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CNN Live Today

Levee Repairs in New Orleans; Minnesota Twisters; E.U. Foreign Ministers, Kofi Annan Discuss Peacekeeping Force in Lebanon

Aired August 25, 2006 - 11:02   ET

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

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: How safe are we and can it happen again? Those are questions being asked this morning not about security, but about New Orleans' levee system as we approach the one- year observance of Hurricane Katrina, a report on the status of the levee system is being issued.
More now from our Sean Callebs in New Orleans.

So I guess that's the room where we will hear what they have to say later today -- Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. Right now people just milling about. It's going to begin in just a short while.

The American Society of Civil Engineers, this is the same group that also did studies on what happened in the Ground Zero area at the World Trade Center, as well as the Pentagon. So this report is going to carry a certain degree of weight.

It really looks at everything. And especially with Ernesto churning around out there, you know that people in the Gulf area are very anxious about what could happen.

These are people who went through horrific tragedy last year. And right now, people are just trying to rebuild. Kind of like sticking their toe back in the water of a pool. Do we feel safe? Do we not feel safe?

Well, really, what the civil engineers are looking at, everything with the levee, the way it happened, how it was breached, the devastation that was caused here in the New Orleans area. They're also going to be looking at the work that the Army Corps of Engineers did over the past year with the money approved by Congress. But perhaps more importantly, they're looking at the future, what can be done, and really looking at everything.

Some of it sounds very common sense. Like they're looking at risk assessment, people living in flood plains. They openly ask you the question, did people who lived in the Lower Ninth Ward, New Orleans East, did they know that that area could be that devastated by a breach in the levees?

They're looking at the levee construction. And also to the future. You know that they are actually drilling, putting steel plates down in further in some areas. We know the areas that were breached have had a lot of construction, a lot of work over the past year. But what about areas a few hundred yards down in either way? Are they going to be vulnerable? Also, they want a licensed engineer, somebody who knows what's going on to look at the levee system that protects the city, keeps the water from coming in, and making sure that throughout the year the work that the corps is doing is the work that needs to be done.

So, a lot going on here. And you forgive people who live in this area if their eyes begin to glass over, because so many reports have been issued about the levee system, is it safe, is it not safe? And the bottom line is, when you talk to people, they just don't know until another storm hits. But no one wants that to happen -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right. We will be listening in.

Sean, thank you for that.

An unbelievable sight in the South Dakota sky to show you. A tornado, it just keeps going and going and going. One of several twisters that damaged homes and brought down power lines in South Dakota.

In neighboring Minnesota, deadly tornadoes. An elderly man was killed when a twister hit his home. And in a nearby town, a tornado ripped off roofs and flattened trees. Several people were hurt there.

All right. Well, we have other pictures as well. Southern Minnesota, deadly tornadoes there as well. The elderly man was killed when a twister hit his home. Many houses have been reduced to rubble, and residents are in shock.

Perhaps no one more so than the man you're about to meet. He's been through a tornado trauma before.

Here's Boyd Huppert of CNN affiliate KARE.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BOYD HUPPERT, REPORTER, KARE (voice over): No one should have to deal with this once in a lifetime.

So what do you even say to Doug Lukes (ph)?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We moved here from St. Peter after a tornado blew us out of there.

HUPPERT: One house destroyed nine years ago in St. Peter. Now a second in Nicolett.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is about a 20 by 15 foot family room, carpeted, all refinished.

HUPPERT: Perhaps the cruelest of several swipes taken tonight by the storm. SONJA SHAY, WITNESSED TORNADO: The pressure was very high. Very high. Instant headache, and our ears popped. Just that fast, it was gone.

HUPPERT: Sonja Shay stood in front of the pickup she drove to work this morning but won't be driving home. The daycare provider had just two kids left in her care when the storm bore down.

(on camera): Were the kids scared?

SHAY: No. The kids weren't. The adults were.

HUPPERT (voice over): A few miles outside of Nicolett, the Ashawa town hall is destroyed, as were a garage, a barn, and two machine sheds on Hazel Bach's (ph) farm. As she headed to the basement, windows blew in, in her home.

I went down in the basement and I heard glass. So I didn't dare come up until it was over with.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There ain't much left here.

HUPPERT: What do you say, except you're sorry it happened, again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There ain't nothing you can say. It happens. The good lord wanted it, he took it. You can't do nothing about that. The only thing you can do is pick up the pieces.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Let's get back over to Chad, who's watching the weather situation in New Cork City -- Chad.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, the storm really has fallen apart in the past few minutes, Daryn, and that's good news.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: We are listening in to what they are saying in New Orleans about the levee system update. We'll bring you the latest from there.

Also from Phoenix, Arizona, roads that look like rivers. The results of a huge storm that dumped more than two inches of rain on parts of the city. It is monsoon season.

Some motorists did what you're just not supposed to do. You don't go across the wash. The danger wasn't just on the ground, the storm also brought a lot of lightning to the area and that triggered some house fires.

A casualty of Katrina. A Gulf Coast church falls to the storm. It lives on one year later. I'll talk with the minister on a mission.

And building a dream in another part of the world. Oprah Winfrey, her latest labor of love ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Let's update you on a number of developing stories we're watching for you here at CNN.

First to New York City. The tornado warning has been called off. Some intense weather moving into the Big Apple. They wanted people to be on alert for a possible tornado, but as Chad was explaining to us, that storm is quickly breaking apart.

In New Orleans, they're giving us an update now on what the status of the levees are there and how they plan to keep them standing in case of another Katrina-like storm. We are monitoring that news conference.

And then to Brussels, to Belgium, where European leaders are meeting to talk about this international force -- there we go -- our international force that's supposed to go into southern Lebanon and help protect Israel from Hezbollah. Some dithering, as they were saying, among the nations, trying to figure out who gives up which troops and what the rules of engagement are.

And with more on that, here's Robin Oakley, live from Belgium.

Hello.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hello, Daryn.

Well, this dithering, I think, is slowly coming to an end. We're starting to get numbers emerging from this meeting of the foreign ministers of the 25 EU nations, together with Kofi Annan, the U.N. secretary-general. Basically, they're talking numbers, they're talking about who's going to be in command, and they're talking about what the role of this international buffer force will be.

Now, we've already had pledges of 3,000 troops from Italy, 2,000 troops from France. Other offers are starting to come through.

The Belgians are producing some 400 troops, and Spain is going to produce upwards of 600. But the Belgian foreign minister, Karel De Gucht, has introduced a rather combative (ph) note into the proceedings. He said that the European Union has got to provide the bulk of this force because the United States simply isn't trusted by Arab nations as a fair intermediary or as a provider of a security force of this kind -- Daryn.

KAGAN: Robin Oakley, live from Belgium.

Thank you for that.

Once again, back to New Orleans, where we're keeping an ear out for this update that they're giving on the levees there and what the situation is. And while that goes on, we decided we'd like to talk to John McQuaid, a reporter from the New Orleans "Times-Picayune" newspaper. He also is the co-author of "Path of Destruction: The Devastation of New Orleans and the Coming Superstorms." And he joins me on the phone from just outside of Washington.

John, hello.

JOHN MCQUAID, REPORTER, "TIMES-PICAYUNE": Hello. How are you?

KAGAN: What are the status of the levees back in your town?

MCQUAID: The levees have been reconstructed in areas where they were breached or damaged. There's still a lot of work to do to add some additional improvements. So, basically, they're at the stage where they were at before Katrina struck.

That said, they are not strong enough to protect against a storm larger than Katrina. And even if Katrina hit again, it's not clear what -- what would happen.

KAGAN: So what does that mean for folks who are still waiting to rebuild?

MCQUAID: It means a lot of anxiety. Basically, over the long term, the city really needs higher, stronger levees, and a more integrated system, which is what the Society of Civil Engineers is talking about. But right now, there are no plans for that.

They're studying how to do that and it will take a lot of money. And so there's a lot of uncertainty about the long-term future of the city.

KAGAN: So, is that more of a case of they don't know how, or they don't know how to raise the money?

MCQUAID: It's a little bit of both. I mean, there is the technical knowledge. It's America. We can build big, well- constructed gates and levees if we have the money and the will.

Over the long term, it will require many billions of dollars. And obviously, right now we've got a lot of competing priorities, like the war in Iraq. So no one is sure that that funding stream will be there in the future to -- you know, to keep this type of project going.

KAGAN: Well, and not just that -- not to compare the apples and oranges of the war in Iraq to this situation, but hasn't there been billions of dollars poured into this system over the years and not -- not value received?

MCQUAID: Basically, obviously, they poured a lot of money into it and then the system failed.

KAGAN: Yes.

MCQUAID: But as the ASEC is saying today, there were a lot of systemic problems in the way these things were built. The corps basically said we're going to build these levees in 1965, and then they never changed those standards even as we learned more about storm surges and the land under New Orleans was sinking. The corps just said, well, we're sticking with our original standards.

And obviously, you have to take account of science moving forward and the landscape changing. And so, in the future, they're going to have to figure out how to do that.

KAGAN: So this is your beat. What are you watching as it goes forward?

MCQUAID: Well, I'm carefully watching what the corps is going to come up with as far as the shape of a new system. And are we going to put gates on Lake Pontchartrain?

Basically, it's a very ambitious idea to rebuild levees, to protect against big storms, and rebuild the entire sinking coastline there. It's really an astounding -- astoundingly ambitious type of project. But it's absolutely necessary for the city to have a long- term future. So I'd like to see the shape of that, and I'd like to see, you know, just how they handle the politics of it.

KAGAN: John, thank you.

That's John McQuaid from the "Times-Picayune" newspaper.

Let's go ahead and listen in ourselves to this news conference.

Here's Dr. David Daniel.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

DR. DAVID DANIEL, HURRICANE KATRINA EXTERNAL REVIEW: ... as much as we do for major dams. We see efforts under way to initiate these actions, but little has actually changed in the past year.

Call to action number two, quantify the risks. We still don't know how risky it is to live in the various sectors of New Orleans and other flood-prone areas of the nation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers IPET has undertaken the effort of quantifying the risks associated with the New Orleans hurricane protection system.

Our second call to action, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers IPET should complete the work necessary to quantify risks as soon as possible. And because risk assessment is not static, should periodically update the assessment of risk. The risk assessment approach should be extended to all areas of the nation that are vulnerable to major losses from hurricanes and flooding. Progress is being made on this action but much remains to be done.

Call to action number three, communicate the risk to the public and decide how much risk is acceptable. Risk has not been the foundation of decision-making in New Orleans and parts of the nation prone to flooding.

The future of New Orleans and the state of Louisiana depends on people's confidence in the hurricane protection system. The people of New Orleans must have a voice in decisions about the conditions under which they live.

Thus, our third call to action. Local, state and federal agencies should create and maintain quality programs of public risk communication in New Orleans and other areas threatened by hurricanes and flooding. Without an effective risk communication program, people will gradually forget about the risks. In doing so, they will unknowingly contribute to the severity of consequences from the...

KAGAN: We've been listening in a bit there to the American Society of Civil Engineers. They're talking about the status of the levees in New Orleans.

If you'd like to continue listening to that, just go to CNN.com and go to Pipeline and there will be a continuous stream of video of that news conference.

There you go. You can see it there on the screen.

We move ahead as another casualty of Katrina, a Gulf Coast church, falls to the storm. It lives on, though, one year later. I'll talk with a minister on a mission.

Also, Oprah Winfrey knows how to make friends. Here are two of her newest ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what to say. I'm happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just waiting for next year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: They're beautiful girls. The talk show host spreads joy by building a school. You'll see that story next.

You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Now the story of a very famous woman who is insanely rich. A lot of Americans think of her as the girlfriend next door, but fame and fortune are no match for Oprah Winfrey's heart of gold. Her labor of love is bringing joy and hope to disadvantaged children.

Here's CNN's Jeff Koinange in South Africa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFF KOINANGE, CNN AFRICA CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Twelve- year-old Palessa (ph) and her 13-year-old cousin Lebohang (ph) live in this three-roomed house, along with four other family members, in Soweto, one of Johannesburg's sprawling townships. They've heard U.S. talk show host Oprah Winfrey is in town and she's looking for a few good girls to be part of her new project. What they don't know is that Oprah's about to pay them a visit.

Word spreads fast about Oprah's presence in Soweto and the visit is no longer top secret. After all, this is Oprah. Oprah has been coming to South Africa for the past several years, determined to fulfill a promise she made to former president Nelson Mandela or Madeva to most here.

OPRAH WINFREY, TALK SHOW HOST: So I said to Madeva, I would like to build a school and I would like to commit $10 million. This was five years ago. And he said, yes.

KOINANGE: And just like that the two broke ground for a girl's school just outside Johannesburg in what began as a $10 million project. It's since grown to $40 million and counting.

(on camera): Less than four years later this is the result, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. Set on more than 50 acres of land, it houses more than two dozen buildings and Oprah says she was personally involved in the design and layout of most of them.

WINFREY: The dream for me was to create a school that I would most want to attend. So from the very beginning I sat down with architects and I said, we have to have a library in the fireplace so that the girls can, it can be a place of learning as well as living for them. We have to have a theater because this is a school for leaders and in order to be a leader you have to have a voice. In order to have a voice you need oration. So the idea for the school came about based on what I felt would be an honor for the African girls.

KOINANGE (voice-over): And all this for free. Free uniforms, free books, free meals. Everything is free at Oprah's school, which brings us back to Soweto and Palessa and Lebohang's house. Lebohang's mother died of AIDS nearly two years ago. Palessa's mother and grandmother now help feed five hungry mouths. But Oprah sees potential here, the right ingredients for leadership in her leadership academy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The future awaits you.

WINFREY: The future awaits you, I agree. I think your future awaits you. Your future is so bright it burns my eyes. Yeah, that's how bright your future is.

KOINANGE: Palessa's mother is overwhelmed by Oprah's philanthropy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was thinking that angels are white and they have wings and you only see angels in heaven. So now I can see we are living in this world with angels. Oprah, you are an angel. Angel from God, I believe in that.

KOINANGE: And outside the word had spread like wild fire. The Oprah Fan Club had instantly multiplied. Oprah insisted on personally interviewing all the prospective students from schools around the country. Her requirements were simple, the girls had to have better than average grades and they had to come from under privileged homes, much like she did.

WINFREY: I look in their faces I see my own. The girls who came from a background just like my own. I was raised by a grandmother, no running water, no electricity, but yet because of a sense of education and learning I was able to become who I am. And I want to do the same for these girls and so I think there's no better place than Africa because a sense of need, the sense of value for education and appreciation for it could not be greater.

KOINANGE: And in true Oprah fashion, she invited all the finalists to what was supposed to be an informal get together and dropped this bombshell.

WINFREY: I brought you all here today to tell you that you will be a part of the very first class of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy. And just like that, 150 young lives were transformed in an instant. What does this mean, this moment right now, what does it mean?

WINFREY: It is a complete full circle moment in my life. It is -- I feel like it's what I was really born to do. And that's what all of that fame and attention and money was for. It feels like the complete circle of my life.

KOINANGE: As for cousins Lebohang and Palessa...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm overwhelmed. I don't know what to say. I'm that happy, I'm just waiting for next year.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm just waiting for that date.

KOINANGE: It seems that date can't come soon enough for South Africa's best and the brightest here, an all expenses paid top class education. And all because one woman wanted to help out an old man.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: We love you, Oprah!

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Love, love, love that story. And love the picture of the girls jumping up and down. Could watch it all day long.

Jeff Koinange with us on the phone from Kenya.

Jeff, what was it like to be there, to be around Oprah, to see the energy and the smiles from those beautiful girls?

KOINANGE: Daryn, I still have goose bumps when I listen to those girls. They're unbelievable. Just the woman's presence.

Like one of the parents was saying, Oprah is the gift that keeps on giving. You know what line.

One of the ladies said that -- can you still hear me?

KAGAN: Yes, we can. Go ahead.

KOINANGE: Sorry.

You know that one line when one of the parents said that she thought angels only were in heaven and that Oprah was an angel?

KAGAN: Yes.

KOINANGE: Oh, my goodness. Unbelievable. It was great.

And Oprah was so genuine. And she came personally. She forfeited her vacation to personally interview all of the girls.

And more than 3,000 applied for this school. So it tells you right there. Unbelievable, Daryn. It's very -- a different story from what I'm used to doing.

KAGAN: Yes, absolutely. And it's good to get to see you do those kinds of stories as well.

Jeff, how different is this opportunity compared not just what these girls would face, but other children in South Africa? I mean, is this just unheard of, this kind of facility?

KOINANGE: Literally unheard of. I mean, this school -- and we visited, and the contractors told us they're way ahead of schedule. So it's going to be ready way before January 2nd.

I mean, it's go everything, an amphitheater that sits about 600 kids. And Oprah will be apparently on -- on -- live on video conferencing every once in a while just to check up on the girls.

They have a library with a fireplace in it, a modern kitchen with marble tops, tabletops. It's an amazing, amazing school. And the classes, an average of 15 kids.

KAGAN: Wow.

KOINANGE: So the personal attention will be right there, rather than the schools where, you know, the average in a class, maybe 30, 40 kids. This one is 15. And teachers, by the way, Daryn, will be recruited form around the world.

KAGAN: Incredible.

KOINANGE: So it's going to be a multiethnic, multinational -- it's going to be a really good, good thing for South Africa.

KAGAN: Without this opportunity, these specific girls, what kind of future would most of them face?

KOINANGE: In a world, dim. You saw one of the girls. Her mother died of AIDS about a year and a half ago. They live in a home with seven kids. And this is the average, Daryn. After high school, they have nowhere to go, nothing to do, despite the fact that they're so qualified, so smart, so brilliant, and so eager to learn. The fact that they have this now opens up a whole new world. Like Oprah was saying, it takes their life in a completely different direction.

KAGAN: Yes.

KOINANGE: And they realize this. You can see this in their eyes when they're jumping up and down, saying, "We love you, Oprah!"

KAGAN: And that was my final question for you, Jeff -- you had the same opportunity that Oprah had to look into these young girl's eyes. What do you see when you look into those beautiful faces?

KOINANGE: I'll tell you real quick Daryn, I wish I was still 13 years old. I would want to go to one of those schools. That's how I felt.

KAGAN: I bet. Next time perhaps.

KOINANGE: Yes, absolutely.

KAGAN: Jeff, keep bringing us stories like that.

KOINANGE: Thank you, Daryn. Nice talking to you.

KAGAN: Jeff Koinange on the phone with us from Kenya sharing his behind the scenes insights from doing the Oprah Winfrey story.

A look at that face for the first time in a short life, 3-year- old Amina is hearing her own voice, and that thanks to an army colonel. The Iraqi girl is in the U.S. waking up from years of silence. Dr. Sean Keniff and our Miami affiliate WFOR has details on that in today's "Daily Dose."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SEAN KENIFF, WFOR: Adorable Amina, death since birth, is about to hear for the very first time. The 3-year-old brunette beauty was found by a member of the U.S. special forces in Iraq and thanks to the International Kids Fund she was brought here to South Florida to receive a cochlear implant. Dr. Thomas Balkany performed the surgery at UM-Jackson and says it couldn't have gone any better.

DR. THOMAS BALKANY, JACKSON MEMORIAL HOSPITAL: The programming went very well. All of the computerized channels are operative right now and working just as they should be.

KENIFF: The implant receives signals from the outside world, then relays them through the skull, down to the hearing nerve and into the brain. And now, begins the hard work of learning how to hear and how to speak.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will take her a time because she is three years behind. KENIFF: But Amina is proving to be a quick learner. Often drowning out her doctors and her family spokesman who said Amina has a wonderful future waiting for her.

NABIL SALEM, FAMILY SPOKESMAN: They're hoping that she will turn to be a normal person and she can hear them say I love you and tell her parents that she loves them.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: The Oprah story, the young girl getting to hear for the first time. Love these stories. So far, Amina has been spending her time enjoying a new toy that plays "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." Very good. We have health news coming up for you. The FDA wants to limit the use of some widely prescribed asthma medication, that's according to the website WebMD. IT says that long-term drugs such as Advair and Cerovent(ph) could in rare cases increase the risk of severe asthma attacks. WebMD says the FDA wants the drugs restricted to patients whose asthma cannot be controlled with inhalers. The FDA has ordered warnings to be included on those packages.

To get your "daily dose" of health news online, logon to our website, you'll find the latest medical news, a health library and information on diet and fitness. The address is cnn.com/health.

A house overlooking a cemetery and rumored to be haunted. Sounds like something from a bad horror movie, but it's becoming a real-life crime scene. Frightening details on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Looking at live pictures here from Brussels, they're working on keeping the peace in south Lebanon. The focus there in Brussels this morning. European foreign ministers are meeting to decide whose troops will buffer Israel from Hezbollah. Also at the talks, U.N. chief Kofi Annan. A number of issues to resolve, among them, how many troops each nation will contribute to a peacekeeping force and who will lead them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENITA FERRERO-WALDNER, EU EXTERNAL RELATIONS COMMISSIONER: It is very important that we will contribute to the troops. But the security elements have to be seen against the whole political and economic context. And we, the commission, are ready to work for a long-term solution, for a revival of Lebanon. That means particularly for the Lebanese institutions, their authority, in order to restore full sovereignty of that country.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: And let's listen in for a little bit in Brussels.

ERKKI TUOMIOJA, FINNISH FOREIGN MINISTER: -- the logistical support and our support. And in addition to this, we also welcome the member state's readiness to provide support for the Lebanese army. And we also discussed the humanitarian situation and reiterated our determination to bring humanitarian relief to the people of Lebanon. We also welcome the recovery conference which will take place next week in Sweden. And we emphasize the humanitarian aid, early recovery and reconstruction efforts must be conducted also under the authority of the Lebanese government and in the context of its national plan for rehabilitation, reform and development. The other item which we did not need to discuss long, although it's important, was the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where we have had a serious situation, a situation which continues to be challenging and where we also adopted conclusions. For us, it has been a great honor that the secretary general has taken part in our discussions on all of the items we had on the agenda underlining the role and the support given by the --

KAGAN: It looks like they're kind of wrapping up the news conference there, talking about all the business they got to. Basically they are talking about peacekeepers in Lebanon and the U.N. wants to put 15,000 new troops on the ground in the south. That deployment would be in addition to a small U.N. force that's already there as well as Lebanese troops. France now says it will contribute 2,000 troops to the new force. That's a ten-fold increase from France's previous commitment. Earlier this week, Italy said it would contribute up to 3,000 troops. Both France and Italy had said they are willing to lead the new U.N. force.

Let's focus now back here on the U.S. Gulf coast communities are slowly rebuilding a year after Katrina. I want to show you some pictures now. This is what was St. Marks Episcopal Church, the oldest Episcopal church on the Mississippi coast. Despite the devastation, the church is reborn on higher ground. My interview with the rector in just a moment. First, let's check in with Chris Huntington who looks back.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS HUNTINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The linoleum tile floor and alter rails now propped up, are all that physically remain of the oldest Episcopal church in Mississippi. But the heart and soul of St. Marks in Gulfport are as vital as ever. Reverend Bo Roberts became the minister here in the spring of 1969, four months before hurricane Camille ripped its church from its foundation. He knows what it takes to rebuild, holding services on the first Sunday after Katrina was a top priority.

REVEREND BO ROBERTS, ST. MARK'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH: Since I came in April of 1969 we haven't missed one. And I was so committed. And that was all on this site.

HUNTINGTON: Dozens of St. Mark's parishioners along with the Episcopal bishop of Mississippi walked more than a mile through rubble filled streets to help Reverend Roberts prepare. By the time the services began, the congregation had grown to more than 60. And in the full tradition of a southern preacher, Reverend Roberts did not hold back about what he holds most important.

ROBERTS: I live beside you. Those nasty people sitting out there. [ laughter ] Covered with mud, forgot to shave. That's St. Mark's Church. That's the spirit of St. Mark's.

HUTTINGTON: Reverend Roberts stayed in Gulfport during hurricane Katrina because he wanted to be with his congregation. And those parishioners, many of whom lost nearly everything, showed their gratitude at today's service.

NAN RITZER, CHURCH MEMBER: We can't beat him. He helped us through Camille, he's helping us through this.

JERRY HELMES, CHURCH MEMBER: We're a strong community and a strong spirit in this church. You can tell by the turnout that the rebuilding has already started. It started, you know, inside and then we'll put four more walls here.

ALICE O'NEAL, CHURCH MEMBER: It's wonderful. It was wonderful. To see everybody together. And everybody will be together, we will overcome.

ROBERTS: I don't know where in the world we're going to be next week, I don't want us coming down here. And so we'll try and find something.

HUTTINGTON: Hurricane Camille didn't stop him and neither has Katrina. Chris Huntington, CNN, Gulfport, Mississippi.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: And the Reverend Bo Roberts, my guest now from New Orleans. Reverend, thank you for being here with us.

ROBERTS: Thank you very much for having me.

KAGAN: It has been quite a year for you and your congregation.

ROBERTS: It really has. We've been very grateful for the support of many individuals and churches around and most particularly, grateful for the spirit of the congregation and the people and how they've responded to this disaster. Even in spite of the horrific losses that many of them have had.

KAGAN: So one of the responses was a decision, no question, to rebuild the church. But you made a really important decision or the congregation did, to move, I believe, about five miles inland. Tell me about that decision.

ROBERTS: Yes, it's about 2 1/2 miles inland. But we thought of the prospects of having been where we were and having to rebuild and situations before. And I told the congregation, a matter of the heart would have us build back where we were but the matter of the mind tells us that it's time to go to a higher location and a safer location. And so the congregation have been very supportive of that and we are moving to a new place where we will have a ground breaking on Sunday the 27th.

KAGAN: And while you're waiting for that ground breaking you've been holding services in trailers. ROBERTS: That's correct. We have gotten a couple of doublewides, modular buildings there and we have one that's used for the church and one that's used for offices and Sunday school buildings. And it's great to have our own place, although it is certainly not what we expect to have in the future.

KAGAN: We focused on your church, but really your church's story is similar to many churches across the gulf coast in terms of losing their building and making the choice to move inland.

ROBERTS: That's correct. There are quite a few churches that have moved inland. Some, of course, need to stay on the property that they had before, but many people are just aware of the fact that the community needs to move north. And we're accepting that challenge and moving to meet it.

KAGAN: What's the message you give to your congregation reverend when they ask you why? Why did this happen to us? Why did this happen to our families? And why did this happen to our church?

ROBERTS: Well, you know, the whole part of living our lives is that we find ourselves faced with all sorts of disasters, circumstances and situations that may not be of our choosing. You know, there's unpleasantness, there's accidents, there's disease. The weather is just one of those things that happens someday.

KAGAN: Reverend Roberts also says, this is how you respond to life challenges that matters. We'll see the congregation's response this weekend. And as you heard him say, they are breaking ground on the new church building for St. Mark's on Sunday. We wish them all the very best.

Different building to talk about, a house overlooking a cemetery and rumored to be haunted. Sounds like something from a bad horror movie but it has become a real-life crime scene. Frightening details on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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KAGAN: On this week's explorers, a team of scientists create a way to study mother nature in detail.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mysteries of mother nature have intrigued scientists for centuries. Deborah Estrin is now unlocking some of those secrets with a new technique.

DEBORAH ESTRIN, DIR., CTR FOR EMBEDDED NETWORK SENSING: It combines the same technology that's in your cell phone and in your laptop and combines them on to small devices that can be literally embedded in the physical world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By placing the censors directly into the environment, Estrin and her team can observe and measure phenomena at a level of detail never seen before. From water to wildlife, Estrin says the data collected can help solve real world problems.

ESTRIN: Is it safe to drink this water, is it safe to have a building this close to a natural reserve.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In addition to a mobile robotic censor, Estrin is also developing an intelligence sensor that will not only gather data from its surroundings, but can interpret it as well.

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KAGAN: A group of Ohio teenagers chasing rumors. The kids try to get a close-up look at a spooky neighborhood house. What happened next, right out of a horror movie. Here's Patrick Bell with our affiliate WBNS.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's five counts of f2 felonious assault.

PATRICK BELL, WBNS: Allen Davis, shackled, hands clinched tightly at his waste, listened intently as detectives laid out their case against him. And in the back of the courtroom, there sitting quietly, the only person perhaps in his corner.

SONDRA DAVIS, MOTHER: We were harassed by these people. We've been harassed for a long time. They tried to break in our house twice. And they've called me names.

BELL: Sondra Davis is Davis' mother.

DAVIS: And I'm really the target of this whole thing.

BELL: Because she says, teenagers have for years harassed her family, trespassing near their home on property generations of students have long considered spooky. Investigators, however, don't buy it.

LT. DOUG FRANCIS, WORTHINGTON POLICE DEPT.: It's new to the police department, because we've never ever had a call down there or dealt with kids being on the property. We've never gotten a phone call from the suspect or his mother about people being down there. We've never had to deal with it.

BELL: Not until now. Not until officers say Allen Davis picked up his .22 caliber rifle and fired several shots at a car in which five teenage girls were riding. In the passenger seat, Rachel Brzezinski, she was struck in the head and shoulder.

FRANCIS: I mean being on someone's property does not justify anyone the right to open fire on the person that's on the property. We have the right to protect ourselves, not protect our property.

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KAGAN: Rachel Brzezinski is hospitalized, she is in critical condition.

Teens and body image, new ways to cure growing pains coming up next. You're watching CNN, the most trusted name in news.

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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN SR. MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: We talk to teenage girls about dieting and weight, this is what you hear.

AMY SCHMIDT, 17 YEARS OLD: I definitely feel some pressure these days, not necessarily to be like skinny thin.

GINA CARRETH, 16 YEARS OLD: I used to exercise excessively for the amount of calories that I was taking in. I wasn't consuming enough calories compared to how many I was burning.

MOLLY KAYSEN, 17 YEARS OLD: We see the covers and girls who weigh like 100 pounds and they are like 5'5" and that's extremely unhealthy. And I think it's really sad that that's the image right now.

GUPTA: These teenage girls participate in new moves, it's a program designed to help build self-esteem by emphasizing healthy eating and exercise. Dianne Neumark-Sztainer, author of, "I'm, Like, So Fat!" helped found the program and has interviewed more than 2,500 teenagers on their dieting habits.

PROF. DIANNE NEUMARK-SZTAINER, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA: Teenage dieters were at greater risk for weight gain, not weight loss. They were three times as likely to be overweight five years later, they were six times as likely to report binge eating behaviors and they were two to five times more likely to be engaging in extreme weight control behaviors such as vomiting and diet pill use.

GUPTA: She says society sends conflicting messages to teens. We're surrounded by supersized fast foods and obesity, yet bombarded with images of super thin models and celebrities.

NEUMARK-SZTAINER: A young girl or a young man really can't stop dieting and get into a full-blown eating disorder. It can be extremely dangerous.

GUPTA: 17-year-olds Annie and Molly say teens should focus on developing strong, healthy bodies and less on dieting, because diets don't work.

ANNIE HEIDEMAN, 17 YEARS OLD: It's just, you know, being careful and like making sure that your body is getting what it needs, you know, and getting the right amount of exercise is also important.

MOLLY KAYSEN, 17 YEAR OLD: Enjoy your food, be conscious of your hunger cues and --

HEIDEMAN: Indulge yourself once in a while. KAYSEN: Yes, that's very important, have that piece of chocolate cake if you want it.

HEIDEMAN: Yes, definitely.

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN reporting.

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