of rain. Streets became rivers and while some people took advantage of the situation with jet skies and kayaks, there were much more serious consequences.

Sustained winds up to 80 miles an hour attacked power lines and more than a million Florida electric consumers were still without service this morning. Three people were killed by falling trees and a fourth was killed when a car struck a tree that had fallen in his path. Miami area highway over passed that was under construction collapsed. No one was hurt there but the road had to be closed.

Katrina weakened into a tropical storm as it crossed Florida's southern tip but for now, it's over the Gulf of Mexico. Katrina has regained hurricane status and there are fears it could hit the Florida Panhandle with stronger winds by Monday. Meteorolgist Jacqui Jeras has more. Jacqui.

JERAS: Well Kyra we just got the 2:00 update in and it's holding steady right now with winds of 100 miles per hour, so it hasn't strengthened further. But we do expect it to do so. One other little bit of a change it's probably just a wobble, but it's moving more west-southwest, it has been on kind of on a westerly track this morning and it's now kind of dipping a little bit farther down to the south and that's actually bad news. Because what that means it will be hovering around the Keys a little bit longer and it also means it will be over open water a little bit longer because we're expecting it to move on up to the north. If it moves farther on down to the south, it will take longer to get to Florida and the longer it's over open waters, the longer it has time to strengthen and we expect this to become a major hurricane category 3, maybe even category 4.

Right now, Category 2 -- Category 2 meaning winds of 96 to 110 miles per hour. The center of circulation is about 60 miles away from Key West and the Keys have been getting pounded all day long. Still expecting to see tropical storm-force wind gusts and possibly even sustained winds at times. And the rainfall has been unbelievably heavy. In fact, an additional five to eight inches can be expected across the lower and central Keys before Katrina finally begins to pull away. These are some current wind speeds and this is the sustained wind, not even to mention some of the gusts, which last hour Key West, was 69 miles per hour. Sustained winds 42. That's trop tropical storm force. Sustained winds at this time, take a look at those, well into 30s across up of the Keys.

Want to take a quick look at the forecast track before you let me go here, Kyra, we do have those flood watches in effect for southern Florida. There you can see where the worst of the heavy rain was into Miami-Dade County and there you can see the forecast track it is going to expect to take a turn up to the north and to the east likely hitting Florida again but there's still some uncertainty exactly where this is going to hit. If you live anywhere from New Orleans on eastward, you have to pay close attention to Katrina through out the weekend.

It looks like Monday will be landfall.

PHILLIPS: All right Jacqui. Just for the record, I will never let you go, especially during a time period like this. Thanks Jacqui.

JERAS: I was getting --

PHILLIPS: I know. I got it. We've got it all. Thanks so much.

Well Florida Governor Jeb Bush is seeking federal disaster assistance for the Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach areas. CNN's meteorologist Rob Marciano is getting a first-hand look at the destruction. He joins us live from southwest Dade County outside Miami. What's it like, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Kyra, it's very wet. We're south of Miami by about 15 miles, about 40 miles from landfall, where we were last night and this is where the most rain has been. Look at this flooding down the street. This is one of several streets that are like this. Florida's flat, so there's about 2,000 miles of drainage canals. They actually lowered in anticipation of all this rain. But right here, Doppler radar estimates 15 to 18 inches of rainfall last night. That doesn't include the rain bands that have been coming through this morning. So easily a foot and a half in these spots and I don't care what kind of system you have, it's just not going to allow it to drain.

Some of the other neighborhoods around here, helicopters out today surveying some of the damage, big-time flooding situation. There was lots of trees down and power out everywhere, over a million people without power so between the flooding on the streets, the trees that are actually blocking the roads and the traffic lights that aren't working, it's pretty much a nightmare for folks in south Florida who really haven't seen a strong storm since Hurricane Andrew back in 1992.

Now, the past two days we've been saying that this storm would be mostly a rainmaker. That obviously it's been. But the one thing that surprised us and also the emergency managers across Broward County last night where the strength of the winds. Hurricane-force winds of category 1 strength, 75, 80, even a gust to 92 miles an hour, doesn't sound like much compared to what we had last year, but the damage that's been -- that we've seen this morning surely indicates that a hurricane is a hurricane no matter what the strength is and folks are suffering down here in south Florida as it continues to strengthen in the Gulf of Mexico. I know Jacqui has been talking about that. Kyra back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right. Rob, I'm just curious, I'm looking behind you now, I see the cars coming through that area and of course we've been seeing video of the jet skiers and the people in kayaks. I mean, is it, obviously they can still sort of get through some of these neighborhoods. Is it harder in some places versus others right now? Obviously, these folks have no problem traveling through where you are.

MARCIANO: Well. If that guy gets stuck, he's got one of those customized vans. It is not to bad of a deal. But pretty much high-rise 4 by 4s that's the only in this that's been able to get through here. Regular sedan, coupes, no way of doing that. They would be stalling out. One thing to note, even though we're getting rain bands continuing to come through for the next 12 hours, the waters will recede slowly but surely and I expect in five or six hours, if we're in the same spot it may well be dry pavement right here. So that will be a good situation for folks.

PHILLIPS: Got it. Rob Marciano, thank you so much.

Well Gulf Coast residents may find themselves bracing for yet another hurricane. Most people who live there probably know by now, but we were wondering what do people stock up on before they ride the storm out.

Here are the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The number one selling item at Florida Wal- Mart in advance of a hurricane is -- well, it's beer. Company executive discovered this phenomenon when they started using a new tracking technology last year. Of course, people also need to stock up on the stuff they really need. Bottled water, you are supposed to have a gallon per person per day. Canned goods and manual can openers. Flashlights and old-fashioned non-cordless phones, which work without electricity. And another important item you may not have thought of, waterproof containers for important documents.

Wal-Mart's tracking technology also discovered another surprise that apparently turns up on people's shopping lists, strawberry pop tarts. Not just any pop tarts, mind you, but strawberry pop tarts. They reportedly sell at seven times their normal rate before a hurricane. Still not nearly as popular, though, as good old-fashioned beer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: We've been looking for a few good citizen journalists and some of you have answered our call. This video is from Jennifer Roberts. It shows Hurricane Katrina moving through Miramar, Florida. Miramar is inland about midway between Ft. Lauderdale and Miami. Thanks for that, Jennifer.

And this video from Jose shows Hurricane Katrina passing through Kendall, Florida, Kendall is just west of Coral Gables and Miami. Thanks, Jose.

And if you live in an area impacted by Hurricane Katrina, e-mail us your photos. Send us a video like you saw there. You can do that by logging on to CNN.com/stories. Please include your name, location and phone number and be careful.

Well there are power problems on the other side of the country today as well. Triple-digit temperatures in California could strain a power system that his rolling blackouts yesterday. About half a million customers in southern California were affected. Those blackouts lasted about half an hour and they were scattered across the Los Angeles area. Power officials blame the blackouts on the sweltering heat and problems with transmission line from a power plant in southern Oregon.

The bravest of brave. Two heroes in the "Live from Spotlight" today. If you ever wondered what it's like to get the distinguished service medal, you're about to find out. Our guest talks about his amazing gunfight with insurgents.

And he weighs in at just 68 pounds but Marlon Brando -- yes, that's this little boy's name -- has a fighting spirit you'll never forget. That is next after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: A new development now in this hour actually in the case of Natalie Holloway, that Alabama teenager who disappeared in Aruba on May 30th. Two brothers who once were detained in connection with the case are now back in jail. Satish and Deepak Kalpoe are ready to be questioned by authorities. 18-year-old Joran Van Der Sloot is being held as a suspect in that case, but no charges have been filed. And we just received this statement from the public prosecutor's office talking about Deepak and Satish and the fact that they have been brought in once again into custody.

Based on the same suspicions we're told as before. I'm quoting now the prosecutor's office there suspected of the primary criminal act of together with other people committing premeditated murder, alternately together with other people murdering somebody, more alternately rob a person of her liberty with fatal consequences and even more alternately raping somebody. Now, aside from these suspicions against the two brothers, we are told there are new suspicions, which at this point the prosecutor is not commenting on.

This is the freshest video that we've been able to get to you. The arrest of Sateesh and Deepak Kalpoe again due to new facts and circumstances in this case.

Now moving onto Paris: 17 people including at least six children were killed early today in a huge fire that raced through an overcrowded apartment building. Many of the victims were West African immigrants. Officials don't know what caused that fire at this point.

And ever so slowly victims of deadly flooding in Switzerland are cleaning up and trying to put their lives back together. At least six people were killed in some of the worst flooding in years. City streets are covered in mud and debris right now. And many people are expected to remain in shelters through the weekend.

Now to Colombia, where the sport of boxing is hugely popular along the country's Caribbean coast. Generations of poor kids in Cartagena and elsewhere dream of becoming professional fighters and punching their way out of poverty. CNN's Karl Penhaul has a story of one young boy who hopes to become a contender.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): His dad named him Marlon Brando to try and set him apart from all the other tall, black kids. As he shadow boxes on Colombia's top tourist beach, he dreams of becoming a pro fighter. He thinks it's his best chance of defeating the unseen opponents he's battled for all of his 13 years. Poverty and racial discrimination.

"I want to become a professional and help my family," he says. Marlon's dad Laser Paris (ph) has worked on Cartagena Beach for 25 years, fetching beer and suntan oil for wealthy tourists, earning maybe $10 on a good day. The best home the family of seven can afford is this wood shack in a slum. Marlon shares a bed with sister Karina; the only private space he has is a shelf where he keeps a few schoolbooks and a ragged bible.

He's a good student but knows there will never be enough money for college, so he's putting his faith in his fists. "When I become a professional, I'll build them a house with three floors out of brick and a swimming pool," he says. Between the reality and that dream lie a one and a half-hour 25-cent bus ride and years of training in this back street gym. It reeks of poverty. The boots are scuffed and the gloves have seen better days. Even the poster of the greatest has lost its shine.

Trainer Anibal Gonzalez doesn't charge young wannabes like young Marlon. He says he has to give them bus fare from his own pocket and a square meal from his own kitchen.

ANIBAL GONZALEZ, BOXING TRAINER (translator): We train kids from poor neighborhoods because they're the kids who are hungry and want a taste of glory. They want to be somebody in life he says.

PENHAUL: Boxing is hugely popular in Colombia's Caribbean coast. Boxy Hall of Famer Colombian Antonio "Kid" Cervantes is an inspiration for black kids here that the dream can come true. He was willed charm peen in the 1970s, defending his junior welterweight title 16 times.

GONZALEZ (translator): "The dream of all kids that come into this sport is to one day become a champion and achieve their goals. It's difficult, but it's not impossible," he says. Marlon weighs in at 68 pounds. He's suffering from parasites and needs multivitamins. For all that, he still packs a hefty punch for his size and he seems to have a fighter's heart.

MARLON BRANDO, COLOMBIAN BOXER (translator): "The first few times, I was a little frightened when the bell rang, but when you get used to it, you lose your fear. You have to be alert and watch the other boxer's hands," he tells me.

PENHAUL: Marlon's had nine amateur fights so far. He lost one and won the next eight by knockout. He knows he has a battle on his hands if he wants to turn pro. But he knows if he fails, his fight to escape poverty may be unwinable.

Karl Penhaul, CNN, Cartagena.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Well American teenagers are ranking pretty high in a pretty embarrassing category of achievements. Teen pregnancies go off the charts at one high school. Which may have the worst marks in the land. We'll talk about it.

And a big gunfight in Mosul leads to a huge honor for the soldier in charge. His story of courage under fire coming up.

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Allan Chernoff at the New York Stock Exchange, coming up two of Detroit's carmakers are teaming up on new hybrid technology. We'll have the story next on LIVEFROM. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Faced with thousands of Vioxx lawsuits, Merck now says it may consider settling some cases. Allan Chernoff live from the New York Stock Exchange. Allan. CHERNOFF: Hi Kyra. Well, of course, you remember Merck got battered in Texas during the first Vioxx trial. Now it's saying it will consider settlements in a small number of Vioxx cases. Those involving people who took Vioxx for a good long time. You'll recall that Merck pulled the drug last year because of evidence that it could cause heart attacks or strokes.

Let's have a look now at the markets. Stocks are in the red column. Solidly so. They have been so the entire day. The Dow Joes Industrial average now lower about 37 points and the Nasdaq composite is off by about one-third of 1 percent. Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. GM and Chrysler teaming up. What are they working on?

CHERNOFF: Well with those gas prices so high, they are planning to jointly develop some new fuel-saving hybrid engines. The Japanese rivals, of course, Toyota and Honda, dominate the market. Toyota's Prius is now the most popular hybrid. Now GM trying to get into the business. Detroit so far, as you know, is simply failed to satisfy the thirst for those hybrids. The Chevy Tahoe and GMC Ucon will be the first GM vehicles powered by the hybrid technology. Chrysler planning to release a version of the Dodge Durango.

That is the latest from Wall Street. More LIVEFROM after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's looking grim for Iraq's draft constitution. One day after reaching a breaking point and after intervention by President Bush, Shiite negotiators say they've offered their final compromise to Sunni Arabs in a bid to overcome the impasse over the accord. CNN's Aneesh Raman following the crucial developments in Baghdad. He joins us live. Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra good afternoon. We're waiting any minute now to hear from the speaker of Iraq's National Assembly, Hachim al-Hassani, and there is no sign of any deal. We expect him to say one of two things, either that this process will be extended forward as they try to find compromise or that talks of essentially ended and the draft document as is will be put forward to the Iraqi people in a refererendum.

Now, all sides have been in marathon talks to try and find wording that everyone can agree upon -- the reason being that the only deadline that remains now is a national referendum to take place by October 15th. So they will keep talking as long as they can, hoping that no one will reject this constitution. No group, either the Sunnis, the Shia or the Kurds, because if that happens, that is the furthest delay. Everything starts all over again. A new national assembly is voted in, a new draft constitution is written, and a new referendum would take place next year. So that is what everyone is trying avoid under intense pressure.

As you mentioned, the U.S. president calling on Wednesday Abdul Aziz Hakim, the head of SCIRI, a religious Shia party that also makes up the biggest political party in this government, urging Hakim to stay at the negotiating table until they can find a deal with the Sunnis. So, again, minutes away, we hope from hearing from the speaker of the national assembly and finding out exactly where things stand tonight -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Let us know as soon you hear something. Aneesh Raman, thank you so much.

Well, many, if not most of the stories from Iraq are about political setbacks and death and destruction in the fight against the insurgents. That's not the case in this remarkable story about one American soldier who just received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation's second highest military award after the Medal of Honor.

Colonel James H. Coffman, Jr., received the DSC for what the Army says was exceptional courage and truly inspirational leadership in a fierce five-hour battle in Mosul last year. Most of us, I certainly do, would regard Colonel Coffman as a true American hero. Ask him and he'll tell you he's just an ordinary soldier doing his job.

I spoke with Colonel Coffman about that day in Mosul when he looked death in the eye and refused to give up.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Take me back to Mosul in 2004. You were responding to a situation and you saw the insurgents coming towards you. Take it from there, sir.

COL. JAMES H. COFFMAN, JR., U.S. ARMY: Well, the -- at that time, you know, they did rush us several times, but we had already had RPG fire. The vehicles were burning. There was an awful lot of smoke. You know, it's one thing to read in these books that they write about the fog of battle, the confusion. But I experienced it in three dimensions. And people often talk about that tunnel vision that gets when you start focusing, which I was very much aware of when I saw the individuals rushing at us. And you have to breathe and try to overcome that, so that you maintain your sense of awareness out there.

Had a lot of casualties. Had very little ammunition. And, you know, in the soldiers' creed, they talk about, I will never accept defeat. I will never quit. And although those weren't the exact words that I was thinking about the time, that's what I was doing. I was going to win no matter what it took.

PHILLIPS: And that's what I want to talk to you about, is this mentality. You had four rounds left. You knew you had an issue with ammo. You had 100-plus enemy coming towards you. You knew you were not going to let your men die and you knew you weren't going to die. How do you get yourself in that mindset and where do you take it from there, from a strategic standpoint? How do you -- how did you take on so many enemies at that moment?

COFFMAN: Well, I'd like to correct the record on that one. There was not 100 coming at me. There was -- there were some coming at me. There was probably about 100 that we had faced and they were in different positions. But directly coming at me was a smaller number. But I think that you just have to have the will to win. And I was very much aware of how much ammunition I had. And you sort of go through a mental gymnastics as to what your next step's going to be when the last round is fired. And I thought through that.

But, really, it was that these were my comrades, these Iraqi soldiers that I was with who were bleeding and, in some cases, they had died next to me. And I was I was not going to let them die that day. I was going to do whatever it took to protect them. And I know that in their fight, they were doing the same thing for me. They were going to fight for me, as well.

PHILLIPS: How did you establish and how do you establish that brotherhood with these Iraqi commandos?

COFFMAN: To tell you the truth, I think the most important aspect of that is making a personal investment in the people that you're working with. It's one thing when you're working with another country's soldiers and you have a cultural difference and you may have some linguistic abilities to speak their language, but you really have to do more than just visit with them. You have to really live with them, eat with them, laugh with them, joke with them, learn what they are like, learn about their families. Just like you would if you joined any kind of organization and that organization becomes a fellowship and you learn about each other. They learn about me. I learn about them.

But it really takes that you have to make that personal investment. And, quite frankly, you have to like the people that you're working with. I personally really like the Iraqis. I find them very friendly. They are warm people. They give a lot of themselves to people that they consider friends. And I do have a lot of Iraqi friends now, both soldiers and civilians.

PHILLIPS: Well, sir, I think you definitely proved that, especially when you -- your shooting hand, I understand, got shattered and you still managed to help out your fellow soldiers. Tell me what happened. How did you distribute the ammo and keep communicating with these men, even with the shattered hand and everything else that was going on around you?

COFFMAN: Well, after my hand was shot and the round went into my weapon, which rendered it inoperable, I picked up some weapons that were laying on the ground that belonged to some of the other soldiers that had been wounded and fired them.

At one point, one of the soldiers found a couple of boxes of rounds of ammunition. He threw one to me. He kept one, loaded a magazine. I loaded one. I put the magazine literally between my legs and with one hand, loaded the rounds in there. There was also some loose rounds laying on the ground that I put into the magazine. And then, that soldier threw that second magazine to me so that I could use it because I believe that he thought I was in a better position to shoot from. But I threw it back to him and told him to use it.

And, you know there's this kind of universal soldier language that people who have trained together and are soldiers -- you know, when I gave him the magazine back, he understood that I expected him to use it and to shoot with it, and that's what he did. And so, we both used what remained of the ammunition.

PHILLIPS: You made sure every single Iraqi casualty was evacuated. You made sure everybody was out of there before you, yourself, left. Why did you do that?

COFFMAN: Well, it was the right thing to do. It was the moral thing to do. It was what leaders do in combat. The -- we had over 40 people wounded that day, about a dozen killed. And, you know, I had a moral obligation to those soldiers that had fought with me -- and, sadly, some of them had died with me -- to make sure that they were evacuated out of there.

And the soldiers that were with me, they took me to places where some of the casualties were. Some of the civilians in the area had taken the soldiers that had been wounded into their homes. They went with me. I kept asking them where, to make sure that we had a proper account, that we had all the wounded. And, you're right. I was not going to leave the battlefield until I knew that I had all the men accounted for.

PHILLIPS: Colonel James Coffman, you represent the ultimate soldier, every sense of the word. An absolute hero. It was a pleasure interviewing you, sir. Thank you so much for your time.

COFFMAN: Thank you, Kyra. I really appreciate all the things that you do to positively bring our stories here from Iraq to the American people.

PHILLIPS: Well, they need to be told. Thanks, sir.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: And the colonel told me he's coming home in two weeks and he can't wait to see his wife, his two daughters and his two grandchildren.

Straight ahead, a quiet Ohio town in an uproar over some pretty shocking statistics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've been crying every day since I found out. I'm ashamed and upset.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Sixty-five out of 490 female students in one high school have been pregnant in the past year. Why is the number so high? Here from some of the teens next.

Allegations against Armstrong. The cycling legend goes on the record to defend his seven Tour de France wins. We're going to check the facts, ahead on LIVE FROM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live now from B Control. We're updating our news from Aruba. Prosecutors now citing new facts and circumstances which they won't disclose behind today's rearrest of Satish and Deepak Kalpoe. You may remember those young brothers were jailed for weeks in the aftermath of Natalee Holloway's disappearance May 30th, but released on a judge's order for apparent lack of evidence.

Well, today's official says the Kalpoes are suspected with other people of rape and premeditated murder, along with, and we quote, "robbing a person of her liberty with fatal consequences." The alleged other people aren't named, but Joran Van Der Sloot, son of an Aruban judge, is still behind bars. And so far as we know, there's still no trace of Natalee Holloway.

Well, for a high school in Canton, Ohio, some simple math is adding up to a complicated and shocking problem. A local newspaper tallied the number of girls who have been in pregnant the last year. The results surprised everyone, as we hear from CNN's Tom Foreman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For 18 years, amid the hills and homes of Canton, Monica Selby's family has expected her to graduate from Timken High School. But what Monica didn't expect as her senior year began was to be expecting.

MONICA SELBY, PREGNANT TEEN: I have been crying every day since I found out. I have felt ashamed and upset. I tried to tell the teachers, and they didn't help me one bit.

CLAUDIA SELBY, PREGNANT TEEN'S MOM: And I know how cruel kids are at school. Now this coming out, you know, she's one of the statistics at her school.

FOREMAN: The statistics at Timken High are creating an uproar in this quiet Ohio town, ever since the local paper pointed out that 65 of the school's 490 female students had been pregnant in the past year, 65. That's well over one in 10, way too many by almost anyone's reckoning.

DIANNE TALARICO, SUPERINTENDENT, CANTON SCHOOL DISTRICT: That's exactly right. One is too many, as far as I'm concerned.

FOREMAN: So school officials, such as Dianne Talarico, are scrambling to explain how they're working with parents, students and community groups to bring the teen pregnancy rate under control.

TALARICO: For 20 years, it has been steadily decreasing. And graduation rates are increasing. So, we are clearly doing some right things.

FOREMAN: That's cold comfort to 16-year-old Rachel Hinton, whose back-to-school shopping will include a stop at the maternity store. Like many, she knew about birth control, knew about the risks of early sex.

RACHEL HINTON, PREGNANT TEEN: I never planned on getting pregnant. I mean, to me, it was something that always happened to that other girl. You know, I never could get pregnant. I'm too good to get pregnant. But here I am.

FOREMAN: But as shocking as it may seem, what is happening here is happening all over.

(on camera): Is Canton really that unusual?

SARAH BROWN, CAMPAIGN TO PREVENT TEEN PREGNANCY: Well, you know, it's actually not.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Sarah Brown of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy points out, although national teen pregnancy rates have been cut by a third in the past decade, the United States still has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world, double that of England, the nearest rival.

BROWN: We have to keep saying that, even when the overall picture is so good as it is now, there are still these very, very serious problems in many parts of America. And this is one.

FOREMAN: Back in Canton, community leaders are also speaking up, pledging renewed efforts to educate not only the girls, but the boys here, too.

TALARICO: Parents have to talk to their kid.

FOREMAN: It's tricky business, though. Schools say they can't do all the parenting, while some parents say:

JOANNE HINTON, MOTHER OF PREGNANT TEEN: Well, I'm not going to totally blame the school system. I'm going to take part of the blame. But I can only be there so much for her.

R. HINTON: Abstinence, they do teach a little bit about. But most of the kids are having sex. So, they need to teach about other things, like contraceptives and stuff like that, because the fact is, kids are having sex.

FOREMAN (on camera): What can we learn from Canton?

BROWN: This story from Canton shows in high relief that this fight is not over.

FOREMAN: Monica Selby feels it has all come down to a terrible choice, give up her baby or her hopes for a diploma next spring. The adoption has already been arranged.

Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Speaking out to clear his name, seven-time Tour de France Lance Armstrong responds to charges he used illegal doping drugs. We're going to check the facts, next.

Miss America on the move. Why the pageant is packing up and saying so long to the boardwalk.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Cyclist Lance Armstrong sticking to his guns, strongly denying he ever used performance-enhancing drugs. A French newspaper is reporting he tested positive for a banned substance in 1999, that's when he won the first of seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong talked about the allegations last night on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANCE ARMSTRONG, CYCLIST: The actual tests for EPO, what they call electro foristis (ph) is actually being questioned on a pretty serious level right now. Why do you they they're still working on it? Because it doesn't work that well. So, you throw that in. Then you throw in the fact that these samples were stored for six or seven years. Where were they stored? What was the temperature? Et cetera, et cetera. There's not any scientific data that suggests that after five years, samples look and act the same that they did before. It doesn't exist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, we wanted to take a closer look at the allegations against Lance Armstrong. Here's some of the facts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): EPO enhances performance by boosting a person's red blood cell count, enabling the blood to carry more oxygen, leading to increased speed and endurance. EPO has been banned by world cycling bodies since 1990. Armstrong says he never used EPO while training, but he did receive the drug while being treated for cancer in 1996.

The test used during his Tour victory in 1999 were incapable of detecting EPO, but recent experimental tests conducted on random samples from competitors in that 1999 race turned up EPO in some, but not all of Armstrong's samples, and 15 other Tour de France athletes. The Tour de France says the lab involved is 100 percent reliable. Armstrong says in this case, the lab didn't follow procedural guidelines.

At this point, there is no chance the results, accurate or not, can have any effect on the official results of the seven Tours de France won by Armstrong. It's only his image that's at stake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: From our B Control to Wolf Blitzer's "SITUATION ROOM," we're going to find out what's going on in Washington -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Thank, Kyra. Coming up at the top of the hour, more on Hurricane Katrina. Lashing out against Florida, it's now back up. Not a category 1, a category 2, and it's heading back to Florida for more. We'll take you inside the eye of the storm.

President Bush for his part is taking a pounding in the polls over Iraq. We have new poll numbers coming out in the coming hour. His vacation already overshadowed by waning public opinion. Will he change gears or stay the course? We'll take you live to Crawford.

And a little bit later, wild weather, check this out. It's not just Florida anymore. Europe's being pounded by fire, floods and drought. We'll take you there. Stay with us. Much more coming up here in "THE SITUATION ROOM" -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Wolf, thanks so much.

Well straight ahead, parting ways: America's beauties will soon parade their pageant in a new location. Could your city be the next to welcome Miss America?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Atlantic City officials say it's a sad day, but they won't fight the Miss America pageants decision to seek greener pastures. Organizers say the pageant is fighting for its survival and moving out of the New Jersey city and it's a badly needed boost.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS (voice-over): There she goes. Not just Miss America, but the entire Miss America pageant, leaving Atlantic City after 84 years. As in many breakups, money was an issue.

ART MCMASTER, MISS AMERICA PAGEANT CEO: We've been crunching the numbers for several months on this, but there's just no way around this thing.

PHILLIPS: Miss America and Atlantic City first got together in the roaring '20s when business leaders in the resort city were looking for ways to boost tourism after Labor Day. Inspired perhaps by the bathing beauties on Atlantic City beaches, they created the Miss America pageant, and almost from the beginning, it was a match made in heaven.

The pageant brought tourists and prestige to the city. And it became a springboard to celebrity for many of its winners: Phyllis George, in 1971, Vanessa Williams in 1984.

But as the decades rolled on, people started to talk. Miss America was showing her age. Some say that in an era of bikinis, Miss America's shoulder-to-hips swimsuits, seemed almost frumpy by comparison. On the other hand, feminists argued that having a woman parade across the stage in any swim suit was sexist and demeaning.

Atlantic City, meanwhile, had its own problems. Interstate highways and cheap airline tickets prompted many tourists to bypass the old resort city in favor of more exotic destinations. The city tried to dress itself up with gambling casinos. Miss America tried to change with the times, too, downplaying the swimsuit competition and dumping long-time emcee, Burt Parks.

But television ratings continued to dwindle. And just last year, ABC dropped the annual broadcast, forcing it over to a lower-rated cable network. Preoccupied with their own problems, Miss America and Atlantic City simply drifted apart. Now, Miss America has filed for divorce and Atlantic City will not contest it.

JAMES WHELAN, CONVENTION & VISITORS BOARD: Forcing her to stay here and miss an opportunity to do something that would enable her to grow, we didn't think it was in her best interests and, ultimately, it's not in our best interest.

PHILLIPS: There's no word yet on Miss America's new partner. And organizers say this America may end up playing the field, moving from city to city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Although the Miss America pageant traditionally takes place in the autumn, this year's pageant had been rescheduled for January of next year. Pageant officials say they hope to make a decision within a month on where that take place.

Well, that wraps up this Friday edition of LIVE FROM. I hope you have a great weekend. I'm Kyra Phillips in the CNN center in Atlanta. Now Wolf Blitzer live in "THE SITUATION ROOM."

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