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Brush Fires Force Evacuations, Interstate Closures in Florida; Australian Rescuers Close to Saving Miners; Illusionist Blaine Endures Final Day of Stunt
Aired May 08, 2006 - 13:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The Sunshine State is living up to its name, and that's causing problems for firefighters. The lack of rain is perfect weather for brush fires. Let's go the latest now from Paul Milliken from our affiliate Central Florida News 13 in New Smyrna Beach -- Paul.
PAUL MILLIKEN, CENTRAL FLORIDA NEWS 13 REPORTER: Hey there. Boy, what a messy situation here in Volusia County, Florida. We are in New Smyrna Beach, right off of 44 and 95, where this fire's is burning at about 1,200 acres. The good news is firefighters say we're at a slowing down period right now, but the bad news is these winds are sure picking up.
Now they say it's slowing down because they have some really good fire lines built around, and it was threatening quite a large neighborhood. I think we have video to show you right now. There was actually a neighborhood back there. About 800 people were evacuated. They were put into a shelter. And about 75 people stayed at that shelter overnight. There was room for 175, so they say people still come throughout the day. There will be more on the way.
Now again, 800 people evacuated. No estimate when they'll be allowed back in. The bad news is three homes have been damaged, one completely destroyed, and one firefighter has been injured.
Now we were talking to the evacuees throughout the day who has the hardest part of being at that shelter is not knowing what happens next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Plenty of food. The kids are really well taken care of. This little bear they gave. In the middle of the night, they came and left one on each of the kids' beds, and they just -- they couldn't be more attentive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We know one of our neighbors lost his house, which is unfortunate. He's a single man now unfortunately. And I understand two more houses are scorched, and the lawns are burned. There's a lot of litter. And I'm surprised we didn't have more houses go because of all the leaves and so forth that were blowing down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MILLIKEN: And the roads into that subdivision remain closed. The good news is State Road 44 here in Volusia County is back open. This is a major artery through the western part of the county. But I- 95 remains shutdown right now, from South and Edgewater, all of the way up to Port Orange.
Now the Florida Highway Patrol is on scene. They're assessing the situation. The concern, of course, is that the blow winds are blowing the smoke right over onto the highway and could cause some major accidents.
We'll bring you the latest as soon as we have it. For now, back to you guys.
PHILLIPS: All right, Paul, stay with me just a second. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras also with us right now.
Jacqui, give Paul, me and our viewers a feel for what kind of weather they're going be dealing with for now into the next couple of days.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the humidity is moving up a little bits, so that's some good news, as Paul mentioned, that the winds were starting to gust. Right now, the sustained winds around six miles per hour. They've gone up to 10. Not quite as going to be as bad as I think it was yesterday.
But, Paul, my question to you is that a lot of this area is really under a rainfall deficit by about a half a foot or so. What is the vegetation like around there? And how desperate are you guys for rain?
MILLIKEN: Oh, we are absolutely desperate for rain. This has been one of the driest seasons that I can remember. I actually grew up in this area. We haven't had rain in months, or if we have, it's been just a little bit.
I can tell you, as we mentioned before, too, these winds are really starting to pick up, and I can see the dust being kicked up, things like that. So obviously very bad for fire weather.
JERAS: Put this into perspective for us, Florida has brushfires and grass fires like this every year? Are we early? Are we late? Is this normally what we see this time of year?
MILLIKEN: This one is pretty bad because it's threatening homes. That's the big concern. In 1998 we had huge wildfires in this area, Flagler County, the county to the north was completely evacuated and most of Volusia county was evacuated. We have not seen a fire season like that in a while because the past two years we've had hurricanes blow through and brought a lot of rain. However, we haven't had any rain so far this season.
I should mention with that hurricane coming through, we still have a lot of debris in these wooded areas. A lot of trees have fallen down and a lot of pieces of wood back there that's only fueling the fire.
JERAS: Thanks, Paul. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Jacqui, thanks.
PHILLIPS: We want to get now from the fires in Florida to California, experiencing some mudslides. Betty Nguyen working that for us in the news room.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Talk about a mudslide. Take a look at the some of the video that's coming in from Sacramento, California. This mudslide was between 15 and 20-feet high and 40 to 45 feet wide. Pretty big mud slight.
What it's done so far is it's closed highway 50 in both directions at Kyburz. This mudslide occurred overnight which could be a good thing here because no one was injured. It happened just after midnight, but traffic is stopped at Slige (ph) Park and Myers (ph) and the California Highway Patrol says this roadway won't open until late this afternoon, but just look at those picture, mudslide occurring there near Sacramento, California, between 15 and 20 feet high and 40 to 45 feet wide.
We hear of mudslides in California and this is another example of a big one that's causing major problems today, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right, Betty, thanks so much.
So close and yet so far. Rescuers in Australia are now just inches away from those gold miners who have been trapped 3,000 feet underground for 13 days, but it's slow going. The drilling, if not done careful, could cause a cave-in like the one that trapped the men in the first place. The third miner was killed.
The trapped men have been getting food through a very smile pipe and have actually joked around that they'll be too fat through the rescue tunnel if they keep eating five meals a day. Above ground some are not quite as stoic. Peter Stefanovic (ph) of Australia's National Nine News reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER STEFANOVIC, AUSTRALIA'S NATIONAL NINE NEWS (voice-over): It was a night of bitter anti-climax. Word had gone out that the rescue was imminent, 2:30 a.m., the magic time. By late evening more than a hundred people had braved the foul weather to see the two men emerge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're strong, they're both determined and let's get them up here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's terrific if they come up sooner than I anticipated.
STEFANOVIC: There was a party atmosphere. After nearly two weeks of tension, the celebration was tantalizingly close.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple of frothys (ph). That would be good.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty exciting. Are you all happy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ail all staying here until the men come out?
STEFANOVIC: It was not meant to be. The rock was simply too hard. The waiting game would have to continue. Again, the people of Beaconsfield have learned all too well in the past two weeks.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The time goes on and on, it must be just devastating for them.
STEFANOVIC: Reporter: The mood now, noticeably more somber.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm fearful because it's such a delicate operation.
STEFANOVIC: But no one is giving up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it takes longer, they're prepared to wait. The important thing is that safety must come first.
STEFANOVIC: In Beaconsfield, Peter Stefanovic, National Nine News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: He is a four-star general about to take over a very big agency. What do we know about Michael Hayden's resume? The news keeps coming and we'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM after the break.
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PHILLIPS: New mission for Air Force General Michael Hayden. President Bush says Hayden knows intelligence from the ground up, but is he the best man for the top job at the CIA? We'll take you to the Pentagon and the White House to find out. That's all coming up on LIVE FROM.
Right now let's peak into General Hayden's past. He's 61 years, a veteran of assignments in South Korea, Germany and Bulgaria. Hayden led super-secret National Security Agency from 1999 until last year. That's where he oversaw and staunchly defended the controversial domestic surveillance program.
Right now Hayden is the top deputy to National Intelligence Director John Negroponte who oversees the CIA and 15 other agencies. Some who know him say if Hayden is confirmed as CIA chief, he won't be a Pentagon puppet. He's butted heads with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in the past.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: It's no illusion. This guy's been underwater for a week now, and one body part in particular is paying the price. See for yourself when LIVE FROM continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Ever feel like you're living in a fish bowl? Sure you do, Unless you're David Blaine, it's only a figure of speech. Blaine is the so-called illusionist whose latest feat of endurance takes him inside a water-filled bubble in New York City. But it's not his feet that caught the eye of CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Want to feel like a fish in a bowl? David Blaine is bowling them over with his mermaid act. Make that merman.
(on camera): They couldn't have fish in there with you, right?
DAVID BLAINE, ILLUSIONIST: The fish would probably die right away because the water is 96 degrees.
MOOS (voice-over): But lest you think this is like pretty woman frolicking in a tub...
BLAINE: It's not the prettiest sight to behold.
MOOS: Blaine is referring to his hands.
(on camera): Wow, you look like a corpse. I mean, your hands do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When he gets out he's going to be a living prune.
MOOS: Blaine entered his sphere Monday. Now more than halfway through his week-long submersion his hands are looking like something out of a monster movie. These are hands only a diving Web site could love.
(on camera): Why are your hands so bad?
BLAINE: Anywhere that your body doesn't have hair is not meant for the water. So the hands and the feet are the first to really take a beating.
MOOS (voice-over): But he's still having fun.
KELLY RIPA, TALK SHOW HOST: He's tickling my feet again.
MOOS: Kelly from Regis and Kelly joined Blaine live inside the sphere.
RIPA: How and where are you going to the bathroom?
BLAINE: You're standing in it. I'm just kidding.
MOOS: Actually, he's wearing a tube to take care of liquids and he hasn't eaten solids for weeks. Fans hold up signs like "We're hooked on you" and form a line to pass by.
(on camera): Did you actually ask him if he was lonely?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did. Yeah.
MOOS: What did he say, could he hear you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I put a paper up there. Said are you lonely? Are you single? And then he said yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That man is bigger than my daddy.
MOOS (voice-over): Easy kid. It's just that the sphere magnifies everything. Blaine's sure not gaining weight on this diet: glucose and minerals through a tube. Not exactly our idea of lunch. Blaine relaxes on the bottom of his sphere and sleeps in there. Unlike the star of "Splash," he doesn't grow fins when submerged. Blaine's extremities require twice daily massages with beeswax cream. His hands are starting to look like fangs. But take it from Gertrude...
(on camera): You could teach him a thing or two about wrinkles, huh?
BLAINE: It hurts even just to put these things back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's like millions of little paper cuts on his palms.
MOOS (voice-over): Yikes. Enjoy those bubbles, David, because you'll soon be holding your breath -- trying to hold it -- for nine minutes to break the record. Got to hand it to Blaine. That's assuming he has any hands left.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: You can see more from Jeanne Moos weeknights on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," 8:00 p.m. Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.
Dear Mr. President. Iran's leader has a few words for the leader of the free world. We're going to check in with our correspondent on the ground in Tehran for the latest. The news keeps coming. We'll keep bringing it to you. More LIVE FROM next.
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