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Death Toll Rises to 10 in California Mudslides; High Court Faults Sentencing Guidelines

Aired January 12, 2005 - 10:00 ET

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

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

SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Let's head over to Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez. We're over by a little, teeny bit. Sorry, guys. You're going to take us over the next couple of hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.
Hello.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Hey, good to see you both.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: You guys have a great day in New York City. We are expecting, as always as we have in this program, a lot of live events, including President Bush will be speaking in a bit talking to seniors. Guess what high school seniors? Want you to take more tests.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Just what they want to hear, right?

KAGAN: Yes. Exactly, senior year.

SANCHEZ: Also something really interesting that we're going to be sharing with you today. And it has to do with the food pyramid. Remember when we were kids and we were told you had to eat a certain way? Well, there's a new one out. The government's take on what we should and shouldn't eat. You know, the whole carb/fat thing.

KAGAN: And you follow that, right?

SANCHEZ: No.

KAGAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: But I still want to hear what they have to say.

KAGAN: OK. How about first we take a look at what's happening now in the news?

SANCHEZ: President Bush will be in the news. He wants to expand the No Child Left Behind Law to high schools, as Daryn just had mentioned. The president has proposed funding two more years of math and reading tests. Mr. Bush is about to unveil his proposal at a Northern Virginia high school. We will carry it for you; the president's remarks that is, live. That should come sometime around the bottom of the hour.

Also, new concerns about this month's Iraqi vote. Patriotic Front for Iraqi Tribes says today they're pulling out of the elections. The group cited issues of security and vote fairness. The Patriotic Front for Iraqi Tribes claims three million supporters nationwide.

Different type of shock for California. No damage this time. Magnitude, 4.3 earthquake hit the desert near Palm Springs after midnight. Police report in this case, no injuries.

There is a bond hearing in Philadelphia, Mississippi this hour for Edgar Gray Killen. He's the man we've been telling you about since last week, called The Preacher, indicted in 1964 civil rights workers killings. The murders of the three activists were drama advertised in the movie, you may recall "Mississippi Burning. "

OK. Here we go. I'm Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Good morning.

The sun is rising in California. Rescuers digging through a mudslide in a desperate search for any signs of life, the death toll rises this morning. Earlier this morning, crews pulled four more bodies from a mudslide that swept down a Ventura County neighborhood. It swallowed 15 homes.

The last three victims found were apparently small children. And that puts the death toll at 10, with as many as 13 missing. The search will continue until at least sundown tonight even though no signs of life have been heard in more than 24 hours.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will arrive in La Conchita this morning to get a first-hand look at the devastating mudslides.

About 600 rescue personnel are using search dogs, listening devices, and most of all their hands to comb through mound of mud that has buried the homes.

Our Rusty Dornin is on the scene. She is in La Conchita and joins us with the latest.

Rusty, good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, the sun has not yet risen here, but the death toll stands at 10 people. A very sad story. This morning, you may have heard earlier that a man by the name of Jimmy Wallet had gone to get ice cream for his family when the slide engulfed his home. He tried to help firefighters dig out the debris. This morning they recovered the bodies of his wife and three young girls, ranging in age to 2 to 10.

Now, 10 people are still unaccounted for here, but they are calling this a rescue operation, despite the fact that they have not recovered a live body in about 38 hours. But they're using every means possible to do that.

Let's show you a video, though, that was shot by a local resident, Dena Hayes, of the moments before the slide happened. There's been a lot of confusion about whether or not there was any warning about this big landslide. Apparently there was a smaller slide that brought mud down covering the streets and highway. And residents were trying to dig that out. But as Dena Hayes says, apparently there was some indication that something was about to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENA HAYES, WITNESS: The guys were shoveling and building barricades. We looked at the mountain and one of the guys, who had been sitting there looking at it all day said -- well, first we saw where the source was for the mudslide that went on to the freeway. And then to the right of that one of the guys says oh, my God. He says the whole mountain has shifted in the last hour. It's dropped. And so we kind of knew right then.

And then when the guys and I were walking up the street. I think back and I what was I thinking. We walked along that street and I said I'm not feeling so safe in front of this retaining wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: She shouldn't have been because that retaining wall did come down past her. She saw homes go float past her. She is safe. Apparently her house is still standing.

You're looking at now what is left of the hillside that came down on La Conchita. The weather is very clear. It's expected to be that for the next few days, which is good news, because apparently just north of the scar on this hillside there is another crack. And they say if there's any more rain, there's a possibility that that could bring more mud and debris down the hillside.

Meantime, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to arrived here about 12:30 Eastern. He's going to do an aerial and a ground tour as well -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Rusty, it might be a little premature here. But are people in that area talking at rebuilding? Of course, this same community had a mudslide in '95. They put up the retaining wall. People felt they wanted to stay then. I wonder if they want to stay now.

DORNIN: You know, in the past I have spoken to people who say they are willing to move back in here. I'm sure it depends on how close they were to the slide, whether their house is still standing or not. It remains to be seen. Of course, there was a lawsuit the last time this area slid in 1995. And the county apparently made them all sign waivers saying they couldn't file a lawsuit this time and blame the county for this.

KAGAN: Mm. Rusty Dornin from La Conchita in Ventura County. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: You know, following up on that story, what we want to do now is show you some video that's going to really show you just how massive this problem can be. Take a look at that. See that? That's a boulder that ended up on the side of a highway. That's at the Topanga Canyon Boulevard; it's just north of the Pacific Coast Highway there.

They blasted the 25-foot rock to pieces. As a matter of fact, can we re-rack that? Let's look at that again because we got it a little bit early. Take a look at what we can. Well, maybe we will be able to it for you a little bit later.

Meanwhile, same storms that triggered so many problems in California are also unleashing havoc as they rolled east. We begin now in Las Vegas, that's where people didn't need to reach the casinos to their luck. Officials in Vegas and surrounding Clark County declared an emergency to respond to the flooding and dangers of avalanches in the higher elevations.

Now, the California storms were largely spent by the time that they reached Arizona. Even the diminished rains, though, still caused problems since much of central Arizona was already soaked. Seven of the 15 counties in the state declared a state of emergency, as rising waters flooded homes and washed out some of the roads.

KAGAN: All right. Our next stop on the weather tour, Utah where the governor has declared Washington County a disaster area. Here a home, take a look, tumbles into the rain-swollen river. Wow. That is in the southern part of the state. Floodwaters also knocked out roads and bridges. And National Guard helicopters were sent to airlift people out.

Ohio also in the thick of relentless rains. Flood warnings and watchings are posted across the state, with the worst problems in southeastern Ohio. Today's rains come on the heels of last week's storms that pushed rivers out of their banks. They're now approaching flood stage again. President Bush had just approved federal said for Ohioans battered by yet another storm, one that dumped massive amounts of snow just before Christmas.

SANCHEZ: Well, let's take you back out West now. That's where the worst scenes, according to meteorologists, will be over from the storms that dumped some of the 20 feet of snow in parts of the Sierra Nevada.

We've seen the snow. Now the silver lining of the storm clouds. Business that thrives on snow, this is the good news.

CNN's meteorologist Rob Marciano filed this report just minutes ago in fact. He's at a ski resort in Squaw Valley, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Well, finally it has stopped snowing here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains after virtually non-stop snow since Friday; and in some spots upwards of 10 feet of snow. That's not including the storm they had two weeks ago with similar numbers. Pictures for you out of Donner Pass, or I should say Donner Lake, which is near Donner Pass off of I-80. A stretch of road that is often closed due to snow and wind, finally it has been reopened. But they are digging out. Signs are buried. Folks got the shovels out, the bulldozers and front loaders. And dump trucks are out as well, shoveling snow off of roves in order to protect them from collapse. That has been a big problem.

I suppose the good news is, is that we're building an incredible base here. A lot of the ski resorts have gotten already their annual snowfall, and we're not even halfway through the season. So should be a blue bird day here. Locals are loving that the snow has finally stopped. And the skiers will love it really through the rest of the season.

I'm Rob Marciano in Squaw Valley, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And now to western Colorado. This morning, search teams are resuming their hunt for a cross-country skier who was separated from his wife and daughter Sunday night. They found the two women yesterday. They'd huddled with her dog to stay warm. Today, search teams will use sirens and lights to find the 54-year-old man before temperatures plunge below zero. That is expected tomorrow.

Now, this time yesterday we told you about Kaktovik, the remote Alaskan village that lost power in the midst of a blizzard. Emergency officials are scrambling to restore electricity and heat to a community of 300 people. Today there is a setback to report. A power crew has been flown in, but a second military aircraft has been unable to land with generators and heating equipment. The outside wind- chill, 60 degrees below zero. The shipment will now have to be delivered by land, probably not before tomorrow at the latest.

SANCHEZ: Yes. They say it's going to take about 30 hours to get there by land on one of those huge tractors.

KAGAN: Not easy. Not easy. So many people facing weather challenges across the country. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras to see what they are in store for.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: Well, snowstorms, flooding, tsunami, is there a common thread in the seasons' violent weather that we've been talking about, for example, this morning? CNN's Aaron Brown is going to take a closer look at extreme weather on "NEWS NIGHT SPECIAL EDITION." That's tonight at 10:00.

KAGAN: Coming up this hour, more on the Californian mudslide, sifting through houses, cars and mud is just too much for one father and husband to bear.

SANCHEZ: He has pictures in hand and high hopes as well. We take you to the other side of the world, where we follow this Indonesian man trying to just find his daughter.

Then...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURENCE FISHBURNE, ACTOR: I assume you know who I am, Sergeant.

ETHAN HAWKE, ACTOR: You're a scumbag gangster.

FISHBURNE: And one of my scumbag partners in crime is your fellow officer, Marcus Duvall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Actor Laurence Fishburne is back with a remake of a 1976 cops and gangster thriller. Coming up this hour, I talk with him about his new film. Also, he's very involved helping children around the world.

SANCHEZ: Good cause.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY. We want to do now is try and bring you up to speed on the very latest of the tsunami relief efforts in Asia. Workers in Thailand are digging up about 800 bodies that were buried just after the tsunami. U.S. forensic teams want to make sure that Westerners were not mixed up with Thai and other Asian victims. Relatives of missing Westerners fear that may have happened. Which may be why they haven't been able to have a good accounting of them.

U.S. Marines helping out in Indonesia are going to also do without their weapons. Military officials say many Indonesians were concerned about troops being armed for what's essentially a humanitarian mission. The official did not say whether the policy to disarm during such missions has been done in the past.

Also, officials in Sri Lanka accuse child traffickers of trying to sell children orphaned by the tsunami. Police are investigating a 60-year-old man who allegedly tried to sell two children, ages 12 and 13. Police arrested and later released the man. Not clear what happened to those children.

KAGAN: Well, the emphasis of southern Asia has turned from recovery to reconstruction. But for thousands of tsunami survivors the search hasn't ended.

Our John King went along for one such quest through Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sabri (ph) has been searching 16 days now in camps full of children, and for him, disappointment.

SABRI (through translator): The last time we saw each other was outside. The last time was when there was the earthquake and we all went to is it in front of the house.

KING: Finally some help. Wrinkled photographs found in the rubble of his home.

SABRI (through translator): This child is 2 years and 7 months.

KING: This child is Diera (ph), brown hair, big brown eyes, beautiful, and missing, or worse. And this snapshot, proof of a messy eater, a red sweater here, a yellow dress the day the wave came.

SABRI (through translator): We all sat out front and the baby- sitter was feeding her. She was being difficult and didn't want to eat, and so she had food dribbling down her face. And then the water came and I grabbed the youngest child. She was wearing a yellow dress. Yellow, perhaps she doesn't have her clothes anymore. She is skinny but she likes eating fruit.

KING: His wife is dead. The youngest daughter alive. Relatives searching all around Aceh providence. In Indonesian, Riong (ph) is precocious.

SABRI (through translator): She was pretending to make a telephone call and we took a picture of her. She likes to play, singing songs. Very, very happy. She likes to make friends. She goes to our neighbor and asks him for a hug. He's dead now.

KING: Someone told Sabri a TV news report showed a girl who looked like Diera at a hospital in Medan with breathing tubes. He is here looking for answers. And he is not alone.

This UNICEF Center sits at the back of a tsunami refugee camp. Volunteers on hand to add names to the list of the missing. It is order after two weeks of complaints from parents that there was nowhere to go, no one to ask. Adiera Canya Putri (ph), Sabri says. Diera for short. The story once again.

SABRI (through translator): We were all at the house when the water came and it was so strong. One child managed to take with me, thanks to God.

KING: He is a teacher, 37 years old, his wife was killed. The baby-sitter, like Diera, missing. The forms ask for a photo. No answers here, but a promise to try and directions to the wall. More than 2,000 names, children without parents, now at camps and in government custody. For days there has been no information. Now Sabri joins others looking for a name, for something to reward their hope.

SABRI (through translator): Maybe a cousin here, but no Diera. As he looks again, Sabri says maybe she is sick and can't give her name. Yes, he knows it could be worse. But he isn't ready to accept that. SABRI (through translator): Well, as much effort as it takes, we must try as hard as we can. When it comes to how long, I don't know. We must keep on trying and praying.

KING: John King, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And from that to Washington, D.C., a long awaited decision out of the Supreme Court considering federal sentencing guidelines.

SANCHEZ: Yes. This one has to do with the sentences a judge can impose after a jury has already made a recommendation, and whether the judges can actually lengthen that sentence. Here's a report that we've prepared for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twelve hundred defendants are sentenced in federal courts every week. And now, the Bush administration is scrambling to prevent the Supreme Court from throwing out sentencing guidelines in place for 17 years.

JOHN ASCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It is profoundly essential that we have a certainty of punishment, and that we have stiff and clear punishments for those who endanger the lives and security of others.

FRANKEN: The guidelines set specific limits, but give a federal judge the power to make sentences more or less severe based on factors the judge alone determines, after the jury convicts as defendant. For example, was a weapon used in the crime? It was an effort to protect against widely-unequal punishment and discrimination.

Acting Solicitor General Paul Clement argued, "It is hard to know what system was emerge if the justices threw out the current one." It's in a state of confusion at the moment since the Supreme Court decided last June that similar guidelines in Washington State were unconstitutional. A violation of the Sixth-Amendment because the judges could raise the sentence based on facts the jury had not considered.

Several alarmed appeals courts asked the justices to make clear if that applied to the federal standards after defense attorneys raised challenges across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We simply think that it should be a jury and not a judge who decides what a defendant should be punished for.

FRANKEN: There are thousands of federal prisoners. A sweeping change argued the solicitor general, would have a tremendous impact.

Bob Franken, CNN, the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: And we're going to have more on that just ahead, trying to get our Jeffrey Toobin on the phone to explain what that means to people awaiting sentencing.

SANCHEZ: Also, it's a 1976 remake, but it's packed with more action and more drama as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FISHBURN: We've got to figure something. Because I'm not going to stay here all night waiting to get killed.

HAWKE: If you use the situation...

You talked to him, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You've talked to him, right?

KAGAN: I have. I talked to him. He stopped by yesterday. Lawrence Fishburn along with evil gang members and fierce cops, he joins me to talk about his latest prospect.

Plus, Gerri Willis will also join us live.

SANCHEZ: Stay with.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Here's news that you use, could find helpful. Weeks after the tsunami swept away large parts of southern Asia, the collective grief has created a world of giving. And unfortunately, a lot of scams as well.

Here with tips now on how to steer clear of crooked scammers posing as credible relief agency is our Gerri Willis. She's joining us live from New York.

I guess the first advice you would give them is what, don't just click, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes, absolutely. These scams, Rick, are on the web. They're using your e-mail box, that's their favorite tool right now. And what they're doing is called phishing, with a P-H. Basically, they're sending you e-mails that looks like they're from legitimate charities. Guess what? They're not. You do not want to send these people money.

Here's some are some red flags that you want to know about. First of all, if you get an e-mail that links you to a website that ends in dotcom, that's probably not a 401-C-3 organization. It's probably not for profit. Also, take a look at this, too. If you get sent to a website that is Red Cross, 1, 2, 3, 4, there are numbers at the end of the address, also probably not a legitimate non-profit. You want to make sure that you don't send these people money.

SANCHEZ: Here's a word we used to hear on the playground but one that seems to be effective here, be a tattletale, you say. Huh?

WILLIS: You bet. These people, they need to go to jail, don't you think? If they're trying to make money off the backs of the tsunami victims, it's a horrible thing. The FBI is conducting a major investigation into this. You can give them the information if you are contacted via your e-mail. Go to ic3.org. You will fill out a pretty lengthy report there. Don't forget to put in the text of the e-mail. That will really help the FBI.

SANCHEZ: And if you are scammed in the end by losing money, you can call them on it, right?

WILLIS: Well, you've got to fight back. But you know, your tools are closing down your bank account, closing down your credit card. And then calling the major credit unions and telling them -- credit banks and telling them, I've got a problem. Because what's at risk here is not just the donation you're giving, it's also your identity. So you've got to make sure that you protect that.

SANCHEZ: And there's things we can do to not make it easy for them, right? Especially if we're savvy as far as far as our computers work, attachments and things like that.

WILLIS: This is a great reminder just to be careful when you're on the web, even when you're just getting your e-mail every day. If you're buying something on the web, you're sending out money, use your credit card because it limits your liability to just $50.

SANCHEZ: What we don't want is for people not to give because they're afraid of scammers, though.

WILLIS: Yes. That's absolutely true. Don't be afraid. Look, if you want to give money to help the tsunami victims, go ahead. There are legitimate places to go. Even on the web, a couple websites I want to send people to here today: charitynavigator.org and interaction.org. You can see the websites right there. They will help you hook up with people who are legitimate, and will take your money and use it for what you intend, which after all is what you're trying to do here.

SANCHEZ: Gerri Willis live, thanks again for helping us out.

WILLIS: Thank you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Daryn.

KAGAN: She passes with flying colors as always.

We're going to be going to a high school, as is President Bush. He is live at Jeb Stewart High School in Falls Church, Virginia today. There's a live picture there. He's there talking about expanding his program with No Child Left Behind into the high schools. It is controversial, like much of what President Bush has proposed in the schools. We will talk about that and hear the president just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired January 12, 2005 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Let's head over to Daryn Kagan and Rick Sanchez. We're over by a little, teeny bit. Sorry, guys. You're going to take us over the next couple of hours on CNN LIVE TODAY.
Hello.

RICK SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR: Hey, good to see you both.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN CO-ANCHOR: You guys have a great day in New York City. We are expecting, as always as we have in this program, a lot of live events, including President Bush will be speaking in a bit talking to seniors. Guess what high school seniors? Want you to take more tests.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Just what they want to hear, right?

KAGAN: Yes. Exactly, senior year.

SANCHEZ: Also something really interesting that we're going to be sharing with you today. And it has to do with the food pyramid. Remember when we were kids and we were told you had to eat a certain way? Well, there's a new one out. The government's take on what we should and shouldn't eat. You know, the whole carb/fat thing.

KAGAN: And you follow that, right?

SANCHEZ: No.

KAGAN: Yes.

SANCHEZ: But I still want to hear what they have to say.

KAGAN: OK. How about first we take a look at what's happening now in the news?

SANCHEZ: President Bush will be in the news. He wants to expand the No Child Left Behind Law to high schools, as Daryn just had mentioned. The president has proposed funding two more years of math and reading tests. Mr. Bush is about to unveil his proposal at a Northern Virginia high school. We will carry it for you; the president's remarks that is, live. That should come sometime around the bottom of the hour.

Also, new concerns about this month's Iraqi vote. Patriotic Front for Iraqi Tribes says today they're pulling out of the elections. The group cited issues of security and vote fairness. The Patriotic Front for Iraqi Tribes claims three million supporters nationwide.

Different type of shock for California. No damage this time. Magnitude, 4.3 earthquake hit the desert near Palm Springs after midnight. Police report in this case, no injuries.

There is a bond hearing in Philadelphia, Mississippi this hour for Edgar Gray Killen. He's the man we've been telling you about since last week, called The Preacher, indicted in 1964 civil rights workers killings. The murders of the three activists were drama advertised in the movie, you may recall "Mississippi Burning. "

OK. Here we go. I'm Rick Sanchez.

KAGAN: And I'm Daryn Kagan. Good morning.

The sun is rising in California. Rescuers digging through a mudslide in a desperate search for any signs of life, the death toll rises this morning. Earlier this morning, crews pulled four more bodies from a mudslide that swept down a Ventura County neighborhood. It swallowed 15 homes.

The last three victims found were apparently small children. And that puts the death toll at 10, with as many as 13 missing. The search will continue until at least sundown tonight even though no signs of life have been heard in more than 24 hours.

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will arrive in La Conchita this morning to get a first-hand look at the devastating mudslides.

About 600 rescue personnel are using search dogs, listening devices, and most of all their hands to comb through mound of mud that has buried the homes.

Our Rusty Dornin is on the scene. She is in La Conchita and joins us with the latest.

Rusty, good morning.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. Well, the sun has not yet risen here, but the death toll stands at 10 people. A very sad story. This morning, you may have heard earlier that a man by the name of Jimmy Wallet had gone to get ice cream for his family when the slide engulfed his home. He tried to help firefighters dig out the debris. This morning they recovered the bodies of his wife and three young girls, ranging in age to 2 to 10.

Now, 10 people are still unaccounted for here, but they are calling this a rescue operation, despite the fact that they have not recovered a live body in about 38 hours. But they're using every means possible to do that.

Let's show you a video, though, that was shot by a local resident, Dena Hayes, of the moments before the slide happened. There's been a lot of confusion about whether or not there was any warning about this big landslide. Apparently there was a smaller slide that brought mud down covering the streets and highway. And residents were trying to dig that out. But as Dena Hayes says, apparently there was some indication that something was about to happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DENA HAYES, WITNESS: The guys were shoveling and building barricades. We looked at the mountain and one of the guys, who had been sitting there looking at it all day said -- well, first we saw where the source was for the mudslide that went on to the freeway. And then to the right of that one of the guys says oh, my God. He says the whole mountain has shifted in the last hour. It's dropped. And so we kind of knew right then.

And then when the guys and I were walking up the street. I think back and I what was I thinking. We walked along that street and I said I'm not feeling so safe in front of this retaining wall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DORNIN: She shouldn't have been because that retaining wall did come down past her. She saw homes go float past her. She is safe. Apparently her house is still standing.

You're looking at now what is left of the hillside that came down on La Conchita. The weather is very clear. It's expected to be that for the next few days, which is good news, because apparently just north of the scar on this hillside there is another crack. And they say if there's any more rain, there's a possibility that that could bring more mud and debris down the hillside.

Meantime, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is scheduled to arrived here about 12:30 Eastern. He's going to do an aerial and a ground tour as well -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Rusty, it might be a little premature here. But are people in that area talking at rebuilding? Of course, this same community had a mudslide in '95. They put up the retaining wall. People felt they wanted to stay then. I wonder if they want to stay now.

DORNIN: You know, in the past I have spoken to people who say they are willing to move back in here. I'm sure it depends on how close they were to the slide, whether their house is still standing or not. It remains to be seen. Of course, there was a lawsuit the last time this area slid in 1995. And the county apparently made them all sign waivers saying they couldn't file a lawsuit this time and blame the county for this.

KAGAN: Mm. Rusty Dornin from La Conchita in Ventura County. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: You know, following up on that story, what we want to do now is show you some video that's going to really show you just how massive this problem can be. Take a look at that. See that? That's a boulder that ended up on the side of a highway. That's at the Topanga Canyon Boulevard; it's just north of the Pacific Coast Highway there.

They blasted the 25-foot rock to pieces. As a matter of fact, can we re-rack that? Let's look at that again because we got it a little bit early. Take a look at what we can. Well, maybe we will be able to it for you a little bit later.

Meanwhile, same storms that triggered so many problems in California are also unleashing havoc as they rolled east. We begin now in Las Vegas, that's where people didn't need to reach the casinos to their luck. Officials in Vegas and surrounding Clark County declared an emergency to respond to the flooding and dangers of avalanches in the higher elevations.

Now, the California storms were largely spent by the time that they reached Arizona. Even the diminished rains, though, still caused problems since much of central Arizona was already soaked. Seven of the 15 counties in the state declared a state of emergency, as rising waters flooded homes and washed out some of the roads.

KAGAN: All right. Our next stop on the weather tour, Utah where the governor has declared Washington County a disaster area. Here a home, take a look, tumbles into the rain-swollen river. Wow. That is in the southern part of the state. Floodwaters also knocked out roads and bridges. And National Guard helicopters were sent to airlift people out.

Ohio also in the thick of relentless rains. Flood warnings and watchings are posted across the state, with the worst problems in southeastern Ohio. Today's rains come on the heels of last week's storms that pushed rivers out of their banks. They're now approaching flood stage again. President Bush had just approved federal said for Ohioans battered by yet another storm, one that dumped massive amounts of snow just before Christmas.

SANCHEZ: Well, let's take you back out West now. That's where the worst scenes, according to meteorologists, will be over from the storms that dumped some of the 20 feet of snow in parts of the Sierra Nevada.

We've seen the snow. Now the silver lining of the storm clouds. Business that thrives on snow, this is the good news.

CNN's meteorologist Rob Marciano filed this report just minutes ago in fact. He's at a ski resort in Squaw Valley, California.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): Well, finally it has stopped snowing here in the Sierra Nevada Mountains after virtually non-stop snow since Friday; and in some spots upwards of 10 feet of snow. That's not including the storm they had two weeks ago with similar numbers. Pictures for you out of Donner Pass, or I should say Donner Lake, which is near Donner Pass off of I-80. A stretch of road that is often closed due to snow and wind, finally it has been reopened. But they are digging out. Signs are buried. Folks got the shovels out, the bulldozers and front loaders. And dump trucks are out as well, shoveling snow off of roves in order to protect them from collapse. That has been a big problem.

I suppose the good news is, is that we're building an incredible base here. A lot of the ski resorts have gotten already their annual snowfall, and we're not even halfway through the season. So should be a blue bird day here. Locals are loving that the snow has finally stopped. And the skiers will love it really through the rest of the season.

I'm Rob Marciano in Squaw Valley, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And now to western Colorado. This morning, search teams are resuming their hunt for a cross-country skier who was separated from his wife and daughter Sunday night. They found the two women yesterday. They'd huddled with her dog to stay warm. Today, search teams will use sirens and lights to find the 54-year-old man before temperatures plunge below zero. That is expected tomorrow.

Now, this time yesterday we told you about Kaktovik, the remote Alaskan village that lost power in the midst of a blizzard. Emergency officials are scrambling to restore electricity and heat to a community of 300 people. Today there is a setback to report. A power crew has been flown in, but a second military aircraft has been unable to land with generators and heating equipment. The outside wind- chill, 60 degrees below zero. The shipment will now have to be delivered by land, probably not before tomorrow at the latest.

SANCHEZ: Yes. They say it's going to take about 30 hours to get there by land on one of those huge tractors.

KAGAN: Not easy. Not easy. So many people facing weather challenges across the country. Let's check in with Jacqui Jeras to see what they are in store for.

(WEATHER REPORT)

SANCHEZ: Well, snowstorms, flooding, tsunami, is there a common thread in the seasons' violent weather that we've been talking about, for example, this morning? CNN's Aaron Brown is going to take a closer look at extreme weather on "NEWS NIGHT SPECIAL EDITION." That's tonight at 10:00.

KAGAN: Coming up this hour, more on the Californian mudslide, sifting through houses, cars and mud is just too much for one father and husband to bear.

SANCHEZ: He has pictures in hand and high hopes as well. We take you to the other side of the world, where we follow this Indonesian man trying to just find his daughter.

Then...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURENCE FISHBURNE, ACTOR: I assume you know who I am, Sergeant.

ETHAN HAWKE, ACTOR: You're a scumbag gangster.

FISHBURNE: And one of my scumbag partners in crime is your fellow officer, Marcus Duvall.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Actor Laurence Fishburne is back with a remake of a 1976 cops and gangster thriller. Coming up this hour, I talk with him about his new film. Also, he's very involved helping children around the world.

SANCHEZ: Good cause.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: And welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY. We want to do now is try and bring you up to speed on the very latest of the tsunami relief efforts in Asia. Workers in Thailand are digging up about 800 bodies that were buried just after the tsunami. U.S. forensic teams want to make sure that Westerners were not mixed up with Thai and other Asian victims. Relatives of missing Westerners fear that may have happened. Which may be why they haven't been able to have a good accounting of them.

U.S. Marines helping out in Indonesia are going to also do without their weapons. Military officials say many Indonesians were concerned about troops being armed for what's essentially a humanitarian mission. The official did not say whether the policy to disarm during such missions has been done in the past.

Also, officials in Sri Lanka accuse child traffickers of trying to sell children orphaned by the tsunami. Police are investigating a 60-year-old man who allegedly tried to sell two children, ages 12 and 13. Police arrested and later released the man. Not clear what happened to those children.

KAGAN: Well, the emphasis of southern Asia has turned from recovery to reconstruction. But for thousands of tsunami survivors the search hasn't ended.

Our John King went along for one such quest through Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN KING, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sabri (ph) has been searching 16 days now in camps full of children, and for him, disappointment.

SABRI (through translator): The last time we saw each other was outside. The last time was when there was the earthquake and we all went to is it in front of the house.

KING: Finally some help. Wrinkled photographs found in the rubble of his home.

SABRI (through translator): This child is 2 years and 7 months.

KING: This child is Diera (ph), brown hair, big brown eyes, beautiful, and missing, or worse. And this snapshot, proof of a messy eater, a red sweater here, a yellow dress the day the wave came.

SABRI (through translator): We all sat out front and the baby- sitter was feeding her. She was being difficult and didn't want to eat, and so she had food dribbling down her face. And then the water came and I grabbed the youngest child. She was wearing a yellow dress. Yellow, perhaps she doesn't have her clothes anymore. She is skinny but she likes eating fruit.

KING: His wife is dead. The youngest daughter alive. Relatives searching all around Aceh providence. In Indonesian, Riong (ph) is precocious.

SABRI (through translator): She was pretending to make a telephone call and we took a picture of her. She likes to play, singing songs. Very, very happy. She likes to make friends. She goes to our neighbor and asks him for a hug. He's dead now.

KING: Someone told Sabri a TV news report showed a girl who looked like Diera at a hospital in Medan with breathing tubes. He is here looking for answers. And he is not alone.

This UNICEF Center sits at the back of a tsunami refugee camp. Volunteers on hand to add names to the list of the missing. It is order after two weeks of complaints from parents that there was nowhere to go, no one to ask. Adiera Canya Putri (ph), Sabri says. Diera for short. The story once again.

SABRI (through translator): We were all at the house when the water came and it was so strong. One child managed to take with me, thanks to God.

KING: He is a teacher, 37 years old, his wife was killed. The baby-sitter, like Diera, missing. The forms ask for a photo. No answers here, but a promise to try and directions to the wall. More than 2,000 names, children without parents, now at camps and in government custody. For days there has been no information. Now Sabri joins others looking for a name, for something to reward their hope.

SABRI (through translator): Maybe a cousin here, but no Diera. As he looks again, Sabri says maybe she is sick and can't give her name. Yes, he knows it could be worse. But he isn't ready to accept that. SABRI (through translator): Well, as much effort as it takes, we must try as hard as we can. When it comes to how long, I don't know. We must keep on trying and praying.

KING: John King, CNN, Banda Aceh, Indonesia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And from that to Washington, D.C., a long awaited decision out of the Supreme Court considering federal sentencing guidelines.

SANCHEZ: Yes. This one has to do with the sentences a judge can impose after a jury has already made a recommendation, and whether the judges can actually lengthen that sentence. Here's a report that we've prepared for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twelve hundred defendants are sentenced in federal courts every week. And now, the Bush administration is scrambling to prevent the Supreme Court from throwing out sentencing guidelines in place for 17 years.

JOHN ASCROFT, ATTORNEY GENERAL: It is profoundly essential that we have a certainty of punishment, and that we have stiff and clear punishments for those who endanger the lives and security of others.

FRANKEN: The guidelines set specific limits, but give a federal judge the power to make sentences more or less severe based on factors the judge alone determines, after the jury convicts as defendant. For example, was a weapon used in the crime? It was an effort to protect against widely-unequal punishment and discrimination.

Acting Solicitor General Paul Clement argued, "It is hard to know what system was emerge if the justices threw out the current one." It's in a state of confusion at the moment since the Supreme Court decided last June that similar guidelines in Washington State were unconstitutional. A violation of the Sixth-Amendment because the judges could raise the sentence based on facts the jury had not considered.

Several alarmed appeals courts asked the justices to make clear if that applied to the federal standards after defense attorneys raised challenges across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We simply think that it should be a jury and not a judge who decides what a defendant should be punished for.

FRANKEN: There are thousands of federal prisoners. A sweeping change argued the solicitor general, would have a tremendous impact.

Bob Franken, CNN, the Supreme Court.

(END VIDEOTAPE) KAGAN: And we're going to have more on that just ahead, trying to get our Jeffrey Toobin on the phone to explain what that means to people awaiting sentencing.

SANCHEZ: Also, it's a 1976 remake, but it's packed with more action and more drama as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FISHBURN: We've got to figure something. Because I'm not going to stay here all night waiting to get killed.

HAWKE: If you use the situation...

You talked to him, right?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: You've talked to him, right?

KAGAN: I have. I talked to him. He stopped by yesterday. Lawrence Fishburn along with evil gang members and fierce cops, he joins me to talk about his latest prospect.

Plus, Gerri Willis will also join us live.

SANCHEZ: Stay with.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Welcome back to CNN LIVE TODAY. I'm Rick Sanchez.

Here's news that you use, could find helpful. Weeks after the tsunami swept away large parts of southern Asia, the collective grief has created a world of giving. And unfortunately, a lot of scams as well.

Here with tips now on how to steer clear of crooked scammers posing as credible relief agency is our Gerri Willis. She's joining us live from New York.

I guess the first advice you would give them is what, don't just click, right?

GERRI WILLIS, CNN-FN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes, absolutely. These scams, Rick, are on the web. They're using your e-mail box, that's their favorite tool right now. And what they're doing is called phishing, with a P-H. Basically, they're sending you e-mails that looks like they're from legitimate charities. Guess what? They're not. You do not want to send these people money.

Here's some are some red flags that you want to know about. First of all, if you get an e-mail that links you to a website that ends in dotcom, that's probably not a 401-C-3 organization. It's probably not for profit. Also, take a look at this, too. If you get sent to a website that is Red Cross, 1, 2, 3, 4, there are numbers at the end of the address, also probably not a legitimate non-profit. You want to make sure that you don't send these people money.

SANCHEZ: Here's a word we used to hear on the playground but one that seems to be effective here, be a tattletale, you say. Huh?

WILLIS: You bet. These people, they need to go to jail, don't you think? If they're trying to make money off the backs of the tsunami victims, it's a horrible thing. The FBI is conducting a major investigation into this. You can give them the information if you are contacted via your e-mail. Go to ic3.org. You will fill out a pretty lengthy report there. Don't forget to put in the text of the e-mail. That will really help the FBI.

SANCHEZ: And if you are scammed in the end by losing money, you can call them on it, right?

WILLIS: Well, you've got to fight back. But you know, your tools are closing down your bank account, closing down your credit card. And then calling the major credit unions and telling them -- credit banks and telling them, I've got a problem. Because what's at risk here is not just the donation you're giving, it's also your identity. So you've got to make sure that you protect that.

SANCHEZ: And there's things we can do to not make it easy for them, right? Especially if we're savvy as far as far as our computers work, attachments and things like that.

WILLIS: This is a great reminder just to be careful when you're on the web, even when you're just getting your e-mail every day. If you're buying something on the web, you're sending out money, use your credit card because it limits your liability to just $50.

SANCHEZ: What we don't want is for people not to give because they're afraid of scammers, though.

WILLIS: Yes. That's absolutely true. Don't be afraid. Look, if you want to give money to help the tsunami victims, go ahead. There are legitimate places to go. Even on the web, a couple websites I want to send people to here today: charitynavigator.org and interaction.org. You can see the websites right there. They will help you hook up with people who are legitimate, and will take your money and use it for what you intend, which after all is what you're trying to do here.

SANCHEZ: Gerri Willis live, thanks again for helping us out.

WILLIS: Thank you, Rick.

SANCHEZ: Daryn.

KAGAN: She passes with flying colors as always.

We're going to be going to a high school, as is President Bush. He is live at Jeb Stewart High School in Falls Church, Virginia today. There's a live picture there. He's there talking about expanding his program with No Child Left Behind into the high schools. It is controversial, like much of what President Bush has proposed in the schools. We will talk about that and hear the president just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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