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CNN Live Today

Judge Throws Out Confession in Jessica Lunsford Case; Iraq Killings Probe; Cleanups After the Floods; New Terror Tape from Osama bin Laden

Aired June 30, 2006 - 10:00   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We have a lot to tell you about here on CNN LIVE TODAY.
Just in, a judge throwing out the confession of the man accused of kidnapping, raping and killing Jessica Lunsford. We're going to have a live report from Florida on that.

And after the flood, rivers are receding in the northeast. Now the massive cleanup begins. We are live from the flood zones.

And tragedy at Disney. A young boy dies after a roller coaster ride. The question now is, what happened? All that ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Daryn Kagan. On this Friday morning we're going to begin with a developing story out of Florida where a judge has just thrown out the confession of an accused child killer, rapist and kidnapper. You might remember Jessica Lunsford. The nine- year-old had been buried alive. A judge has ruled the convicted sex offender who admitted killing her, John Evander Couey, will not have his words used against him in court. Our Susan Candiotti joins us live from Miami to explain this legal twist.

Susan, hello.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

And all this happening with the trial just a week and a half away. It is a stunning legal development, but certainly not totally unexpected and here is why. Several months ago, during pretrial motions -- and, frankly, almost from the start, the public defenders challenged John Couey's alleged confession to authorities. A confession that helped lead police to find the little girl's body.

Here's what the problem was according to the public defenders. Several times during the course of their questioning of John Couey, he said multiple times that he wanted to talk to a lawyer. "I want to talk to a lawyer." He said it at least five times if I recall correctly. Yet the questioning went on. Public defenders have argued, as is the legal standard, that when someone asks for a lawyer, questioning should stop right then and there.

However, the prosecution has argued that it was unclear what John Couey meant. Whether he wanted to stop then or whether he wanted an attorney before they would give him a lie detector test at the end of his statement.

Also prosecutors have said all along that they would have been able to find the little girl even without the confession, even though they hadn't been able to do so for several weeks. They even had dogs searching behind that trailer. But now they're saying, well, there was a mound of dirt back there with a shovel back there and, eventually, they would have looked there and found the little girl, even if he had not confessed to them.

Also they've argued that they have forensic evidence to use. For example, fingerprints of John Couey and little Jessica inside the trailer where he had allegedly taken her.

Don't you know just a few days ago I sat down for an emotional interview with Mark Lunsford and I asked him what he thought would happen if the confession were thrown out. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: What if the confession is thrown out?

MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA'S FATHER: I don't care. I'm confident in the system. I'm confident in the prosecuting attorneys. State attorney's office. I'm confident in all those people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CANDIOTTI: Now we found out that in about, let's see, half an hour from now, the sheriff from Citrus County, Florida, where this investigation took place, is scheduled to hold a news conference. We have not yet had an opportunity to talk to the prosecutors or to the defense attorneys, for that matter, to get their reaction to this development.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Susan Candiotti live from Citrus County, Florida. Thank you.

We will look and show that news conference live.

Meanwhile, we have other breaking news. This is out of the Pentagon. Yet another new military investigation. Let's go to our Barbara Starr at the Pentagon with details on that.

Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, this word now just being released by the U.S. military in Baghdad. An Army criminal investigation has now been opened in the last couple of days into allegations that U.S. soldiers may have allegedly killed a family of four Iraqi civilians in their home near the area of Mahmoudiya, which is south of Baghdad. A very brief statement being put out by the military saying that on June 23rd, just a few days ago, two other soldiers reported to commanders allegations that U.S. troops had been involved in the killing of this family of four Iraqi civilians. We do not know yet exactly when that incident, that killing, took place. But soldiers reporting that there was a preliminary inquiry and, based on the information from that preliminary inquiry, just a couple of days later now the announcement coming, a criminal investigation opened by the Army into this latest incident of alleged wrong doing by U.S. troops in Iraq.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Barbara, we'll watch that one as it develops. Thank you, Barbara Starr, live from the Pentagon.

So the worst is over, but the hard part just getting started. Floodwaters are slowly falling in the northeast this morning. Now residents must remove the mud, the muck and other debris left behind. In Pennsylvania, the governor has declared parts of the state a disaster. In upstate New York, nearly 3,000 people are still in shelters. Many others are in their homes with no power or drinking water. Train service in the area is shut down, so is part of the Erie Canal.

Drinking water also a concern in Trenton, New Jersey. The city's water filtration system has been switched off due to debris. The mayor says some residents may not be able to go back until Tuesday.

Millions of dollars in damage. A massive cleanup. It is a familiar drill for many living along the Delaware River. Jason Carroll has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Homes along the Delaware River partially submerged. Businesses, too. In New Hope, Pennsylvania, its charming shops, bed and breakfasts' under water.

STEVE EBERSOL, BUSINESS OWNER: This is about a 50 store parking lot and the fence over there is the border up to the river and then there's a big bank that drops down what to usually is a very low- running river.

CARROLL: Steve Ebersol owns this parking lot, this building and the bed and breakfast across the street.

STEVE EBERSOL: That water is trying to get into my basement, even though it's got walls. It's basically just spitting right through the concrete block and coming in.

CARROLL: The Delaware River crested Thursday evening six feet above flood stage. And while its waters are supposed to steadily recede, there's still a lot of debris in the water which is threatening the New Hope Bridge. It remains closed until further notice.

Emergency officials say most people here evacuated. The area has flooded many times before. CHIEF HENRY PASQUALINI, NEW HOPE POLICE DEPARTMENT: We have become proficient with floods. This is our third flooded in two years. And we will get the burro back and running, the business community back and running as soon as possible.

CARROLL: Further north, the Susquehanna River in the town of Wilkes-Barre receded pretty quickly, a relief to people living here and to the Army Crop of Engineers monitoring the levee.

Are you surprised at all by the fact that the water has receded in this area so quickly?

JIM MOORE, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS: Yes, I am. This crest, even as late as yesterday, was predicted to stand for at least a day. We've already lost five or six feet.

CARROLL: Emergency officials lifted the evacuation order in Wilkes-Barre, but statewide, 34 counties were declared federal disaster areas.

GOV. ED RENDELL, PENNSYLVANIA: It's too soon to put a dollar figure on it. But in terms of loss of life, it looks like at least five live, maybe six. In terms of loss of homes and properties and businesses and possessions and things that are dear to people, it's impossible to calculate.

CARROLL: Back in New Hope, disappointment among the Ebersols and other business owners at the loss before the Fourth of July holiday.

CHRISTINE EBERSOL, BUSINESS OWNER: So I think it's really going to hurt the town. This is a shame because it's a great place.

CARROLL: A place still waiting for relief.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And Jason Carroll is joining us live now from New Hope.

Jason, just from where you're standing, you can see a big difference from yesterday.

CARROLL: A major difference. In fact, when you were watching that story there, Daryn, you saw that parking lot that was filled with water. Well, let's widen out here so we can show them, Steve. The parking lot now, the water is gone, but the mud is here.

If you can take a look, you can see what they're doing now. This is what's going to be happening over the next few days. They're going to be clearing away all the mud that was left behind from the flood waters that were out here. I heard one estimate that said there were some 300 businesses in this area, Daryn, that had to be evacuated. Some of those people are going to be moving back in today and throughout the weekend.

As you heard from Mr. Ebersol in the report, this is the third time in the past two years they've had to deal with flooding. So the prospect of having to clean up again is a depressing one for many of the folks out here.

Daryn.

KAGAN: I hope you didn't bring your fancy New York City loafers on that story.

CARROLL: No, you can check this out. You can see what I have on.

KAGAN: Let's see. What are you wearing?

CARROLL: I'm prepared.

KAGAN: Oh, very nice.

CARROLL: There you go.

KAGAN: Good call. You've got your ducks on.

All right, thank you, Jason. Thanks to the crew too.

Well, Stephen Bekanitch is the emergency management coordinator for Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. He's joining me on the phone right now from Wilkes-Barre.

Good morning.

STEPHEN BEKANITCH, MANAGEMENT COORDINATOR: Good morning. Thank you for having me.

KAGAN: Yes, and you've got a lot to go here. I understand more than $10 million damage to your county.

BEKANITCH: That is just from river flooding alone. We still have to be able to get out into some of the more rural areas where we had more of a flash flooding problem that had occurred and assess the damage there. So we expect that figure to rise dramatically.

KAGAN: Some of the big concerns, as many as 10 to 25 of the bridges in your county wiped out.

BEKANITCH: Yes. Right now our county engineers office, and just our road and bridge department who maintains our county roads, is expected at least 10 to 15 bridges that have received major damage or were completely washed away.

KAGAN: Does that mean some people are going to be stranded?

BEKANITCH: Some areas are going to be very difficult to access. We're working as rapidly as we can to figure out those areas and either re-evacuate them or get assistance into them as necessary.

KAGAN: Are you getting the kind of state and federal help you need to get your county back up and running?

BEKANITCH: Absolutely. Right now the state government is working fantastic for us. We're expecting the federal government to be in by Monday where we will start working on a more detailed damage report for the area.

KAGAN: And what about private homes?

BEKANITCH: We've had in excess of a thousand homes that were affected, both from the river flooding and the flash flooding. So we do have a lot of residents that are still out because some of the areas the water is still into the homes and the businesses in some of the communities.

KAGAN: A lot of work to get done there in Luzerne County. We wish you well.

BEKANITCH: Well, I appreciate it. Thank you very much.

KAGAN: And dry skies especially.

BEKANITCH: Thank you.

KAGAN: That's Stephen Bekanitch from Luzerne County in Pennsylvania.

Let's check in with Chad Myers about what the weather picture looks like for that part of the country.

Chad, at least some drier skies perhaps?

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Still ahead, we'll look into tragedy at Disney. A child dies after a roller coaster ride. Now the question of what happened. That's coming up.

Mourning a terrorist. A new audiotape praises a terror kingpin. Is the speaker Osama bin Laden? You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's go live now to Citrus County, Florida. News today that the confession of an accused murder will be thrown out in the murder case of Jessica Lunsford. Let's listen in.

SHERIFF JEFF DAWSY, CITRUS COUNTY, FLORIDA: Don't always have to agree with it. I think he made the decision based on the facts that he had sitting in a controlled environment. I will tell you that if I have the decision today to who I would send to interview John Couey, I would not change my decision. Those were two excellent investigators. They did not do anything deliberately or maliciously to violate John Couey's rights.

So with that, let me answer some questions.

QUESTION: It seemed like when you read that transcript and when you read the argument the state made, yes, he could have been just saying, if I took a polygraph, then I would want to have an attorney. The judge made the point that the next day, why didn't the detectives say, OK, now he is getting the polygraph, why don't we bring up the -- just to make it safe, bring up the issue of the attorney again. If Couey made that so explicit, you know, so many times the day before, why did they ignore it during the polygraph?

DAWSY: Well, you know, I can't answer that, honestly, for them. But I can tell you, you know, at the end of the day, Scott Grace looked at them and says, hey, are you still willing to talk to us? Are you still willing to take the polygraph? And he acknowledged in an affirmative action that, yes, OK? And, you know, I think one of the things you have to take in perspective, you know, that the judge did tell you that he is going to err on the side of conservativeness, OK? And I think that's what he did.

QUESTION: But he wasn't conservative in the words he used about your officers.

DAWSY: Right.

QUESTION: Saying, this is police misconduct and this, you know, profound violation of one of the bedrocks of law. You know, how do you react to that? He's talking about your officers.

DAWSY: Well, I made a comment earlier and I'll state it the same way, hopefully, to you. Is that, I don't always have to agree with the judge. I respect the judge and I respect his opinion. I can tell you it was not deliberately, it was not maliciously done. And I feel very comfortable with that. And I'll say it again. Those were the two investigator that I would send back up there. And the next statement very simply is that, OK, they were in not a controlled environment. We sit in a controlled environment with many, many months of preparation to make a judgment call on what they did. I listened to it. I feel very comfortable.

QUESTION: Sheriff, what was their reaction? I saw (INAUDIBLE) them sitting in there and kind of watching his expressions. What has he said to you after this ruling?

DAWSY: Well, you know, Gary and I, we've talked along through the whole thing and we talked all through the weekend last week. You know, if it was such a cut and dry issue, we wouldn't have spent nine and a half hours on it last Friday. OK. Nine and a half hours we spent on this confession. I think that, in itself, tells you a lot.

Gary -- would Gary love to have the confession go in? Yes. But I've always told you that we built this case on the rock-solid part of evidence. Evidence doesn't lie. I've got enough evidence to put John Couey to death and that's our next phase.

QUESTION: Sheriff, do you admit there was a problem with what your detectives did and has the sheriff's office made any changes because of what we've seen here?

DAWSY: No, we have not made any changes. It's way too early, really, to analyze if they did anything wrong or right. I think you have to go back in the totality of the case. OK. The word the judge made up there very simply, unequivocal. Was he unequivocal or was he vague? OK. The judge's decision was that he was not -- that he was extremely straight to the point.

I listened to the tape. You guys listened to the tape. OK. When it's all over with, we'll sit down and we'll debrief and we'll go from there. But I'm very happy with what the investigators -- what the outcome of this case was.

QUESTION: Sheriff.

DAWSY: Yes.

QUESTION: The confessions out and the state has said that they won't appeal. In any sense, are you somewhat relieved that at least the issue is passed and you can move on now? Is there any sense of relief?

DAWSY: Oh, yes. You know, anybody can tell you, you know, in all cases -- I don't care how rock-solid they are, if any of you have followed criminal cases, you will see very simply that not all confessions go in. OK. I'm glad this is behind us. We closed the door on this. Now we move forward to prosecuting John Couey.

QUESTION: Sheriff Dawsy, (INAUDIBLE). What should someone -- if someone's in this position ever again and is questioned by police, what should they say to your investigators if they do, in fact, want to speak to a lawyer? Do they write it? I mean, I'm trying to figure out what they would do next if . . .

DAWSY: "I want an attorney" and stop talking.

QUESTION: Stop talking?

DAWSY: Stop talking. "I have the right to remain silent." Stop talking.

QUESTION: Sheriff, a lot's been said about the first interrogation itself. Jessica was still missing at that point. The detectives weren't sure if they had the man. I'm just trying to understand just what -- going through that situation from a detective's standpoint, what it's like when you've got all that pressure. I mean, you've defended them all along saying basically you wouldn't have changed your decision. But what is it like in that -- given someone from your experience -- what is it like to not . . .

DAWSY: I think the question -- he opened it up and I think everybody should be very well aware of this. You're sitting now 15 months after we found Jessica. The day we interviewed John Couey in the investigation, we still believed Jessica was alive. OK. Those guys are on the premise of looking for a live child. OK. I'm not saying it's right to violate anybody's rights, but, you know, when you're involved in this case, I don't think they went up there maliciously. I don't think they were overly emotionally involved. I think they were very methodical in the way they went about doing their business. We chased John Couey from here. KAGAN: We've been listening in to the sheriff of Citrus County in Florida. The news that the confession that John Evander Couey gave sheriff's investigators when they were looking for Jessica Lunsford is going to be tossed out. This is just a week and a half before the trial begins. You might remember that Jessica was kidnapped, raped and killed. And as that trial begins, you hear the sheriff also say that he believes they still have enough evidence to go after John Couey and they are going for the death penalty. So more on that story as it develops.

We're also watching a story out of the Pentagon. Word of yet another military investigation. This one by the Army into the alleged killing of four Iraqi civilians in an area that is just -- a town just south of Baghdad. Apparently last Friday two soldiers reported alleged coalition force involvement in the deaths of a family of four. Barbara Starr reporting that from the Pentagon.

And then there's news out of New York City as well. And Fredricka Whitfield has that for us.

Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

Well, it's been about 18 months since you remember hearing the name or even the controversy associated with Bernard Kerik, the former New York Police commissioner, and then nominated as Homeland Security chief.

Well, today he plead guilty to charges that he accepted tens of thousands of dollars in gifts as police commissioner. He pleaded guilty today in the Bronx, in a court there, to a pair of misdemeanors in the state supreme court. And it's a deal that spares him any jail time. He, instead, was ordered to pay a total of $221,000 in fines at what was just a 10-minute hearing.

Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Fred, thank you.

We're going to flip some things around coming up here on CNN. Including in the next hour you're going to see "Larry King." We're going to replay the entire hour where Star Jones explains her side of the story. It's Larry's interview that he had, an exclusive, last night. You'll see that in the 11:00 a.m. hour. Figure out that counter-programing, if you will.

And then Gerri Willis is flipping things around. Instead of just giving a tip, she is on the receiving end, getting some great tips from the viewers.

Gerri.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, that's right, Daryn.

You know when our viewers have great ideas, we've just got to pass them along to you. That's coming up next on "Five Tips."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Well, yesterday was fun, but it doesn't look like the markets are holding on to that rally. You can see the Dow is down 22 points. Nasdaq also moving south just a bit. It is down seven points.

We're in a holiday mood with 4th of July coming up. Our personal finance editor, Gerri Willis, not on vacation but she's letting our viewers do the work for her.

You know what this reminds me of, not 4th of July, Gerri, but Sadie Hawkins Days. Remember when you were kids the girls asked the guys to the dance. So we're letting the viewers ask us to dance.

WILLIS: That's right. That's right. You know, Daryn, tip number one here, you know, people are thinking about the 4th of July. It's right around the corner. And we were interested in safety tips and we got a great one from Mike in Nebraska. All those barbecues firing up there soon. Here is his tip. Charcoal from grills must be cool before being cleaned up. Homeowners scrape the ashes into the trash and it causing fires. Ashes should be left for a day and put in a metal can with no other burnable debris. That's from Mike in Nebraska.

And, you know, as we mentioned earlier, Daryn, you also want to keep your grill covered when you're not using it to protect it from extreme weather conditions.

KAGAN: What about folks who are hitting the road, Gerri?

WILLIS: Another great tip from our viewer, preparing your car for a road trip. This one's from Ray in Baltimore. And he says, check the spare tire pressure that's in the trunk or under the vehicle. Sometimes even if the spare feels full, it may not be. Make sure you have enough coolant in your car before you take off to avoid overheating.

KAGAN: Oh, thank you, Ray.

WILLIS: Yes, pretty smart, huh?

KAGAN: Thank you, Ray.

OK. What you should do to your home before you hit the road?

WILLIS: Well, we told you a while ago that you need to turn off your main water valve when you go on a long vacation so that your furniture does float away if a pipe bursts. And then a view wrote in and said, make sure you tell people to turn off their water heater. And, you know, that's absolutely right. If you have an electric water heater, turn it off, otherwise it will continue to heat your water at 120 degrees 24 hours a day. If you have a gas water heater, turn it down to the pilot position, which could save you a ton of dough. KAGAN: All right. So let's say you're not hitting the road, you're stay home and you just want to kind of curl up with a good book.

WILLIS: Well here's a tip from a viewer that's designed to help students cut their costs on textbooks. But if you're looking for some summer reading, you might want to listen up. Check out bigwords.com. This is a search engine that will see book-selling websites, find the best deals, even including shipping costs. I save on my textbooks regularly, says Matt. And that is a terrific tip. And we all want to recommend as well half.com and froogle.com.

And, of course, we want to hear from viewers all over again. Send us your questions and your answers to 5tips@cnn.com. And, of course, if you've missed anything at all on "Five Tips," check out the website at cnnmoney.com/5tips.

Daryn.

KAGAN: You know, we had so much breaking news yesterday we didn't talk to you on Thursday, which we usually do, about what we'll see on "Open House" tomorrow. So how about giving us a heads up on that?

WILLIS: We have got a great show. We're talking about fireworks safety. We have a ton of fun things coming up where we'll be talking about the real estate market. What you need to know now. We had some very big news this week with interest rates going higher. What does it mean for you, your wallet, your mortgage? We've got the answers. That's 9:30 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN.

And if you don't get up that early, because some people don't, you can see it on "Headline News" at 5:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

KAGAN: All right, Gerri, thank you.

WILLIS: Thank you.

KAGAN: Well, one terrorist leader is mourning the death of another. Analysts are now going over the latest message said to be from Osama bin Laden. The audiotape eulogizes al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson live from Baghdad on this latest tape.

Nic, hello.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn.

It's a 90 minute tape. What makes this tape different to any of the others -- any of the other audiotapes seen from Osama bin Laden, it's gone through post production. It's run out as a video. It's got a picture of Osama bin Laden on one side and video of Abu Musab al- Zarqawi on the other side. The audio runs underneath it.

The message is clear. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was a hero, we mourn his loss. People should write poetry about him. It's kind of strange that bin Laden should call him a hero because just less than a year ago, he was criticizing him in messages to him, telling him that he needed to back off from killing Shia Muslims in Iraq, back off from the brutal beheadings that he was posting on the Internet, that al Qaeda in Iraq, his group here, was responsible for.

But the message now is Zarqawi is a hero. There's a message there for President Bush, as well: allow Zarqawi's body to go back to Jordan, his home country, where he can be buried. The message for President Bush also that he shouldn't enjoy this situation right now. As Osama bin Laden says, there is another lion to replace this particular lion. Not naming Zarqawi's -- whoever is taking over from Zarqawi, his predecessor, but saying that there is somebody to take over.

And again, from Osama bin Laden, a message of intent. The war will continue in Iraq and Afghanistan and in Somalia and in Sudan. And we have heard this from Osama bin Laden in his last couple of messages, focusing his next phase of the battle in Africa -- Daryn?

KAGAN: Hey, Nic, stay with me for a second here. Because we have a story that's breaking out of the Pentagon and I want to ask you about the area that it centers around. But let me give the viewers the details first.

This news out of the Pentagon today that yet another military investigation has been started, this time by the army. It centers around the town of Mahmoudiya. That's just south of Baghdad, where allegedly these soldiers went in and perhaps killed four members of the same family. This is ordered by commanding general of the multi- national division in Baghdad.

So, it just started on Saturday. It's very preliminary. But what can you tell us about this area, Mahmoudiya, just south of Baghdad?

ROBERTSON: Well, this area is known to a lot of people here as a triangle of death. It's an area south of Baghdad where the military believe insurgents can resupply themselves from the west of Iraq, where there's a mix of population, a mix between Sunni and Shia, where the tribes there, particularly the Sunni tribes -- and it's the Sunnis who are behind the bulk of the insurgency -- can move across and resupply from the west of Iraq, where they're stronger.

It's an area where military commanders will say perhaps they have lost the initiative in that area over the past few years, because the multi-national units, the American units, the British units -- well, not the British units -- but other nationality units that have gone in there, have been changed perhaps too quickly to understand the dynamic of the area. And they've lost their initiative. So, for that reason, and the mixed nature of that area, it has remained volatile and very difficult to control and very, very dangerous. There's always a lot of attacks in that so-called triangle of death, south of Baghdad -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Thank you, Nic. And I know that story is coming out of the Pentagon and not out of Baghdad, but I just wanted to use your expertise to kind of put it in context so we could understand where it was taking place. Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thank you.

And now to Florida. A developing story there. A confessed killer apparently having his confession thrown out. This is -- these are new pictures in of John Evander Couey. He is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford. But the confession that he gave back in February of 2005 apparently by a judge now has been thrown out. This is a just week and a half before the trial is set to begin in Citrus County, Florida. The prosecutors there and the sheriff say they have plenty of other evidence. The trial will go forward, and it's set to begin on July 10th.

Coming up next, taking stock in the flood zone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's just really too much to bear, to think I might, you know, at one time lose my home. And then if we can't financially recover from this, you know, with the business, it just seems like -- we've seen too much to take on both ends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Flood waters are going down. The rebuilding is just beginning. Stay with CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: First the flood, and now the mud. Rivers are slowly falling in the Northeast this morning. Now the massive cleanup begins. In Pennsylvania, the governor has declared parts of the state a disaster. In upstate New York, nearly 3,000 people are still in shelters. Many others in their homes with no power or drinking water. Train service in the area is shut down. So is part of the Erie Canal.

Drinking water also a concern in Trenton, New Jersey. The city's water filtration system has been switched off due to debris. The mayor says some residents may not be able to return until Tuesday.

Well, OK. Still ahead, we're actually going to look in at -- let's check in with Allan Chernoff -- well, let's just watch Allen's report then. OK, thank you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bad enough to have your home flooded, but Stacey Gould saw it happen to her restaurant, too.

STACEY GOULD, FLOOD VICTIM: It felt like I was going to fall apart. It's just really too much to bear to think I might, you know, at one time lose my home. And then if we can't financially recover from this, you know, with a business, it just seemed like -- it seemed too much to take on both ends.

CHERNOFF: About half the people in Broome County, New York suffered flood damage, and about 5,000 were unable to return to their homes. Though few were as hard hit as Stacey's.

GOULD: By the time we were done with the last of getting our TV and our dining room chairs and tables upstairs and everything, the house was completely surrounded.

CHERNOFF: Surrounded, but she thinks it still won't be covered by her catastrophic flood insurance.

GOULD: It was probably about, you know, up to here, but the fire department was there, and they said please don't do that. We've got a boat.

CHERNOFF: With her home engulfed, Stacey focused on trying to save her natural food restaurant, "The Whole in the Wall." She and her business partner pumped three feet of water from the basement, then looked over the damage.

GOULD: A lot of our files, you know, they were in our desk drawers and stuff. So they're soaked, you know. And I don't know. Some stuff is on computer. You know, but -- and I don't know what you do about stuff like that. This is the freezer. Luckily it has a nice seal on it. But you can see it's just -- we're going to have to get rid of a lot of the stuff that's on the base there. This represents, like, you know, 10, 12 grand.

CHERNOFF: The business won't be covered by insurance either, leaving Stacey and her partner sifting through the restaurant to see just what can be salvaged.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And that was Allan Chernoff, reporting on -- with one of the flood victims.

We're moving on to Florida now, where there is tragedy at Disney. A 12-year-old boy dying after riding a rollercoaster at the theme park. An autopsy is planned today.

CNN's Susan Candiotti takes a closer look at that.

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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It has zip, and then some. Zero to 60 in less than three seconds, Disney says the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster propels passengers around hoops and corkscrews in the dark to the sounds of Aerosmith.

When the one-minute ride was over, vacationer Michael Russell had passed out.

BARBARA MILLER, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF'S SPOKESWOMAN: The father was in the backseat and his son Michael was in the front with his mom. He noticed that his son went limp. So he pulled him off the ride as they were exiting, and immediately he began CPR. So, evidently, he realized there was a problem early on.

CANDIOTTI: A call went out to 911.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little boy passed out on the train. He's over here (INAUDIBLE).

DISPATCHER: Is he still unconscious and is he breathing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He is still unconscious right now.

DISPATCHER: OK. Is he breathing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone's doing CPR on him right now.

CANDIOTTI: The 12-year-old was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead. He was on the ride with his parents and 7-year-old brother. His father, a Green Beret, is stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

MILLER: As far as the father was telling us, what we know right now, that the child did not have any pre-existing medical conditions.

CANDIOTTI: Signs warn riders about Disney's high-speed rides. Park officials maintain the roller coaster was operating normally at the time.

JACOB DIPIETRE: Right now, our deepest sympathies are with the family. And we are doing everything we can to assist them.

CANDIOTTI: The young man's death is a third on a Disney ride since last June. Two other tourists died on Epcot Center's Mission Space, one as recently as April. Autopsies found those two victims had pre-existing medical conditions.

KAGAN: Coming up in about 20 minutes, we are going to have for you the only primetime interview that Star Jones gave. It went to our Larry King. We thought 11:00 a.m. Eastern might be an interesting time to play that again for you. So you'll see the full hour coming up, in about 18 minutes.

We're back with more news after this.

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KAGAN: OK. You have a president, a prime minister, but then you've got "The King." President Bush playing tour guide today. He's taking his ally and friend, the Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, to Graceland.

Our White House correspondent, Elaine Quijano, joining us live from Memphis. Good morning.

ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you Daryn. Well, that's right. The two world leaders paying tribute to the king. President Bush today, along with the Japanese Prime Minister, Junichiro Koizumi, heading here to Elvis Presley's home at Graceland.

Now, this is really meant to bid thanks and a fond farewell to Prime Minister Koizumi, who, of course, is an enormous Elvis fan. Koizumi last night was at the White House for an official dinner, in which he remarked during the toast that the first English song he had ever learned was Elvis Presley's "I want you, I need you, I love you." Well, Koizumi steps down from his post in September after five years on the job as prime minister. He has been a staunch supporter of President Bush's efforts to fight the war on terror.

But the two leaders also have a very close personal rapport as well, a relationship that began in 2001. In fact, exactly five years ago today, it was, that President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi engaged in an impromptu game of catch and bonded over that game of catch at Camp David. Now, a senior Bush aide says today's trip was really President Bush's idea. He started talking about it about a year ago. His aides thought he was joking. Obviously, he wasn't.

And we're told, though, Daryn, that Elvis movies are going to be playing in the cabin of Air Force One. The president and prime minister due to arrive here at Memphis within the hour -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Now, you know, Elaine, it's one thing to go to Graceland and check out the house. But if you really want to do the pilgrimage correctly, you have to go across the street and see the Lisa Marie, the plane that Elvis flew around, as well. Do you know if that's included in the tour today?

QUIJANO: I don't know that it will be. Because, actually, logistically, we're all over in this area. And I'm not sure they're coming over to where we are. But, across the street, from what I understand, they'll be spending about an hour to two hours and they'll get pretty much, according to staff here at Graceland, the same tour that everybody else gets. They won't necessarily get to see anything special, but they'll be getting that tour from Lisa Marie and Priscilla.

KAGAN: Well, so, that's special.

QUIJANO: That's a little something different.

KAGAN: All right. The jungle room with the shag carpet on the ceiling, not to be missed. Thank you.

Elaine Quijano, live from Memphis and Graceland.

It is a cautious countdown. NASA saying tomorrow's launch of the space shuttle is a go. Today, though, all eyes are on the weather.

Our Daniel Sieberg joins us now live from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Good morning, Daniel.

DANIEL SIEBERG, CNN TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn. That's right, the latest pre-mission briefing from NASA wrapped up just a few minutes ago. They are saying, technically speaking, they are ready to go. The weather, though, is a possible prohibiting factor. There's saying there's about a 60 percent chance of a no go for launch of Discovery tomorrow. That would be at 3:49 in the afternoon. And that would prohibit the launch because of some possible thunderstorms, lightning and rain in the area.

They're going to predict that weather tomorrow again, see how it shapes up and probably go down to the last minute to see if this window of time opens up for them. If it doesn't, they'll try again on Sunday, take a day off on Monday, try again on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Right now, if you can see over my left shoulder, the clock itself, the countdown clock, has stopped at T-minus 11. That is a planned hold. That's because there are a few things they need to do, including load some fruit flies on for some experiments. They're going to be checking out some of the cameras. They're going to monitor Discovery as it goes up.

And as well, there is something called the rotating service structure that's kind of obscuring the shuttle view right now. At about 6:30 tonight, they're actually going to roll that out of the way. That's going to be one of the things that they do in order to prepare for tomorrow.

The clock will start up again at about 11:00 p.m. tonight and they will wait and see if the weather does cooperate and everything lines up. And, of course, part of this briefing today, as one of the NASA folks pointed out, would coincide nicely with a particular holiday that's coming up.

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JEFF SPAULDING, NASA DIRECTOR: Well, it's taken us nearly a year of hard work to get back to this point. I'm proud to announce that the vehicle, our launch team and our flight crew are all ready for launch and all of us are ready to kick off our nation's 230th birthday celebration just a little early this weekend.

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SIEBERG: And Daryn, all eyes will be on pieces of foam like this, that will most likely come off the external fuel tank. The issue is whether it will be serious enough to cause some damage, Daryn. A lot of people watching this.

KAGAN: All right, Daniel, thank you. Daniel Sieberg at Kennedy Center.

And CNN will bring you Discovery, countdown to liftoff, beginning at 7:00 Eastern tomorrow morning. Be sure to join us for special live coverage of the launch beginning at 3:00 p.m. Eastern, 12:00 Pacific.

So Star Jones gave her exclusive interview, primetime last night, to our own Larry King. You're going to see a repeat of that. We're going to watch what Star has to say about her side and her view of the controversy. You'll see that in the next hour here on CNN.

Right now, we're at break.

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