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Hurricane John Expected to Slam Ashore the Baja Peninsula Within Hours; Pentagon: Missile Defense Test a Success; Military Doctors Treat Residents of Violent Baghdad Suburb

Aired September 01, 2006 - 13:59   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's the top of the hour.
Too late to leave. Hurricane John is bearing down fast on Baja, California.

CNN's Harris Whitebeck is riding it out on Cabo San Lucas, right on the southern tip of the peninsula.

Harris, what's happening right now?

HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Well, for now, the winds and the rains have calmed down a bit. We have seen the conditions vary greatly over the last several hours.

We now understand that Hurricane John will be approaching the southern tip of the Baja, California, peninsula within hours. It seems to have slowed down a bit from its -- the original trajectory indicated it would be very close to this area by 11:00 a.m., which is just an hour ago here.

Meanwhile, lots of people hunkered down. Some 7,000 tourists, many of them from the United States, hunkered down basically in hotel ballrooms after they were asked by hotel management to evacuate their hotel rooms.

Many people tried to get out yesterday the flights out of here were completely oversold yesterday, and the airport now is, of course, closed due to the weather situation. And we expect it to be closed for the remainder of the day and possibly through tomorrow morning.

Local residents, 15,000 of them, have been ordered to evacuate their homes which are in low-lying areas. They're now in shelters being run by the Mexican army. The concern is that Hurricane John might bring so much rain to this area, which is a desert -- the ground here is not prepared to absorb much water -- so the rains could cause flashfloods and mudslides in this area. That's the main concern, and that's why all these people have been evacuated from their homes -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Harris Whitbeck, we'll keep checking in with you there in Cabo.

Meanwhile, tracking Hurricane John, Jacqui Jeras in the CNN weather center. Pretty busy there with everything that you're monitoring.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. And we've got some wildfires, too, by the way, Kyra, so I'm trying to stay abreast on the latest on that going on in Montana.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui. We'll keep tracking it.

Thanks.

Fredricka Whitfield working another story for us out of California -- Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well, this along the Pacific coast. A problem, not believed to be weather related, but a problem, nonetheless.

Live pictures right now of the scene near the Point Vicente Lighthouse in Rancho Palos Verdes, where L.A. County firefighters are on the scene right now because of this, this 40-foot -- 45-foot vessel which burned mysteriously off shore there, burned right down to the water line. And you can see it's sinking there.

Miraculously, there was one person on board and was rescued by some passersby who saw that there was a problem on that boat and that boater was in trouble. They managed to rescue that boater.

This vessel burning with 600 gallons of diesel on board, certainly not helping the situation. But we're still not sure exactly why this 45-foot vessel burned right there off the Pacific coast near Point Vicente Lighthouse in Rancho Palos Verdes -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Fred.

Well, parts of Virginia are getting drenched by the depression that was Ernesto. Flooding is reported, severe flooding, and more than 200,000 Virginians have lost power.

Rob Marciano joins me by phone from Williamsburg.

Jacqui was talking about Williamsburg, actually, as we were watching the radar. She mentioned that place in particular.

Can you give us a bird's eye view, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I can tell you that if the radar showed a lot of bright colors, then it definitely corresponds with what we're seeing on the ground.

For the past hour and a half it has been coming down in sheets and been blowing sideways. If the center of what's left of Ernesto didn't pass over it, I'm sure we were pretty darn close.

Water ponding (ph) certainly on the sides of the roadways. And what we've seen on Highway 64, we have not really moved much in the last hour and a half.

Trees are down along Interstate 64. A little road report for you, a little traffic report. If you're trying to get east towards Norfolk, you have got to get off at Exit 238. The interstate is actually closed right now because they have to clear it of the trees.

A lot of saturated ground, and the winds blowing 20, 30 miles an hour. That's enough to topple trees. And as you mentioned, over 200,000 people are without power.

Down a little bit, Elizabeth City and extreme northeastern North Carolina, the National Guard is being sent in, we're told, because of severe flooding there. Fifty percent of the roads are closed in Elizabeth City.

The Pasquotank River apparently is doing some of the damage along that area. So extreme northeastern North Carolina and extreme eastern Virginia seem to be the hardest hit spots, and we're having a hard time getting to where we need to go.

Portsmouth, Hampton, Norfolk and Pakoshen (ph), right long the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay area, getting the heaviest amounts of rain streaming in, and certainly flooding problems. So that's the direction we're heading, but we are stuck in Williamsburg -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: OK, Rob. Appreciate it.

Meanwhile, another developing story. This one coming out of the Pentagon. Jamie McIntyre once again joining us.

What's the deal with this missile test out of Alaska?

JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SR. PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, if this was a sporting event, Kyra, the would say, "They shot, they scored." This was an intercept test, the first one really in 18 months after some problems with the national missile defense system, the last two tests.

A target missile was launched from Kodiak Island, Alaska, just after 1:00, about 1:23 this afternoon. An interceptor missile was fired from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the first time they fired an interceptor from that. And they had an intercept over the Pacific.

The Exoatmospheric Kill Vehicle separated and hit the dummy warhead in space. A successful test of the ability of the U.S. missile system to track a missile and shoot it down.

Now, the Pentagon had been downplaying expectations for this test, saying that the successful intercept was not a test objective. It was supposed to be "a data collection test," to test the tracking systems, the telemetry. They said if it actually hit the missile warhead, that would be a bonus, but that wasn't the objective. But, in fact, it did hit the missile.

Everything went as expected.

Now, critics, of course, say that these tests are not that realistic because they have an idea where the missile is coming, they don't have to deal with any sort of decoys or anything. But, nevertheless, the sophisticated systems that it takes to spot a warhead in space, to track it, to move an interceptor and get this kill vehicle in line with it so that they basically crash into each other in space, they pulled it off today.

So, we expect probably in the next two hours or so General Trey Obering, who is the head of the Missile Defense Agency, probably come and brief reporters at the Pentagon. I think the Pentagon is going to want to talk a little bit about how well this test went after a year and a half ago they had a couple tests that weren't successful because the -- the interceptor rockets failed to take off.

PHILLIPS: OK, Jamie. We'll check in then once they do that briefing.

Appreciate it.

A fugitive folk hero ups the ante for his capture in western New York. Ralph "Bucky" Phillips is the chief suspect in an ambush shooting last night that left two state troopers critically wounded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAYNE BENNETT, NEW YORK STATE POLICE SUPERINTENDENT: Both of these troopers were fired upon once each. However, we do have an individual that claims to have heard four gunshots at around that time in that location. To our knowledge, neither one of the troopers returned fire at anybody.

Based upon what I know about the trajectory of the gunshots, it's clear to me that these troopers were ambushed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Phillips is a career thief has been on the lam since April. That's' when he sprung himself from a jail cell using a can opener to cut through the ceiling. He's evaded cops ever since despite a $50,000 reward.

Some se Phillips as a minor celebrity, sporting T-shirts saying, "Run, Bucky, run" and "Where's Bucky?"

A 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 have been filed for the moment.

Tracking a monster storm. The southern tip of Baja braces for full impact. We're going to go back to Cabo San Lucas live. Plus, a deadly fire on a passenger plane in Iran. Details just ahead on LIVE FROM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: And live pictures, once again, from WAVY in Norfolk, Virginia. We've been following the severe weather of Ernesto. It's a tropical depression now.

It has weakened as it's headed up the East Coast, but you're seeing the aftermath now. It slowed down as it worked its way northward, through North Carolina and Virginia, reporting one death in North Carolina, one in Virginia. Still, up to 200,000, possibly more, customers lost power.

That storm centered 80 miles southwest of Norfolk. And Maryland and D.C. right now preparing for this.

Sixty-two dead, maybe more in 24 hours. Rescue teams in Baghdad worked through the night pulling bodies and survivors out of bombed- out buildings. Mostly in Shiite neighborhoods.

Police say that bombs were hidden in apartments and cars and went off at the same time mortars and rockets peppered that city yesterday afternoon. Now, some 300 people are reported hurt.

Name something, anything, that's a normal part of everyday life, and it's probably not possible or non-existent, or at least not normal in Baghdad.

CNN's Michael Holmes reports medical care is at the top of that list.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hamid (ph) is treated for a burn to his arm, a burn that's been untreated until now. Outside this makeshift clinic, for the first time in several months, locals in the usually violent Baghdad suburb of Gazalia line up for medical treatment, courtesy of the Iraqi and U.S. military. Until a couple of weeks ago, such a gathering in this Sunni neighborhood would likely have attracted death squads bent on killing these people and the troops who stand guard this day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's better now. Before we couldn't sleep, we were scared of the death squads that attacked us.

DR. HUY LUU, U.S. ARMY: The issue is having to feel safe to be able to travel that short distance to go to the clinic.

HOLMES: It's all part of the security crackdown known as the "Battle for Baghdad," a massive influx of troops here in recent weeks driving out death squads and uncovering arms caches like this one.

LT. COL. VANN SMILEY, U.S. ARMY: We found a variety of different weapons, ammunition, explosive devices and different tools and things used to inflict injury on both coalition forces and Iraqi security forces.

HOLMES: For now, the operation is about maintaining a presence and building trust. What officers call protect and hold.

(on camera): It's also very much about winning hearts and minds. Convincing locals like these people that it's in their own interest to reclaim their cities and resist the return of insurgents.

(voice-over): The soldiers who brought us here are friendly but wary. Incidents of violence here are down 50 percent, but far from over. The day before, a kidnapping and a bomb went off. Twenty-four hours after we came here with this unit of the 123 Stryker Brigade, a massive bomb hit one of their vehicles on the very road we drove along. Two soldiers were killed, others hurt.

Soon, U.S. troops will pull back, Iraqi troops will patrol. But much of the peacekeeping will be in the hands of Iraqi police and that is problematic. In this staunchly Sunni area, the predominately Shia police are feared and hated.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's the police who kill us. We don't trust them.

HOLMES: Gazalia locals still live in fear and filth. Garbage- strewn streets, most shops still shattered. Here we patrol through a pool of raw sewage.

But it's the return of those death squads they fear most of all. Bringing some measure of quiet to these streets is one thing, keeping it is another.

(on camera): Do you think it will stay this way, quieter?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope so. I don't think, but I hope so.

HOLMES (voice over): Michael Holmes, with the U.S. Army, Gazalia, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Airline disaster on the ground in northeastern Iran. This passenger jet caught fire after landing in Chod (ph), near Iran's border with Turkmenistan.

At least 30 of the 148 people on board were killed. Investigators believe a blown tire caused the plane to skid off the runway, breaking up and bursting into flames.

Like a good neighbor, Syria says it will play by the rules of the U.N. resolution that stopped the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

CNN's Anthony Mills has the latest on a whirlwind visit by the U.N. secretary-general.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANTHONY MILLS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A few hours ago, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan left the upscale hotel in downtown Damascus in which he was staying, and accompanied by Syria's foreign minister, Walid Al-Moallem, made his way to a meeting with Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Following that meeting, he gave a press conference at the airport here in a room close by.

And at that press conference, he said that he had been told by Syria's president that Syria fully supported Resolution 1701, the United Nations resolution which ended the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, and he said that the Syrian president had told him that Syria would help the United Nations implement that resolution. He said, as well, that Syria was committed to implementing an arm's embargo called for in that resolution and said that it would do all it could to implement that embargo.

And he said that he had been told by the president that that could involve joint border patrols on the border with Lebanon, along with Lebanese army troops. He also had been told, he said, that Syria could increase the number of troops it currently has on the border.

On the prisoner issue, he said that the Syrian president agreed that all prisoners should be released, but had raised the question of Syrian prisoners.

Anthony Mills, for CNN, Damascus.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Charged and now in custody. We're just getting video as a Michigan truck driver, Robert Spencer, is arrested for allegedly causing a horrific crash last April.

Spencer charged with five counts of reckless homicide. Prosecutors say that he 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 that 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 even realize the mistake until five weeks later.

A 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've got to worry about them getting stung by a mosquito and winding up in a coma.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Parents are worried. A family is grieving.

We'll have details straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

Plus, the Mid-Atlantic states are in the midst of Ernesto. The 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, we're keeping an eye on Hurricane John and Tropical Depression Ernesto.

Jacqui Jeras quite busy today in the CNN weather center.

Jacqui, a lot of severe flooding.

JERAS: I know. I'm running all over the place. I'm ready to kick off my shoes, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Go ahead.

JERAS: It would be a little bit more comfortable in my bare feet.

(WEATHER REPORT)

PHILLIPS: All right, Jacqui. Thanks.

Joining me on the phone now, Debra Dodson. She's an American businesswoman in Cabo San Lucas, riding out the storm with her husband and 90-year-old mother. She joins me on the phone.

Debra, my guess is it's probably hard to move mom around. You probably didn't have a choice to move.

DEBRA DODSON, CABO SAN LUCAS RESIDENT: That's true, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, tell me, what's the business that you own? I know you moved there 14 years ago from Torrance, California. What brought you to Cabo? What's your business?

DODSON: My husband is a golf professional, so we moved to Cabo so he could be a golf professional down here. And we bought a real estate company, Prudential, California Realty, and so we have a real estate company in Cabo San Lucas and San Jose.

PHILLIPS: So was -- was it mom and the animals that really kept you there? Is it that difficult to transport her? And are you concerned that it might be more dangerous to be there versus trying to get out?

DODSON: Actually, I think we're a lot safer being here. The houses down here are made of concrete block, and we have great storm shutters. And we're in a good position here. We're not in the lowlands. We're up on a hill, which the winds will be bad, but I'm sure that the flooding will be better for us because it all runs down hill. And the fact that they were evacuating a lot of tourists made it very difficult for locals to get out. But having our businesses here, we feel like we need to be here for our people, as well as my mother, and, you know, maybe we can help the community when this passes.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're already taking an incredible approach, Debra. That's great. My guess is you will be helping out, especially dealing in real estate.

You said your husband is a golf pro. So is this a busy time for tourists to come out there and play and to visit?

DODSON: The truth is, it's a little warmer right now. And since this is the basic hurricane season, where we get tropical storms normally this time of year, we don't have as much traffic. However, this year has been a great year for tourism down here.

PHILLIPS: All right. So, with this -- this severe weather coming in, what is -- what are the areas that -- that you have watched through the years that really get hammered? Is it just the low -- is it the lower-lying areas where the locals live? Is it that tourist area down on the strip which is right on the water?

Kind of give us a visual.

DODSON: Well, basically, because we don't normally get hurricanes here, we get, you know, the aftermath of it, or we get the outside edges and we get rain -- and rain is what hurts us a lot, because the entire Baja peninsula is covered with arroyos. So we don't -- we're a desert, so we don't get a lot of rainfall. And when we do, you know, it just heads right to the ocean. And anything in its way gets taken with it.

So, the downtown area of Cabo San Lucas is definitely in danger because it's low. And all the runoff from our hill up here and all in the barrios and wherever else in town run down toward the ocean. So, downtown Cabo will get it if we get a lot of rain.

PHILLIPS: Well, you're lucky your house is up over the hill.

Debra Dodson, we'll stay in touch and find out how it's going, OK?

DODSON: Thank you so much.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Debra.

DODSON: Bye-bye.

PHILLIPS: The Mid-Atlantic states are in the midst of Ernesto. The winds are waning, but the rain is a major threat. We're going to talk with Ron Keys, director of the Emergency Operation Center in Norfolk, Virginia, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Fredricka Whitfield. We're staying on the Ernesto front, but a fire developing out of Los Angeles.

WHITFIELD: That's right, something on each coast. Let's start with the West Coast, the fire taking place in a downtown Los Angeles building. We don't know exactly what this building is, but you can see from these pictures a pretty serious and growing fire. Firefighters on the scene trying their best to put it out and, of course, we're working our sources to find out what building this is, where downtown Los Angeles it's located, what may have started the fire and whether any lives are in danger.

Now, let's move to the East Coast. We've been talking about Tropical Depression Ernesto wreaking havoc on various states throughout the Carolinas and now Virginia as well. In Norfolk, Virginia, we have got the Director of Emergency Operations Center Ron Keys on the line with us now. We've seen a lot of standing water in various locations of Norfolk. We're looking right now, Mr. Keys, at some pictures of a tree that's been snapped and crossing part of a roadway. What is the situation overall there? What is your biggest headache of the day?

RON KEYS, DIRECTOR OR EMERGENCIES OPERATIONS CENTER: Well, in Norfolk we're very fortunate that the storm looks like it's cleared the area to the north. We've had quite a bit of rain over the last 24 hours, about seven-and-a-half inches of rain mainly resulting in a lot of flooded streets, intersections, stalled cars, but very fortunate, no fatalities or any major property damage at all.

WHITFIELD: In some parts of Virginia, especially along the North Carolina coast, there was a lot of standing water. We're looking at some videotape shot earlier of a bit of standing water. Are you dealing with much standing water there in Norfolk?

KEYS: Quite a bit of standing water. In fact, we started to take on heavy rain about 2:00 this morning, and it really became a problem during that rush hour and folks just didn't heed the warning of avoiding those areas and staying off the roads, if possible. What that tended to cause us was a lot of people being up in major intersections and a lot of traffic problems, stalled cars, so now we're at the point of just waiting some of the floodwaters to subside and moving some of those vehicles.

WHITFIELD: And are you still encouraging people to try to stay off the road, especially why you try to clean up the areas that do have problems?

KEYS: Yes, we are. We've been very fortunate. The media has helped us out quite a bit in getting that message out, that if you don't have to go on the roads, please stay off the roads. And if you see standing water, please avoid that standing water. Working very closely with the fire department and police just to go out and assist and get that message out and the fire chief is here with me now. He's had a pretty busy day just going out and helping folks from those intersections. WHITFIELD: All right. Ron Keys, Director of the Emergency Operation Center in Norfolk, Virginia, thank you so much. As we continue to look at the live pictures of some of the problems that they're experiencing there in Norfolk, Kyra. The Virginia governor has declared that state a state of emergency, but various problems throughout the state from standing water, to snapped trees and power lines, et cetera. They're going to be dealing with it for quite some time.

PHILLIPS: All right. We'll keep tracking it. Thanks, Fred.

The big sky over Big Timber, Montana blackened by thick smoke from a vast wildfire. One hundred and sixty thousand acres are scorched so far. Twenty homes and 15 other structures have burned to the ground. Cooler temperatures are helping slow the fire down, but not enough to let hundreds of people to let hundreds of people go back home.

It's called Triple E, Eastern Equine Encephalitis. It's carried by mosquitoes and it could kill the human beings whom those mosquitoes bite. That's what happened to a young Massachusetts boy. Today the whole town of Middleboro is mourning the death of a 9-year-old John Fontaine.

Reporter Linda Ergas of CNN affiliate WHDH in Boston has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA ERGAS, WHDH REPORTER (voice-over): Little Johnny Fontaine started feeling sick on August 18th after football practice. That was a Friday and by Sunday, he was in the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's awful. Just awful. I couldn't even imagine. Couldn't even imagine what the parents are going through.

ERGAS: This was Johnny's second year playing football with the Mitchell Memorial Club. He was a Cougar and parents and teammates are speechless. They were told at the 4:00 practice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's unbelievable that a mosquito could take somebody down like that. And just a few weeks ago he's running around the field like the rest of the kids.

ERGAS: The co-chair of the football club saying the fields in Middleboro are sprayed constantly. On top of that, the state has sprayed twice over the area. No question, Johnny's death has parents feeling very uneasy.

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

ERGAS: For those who knew him, Johnny was an unforgettable little boy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you looked at him, his freckles -- his freckles looking out from that helmet with the dirt on the face and, I mean, those types of things you don't forget.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: As we said, encephalitis is spread to humans through mosquito bites. Symptoms include high fever, headache, stiff neck, and fatigue, and may appear two to ten days after infection. Brain swelling can also happen, leading to a coma or brain damage. The virus is hardest on children and the elderly. Experts say about three of every ten human cases is fatal. The Center for Disease Control says that no human vaccine is currently licensed and it is unlikely that one will be available any time soon.

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Big news from Boston's Big Dig. The timetable for repairs keeps growing, so the state plans a temporary fix to get at least some traffic moving again. Governor Mitt Romney says that a key tunnel will open to traffic very soon. The tunnel links Interstate 90 with Logan Airport. Temporary supports will brace the tunnel ceilings until more permanent repairs can be done.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. MITT ROMNEY, MASSACHUSETTS: And the shoring towers have, in effect, now been all installed. The inspection process is underway with both state and federal authorities to assure that no corrective actions need to be taken. I can't tell you how long that inspection process will take, but presumably some time within the next week or so the -- this particular ramp, this particular tunnel system ought to be open.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: The tunnel and several ramps have been closed since July when ceiling panels fell and crushed a car, killing a 39-year-old woman.

The Big Easy wants the Big Apple's business. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is on a two-day business trip to New York trying to drum up investments for his shattered city, while trying to smooth over his disparaging remarks about Ground Zero.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: And I want to make sure that everyone in New York understands I love New York City, I've been here on many occasions, and I think that we, as New Orleanians and New Yorkers, understand what tragedies are all about and we understand the difficulty in trying to recover from a tragedy.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: Well, last week in a "60 Minutes" interview, Nagin got defensive about the pace of hurricane recovery efforts. He said New York -- and I quote -- "can't get a hole in the ground fixed five years after 9/11."

Hospitality has its limits. In Houston this week, almost 2,000 people turned out to urge the mayor to send Katrina evacuees back where they came from. Many in Houston blame the transplanted New Orleanians for a jump in violent crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want you to understand our situation in this community. And we appreciate your work and your hard work that you've done, but we want the New Orleans residents to go home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We can't walk to a park that was put in that is wonderful without being accosted. I want to know what you all are going to do about it or do we have to take it into our own hands?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Houston took far and away more Katrina victims than any other city. An estimated 120,000 are still there.

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.

Kathleen Koch is in Goldsboro and joins us via broadband -- Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the rain here in Goldsboro, North Carolina, stopped this morning probably between 8:00 and 9:00 a.m., but as you can see, the water here is still rising.

We are standing in the middle of a bridge over Stonycreek and residents here in this town of 40,000 say they have not seen flooding like this, water come up this high in Stonycreek -- gosh, they say since back in 1996 when Hurricane Fran dumped some 10 inches of rain on this city and then, of course, even worse was Hurricane Floyd in '99, dumping 22 inches of rain in about just eight hours.

Police are not overly concerned yet at this point about the water. They say that while there are neighborhoods on either side of Stonycreek right now, people do have other ways to get in and out. This is not the only way that they can access these neighborhoods.

They are concerned about some businesses that we just found out a few blocks north of here have been just swamped by the flood waters, gotten at least a foot of water in there. So after this report, we're going to head over in that direction and see how they're faring.

But right now we're told they're basically trying to haul what they can out of their businesses, see what they can save. But, again, police say at this point everyone when it comes to residences and businesses, people are safe. And in the state of North Carolina, the governor reports luckily they have been -- you know, they dodged the bullet on this one, lost only one life due to Ernesto at this point.

Back to you, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Kathleen Koch, we'll keep checking in.

A businesswoman in Dallas is set to make history in space. Find out about her mission, straight ahead on LIVE FROM.

Plus, entertainment news with Brooke Anderson of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." Brooke, what's on tap?

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Kyra.

Well, scoot over Emmys and Oscars. The latest awards show to wow fans is the MTV Video Music Awards. I have got the winners, the highlights and, of course, the scandals from last night's main event. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, the 23rd annual Video Music Awards are history and so too, say some reviewers, the event's capacity for shock and awe. Brooke Anderson of "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" was watching from Los Angeles. Hey, Brooke.

ANDERSON: Hey there, Kyra.

New York's Radio City Music Hall was a sea of flash bulbs, fashion and flair as some of the music industry's most talented members joined forces for the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACK BLACK, ACTOR: The entertainment cannon is going to blow up the sky! I wanted a much shorter fuse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: He is such a nut. Crowd-pleaser Jack Black hosted the 23rd annual event which honored Panic! At The Disco's "I Write Sins Not Tragedies" with the coveted video of the year award. British import James Blunt took home two moonman statues for his ballad, "You're Beautiful," including best male video and best cinematography. Kelly Clarkson's "Because of you" won best female video while Pink's musical commentary on superficial women, "Stupid Girls," won best pop video. There she is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PINK, BEST POP VIDEO AWARD WINNER: It feels good because behind the humor was an actual message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: The night also included a number of performances. I actually felt like I was watching a concert and not so much an awards show. Among those hitting the stage, best R&B video winner Beyonce had a great performance. She belted out her latest single, "Ring the Alarm."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: She's got some moves. Of course, the excitement of the night was not limited to the stage. Listen to this. Pop star Jessica Simpson turned out to be a big winner backstage. The 25-year- old singer won a new car in a behind the scenes luxury sweep sponsored by Chrysler.

Look at her. She is so excited. Celebs were all given the chance to choose a key, one of which would start a new Chrysler Crossfire, and Simpson selected the winning key.

Of course, with all the news surrounding the IRS' recent crackdown on celebrity freebies, it's left to seen or remains to be seen if Simpson will actually collect that prize. And does she really need a new car?

And finally, it wasn't all glitz and glamour in New York last night, especially for singer/actor Mos Def. He was arrested by the NYPD. According to police reports, the entertainer, whose real name is Dante Smith, and two others, were arrested in front of Radio City Music Hall for operating a sound reproduction device without a permit. Basically, he was performing without permission. Def's camp released a statement saying that the police overreacted and called the arrests unjust. They say Def was singing his song "Katrina Clap" in order to raise awareness and support for those still suffering from the effects of Hurricane Katrina.

Ultimately, the star was not charged and was released with a summons. Kyra, his publicist tells us he does plan to contest that summons.

PHILLIPS: All right, what else is coming up tonight, Brooke?

ANDERSON: All right, tonight on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT," Hollywood's fat fight. Why Hollywood's obsession with weight could make us average people feel guilty about how we look.

Catch a special edition of TV's most provocative entertainment news program. Hollywood's obsession with body image on "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT." That's 11:00 p.m. Eastern, 8:00 Pacific, Headline Prime.

PHILLIPS: Sounds good. Thanks, Brooke.

You may not know her name, but you soon will. Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-American businesswoman in Texas, is weeks away from making history in space.

CNN's Asieh Namdar has more on Ansrari's mission and her dream.

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ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For most of us, riding into to space is an impossible dream. For Iranian-born Anousheh Ansari, it will be a dream come true. Later this month, Ansari, a successful high-tech entrepreneur from Dallas, will make history. She will become the first female and the first Iranian- American space tourist, only the fourth space tourist ever.

The 39-year-old Ansari will ride a Russian capsule to the International Space Station with two astronauts; one Russian, one Spanish, one American. She will spend ten days at the station before returning with its current crew.

ANOUSHEH ANSARI, FIRST FEMALE SPACE TOURIST: I'm looking forward to capturing my feelings and my experience while I'm flying and when I get to this the space station. And then I will share it with everyone upon my return.

NAMDAR: Ansari grew up in Iran until she was 16, then moved to the United States. She has a deep connection to the Iranian people and the culture. On one arm, she wears the American flag. On the other, the Iranian flag, minus the emblem representing the Islamic Revolution.

Ansari got her chance to make space history because of someone else's bad luck. She's replacing a Japanese businessman who failed a medical test.

ANSARI: I know how hard he had trained and how excited he was about the flight, and he was looking forward to it. So, I hope that in the very near future, he will be able to come back and finish his training and finally realize his dream, as well.

NAMDAR: Ansari's contract bars her from saying how much she paid for the trip. The three previous space tourists -- Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth and Greg Olsen -- reportedly paid $20 million each. Perhaps a small price to pay for what Ansari considers an opportunity of a lifetime.

Asieh Namdar, CNN, Atlanta.

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PHILLIPS: 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.

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