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Storms Lash Both Coasts; Pentagon: Iraq Not a Civil War

Aired September 01, 2006 - 13:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, HOST: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
A tale of two storms. On the East Coast the storm formerly known as Ernesto. High tide is the mounting fear. Who will be flooded out next? Off the Pacific Coast, Hurricane John drives out thousands of tourists from Acapulco to Cabo, the worst expected during LIVE FROM. CNN's Harris Whitbeck riding out the Cat 3 hurricane.

And prison break, a manhunt in New York state. Is the fugitive targeting cops? A live report on the search.

LIVE FROM starts right now.

Strong winds, heavy rain. We've watching a dangerous tropical depression, Ernesto. Straight to the newsroom now. Fredricka Whitfield has details on this developing story -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, it is a tropical depression, but it's still loaded with a lot of water. And Jacqui Jeras will be joining us a little bit later to talk about its track.

Meantime, while it has left for the most part South Carolina, it is now dumping a lot of water in parts of North Carolina and soon to be threatening Virginia and some other mid-Atlantic states.

You're looking at live pictures right now of Washington, D.C., and other parts of Virginia where the skies are dark and the rain is expected, and a trickle already still experienced -- being experienced in the nation's capital.

North Carolina, already seeing its fair share of Virginia, about to. In North Carolina, one reported death related to the storm. And Virginia, in Virginia, the governor, Tim Kaine, has already declared that state a state of emergency, anticipating what is to come.

He is to hold a press conference and brief reporters as well as other officials there momentarily. And we're going to continue to monitor that, as well as monitoring a number of pictures and information coming from our various affiliates along the East Coast, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Fred, thanks so much.

Well, floods and mud, wind and worry, Hurricane John is bearing down on Baja, having lashed the Pacific Coast of mainland Mexico for days. CNN's Harris Whitbeck riding it out in Cabo San Lucas.

What's the mood there, Harris?

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, we're still waiting for the worst of the storm. Throughout the morning, we've had at times intense winds and rains right now. It's relatively calm. But we do expect the conditions to deteriorate over the next few hours or so.

Officials here in the region in the southern part of the Cabo -- of the Baja Peninsula have been taking extreme measures. They have asked about 15,000 residents of low-lying areas to take shelter in public schools that have been taken over and are being run by members of the Mexican army.

Meanwhile, 7,000 tourists, many of them from the United States, are hunkered down in hotels. They could not get out. Yesterday's flights out of here were full. The airport here, of course, is closed and will probably remain closed for the remainder of the day and possibly into early tomorrow morning -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Harris, let's talk about tourism. This is a popular place to go. If I remember correctly, a lot of those hotels right there long the water with windows and rooms overlooking the ocean. How's this affecting everybody that's there now? What are they doing?

WHITBECK: Well, I can tell you about where we are. We're in one of the biggest resorts in the area, the West. It has about 350 guests who remain behind here, either because they couldn't catch flights out before or because they decided to ride it out.

They are being held in a ballroom, a ballroom that's been turned into a shelter that has a movie theater. It has a ding room. It has medical services. They're in pretty good shape.

I think the worst thing that could happen to them as the afternoon progresses, they might go a bit stir crazy because there really is not that much to do except ride out the storm.

You mentioned tourism in general, and the industry itself could be affected. Remember last year, Hurricane Wilma devastated Cancun, which is the other large tourism destination in Mexico -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Harris Whitbeck, thanks so much. Live from Cabo. We'll keep checking with you.

Meanwhile, we'll take you live now to a news conference, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine taking questions from reporters about Ernesto.

GOV. TIM KAINE, VIRGINIA: ... declare the emergency. That is probably one of most delicate calls. If you declare too early and nothing happens then people -- it's kind of a boy who cried wolf phenomenon. People may not take the next declaration seriously.

But if you don't declare early enough, and you're too late, then you don't have the assets where you need them. We have kind of in the deployment of assets, National Guard and then the swift water rescue teams. Our goal has kind of been flexible, to move them around depending.

We originally were going deploy, for example, the swift water teams to Fredericksburg and Danville. Because of the way the rain is happened, and we have switched the deployment of them to Richmond and to Emporia.

The Richmond team is being used a little bit in the flooding that's taken place over in the Battery Park area. And so, you know, we learn about how to make the declaration and then to keep some of the assets, people and resources a little bit flexible as we see what happens with the storm and to move around.

You know, other lessons we've learned, too, about, like, evacuation routes we've been putting into place for some of the barriers we've been installing on Interstate 64 so that we could reverse lanes and do a double evacuation, if we needed to. Thank goodness, it does not look like Ernesto will require us to do that.

Yes, Michael?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) power -- are you satisfied (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

KAINE: There are conference calls happening very frequently, and Dominion is on those calls with both our state officials and representatives from the local communities and the two regions. There's regions one and five that we're -- that we've been focusing on, primary regions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

KAINE: And the statewide calls, as well. And so they're on all of the calls reporting on what they're doing. So far it does appear that, you know, they're doing what...

PHILLIPS: Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, just dealing with reporters, and, of course, the people in his state about what's happening with Ernesto.

Also keeping an eye on both Ernesto and Hurricane John. Jacqui Jeras, she's been pretty busy in the CNN Weather Center.

Jacqui, do you want to start with Virginia or where do you want to -- where do you want to go?

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I want to start with Virginia and also North Carolina. And even though the weather is over with, for the most part, in North Carolina, we just have some breaking news to report out of Elizabeth City, that the National Guard is rescuing people from some homes right now, due to the flooding.

So even though the rain stopped, many of the rivers are still on the rise. And this will be an ongoing problem, at least through the day for today. The worst of the weather that's occurring right now from Ernesto, really along the I-64 corridor here in this region between Richmond and down towards Virginia Beach. The center of circulation is into parts of Virginia at this time.

There you can see Virginia Beach. Here's Norfolk. And we do have a live picture out of the Norfolk area, showing you the rain coming down, the winds which are blowing right now. Looks like a little bit of a rough surf, but not too terrible there.

You're looking at worst of your conditions that you're going to be experiencing right now. Watch for conditions to slowly improve in Norfolk. Even in over the next half an hour, things are going to be looking a little bit better here.

But copious amounts of rainfall in this region. They're going to be coming down a good inch to an inch and a half per hour and bringing those totals up just tremendously.

Heading up towards Washington, D.C., along the I-95 corridor here, you can see the rain coming down. D.C. should be picking up a good one to three inches of rainfall. Baltimore also getting the showers right now and farther on up to the north as we head towards Philadelphia, Wilmington.

There you see just some light showers possibly in some of these green areas. But Philadelphia proper right now, just reporting the cloudy conditions. And this is going to be affecting travel all across the eastern corridor today, really from Atlanta, extending all the way up into New York City because of the low clouds and fog, as well.

Rainfall amounts continue to come in. Elizabeth City, where I was just talking about the evacuations taking place, look at the rainfall totals here: nearly 10 inches. And that is just preliminary. We think those numbers probably are going to be bumped up when all is said and done.

Check out Grifton, just nearly 10 inches there, as well. Wilmington, about 9 1/2. And then we had over eight inches in Norfolk. And of course, Norfolk, the rain continues to come down at this hour.

This is a computer model forecast showing you the rainfall amounts we're expecting in the next 48 hours. A little bit different than the one you saw yesterday. So take note.

Really confining things for the worst of the weather across parts of West Virginia, Virginia and also into North Carolina. The white that you see is three inches or more of rain -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Have you ever been to old town Alexandria there in Virginia?

JERAS: I haven't been. I've been around the area but not at that spot. PHILLIPS: Beautiful spot. We've got a live picture out of there, since we've been talking about Virginia, Jacqui. Right there on the waterfront. This is one of our CNN cameras, because we're trying to get live shots throughout the whole area where we're seeing the presence of this activity.

We are monitoring, obviously, what's happening in the state. Governor Tim Kaine already talking about getting everything ready for the severe weather as it comes through there.

Meanwhile, Ernesto is weakening, but it's also slowing down. That makes wind damage less of a threat. Flood damage, more of one. The storm made landfall in North Carolina just before midnight.

Our Kathleen Koch is in Goldsboro and joins us live -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And Kyra, Ernesto may be weakening, but it certainly also, while it came through North Carolina, weakened a number of structures, one of them being this dam on a pond. I'm going to step aside and let my cameraman, Skip Noscioz (ph), show you.

This was, as he comes over here, a fish pond back to the left. It was held by a large dam. The waters were held back from a major highway. But as you can see, that dam has given way.

Right now, heavy equipment is in the process of driving in these huge steel pilings to reinforce the dam, and then they're going to try to redirect the water. Because what it has taken a chunk out of, as you look down into this 25-foot hole, is I-70. This is a major east- west artery in North Carolina.

So all of the traffic right now is being redirected to the westbound lanes, everything going east. And obviously slowing things down quite a bit now. But as it gets to be rush hour, this is really going to complicate matters here.

In the city of Goldsboro, what we're also hearing is that there is flooding. There's a creek that runs through town, a creek called Stoney Creek, causing some major flooding in a couple of neighborhoods. So after we leave here, we're going to go and check that out.

But North Carolina feels that largely it was very fortunate when it comes to the damage that it might have received from this hurricane. It could have been a lot worse.

The governor says at this point there was only one confirmed death from the hurricane, Governor Mike Easley saying people really paid attention to the requests to evacuate, some mandatory and some voluntary requests. But that's made a big difference here, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Kathleen Koch, appreciate it.

And when the weather become the news, you can become a CNN correspondent. If you see severe weather happening, just send us an iReport. Go to CNN.com and click on iReport or type in iReport at CNN.com on your cell phone and share your pictures or video.

Now scary scene in Silver Spring, Maryland. An out of control van plowed into a group of children waiting for the school bus. Ten are hurt, six seriously, none of the injuries thought to be life threatening. Police say the driver was coming up a hill and rounding a curve when he lost control. No charges filed for the moment.

In Iraq, one thing rules these days; that's violence. Explosions, rocket fire, literally dozens of people dead. Hundreds more hurt. We're live from Baghdad.

Plus, tracking a monster storm. The southern tip of Baja braces for full impact. We're live in Cabo San Lucas. Stay with CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You're seeing it live right now, Raleigh, North Carolina, Norfolk, Virginia, old town Alexandria, Washington, D.C. From the East Coast all the way to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Ernesto is weakening as it heads up the East Coast. It is a tropical depression.

We are reporting one death in North Carolina, one death in Virginia, 300,000 customers without power. The storm centered 60 miles southwest of Norfolk. Maryland, and D.C., now preparing. We're following it all for you.

Executions, assassinations, kidnappings, all on the rise in Iraq. But a Pentagon report says it's not a civil war; it's a setback.

Straight to Baghdad now. CNN's Michael Holmes.

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

That's right, if you ask people on the streets of Baghdad, they don't really care what you call it, it's bad.

Three hundred or so people have been killed this week alone. And that's just in the capital. Six hundred and 50 wounded, many of them with horrific injuries. So whether it's a civil war or not, many people here just consider that semantics. They would like to feel a little safer when they walk out their front door.

Now Operation Together Forward, this so-called battle for Baghdad, is continuing in many of the more problematic suburbs around the capital. But, the locals there, they say that while things have improved, now they're worried about what happens when those troops back off.

The reality is, the insurgents knew the troops were coming. They left those areas. There were no pitched battles in the street. And presumably they took most of their weaponry with them.

Now when the military operation becomes more of a policing operation, they say to us, when we've been out there, what happens then? Will the insurgents come back? Will the death squads come knocking at our door again?

And certainly the numbers that are in that report -- many people here will say that those numbers are low, by the way. Those numbers are not a surprise to many people in Baghdad -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Michael Holmes, thank you so much.

For more now on the Pentagon assessment, let's get to our senior Pentagon correspondent, Jamie McIntyre.

Jamie, weigh in.

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, you know, this -- every three months the Pentagon has to send a progress report to Congress to say how things are going in Iraq. In this case, the word "progress" might be somewhat debatable.

The report does cite some positive trends, but they are overshadowed somewhat by some of the grim statistics. In particular, the report shows that the number of attacks in June, July and August, the period that this covers, up 15 percent from the previous quarter, and the number of Iraqi civilians being killed up 51 percent.

If I can quote from the report it says, quote, "Sectarian tensions increased over the past quarter, manifested in an increasing number of execution-style killing, kidnappings, and attacks on civilians."

"The conditions that could lead to a civil war exist in Iraq," it concludes, but says, "the current violence is not a civil war, and movement toward civil war can be prevented."

That's also the view we got from one of the U.S. commanders on the front lines in Baghdad today whose troops, along with Iraqi troops, are trying to restore order to the capital city.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COL. TOM VAIL, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION: I've got an optimistic view that civil war would not occur but I can't predict the future. My optimism comes from the amount of forces and the amount of capability available in Baghdad right now as we intervene and we protect the people.

So right now, we see that there's actually a decline in violence in Baghdad; in certain areas, specifically, that we're applying more combat power to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCINTYRE: Yes. And to qualify, there's in certain areas, and of course, that's more recent, because of the offensive.

The report does cite increases in the capability of the Iraqi military. It talks about political progress. But it also says that setbacks, it says, in the nature and the level of violence is threatening the stability, the transition and the reconstruction of Baghdad.

So, a very sober assessment from the Pentagon.

PHILLIPS: Well, Jamie, let's talk about the Iraqi civilian casualties. We've actually been able to put together some numbers, right?

MCINTYRE: Well, the report, you know -- it actually cites some pretty startling statistics. It says, on average, the number of Iraqis, civilians, killed in Iraq is up a thousand a month for the summer months over the spring period. That, they say, represents about 1,600 bodies delivered to Baghdad city morgue in June, 1,800 in July. That's just part of the picture.

And they say of those deaths reported in those two months, 90 percent were the result of execution. So whether we're talking about a civil war or sectarian violence or the actions of death squads, the fact of the matter is that Iraqis are killing Iraqis, and the trend is not positive at this point.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jamie McIntyre, appreciate you tracking it.

On the lam and in the crosshairs. After two state troopers are ambushed in western New York, their comrades say, enough is enough. A manhunt is next on LIVE FROM.

Plus, the mid-Atlantic states are in the midst of Ernesto. Winds are waning, but the rain is a major threat. We're live up and down the coast. Stay with CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, he's one of the lucky two. Mark Origer was battling advanced melanoma, a life-threatening form of skin cancer, but doctors say Origer's life was saved by experimental treatment.

Doctors used his immune cells to hunt and kill tumors. Origer is now said to be cancer free more than a year and half after treatment.

Researchers say the clinical trials also saved another man with advanced melanoma, but the treatment didn't help 15 other patients. So doctors are trying to find ways just to make it stronger.

Well, on Wall Street, investors finally got what they had been waiting for all week. Susan Lisovicz at the New York Stock Exchange with a look at the big jobs report.

Hey, Susan.

SUSAN LISOVICZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra.

Well, you know, we got a lot of economic data this week, but the jobs report for the month of August was really one of the biggest, and investors are feeling pretty good about the numbers, because they were pretty good. The nation's employers added 128,000 new workers to their payrolls last month. That's basically in line with Wall Street's estimates, and it shows the economy continues to grow at a moderate pace.

A separate survey within the report shows the unemployment rate dipping to 4.7 percent. That comes after a surprise jump to 4.8 percent in July.

The numbers -- not too hot, but not too cool, either, the old Goldilocks scenario -- are giving investors some hope that the Federal Reserve may decide to keep interest rates unchanged again at its next meeting. Too strong of a jobs number would have indicated the economy heating up, and that may have prompted the Fed to boost rates to keep growth and inflation in check.

On the other hand, Kyra, if it was too weak, then you start worrying that the economy's slowing down too much, and that's worrisome, as well.

PHILLIPS: Well, that's job creation, but layoffs also in the news, right? A giant in the tech world may be getting set to give a few pink slips?

LISOVICZ: Yes. Intel is the company you're referring to, Kyra. According to a tech news web site and "The Wall Street Journal", the world's biggest chip maker is getting set to lay off between 10,000 and 20,000 workers.

The company has a global workforce of 100,000 people.

Reports say an announcement could come as soon as Tuesday of next week. Intel won't confirm the reports, but a company spokesperson points out that the company recently wrapped up a three-month review of its operations. The goal: to find ways to save up to $1 billion each year.

It's also trying to regain the upper hand from its chief rival, AMD. Intel shares, which are part of the Dow 30, are more than 1.5 percent higher this afternoon, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. How about the rest of the market today?

(STOCK REPORT)

LISOVICZ: Coming up next hour -- long distance subscribers listen up. Uncle Sam has a little something for you. I'll have details in the next hour. LIVE FROM returns in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Baja is bracing for a monster storm. Hurricane John bearing down on the Baja Peninsula of Mexico, winds near about 115 miles an hour. The Category 3 storm is expected hit around Cabo San Lucas in the next couple of hours. Fifteen thousand people have evacuated low-lying areas. Airports are closed, and you probably wouldn't want to be flying anyway. Seven thousand or so tourists who didn't get out are hunkering down in hotels.

Weaker but just as wet, the tropical depression once called Ernesto is -- rumbling up, rather, the mid-Atlantic seaboard, bringing floods and blackouts across North Carolina and Virginia.

The storm is expected to saturate the northeast all weekend. Flood watches are posted as far north as upstate north. Ernesto is blamed for at least two deaths.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Bonnie had Clyde, but police say Ralph "Bucky" Phillips has pretty much been a one-man crime spree since escaping from a western New York jail with a can opener. To some, he's a bit of folk hero. Now after an ambush that left two state troopers critically wounded, Bucky Phillips is the chief suspect. Melanie Pritchard is with WKBW, our affiliate Fredonia, New York.

What's the latest now on the search, Melanie?

MELANIE PRITCHARD, WKBW REPORTER: So far, they have not been able to find Ralph "Bucky" Phillips since their last encounter with him at around 6:00 last evening. He's been on the run for nearly four months now, the subject of an intense manhunt here in the western New York area, ever since he escaped from that Erie County jail. And state police are really bound and determined to find Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. They do believe he's responsible for shooting the state troopers last evening. And they're even pointing some blame at members of this community for ultimately contributing to the shooting of those two troopers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's clear to me that these troopers were ambushed.

PRITCHARD (voice-over): New York State Police superintendent Wayne Bennett showing obvious signs of frustration and dismay following the shooting of two troopers. Thirty-year-old Joseph Longobardo and 38-year-old Donald Baker were shot at with a high- powered rifle while staking out the house of Ralph "Bucky" Phillips ex-girlfriend in Palmfrit (ph). Both are hospitalized in critical condition. All indications point to Phillips as the gunman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has made threats against police officers via other individuals who either we or the Pennsylvania state police have spoken to.

PRITCHARD: In an early-morning news conference, Bennett blasted those who have been helping Phillips evade police, either by giving him money, or cell phones, or leaving their keys in their vehicles for him to steal. Bennett says no one is safe with Phillips on the loose. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This person's going to get desperate sooner or later. And if you happen to be the ticket to his freedom, you're going to find out what I'm talking about. How far does it have to go before the people who really think he's a folk hero come to realize that he is anything but?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PRITCHARD: State police also believe that Phillips is the prime suspect in the theft of more than 40 handguns and six high-powered weapons from a gun shop here in the Shetaco (ph) County area about a week ago. To tell you the number of troopers that are in this area, they've been brought in from all across New York state. They're also getting help from nearby police agencies, from three counties, and even Pennsylvania, as they continue this massive manhunt for Ralph "Bucky" Phillips. There are 22 checkpoints set up throughout this county alone.

And some residents in this area are not taking that too well. They don't like to have their lives inconvenienced by this. But the New York State Police superintendent says, "What else do you expect us to do? Our job is to catch this guy." And that's what they intend to do.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: But this has been going on since April, right, Melanie? So how is this guy been able to carry on like this for so long?

PRITCHARD: Well, the No. 1 reason, police believe, that, you know, they haven't been able to catch him is because he's getting help from a lot of friends, a lot of family. Six people, by the way, are under arrest for helping him already. And they say they're not getting tips from people on sightings of Ralph "Bucky" Phillips until maybe an hour or two after the fact, so he has plenty of time to get way.

PHILLIPS: Melanie Pritchard with our affiliate there in Buffalo, WKBW.

Tracking a monster storm. The southern tip of Baja braces for full impact. We're going to take you live to Cabo San Lucas. Stay with CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

Plus, the FBI's 10-most wanted list. There's a vacancy. What it takes to fill that slot, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Live pictures from Portsmouth, Virginia. You can see the severe flooding that's taking place as we monitor Ernesto, a tropical depression. It's weakening as it's heading up the East Coast. But as you can see, we're already reporting deaths, one in North Carolina, one in Virginia, customers without power, and severe flooding in areas like Virginia here. Maryland and D.C. preparing for Ernesto. Let's get to Fredricka Whitfield. She's monitoring all of the various live pictures we have on Ernesto, and how it's affecting the country.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Kyra, while it has dumped a lot of rain in Virginia and parts of North Carolina, similar to the video that you were just showing just moments ago, here you're looking at the ominous clouds still in Raleigh, North Carolina, near the town of Elizabeth City, a very low-lying area that has experienced a lot of flooding in the past with tropical depressions and threatening storms just like this one. It is being succumbed to the same thing this time around. about 10 inches of rain has been dumped in the Elizabeth City area.

And in Pasquotank County, North Carolina, they're dealing with problems of their own. The county manager, Randy Keaton, is on the line with me now.

And Mr. Keaton, what are you experiencing there in Pasquotank County?

RANDY KEATON, COUNTY MGR., PASQUOTANK COUNTY, N.C.: What are you experiencing there?

WHITFIELD: We have approximately 50 percent of the roads and streets in Pasquotank County and Elizabeth City that have been flooded. We have evacuated three people from their homes, and opened up a shelter temporarily. We're about to close the shelter down because water is starting to go back down. But we have had a lot of flooding in low-lying areas and areas that we've never experienced flooding in before.

WHITFIELD: Areas like what?

KEATON: Well, lots of the streets, a lot of our main thoroughfares through town have flooded that we've never had flooding before. We've had approximately 12 inches of rain in different parts of the county. And I think this is probably a record for us, even during hurricanes that we've experienced in the last few years.

WHITFIELD: There were a number of rescues that took place, involving the National Guard in Elizabeth City. Have you experienced anything like that?

KEATON: We had to rescue -- the National Guard rescued a few people. I think that's the first time we've actually had to rescue people from their homes due to the high water. We've had the National Guard here before on standby, to assist people after a storm, but I believe this is the first time that I can remember we've actually had to rescue people from their homes due to high water.

WHITFIELD: And while it's good news -- you mentioned that at least one shelter is going to be closed, because the water seemed to be going down and receding a bit -- do folks in general have places to go if that shelter or more than one of the shelters do close down?

KEATON: Well, we have been publicizing our number all throughout the storm, asking people to call us if they need assistance. And so far, we've received very few calls since last night. So we feel that most people that may have water problems have either found other family members that can take them in or have made other arrangements. But for the most part, most of the houses were just impacted by access to them, not necessarily water coming in the homes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Randy Keaton, the country manager in Pasquotank County, North Carolina. Thank you so much.

So, Kyra, you're seeing the situation there, the remnants of Ernesto. Still being named Ernesto because it once was a tropical storm and once was Hurricane Ernesto. Now a tropical depression, but still dumping a lot of rain there in Virginia, North Carolina and other mid-Atlantic states -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right, Fred, thanks.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, mosquito bite turns deadly for a Massachusetts boy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's pretty sad your kids can't play outside and you got to worry about them getting stung by a mosquito and winding up in a coma.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, parents are worried and a family is grieving. We'll have the details, straight ahead.

Plus a deadly fire on a passenger plane in Iran. We're going to have a report from Tehran.

Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This is the severe flooding that's affecting Portsmouth, Virginia right now. These pictures coming to us from our affiliate WAVY, W-A-V-Y. You know, Ernesto has slowed down as its worked its way northward through North Carolina and Virginia. It's becoming a tropical depression. But it's caused at least two deaths, one in North Carolina, one in Virginia; 300,000 customers without power. And now Maryland and D.C. are preparing for this.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: Well, he's leaving Las Vegas all right. We just don't know when. Authorities in Utah are mum about the transfer of polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs from Vegas to Purgatory Jail in St. George. The states have 30 days to work out the details. When Jeffs does get to Utah, he'll be held without bail in isolation, one hour a day for showers, phone calls and exercise, and up to two hours a week for visitors.

A name comes off, a name goes. This week's arrest of fugitive sect leader Warren Jeffs leaves an opening on the FBI's most wanted list. But not just any scofflaw or bailskip can take his place. CNN's Kelli Arena investigates the vetting process.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There are hundreds of them, fugitives considered armed and extremely dangerous, like Justin Solondz, an alleged ecoterrorist and arsonist, or Michael Johnson, wanted for his alleged role in three execution-style murders in New Mexico.

They are among the possible candidates for Warren Jeffs' spot on the FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives list.

MICHAEL MASON, FBI EXECUTIVE ASST. DIRECTOR: The field offices all know the value of the top 10 list, and they all would like to get their most dangerous person or the criminal that they want the most on the top 10 list.

ARENA: Mike Mason oversees the FBI's criminal division. He says each of the bureau's 56 field offices can submit candidates for the list. A committee at headquarters goes over the choices, and the deputy FBI director gets the final say.

MASON: It has to do with dangerousness, number one; and number two, the likelihood that the publicity is going to increase the probability of their apprehension.

ARENA: True enough, of the 482 fugitives who have made the list since it began in 1950, 453 have been caught, a 94 percent success rate. On average, it takes about 121 days.

But then there's Donald Webb, who allegedly murdered a police chief in Pennsylvania. The FBI's been hunting him for 25 years.

The types of criminals on the list have changed over the years from bank robbers to drug kingpins to terrorists.

MASON: It's a reflection of what society deems is important as well, I mean, because again, there are more bad guys than -- it would take a hundred top 10 lists to put them all on it.

ARENA: Veteran FBI agent Brad Garrett explains the advantages when you're chasing down someone on the top 10.

BRAD GARRETT, FBI AGENT: Particularly when you get a lead of a potential that the person might be in your territory, it's very easy so get help, both from other law enforcement agencies, but there's a certain energy I guess about my, we might find somebody or catch somebody on the top 10 today.

ARENA: Garrett nabbed Mir Amil Kasi in Pakistan in 1997. He was on the top 10 for the politically motivated shooting spree outside CIA headquarters in Virginia.

GARRETT: The reward was substantial, and I think that was the driving force for the sources to give us the correct information.

ARENA (on camera): FBI officials insist that politics has nothing to do with who makes the top 10, and that factors such as race are not involved.

(voice-over): They expect to name the newest addition in the next few weeks, but so far there's no obvious frontrunner.

Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: You can see more of Kelli Arena's reports on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," weeknights at 8:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

Felony charges in the horrible death of a foster child. Police in Ohio say 3-year-old Marcus Fiesel was found in a blanket bound up, locked up, and left in a closet for two days while his foster parents went to a family reunion.

When Liz and David Carroll came home, it's alleged they found the boy dead, tried to cover up what happened and later reported him missing. Both have pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and bigger charges could be coming. They're being held on more than $10 million bond each.

Truck versus van in Indiana. It took five weeks to figure out who lived and who died. Now the Michigan truck driver who allegedly caused that heart-rendering accident faces five counts of reckless homicide. Prosecutors say Robert Spencer had been driving his loaded semi for at least nine hours longer than laws allow when he hit a van from Indiana's Taylor University.

Evidence shows he was asleep at the wheel. Four students were killed along with a Taylor staff member. The crash drew national attention when a survivor was mistakenly identified as one of the victims. The girl's parents didn't realize the mistake until five weeks later.

On the lamb and in the crosshairs. After two state troopers are ambushed in western New York, their comrades say enough is enough. A manhunt is next on LIVE FROM.

Plus, tracking a monster storm. The southern tip of Baja braces for full impact. We're going to take you to Cabo San Lucas. You're watching CNN, your hurricane headquarters.

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