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Blast Destroys Georgia Motel; Mayor Nagin's Blueprint for New Orleans; Mourning Hamas Endorses Plan Recognizing Jewish State

Aired June 27, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips from the CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Fiery blast and explosion rocks a Georgia motel. One person is missing in the rubble. We're live on the scene.
Threatening wildfires, tourists stranded at the Grand Canyon. Evacuations ordered in Nevada. Firefighters battling flames in several states right now.

Flood watch, roads turned into raging rivers, crews pumping water. Now all eyes are on a new storm that could develop into a tropical depression. LIVE FROM starts right now.

A powerful blast, huge damage, a two-story motel in ruins in northern Georgia. At least one person is unaccounted for. CNN's David Mattingly is at the scene in Bremen near the Alabama line. He joins me on the phone. David, any word to what caused the explosion?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on phone): No official word yet, Kyra, but I've talked to a number of people who were inside the building at the time. One couple, in fact, say that the blast occurred about three doors down from where they were staying. And they say that it appears that this happened somewhere in or near the hotel's laundry room. But, again, that has not been officially confirmed. And there's a lot of work to do before they actually determine the official cause of this disaster.

We have got state, federal and local authorities on the scene in these days of terrorism, every agency that has something to do with explosions is here right now, but at the moment everyone is working on trying to find ways to shore up some of the walls that have fallen down because of this so that they can send in search and rescue teams. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: So at this point they don't know how many people may be inside in and they don't know when they'll be able to get in there and search? Is that the deal?

MATTINGLY: They're not able to get in and search because of the continuing smoldering fire and the problem with the walls. They were able to account now for everyone they believe was in the building, and at this point this is one person not accounted for, and that was a hotel employee, a maintenance worker, we're told.

Some of his family is actually here on the scene. They're also waiting for some word as to his condition, but at this point they believe it's possible there's one person inside this building and that's what they're bringing the search and rescue teams in here for.

PHILLIPS: All right. Go got it. David, thanks so much. We'll continue to talk to you throughout the day.

Meanwhile, a rough day on the job in Brooklyn but two construction workers are safe now, thanks to a lot of helping hands. They men were pulled from wet cement at a construction site where they were trapped after some sort of collapse. No word on their condition, but they were said to be alert during that rescue. Sixty fire department units responded, along with the paramedics.

A century old club in a century-old building. It started as a celebration, it ended with a community leader dead. The historic building is in shambles and the town of Clinton, Missouri is mourning right now. Our Sumi Das just got to the scene with the latest developments. Sumi?

SUMI DAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks very much, Kyra.

And I'm going to step out of the way so you can see what remains of the Elks Lodge at this time. You can see that there are people still working here at the scene. They have been here for well over 12 hours now. The collapse of the building occurred at 7:30 yesterday evening. They were sitting down for dinner, there were about 50 people inside. They were going to have an initiation ceremony and it seems that the floor just disappeared beneath them, that according to people who were inside the building.

Now, one of the people who was inside, Steve Cummings, he actually owns the building -- One of the people who was inside Steve Cummings, he actually owns the building - one ...

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

STEVE CUMMINGS, OWNS COLLAPSED BUILDING: Well, what we saw the side wall where most of us were sitting kind of bowed in and collapsed the second floor, then the third-floor roof came down on us.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

DAS: There were a total of 10 people trapped in the building. Many of the people made it out immediately after the building collapsed. Nine people were rescued. And then this morning at about 7:45 a.m., a rescue worker saw evidence that the leader of the Elks Lodge chapter here in Clinton, Missouri, was in fact dead and did not make it out of this collapse.

The body, as far as we know, has not yet been recovered. At that time, the search and rescue mission returned to a recovery effort. We spoke with police officials just a little over an hour ago and they were still working to try to recover the body.

Of course the community here is very distraught. This is the kind of place where everybody knows everybody, and many people did know that one individual who perished in this collapse. His name was Tony Komer. He was 32 years old. He has two sons, he's married. He's been described as a family guy, a good guy, a person very involved in the community and it's not yet known what the cause of the collapse was, but we have heard from those police officials that we spoke to earlier that a Department of Commerce - U.S. Department of Commerce team of structural engineers will be arriving tomorrow to determine the structural integrity of the surrounding buildings as well, to see if those buildings are also susceptible to the collapse that occurred at the Elks lodge.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: All right. Sumi Das. We'll follow up. Thank you so much.

And we're just getting video in now from one of our affiliates at WAVY, WAVY-TV, this is Virginia Beach, Virginia. As you know, within the past 48 hours, certain states have just been getting hammered, from Washington, DC, to Maryland. Right here in Atlanta, Georgia, and now we're getting these pictures of flooding in Virginia Beach, Virginia. High, rising waters. We'll continue to follow the weather conditions and of course we'll be checking in with Bonnie Schneider to find out if indeed this area will catch a break while it can recover from these rising waters.

Hills on fire in Nevada. Firefighters thought they had the upper hand in wildfires burning across the state until last night when lightning sparked a half dozen new fires around Reno and Carson City. Homes and businesses have been evacuated, but so far none has burned and no one has been hurt. About 1,000 firefighters are on the front lines there.

Stranded at the Grand Canyon but what a view. Hundreds of visitors and workers are at the north where a wildfire has jumped the only paved road in or out. Until the all clear is sounded, they're keeping watch from their lodges and hotels. About 200 people made it out last night on a rarely used dirt road. Now, to the south, near Sedona, evacuees are going home.

A fire there that has been burning for more than a week is no longer considered a threat to homes and businesses. It's about 65 percent contained. Firefighters say they should have it corralled by tomorrow.

Other wildfires burning in Utah and California, but they are far from the only state facing danger right now. Bonnie Schneider has more from the CNN Weather Center. Maybe we can tackle some of those areas that are flooding as well, Bonnie.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, Kyra.

First looking at the Southwest, it really is a double-edged swords when you have thunderstorms in the area because it could bring about a nice dousing of rain, but unfortunately the lightning strike do start fires and spread ones that are already going. So do the gusty winds.

So right now, spotty showers for southern Nevada, into parts of Arizona, and even up towards Utah at this hour, but overall a pretty dry picture. It's also certainly very warm as it has been over the past week or so. Current temperatures at this hour, Phoenix right at 93 degrees, it's still pretty early in the day, and temperatures should warm up once again to the triple-digit numbers.

Switching gears now, we go to the radar picture, because flooding is still a major concern for so many states, not only the Northeast, the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast as well. You can see the rain just coming in from the south to the north, as far north as Canada at this hour, even Montreal getting wet from that same system, but the area we're focusing on certainly is Washington, DC, Baltimore, Maryland, the eastern shores of Maryland and Delaware, where we had tremendous amount of flooding since Sunday and more is expected.

Now, the rain is coming down not as hard as what we were looking at yesterday, but we can show you a live picture of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and show you what's happening there. We've seen flooding in the Virginia Beach area and currently we do have spotty showers in the vicinity of that area at this hour, which certainly isn't helping things.

So right now the rain isn't too bad, but what's important to know is things could get a whole lot worse later on this afternoon. And as we come back to radar, I'll show you the reason why. We're monitoring an area of disturbed weather, a tropical disturbance that really has gotten going over the past 24 hours. This aircraft represents the hurricane hunter reserve aircraft that is now passing over the system.

What they're looking for is a closed area of circulation at the surface, meaning a tropical depression has formed. Otherwise it's just an unorganized area of thunderstorms. In any case, though, whether or not this becomes a depression, it certainly will bring a new batch of rain and as much as three more inches of rain to flood- stricken areas across Maryland and into Delaware and into Virginia.

You can see the future cast shows you over the next 48 hours we could be looking at the possibility of another two to three inches in some of those areas, and actually the track of this tropical system as we've kind of been watching it throughout much of the morning is likely to kind of hug the Eastern Seaboard, which is especially bad news for areas into the low-lying areas of Delaware, like Sussex County where there was over 11 inches of rain.

We'll watch this very closely throughout the afternoon, Kyra, and if it does becomes a tropical depression, we'll let you know as soon as we get that information.

PHILLIPS: All right. You mentioned that Hurricane Hunter there that you're tracking, Bonnie. That's actually Major Lance Ashland, and we're going to hear from him later in the show. He's going to tell us exactly what he's looking for.

SCHNEIDER: Excellent.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Bonnie. Well, hundreds more Iraqis say good-bye to Abu Ghraib. Four hundred fifty, give or take, the latest to go free from the infamous prisoner under the new regime in Baghdad.

CNN's Nic Robertson has the latest on that. Nic?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, it was just over the weekend the prime minister of Iraq said that under a 24-point national reconciliation plan, the government will start releasing prisoners.

And we went out today to the notorious Abu Ghraib prison to watch that happen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (voice-over): As the prisoners wait for their release, they get a lecture from the other side of the barbed wire on reconciliation, delivered by the country's national security adviser, Mowaffak al-Rubaie.

"Your release is real," he explains, "it's not a political game or propaganda. We need to unite Iraq and condemn violence." Polite applause, then as an al Rubaie tries to leave, prisoners appeal for all detainees to be released. Minutes later the prison gates open. Among the 450 men on their way to freedom, none with American blood on their hands, according to al Rubaie.

MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE, IRAQI NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: All were detained on a security basis, and none of them have been incriminated or convicted of killing Iraqis or Americans or Brits or any of the coalition or Iraqi security forces or Iraqi civilians, for that matter.

ROBERTSON: "Eighteen months I was detained," complains Aziz al Nuweimi (ph), a Sunni from Falluja, and they only investigated me once. He shows me his U.S. military charge sheet. It says he made car bombs.

And it says you tested positive for explosives. Had you been handling explosives?

He denies the charge, but adds he fears that just because he's a Sunni from Falluja, he will be arrested again.

(on camera): And this where the camera was in the telephone?

(voice-over): Twenty-three-year-old Jawad Mussad (ph) shows me his cell phone case. He says he was detained for having a camera cell phone, held for seven months, accused of photographing U.S. troops, but like everyone else being released, says he is innocent.

From behind the wire, others still being released say they too are innocent. "If the government is really sincere," he says, "they will release all prisoners, then there is a chance of reconciliation." AL-RUBAIE: Of course there is a remote possibility that one in a thousand or one in 10,000 might be going back and doing something wrong but this is a risk we have to take.

ROBERTSON: Already the government says it is getting positive signals from intermediaries their reconciliation/amnesty is working.

(on camera): This is the sixth of seven prisoner releases planned for the month of June, in total about 2,500 detainees are expected to be released.

(voice-over): Officials say they plan to let still more go but won't say yet how many or whom.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTSON (on camera): Now I asked al-Rubaie why he thought this reconciliation plan of releasing prisoners would work, and he said there are examples of it around the world. The only way to end hostility is for everyone to reconcile their differences and that's the model that they're trying to follow here in Iraq. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: So, Nic, was Rubaie able to tell you he is 100 percent sure that not one of these men, 450 men that were detained, are attached somehow to the insurgency? And is the U.S. military reacting to the release of these 450 men?

ROBERTSON: Well, the U.S. military was very much part and parcel of how we were able to witness the release of these detainees today. They were being held in a U.S. military detention facility, it's in a very dangerous area, the Abu Ghraib jail in the west of Baghdad, very volatile area, the only way we could get there was with the U.S. military and they assisted us, brought a number of journalists in to witness they, so they wanted to see it happen.

Al-Rubaie, he said that these people, none of them, and those were his words, none of them have committed acts of murder or attacking U.S., Iraqis, et cetera et cetera, so his work is that he can vouch for all of them, very hard to see that.

It was interesting to see that detainee that said I was picked up for explosive - he was charged, he said, picked up with explosive residue on his hands. That's a common test U.S. troops apply to people in Iraq when they think they have been involved in making car bombs or roadside bombs or whatever.

So what's the explanation? We don't get to see the trials, we don't get to hear the evidence. It's hard to make a real judgment on who's really guilty and who's innocent, especially when everyone says they're innocent.

But Rubaie says, yes, they're all innocent. All these people being released, know they haven't attacked American soldiers. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: We'll follow up. That's for sure. Nic Robertson, thanks so much. The new trial awaits Saddam Hussein. The Iraqi high tribunal says the ex Iraqi dictator and six codefendants will stand trial August 21st on genocide charges. Those arising from the killing of an estimated 100,000 Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s.

Among the codefendants is Hussein's cousin, the former general known as Chemical Ali. Hussein is on trial now in the killings of Shiite Muslims in a town where an attempt was made on his life in 1982.

A kidnapped soldier, women and teens in prison, a game of you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours, in the Middle East.

Also today, a huge announcement from Hamas when LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, flooding still threatens much of the East Coast. One man outside Washington says flash floods appeared to wash away everything in their path. Today more rain, keeping things miserable and dangerous. Roads have turned into raging rivers as muck as far north as Albany, New York. A Maryland woman was killed in an accident that was blamed on wet roads, and a foot of rain fell in some spots.

One hundred days, depending on what you're doing, can seem like forever or go by in a heartbeat. It's been a lot more than 100 days since Hurricane Katrina wrecked the Gulf Coast, but a 100 day rebuilding plan is at the heart of the newly reelected Mayor Nagin's blueprint for New Orleans. CNN's Randi Kaye took stock for "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL REED, RESIDENT OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA: You can see we have to put it in one sheet at a time.

RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Michael Reed is braving New Orleans' summer heat and rebuilding his mother's home in the Lower Ninth Ward.

REED: We have to be self-sufficient. We can't wait on these people to do anything for us. We realize that the only thing that's going to get done is if we do it ourselves.

KAYE: Like many here, Michael is fed up with waiting for government help.

(on camera): What do you think about the mayor's new 100-day plan?

REED: Well, you know, I'm kind of disappointed that I don't see anything that's actually happening right now.

KAYE (voice-over): After his reelection, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin made a promise. Within 100 days, he would have a plan for rebuilding, reducing crime, improving health care, and cleaning up trash. It's now day 26.

ROB COUHIG, 100 DAY INITIATIVE PLAN COMMITTEE: This is not a magic wand 100 days. It is to lay the predicate for the next three years.

KAYE: Rob Couhig heads the 100-day Committee.

What can I tell the people of New Orleans has changed since before the 100-day plan was in place?

COUHIG: I think a couple of things. First, we're approaching things differently than was approached in the first term.

KAYE: What has changed, though?

COUHIG: When you say what has changed, we now have a focus on criminal justice. We do have National Guard troops. We do have state troopers out. But here's what else has changed. The politics and the working with people has changed.

KAYE: Remember, Katrina struck 10 months ago. So do people still living in FEMA trailers really care how politicians get along, or do they want to know how billions of dollars in federal aid heading to New Orleans is going to be spent and when?

Do you have a concrete plan in place yet for what that money will be used for?

COUHIG: I think we have most of the elements in place.

KAYE: But no matter how many times we asked neither Rob Couhig or the mayor's office could explain where that money will be spent. Mayor Nagin declined to be interviewed for this story, but Monday afternoon announced progress. MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: I don't know where this came from but there seems to be this incredible perception that we have done no planning.

KAYE: 26 days into it the National Guard is fighting crime. A pothole program is under way, and volunteers are standing by to rebuild abandoned homes. Starting Monday, four times as many trash collectors will be on the street. But the city councilman Oliver Thomas says more should have been done by now, especially in terms of housing.

OLIVER THOMAS, NEW ORLEANS COUNCILMAN: If there are leaders who believe that certain communities are not viable, say that. Don't let these communities and these people waste their time talking about rebuilding and coming back home. That would be extremely unfair.

KAYE: Unfair to people like Michael Reed, who says he's heard it all from politicians, over and over again.

MICHAEL REED, NEW ORLEANS RESIDENT: That's what politicians do. You know, they threw out a 100-day plan, and then when that 100's over they throw out another 100-day plan, you know. So I guess we'll be like that for three or four years, you know, with these 100-day plans. I guess by the time he gets out of office the next mayor will throw a 100-day plan at us.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Anderson Cooper is keeping them honest on 360 weeknights, 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific.

You heard reports, how much FEMA money was misspent after Hurricane Katrina. Well, coming up we'll talk about some of the funding flops with the head of the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force. That's straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

Now back to our top story. A motel explosion here in Georgia. David Mattingly is on the scene.

MATTINGLY: A hotel fire in Bwesh (ph), Georgia. Officials are looking for an employee who may still be inside. I'll have details as LIVE FROM continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's never accepted, never recognized, never back down from demanding the destruction of Israel, but today, though, Hamas is endorsing a plan that essentially recognizes the Jewish state. Hamas, as you know shares control of the Palestinian Authority with the much more moderate Fatah Party. It's an uneasy alliance at best, but sources say the two have finally agreed on a plan envisioning a Palestinian state alongside Israel. The plan falls short of international demands that Hamas renounce violence.

Now, overshadowing everything is the crisis over a kidnapped Israeli soldier. Some 3,000 Israeli troops are massed along the border with Gaza waiting for orders to move in if the soldier isn't returned.

CNN's John Vause joins me now from Gaza City. John, are they looking at another Israeli occupation?

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Israelis are saying they do not want to reoccupy Gaza, but they have made it perfectly clear that the clock is running down and they're not prepared to wait much longer for the safe return of the 19-year-old soldier, Gilat Shalit, and they say that if it does come to the point of ordering a military operation to recover their missing soldier, the operation will be extensive, it will be prolonged, and it will last for more than just a few days.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIR PERETZ, ISRAELI DEFENSE MINISTER: There is no doubt we will have to carry out an operation which could cost many lives, but the Palestinian groups have to understand there is a price to pay for any attacks against Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Palestinians too are making their own preparations here in Gaza. Militants from Islamic Jihad have spent the day planting landmines in the central part of the Gaza strip, also on many roads in and out of Gaza, Palestinians have dumped huge piles of sand (ph) designed to slow down the advance of Israeli tanks and armor, it's an old tactic used by the Palestinians during the Intifada.

The sand berms also used to provide cover for Palestinian gunman. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Now, a lot of this seems to hinge on the fate of the kidnapped soldier. What do we know about him and his status?

VAUSE: Well, so far no word from the hostage-takers about his condition. A photo has been released. What we have heard, though, from Israeli intelligence is believes he's being held in the southern part of Gaza, quite possibly in the city of Khan Younis, that's the second biggest city here in the Gaza Strip.

PHILLIPS: And how are Israelis taking the news right now?

VAUSE: Well, for many Israelis, this is probably their worst nightmare if not close to the worst. Military service is compulsory for almost every Israeli citizen. So the moms and dads waiting at home in Israel, they can relate to what this family is going through right now.

And as far as the national angst, not knowing what's happened to this 19-year-old boy really, if you look at the photographs of him, there is this uncertainty, in some ways a kidnapped soldier is worst than a soldier, rather, killed in combat, because they just don't know his fate. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Now on the other side, the Palestinians were out protesting. Isn't that right?

VAUSE: Well, we've seen protests over the last couple of days by families of Palestinian prisoners. You have to remember that for Palestinians the prisoners who are being held in jails are considered heroes or martyrs to the cause, so for them it's a very dear issue to try and have those prisoners released.

They want this 19-year-old soldier used as some kind of bargaining chip in a prisoner exchange. However, some Palestinians I've been speaking with over the last day or so, say enough is enough, if we can avoid bloodshed, then release this soldier unharmed. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: John Vause, appreciate it.

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