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Rick's List
Oil Platform Fire in Gulf; Tracking Hurricane Earl; Plane Crashes in the Bay Area
Aired September 02, 2010 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, thanks so much, Ali. We're going to start with a developing story.
And it's almost the kind of story that you hate to talk about, but just as we're watching everything that is going on in the Gulf of Mexico with Hurricane Earl, there's another developing story right now.
Pardon me. I misspoke. Earl is not in the Gulf of Mexico. Earl is coming in off the Atlantic.
Now, to the Gulf of Mexico, where, believe it or not, there's been another oil mishap, the unthinkable, given what we have been through. Just weeks after the devastating oil leak was capped, another oil and gas production platform has been engulfed in flames.
Let me take you to this story. It's a rescue operation that's taking place about 100 miles of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay. There it is right there.
I have got tell you, one of the most troubling parts of the story is that we're just now being told that there's information of a slick that they're seeing in the water. All 13 workers who were aboard have been evacuated from that platform. The platform itself is still on fire.
These are brand-new pictures that are coming in right now. There's the platform. These are the first pictures we have seen of the actual fire. Is this a still? I can't -- it's hard for me to tell. Yes, it is. OK, good. Thanks, guys. Yes, this is a still.
The oil is owned by Mariner Energy Company. It says nothing is being pumped from this platform at the moment. Here's -- there's -- look, there's a lot of preliminary information on this story, and we're going to move through it as we move forward by bringing in experts and talk to the people in charge of this rescue operation.
First, I want you to hear from Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, all right? Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BOBBY JINDAL (R), LOUISIANA: Mariner Energy says they have the production -- that they have shut in the production platform. I want to -- that's a very important -- if that is true, that's a very important step.
But I want to emphasize, we have not verified. They have -- they have told us that directly. And we also got -- secondhand, we got that from the Coast Guard, that the Coast Guard heard that as well. The Coast Guard has not independently verified that. We have not independently verified that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, Governor Jindal says that he's getting reports that a sheen stretching more than a mile long has been spotted in the area. The Coast Guard has also confirmed this sheen.
Now, you can see the platform in the distance in the center of this picture. The company says seven wells at this platform produce natural gas and oil. Now, you see, we put a zero around it just so you can see it. I mean, these are the one of the first pictures that we got of the platform itself.
Coast Guard cutters are now en route. Let's -- let's lose that picture. I don't think that shot right there is all that helpful. It's just too far away. I would rather -- if you -- if you got the other shot, Rog, let's -- let's see that thing once again, the one that actually shows -- thank you. That's much better.
Look at that. That gives an idea of what is going on there. And I know that many of you are watching this picture right now, especially those folks along the Gulf of Mexico, and you're taking a giant gulp, like, oh, please, not again, right?
It may not be a not again. It may not be a not again. It may be too soon. So, let's just stay on it. Multiple Coast Guard aircraft are also headed there. One Coast Guard helicopter is already there. A worker on another rig in the area has been there. They have been sending us pictures.
Listen to what -- he -- how he describes what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID REED, WITNESS/PARAMEDIC: We did not see it actually explode, but we did see the plume of smoke immediately after the fire, after it did explode.
Shortly thereafter, we started hearing chatter over the radio -- all the radio frequencies. And they were calling for area boats and helicopters to come and assist in the rescue. We did not know how many people were in the water (INAUDIBLE) at that point.
It was probably about 20 or 30 minutes later, they reported that there were 13 people in the water. It took approximately an hour for helicopters to get here. And it's my understanding that all 13 people have been pulled from the water, and they have reported that there were no injuries. I have heard this directly from the helicopters talking to -- to each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: All right, just a short while ago, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said that President Obama is now monitoring this situation, that the federal government has assets ready to respond to any environmental problem.
So, what we're going to do is, we're going to keep you updated on this story. And we're also expected to talk to one of our frequent guests on this newscast who takes us through some of this information as it comes in -- other big story that we're following this afternoon.
All right, first of all, let's show the loop, if we possibly can. You're going to catch it there, all right? This is it. This is a satellite loop. It shows exactly what Hurricane Earl has been doing. Chad Myers, our expert, is standing next to me here. He's going to be watching this with us.
Earl is getting closer to taking a swipe now at the East Coast.
Earl has just been downgraded to a Category 3 storm, with 125- mile-an-hour winds. But, look, it's expected that it's going to variate in size and strength. The fact that it's gone -- well, let -- let me ask you.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: All right.
SANCHEZ: A lot of people would say, well, it's down to a Category 3. That means this thing is weakening.
Your response?
MYERS: Category 3 and 4 threshold is 131.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: It's 125.
If you can tell the difference, then I will let you think that one -- that Category 3 is not too big. But I can't tell the difference between 131 and 125. Damage is exactly the same. What we're still hoping for is that turn to the right, which now is finally happening.
SANCHEZ: All right, let's do this. We're going to start at Kill Devil Hills, all right? This is a live picture that you're looking at right there. Our photographer there is Martin, I think.
Martin, you can probably hear me.
I see people showing up there. What we're -- what we're seeing here is, look, this storm is still very far away from the Carolinas, right? You can see Martin doing a bob with the camera there, taking our direction.
Take it back to the regular -- take it back to the right, Martin. Let's look at the -- just the regular surf, what it looks like on this day. That's typical of what you and I have always seen with hurricanes approaching. No big deal yet, right?
MYERS: Not yet. And --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: And --
MYERS: -- it's the reason why all of the Spanish galleons crashed in the 1600s and 1700s, because the day before a hurricane hits, it doesn't look too bad.
How would a mariner out there right now -- if you're a -- if you're a 1700 sailor and you're going to sail in the 1700s, 1750, whatever, you're going to sail back to England or Spain with your Spanish doubloons --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: -- how would you know that the weather is that far and bad that far out to sea? And it goes downhill very, very quickly. And we know that there's an awful lot of traffic on those roads, too.
SANCHEZ: All right.
MYERS: It's time to get off.
SANCHEZ: I -- I want to take you through a series of things, but I want to also bring Craig Fugate in now. He's our FEMA guest who's been following this as well.
Just -- I know you've got another interview you've got to get to, but while we're looking at these pictures -- and, by the way, now we're looking at some of the roads where people are going to be trying to get out.
And we have got a producer who we're going to be talking to in just a little bit, Rick DiBella, who says he's been stuck in traffic now for the better part of four hours because of the evacuations that are going on right now there around North Carolina.
MYERS: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Craig, you're there. What are you doing for these folks?
CRAIG FUGATE, ADMINISTRATOR, FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY: Well, we're working with the state.
And, again, that's why they started the evacuations yesterday. You know, they have still got time. But for people who haven't gotten ready, they're going to run out. You know, right now, it's not too bad. But as the storm approaches tonight, we start getting the winds coming ashore, the squall lines coming ashore, it's going to deteriorate rapidly.
Our only hope really is that Earl stays and makes that turn, and we don't the brunt of the storm. But, you know, we were prepared to support the state. They have got search-and-rescue teams that are ready to go. We're just waiting to see how bad it gets. But we have already gotten resources in the state if needed to support a response, if -- depending upon what happens tonight.
SANCHEZ: What are saying to some of the folks there who are saying, look, this thing isn't going to be that bad; after all, I just heard from Chad Myers it's now a Category 3 as opposed to a Category 4; I want to stick it out?
What do you say to those folks at your level, as a -- as a -- as a federal official?
FUGATE: You don't have any more time. Again, if you're waiting for the next advisory, to think it's going to get better, and it doesn't, you don't have time. I mean, this is what we deal with.
Time and time again, people want to wait and hope it gets better. We have got to be prepared. We have got to follow these advisories. And if it isn't that bad, we get home and our homes are still there.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
FUGATE: But you should never be putting your life above, you know, hoping that it's not that going to be bad. This could be a dangerous situation. Let's give everybody a chance to get to safety and then we can come back and see how big the cleanup is tomorrow.
SANCHEZ: We're just glad that you guys are there early, because I think it always works better. As a guy who's worked a lot of these, including going all the way back to Hurricane Andrew and Hugo and Camille, et cetera, I can tell you that, if you get there early enough, then you're going to be able to help the people that -- that are affected by this.
And, hopefully, hopefully, Mr. Fugate, you won't have to help anybody, because this thing will blow by and there won't be any issues, but better to be prepared than sorry, I suppose.
MYERS: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: Listen, you and I are going to be talking a lot. So, go ahead and get to other things I know you have got to do.
I want to take the viewers through what's going on there in the Carolinas right now, Mr. Fugate. Thanks for being with us, sir. Appreciate your time.
FUGATE: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: All right, take a look at this live picture now. This is Highway 12. People are leaving the Outer Banks. And you can see, this camera shows North Carolina Highway 12 at Hillcrest Drive for those of you familiar with it.
This is Hillcrest Drive and Southern Shores. Highway 12 is a mostly two-lane road that links the islands together, all right?
Here's another live shot that we have got for your. It's further south from U.S. Highway 158. This is Birch Street heading toward Harbinger. We have been watching pretty heavy traffic at both these intersections all this afternoon.
In fact, we have got a CNN producer who is standing by, Rick DiBella. He's trying to get off the Outer Banks. He's been trying for four almost hours now.
I told you about him just a little while ago.
Rick, can you hear me? Are you there?
RICK DIBELLA, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER: Hey, Rick. How you doing?
SANCHEZ: Where are you now? And what's it like for people trying to drive their cars out of this -- out of this evacuation zone?
DIBELLA: Well, I would take Mr. Fugate's recommendation.
(INAUDIBLE) We hit the road at 11:30. And the ideal time, it should take about a half-an-hour from where we were to get to Kitty Hawk. And once you get to Kitty Hawk, you're on 158, 168. It took us about three hours to go about 20 miles or so.
There were times where we were just parked, standing still up and down the street, everyone heading --
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
DIBELLA: Where we were -- we were actually north of Kitty Hawk. We were heading that way, parking lot. And you could see a lot of people were watching us from their houses, weighing whether or not to stay or go.
But the window is closing. But now we're on 168, and we're doing better than the speed limit, believe it or not, and we're about 15 miles or so from Norfolk. So, we're --
(CROSSTALK)
DIBELLA: -- time.
SANCHEZ: Rick -- Rick --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Well, you know, one of the things --
(CROSSTALK)
DIBELLA: -- Virginia right now.
(CROSSTALK) SANCHEZ: One of the things that always concerns people in these situations is, you get so many people backed up in traffic and then because they're all there at the same time, traffic slows down. People's cars overheat. People run out of gas. And you really accentuate the problem.
Are you seeing any of this, or are things going pretty smoothly --
(CROSSTALK)
DIBELLA: Well, that is what was happening earlier. We were back on 12, heading -- heading south on 12. Most people were turning their cars off for that very reason, that you didn't want to burn all your gas.
You burn all your gas, you know, you're not sure if the gas stations had gas or not. So, a lot of the people were just keeping their car parked, power off. Got a little off. I had my 3-year-old son in the backseat. He was a little hot, but, you know, so be it. We didn't want to burn through all our gas.
SANCHEZ: All right.
DIBELLA: But we're doing all right now, actually.
SANCHEZ: All right, Rick.
(CROSSTALK)
DIBELLA: There are a lot of folks who are still weighing, you know, should we stay or should we go? We said, you know what? Mother Nature has thrown a monkey wrench into our vacation plans, but let's -- let's get out of here.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Rick, my thanks to you. Thanks for taking us through what so many people at this time are experiencing.
And there's another part of this story I want to catch you up with. And I'm glad Chad is here to take us through this, because this is important. We found some video of -- of a lifeguard saving someone's life in one of these rip currents.
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: You know, we call them undertows, by the way, in South Florida. I don't know where we -- suddenly, in the news business, it's called rip currents. I remember when --
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Well, it was riptide. Then we realize it's not a tide. And so we stopped that.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: And now it's called a rip current.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: And so the current takes you out. The tide doesn't take you out.
SANCHEZ: But it really feels -- if you have ever been in them -- and I know you have -- I know I have as well -- and, you know, you're always taught, if ever you're in a situation, just let it take you, by the way, and don't try and swim against it. Common sense, but it's hard when you panic.
Well, there's a guy who seemed to panic. And here's the Coast Guard. Look at this. This is from Delray Beach, Florida. She goes out, grabs the guy, and then brings him back to shore. And then you see a shot where she's actually bringing him back in.
She saved this guy's life. And there was people who were watching who were freaked out by it, took the pictures, and were able to share this with us.
Now, explain to people why this happens. What's going on here that causes you -- causes the beaches all the way up and down the East Coast today to be particular dangerous?
MYERS: There's a sandbar offshore, not everywhere. If there's no sandbar, you don't get undertow. You don't get -- you don't get rip currents.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: There's a sandbar offshore. You get that sandbar out there, and maybe it's five feet from the surface of the water to the top of the sandbar.
That water piles over the sandbar. And the ocean level is actually higher near the shore, near the beach --
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
MYERS: -- than it is in the middle of the ocean. So, you have now pressure that wants to take all of that water out, wants to go out all at one time. Well, it can't, because more waves are pushing it in, pushing it in, pushing it in.
So, you're piling water up deeper and deeper and deeper. When it gets to be a couple feet higher than the ocean level, something breaks below. Some part of that sandbar goes, bye-bye, I'm out of here.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: I'm washing away. You wash away part of that barrier, you separate that barrier, all of a sudden, you have a dip right through here -- SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: -- where the sandbar is deeper. And all that waters run right out through that dip. And if you're near that dip, all that water that is piled up near the shore, near the beach all goes out. And if you're in that water, you're going out with it.
SANCHEZ: Quick question: When did you get the last advisory?
MYERS: About 15 minutes ago.
SANCHEZ: And in that advisory, they basically said, things continue as they were, it's continuing on its present path, as far as you know?
MYERS: Yes and no. Yes and no.
SANCHEZ: OK.
MYERS: Air -- Air Force reconnaissance still in it now. Pressure is going up.
SANCHEZ: OK.
MYERS: Pressure going up means winds should be coming down --
SANCHEZ: Right --
MYERS: -- right?
SANCHEZ: -- which is a good thing.
MYERS: That is a good thing.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: So, it's not as strong as it was 10 hours ago. It was -- it was a brutal storm 10 hours ago. The eye doesn't look as good. And they're going to continue to fly that in.
We will probably have an update every 30 minutes. Every time that plane goes through the eye, I will be running out here and telling you what it found.
SANCHEZ: Because we are your hurricane headquarters --
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: -- happy to say.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Must have stepped on a trigger, because there was just a pressure, not really a -- I don't really remember a sound or a flash. I just remember a pressure, but, immediately, I knew what had happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: What a story. Surviving war, a soldier talks about the explosion that took his legs and returning to life back normal -- trying, anyway.
This happened in Afghanistan, but he's got some unbelievable stories. And this is an inspirational story. And I want you to see it. It's coming up in just a little bit.
Also, we're following some breaking developments in the Gulf again. As I told you a little while ago, these are the pictures now coming in. This time, it's an oil and gas production platform. And now there's word of a sheen that has been spotted in the Gulf of Mexico. Exactly what that means, frankly, we still don't know. But we're working to find out for you.
Stay right there. There's breaking news. There are developing stories. This is RICK'S LIST. And we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: All right, I want to take you back now to the story we began the newscast with, the one that really has a lot of people wondering, what in the world is going on here, OK?
There's an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico. It's oil and gas. There's the map that we have of it. And the Coast Guard is now in a full-scale operation. First, it was a rescue operation to save something like 13 people.
This thing is about 100 miles offshore. That's a good thing, because it's not as deep as the one that we dealt with before. Workers on the platform have been evacuated to a nearby platform. Now, Louisiana's -- Louisiana's Governor Bobby Jindal came out a little while ago.
By -- take a look at that picture, by the way. That's -- that's pretty impressive. That's a picture showing exactly where this fire was or is. We're trying to get more information on exactly what's going on right there.
This sheen I just told you about is said to be about a mile-long stretch. And it's in a similar region as the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that ruptured back (INAUDIBLE) Gulf disaster.
Again, I want to do something now. No, let's do this. Let me tell you what is going on with the White House. The White House is standing by right now to send help, but we also don't know the extent of the damage. The company Mariner Energy says no oil or gas is being pumped from its seven wells connected to this production platform at the moment.
Let me bring in Don Van Nieuwenhuise. He's joining me by phone. He's a professor of petroleum geoscience at the University of Houston.
Professor, good to see you again.
DONALD VAN NIEUWENHUISE, GEOLOGIST, UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON: Good talking to you.
SANCHEZ: All right, I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is that Bobby Jindal said a little while ago. He said something about the platform itself, and he said that we got good news.
Let's listen to it together, and then I want you to interpret it for us. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JINDAL: Mariner Energy says they have the production -- that they have shut in the production platform. I want to -- that's a very important -- if that is true, that's a very important step.
But I want to emphasize, we have not verified. They have -- they have told us that directly. And we also got -- secondhand, we got that from the Coast Guard, that the Coast Guard heard that as well. The Coast Guard has not independently verified that. We have not independently verified that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: OK. Professor, what -- why is that so important, that he seemed to stress it two or three times at the very beginning of his news conference? What's he saying?
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Oh, well, the important thing is that what it means is, the wells are not flowing. None of the wells that were producing oil and gas are flowing right now.
Whatever emergency routines had to be done have been taken well care of, and everything is secured. I have also heard from Patrick Cassidy from Mariner that -- that the fire was not near the wellheads themselves. So, the wellheads are not in danger.
But I have been hearing a lot of different things. So, I think it's important to be cautious at this point in time until someone gets out on that platform and can really inspect it.
SANCHEZ: So, do this for us. Maybe this is the best way that we can understand this, because we all have become quasi-experts at this, since we have been following what's been going on with the other spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
And -- and we remember back then that there was a certain apparatus that was supposed to kick in to stop the leak, but it didn't. Is there something similar here that has kicked in, and is that what the governor is referring to? VAN NIEUWENHUISE: Yes.
Here, they -- instead of a -- a blowout preventer that you would be using during a drilling well, they have what we call a Christmas tree or a production cap. And it's very similar to the --
SANCHEZ: Blowout?
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: It's very similar to a blowout preventer, but it's very close -- more closely related to the three-ram stack that was put on top of the -- the BP well.
SANCHEZ: Mm-hmm.
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: And that is shut in. As far as I can tell, all seven wells are shut in right now. And -- and that's very, very good news.
SANCHEZ: Shut in, we keep hearing that word, shut in, shut in. Can you give us a layman's perspective, a non-jargony description of what that means?
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: That means the valves are all closed off. And no -- no fluids are moving through -- through the valves from the wellhead into pipes or anything like that. So, there should be no active leaks going on.
SANCHEZ: Good.
Well -- and one final question. The chances that that will remain that way? Once you hear that it's shut in, does that mean this should not blow at all, this should not turn into a leak? And, if so, why are we seeing that mile-long sheen on the Gulf of Mexico?
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: What you said is -- is correct. We should not be seeing any flow or anything else.
And I would guess what the -- the mile-long sheen is, is that perhaps some of the storage tanks or whatever that are on -- on the vessel, which don't actually hold that much fuel -- they're related to the separators there that are separating gas from oil and water from the gas -- and perhaps one of those caught fire and -- and has spilled into the Gulf.
SANCHEZ: Hmm.
VAN NIEUWENHUISE: And that would be -- that would easily account for the sheen about the size that you're talking about. The thing is, if -- it's going to spread as it -- as it moves in the water. But it's probably not a lot of oil in terms of what we saw in the past.
It couldn't be more than I would say anything on the order of -- of 1,000 barrels at the most.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Professor Don Van Nieuwenhuise, thanks so much for joining us, as usual. You're our go-to guy. You're very good at explaining what the situation is on this because of your knowledge and experience.
And if there's any development on this, we will -- we -- we will come back to you.
Meanwhile, was a player hit on purpose for what he did the night before? Does that happen in baseball? No.
That's next right here on the LIST. Stay with us. We have got so much going on.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: There's some fascinating video of a huge brawl in baseball.
I mean, this is something you've got to see. And even if you're not a sports fan, you -- you probably are going to get pretty curious about how this happened and -- and how this turned into the beat-down that it has.
It all had to do with a particularly troublesome player.
First, the video, here we go, Washington Nationals vs. the Florida Marlins. It's the sixth inning.
Hit it, Rog.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Volstad throws behind him. He's charging the mound!
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: See that right there?
(CROSSTALK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Morgan is coming after him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Watch this punch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the Marlins --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Boom! Down goes Frazier. I mean, the guy gets that left hook right across the face. He's down. One player says it was an act of revenge. And it's pretty clear it was.
Here's the backstory, folks. Nationals outfielder Nyjer Morgan is already facing a suspension for throwing a ball at a fan 12 days ago. That's this guy right here. Past weekend, he's been nothing short of a menace. Last weekend, he collided with a catcher who didn't have the ball.
In most baseball circles, that's considered cheap -- just knock the guy over when he isn't even looking, right? Tuesday night, he did it again to another catcher, this time from the Marlins, the team that you just saw him in that fight, hit the catcher so hard -- didn't need to, by the way -- he separated the -- the guy's shoulder.
So, then, last night, he's playing the Marlins. And the pitcher for the Marlins defends the honor of his catcher, who was seriously hurt, by trying to apparently -- of course, baseball says, no, that's not on purpose -- apparently tries to beam the guy with the pitch.
And that's what started this. With the Nationals trailing by double-digits, the gloves come out. The umpires eject four players. On Morgan's way out, he raises his hands in the -- look at him. Now he's taunting the fans and pounding his chest as they boo him.
He letter -- he later said he had to do something, since the -- the pitcher tried nailing him twice.
One Marlins player said that Morgan doesn't respect the integrity of the game -- no word yet on what the league plans to do with this, guy but it's a heck of a story. And you should know, he and the Nationals meet the Marlins again one week from tomorrow. Expect fireworks.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have met at the White House many times before, negotiating peace deals, but it never seems to last. So, is this time going to be different? And, if it is, what could it mean for President Obama? That is coming up.
Stay right there. This is RICK'S LIST.
We're hearing from a lot of you. And we will be sharing soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. With the combat mission in Iraq ending, President Obama is setting his sights on something former presidents have tried to achieve before -- peace in the Middle East.
Yesterday, President Obama held a series of high stakes meetings with several Middle East leaders, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.
The goal, of course, the peace process leading to a comprehensive settlement within a year. At the meeting with the leaders, the president called out to neighboring countries in the regions. "If you truly want to see peace, don't sit back and Monday morning quarterback. Get involved in the process." Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We can create the environment and atmosphere for negotiations, but ultimately it's going to require the leadership on both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides, as well as those in the region who say they want a Palestinian state.
A lot of times I hear from those who insist this is a top priority and yet do very little to actually support efforts that could bring about a Palestinian state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I should tell you, today direct talks have kicked off. There you see some of the video we've been following throughout the day, pledges of support from both leaders, both sides.
There you see Secretary Clinton, the host. Her message was consistent with the president's by the way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: To those who criticize the process, who stand on the sidelines and say no, I ask you to join us in this effort. As President Obama said yesterday, we hear often from those voices in the region who insist this is a top priority and yet do very little to support the work that would actually bring about a Palestinian state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Officials close to the negotiations have downplayed mediate expectations. Remember, these talks have been stalled for a year and a half already. But they say a regional compromise deal is one of the president's top foreign policy goals. Simply presuming direct negotiations is a critical first step.
CNN's international correspondent Hala Gorani is joining me now from the State Department. Two sides have agreed to meet again, but you know we've heard that story before. What makes this attempt in any way, if it is, different from previous attempts?
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A few things make it different. I don't know if those things will necessarily mean that this process will end in success. What makes it different is that regional countries are involved. You saw the king of Jordan at the White House yesterday. You saw the Egyptian president. Those are two countries that managed to sign their own peace deals with Israel.
You also have more of a sort of a wider regional interest in finally settling this. That doesn't mean, though, Rick, the issues at the heart of disagreements between the two sides will be easier to negotiate.
Here they are promising that within one year they're going to come to some sort of final agreement. That is half of the time they stopped talking. So very quickly, things can disintegrate.
And keep in mind on important date, Rick -- September 26th is when the moratorium, that ten month moratorium that the Israelis, the self-imposed moratorium on the restriction of building in the West Bank, expires. So if the Israelis start building again in the West Bank after that date, the Palestinians have in no uncertain terms said we're walking away.
SANCHEZ: Paula, thanks so much. We appreciate you watching that for us, and we'll be checking back. Look, we're all going to keep our fingers crossed. We're going to hope they can somehow come up with some kind of an agreement.
Meantime, any comic book fan knows not to make the Hulk or any other superhero mad. So why are these guys ticked off enough to protest. Huh? That's coming up in "Fotos." We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Dogs are amazing. You can train them to work and play and eat your kids homework. But that's about it. Gordo, my dog, just sits there on the rug. And wait till you see this talented dog, that's making the viral video rounds, because this is different from anything you've ever seen before. Here it is.
There's a place in Chile where they do a little dance. These two are stars on television, not just the Internet. Jose Fuentes and his dog Terry are dancing the meringue. That's on the Internet, and there is nothing that they can't give us.
Also next, South America, check out this surveillance video from a bank robbery in Brazil. We sped this up to show you the organized way these crooks go after the cash machines. They're having a tough time getting the ATMs out, so some other folks jump in.
Can you imagine? I mean, where are the police? Why did they go through so much trouble? I mean, this is a group effort that takes quite a while. And there it is, being put into a van. Wow.
Also what is this? Justice League superheroes descended on the steps of city hall in Los Angeles, not save the day, but to vent their anger on the crackdown of costume characters on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Superman, the Hulk, Darth Vader, they all were there to support their fellow superheroes that protest the LAPD, insisting that many tourists visit the Walk of Fame just to see them.
That's "Fotos." You can see all of our fotos anytime you go to my blog at CNN.com/RickSanchez.
A reminder, we are tracking hurricane Earl, and I want to show you if we can. Let's go ahead and lose that picture, Roger, if we possibly can. Do you have the loop? There you go. Thanks. There you see it's direction. Chad is getting advisories now from the folks at the National Hurricane Center, and we're going to let you know what is going on with that.
Now we can see Paris Hilton. Police bust Paris Hilton on drug possession charges, reportedly cocaine in her purse. But she says nope, it wasn't mine. Now rapper TI is trouble as well as police stopped his car and smelled something a little bit funny. What does he say about that stuff the smells a little bit -- there she is. Brooke Baldwin.
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. How are you?
SANCHEZ: This is what people are talking about.
BALDWIN: This is huge trending today.
SANCHEZ: Really? TI? And Paris?
BALDWIN: TI and Paris and this virtual girlfriend story.
SANCHEZ: I'm all over it. Good stuff. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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SANCHEZ: All right, there's our trending open, but I should have reminded you guys that we should go with a breaking news open. Do you mind if we go for breaking news here?
BALDWIN: What do you have?
SANCHEZ: Can you help me with this?
BALDWIN: Sure.
SANCHEZ: Because it's really a procure and a little bit of information, and we're trying to break down what's going on here. This just in, folks. This is a plane, or what is left of it, and there's a rescue operation that is taking place as we speak.
Let me tell you where this is. This is in Redwood Shores, California. It's a small plane. We want to thank our affiliate KGO. It's crashed into the water. Apparently it either missed the runway. I don't know if it was a -- yes, it was a takeoff. Small plane has crashed into the bay near redwood shores after a takeoff.
There is a water rescue under way now to save the pilot. There may be other people onboard, possible passengers, and we're now getting -- we're just -- and Chad, you're working this for us, too. We're getting preliminary information from KGO that there is at least one person dead in this airplane as far as we can tell.
BALDWIN: So there east at least one person in that plane we see submerged.
SANCHEZ: Well, hold on. I'm now being told that another person has been pulled from the water. It's a 40-year-old woman who's been pulled from the water. There may still be one person missing, and they're looking for them.
So right now as we bring you this story, one person, according to KGO, is dead, one person has been rescued. They're still looking for another person. It's hard to tell what kind of plane it is.
BALDWIN: It's teeny tiny. You can tell at least from the vantage point. And it was on takeoff, that's what you're hearing?
SANCHEZ: Let me tell you the name of the airport. It's the San Carlos airport. Chad, have you got anything on the San Carlos airport?
MYERS: Yes. It's right here on this -- on my Google Earth. All my other Googles are being used to obviously do hurricane. But San Carlos hurricane here, Redwood Shores here. And this is the Bay Area. You're talking about on the other side would be east bay, Oakland, all that.
San Carlos and the airport -- I had it zoomed in earlier and I could find it. But you can see all the waterways out towards Redwoods Whores. And that would be the water it's probably in there. KGO on that. Let them zoom in and maybe we can figure out where the plane actually is close to the water.
SANCHEZ: Get that shot back up there, Roger, if you've got it. It looks like KGO's helicopter pilot is just flying over the plane now. There you go, there you go. What else have we got on this, Brooke?
BALDWIN: That gives you a better perspective. So again, we know one person is dead. This small plane crashed. This is near the San Carlos airport.
A woman in her 40s has been pulled from the water. Perhaps people just, perhaps who just watched this whole thing happen there on the sidewalk? We don't know. Maybe a rescue personnel. We're told one person may still be missing, and the plane might have overshot the runway. That's what the email says.
SANCHEZ: Chad, back to you. Do you know anything about weather or anything we need to know about this area?
BALDWIN: That's a good shot.
SANCHEZ: These are live pictures. Now you can see -- now you can actually see what the plane looks like. There you go. There you go.
MYERS: Weather has to be clear if the helicopters are flying. Otherwise the helicopters wouldn't be in the air, Rick. So that tells you something. But this is all just part of, there are all estuaries in here.
BALDWIN: It's a lagoon it says.
SANCHEZ: It's the Bay Area, not far from San Francisco.
MYERS: San Mateo, San Carlos, yes.
BALDWIN: You would think not too many people can fit in one of those planes.
SANCHEZ: This is one of those municipal airports?
MYERS: It's an executive airport, as they call it.
SANCHEZ: I remember those. We had some of those in south Florida as well.
I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to take a break. We're going to stay on top of this story.
We also have two developing stories for those of you just now getting home from work. Let me tell you what's going on. First of all, a, hurricane Earl, new advisories coming in, still heading for the general direction of Hatteras and the Carolinas. Just how close it's going to come to brushing up against the shore and how big the storm is at the time it does so will determine how much damage is done.
FEMA is already there. The National Guard has been called out. They are evacuating people. And we at CNN being your hurricane headquarters are more than ready to bring you through this storm, and hopefully we won't have to.
And now this, if you haven't heard, off the Gulf of Mexico, there's been what appears to be another accident -- 13 people have had to be rescued off of an oil rig. There's a sheen that they have spotted. There is not any reason to believe right now that there's an active spill underway, but the investigation is continuing. We are hearing from officials. We are hearing from the governor of Louisiana, and as we move toward on this story, we will bring you the latest.
And, of course, the third breaking story that we're following right now is the one we just showed you from the Bay Area. There's that plane. We'll show you that one more time as by go to break. And you will see that it has crashed off of what is a municipal airport into the water. One rescued, one dead. One they're still looking for. That's the preliminary information.
Lots of stuff going on. This is "RICK'S LIST." We'll be right back.
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SANCHEZ: Hey. Welcome back, everyone. Just to catch you up on the stories that we're following for you. First of all, this situation that's developing out there off the Bay Area. A lot of your tweets coming in and here's one. "Rick, I'm watching a show right now. Good stuff. Just want you to know it's Redwood City even though I understand the wires are referring to it as Redwood Shores." Well, OK. Thank you for that.
Here's another one. Let's go to that, if we possibly can over here, Matt. "Just wanted to say thank you. That's been leaving encouraging messages and prayers. Love you guys." Not quite sure what that is.
All right let's pull back from that. Let me put those pictures back once again. Roger, if you would, go ahead and put those pictures back up. There you go. That's the airplane. This is a developing story. We learned of this just a little while ago.
It's an airport. It's called San Carlos airport located 20 miles south of downtown San Francisco near the San Francisco Bay. I'm getting that information right from their webpage here. This is in San Mateo county, and as we get more information on this story, and as the rescue continues, we will bring you the very latest.
Standing by now is the governor who is going to be joining us here in just a little bit. Governor, thanks so much for joining us with the very latest on this story.
Let me just bring you the viewers up to date on what's going on. Hurricane Earl is now a category three storm. It's moving closer to the east coast. Vacation's over for thousands of tourists who have been told to leave the outer banks of North Carolina.
Here now, Beverly Perdue, governor of North Carolina, who can join us live on a busy news day to address some of her own constituents and citizens to let them know what the plans are for her state. Governor, thank you so much for joining us. Bring us up to date on what you want the folks of North Carolina to do.
GOV. BEVERLY PERDUE (D), NORTH CAROLINA: Well, thank you for the coverage, because we want folks in North Carolina to be very ready and set for this storm. We understand that this storm will start getting the rain around 5:00 p.m. this afternoon. It is a category three.
We believe that the outer banks up near Hatteras will receive the brunt of the storm. We hope still that it's just going to be a brush, but we all know in hurricane life nobody is sure until the event is over. We have evacuated mandatorily parts of the outer banks and encouraged everyone to get out of water and out of the way and just take care of their families and know that North Carolina is ready for this event.
We do have full cooperation from the local, the state and federal government. We are fully prepared. We have staged the area with food and water. Whatever happens, we are ready, and we just pray it isn't a severe or a bad storm
SANCHEZ: You know, as you look at a situation like this you're going to have residents who will hear the warnings and still not heed them, because many of them will say, look, I'm an old salt. I've been in this area for a lot of years, got a lot of experience with hurricanes. What do you say to those folks who don't want to pull out just yet?
PERDUE: I live on the coast myself, so I understand that kind of thinking. And North Carolina has had a mandatory evacuation for tourists, many people who have not experienced a hurricane.
Many of our locals have been after hurricane after hurricane. That's why North Carolina's emergency system is so thorough, because this is a regular occurrence in the late summer and early fall in our state.
We urge local people to get out, we urge people especially with medical problems who are older and who might need specialized help and special needs to avoid being there tonight and being cut off. I believe safe is much better than sorry, and I'm very hopeful that for those who stayed, those folks have their hurricane kits fully equipped with the flashlights and the medicine and the batteries.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
PERDUE: This is a state where people know how to respond to emergencies, and I feel like that people will have done their due diligence. Our ports are closed. Our ferries have stopped running, and for some people then it's too late to evacuate.
And we have told the people here very directly that at a certain point tonight during the onslaught and onset of the storm, our emergency response will not risk their lives to go out into the event to try to rescue somebody.
SANCHEZ: That's an important point to make.
Finally, are you getting everything you need from the feds for assistance, for example, from FEMA?
PERDUE: Thank you for asking that. We've been down this road a long time, several times since I've been elected in politics. And FEMA has always been a challenge. I can tell you and the people of America that FEMA has been the best I've ever seen.
Yesterday they were fully engaged. They brought in extra water and extra supplies. Last night the president signed an emergency FEMA order, so the feds as we speak are paying for 75 percent of the costs that North Carolina incurs.
FEMA is a tremendous and important partner to any emergency in the country, but for us here in North Carolina we are tremendously grateful and look forward to a really good final onset of this event.
SANCHEZ: Governor Beverly Perdue, my best to you. Good luck to you and your citizens. We hope everything that works out well, that no one is hurt and that this thing actually decides to change its mind in the last minute and turn away towards the -- turn away towards the east.
Nonetheless, you've been a delight to talk to. My thanks to you, and hopefully we'll get a chance to catch up again as this process moves forward.
PERDUE: Thank you. And just let me remind your listeners, if you will, that North Carolina will be open for business tomorrow this time so bring their tourist dollars and spend labor day in the greatest state in America.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: The chamber of commerce --
PERDUE: Shameless hawking my state.
SANCHEZ: Appreciate it, Governor.
We'll be right back as we continue to follow not just the stories affecting us North Carolina and the rest of the east coast and the hurricane, but also this mishap that's taken place out in San Francisco, off the coast of San Francisco, and this one as well taking place off the coast of Louisiana. This is the Gulf of Mexico, another apparent problem with an oil rig, 13 people rescued, more information forthcoming.
Stay right there. We're coming right back.
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SANCHEZ: All right. Two -- three developing stories as we move forward here -- the situation with hurricane earl. We also have the situation with this plane that has gone down off of the coast of California.
And Chad's got new information and a video graphic that he's put together that will explain this in its entirety, and we'll have that for you in just a little bit.
Before we do that let me tell you about the third breaking story which has a lot of people in the Gulf of Mexico concerned. Take a look at this picture here. You see this rig that we've been telling you about that has apparently had an accident on it.
The 13 workers there as a result of an explosion and fire were rescued. The problem now is what is going on under the surface of the water? Is there a leak? That's what officials are trying to nail down.
From everything that we've determined so far, talking to our sources and our experts, there isn't a leak right now, but we'll stay on it. We'll be right back. Stay with us.
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