Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Stopping the Bombers; Florida Fugitive Captured; Grass Fire Rages in Oklahoma; New Films In National Film Registry

Aired December 27, 2005 - 13:59   ET

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

BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Want you to imagine this. A bomber blows himself up and takes the lives of countless others with him. Now, imagine this. It didn't happen in the Mideast, but right here in the U.S. U.S. security experts believe it could happen and they're now taking lessons from their Israeli counterparts.
CNN justice correspondent Kelli Arena was allowed exclusive access for this report, first seen on CNN's "SITUATION ROOM."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Armed with intelligence about a would-be suicide bomber, undercover Israeli border police successfully take him into custody and deal with the violent aftermath. This is just a demonstration for U.S. law enforcement partners. But it's a reality Israeli police confront all the time.

SHERIFF JEFF WILEY, ASCENSION PARISH, LOUISIANA: It just seems like everything is -- every waking moment is contemplating what is the next worst-case scenario and how can we prepare for it?

ARENA: Jeff Wiley is a sheriff in southeast Louisiana in Israel with others like him to learn firsthand from Israelis who respond to suicide bombing attacks.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm not saying that it's easy to come and to see (inaudible) dead, but when it's young people, young girls, it's something that stays with you for a long, time.

ARENA: In 2001, a suicide bomber attacked patrons at this nightclub in Tel Aviv and killed 21 people. The group learns the bomb was filled with nails and ball bearings to make it as deadly as possible. They also get some practical advice on how to stop an attacker.

MAJOR GENERAL DAVID TSUR, TEL AVIV DISTRICT POLICE CHIEF: Isolating him from the public and to try to prevent him from taking an action to blow up himself. If you see any suspicious move or something, there's nothing to do besides shooting and neutralizing him.

ARENA: The general says if you're close enough, grab the bomber's arms to prevent detonation. And don't push him down on his stomach where the detonator is likely to be placed. Solid information Wiley can share back home. WILEY: They readily admit that they learn from their mistakes, and therefore we can learn without having to make those same mistakes.

ARENA: Since 2000, officials say more than 1,000 Israelis have been killed by suicide bombers. But in the last two years, the violence has dropped dramatically. Tourists and young people in particular are once again crowding cafes and nightclubs.

Israeli officials credit many things, first among them, the fence along Israel's border. The barrier separating Israelis from Palestinians remains extremely controversial. But Israeli security officials say the numbers speak for themselves. The amount of suicide bombings and sniper attacks, they say, has fallen more than 90 percent since this wall was erected.

The Israelis talk about security in circles. The fence is the outermost ring. Cameras along it help Israelis gather intelligence, though officials won't get into details.

BRIG. GEN. SHAIKE HOROWITZ, ISRAELI BORDER CROSSINGS ADMINISTRATION: It's enough information to secure your place.

ARENA: Once inside the country, another ring of security, armed guards at any nightclub or restaurant you go to. And there are other proactive measures. These police officers are randomly checking hotel records for suspicious individuals or activity.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Check it with the computer, and I can tell that only last week we got a name that there was an order to arrest him.

ARENA: The end result is a safer Israel, but officials admit the tactics are not foolproof. Just this month, a suicide bomber killed five people outside a mall in Netanya.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And coming up tonight on "THE SITUATION ROOM," Kelli will look how Israel maintains security at its shopping malls, which look like they could be anywhere in the world, and she will show us the unique way private and public security professionals work together. Could it work here? Find out tonight on "THE SITUATION ROOM," 7:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

And you'll want to stay tuned to CNN day and night for the latest news about your security.

A man wanted in a string of notorious rapes in south Florida is off the street and back in jail. Reynaldo Rapalo was captured last night in southwest Miami days after escaping from jail. Rapalo is accused of sexually assaulting seven women and girls aged 11 to 79.

Now, earlier today, a judge called him a danger to the community and ordered he be held without bond. Joining us from Miami is CNN's John Zarrella.

John, we understand it was an anonymous tip that led to this arrest?

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. An anonymous tip last night.

Police had gotten about 280 tips during the past week, people that thought they saw him or might have known where he was. And last night they got the one that paid off.

A tip coming in shortly before 10:00 p.m. Someone calling, saying they thought they saw a man that fit the description of Rapalo, wearing blue jeans, wearing a pink shirt. And sure enough, they happened to have a narcotics unit in the area of the mall, a strip mall in southwest Miami-Dade, where the tip came from, and the narcotics officers, the detectives approached the man.

He began to tell them that he was a homeless man from Nicaragua. They thought the story was a bit suspicious, and after they further questioned him he tried to run. And they chased him down with K-9 units and picked him up. And the video we are seeing here in these pictures are of him this morning as he was transferred from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement offices to a maximum security jail, where he was held today before that bond hearing -- Betty.

NGUYEN: John, are there any more arrests expected to come, people who may have helped him get out?

ZARRELLA: Certainly a possibility. Authorities are saying they can't believe that Rapalo was able to stay for a week in the Miami area and not be detected, not be caught if he did not have some level of assistance.

So they are saying that they do, in fact, expect that they may make an arrest, or perhaps more than one arrest, of people who were involved in at least harboring this fugitive. And if, of course, they are arrested, they could face up to 30 years in prison themselves for harboring a fugitive in this particular case -- Betty.

NGUYEN: It seems really interesting that he stayed in the Miami area. Any indication as to what he planned on doing once he escaped?

ZARRELLA: No, not at this point. At least not that the police are making public.

Of course, one of the big concerns -- well, two big concerns. If he stayed in the area, would he strike out again? You know, would he attempt, as they say, to rape again? People in that neighborhood, the Shenandoah neighborhood, very concerned.

Now, remember, he hasn't been convicted of anything, but there's lots of DNA material out there, evidence out there against him.

And the second concern was that if Rapalo left -- and police consider, obviously, him very, very dangerous -- if he left the area, the concern was that he would set up shop somewhere else if he was not arrested and was able to get away clean here.

So very, very glad that they got him, but no idea -- the only thing police did say, Betty, was he had a very good plan on how to escape, rappelling down the side of the building, but he didn't have a very good plan of what to do once he got out.

NGUYEN: Well, he's back in jail now.

ZARRELLA: Yes.

NGUYEN: John Zarrella. Thank you.

In New Orleans, police are investigating some of their own following a deadly shooting. It involved a man who reportedly hit a drug store employee, and after leaving pulled a knife on police.

This video of him waving the knife was taken moments before the shooting. The unidentified man has already been sprayed with pepper spray.

Officers say they fired on him after he lunged at them. All officers involved have been reassigned pending the outcome of the investigation.

Well, this was the first use of deadly force since Hurricane Katrina, and Robert Jenkins saw it all. He talked about it with Miles O'Brien earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT JENKINS, WITNESS: When the police came out, they ordered the man to put the gun down -- I mean the knife down. They told him to get on the ground.

He refused. They pepper-sprayed him. He still didn't go down. And they also, you know, showed restraint early on in terms of following him down the street.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: OK. You would call that -- 13, 14 officers pointing guns at a person with a knife, you would call that great restraint?

JENKINS: Well, what I'm saying is that this video picks up somewhat halfway down the block.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

JENKINS: They were yelling at him, telling him to get down. At some point he was flailing at them, things of that nature. But they were following him down the street.

What you don't see in this video is that when they pepper-sprayed him, he had gone in his pocket and took a handkerchief or a towel and wiped it off and continued to go down the street. O'BRIEN: Well, you mention pepper...

JENKINS: Personally...

O'BRIEN: You mention pepper spray. Why didn't they taser him?

JENKINS: I don't even know if they had Tasers. I really couldn't tell you. I personally think that they could have shot him in the leg or something of that nature.

O'BRIEN: Well, you know, they're not try trained to do that. You know that.

JENKINS: But they're trained -- I know that. I know that. But I'm just saying personally what I think.

O'BRIEN: Yes.

JENKINS: They're international trained to do that, but the other side of it is that there was no question about that they had ordered him to get down, they told him to drop the knife, and he just wouldn't comply.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NGUYEN: In another story, a baseball great behind bars. What is Jeff Reardon accused of doing, and what is he saying about it?

LIVE FROM is on the story. We're back after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Coming up, we have new pictures of Baby Noor, an Iraqi girl in desperate need of a life-saving surgery right here in the U.S. We're going to show you those pictures and tell you about that story. That's coming up right here on CNN's LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: Last week we told you the story of Baby Noor, a tiny girl born with a severe case of Spina Bifida in Iraq. Well, here's some new pictures just into CNN of Baby Noor. Look at that precious child.

Some members of the Georgia Army National Guard stationed in Baghdad found out about Baby Noor and realized that Iraqi doctors didn't have the medical resources to save her life. They started enlisting volunteers in the U.S. who could save the child's life, including a pediatric neurosurgeon who's offered to operate on the baby for free.

But she has to get here first. And we are happy to report that journey has officially begun. That's how we got some of those pictures.

Here are some more pictures for you of Baby Noor. Baby Noor is at Camp Victory in Iraq, along with her father and her grandmother. And we're going to keep you posted on what happens next. Hopefully, she'll get to the U.S. and get that surgery just as soon as possible. That process is under way.

A south Florida bus driver is in custody, charged with threatening to blow up a mass transit bus. Police were called to the man's home, and once inside found reason for alarm.

Lynn Gordon from CNN affiliate WSVN reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's pretty bad, you know, when you find out your neighbor's making explosives.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It scares me, because I have a young son. And I'm a teacher, and there's kids in this neighborhood. He's got two kids, too.

LYNN GORDON, REPORTER, WSVN (voice over): Residents in a quiet Davie neighborhood on edge hours after cops find a homemade bomb inside their neighbor's home.

JIM LELJEDAL, BROWARD COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: It's capable of detonation, would be capable of causing great bodily harm or death.

GORDON: Forty-year-old Victor Carrera arrested outside his apartment on Southwest 62nd Avenue about 11:00 Monday morning after local police and federal agents surround the home. Sheriff's officials says the Broward County transit bus driver told relatives he planned to blow up a bus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, the family members took the threat seriously. They had reason to believe that he was capable of creating a bomb, and they also believed because he's a bus driver that he would have access to a bus.

GORDON: Those relatives contacting Davie police and the FBI. Officials wasting no time, sending out the bomb squad. A bomb- sniffing dog alerting investigators to the homemade explosive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They found two inert devices, hollowed-out grenades, and a real homemade bomb.

GORDON: Neighbors who know Carrera say he's on medication and has a history of domestic violence but don't believe he's capable of hurting anyone.

NICK SARNELLI, SUSPECT'S NEIGHBOR: I know he was military to begin with, but I really don't think he had intentions of using it. I really don't. I think he's more talk than anything else. You know, threatening manners and things like that. But I've never seen him get out of control.

(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: In other news, Jeff Reardon, four-time Major League all- star, is apologizing to family and friends and baseball fans a day after his arrest for armed robbery. The former relief pitcher was in court last hour for a bond hearing.

Steve Overmyer with CNN Sports is here with the latest.

I want you to set the ground here. Exactly what happened?

STEVE OVERMYER, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: This is such a bizarre story...

NGUYEN: It is bizarre.

OVERMYER: ... for a guy who obviously was star in Major League Baseball. Police say Reardon handed a jewelry store employee a note saying that he a gun and he demanded cash.

The former pitcher then was recently found a short time later at a restaurant with the stolen money and no gun. He is scheduled to be released on $5,000 bail.

Reardon's lawyer says the former pitcher has been taking antidepressants to help him cope with the death of his son. He also, by the way, underwent heart angioplasty last week, Betty, and was taking medication for that as well.

So there might be some medical concerns here. That's certainly what his lawyer is saying, that because of the medication, that's why he acted so erratically.

NGUYEN: He also had a death in the family as well.

OVERMYER: Right. In February of 2004, he lost his son to a drug overdose. So that certainly -- I mean, that's something that I imagine a parent would have a difficult time getting over, however many years ago it was.

NGUYEN: Now, this was a huge star in baseball.

OVERMYER: Yes.

NGUYEN: A man who made $11.5 million in his career. Did he have any financial problems?

OVERMYER: From all accounts, the guy did not have any financial problems whatsoever. I mean, he played baseball for 16 years. So clearly, he was eligible for baseball's pension plan.

He made $11.5 million at the time. But again, by all accounts, there were no financial problems, no reason that he would need to go and get that money.

NGUYEN: Well, could this cause financial problems, talking about pensions and things like that? OVERMYER: That's still up in the air. Don't know if the -- if a felony could prevent him from getting -- from lowering their pension or anything along those lines. But certainly it's an embarrassment I think, at the very least for Jeff Reardon.

NGUYEN: Yes, at this point, he's saying, you know, it's the medication.

OVERMYER: Right. That's what he's saying right now. But, I mean, here's a guy who -- from all baseball standards, I mea, here's a guy who was one of, if not the best, reliever in his time.

I mean, Jeff Reardon, in 1987, pitched in the World Series and he had a save in the world series for the Minnesota Twins, helping them win the 1987 World Series.

NGUYEN: Wow.

OVERMYER: He's a four-time all-star. He actually won the reliefer of the year in 1985. In fact, so popular in his hometown of Dalton, Massachusetts, they even named a baseball field after him as well.

NGUYEN: Which is -- you know, it just leads to the whole bizarre situation behind it. I mean, it's just, why? That's the question.

OVERMYER: It just seems like there are more questions right now than there are answers. It's just, you know, a little tough to imagine somebody with that kind of notability to making that kind of mistake.

NGUYEN: Yes. Well, he said some medication. So we'll see how this plays out.

Thank you, Steve.

OVERMYER: Sure.

NGUYEN: Coming up on LIVE FROM, there is trouble, all right, and it's not just in River City. It's in film vaults all around the world. More on the mission to save movies that matter. Grab some popcorn and get settled.

We're back in just a minute.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: A plan is under way right now to get Baby Noor, a little Iraqi girl, out of Iraq and into a hospital here in the U.S. for a desperate surgery that she needs to save her life. There are many soldiers helping in this effort. And we have one of them on the phone right now, Sergeant Michael Sonen, who joins us from Baghdad as we look at new video coming into CNN of Baby Noor. Just a precious little girl.

Sergeant, tell me, especially for those who aren't familiar with this story, how you came across this precious little thing and why you wanted to help.

SGT. MICHAEL SONEN, 121 INFANTRY, GEORGIA NATIONAL GUARD: Good afternoon. Yes, we were conducting (INAUDIBLE), and during an operation we normally conduct a survey of water, sewage, electricity, and normally medical issues. And Baby Noor was brought to us, and PFC Donnelly (ph) of 222 1st Brigade 10th Mountain made the initial assessment and took pictures, and we pushed the pictures up our chain of command, and 10th Mountain has been very supportive in our desire to try to help this baby.

NGUYEN: Sergeant, unfortunately, you can't help every single child that you come across. But this one in particular really struck your heartstrings. Why was that?

SONEN: Well, this child would not live without an operation to correct this particular medical issue. And we as a group collectively decided this is going to be our project. And if this is the only contribution that we have to defeating the war on terrorism, this is going to be it.

NGUYEN: What do you know specifically about her condition and how much of a race against time this could be?

SONEN: Yes, ma'am. Right now, she has -- it's called Spina Bifida, I do believe. And right now she can longer feel the bottom of her feet. And if we wait any longer, there can be some mental retardation and a couple other mental issues. So we must get her to a facility back in the United States to correct this particular medical problem.

NGUYEN: Yes. It's a birth defect, Spina Bifida, and a lot of doctors, I was reading, didn't think that she would last this long, but she has. And thanks to your efforts, trying to get her to the U.S.

What is going on in that process right now?

SONEN: Well, right now, what we have done is basically made some contacts back in the United States, some hospital personnel, and the senator from Georgia, Senator Saxby Chambliss, has tried to forward the visas over here to the United States to get this family over there.

And there's been -- I do believe it's a Marriott hotel that has contributed a room and facilities for them to stay. And then I'm not sure which medical facility is going to take on the child, but we hope some medical facility in Atlanta will do so.

NGUYEN: I'm reading now that it's the Children's Healthcare of Atlanta that's stepped forward, and a neurosurgeon there, Dr. Roger Hudgins (ph), has agreed to do the surgery at no cost to the family. So a lot of hands working together to make this happen. But the biggest concern right now is getting the child to the U.S. and to Atlanta specifically.

How long is that going to take? Do you even know at this point? SONEN: Well, ma'am, we brought the child and the father and the grandmother to the -- to our location tonight. And as soon as they approve the visa and whatever bureaucratic things that need to be done, we'll get them on a plane and ship them over as soon as we possibly can, hopefully.

NGUYEN: The child is at a base, a U.S. base there in Iraq, we understand. How difficult was it to get her there as the first leg of this journey?

SONEN: Well, ma'am, due to the support of 10th Mountain and 1st Brigade, it was no problem at all. You know, we pushed it up and down the chain of command. They were very supportive, and they made it happen for us. So it was not a big deal at all.

NGUYEN: Have you gotten a chance to spend any time with her family? They obviously are very hopeful and thankful on top of that that all of you have come together and supported this child.

SONEN: Well, we've had some time to spend with the family, and they're very, very appreciative of the opportunity that they have to try to save the life of their daughter. And it does great things for us as soldiers, and as Americans.

I mean, this is what we do best. Americans are there to lend a helping hand, and here we are. And we're grateful for it.

NGUYEN: Are you -- I was going to ask you, are you a father yourself? Even if you're not, this has got to make you feel pretty good.

SONEN: Yes, ma'am. I have a daughter myself, and, you know, what is the difference between this child and my daughter? There is none.

I mean, this is why we're here. I mean, we're here to help these people, bring them out of many years of repression and bring them up to standards and give them a basic chance in supporting their families and bringing them up and giving them the things that they need and desire. That's all.

NGUYEN: And this is just a precious little child. We're still looking at video coming,, exclusive video in to CNN that we've just gotten.

Obviously, the company has come together. Your biggest concern and your biggest hope right now?

SONEN: Well, it's just getting Baby Noor on a plane and to the United States to get her taken care of. That's our biggest and foremost priority. And like I said, if we -- if this is all we do while we're here, we've accomplished our mission.

NGUYEN: Well, you've done a lot to get her where she is right now, at a U.S. base there in Iraq. And hopefully she'll be on a plane to the U.S. just as soon as possible, and getting the surgery that she so desperately needs.

Sergeant Michael Sonen, joining us live from Baghdad.

Thank you for your time and thank you for what you're doing.

SONEN: Thank you, ma'am. I really appreciate it.

NGUYEN: Sure.

I want to tell you about -- it's been a bit of a roller-coaster ride for amusement parks over the past five years. But attendance is on the rise. Susan Lisovicz is joining us live now from the New York Stock Exchange with those details.

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

NGUYEN: Well, Susan, while things may be slowing down there, we've got a story to tell you about. Things are heating up in Oklahoma.

Look at these live pictures right now from affiliate KWTV. You see it appears a house is on -- well, I don't know if it's on fire. There is definitely smoke coming from it. This is dealing with grass fires, though, in Yukon and Mustang. This video right here, this live picture is coming in, I believe, from Mustang, Oklahoma, where city officials are asking residents to leave the area near this blaze.

Again, these are grass fires, but they're so close to homes, it appears smoke coming out of some of the homes that we were looking at just moments ago -- you can see the smoke, though, is filling the skies. There, again, that home where you can see the smoke coming out of it.

Now, in Mustang, in particular, fire officials have had to call in crews from cities outside, like Oklahoma City and Union City. They need their help in battling these grass fires that are really underway right now. You can see all the smoke in these pictures.

There's really no information, though, as to the threat, how widespread this threat is to homes in the area. But from what we just saw, you can see definitely those homes in that particular area were under immense threat from these grass fires that are burning right now in Oklahoma.

Let's take another look at live pictures coming in from KWTV. You can see the flames right there in the bottom left-hand corner and all the smoke filling the skies. It appears that these grass fires are very close, if not already in a residential neighborhood.

We're going to take a break right now, but we're going to continue to follow that story and bring you the latest just as soon as we get it. Stay with us. You're watching CNN LIVE FROM.

Also want to tell you about a fright to remember. The Library of Congress said yes, and we have more on the movies getting a big thumbs up from Uncle Sam. We've got every millimeter of news you need straight ahead, right here on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: There's the kind of history you read about in books. Names, dates, places, you know. But there's also a kind of history that's unspooling right now at a theater near you. In fact, some believe that movies are incredibly accurate reflections of who we were or are at any given time. That's why the Library of Congress is trying so hard to save them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: What we've got here is failure to communicate. Some men you just can't reach.

NGUYEN (voice-over): So, OK. Exactly what does Cool Hand Luke have in common with Professor Harold Hill and Dr. Frank-N-Furter? And Zora Neale Hurston and Buzz Lightyear?

BUZZ LIGHTYEAR: Buzz Lightyear to Star Command. Come in, Star Command.

NGUYEN: The Library of Congress thinks they and their respective films are all worth saving. They're among the 25 movies chosen this year for addition to the National Film Registry for their cultural, historical or aesthetic significance. It's an eclectic bunch. They range from documentary footage of the great San Francisco earthquake and fire from 1906, to the whacked out misadventures of 1980s teens in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."

SEAN PENN, ACTOR: If I'm here and you're here, doesn't that make it our time?

NGUYEN: Librarian of Congress James Billington is careful to emphasize that the choices don't signify an endorsement of ideology or content, but rather a recognition of the film's importance to American film and cultural history, and to history in general.

So don't scoff that Roger Corman's "House of Usher" made the cut.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: If you only knew how incredible.

NGUYEN: Corman collaborated with actor Vincent Price on an unforgettable series of low-budget Poe classics and made an indelible mark on American horror flicks, just as Buster Keaton's antics in "The Cameraman" could teach today's actors a thing or two about the power of the face over the spoken word.

"Toy Story" wins a spot as the first full-length feature created entirely by computer technology. And "H20," a 1929 documentary that is all -- and we mean all -- about water. It's mesmerizing.

Motion pictures of all types are deteriorating faster than archives can preserve them. So before these images trickle away, the race is on to save them and the moments of our history that they capture, as strange as those images may be. (END VIDEOTAPE)

NGUYEN: And some are strange, indeed. We'll much more on that in just a moment. But first, we want to go back now. Live pictures of the fire raging in Oklahoma.

We're talking about a grass fire there. We have Major Brian Stanaland with the Oklahoma City Fire Department on the phone to talk about the blaze that we're seeing, more so smoke right now.

Major, first of all, tell us how many areas are involved?

MAJOR BRIAN STANALAND, OKLAHOMA CITY FIRE DEPT.: Well, actually, this fire that you're seeing right now is out of the city limits of Oklahoma City. It's in the town of Mustang. So it's really hard to speak to that. We are assisting Mustang right now with this fire. In the city of Oklahoma City, though, we have already -- since noon, we've had one shed fire. We've had about three different grass fires in the area.

We are extremely dry out here in Oklahoma City. We haven't had significant rainfall for several months. The conditions are really brutal out there right now. We're very dry, we've got strong winds, low humidity. It's a recipe for disaster. And unfortunately, you can see that fire stretches a couple of miles that the viewers are seeing right now.

NGUYEN: Oh, looking at those pictures, that the smoke just continues to fill the air, it looks for miles. So this isn't just one fire? These are several of them? Three grass fires and one shed fire?

STANALAND: Actually, this is just one fire that you're seeing right here, one wild land fire. The other fires I'm speaking of were located in other parts of Oklahoma City, in the Southeastern part. This is southwest of Oklahoma City. Anyone who's ever flown into Oklahoma City, it's going to be several miles directly west of the Will Rogers Airport -- World Airport. That's where the fire that your viewers are seeing is located and unfortunately, we have had some houses ignite.

NGUYEN: Yes, we're looking at that right now. How many homes in harm's way at this point? Because we're looking at fire coming from one right now.

STANALAND: We've got a small housing addition of numerous houses there that are threatened, a couple of houses are on fire right now. And we're working with the Mustang Fire Department to get a handle on it right now.

NGUYEN: Major, I'm going ask you to stand by for just a second, because meteorologist Chad Myers is working this as well. He's very familiar with the area and he's going to join us with some questions, too.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Major, I used to live in Edmond. And this type of situation actually happens all the time there.

STANALAND: Right.

MYERS: But this one seems to be completely out-of-control, with no barrier to it. Is this -- now there's a car fire right there. How far is this going to go before it runs into a highway or some type of a break?

STANALAND: It actually has, unfortunately, jumped the road a couple of times. These are two-lane highways out there, Morgan Road and Sarah (ph) Road that I'm speaking of.

It's getting pretty close to a larger road that maybe can act as a fire break. We are trying to get enough resources out there now to get the thing stopped. But the wind is just blowing very severely. Probably 30, 40 miles an hour right now, and things are so brutally dry. Of course, it's wintertime. So everything's dormant as well.

MYERS: The winds just gusting to 36 down at Will Rogers. You can see how that -- we like it see smoke rise straight up. Then we know that the smoke is not being blown somewhere else with the wind. This is going to be a serious situation, if you get so many hot spots, so many houses or cars on fire. There's not going to be enough resources to cover this.

STANALAND: That's what we're working on right now is to get enough resources on this so we can get it controlled and stopped. We're working diligently on that right now, hoping to get enough brush pumpers and engine companies in the area to get it stopped.

MYERS: I was watching this actually on radar. Because these fires are so significant, and there's so much smoke in the air, the radar doesn't know any different, whether it's a fire, the smoke particles in the air, or whether they are raindrops.

This thing really could be jumping all the away cross possibly towards Midwest city and more, if we don't get it stopped. The winds are so significant. These sparks are going probably 500 feet, 1,000 feet before they land on something else.

STANALAND: They are. We're trying to get resources ahead, and, again, to get it stopped right now. It's about four miles from the airport at this point. So that gives you an idea of the gusts.

You mentioned 36 miles an hour at the airport. So the gusts are at least that around this housing addition. But hopefully we'll get enough resources. Again, we're working diligently to get enough people to get this thing stopped before more house, put in harm's way.

MYERS: What do you tell the residents?

STANALAND: Residents need to stay extremely alert right now. If you can, go out and start the water in your yard. That will help us out. Also, if you see sparks or embers in your neighborhood, you need to call 911 and report that immediately. Any other areas of town where we don't have a fire yet, be very diligent. Make sure that if you see a fire, no matter how small, that you call us immediately to get there and get a jump on it, get ahead of this. We were successful with two fires in the last hour, hour and a half, being able to stop those.

We had one structure that burned. A small shed. This was in southeast Oklahoma city, near Dell City and then another grass fire, a couple of miles further east of that even. We were successful at stopping that grass fire. It burned right up to a couple of houses but we able to stop it. These right here, unfortunately, have entered some homes.

Thank you, Major, good luck.

STANALAND: Thank you.

NGUYEN: A major grass fire on their hands. Many miles involved and several homes, we've just seen, in these live pictures right now. Of course, we'll stay on top of this and bring you the latest as soon as we get more information. Right now we're going to go to a quick break.

When we come back, we'll talk about the films being inducted into the National Film Registry. Stay with us. There's more on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: When The National Film Registry was established at the Library of Congress, James Billington said, "The moving picture is not so much the art form as the language of the 20th century."

Doctor Billington joins me now from Washington with more on the project and why he thinks it's so important. I do want to state you are the Librarian of Congress. Tell us why is was so important to establish this National Film Registry?

JAMES BILLINGTON, PH.D., LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: Well, first of all, because films do tell us so much about ourselves and about our world, how we communicate, think and feel.

And second of all, because these films are very perishable. Eighty percent of all films, silent films, have not survived to this day because they haven't been well-preserved, and more than 50 percent prior to 1950, when they -- the nitrate films were the dominant mode, have not survived either.

So it's a very fragile medium but a very important one and the Congress has decided in a series of mandates they've given us at the Library of Congress to get in the preservation business. We've been collecting films for 100 years, including the earliest ones made by Thomas Edison in the 19th century and we've been preserving them for 40 years.

NGUYEN: We understand the importance for the older films, but for the new ones because not all of the films being put into this registry are old films. There are some very new ones. With DVDs and things like that, is it still important for that preservation?

BILLINGTON: Everything. All of these new modes of DVDs, CDs, CD-ROMs, they're also perishable. We don't know how long they'll last. Preservation is important even for the most recent ones. The registry only deal with ones that are at least ten years old. So don't look for the ones you're lining up to see this Christmas in the registry. That's ten years -- that's taken ...

NGUYEN: Wait a few years for those.

BILLINGTON: Have to let few years go by.

NGUYEN: How do we know which one to pick? We're going to go through some of them. And boy, it's an eclectic bunch. You get public nominations for what people think should be in the registry?

BILLINGTON: Yes. We get about 1,000 a year, nominations, public nominations. People write in. Then our staff winnows that down to a fairly substantial list, then we have a film preservation board established by act of Congress, with all kinds of experts, and they debate and then they present us with their individual views, and out of that, I pick with the aid of an excellent staff at Library of Congress, the 25 that will be added to the 400 we already have in.

NGUYEN: So you are the final pick then?

BILLINGTON: I'm afraid I am,

NGUYEN: Uh-oh. We're talking to the man himself. So why did you pick "The Rocky Horror Picture Show?"

Well, for a couple of reasons. It was the original midnight show that changed the hour that people go to the movies, changed the way audiences participate. There was a totally new reaction to movies, and it was kind of a crazy epic of a particular period in our history. So it's -- and a lot of people had a lot of fun.

NGUYEN: They had a great time and they are still going see it in the theaters with all the antics of people getting up from seats and playing the roles and whatnot.

BILLINGTON: Exactly. It's very rare that people play the roles that they're actually seeing in the movie. Whatever, we're not endorsing the roles, you understand, but the phenomenon is culturally important. That's one of the three criteria congress gives us: culturally, historically, or artistically important.

NGUYEN: Kids cutting up in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." What was behind the nomination and the pick for that one.

BILLINGTON: Well, that's kind of the model teen movie at which unleashed a whole flood of them, and it's a particularly good one. Now, Cameron Crowe, the 22-year-old who made it, actually enrolled in the high school. So it has a kind of authenticity.

It's not a documentary, it's a feature, but it's one that's based on a lot of firsthand observations of a very young person who went in and experienced, re-experienced this high school and created a quite memorable film of that variety.

NGUYEN: Memorable is putting it mildly. This next one is really interesting to me. "Commandment Keeper Church" (ph) -- it involves Zora Neale Hurston, the author of "Their Eyes Were Watching God," which is, of course, on Oprah's Book Club. Why was this one chosen?

BILLINGTON: Well, this was chosen -- this is a folklore film. It was taken to -- by Zora Neale Hurston, who's of course, a great figure in the Harlem Renaissance. We discovered her "Polk County" in the dead copyright deposit at the Library of Congress a few years ago, and that went on the stage.

This is a picture. You'll see her in her straw hat there herself. She was a great artist and she conceived of this showing us a Seventh-Day Adventist Church service in the Carolinas. It's got some beautiful photography in it, very moving, very real, real-time, but also it's quite interesting as a restoration project, because there was sound recorded simultaneously, synchronously.

And we're going to -- the restoration in this case will involve blending the sound, which was recorded separately, with the images that are there, and putting it all together so that it's a coherent picture. So many of these older films, particularly ones -- folk-life films like this, were -- are just available in slices. We have to fit them back. And that's part of the preservation.

NGUYEN: Yes, preservation, restoration, you name it. Great work that you're doing, some very interesting films. We appreciate your time.

BILLINGTON: Well, we're glad to do it. The Library does three quarters of all of the publicly-accessible restoration work done in this country. It's very important. A lot of other places do it too, and it's something that's important for our children and our children's children.

NGUYEN: And you're the man keeping it in motion. James Billington, the librarian of Congress. Thank you so much for speaking with us today.

BILLINGTON: Thank you.

NGUYEN: There's much more to come right here on LIVE FROM, including those grass fires in Oklahoma. We're getting word in that they are still burning. It looks like there's a helicopter on the ground. I don't know if that's dealing with the relief efforts of putting the fire out or if someone is injured. We're going to get the latest on that -- there's the smoke -- when we come back right here on CNN's LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NGUYEN: We're continuing to follow this grass fire in Mustang, Oklahoma. Look at those flames. You can tell from these live pictures right now that several homes are on fire, smoke rising into the air. Many miles, we could see earlier, were affected by this large grass fire in Oklahoma. Let's take a listen to a helicopter pilot from affiliate KWTV as he talks about the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of homes were saved. Some were not. As you can see there, you can see the smoke has dissipated. The fire out in the field where all the big cedar trees is pretty much out. It has burned itself out. Firefighters out here are putting water on it, getting it out.

And you can start to see all the homes in here, Doug (ph), that are on fire. These are not the only four that were -- that we can show you right here. This is halfway through the fire is where we're positioned. We still got another at least half a mile to a mile to the east in the neighborhood, where I can see right now at least two more homes fully engulfed, Doug.

These are two homes that are -- you can see one of them, the furthest one to the north, is starting to get fully involved. The one to the south there is fully involved. It looks like it might have been a two-story house at one time.

So -- and if you could pan down a little bit, there, Mark (ph), you can see the house next to it starting to smoke. So I don't know if there's enough firefighters out here, Doug, to get a handle on this right now.

NGUYEN: And that's one of the big concerns as we look now at more live pictures in Mustang, Oklahoma. Fire crews are really being spent on this, not only in Mustang, but Yukon is another city in Oklahoma that is being dealt a hard blow with these grass fires.

We were talking with Major Brian Stanaland earlier with the Oklahoma City Fire Department. That particular department is assisting in all these other areas trying to get enough crews on the ground to put out these house fires as this grass fire continues to rage on in Oklahoma.

We're going to tell you much more about that throughout the next couple of hours as we continue to watch it. So stay tuned for that. We also have much more on the day's news as LIVE FROM continues right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com