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CNN Live Today

Car & Truck Fires

Aired June 30, 2005 - 11:30   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush is looking ahead to next week's G-8 summit in Scotland. He has pledged to increase aid to poverty-stricken areas of Africa. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the G-8 host, is making debt relief and other assistance to Africa a top priority of next week's meeting.
The White House says it's looking into accusations that Iran's new president was a hostage-taker in 1979. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was elected last Friday. Several Americans held hostage in Iran between 1979 and '81 say he was among their captors. Iran denies it.

Rescue crews in Afghanistan have secured the mountainous site where a U.S. helicopter like this one went down. Officials say the chopper came under hostile fire before it crashed. The U.S. now says 16 service members were aboard. There still is no word on their fate.

And NASA may confirm a launch date for Space Shuttle Discovery today. The earliest launch window runs July 19 to the 31. The flight would be the first by a shuttle since the Columbia disaster two years ago.

And now there's a whole new way to get your news on the Web, with free video at CNN.com. Just log onto our Web site and click on "watch" to check out the most popular stories. It's free video under your command, now at CNN.com.

A few weeks ago, we told you about a problem with some Ford vehicles that were built before 2004 catching on fire while they were parked and turned off. Hundreds of cases have been reported across the country, and now possibly the first death.

CNN's investigative correspondent Drew Griffin has an exclusive interview with the Iowa family who is speaking out for the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was a beautiful house that Earl Mohlis built with his own hands years ago. This year, on May 2, it burned to the ground. There was nothing he could do to stop it.

EARL MOHLIS, FIRE VICTIM: Dolly woke me up about 5 a.m. in the morning. She says, "Earl" -- she says, "There's smoke in the basement."

His 74-year-old wife, Dolly, weakened by arthritis, called 911.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nine-one-one. What is the address of your emergency?

DOLLY MOHLIS, FIRE VICTIM: My garage is on fire!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your garage is on fire?

D. MOHLIS: I've got to get out of the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is the garage attached to the house?

D. MOHLIS: Yes!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

D. MOHLIS: The car is on fire!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The car is on fire?

D. MOHLIS: Yes.

GRIFFIN: Dolly's 1996 Ford F-150 truck was in the garage attached to their home.

(on camera) This is where you say flames?

E. MOHLIS: Well, it was more like...

GRIFFIN: Right there?

E. MOHLIS: See, that's what was shot. The glass was in there yet.

GRIFFIN: Right.

E. MOHLIS: She was coming out here. Right there. Right there is where she was coming out.

GRIFFIN: You saw the front of that pickup truck burning. That's what you saw?

E. MOHLIS: You bet you. She was burning.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Wearing only his shorts, Earl Mohlis ran to get a tractor, trying to save the house.

E. MOHLIS: I wanted to drag that pickup out of that garage.

GRIFFIN: But the tractor wouldn't start.

E. MOHLIS: Nothing worked that morning for me.

GRIFFIN: The fire quickly engulfed the house.

E. MOHLIS: It was burning so fast. The wind was blowing 50 miles an hour from the northwest. I says to Dotty, "You've got to get out of that house." She -- she come running and she never made it.

GRIFFIN: Darletta "Dolly" Mohlis, Earl's wife of 34 years, was later found just steps inside the door.

E. MOHLIS: It hurts, boy. She ain't here no more.

GRIFFIN: What hurts even more is what Earl Mohlis says he found out after the fire. His wife's 1996 Ford pickup contained a part that was under investigation by the federal government, a part that may now be linked to at least 660 vehicle fires across the country, a part that critics, lawyers and some automotive experts claim is faulty and can ignite on its own, even if the car is turned off, sitting in a garage.

And in this case, according to Earl Mohlis, not even moved in four days.

E. MOHLIS: I don't care what make it is and model, when you set that switch off, that truck should be dead, shouldn't it? There was something wrong.

GRIFFIN: The part in question, a speed control deactivation switch. This same of similar switch is found on 16 million Ford vehicles. It is the switch that turns off the cruise control when a driver firmly presses the brake pedal. What makes the Ford design unique is in nearly every case, the switch has electricity flowing through it, whether the vehicle is running or not. A thin film inside can crack, and that electrical current, combined with leaking brake fluid, has, according to Ford, led some switches to ignite.

The company has recalled more than a million cars and trucks to replace the switch but not the 1996 Ford F-150 pickup.

Dolly's three children say they had no idea there was a history of fires in some Fords equipped with cruise control until the day their mother died. Now, in a wrongful death lawsuit, the family is suing Ford, along with Texas Instruments, the company that assembled the switch, and Dupont, the company that supplied that thin film.

Dolly Mohlis may be the first person to die in a fire linked to Ford's cruise control switch.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don't want any more deaths. There can't be any more deaths.

GRIFFIN: Texas Instruments insists it followed Ford's instructions and it's not responsible for overseeing how Ford uses their products. But the company insists its switch is safe.

Dupont says it only supplied raw material to Texas Instruments and was not involved in the design or use of the switch.

What the family doesn't understand is why Ford didn't recall their mother's truck when the first Ford fires, including many F-150s, were documented years ago. The car company has been selective in its recalls, saying it will only recall vehicles where "a trend pattern" of fires can be detected. According to Ford, there was apparently no trend pattern for the 1996 F-150 truck, even though it contained what Ford acknowledges is the same or similar switch and even though this Ford document shows the company had reports of fires in this same model.

(on camera) You think someone at Ford made a business decision...

CAROLYN HOWE, MOTHER DIED IN FIRE: Definitely.

GRIFFIN: ... and gambled on your mother's life?

HOWE: Exactly. Unless it's a dollar (ph), and they said -- whatever decision, they probably decided it was cheaper just to pay for burned vehicles and maybe an occasional death.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): A few weeks ago, investigators from Ford and the federal government were at Earl Mohlis' farm, examining the scene. CNN was there, too, watching as they spent hours going through the rubble.

Also there, experts hired by the family's lawyers. Judd Clayton is an electrical engineer, and Keith Fowler is a certified vehicle fire investigator from Canada.

(on camera) Right now, you guys believe that that fire started right where, or in the general vicinity, of the deactivation switch?

JUDD CLAYTON, ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: Yes. That's correct.

GRIFFIN: Further testing will determine that it was?

KEITH FOWLER, VEHICLE FIRE INVESTIGATOR: Yes. We recovered parts of the switch from the fire scene, and we'll be doing laboratory testing to examine that switch.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): A federal investigation is still ongoing, but Ford has already concluded the truck did not cause the fire. Company officials declined to talk on camera to CNN but did send an e- mail, saying "an inspection of the fire scene demonstrates conclusively that the fire did not originate from the 1996 Ford F-150, and specifically," says Ford, "not from its speed control deactivation switch. Remnants of the switch were found at the scene and reviewed by Ford investigators during their inspection. These remnants rule out the switch as the cause of the fire."

"Instead," the company says, "the evidence suggests that the fire started elsewhere in the garage, spreading to the F-150 and the Mohlis home."

(on camera) So how can Ford come out and say that this fire absolutely, conclusively, did not originate from the switch?

FOWLER: I don't know how they made this statement. The remnants that we collected at the scene were not examined in any detail. We brushed a little bit of the debris off and they've been collected and retained. But no testing or examination in detail has been done on those remnants. I'm not sure how they're able to make that statement.

GRIFFIN: I'm trying to be a little bit of devil's advocate here, guys, because I've got Ford Motor Company, which is a huge company, telling me this fire did not start in this switch. Am I missing anything? Are you missing anything? Is there anything they could possibly have that caused this fire that was not that switch?

FOWLER: Anything's possible. We found no evidence of any other potential fire cause at the scene at this point in time.

CLAYTON: The specific area of origin, as witnessed by Earl, I think it leaves little doubt as to which area of the vehicle was involved first in the fire.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): What's different about this case, they say, is Mohlis' firsthand account of what happened that night.

E. MOHLIS: I raised up the garage door. Sure enough, the left front end of that pickup was -- she was burning away.

GRIFFIN: Earl Mohlis is now living in a trailer on his farm overlooking what used to be his home. Dolly, he says, is always on his mind.

E. MOHLIS: She was my true love, too. Boy, I miss her. It hurts.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Beginning with vehicles in the 2004 model year, Ford stopped using the switch that is blamed for causing hundreds of these fires. Ford insists that vehicles it has not recalled are safe. But experts that we've spoken to advise owners of these cars and trucks to have the switch disconnected or replaced by a Ford dealer. Meanwhile, say these experts, parking your vehicle away from your home might not be a bad idea. We're going to keep you updated on the ongoing federal investigation into these fires.

Is a flu pandemic on our doorstep? Experts are on Capitol Hill to talk about U.S. readiness if there is a crisis.

And homegrown mad cow disease. We're going to tell you where and when and how. All those stories ahead, in our "Daily Dose" segment.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: What in the world did we do without the Internet? CNN.com/online looks at life before and after the worldwide Web. More than 200 million users are online in the U.S. alone. Top five uses in America are e-mail, search engines, driving directions, researching a product or service before buying and checking weather.

The United States may have the most online users, but in terms of country population, Sweden has the highest percentage of technophiles. More than 73 percent, compared to America's nearly 68 percent.

How else did it change our lives, both online and off? Well, it's helped us find love and friendship. Log out those frustrations, do business, order books, pay bills, keep in closer touch with our friends and type stuff like LOL for laughing out loud. And never has the colon been so popular since the emoticon was born.

Well, let's get personal for a minute. How did the Internet change you? We'd love to hear your story. Just log on to CNN.com/online and shoot us a line. We'll take pictures, video, audio and text. And hey, who knows? You could wind up end up starring in our special report.

I'm Christina Park, reporting from the dot-com desk. See you online.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: Still a lot more to come this hour. First, though, here's a preview of what's coming up in the noon hour, actually noon eastern, on "YOUR WORLD TODAY."

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, I'm Jim Clancy.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Zain Verjee. Coming up at the top of the hour -- pitting Israeli against Israeli. The debate over disengagement reaches a boiling point.

CLANCY: The U.S. president lays the groundwork for the upcoming G-8 conference on Africa. But there are strings attached.

VERJEE: And an alleged CIA kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric in Italy is prompting more questions than answers. All that and more, just ahead on CNN International.

CLANCY: "YOUR WORLD TODAY," join us.

KAGAN: On to your "Daily Dose" of health news.

Scientists are warning the next killer flu pandemic is inevitable and it could be brewing in Asia, where they've within dealing with outbreaks of avian flu. The House Committee is holding hearings this hour to evaluate whether the U.S. is prepared to deal with the new and deadly strain of influenza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JAMES W. LEDUC, NATL CTR. FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES: Here in the United States, we are training laboratory staff in all 50 states to ensure their ability to diagnose avian influenza, should it arrive. And we're expanding our network of sentinel physicians to more accurately monitor of spread of influenza during the flu seasons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The Centers for Disease Control estimates that more than 40 million Americans could become sick and more than 200,000 die in what it calls a medium level pandemic. The nation's first homegrown case of mad cow disease has been traced to a cow born, raised, and slaughtered in Texas. The cow was tested after it was transported to a pet food factory last November. Agricultural officials say no parts of that animal made its way into the American food supply. The infected cow's herd has been quarantined for more testing.

Your "Daily Dose" of health news is always just a click away. Log on to CNN.com/health for the latest medical news. You'll also find special reports and a health library.

Will this be Lance's last Tour De France? We're going to hear what Lance's mother Linda has to say about that. She's with me live, right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are watching a news conference taking place right now on Capitol Hill. Republican lawmakers announcing that they're going to introduce legislation in the House and the Senate fighting eminent domain. They are very upset with the ruling that came out of the Supreme Court within the last week, that said that the city of New London, Connecticut could use eminent domain to seize some private homeowners houses for an urban redevelopment project that they argued would provide broad economic benefits to the community, which so has upset people across the country that some conservative lawmakers suggesting new legislation, that if a state did go ahead and seize private property for that purpose, federal funding would be revoked from those states.

Tom DeLay speaking on that matter just a short time ago:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TOM DELAY (R-TX), MAJORITY LEADER: The court has finally gone too far. And that the American people are ready to reassert their constitutional authority.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: We're going to have more on this story on eminent domain and the fight later today on "INSIDE POLITICS," at 3:30 p.m. Eastern, 12:30 p.m. Pacific.

On to other news now. When Lance Armstrong begins his final Tour De France -- it's going to happen this weekend -- he'll be pedaling for his seventh consecutive yellow jersey and a bit of padding for the record books. But win or lose, it will a bittersweet moment for the Armstrong family. The cyclist's mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly, will be heading to France soon. She joins me at Time Warner Center in New York City.

Good morning.

LINDA ARMSTRONG KELLY, LANCE ARMSTRONG'S MOTHER: Good morning.

KAGAN: Exciting times for you and your family.

KELLY: So thrilling.

KAGAN: When was the last time you talked to lance?

KELLY: Just this past weekend. He sounds great, more focused, more determined, just what you would expect.

KAGAN: Is it possible to be more focused and more determined than your son has been in the past?

KELLY: Some people have said, is he taking this last tour for granted? I mean, is he just doing it to get it over? But no, at all. He is not doing that at all. He is focused, he is determined, he is doing his homework, and he has a goal, and that is to try to do his very best.

KAGAN: Where and how will you watch the race?

KELLY: I think back a couple years ago, I didn't get the chance to watch daily coverage, which now every morning, I will be glued to watch my TV and OLN, every realtime moment of lance riding that bike.

KAGAN: I know a lot of cyclist fans, they do, they TiVo, they tape, and you're not allowed to say how it went until they see for themselves.

KELLY: Well, that used to be the way we were watching. I would wait for reporters to call me and tell me how Lance did the day -- for the day. And now to see it realtime -- I mean, really, being over there, you can't see it as well as you can sitting down, watching it on OLN.

KAGAN: And will Lance be feeling some love from here in the U.S.?

KELLY: I have to say, we have a "thank you" card that we've launched today. OLN has a great tribute to lance thanking him for his years of the sport, giving back to the sport. And this card will be in your area, go to OLNTV.com, and you can find out where this card will be going, so that you can have a chance to sign that card in tribute for Lance.

KAGAN: What does it feel like for the family, this being his last go-around?

KELLY: I can't help but get very sentimental, and a little sad about it. Because for 20 years, Lance has been doing this, and I feel like I've grown up with him at the same time, while he's been so successful. But, again, he's returning for the right reasons, and that is to spend more time with his family.

KAGAN: Are the kids old enough to appreciate this, this time around?

KELLY: They're getting it. Luke is five, and he knows his dad was in the paper this weekend. And he said, there's my daddy, so we've talked about it.

KAGAN: Everyone's daddy isn't the most famous bike rider in the world.

KELLY: That's right.

KAGAN: What about what's next for him? Do you worry about him not having a goal like this every year?

KELLY: Lance will always have a goal. I believe that, more than anything, that he's going to get to spend more time with the Cause for Cancer, certainly with the Lance Armstrong Foundation and what he's doing there, and I think he'll be indirectly involved in sports some way, somehow.

KAGAN: The piece in "Sports Illustrated" about him, he made some joke, like he was just going to go on tour with his girlfriend Cheryl Crow and handle her guitars.

KELLY: Well, he may play the drum, who knows.

KAGAN: So you don't worry about your son. He's a focused, goal- oriented individual, and there's always going to be some big cause, especially, as you said, he understands, fighting for a cure for cancer.

KELLY: Right. I'm so proud of him. And a mother of course for his accomplishments, but the father he is to his children.

KAGAN: Very good. Well, we wish him well and the family well, so part of it you'll be here in the States, part you're going to go to France?

KELLY: I go toward the very end, and we'll enjoy the finale and see him come through that finish line.

KAGAN: Excellent. Well, good luck and enjoy this last go around.

KELLY: Thank you.

KAGAN: Linda Armstrong Kelly, thank you.

And that's going to do it for me. Good luck to Lance Armstrong. I'm Daryn Kagan.

International news is up next. Stay tuned for "YOUR WORLD TODAY." Jim Clancy and Zain Verjee are here after a quick break, and I'll see you tomorrow morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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