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Rick's List
Oil Platform Fire Erupts in Gulf; Tracking Hurricane Earl; Acid Attack Victim; Suspicious Vehicle in Manhattan; The Human Cost of War; Update on Hurricane Earl
Aired September 02, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
Before we do anything else, I want to bring you back to this story that we're following now. Chad, come on out, if you could.
CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, buddy.
SANCHEZ: I told you the story of this airplane, right? There's the live pictures. This is from KGO. My thanks to them.
And what they're doing is, they're showing us this plane that's gone in the water. Keep looking. Keep looking at your monitor there. See that plane right there, right there to the left? It's like in a lagoon of sorts, and we have been trying to work our way in because this picture suddenly presented itself to us.
And we have had some tighter shots of it as well. Rescue officials are on the scene. The plane apparently went into the water, one person confirmed dead, according to KGO. One person apparently has been -- has been accounted for, a 40-year-old woman taken out of the water, but there's still one person that they are looking for, which may be why this boat, this marine patrol boat is now going in the water to try and exact this rescue.
Now, I know many of you are joining us now. It's exactly 4:00. I want to thank all of you who are joining us from not just here in the United States, from around the world.
But I want to bring Chad in now because he's been able to put a -- he's able to put this in perspective as to exactly how this works out. Chad, come on out if you possibly could.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Yes. I'm going to run this from here.
SANCHEZ: OK. Go ahead.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: We're just going to take -- we're going to take this Google Earth full. This is going to tell you the entire story of where we are. There's San Francisco. There's Bay Area. There's Redwood City and San Carlos. So we are going to zoom in all the way in, find the airport. There it is.
SANCHEZ: San Carlos Airport.
MYERS: Not hard to find right there. Got runway 3-0 and 1-2, and all of a sudden the plane coming out this way. And there's look at the lagoon we have been talking about. Look at all the buildings around that lagoon.
My thought is probably what happened is this pilot lost power, hoped that ditching in the water was the better idea than trying to land on any one of those runways or freeways or parking lots there, and that's how that plane ended up in the water.
You can see that that's just almost like -- that shot that I just showed you is almost the exact same shot that KGO is showing us right now.
SANCHEZ: Hey, Chad, hold tight here. I understand we have got one of the officials from this area now who is maybe able to put some -- put a description behind this story as we work our way through it.
This is I believe the police chief, is that right?
MALCOLM SMITH, PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, REDWOOD CITY: No, it's the public communications manager for Redwood City.
SANCHEZ: You are Malcolm Smith?
SMITH: That is correct.
SANCHEZ: Mr. Smith, thanks so much for being with us, sir. We appreciate you jumping on the line and trying to let us know what's going on.
Take us through this story. What happened? How did it happen?
SMITH: Well, at 11:53, our fire department received a 911 call in regards to a small plane crashing into this Redwood Shores lagoon, which is kind of a long, linear lagoon in the middle of offices and homes as well.
Officers responded. They identified the plane in shallow murky water. A couple of swimmers from our firefighting unit went in to see if they could find any immediate survivors. They found no one at that point in the murky water, but they did locate and pull out one body, a female, approximately age 40. She was deceased.
We think there may be one or two other bodies. We're right now waiting for the San Mateo County Sheriff's Department dive team to come over so they can do a more thorough examination.
SANCHEZ: Well, that's different than the information that we have learned from one of our affiliates there.
What I think I just heard you say is that you believe there are about three people on board this plane?
SMITH: It was reported to us that there may be -- may have been up to three.
SANCHEZ: OK.
So -- and you have already pulled one body out of the water.
SMITH: That is correct.
SANCHEZ: And you believe there may be two others, and so far those two others, if there are two others, are both unaccounted for?
SMITH: That is exactly right.
SANCHEZ: My goodness. Do you have any idea what happened to the plane? Have any witnesses said that they saw anything?
SMITH: I did speak to one witness who saw from the highway nearby here the plane at what he described as an unusually low altitude, and this is just a few minutes from the San Carlos Airport, the small general aviation airport here.
And he reported the plane was at a low altitude and then sort of nosed up as if it was stalling, made a right bank and then went into the water. And that is according to the one witness I have spoken to.
SANCHEZ: And there's that picture again, as Chad takes us through it. You see the airport there. That's San Carlos airport.
Chad, take us through this.
MYERS: Well, here's the body of water he's taking about right here, and a low angle of approach, not a good sign. Probably -- we don't know if there was any engine failure or not, but that would have been the best place to try to put an airplane at that point, in the water. It might have been the safety try to land, because all the rest of the freeways are jampacked with people and parking lots are the same, and it's something unfortunate happened right there.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: So it would appear -- and, you know, I don't want to put words in your mouth, but it would appear that this pilot tried to ditch this plane.
MYERS: Maybe. Maybe.
That would be my guess. If you're going to try to put a plane somewhere in this vicinity without power, that would have been the best choice. There are no good choices, but that was the best of what he had or what she had.
SANCHEZ: Officer Smith, we're looking at a vessel. This is now from KGO. I don't know. You can probably see our video there. And this is the first time we have seen a vessel actually heading out to this plane. Who are these people, and what are they going to attempt to do?
SMITH: I believe that is actually -- I can't tell for sure. I think that's a Redwood City Police Department boat and they do not appear to have the dive team on this. That's not the sheriff's dive team at this point.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: I wanted to give you one piece of clarification. It appears that this plane -- well, we're sure this plane took off from the San Carlos Airport just a few minutes away, and then didn't get too far and landed in this lagoon. They were on their way to another location.
SANCHEZ: Oh, I see. Yes. Right, right, right. That's why we're trying to figure out what may have caused him -- and it may have been a heroic gesture on the pilot's part to miss all those buildings and in fact try to put the plane in the water, thereby avoiding any other problems for the people in that area, so, I mean, there you have it.
Malcolm Smith joining us live, and we thank you for that. We will keep an eye on this story, and as it develops we will let you know what's going on.
Now to our top story, Hurricane Earl and what's going on with that.
Let's start if we possibly can with the loop. There you have it. This is what we have been following regarding Hurricane Earl, and the point to be made here is that this hurricane, it would appear, is still on the trajectory that Chad has been sharing with us from the very beginning.
Chad, let me bring you back, because, before we do anything else -- and we will at least for now give folks an update on what's going on with this storm, and then we will move on to some of the other developing stories that we have on this day.
But tell -- what is the current path for Earl right now? How has it changed from some of the latest advisories that you have been receiving, Chad?
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: The newest that we have is that the pressure is not as low, which means if a pressure of a low pressure center is not as low, that means that this low is essentially losing a little bit of steam, filling in with some air, not being the big low pressure center that it was.
Now, it's still a Category 3, OK? So, this is still 125 miles per hour. You have got to get to 131 to go back up to Cat 4. We are right still on the threshold. I can't tell the difference between 130 and 125, and I'm pretty sure you can't either, when it comes to a wind speed. And here -- so this is what's going on now. We have been waiting for this storm to make that turn, and is it making the turn? Well, it appears so. It appears that the turn, that northward jog that we hope for and then eventually the northeastward jog, is occurring.
If it doesn't occur and this storm just goes straight north, well, it's on a trajectory that the western eyewall, one of the dangerous spots, not the most dangerous, because that would be on the right side of the storm, but irrelevant, there's just a few miles per hour difference on one side compared to the other, would be a complete brush right there on Cape Hatteras, right there on the island.
And so, they are getting people of the island, of course. The evacuations are just about complete in many spots. But we were talking to people earlier, Rick, that they were stuck in traffic. They literally couldn't get off the island yesterday.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
MYERS: There were so many cars that waited for the last advisory. Let's see if it turns. Let's see if it -- and when it didn't, when they said it's not going out to sea, you better get off, now all of a sudden everybody is trying to get off all at one time.
SANCHEZ: Yes, this is what happens down south in South Florida as well, the Keys, Card Sound Road, US-1.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: Yes.
SANCHEZ: Yes, you need to get out, but you need to get out before everybody else gets out or else you are all going to be stuck in traffic.
MYERS: Right.
SANCHEZ: And that's when cars overheat. Remember the storm that hit Houston? Which one?
MYERS: Oh, sure. Ike?
SANCHEZ: Ike. Everyone was stuck in traffic. They had more mishaps as a result of that than they did, because the storm actually turned. So, this thing obviously becomes a problem.
MYERS: Yes, it's one road in, one road out problem when you're talking about the Outer Banks.
SANCHEZ: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: -- Corolla all the way down to Nags Head, you got one road that's going to get you out of there. SANCHEZ: Here's what we're going to do, by the way. One of the biggest problems that we have with hurricanes like this, especially the ones that are going to be coming ashore, is, there are so many people who have boats, and those folks got to get their boats out of water.
We have shown you -- in fact, when I come back, I'm going to show you, and, Chad, I want you to stick around with this, what's happened with hurricanes in the past. Boats would literally be taken and thrown miles inland and end up like sticks on top of each other.
It's happened in the past. The fear is that that could happen again. That's why we're now monitoring what's going on at some of these marinas up and down the coast around Hatteras, for example. We have established communication with someone there who is going to describe to us what's going on, and we're going to have that for you.
But before we do anything else, I want to show you the latest pictures now of what's going on with this oil rig emergency, this oil rig accident that's taken place down in the Gulf of Mexico. These are the men in the water, all 13 of them, who were actually on the rig when the explosion and subsequent fire took place.
They were all rescued. Some were treated. Most are OK. Now the question is what's going on underneath the surface. Look at this picture. That's kind of amazing, the way they are all there together and that's the area where it happened -- not too different from the story that we have been telling you about in the past, but the good news is, it's not as deep as a well. It's called Vermilion Bay.
This is a picture of what the explosion looked like after it happened, and as we get more information as to what's going on with the well itself and its integrity, we will then share that with you.
Stay right here, folks. There is a lot of stuff going on, and we are trying to take you through it as diligently as we possibly can here on RICK'S LIST.
Here's another picture that's coming in now. These are coming in just as we're getting them. So as we get these pictures, we're turning them around and showing them to you. Remember we told you about the explosion and fire. There's the fire. The workers apparently were able to take off. They jumped into the water and that's why we had that picture of them in the water, and they have all been rescued.
Exactly what the ordeal was like for them, what the process is and what's going on underwater -- we did speak to a -- one of our own experts a little while ago who told us he does not believe, given what's been described to him and what the governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, has said so far, that there is a leak at present, although there was a spill about a mile wide reportedly seen now by the Coast Guard in this area.
So, I will just continue to bring you the information as we get it. And this is RICK'S LIST. We are going to be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, Chad, if you could, come on back, because I want to show something to the viewers and then I want you to help me with this.
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: First, Rog, if you can, as we follow Earl and its approach to the east part of the United States, I want to take you back now to some video that we found.
Take a look at this video. You see that right there? Yes, those are boats or what is left of boats. They have literally -- this is from 2005. This is Katrina, right? But, look, we can almost pick Andrew, Hugo, Camille. We can pick any hurricane, and you would see scenes very similar to this. The boats are literally picked up and taken ashore by the tidal surge.
(CROSSTALK)
MYERS: No. They were on shore. A lot of those were dry-docked, but the water was up so high, that the dry was no dock anymore.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MYERS: Dock -- drydock became 15 feet of water.
SANCHEZ: Wet dock.
MYERS: Wet dock.
SANCHEZ: Yes. And --
MYERS: And the boats floated again.
SANCHEZ: I remember, during Andrew, there were boats found on the other side of I-95. You know how I-95 cuts across, right?
MYERS: Yes, of course.
SANCHEZ: It took them from one side and took it to the other side of I-95 and the Florida Turnpike.
MYERS: Wow. Wow.
SANCHEZ: That means they literally took the boat for several miles.
MYERS: Mm-hmm.
SANCHEZ: This is what, obviously, folks in the Carolinas tonight want to avoid, because, really, this is a -- this is a storm that can create a tidal surge.
MYERS: Absolutely, in the sound, for sure. You have (INAUDIBLE) sound right there right over the island, you pile water over that barrier island and you're going to fill up those sounds pretty fast.
SANCHEZ: So what folks there are trying to do right now is get all their vessels out of the water or tied down very carefully.
MYERS: And you don't want to put them right next to the water either. Just because they are on the trailer and they are in the parking lot, if the water is only five feet lower and the water comes up seven feet, then all of a sudden your boat is floating again. Your trailer is still sitting there, but your boat is floating.
SANCHEZ: All right, let's talk to Farris O'Neal, he owns the Restless Native Boat Rentals, this is on -- let me see if I get this right -- Ocracoke or Ocracoke Island. Ocracoke, very good. He's in North Carolina, he's joining us now.
You must -- you're having a busy day. What's going on there?
FARRIS O'NEAL, OWNER, RESTLESS NATIVE BOAT RENTALS (via telephone): Well, it's just starting to rain. The wind is blowing probably 30. I've got all of my boats and everything secure. Just hurry up and wait now.
SANCHEZ: Have you been by any of the other marinas, and I imagine they are very busy? Are you seeing a lot of folks taking their boats out of the water and tying them up?
O'NEAL: I think just about everybody here has everything secure, and everybody who is leaving has already left the island.
SANCHEZ: What else do you do? If your boat is too big, and I know some people used to do this in Florida, do you take off several days earlier to another place where you know that the hurricane is not going to be.
O'NEAL: Yes. Well, I also have a charter boat that's 40 feet, and we've -- we've tied that up just run a bunch of lines through it and just hope that it makes it.
SANCHEZ: Are you going to hang around? Are you going to sit there and watch it overnight? I know boaters are famous for not leaving their boats. Are you one of those?
O'NEAL: Yes. I'm going to hang around. Got a --
SANCHEZ: I had a feeling --
O'NEAL: I think we'll be fine.
MYERS: Mr. O'Neal, if the water comes up -- this is Chad Myers -- if the waters come up and all of a sudden your lines aren't loose enough, so to speak, do you go out there when the wind is blowing 50, 60 and start giving your boats more line? Because, you know, if people have them tied up too tight, they have a short leash on them and all of a sudden the boat goes up two feet, but the boat four feet and then the water is over the gunnel and you've already sunk the boat.
SANCHEZ: Yes. How do you -- how do you -- how do you manage that, the tide going up?
O'NEAL: Well, you try to gauge that before the storm gets there. At 60 miles an hour, you can probably go out there and loosen them up if you need to. Probably not a good idea.
MYERS: No, on a moving dock.
SANCHEZ: So you're trying to create enough lag with your lines, right?
O'NEAL: Yes. Put a long scope on it.
SANCHEZ: Well, Chad, help him out. How much will this water likely go up if it comes across at 2:00 a.m. Which is what I think you guys are saying, right? What's high tide?
O'NEAL: It's going to come through at probably dead high tide and we'll probably, I don't know, five or six feet we're looking at, maybe seven, hopefully not. I'll say five feet.
SANCHEZ: Is he right?
MYERS: That's right.
Now are most of your docks, are they floating on the pilings so that where you've tied the boat to, the cleat, goes up with the boat? Or is that going to stay down attached to the bottom of the shore, bottom of the earth and all of a sudden the boat is going to try to go up but your dock is not?
O'NEAL: Yes. The dock is like five feet over.
SANCHEZ: The dock floats.
O'NEAL: Yes.
SANCHEZ: That's good.
MYERS: That is good.
SANCHEZ: It means it goes up and the boat goes up.
Mr. O'Neal, you've been very kind, sir. I know you're a busy man, you've got a lot of stuff going on with your own business and I can only imagine how busy it is out there right now with everybody hustling to get their boats out of the water and get themselves out of the area.
Farris O'Neal, he owns Restless Native Boat Rentals in Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. And we're going to try to keep and establish contact with him throughout the hurricane so that we can -- well, check and see how things are going with him meantime.
Also this, a moment that literally made us stop and take notice in the NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETHANY STORRO, VICTIM OF ACID ATTACK: The most painful thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Look at this. This young woman is the victim of an acid attack, and she talks about her horrible ordeal. Believe me, you're going to want to hear what she has to say. I was moved when I heard her talking today for the first time.
We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez.
We've got an outrage list for you tonight, and this is a tough story to tell, but I want you to listen to this.
This is the story of a young woman. Her name is Bethany Storro, she goes to get something from her car in Vancouver, Washington when someone comes up from behind and asks her this question -- "Hey, pretty girl, you want a drink of this?" That's the question, and then this stranger throws some type of really strong acid right into Bethany's face, an acid.
Again, this is tough stuff, but here is Bethany fresh from surgery. Her acid-burned face is now wrapped up in bandages and she's telling us how it felt as the acid started to reach her face that day.
Here we go.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETHANY STORRO, VICTIM OF ACID ATTACK: It was the most painful thing. Like I told everybody, my heart stopped, I almost passed out.
It's like imagine -- I mean, it ripped through my clothes the instant it touched my shirt. So I looked down and it just ripped through my shirt. It made holes in my shirt, so imagine how on your skin.
So I could hear it sizzling. Once it hit me, I could actually hear it bubbling and sizzling my skin.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: This beautiful 28-year-old woman says she can't even imagine why someone would want to do something like this to her. Investigators say that they believe that Bethany has no relationship with the attacker, and they are now searching the area looking for this mystery woman who did this apparently for no reason at all, at least as far as police can tell.
Here's the question that Bethany would like to ask her. Here it is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STORRO: First of all, why? Like I have all these questions like, why? A dare? Was it somebody's, I dare you to -- ?
Like, why did you wake -- did you wake up that morning and go, I'm going -- I'm going to carry some acid in a cup and throw it on the first person that I see? Was it a dare?
You know, like why me? I've never ever seen this girl in my entire life, and I don't know if she's seen me walking around, cause when I first saw her she had a weirdness about her, like jealousy, rage. She just had that weird, you know, thing about her.
So I would ask her, like what everybody else wants to know, why?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: Why? Why?
This happened near a Vancouver park just outside a Starbucks where Bethany frequently gets coffee. Since this incident, Vancouver Police have been going door to door trying to find witnesses or anybody who knows anything about this attack.
One description of the attacker is an African-American woman with hair apparently slicked back in some kind of pony tail, and at the time she did this she was wearing a green top and khaki pants. If that rings a bell with anyone, police obviously want you to contact them in Vancouver.
Whoever she is, Bethany Storro says she hopes to one day be able to forgive her. Hopes to one day be able to forgive her, but first she wants her found.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I notice cracks now and gradients that I never would have noticed before, you know. A curb at this moment might as well be the Great Wall of China.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: I can't wait to tell you this story as well. This is one soldier's attitude after he lost his legs while fighting in Afghanistan, and a courageous attitude it is. Surviving war and what happens when you come home. This is inspiring. And of course, we'll bring you the very latest on all the top stories that we've been following today. The breaking news is Hurricane Hugo, another mishap on an oil rig off the coast of -- in the Gulf -- in the Gulf Coast.
By the way, I misspoke, I said Hurricane Hugo. Hurricane Earl, apparently still heading for the Carolinas.
This situation that we're following off the Gulf of Mexico and a small plane crash that may have taken the life of at least one person off of San Francisco. All three developing stories, all three being covered by us extensively as we move forward here on RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: My goodness, talk about a day with a lot of developing stories. We have just gotten another developing story that I need to share with you.
Let me, first of all, take you to a picture. This is in New York, New York, and NYPD is now confirming they are on the scene of a suspicious vehicle in the area of 50th and Park Avenue. This is in New York City.
And, Matt, if you would over here, get ready. I want you to show a tweet that we just got coming in as well.
But again, New York City Police Department is confirming they are on the scene of a suspicious vehicle. This vehicle is in the area of 50th and Park Avenue in New York City. Officials from the New York Police Department and the New York Fire Department are on the scene as well.
And look at this tweet that we're getting now, "Due to police activity, Park Avenue is now closed in New York City. This is East 50th Street and East 57th in Manhattan." This is East 50th Street and East 57th in Manhattan. All the way from 50th to 57th, it appears Park Avenue is closed as police move in on this suspicious vehicle.
Let's go ahead and work this story as well as all the other breaking news stories that we've got going at this moment. And to do that, I believe one of our correspondents -- or pardon me -- one of our producers, Julian Cummings, can talk to us now by phone to let us know what she's got.
Julian, are you there?
JULIAN CUMMINGS, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): Hi, Rick, how are you?
SANCHEZ: Hi, Julian, how you doing?
CUMMINGS: I heard the tweets you're reading on air. Park avenue is in fact closed for this vehicle. I can see that it is a four-door Mercedes Benz. It's actually on 51st street. Now, Park Avenue is closed only going south from 57th Street to 49th Street. It's a two-way avenue. One of the few in New York City. It's open from 52nd going north upwards to this point.
But the bomb squad is also on the scene of this vehicle. People (INAUDIBLE) have been put at a distance or put away for safety, but there is the -- bomb squad is at the vehicle right now. I'm not sure how close you can see it but, they're obviously in the green suits that everyone knows so well.
So, again, this is the Mercedes Benz, 51st Street. I believe in front of the Waldorf Astoria, and Park Avenue is closed going south from 57th Street to 49th Street (INAUDIBLE) going uptown.
SANCHEZ: All right. There it is right now. Hey, Roger, do me a favor. Put this shot on the green here so that we can see it inside the studio. What is it from what you understand -- what is it -- okay, there you go, now you get -- at least here in the studio I'm getting a little better angle, and you can actually the officers going through it. What is it about this vehicle that is suspicious, do you know?
CUMMINGS: Well, the bomb squad is always cautious. I've done some stories with the bomb squad. They treat everything as a bomb until it's not a bomb, so they are looking at it right now with the assumption that this could be something dangerous. They don't know. Everything is in an abundance of caution at this point. And with New York City with the Times Square -- failed Times Square bombing, you know, they take everything seriously, and they are going to treat it as such until it's no longer a threat.
SANCHEZ: All right. Now, we -- by the way, just to let folks know at home, the picture that we had of that vehicle just froze up on us, so now we'll be showing some tape of it, and -- is that the tape there? Are we showing that, because I don't see that on the green screen.
OK, and there you have it.
What -- I'm just wondering, Julian. How did they clear this area? I mean, any other city would be easy to clear. New York City, not so easy, right? And in these pictures that we're seeing right now, we're still seeing people walking, which looks to be at least about a half a block away from the area, if not less.
CUMMINGS: They do their best. Our crew vehicle could not drive through, but we were able to walk to this point. There's a large (INAUDIBLE) that they can clear it pretty quickly. You'd be surprised. The fire department is on the scene as well.
You know, there's a lot of people looking onwards and a lot of tourists, taking pictures with their cell phones, but this -- this isn't the same, you know, situation that you see in the past where pedestrians have been cleared out of area. I believe I saw a report that this was not evacuated, the building had not been evacuated. But, you know, this is a big city and they are going to -- and we just heard a blast. I don't know if you heard this or not over the phone --
SANCHEZ: Yes.
CUMMINGS: -- we've heard these in the past. I cannot confirm what that was, but there are some times that they do use charges in previous cars like this in New York City -- they have a charge. (INAUDIBLE).
Again, they are going to call the police department to confirm that the vehicle is still intact. The vehicle did not explode. I know you don't have a live signal right now. That was just -- I'm assuming at this point it was just a charge.
SANCHEZ: So, well - well, hold on a minute. Let's go through this very carefully, you know. We just heard what sounded like some kind of explosion on your line. We got that from the phone line that you're talking to us from.
Folks, the picture that you're looking at right there, that we're showing you right now is not a live picture. It is not a live picture. These are pictures from earlier. We had a live picture a little while ago, but it froze up on us. That picture actually showed one of the bomb squad's hazardous material officials in full regalia, in full uniform, going through the vehicle.
Julian, let me go back to you now. Any new information from police as to what that explosion was that we just heard?
CUMMINGS: We're working with police to find out what that was. I can tell you for sure that the vehicle has not been detonated. There's not an explosion here.
In a similar situation before, we covered a car at Union square, another car at New York City earlier this summer. And they had the same sort of explosions happen there, and there were charges that were used. We'll check to see with the police department if this was in fact what was used here. They used open windows and hoods of cars (INAUDIBLE) vehicles that they wanted access.
But the bomb squad is still on the car. There was no explosion of the vehicle, and it may have sounded pretty loud over the phone. You know, this is not the sort of loud sounds that a bomb would make, you know -- more of a loud pop more than anything. SANCHEZ: How far are you, Julian, from the vehicle itself? I mean, it sounds like you're describing -- you're eyeballing this thing for us, right?
CUMMINGS: I'm eyeballing it from here. We're about 150 feet or so, would I say, maybe more.
SANCHEZ: Once again, just to be clear. When this explosion went off, you didn't see anything happen around the car.
CUMMINGS: Not at all.
SANCHEZ: Nothing. OK. So, is it possible that explosion came from someplace else?
CUMMINGS: I would -- I would probably say that it was involved with the bomb squad investigation. I think that's probably a fair assumption to make there.
SANCHEZ: Okay.
CUMMINGS: But, again, I'm sure they are looking into what that was and precautions are being taken with this vehicle.
SANCHEZ: You say that from time to time, they actually use some form of blast or explosion in the process of -- of working these bomb squad details, right?
CUMMINGS: Correct, yes.
SANCHEZ: Okay.
CUMMINGS: On a similar situation, that was in fact done. (INAUDIBLE)
SANCHEZ: Tell us again, if you would, Julian, where this area is exactly? I know it's Park Avenue. What streets are closed, and where exactly is this vehicle?
CUMMINGS: Yes. I mean, we're on Park Avenue. The vehicle is on 51st Street, and to give you an idea where this is, about ten blocks down from Park Avenue is the sort of the main entrance to Grand Central Station. That's the closest idea of what a landmark would be.
This is a business district. Lots of office buildings, financial institutions as such. It's considered to be a nicer -- one of the nicer avenues in New York and it's probably the main part of the city for people understanding where this is location-wise.
SANCHEZ: All right. Thanks so much, Julian. We've got a pretty good idea of what's going on there. Just one of four developing stories that we're following for you now since the beginning of this newscast.
Hurricane Earl apparently heading for the Carolinas. We've got another potential oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The good news, it's not been confirmed now as a spill, but that's what it looked like earlier when one of the rigs had a fire on board. Some 13 workers had to go into the water. We understand they have all been rescued.
And a small plane has crashed into the water just outside of San Francisco. That's what that picture looks like. All of these developing stories -- this one involving at least one fatality, possibly more. All of this happening as we speak, and we are following it for you as we come back on RICK'S LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back. I'm Rick Sanchez, and, boy, I'll tell you, it's been a very, very busy day. We'll hopefully be able to take you through all these stories.
But the one story that many people all over the country is following is the situation with Hurricane Earl. Hurricane Earl is coming up on the East Coast there, and it's a very sizable and very dangerous hurricane. The real question with Hurricane Earl is just how close will it come to the shore? And will it come close enough for its winds, not just the eye of the hurricane because there's no reason to believe right now, although this could change, too -- there's no reason to believe right now that this hurricane will actually come ashore, but it will -- because it's so big and the outer bands, see the winds whipping around? Because those are so long and it's such a large hurricane, it's still going to have an effect on Hatteras and other parts of the East Coast of the United States.
Let's bring Chad Myers in right now. It's interesting, because I misspoke a while ago when I spoke about this and I referred to it as Hugo, because we were talking earlier about the damage that Hugo did bringing all the ships on board. And this is similar to the path of Hugo, isn't it?
MYERS: It was, until about 24 hours ago when finally it started to make that very late turn. Hugo was a straight shot, right? It never slowed down, and that's where the Weather Service started using the word "relentless" yesterday. This storm is relentless in its path. It just refuses to turn.
Then finally it started. And, you know, I talked about these planes that are in the storm. This is the track. There's the little plane right there, just a little symbol. But it started out, flew over this way. Came this way, went down through this way, and went over this way. They keep flying through. Every time they turn and make a big turn, they fly back through the eye.
Well, if you notice something, Rick, this is where the eye was about two hours ago. Here's where it was an hour and 20 minutes ago. Here's where it was an hour ago, and there's latest eye.
SANCHEZ: Oh, I see a line.
MYERS: What do you see?
SANCHEZ: I see it moving to the right.
MYERS: What do you see? That was my favorite toy when I was a kid, follow the dots or count the numbers, and I'm going to just follow dots.
SANCHEZ: This is good.
MYERS: Look at that, look at that, and there is North Carolina, so finally --
SANCHEZ: Wow.
MYERS: -- finally this anticipated much later than we hoped for, but anticipated turn. Still, even when it does turn and moves out here and doesn't make landfall, we'll still have an awful lot of wind. If you're in your car listening to us, don't turn around and un- evacuate. Keep going where you're going. Keep getting off the islands.
SANCHEZ: I got to ask you this question.
MYERS: OK, go.
SANCHEZ: How do you know that's a real turn and not a bobble?
MYERS: Oh, I don't.
SANCHEZ: OK.
MYERS: No way.
SANCHEZ: OK. But nonetheless that's what it's doing.
MYERS: Correct.
SANCHEZ: All right. We appreciate it.
MYERS: It could bobble just back, wobble the other way.
SANCHEZ: It could bobble back.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: We are following a lot of developing stories for you, as you can see. The very latest of what's going on in the Gulf and obviously, the very latest with Earl, as well. And that situation, that situation that's taking place in New York City right now with a suspicious vehicle, the bomb squads there, our producers are there. That's what it looks like. We're all over that for you as well.
I'm Rick Sanchez. This is RICK'S LIST. We're on top of it all. Be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back.
A major milestone this week. After more than seven years, Operation Iraqi Freedom has officially ended. With the passing of a flag, the new mission, Operation New Dawn, began.
OK. So the war in Iraq is over, at least the combat effort there, but here's the question. How about for the injured men and women who have served in Iraq? Is it over for them?
I want to bring in Brooke Baldwin following this part of the story, and this is an important story for all Americans.
I'm so glad you did this. Take us through it.
BROOKE. BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Thanks for squeezing me in today. I know it's busy.
But just in terms of the casualties, if you look at Iraq and Afghanistan, we found something like six million men and women have been killed in both of those wars. And in terms of the injured, that's thousands upon thousands more.
And for many of those injured troops, their battle is far from over. In fact, I had the honor to get to go to Walter Reed last month, and I spoke with one of these amazing soldiers whose name is Dan Berschinski,
He was injured just a little over a year ago in Afghanistan. And while he is back here on U.S. soil, he has a long and painful fight ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN (voice-over): Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan, Taliban stronghold, one of the most dangerous assignments for U.S. troops and First Lieutenant Dan Berschinski's new home, one month into his deployment.
CAPT. DAN BERSCHINSKI: People were ambivalent at best and outwardly hostile, most commonly. Rocks and thumbs down, middle fingers up.
BALDWIN: From his first mission outside the wire, this West Point graduate realized every day had the potential to be deadly.
BERSCHINSKI: My very first mission, I watched three IEDS go off in succession on a group. So, from the very first day, it was like, hey, game on. This place is not friendly. Let's try to keep ourselves off the road as much as possible.
BALDWIN: To keep off the road, soldiers would stick to dirt trails, even orchards. That's where his platoon was patrolling on August 18th of last year.
BERSCHINSKI: We heard an explosion. You could see the dust rise up over the trees.
BALDWIN: An IED had been triggered, and, soon after, another explosion. Two men were killed. Berschinski, unscathed, had to hold the area so they could search for the bodies come daylight. And, as he was walking down a trail, steps from his compound, another blast.
BERSCHINSKI: I don't really remember sound or a flash. I just remember pressure. But, immediately, I knew what had happened. And the next thing I know, I'm just opening my eyes in a bright room in the ICU here at Walter Reed.
I never even understand the - the gravity of my injuries.
BALDWIN (on camera): Who told you? The doctor?
BERSCHINSKI: They tell you, but it doesn't sink in until you really have the strength and the mental clarity to, like, lift your sheets and look. I'm kind of at the point I can walk with one hand, so that's the first step to being able to walk with one cane.
BALDWIN (voice-over): Dan's left leg, amputated above the knee. His right, at the hip.
A year after the attack --
BERSCHINSKI: It's a bit frustrating. I wake up every morning and I go, maybe it was all a dream. And I think about just swinging my legs over the edge of the bed and hopping into the shower, but so far it hasn't come true. So then I just go, "Oh, crap. Back to that."
BALDWIN: Here in Walter Reed, Dan, now a captain, knows pain is the price of progress. Ask his physical therapist, his recovery is faster than anyone predicted.
BO BERGEROAN, WALTER REED CLINICAL SUPERVISOR: Time wise, I think it's remarkable. From the very beginning, he's been one of those guys that he gets frustrated and he's determined to make it work.
BALDWIN: Dan is taking his rehab step by step. And, as he remembers that day in Afghanistan, this Georgia native says he wouldn't have wished it any other way.
BERSCHINSKI: Quite honestly, if it hadn't been me walking through those orchards in Afghanistan, it would have been some other 25-year-old infantry lieutenant. Really, I have no regrets. I think it was worthwhile.
BALDWIN (on camera): No regrets?
BERSCHINSKI: Yes. No regrets. And I pause because it's kind of -- I have to double-check in my head. But, yes, I've thought about it quite a bit, and I really don't think I have any regrets.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BALDWIN: That's what gets me, no regrets. It would have been some other 25-year-old out there, so he was glad it was him.
In terms of his future, the specifics with regard to his rehab, his recovery, it's still up in the air. He takes it just really day to day. He told me he hopes to go to grad school, maybe get his MBA. He's learning a whole lot about prosthetics, so maybe possibly going into the prosthetic industry.
There was a whole lot more I couldn't squeeze into that piece, so if you can just show his blog real quickly, and I'll tweet this URL so you can read about his journey at Walter Reed and all the presidential pictures and the picture with Jon Stewart and talking to his cadets at West Point. It was amazing.
SANCHEZ: Tough guy. BALDWIN: Thanks for sending me.
SANCHEZ: And people like him are the ones that we need to take care of moving forward, because they did their jobs.
BALDWIN: They did their duty.
SANCHEZ: They did their jobs, no matter what you think of the war.
We're going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: Hey, welcome back.
I want to let you know that we're still following this situation that's going on in the Gulf of Mexico.
I've got some folks visiting here as well.
Good to see you guys. You guys have got to be shaking your heads watching this story develop again in the Gulf of Mexico. Everybody has been tweeting me saying, "Here we go again." Well, not so fast.
Let me show you the pictures that we've been getting in. Let's start, if we possibly can, with those folks floating out there in the Gulf of Mexico.
Can you see how many there are? We were told there were 13 people who were rescued, but I've just gotten a bunch of tweets from people who were saying, "I was counting and I couldn't see more than 12 there."
One, two, three, four, five, six -- oh, well. We got to six anyway.
Now, this is what the actual explosion looks like.
That's OK. We'll come back to that. Don't worry about it.
That's what the explosion looked like a little while ago. Again, it's an oil rig that is in the Gulf of Mexico. It's in shallower water than we've been dealing with before. Vermilion Bay is what it's described as.
As far as whether or not there's a current leak being worked, we don't know. The governor, Bobby Jindal, says he does not believe so, and that's what he's being told by the folks who are here.
However, there was a one-mile-long spill that was seen in the area -- a sheen, I should say, not a spill, on top of the water. So there's an investigation going on as we speak.
OK. We're going to be all over this story, the latest on what's going on with Earl, when we come back. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: A new advisory coming in from the National Hurricane Center regarding Earl, and we're going to have that for you in just a little bit.
Stand by.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SANCHEZ: New data from the National Hurricane Center.
We've got about a minute left to get this out, Chad. I'm looking at it, but you really understand it.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Down to 100 knots. What does that mean? A hundred and fifteen miles per hour.
It was 140, 145 last night. It's down. That doesn't mean it's not dangerous.
That's still Cat 3. That's still a pretty strong storm, but it's not as big as it was. And now the turn to the east, the northeast, has finally started.
Is it going to brush the coast? Yes. Will it damage some stuff? Yes. Is it going to be a direct hit on Wilmington or Cape Fear, a Cat 3 or Cat 4? No.
SANCHEZ: It's really not looking like that.
MYERS: No.
SANCHEZ: All right. One other story that we've got a conclusion on.
The pictures that we were showing you out of New York City of the suspicious vehicle, all clear now, according to the bomb squad. They have been out there. Apparently they've been taking care of it. And the situation now is under control right there on Park Avenue.
Thanks so much for being with us. Man, we had a lot of news today. Glad we were able to get you through it.
We'll look for you again tomorrow and tonight at 8:00 p.m. on the primetime edition of RICK'S LIST.
Here now, "THE SITUATION ROOM" with Wolf Blitzer.
