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CNN Live Today

Tropical Storm Ernesto; Virginia Under State of Emergency; Iran Plane Crash; Nuclear Deadline for Iran; Man Charged in University Van Crash

Aired September 01, 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: Yep, everyone, it's my last day. Twelve years. We'll get to that in a little while.
But first, of course, as every day here on CNN, we have a lot of news to get to. So let's go ahead and do that. Our last day together.

Rain, rain and more rain. Ernesto's calling card. We are tracking the storm through North Carolina and points north.

Children who have been run down waiting for their school bus. We're going to take you to that scene in Silver Spring, Maryland.

And the FBI wants you. How to make the agency's 10 most wanted list. We're going to spell that out for you coming up.

And as we follow this -- all these developing stories this hour, we're going to begin with Tropical Storm Ernesto and what we know right now.

The massive rainmaker is slogging through or toward Virginia where the governor has already declared a state of emergency. The state is expecting up to eight inches of rain and flooding is likely. Ernesto came ashore last night just shy of hurricane strength. Rains will continue into the night for the eastern part of the state.

Meteorologist Chad Myers is with us tracking all the storms. Not just Ernesto, but Hurricane John on the west coast of Mexico as well.

You are a busy guy today, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: Our Kathleen Koch is in Raleigh, North Carolina, looking at Ernesto. Trying not to get too soaked.

Good morning, Kathleen.

KATHLEEN KOCH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, we're past the point of getting soaked. And what we're really feel right now is just what Chad was talking about, is the strong gusting winds as we're feeling just the outer remaining bands of Ernesto as it moves north and east of us. But these wind bands are bringing gusting winds of roughly 30 miles an hour and it's bringing down a lot of trees. A lot of power lines. Rain wise, we only had about an inch and a half here in the Raleigh-Durham area.

But in North Carolina itself, nearly 70,000 residents are without power. In the Virginia/North Carolina area total, about 200,000. So power crews in both states are working feverishly right now to restore electricity to residents.

Obviously the hardest hit areas that felt the brunt of Ernesto were on the coast of North Carolina. Right near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The storm came in right around midnight in the Long Beach area with sustained winds of 65 miles an hour. Some record rainfall amounts seen down there.

Wilmington saw nine and a half inches from the storm. A lot of areas had officials going literally door to door where it was low lying, where it was flood prone, warning residents they needed to get out. They needed to take shelter. The Coast Guard actually closed a number of ports on the North Carolina coast out of precaution.

But here in this area, they were ready for the worst. They had some 25 swift water rescue teams on standby. The governor put on additional National Guardsmen, additional state troopers ready to perform rescues. But they canceled school in many areas of the state. They had a two-hour delay. Its kept a lot of vehicles, a lot of buses off the roadways and kept people out of potentially dangerous situations, flooding situations.

So, Daryn, in many ways, though, they feel very fortunate here like they really did dodge the bullet.

Back to you.

KAGAN: All right, Kathleen Koch live from Raleigh, North Carolina. Thank you, Kathleen.

Let's get the latest from Virginia where the governor has already declared a state of emergency. Our next guest can explain what that means. Bob Spieldenner is the director of public affairs at the Virginia Department of Emergency Management. A busy morning for him.

Thanks for joining us on the phone.

BOB SPIELDENNER, VIRGINIA DEPT. OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: Thank you. Good morning.

KAGAN: What area are you the most concerned about?

SPIELDENNER: Well, the eastern part of Virginia is getting hit the worse. The Hampton Roads area, which is the Virginia Beach, Norfolk area in southeast Virginia has been worst hit so far. But it's still moving into Virginia. Now the central part of Virginia, the Richmond area, is starting to get the wind and the rain now.

KAGAN: With the state of emergency being declared by the governor, what does that mean in terms of doing your job?

SPIELDENNER: Sure. It really just frees up resources for us to be ale to respond quicker. It allows us to put National Guard on standby. We've pre-positioned some state police, swift water rescue teams to be ready to respond if needed. And we also have some contracts this place in case we need to get supplies quickly. Those are lined up because of that declaration.

KAGAN: And we're looking at a live picture of Norfolk right now. Our viewers at home are.

What's the National Guard going to do?

SPIELDENNER: Well, the national Guard's on standby. They could come in and help pull folks out who are in high water areas. They can also bring in supplies and equipment. They can really bring a lot of capabilities that they have.

KAGAN: And what about the average citizen? How can they help?

SPIELDENNER: Well, the main thing is for them just to pay attention to what the weather's going on and make sure that they're not taking any risk. They need to pay attention because we still might get tornadoes and there's a lot of flooding out there in the streets in the cities, so driving is not the best thing to do right now.

KAGAN: Lay low, as we like to say.

Bob, thank you. Busy day for you. We wish you well. Bob Spieldenner with the Virginia Department of Emergency Affairs.

A story out of Maryland now. Very disturbing. Ten children taken to the hospital after a school bus accident. Montgomery County, Maryland. Police say a van lost control and hit the students. The children range in age from 10 to 14. None of the injuries is considered life threatening.

The latest from a Comair crash investigation. That continues. There is news about the sole survivor. Doctors at a Lexington, Kentucky, hospital say that James Polehinke is improving. He has gone through three surgeries and his condition has been upgraded from critical to serious. Polehinke was the flight's first officer and was at the controls at the time of the crash. Forty-nine people on board died.

We are keeping an eye on Ernesto as it moves up the east coast. Flooding in North Carolina. Virginia, as you can also see, very concerned as well.

Also, a deadly plane crash in Iran. Details are just ahead on that.

And he wanted it and he says he's got it. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan with a pledge of Syrian support for a fragile Middle East cease-fire. Details ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) KAGAN: A deadly plane crash in Iran. Iranian state television say dozens of people on board have been killed. For the latest, let's go live to Iran where CNN's Aneesh Raman is standing by.

Aneesh.

ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, good morning.

There has been a great deal of confusion over the casualty numbers after a plane caught on fire in northern Iran, in the city of Mashhad, just as it was landing. Iranian state run television earlier today said at least 80 people had been killed. But just within the past few minutes, a head of the airline group that is in charge of this plane, has said he could only confirm 30 people have been killed. Some 97 others were either injured or unharmed. But he cannot account for an additional 30 or so passengers on the flight.

In terms of what happened, we understand from initial assessments on the ground that as this plane was landing a tire burst. At that point, either the plane veered off the runway and crashed or that burst itself is what caused fires to just engulf this flight. Rescue workers have gone to the scene. The fire is under control. But again, the casualty numbers continue to vary.

The broader picture here, though, is if this is not uncommon in Iran. Casualty numbers, as we're seeing them now, are quite high. But about twice a year we do see planes here that upon landing have their tires burst. The reason being that air's air fleet is extensively old. The average age, about 16 to 17 years. Many of the planes are Russian made. They have some American-made planes that date to before the revolution. That was in 1979.

Iranian officials have long said, not today but at previous incidents like this, that sanctions are the reason that this happens. Sanctions are impacting the lives of ordinary Iranians because they are incapable of updating their air fleet with western aircraft, with western parts. Instead relying on Russian aircrafts and Russian parts which have a history of incidents such as this.

So we haven't heard yet from Iran's president. We heard from him earlier today on the nuclear issue. But we expect perhaps that he will make a statement today on this tragic crash.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Aneesh Raman with the latest on this plane crash from Tehran. Thank you.

Staying in that part of the world, seeking support from Syria. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan says that Syria's president promises to enforce an arms embargo against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Annan made the remarks after a meeting today with President Bashar al- Assad in Damascus. He says Mr. Assad also pledged to use his influence with the guerrilla group to try to win the release of two kidnapped Israeli soldiers. Their abduction in July sparked more than a month of fighting. Some 1,100 Lebanese and more than 150 Israelis were killed.

The gears have been set to motion. Back to Iran now. Standing firm on its nuclear plans. Now diplomats are deciding their next move. CNN's Brian Todd with a closer look at what's at play in this high stakes showdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT, (voice over): Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's position against the west may never have been stronger. Start with the nuclear issue. If Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapon, experts say, the implications are enormous.

DAVID ALBRIGHT, FORMER U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: What's Egypt going to do? What's Saudi Arabia going to do? I mean will Saudi Arabia, you know, appeal to Pakistan for some kind of nuclear assistance?

TODD: But Iran is already a military threat on the ground, with one of the largest troop forces and ballistic missile stocks in the Middle East. And by supporting Hezbollah in its fight against Israel, analysts say, Iran has become hugely popular on the so-called Arab street where to many it has punctured a hole in the belief that Israel's military is unbeatable. From Lebanon, turn east, toward two countries bordering Iran where U.S. boots are on the ground.

AFSHIN MOLAVI, NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION: In many ways, we, in the United States, have become Iran's neighbors because we have troops in Iraq and troops in Afghanistan and Iran has significant influence over these two countries that we view as important fronts on the war on terror.

TODD: In southern Iraq, analysts say, Iran has adopted its so- called Hezbollah model, providing Shia groups with money and social services to essentially compete with U.S. influence. The way Hezbollah did after Israel invaded Lebanon in the early '80s. And with the world's third largest oil reserves serving two of the world's largest oil consumers, India and China, Iran's got undeniable leverage to drive prices. So what does Tehran want?

VALI NASR, AUTHOR, "THE SHIA REVIVAL": Ultimately they want to drive the point home to the U.S. that, you know, they matter. You cannot just, you know, isolate them. You cannot change their regime. You have to deal with them.

TODD: And now many analysts say Iran's leaders are in a unique position and force the west to deal with them. They've emerged with a stronger hand after the Israel/Hezbollah conflict and they're operating with the belief that few nations want to really punish them over the nuclear issue.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: You can see more of Brian Todd's reports on "The Situation Room." You can join Wolf Blitzer each day at 4:00 Eastern. And then Wolf pops up again at primetime at 7:00 Eastern.

We are back to Ernesto. Meteorologist Chad Myers tracking two storms, Ernesto and John, and also how this could affect travelers today.

Right, Chad.

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: On to other news today. Police say it was an ambush. Two state troopers critically wounded while searching for an escaped convict. The latest ahead.

And poverty on the rise here in America and around the world. We'll tell you what one community is doing to make a difference one block at a time. That's ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: As we watch Ernesto and it's effect on North Carolina and Virginia, we're going to hear in about just a few minutes from the North Carolina governor, Mike Easley. He holds a news conference at 10:30 Eastern. We'll show that to you live here on CNN.

Let's check with the markets on this Friday morning. They've been open not quite an hour. Things coming along nicely. You can see the Dow is up 18 points. And the Nasdaq, just about flat. It is up 0.9 of 1 percent.

OK. So it looks like the surprises are beginning. They slipped in a script here that I had not seen. September ushering a new beginning. The start of school. The first hints of autumn and it also is a season of change for me. Yes, today I'm wrapping up 12 years at CNN. Starting a new career, a new business, a new website. I'll tell you about that in just a moment. But Gerri Willis, who's had two weeks off, still took time to do some top tips and here is Gerri. Fascinated to see what she has.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GERRI WILLIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Gerri Willis with a special edition of "Top Tips."

Where would we be without our fearless entrepreneurs. Wouldn't have things like the Internet, Post-it notes or linoleum. So here are some tips on how to hone your inner entrepreneur.

Tip number one, think outside the box. That means challenging old ways of thinking and listening to new ideas no matter how impossible they seem.

Get out of the comfort zone. That's our tip number two. Entrepreneurs take risks. Don't worry about expanding your realm of expertise.

And to our favorite fledgling entrepreneur, best wishes and good luck in your new role, Daryn. We'll be watching for the great things to come.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: Gerri, thank you very much. And I got a nice note from her this morning as well.

Yes, comfort zone. I stepped way outside of that. We'll talk about that in a little bit.

Let's get back to the news right now.

Selling New Orleans. Mayor Ray Nagin begin as two-day pitch to New York's investment community today. He's in the big apple hoping to land business for his hurricane-ravaged city. But the visit comes on the heels of Nagin's controversial comment on CBS about the pace of rebuilding in lower Manhattan after 9/11.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't get the cars out yet. You can't get this demolished . . .

MAYOR RAY NAGIN, NEW ORLEANS: That's all right. You guys in New York City can't get a hole in the ground fixed. And it's five years later. So let's be fair.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: He's kind of trying to reword that now. And Nagin will talk about New Orleans progress and rebuilding this morning at 11:00 Eastern. We will listen in to his comments and bring you an update.

Frustrated residents in Houston say they've had enough. About 1,700 of them turned out to urge the mayor to send Katrina evacuees back home. They blame the evacuees for a jump in Houston's violent crime rate over the past year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BILL WHITE, HOUSTON: There is no screening that could be done to ensure only the law-abiding came. What we can do is make sure that our laws are enforced when people are here, right? That's what our commitment is. It did not help that some small minority of citizens from another major urban area had been in a community which apparently tolerated a great degree of lawlessness that was incredible. You don't get four times the murder rate in Houston for nothing. OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Violent crimes have increased 14 percent in one Houston district and homicides have nearly doubled in another.

Let's go to Fredricka Whitfield who has news for us.

Fred. FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Daryn, remember the case in Indiana where the bodies of two friends were mixed up. Really leading the families quite tormented over a five week period.

Well now the county prosecutor, Grant County prosecutor, has said after a four-month investigation, the driver of the truck that crashed through a median on Interstate 69, crashing into the vehicle of these two young ladies, now faces five counts of reckless homicide, as well as other charges. A warrant is now out for the arrest of the truck driver. Robert F. Spencer (ph).

The investigators say that he acted recklessly when his tractor- trailer crossed that interstate median and then crashed into the university, the Taylor University van, on April 29th where those two young ladies were in. He now facing these five counts of reckless homicide and other charges. And the prosecutor said during a press conference that took place just moments ago that it appeared as though a truck driver may have been on the phone just before this accident took place.

Of course, the prosecutor is cautioning that doesn't expect that these charges will add any comfort to the families who were victimized from this mix-up of the two young ladies. But the family has expressed that they are somewhat relieved that the investigation had been taking place over the four-month period.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Fredricka, thank you.

We are watching Ernesto as the storm moves up the east coast affecting North Carolina. We expect to hear from the governor of that state very soon. Also keeping an eye on Virginia. The latest there.

And the FBI's 10 most wanted list. There is a vacancy. What it takes to fill that slot ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Once again, we expect any minute -- you see the smaller box in the left-hand side of your screen. The latest on Ernesto from the governor of North Carolina, Mike Easley. We do hear the storm has now been downgraded to a tropical depression. Yet still, the threat of severe flooding danger is not over for North Carolina and Virginia.

So from both sides, we are seeing two storms on the East Coast. You have now Tropical Depression Ernesto drenching the Carolinas. Virginia under a state of emergency. And folks in Washington are stacking sandbags. In the storm's wake, flooding downed trees and power lines.

In the Pacific, Hurricane John taking aim at Mexico's Baja, California, Peninsula. Tourists and natives alike are hunkered down for a possible hit by the Category 3 storm.

(WEATHER REPORT) KAGAN: We're going to live to Cabo in just a moment. But first, let's go to North Carolina. Here's Governor Mike Easley talking about that state.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

GOV. MIKE EASLEY, NORTH CAROLINA: ... track on your monitors. You can see the storm is currently dropping an awful lot of rain up in Elizabeth City, Gates County, Perquimans County, Windsor and Bertie County and that area. So we're not able to get much information yet. We don't know how well they're going to fare. Keep in mind that area got about seven inches yesterday before the storm came in, and we had some flooding prior to the storm. So keeping an eye on that as we go forward.

Fatalities -- we had one fatality in Nash County that is storm- related. You will hear about other fatalities, but we can only confirm this one being storm-related, in Nash county.

Regarding flooding, most of the rain occurred in the southeastern counties. That's the information that we have so far, which is Pender, Dukeland (ph), Sampson, Brunswick, New Hanover counties. The Tar, Upper Neuse Rivers, should see moderate flooding. The concern right now is, obviously, where roads are flooded.

But what we're doing is looking at the model and determining, given the amount of rainfall that we know occurred in certain areas, what do we expect when those rivers crest as the water runs towards those rivers over the next day or so. Cresting will probably be about Sunday morning in most of the river basins.

Our projections at this point, they've been pretty accurate because they use not just the rainfall that catches at the airports like they used to, but now they're able to use the radar, as well. We don't project a lot of major flooding. What we're looking at is Cape Fear River, especially the northeast Cape Fear River up in Chincopin (ph). That one area we expect there could be some major flooding there. That's in Duplin County.

And we expect some minor flooding in Lower Neuse, Upper Neuse, Tar Rivers, Pamlico. But nothing that should cause a lot of problem, at least at this point. And, again I can't give you the information yet on the northeast, because we don't know what's going to happen until storm moves out.

It came in about 17 miles an hour. It was moving through pretty quickly, and that was good news for us. It slowed down to about 12 miles per hour now. So you're getting a lot more rainfall dropping into Northeast than we originally projected. The state of emergency yesterday made that declaration. That generally lays the groundwork for requests for federal assistance. We've been in touch with federal agencies, FEMA, Department of Homeland Security. They've been paying close attention, and we appreciate their help.

Also, the local emergency operation centers declared emergencies in some counties. Those counties would be Beaufort, Blatanbrother (ph), Columbus, Craven, Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, and Wake. They made those declarations locally. And ours, of course, was for the state.

Certain EOCs -- that's our state emergency response teams -- they were all activated, and EOCs, 28 counties activated overnight, still activated. Evacuations -- voluntary evacuations orders were issued in Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Lenoir Counties. A mandatory evacuation was issued in Beaufort County in the Chawinnity (ph) area, because of the Pamlico and low-lying areas there as well.

Shelters. We had 18 shelters open in 13 counties overnight. About 300 people took advantage of shelters and got out of low-lying areas. And we're grateful to them for having done that. The shelters are rapidly closing now, as you would imagine, as the storm moves on out.

The governor's hotline received about 40 calls, 25 percent of those were Spanish. We got a good number this morning from kids wanting to know if they had to go to school, and we told them go do their homework.

Power outages. We reached a high of 84,000. It's now down to about 63,000 of those, to give you some sense of where they are. Progress, Energy's 43,000 of the co-op 17, and about 330 Duke. Most of that -- the largest number of outages were in Wake County. But they've pretty much spread around, and we can break that down for you if you have more interest in it.

National Guard, 216 National Guard were out working a team- assisted Elizabeth City Fire Department in getting three families out of their homes in flood-prone areas. State Highway Patrol 152 Personnel, they were called a team into Brunswick County for assistance. There are a lot of roads flooded there.

FEMA still has 25 personnel here. We don't know if we're going to need anymore at this point As we learn more about the East, we'll be talking with Mike Bolts (ph). Swiftwater rescue teams were sent into Brunswick, Chowan Counties. And just a minute ago, Dukeland (ph) requested another one, so we sent another one into Dukeland County.

On roads, all interstates are open now. There was, I think, a short closure of I-40 in the Dukeland County area. That is now open. The major roads, with some flooding, are as follows -- and that means there will be closed in certain areas. And travelers need to be advised of this. U.S.-17 is flooded in numerous places, a sinkhole has opened up in Hampstead. And that's sort of an example of the concerns that we have.

So if somebody gets to Hampstead and sees water in the road, it's really a large sinkhole underneath what they perceived is a water surface. That's the reason why we don't people out on the flooded roads. Also, where they flood over creeks, that water's pretty swift, it can move a vehicle very quickly. We currently have a van in Sampson County -- I'm sorry, Dukeland County swept off the road, and we're trying to get the driver out of the van now. So trying to get an update before I came out here. We don't have it just yet. We're still working on it.

74, 76 near Leland (ph) in Brunswick County and U.S. 117 near Colonelesville (ph) and Casteye Haine (ph), those roads have significant flooding. Most primary and secondary roads in Dukeland County have flooding. Also in Brunswick, and Onslow and southern part of Sampson County experiencing significant flooding on their primary and secondary roads.

Tonsil (ph) Island has flooding on just about all of their roads. That's a very low-lying area.

DOT crews are responding to downed trees right now. They're more downed trees than we anticipated, Raleigh east. They're getting of course trees off the roadways first. Need people to be cautious of downed power lines. There are some downed power lines as a result of the trees.

The ferry system, Swan (ph) Port and Ocacoke (ph), are not running. They'll run if needed for emergencies. It'll be a while before the winds move out of there. Cedar Island, Ocacoke, again, is on a limited schedule today. Bay View, Aurora and Kituck (ph) and Knotts (ph) Island are not running at this point. All other routes are running normal schedules. So if people want to find out what ferries are running or not, they can call 800-BY-FERRY. That's 800-B- Y-F-E-R-R-Y.

State parks, if you're looking into going to state parks this weekend, 11 state parks are closed in eastern North Carolina. The best way to get that information would be to access NCSparks.net -- NCSparks.net. We think a lot of them will be open pretty quickly, but we don't want to promise that at this point. So people just log on and check that it would be helpful.

Federal, state, local, damage-assessment teams, we will deploy them into east as they are requested. The central branch, as I mentioned, which is I-95 West did not request any assessment teams, which is good news.

Recovery tips as the storm passes, don't drive on the flooded roads. Again, if you drive on the flooded roads, you're going to end up like the van in Dukeland County. You're going to end up in the ditch, and somebody is going to have to come up there and try to get you out. I remind people, again, that most of the fatalities and injuries occur after the storm in automobiles, on flooded roads.

Stay out of the streams. Everybody wants -- kids want to go out and play in the streams. They're very swift. There's a lot of undercurrent in the streams. Parents, keep your children away from these little streams even around neighborhoods that don't flood. They're a lot different today than they were yesterday, and they will be on through Sunday and Monday. Again, be carefully of debris in the road, as well as downed power lines. Any questions? Call those bilingual hot lines. Again, 1-888-835-9966, and the TTD for hard of hearing, 1-877-877-1765.

KAGAN: We're getting a very detailed report on what's happening on the roads of North Carolina with Ernesto in town. It is a tropical depression now. Also affecting Virginia, by the way.

And while we were listening to Governor Easley from North Carolina, also got these pictures in from Norfolk, Virginia, courtesy of our affiliate WAVY.

Do we have those pictures? All right, well we had them.

There they are. Flooding basically the situation. A lot of rain and just asking folks to cooperate and not go into streams and flooded roads, and help officials get done what they need to get done.

More on Ernesto, also Hurricane John on the west coast of Mexico, coming up.

Poverty on the rise here in America and around the world. We'll tell you what one community is doing to make a difference one block at a time. That's ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Keep the french fries coming. Even the soda is OK. That's not what you would expect to hear from an obesity-intervention program.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Now here's a diet any kid would love. French fries make the cut. So does candy. Even soda is still on the menu. All part of the Lets Get fit program for these kids trying to reach a healthier body weight. Let's Get Fit isn't some crazy new diet or exercise fad. Backed by the Centers for Disease Control, it's an obesity-intervention program that turns young children into experienced dietitians.

RYAN LENCREROT, STUDENT: If you get juice, five-percent fruit juice, the rest of it is sugar. It's 95 percent. That's too much sugar.

GUPTA: In this Emory University pilot program, children like Ryan and a parent team up to focus on three key areas -- more physical activity, reducing screen time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I used to watch like eight hours of TV straight.

SHADONNA BELL, STUDENT: When I'm into TV, I'm like this. I can't move. My mom says could be saying it's a fire in the house, I will not move, I'm serious.

GUPTA: And embracing an eating plan called go, slow, whoa.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Which one is our whoa food?

All right. She said the Fruit Roll-Ups. Whoa, right? Because why? Those are high in fat or sugar?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sugar.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Very high in sugar.

GUPTA: In their diet plan, participants don't eliminate food in the high-fat "whoa" category; they learn to eat less of it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I'm eating a candy bar I could cut it in half.

GUPTA: Parents are key to children's success and learned to remove temptations as well.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I used to work at night. Whatever is in there, they would be tempted to go in there and get it. I make sure I don't have those things in there for them.

DR. ANNE LONG DUNLOP, EMORY FAMILY & PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE: For the most part, kids and families really know what it means to eat healthy and to be active. But where families really fall down on this is how do you actually change the eating and activity behaviors.

GUPTA: These simple lifestyle changes help participants gradually take off the weight, and hopefully keep it off. Fourth- grader Shadonna Bell has lost five pounds.

BELL: It feels lighter, because now I can run faster, and I can play games and I won't get tired as quickly as I used to.

CATHI LENCREROT: This has been a blessing for us, you know to learn this, and be able to make it work for us.

GUPTA: Creating a healthier future for these families.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta. CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(WEATHER REPORT)

KAGAN: This is a tease. A mom gets the surprise of a lifetime. Yay, we're going to look at it after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Probably this will be one of the pictures you remember from today. A soldier from Connecticut gets to come home from Iraq, but he waits to tell his mom in person. And this is how it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: As you can see, Michael Ryan's (ph) mom wasn't the only person who was excited that he was there. His whole family was thrilled. Ryan has been serving in Iraq for the past eight months. And we love that we got to share that moment with the Ryan family.

The FBI's ten most wanted list, there is a vacancy. What it takes to fill that slot. That's ahead on CNN, the most trusted name in news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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