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CNN Live Today

Explosion, Fire at Hotel in Bremen, Georgia; Fake Cops

Aired June 27, 2006 - 11:30   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: David Mattingly is on his way to the scene right now. And we'll be talking to him as soon as he arrives on scene and can gather some more information on this. David Mattingly on his way to the scene.
Once again, this was an explosion that caused this collapse. As you can see, it expelled a lot of debris from the building at the time. Our pictures coming from our affiliate here in Atlanta WXIA.

And once again, we're going to keep an eye on this situation. It's going to take about an hour, maybe less than an hour now, for the equipment to be moved into the area. This is kind of a small town, a remote area, Bremen, Georgia. So it's going to take some time to get more of the heavy equipment that is necessary to start to pull away some of this debris, and that's going to be slow going. Because as we mentioned just a moment ago, there was still one person inside that collapsed building. We'll continue to follow developments in all of this, the situation in Gaza, the situation in New York, and of course the situation in Bremen, Georgia and bring you information as we get it.

Spectacular scenes in northern Nevada. Wildfires are on the move through forest and grasslands. This blaze is burning in Reno. More than two dozen fires, many sparked by lightning, are raging across that region. The flames have charred about 50,000 acres. In neighboring Arizona, a huge wildfire north of Grand Canyon National Park has marooned hundreds of tourists and workers. But right now, authorities say, no one is in danger. That blaze has burned more than 58,000 acres, and it is still spreading. It jumped the highway that leads to the remote north rim of the park.

Coming up, cleaning up from the flooding and bracing for more. Boy, that's the scene all along the eastern seaboard this morning. A new round of rain is expected to deal the region another punch. In Delaware, one lawmaker says there's water virtually everywhere. The storm left up to 5 feet of standing water in suburban Washington, and a couple more inches could call today. The National Gallery and few other government offices are closed for a second day.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: Police officers, sworn to uphold the law; fake cops determined to break it.

CNN's Ted Rowlands filed this story for "PAULA ZAHN NOW."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iraqis who recently buried 54-year-old Hashim Ibrahim Awad claimed that the handicapped civilian was kidnapped and murdered by U.S. forces, because he refused to become an informant. And now the U.S. Marine Corps believes it has enough evidence to charge seven Marines and a Navy corpsman with kidnapping, conspiracy and murder.

A military charging document viewed by CNN says four of the eight accused bear most of the responsibility. According to the document, the four kidnapped Awad, bound his feet and hands, and stole a shovel and AK-47 rifle to help cover up the murder.

This man, who lived near Awad, says he's the one who had his shovel and gun stolen.

FAHRAN AHMED HUSSEIN, NEIGHBOR OF HASHIM IBRAHIM AWAD (through translator): They usually search the house, and they ask us if we have a weapon. The U.S. forces allow us to have one rifle. But, that night, they even took my only rifle and my shovel.

ROWLANDS: The documents states, the four Marines took Awad to a nearby intersection where there was a hole and that one of the Marines -- quote -- "disturbed dirt in the hole."

Then, according to the military charging documents, the four Marines left Awad bound, but alive, by the hole, and returned to their group.

(on camera): Then, according to the report, a sergeant, Lawrence Hutchins, who wasn't one of the original four, got on his radio and reported that the Iraqi civilian was seen digging with a shovel, and that he had shot at Marines.

(voice-over): After that radio call, according to the document, five Marines opened fire on the Iraqi civilian.

Hutchins, Corporal Trent Thomas, who was one of the four who allegedly kidnapped Awad, Lance Corporal Tyler Jackson, and Private 1st Class John Jodka, according to the government, they all fired at Awad. Then, the document says, Lance Corporal Robert Pennington cleaned the fingerprints off the AK-47 and placed the gun and shovel in Awad's hands.

This is after, according to the document, a Navy medic fired the stolen AK-47 into the air, while another Marine collected the shells and put them near Awad.

JANE SIEGAL, ATTORNEY FOR PFC JOHN JODKA III: The government's they're is not consistent with PFC Jodka's ardent belief in his innocence and what he says happened.

ROWLANDS: Jane Siegal is one of Private 1st Class John Jodka's lawyers. She says, even though her client and Lance Corporal Tyler Jackson didn't directly take part in the kidnapping, they face the same charges as the others. SIEGAL: Under the government's theory, he was aware of the plan to kidnap this stranger and kill him. And, so, therefore, he could be found guilty of premeditated murder as well, even though he wasn't there.

ROWLANDS (on camera): Technically, the maximum penalty for premeditated murder is the death sentence. All of the lawyers that we have talked to have said that their clients tell a much different story than what was laid out in the charging document. They all say their clients are innocent.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, at Camp Pendleton, in Oceanside, California.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HARRIS: And you can see Ted's stories on "PAULA ZAHN NOW," weeknights at 8:00 Eastern, 5:00 Pacific.

A lot of breaking news happening here at CNN this morning, and we are covering all of it, working in the best video, the newest video, as it comes into CNN.

First of all, to Gaza now, where an explosion has happened in the Gaza Strip. No reports of casualties right now. We'll follow that story.

To New York City right now and live pictures there, as firefighters work to extricate two construction workers involved in -- and trapped in a collapse there at a construction site. The construction workers are said to be doing fine at the moment.

And CNN's David Mattingly is on his way to Bremen, Georgia, about an hour outside of Atlanta, where a motel, a two-story motel, has collapsed.

Live pictures, as you can see right now. Pictures of the back half of the building, of the site of the collapse. David knows this area fairly well and we'll be talking to him in just a couple of minutes. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Want to get you to Brooklyn, New York, as quickly as we can. Here we'll show you these pictures. We're going to do some taped pictures from just a moment ago and then mix in live pictures. As you can see, firefighters lifting one of the construction workers who was trapped in that collapse out of that pit, that hole that he was in, putting him on that board there, that red board. And then, just a moment, you will see that they actually get some momentum here and lift him out and to safety.

Our understanding is is that that construction worker is OK -- you can see him moving his right arm there -- but that he is OK. And we saw a moment ago that -- we saw his head peering out of that hole as we go to live pictures now. And he was getting exhorting these firefighters to do everything that they could, as quickly as they could, to get him out of there. And that rescue has been achieved successfully.

Now, with these live pictures, we are watching as the firefighters work to get the second construction worker out of that hole. This is a story that we've been following, if you're just joining us, for the last, oh, 45 minutes or so. This is a collapse, the scene of a collapse, in Brooklyn, New York, at a construction site. And firefighters rushed to that scene, as they do in these situations.

And as you can see, there are a lot of hands on deck now, trying to extricate now this second construction worker out of that collapse. And, again, this is a situation where we understand that both of the construction workers were alert throughout, conscious throughout and assisting in this rescue effort. And it looks like we're just sort of moments away -- we're going to stick with this picture for just a while longer here.

We may be moments away from seeing the firefighters there in Brooklyn, New York, extricate the second construction worker out of the scene. And maybe the scene will widen up just a bit so that we can give you a better vantage point of this construction site and some of the work going on. You see some of the heavy equipment that's on hand. Clearly, a working construction site. And our thanks to our affiliate there in New York, WABC, for the helicopter shots, the bird's eye view of this rescue as it unfolds right now before you.

And you can see one of the guys is seemingly counting down to this rescue to actually pulling this second construction worker out of that hole. And what we've seen, as we've watched this, even during commercial breaks here, is that there has been a lot of coordination here. You may not be able to tell that from so many hands, and it looks pretty chaotic right now. But it has been well-orchestrated. There seems to be a lot of communication going on between the two men who were trapped. One free now, and the efforts under way right now to get the second man out. But a lot of coordination between the firefighters and the two men trapped and making this thing happen as successfully as possible.

We want to take you now to Bremen, Georgia, to show you the latest pictures that we have, live pictures right now, from our Atlanta affiliate WXIA, as firefighters -- well, this is a little bit of progress here. For much of the morning, as we've watched this scene, the firefighters have stood at a distance and hosed down this collapse and the fire that was the result of an explosion at this hotel.

And let me make a bit of a correction now. We received a note a short time ago from Choice Hotels International, which has dropped its afilliation with Quality Inn. This is no longer a Quality Inn. That's how we've been referring to this motel throughout the morning. The folks at Choice Hotels telling us that this is now a Great Western Inn. So let me make that change for you. This is an explosion and a collapse at a Great Western Inn, a two-story motel in Bremen.

CNN's David Mattingly is on the line now. He is en route to Bremen. And David, bring us up to speed on the information that you have on this explosion and collapse.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, I spoke very briefly with the spokesman for the Bremen Police Department. And he tells me that everyone who was known to be at the hotel at the time of the explosion has been accounted for except -- except for one person, who is a maintenance employee at the hotel. That person has not been identified to us. But again, everyone, except for one maintenance employee at the hotel, has been accounted for.

Now, their concern is there might have been more people at the hotel that management or someone may not have been aware of at the time. For that reason, they've got heavy equipment on the way to come in and pull off the collapsed roof and to search in the rubble a little more thoroughly to see if perhaps there might have been someone in there that they hadn't known was in the building at the time. They're hoping not, but this is strictly as a precaution.

And right now firefighters are working on what they call the hot spots left over from this rather substantial blast. They're working on those hot spots to make sure no fires erupt anymore. And while they don't know what caused this, that is a cause for concern as they continue to work on these flames -- is that since they don't know what caused this explosion, there are also concerns that, you know, something might happen. So they're being very careful as they go about taking care of this.

We talked to some state officials. They believe it could be at least a couple of more hours before a cause of this explosion has been determined. But the officer on the scene speaking for the police department said at this point all options are still on the table -- Tony.

HARRIS: OK. And let's leave it there for right now, David, until you get to the scene and can gather some more information. That's good stuff, David. David Mattingly for us, on his way to Bremen, Georgia.

We want to show you new pictures now, new video into CNN. Look at this. This is in Laurel, Maryland. That is a -- boy, you can get to Laurel, Maryland on 295, 95 as well. This is just outside of Baltimore and very near Washington, D.C. You wouldn't call it a Washington, D.C. suburb. You'd call it a Maryland suburb. But once again, this is flooding from all of the rain that Chad has been telling you about, this storm system that will be out of the area shortly. You can't tell from that chopper shot whether it's still raining right now but certainly more rain is in the forecast for the area.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And I believe we're still working on getting you that storm chaser to see if we can get information.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The Hurricane Hunter? I believe we have the Hurricane Hunter.

HARRIS: Oh, we have him?

MYERS: Yes.

HARRIS: Oh, beautiful. Why don't you take that away, Chad.

MYERS: Major Lance Ashland joining us from the Hurricane Hunter.

major, are you all right?

MAJOR LANCE ASHLAND: Yes, sir. I'm here.

MYERS: All right, we kind of have a map of where you are, or a map of you, where you were. You came out of Keesler, across all of Georgia, and eventually -- go back to my map and I can show you a little bit better. There we go. And then back here -- looks like you're probably south of Charleston somewhere in the Atlantic Ocean, true or not?

ASHLAND: Well, actually I'm speaking from the squadron. Yes, we do have a plane en route to the storm. But they are not on station as yet.

MYERS: We get these updates from you -- the recon updates, and we can actually plot where they are and where this plane has made progress across Georgia and is not quite to the center of the storm. What do you know so far about what they've told you? There's hourly and minute updates as well. What have they told you in those updates far?

ASHLAND: Well, we haven't received any yet. They're out there looking for a closed circulation, which you know that's what it takes before anything develops. And When they get there, they'll be flying 500 feet to 1000 feet above the surface looking for that closed circulation, and at that point they could become a depression. That's up to the Hurricane Center there, obviously the one voice with any of that information.

MYERS: Right, you don't make any decisions. You give them all the data and they make those decisions. We know that now.

How long will it take to fly through all four quadrants of the storm to figure out whether we have a closed low or not? How long will it take?

ASHLAND: They will probably be on station about six hours out there. And again, that kind of depends what they're seeing and what the Hurricane Center says. If it looks like it's going to develop, they'll keep them out there as long as possible, obviously, to monitor the situation.

MYERS: Yesterday on the recon data, we thought you were taking off around noon today, and you took off obviously earlier than that. Was that because the storm blew up overnight?

ASHLAND: Again, that was a hurricane center decision. They wanted us out there a little earlier. They must have been monitoring the situation that changed a little bit. But yes, that's up to them. When -- they kind of set they need us on station and we, obviously, back that up to takeoff to be there on time.

MYERS: Major Lance Ashland, I appreciate your time. I'm sure we'll be talking with you extensively this season. Let's hope not too many times. But I'm sure we'll become best friends.

ASHLAND: Well, I hope not either. But thank you very much.

MYERS: Thanks for your time.

ASHLAND: OK, bye.

MYERS: We'll continue right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: And let's recap our breaking news this hour just ahead of "YOUR WORLD TODAY." First of all, live pictures now out of New York. This is Brooklyn, New York, where it seems that firefighters are close to extricating a second construction worker trapped in a construction accident there, an accident and collapse. Two construction workers were trapped in all. One already has been freed.

And we saw the flat board going in just a moment ago, so we believe that we may be close to seeing the second construction worker free. The construction workers were alert throughout and helping the firefighters with their own rescue.

And quickly now to Bremen, Georgia where firefighters are now moving into that building and doing the best they can to try to manage a collapse and a fire there. The fire seems to be out right now. One person is still believed to be inside that building.

I'm Tony Harris. Keep watching CNN. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next with news from around the globe and here at home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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