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CNN Sunday Morning
Tracking Hurricane Dean; NYC Skyscraper Catches Fire
Aired August 19, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center, in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's August 19th. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: And I am Brianna Keilar in for Betty Nguyen. It's 7:00 a.m. here in the east. 6:00 a.m. in Jamaica where hurricane Dean is expected to make landfall later today. This is what it looked like in the Dominican Republic. Look at the size of hurricane Dean from space. The eye of this churning storm to the right of center here.
HOLMES: Also we got something else for you to take a peek at, flames pouring out of a New York City sky scraper. Dozens of emergency crews respond by two firefighters lose their live. Our I-reporters busy on this story for us. We will bring you their video and photos throughout the morning.
KEILAR: Forecasters are calling it an extremely dangerous storm. Hurricane Dean barreling towards Jamaica right now it's expected to make landfall today.
HOLMES: Jamaican supermarkets stocking up on food and other supplies. The government provided busses to transport residents of low lying areas to higher ground. Dean is packing winds of 145 miles an hour; it is a strong category 4 hurricane. It is sweeping past the southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It could become a category 5 storm before hitting Jamaica. At least five deaths so far are blamed on this storm.
As dean continues to churns on, you will see CNN news crews reporting live all day and night. We have Karl Penhaul in Port-au- Prince, Susan Candiotti in Montego Bay, will be live next hour and Gary Tuchman will be in the resort city of Cancun, Mexico. If its current course holds Dean could hit Cancun late tomorrow or early on Tuesday. Let's get to it, let's get started with these reports. Port- au-prince under a hurricane warning, our Karl Penhaul is there for us. Karl how are things?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., this is the picture. We have been a little surprised by it because the wind has never picked up to anything more than a stiff breeze, really. Certainly no sign here where we are in Port-au-Prince of any sign of hurricane force winds here. We also escaped here most of the rain. We had a few spots of rain through the night but no torrential downpours. That's what forecasters were fearing here because Haiti is so prone to flash flooding. I've also been talking in the last few minutes to the leaders of Disaster Prevention teams on Haiti's southern coast. That was the area that was going to be most heavily buffeted by these hurricane-force winds. Talking to them, they said, yes, a number of houses have been damaged, a number of houses have been destroyed. In one case on the southern coast they report a power pylon fell on a house and destroyed it but they say that the good news is there is no -- so far, no reports of loss of life in Haiti.
T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Our Karl Penhaul for the report there from Haiti. Karl we'll be checking in with you again. Thank you very much.
KEILAR: Mean while many travelers trying to get in and out of the Caribbean are finding themselves stranded. Air Jamaica says all flights from the U.S., Toronto and London today are canceled. Some travelers returning from the Caribbean say it took them hours to get out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM LOHMEIER, RETURNING FROM CAYMAN ISLANDS: There were thousands and thousands of people trying to get in there and through there. They were trying to slip in doors and everything else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Many of those travelers say they were lucky to get flights out of the Caribbean.
And Texas is taking precautions in case this storm hits there eventually. The governor ordered up National Guard troops and emergency responders. President Bush has signed a pre-landfall disaster declaration for Texas that will allow the government to move in people, equipment and supplies immediately if the storm hits. Also more than 1,000 buss are ready to transport evacuees with special needs and fuel is being delivered to coastal areas.
HOLMES: We want to turn to our Weather Center now and Reynolds Wolf with us. Reynolds for you, if it ain't one hurricane, it's another. Just getting back from duty on hurricane Flossie, now we have that beast behind to you deal with.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, and what a beast it is. Folks, let's take a look at this wonderful satellite view that we have from space. When I say wonderful, I'm talking about these storms can bring, I am talking about the wonder of the sheer size of this. Just to give you an idea of how big this thing is, we are talking about the outflow and everything; it covers an area of nearly 270,000 square miles. Something that is at least the size of Texas. As we go back to the weather computer, take a look at this, it's just passed Port-au-Prince, it is now moving towards Jamaica.
Jamaica is 4500 square miles. So you are looking at a tremendous difference here. The storm is expected to pass to the south of Jamaica however with a storm of this size; you don't have to have a direct hit to cause widespread damage. That's what we are expecting for Jamaica. At a minimum we will have some storm surge that will be significant, some heavy rainfall, there will be power outages. You can see not only some flooding but potential of mudslides near those higher elevations. Jamaica is a special case for people on the island.
Think of it, you can't really evacuate the island. If you go out in the water, the water is like trying to go into water that is turbulent or like a washing machine. Meanwhile, go to higher elevations, well the higher up you go, the stronger the wind will be. So it's a tough spot to be in. The best thing to do is hunker down and wait for the storm to pass. That's what we have from the latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center; it has the storm going to the south. Still as a category four storm and then making its way by 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday with winds of 160 miles per hour. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a category five storm.
Now as it crosses the Yucatan Peninsula, it will be away from its primary source of energy that being the warm ocean water. So it should weaken considerably and then pop over into the Gulf of Mexico by 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday with winds of 100 miles per hour.
One important thing to mention, these storms do not move in a fashion from point to point. They wobble quite a bit. There's a chance the storm could deviate from the path moving a bit more to the north which could make a direct hit to Jamaica or pass further south into the Caribbean and make its way into places like the southern half of the Yucatan. So there's a lot of mystery with the storm. We will watch it for you carefully and take you through it step by step as we make our way through the rest of the afternoon into the evening and for many days to come. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: All right. Right now a lot of possible targets.
WOLF: You better believe it.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds thank you very much, we will see you again soon body.
Space shuttle "Endeavour" coming home a day early because of that hurricane. NASA cut short the mission because Dean could hit Texas where mission control is located. The shuttle is undocking from the International Space Station today and it is set to land on Tuesday.
And as hurricane Dean moves through the Caribbean you maybe looking for ways to help people affected, CNN can help you help them. Go to CNN.com/impact; click on national disasters for a link to various relief agencies, in fact in your world, now just a click away at CNN.com/impact.
KEILAR: While you slept Oklahoma was hit by a rough night of weather and it is not over yet. We want to get to this new video to show you some pictures. Heavy rain turning roads into rivers there in Oklahoma City overnight. Some drivers were stranded in their cars. Forecasters also warning now that this is a dangerous weather situation. Areas around El Reno hit by more than seven inches of rain in a short period of time. It's still raining heavily at this hour. Folks in Oklahoma are at this point being told to stay indoors.
Meanwhile, two more arrests to tell you about this morning in connection with that brutal execution style triple killings in New Jersey. That brings the total number in custody to five. Yesterday in suburban Washington, D.C. area federal authorities arrested 24-year- old Rodolfo Godinez, describing him as a key player in the case. His 16-year-old half brother was also arrested. Here's what New Jersey's mayor had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR CORY BOOKER, NEWARK, NEW JERSEY: It wasn't just gunshots, it was wounds in terms of using some kind of knife-like object as well and other abuse that went on that night. This is one of the more heinous murders that I have seen. There was a lot more that went on that night that we are still piecing together. I know we have the culprits, what I believe are -- we have to say they're alleged culprits now, because they are innocent until proven guilty, but our law enforcement teams have done a great job. It's been a major manhunt and I'm very happy that it's coming to a conclusion in terms of getting them behind bars. We obviously have more people that we are looking for but we think it will come very quickly to an end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: That was Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, New Jersey. Previous arrest in the shooting include, Jose Carranza, also two juveniles and police at this point are still looking for a sixth suspect.
HOLMES: Certainly a busy Sunday morning here. Busy news morning. Some things we are watching for you this morning, certainly hurricane Dean.
KEILAR: That is right. Within the hour the National Weather Service will update Dean's status. As soon as they do, we will bring that to you.
HOLMES: Also, Christian, Iraqi and being persecuted. The plight of Iraqi Christians knocking at our door.
KEILAR: And the high rise inferno. From the streets of Manhattan, our I-reporters capture flames erupting from above. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Iraqi Christians living in a country where practicing their faith can get them killed.
HOLMES: They risk everything to flee their country and seek asylum somewhere else. CNN's Harris Whitbeck tells us about one family's long and dangerous journey to the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A sparsely furnished apartment in San Diego, a few emblems that the religious faith that made this family of ten a target. Iraq drove them to a desperate dangerous journey. They are Chaldeans, a Christian sect in Iraq now persecuted by Islamic extremists. We are hiding their identities. The family fear for relatives still in Baghdad. They fled a comfortable house, left behind a good business empty handed taking with them only their fear as they embarked on a long and frightening escape that spanned four continents.
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE) (via translator): We had no idea it would take so long. They told us it would be one week of traveling. We traveled for two months. It was dangerous. I was afraid the whole time.
WHITBECK: The family's goal, to join the community in San Diego, some 30,000 strong. But first they had to pay smugglers $200,000, their entire savings for stolen polish passports and flights. The mother, one of the last to arrive, traveled from Iraq to Jordan and on to Egypt. She was put on a plane to South Africa. And crossed the Atlantic to Brazil, which admits European passport holders without visas and she traveled north to Costa Rica and Guatemala. She constantly feared being discovered.
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE) (via translator): We were waiting for the plane in Costa Rica and an airline employee tapped me on the shoulder to tell me to go on board. I nearly fainted.
WHITBECK: She finally crossed the border into Mexico, like the rest of her family she then took a ten-day car trip that crisscrossed Mexico from south to north. You would think their journey ended here, at the U.S Mexico border in Tijuana. But for these Iraqi Christians who had already spent weeks traveling under assumed identities in several countries, another ordeal was about to begin.
Like hundreds of others before them the family was taken into custody by U.S. immigration authorities, spending up to two months in detention centers while asylum petitions were reviewed. All the while afraid they would be sent back. The United States plans to accept just 7,000 Iraqi refugees this year. Zena Salem is a Chaldean advocate in San Diego who helps recently arrived families. She's offended by their reception.
ZENA SALEM, IRAQI CHALDEAN ADVOCATE: They are detained in camps for several months. Classified as criminals in some cases, yet they are the ones who are being persecuted. Again, there's hardship they endure. You are looking at risking their life, their children's lives.
WHITBECK: And there are plenty of people ready to exploit their desperation. The International Police Agency says 15 smuggling rings used stolen and forged passports to get Iraqis to the United States. Back in 2003, 850 passports were stolen from a government office in Cyprus, 39 have since been discovered in the hands of Iraqis illegally in Europe or in the Americas. BOB MONTGOMERY, INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE: Certainly over the last few years and certainly the months of 2007, we have seen a trend of increased number of asylums seeking services from our origination, so we feel that that's a reflection of the desperation of the people who have fled Iraq.
WHITBECK: threatened because of its religious beliefs, this family was eventually granted asylum in the United States, far from their homeland they can now express their faith in public.
(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE) (via translator): Here they respect Christians. Here we know we are worth something and we are human. Christians in Iraq hold no value. If you are a Christian, you will die.
WHITBECK: They may have lost everything they had but their reward was freedom from fear.
Harris Whitbeck, CNN, on the U.S. Mexico border in Tijuana.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And we'll be talking more this morning about this Christian group from Iraq the Chaldeans. We will talk to Joseph Kassab; he is executive director of the Chaldean Federation of America that is in our "Faces of Faith" segment coming your way in about 30 minutes.
KEILAR: Looking ahead this morning.
HOLMES: God's warriors fueled by the belief that god is on their side. Christian Amanpour goes face to face with a former Jewish terrorist.
KEILAR: And 13 days of digging. Holding out hope against the odds at Utah's mine disaster.
HOLMES: Also, the calm before the storm. Our Susan Candiotti is in Jamaica where they are getting ready for hurricane dean. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well for half a century extremists on both sides of the Arab/Israeli conflict have tried to sabotage the Mid East peace prospect.
KEILAR: Muslim radicals assassinated Egypt's President Anwar Sadat after he signed a peace treaty with Israel and later a Jewish extremist murdered Israeli Prime Minister Rabin two years after he signed the Oslo Peace Accords. In this excerpt from our upcoming documentary "God's Warriors" chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour goes to the West Bank to meet a former Jewish terrorist.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Yehud (ph) was an early leader in the movement to settle the occupied territories. Like many religious settlers, he believes that there was a higher authority than Israel's political leaders. But he went to extremes, plotting to literally dynamite the peace process. With a vigilante group that became known as the Jewish underground.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): I had served in the army and I knew how to use explosives.
AMANPOUR: In 1980, after six Jewish students were murdered in the West Bank City of Hebron, the Jewish underground conducted its first operation. You and your group of conspirators, you decided to take revenge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the Jewish tradition, the period of one month has special meaning. It is a period of mourning. So we decided a timetable of one month.
AMANPOUR: So they planted bombs in the cars of Palestinian mayors in three West Bank cities. One of them, Basam Shaka, the mayor of Nablus.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): The bomb went off the minute I stepped on the clutch. My legs were instantly blown off. They tried to save my knee and this leg, the longer one, so they kept it. But within two days I had gangrene and almost died.
AMANPOUR: Basam Shaka and the others were targeted because the Jewish underground believed they were behind the six killings in Hebron. But the underground was wrong, according to Kal Migelon (ph), the former chief of Israel's Internal Security Agency Shin Bet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those people, we had no information that they were involved in any terror act.
AMANPOUR: The car bomb attacks remained unsolved for years. Until 1984, when Shin Bet uncovered a plan to bomb Arab busses in east Jerusalem. One arrest led to others. And ultimately to the most sensational plot of all --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (via translator): We said that with explosives we would destroy the dome of the rock.
AMANPOUR: The Dome of the Rock is Islam's third holiest site. A 1300-year-old shrine towering over this outcropping of limestone. Sitting nearby on a thrown-like chair Jerusalem's top cleric told us why the rock is so important.
SHEIKH MUHAMAD HUSSEIN, GRAND MUFTI OF JERUSALEM (via translator): We consider this to be the spot where the prophet Muhammad began his ascent to heaven.
AMANPOUR: But Jews also revere this spot as the site of their ancient temple which Etzion believes must be rebuilt for the redemption, the coming of the Messiah. He and his co-conspirators believed blowing up the dome of the rock would undue the peace with Egypt and make room for the Jewish temple.
HUSSEIN (via translator): Damaging the holy shrine would lead to repercussions, the scale of which I can't even imagine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: The Jewish underground is just part of the story of god's warriors reported by Christian Amanpour. The six-hour television event premieres later this week. "God's Jewish Warriors" airs on Tuesday, August 21st. "God's Muslim Warriors" on Wednesday, August 22nd. And "God's Christian Warriors" on Thursday, August 23rd, all at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
HOLMES: We are tracking a hurricane for you this morning. Folks packing it in, fleeing the Caribbean as this monster approaches. Reynolds Wolf is in our Hurricane Center keeping an eye on things. Reynolds.
WOLF: That is right, you would be referring hurricane Dean with its sights set on Jamaica. Coming up we will let you know where we expect the storm to go and what it could mean to that island nation. All moments away.
KEILAR: A Manhattan high rise inferno. A deadly fire caught by CNN i-reporters. That's ahead here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Welcome back. I'm Brianna Kevlar in for Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: I'm T. J. Holmes. Will Texas be the next target for hurricane Dean?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Check your medical records, plywood if you need it, go get it. Fuel up your cars.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: One mayor's message that might be multiplied. We are tracking the category four storm for you this morning.
KEILAR: Plus the Reverend Billy Graham hospitalized. We will update you on his condition.
HOLMES: We are standing by for an update from the National Hurricane Center on hurricane Dean expected in the next half hour. Dean is a category 4 storm brushing the southern coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti with winds at 145 miles per hour. It could become a category 5 storm with winds above 155 miles per hour. It is expected to make landfall today. CNN's Susan Candiotti filed this report earlier from Monte Bay, Jamaica.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The streets are still busy here on a typical Saturday afternoon in Montego Bay. A lot of people are out and about. They're shopping, they are going to restaurants, but over here they are starting to make storm preparations. People here boards up this restaurant and bar. Got a lot of work ahead of them and this is the calm before the storm. The weather here not bad at all on this sunny day.
But as we walk down here, a lot of the businesses are still open. Careful here as we walk underneath the ladder. They are predicting as little as five inches of rain but possibly up to 20. Let's talk to some of these people here. I spoke with them earlier. You have been living on the island for ten years or many, many years here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah. 15 years.
CANDIOTTI: Last time a major hurricane hit here was Ivan in 2004, a category four storm. Dean is a category four or possibly five what are your thoughts?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we all are worried at the moment, because you never know when the business will get back to normal. Hope everything goes well and the government has taken good precautions and measures to help us later on if anything goes wrong with the country.
CANDIOTTI: Let me ask this gentleman over here, you must be a little bit nervous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Very nervous, actually, you know, because we are hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.
CANDIOTTI (voice over): Susan Candiotti, CNN, Montego Bay, Jamaica.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: We also want to get an update on that situation in Jamaica right now. Reporter Kirk Abrahams joins us by phone from Kingston.
Kirk, thanks so much for being with us.
And first off, can you just tell us what the weather is like there in Kingston?
KIRK ABRAHAMS, REPORTER: Well, in Kingston, it's a little bit of a drizzle right now, but more so we're getting heavy winds at this time. However, the skies are very cloudy, so it's obvious that this thing is definitely on its way, unlike yesterday, when it was very, very hot. It's a totally different situation today.
KEILAR: Now, are there concerns that people aren't taking appropriate shelter, or do you feel like people are packing up, heading to higher ground, boarding things up and doing what they need to be doing to stay safe? ABRAHAMS: Well, the mayor of Kingston, Desmond McKenzie, actually said yesterday that so far, 134 shelters were identified in Kingston in the corporate area. Twenty of those shelters were already occupied up to late last night.
People are taking measures up to this morning. Persons are still battening down, making last-minute preparations just head off this storm, which is -- of this hurricane, which is likely to have a devastating impact on Jamaica in another couple of hours.
KEILAR: So take us back to 2004 with Ivan. What was the damage like from Ivan? And also, in 1988, there was also a major hurricane. What -- when this comes through, and you survey the damage, what are you expecting to see?
ABRAHAMS: Well, certainly, it's going to leave us with millions of dollars worth of damage. In Ivan, the island took a while to get back on its feet, some areas really.
But for Hurricane Gilbert, the entire island was effected, certainly. It took us years to get back on our feet in terms of severe damage to infrastructure, housing.
Several utility companies had a while before they got back on their feet. And speaking of utility companies, the Jamaica Public Service Company, which is the provider of electricity here, has actually indicated that it will turn off the entire grid for the island in another three hours from now.
KEILAR: And what are the -- is that just as a precaution? What do they tell you why they are doing that?
ABRAHAMS: Well, as a precaution. Most of our lines are electricity lines, hang overhead. And unlike some other countries, certainly some of these will come down with the type of winds we are likely to get. So, as a matter of precaution, you might have electricity shock for several persons, so you want to take that kind of precaution early.
KEILAR: So how do people know, especially when we're considering in three hours electricity is going to go off, how do people know there in Jamaica exactly what the situation is? Is there a public warning system?
ABRAHAMS: Well, most persons will actually get communication through radio, and some persons, of course, have their generators for back-up electricity. And persons, as I said, will listen. Most people get their information through the radios and back-up operating systems.
KEILAR: And you mentioned shelters. When you just think of your friends and family, are people using those shelters?
ABRAHAMS: Yes. Some persons who are in effected areas, it might be slow -- they might be slow in getting out of their homes and houses to go to shelters, because certainly it's going to be a difficult situation for most people to leave home or leave their belongings behind. But when you think of safety, some persons go with a heavy heart. And initially, they will eventually go, but the problem is to get them out of these areas, and some people want to leave when the system starts to bear down on us. And that might prove to be a challenge.
KEILAR: And Kirk, where are you going to ride the storm out?
ABRAHAMS: Well, at the broadcast house.
KEILAR: OK.
ABRAHAMS: So I guess we will see what's happening around us, and certainly we'll be reporting to the nation.
KEILAR: All right. Working hard and also keeping us posted on what's going on there.
Kirk Abraham's a reporter in Jamaica who's been keeping us posted the last couple of days.
Thanks so much for talking with us today.
HOLMES: He's keeping us posted. Our reporters around are keeping us posted. Our Susan Candiotti is going to be live for us from Montego Bay, Jamaica, at the top of the hour.
We're going to turn back over to our Reynolds Wolf, who's in the weather center keeping an eye on things for us.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: We'll turn to California now, where firefighters say they've nearly contained a 15-acre blaze on the west shore of Lake Tahoe. Officials say the fire has destroyed five homes and forced residents and tourists to evacuate.
It started at one house in the area yesterday, then quickly spread to the other four. No word on injuries. Also no word yet on what started the fire in the first place.
KEILAR: New York officials say a major fire in an abandoned skyscraper near Ground Zero is now under control. Two firefighters were killed battling this fire in the former Deutsche Bank Tower in Lower Manhattan.
Officials say the seven-alarm fire started about a dozen floors up on the skyscraper. And the building was damaged, you may recall, by falling debris on 9/11. Air quality tests are being done this morning and New York mayor Michael Bloomberg says so far there is no danger.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (R), NEW YORK: Air quality and the environmental impact, as you might imagine, are a top concern to us. And we are monitoring the situation very closely.
We are very much aware about the Lower Manhattan community's concern about possible environmental effects regarding the demolition of this building. And right now our experts at the Health Department and at the Department of Environmental Protection do not see a need for frozen zone, other than in the immediate area for the purpose of conducting fire and emergency operations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Officials say firefighters Robert Beddia and Joseph Graffagnino got trapped while battling the flames and they were overcome by smoke.
And take a look at this video sent to us from I-Reporter Joe Resudek. He was in New York City at the time of the fire. He got some pretty good footage here.
And also, we have another I-Report -- we have more I-Reports from CNN viewers. These photos are from Carmine Montalto, and he got some good shots of this building up close.
In the next hour, CNN's Deb Feyerick will join us live from New York with the latest on this deadly fire.
HOLMES: In Utah, more disappointing news in the painstaking work to locate those six trapped miners. Crews have now drilled a fourth hole. Well, they lowered a microphone and banged on a drill bit down there, and still no response from the miners.
No word, no sound, no nothing. But mine operators and federal officials refuse to give up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD STICKLER, MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMIN.: We have plans to start a fifth bore hole, and we're going to the location that we had originally planned for number four bore hole, which is at crosscut 133 and number one entry. We already have the pad constructed for that location to start drilling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Two rescuers killed in Thursday's so-called mountain bump have now been identified as miners Brandon Kimber and Dale Black. Gary Jensen, a federal mine safety official, was previously identified.
The National Weather Service getting ready to update Hurricane Dean. As soon as they do, we'll take you right to it.
KEILAR: And right after this, from the streets of Iraq, to seeking a safe home in the U.S., this is the plight of Iraqi Christians.
Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Oklahoma's being told this morning, stay home, don't even try to go to church.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey there. Are you all right? How many people are in your car? Just one?
All right. We're going to try to see if we can call somebody to help you out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: These are some new pictures from our affiliate KOCO showing just one of the many motorists that was stranded by this heavy rain. Now, this type of rescuing happened across Oklahoma City -- it's happening across the city right now. The problem, too much rain much too fast. And minutes ago, KOCO told CNN crews did rescue the woman in this car.
At this point, more rain in the forecast for Oklahoma, and parts of the state are under a tornado watch this morning.
HOLMES: Well, Texas getting ready right now just in case Hurricane Dean heads that way.
KEILAR: Yes, the governor has ordered up National Guard troops and emergency responders. President Bush has signed a pre-landfall disaster declaration for Texas.
Wendell Edwards of affiliate KHOU has more on the storm preparations there in Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WENDELL EDWARDS, REPORTER, KHOU (voice over): The gray skies hovering over Galveston Island only hinted at the turbulence heading toward the Gulf. It is hurricane season, but folks here still played on the beach and went about their routines, only giving the threat of Hurricane Dean a slight concern.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just deal with it because I live in this area. It doesn't really -- I don't get real excited about it.
EDWARDS: As others played, the city prepared.
STEVE LEBLANC, CITY MANAGER, GALVESTON, TEXAS: We're not going to ease off on any of our plans.
EDWARDS: As officials monitored the storm, Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas says now is the time for residents on the island to make sure their emergency plans are in order.
MAYOR LYDA ANN THOMAS, GALVESTON, TEXAS: Check your supplies at home, check your medical records. Plywood if you need it, go get it. Fuel up your cars.
EDWARDS: For now, there is no evacuation order, no imminent threat. Just another cloudy weekend in Galveston with a hurricane near the Gulf.
DARYL EWING, GALVESTON RESIDENT: It's part of our island culture. It's part of what we expect. And you take it more many stride. At the same time, you know, stay alert.
EDWARDS: Keeping a cautious eye on the weather just in case.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Along the Gulf this morning -- pardon me, as you can see, all along the Gulf Coast this morning, people are getting prepared. And we're tracking Hurricane Dean as it moves through the Caribbean -- Veronica.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Brianna.
We are also continuing to track Hurricane Dean on the Web. So, what has the impact of this storm been so far? We're going to be taking a look next. We've got your I-Reports on the dotcom desk.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: I-Reports continuing to come in to CNN from people who are experiencing Hurricane Dean up close.
HOLMES: Yes.
Veronica De La Cruz keeping an eye on all those I-Reporters out there. Got some new reports.
We've seen a few so far this morning.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, we do. Yes, we have -- you know that CNN's I- Reporters definitely bring an important element to our hurricane coverage, often getting these pictures and videos before anyone else.
These images right here from Santo Domingo were sent to us by a freelance photographer. Just take a look at this. You're going to see a picture with debris littered all over the road. The photographer says the surf was tossing these large rocks, you guys, right into the area, making it an extremely dangerous situation.
We have also been scouring the Web looking at other online sources. You can check out, including the latest reports coming out of Jamaica.
This is a site called go-jamaica.com. It has a blog with frequent updates as Hurricane draws closer to the island.
One of the links there will also connect you to live Jamaican radio, which is carrying constant news and information about this approaching storm.
We've also found an online article in "The Toronto Star" -- get this -- about Jamaicans who have rushed back to Jamaica. They are going back to Jamaica because of this storm, and it's a phenomenon the paper calls a reverse evacuation. Apparently, many people want to be close to their families and their property when the storm hits.
Pretty fascinating.
KEILAR: This makes sense.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
I'm going to continue to comb the Internet for more useful links related to the hurricane as the morning goes along. But, I mean, isn't that a pretty interesting phenomenon, to actually go back to Jamaica as the storm approaches?
HOLMES: You don't want to get stuck somewhere and can't get to family when something happens.
KEILAR: And it's -- yes. And I think if you're not in it, you kind of wonder -- well, stay away from it. But you put yourself in that place with your family and your friends and your loved ones.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, but you want to be there. Yes.
KEILAR: You know, even your pets, your house, that's -- they're your life's possessions.
HOLMES: All right. Veronica, thank you. We'll see you again soon this morning.
Going to show you some new video here. We showed you some out of Oklahoma City just a minute ago about the heavy rains that they've been getting there and people getting stuck.
Well, look at this. These little guys got stuck as well. Some dogs trying to make it out of the water there.
But hey got a lot of heavy rain, got it real fast. And motorists, a lot of folks getting stuck. And a lot of people able to walk right out of it. Other people having to be rescued out of some of those waters.
The state right now, parts of it, at least, under -- under storm watches. But expecting to get a lot more rain today.
So they've got a mess on their hands. It looks like they're going to be dealing with it for a few more days to come. But these pictures coming to us from our affiliate KOCO there in Oklahoma City.
And we also are getting a weather service update on Hurricane Dean. It's certainly a gathering storm we've been telling you about all morning. We're watching it for you, going to bring you the latest as soon as we get it. KEILAR: And Fred Thompson, word on the street this unannounced candidate is finally about to make it official. CNN's John King with that story in our next half hour.
Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, in our "Faces of Faith" this morning, the plight of Iraqi Christians. With the war and growing Muslim militancy, this tiny minority is under attack and many are leaving Iraq.
Joseph Kassab is the executive director of the Chaldean Federation of America. He joins us now from Detroit on the line.
Sir, thank you for your time this morning.
Tell me, how are Christians and the Chaldean sect treated right now in Iraq compared to how they were treated under Saddam Hussein?
JOSEPH KASSAB, CHALDEAN FEDERATION OF AMERICA: Thank you, T.J.
Good morning, everybody.
First of all, the Chaldeans are the very ancient people of Iraq. And they are considered the indigenous people of Iraq. And their plight and situation at this time in Iraq is very, very vulnerable. And they definitely need the help and the assistance of the international community in order to be assisted.
Chaldeans are also known as Assyrians. And these people are the Christians of Iraq, where they lived and coexisted with brothers of Muslims throughout the centuries in Iraq, but at this time they're under heavy attack and have been forced to leave Iraq.
They have been forced to convert to Islam. They have been kidnapped, killed. There are priests and deacons killed. So they just cannot stay in Iraq anymore at this time.
They have to seek shelter. They have to seek security in northern Iraq and other places. And half of the population, which is -- used to be 1.2 million during the Saddam era now has dwindled to less than half, which is like 0.6 million people.
HOLMES: Will they continue to dwindle? And do you fear that eventually there will be no longer that community, a Christian community in Iraq?
KASSAB: We are afraid so. Unless the rescue is on the way.
HOLMES: Where are the Christians going? You said they're fleeing Iraq. Where are they going?
KASSAB: Well, the Christians are going to northern Iraq, some of them to our ancestral lands. We have many, many ancestral villages throughout the nation, but mainly in northern Iraq. They are going there because the security over there is a lot better than what it is in central and southern Iraq.
And also, the other half have left Iraq already. They are seeking refuge. (INAUDIBLE) in the neighboring countries of Iraq. And we of the Chaldean Federation of America, which is a nonprofit humanitarian organization trying to assist in their plight, and we are asking the U.S. government and the United Nations to assist these people in order to either repatriate them to a place where they can have a security place, or they should be resettled in a country like the United States and others.
Why?
HOLMES: Are you -- are you happy with the assistance, and do you think the U.S. is being welcoming enough to these Christians?
KASSAB: They haven't done much. They have started doing something after we advocated the issue over the last year or so. Actually, more than that. But they have not taken that many -- we were expecting to see that they should be taking more.
The process is very, very slow, very painful for the families of these -- of these refugees who are U.S.-based families here. They are Chaldean Americans, they want others to come and join them for the purpose of family reunion. After all, this is a humanitarian issue.
HOLMES: Did things get worse though -- certainly no one is saying Saddam Hussein was a walk in the park for anybody, but were things, would you say, better for Christians in Iraq during Saddam Hussein's reign than they are now?
KASSAB: Absolutely not. Actually, they have been treated a lot worse than what Saddam had treated them. And that's the reason they are leaving.
They are actually -- they are fleeing their homeland. There are people there, fundamentals, thinking that these people should not be here anymore, this country does not belong to them, although this is our ancestral land.
We lived in this country, in Iraq, which used to be called Mesopotamia, for almost 5,500 years. And we -- the Chaldeans, you know, became Christians in the very early years of Christianity at the hands of (INAUDIBLE).
And they were not -- they were not attacked or persecuted as much as what is taking place at this time in Iraq. So, we are -- we are fearing for their lives. We are fearing for the future of the Iraqi Christians at this time, although we have Christian churches everywhere. But still, still, the situation is not good, and we're asking the U.S. government, we are appealing to the international community to come for the rescue to help these people.
After all, these are the indigenous people of Iraq, and these are the only people who speak the language of Christ, the Aramaic language.
HOLMES: Yes, sir.
KASSAB: And that's why they should be spared.
HOLMES: Well, sir, certainly the work you all are doing here, the -- again, Joseph Kassab, executive director of the Chaldean Federation of America.
Sir, good luck to you and the work you all are doing here in the U.S. And we certainly do appreciate you and your time this morning.
KASSAB: Thank you very much.
KEILAR: Evangelist Billy Graham is resting in a North Carolina hospital this morning. He was hospitalized yesterday for intestinal bleeding. A Graham spokesman says the 88-year-old is alert. Doctors say he's in fair condition and should be able to go home in a couple of days. Graham suffers from a variety of ailments, including Parkinson's.
HOLMES: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, and it is August the 19th. It's 8:00 a.m. Here at CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, 7:00 a.m. in the Caribbean. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Betty Nguyen. Take a listen to this.
[ speaking foreign language ]
KEILAR: Most parents don't need a translator. He is warning young people to get off the beach and beware of the surf as hurricane Dean bears down on Jamaica.
HOLMES: Also, in Oklahoma, cars stranded in fast-rising floodwaters. More than 7 inches of rain causing huge problems right now. We'll have that for you.
Also this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED THOMPSON, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: We're doing in a few months what most campaigns have done over a much longer period of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Actor and former Senator Fred Thompson still not officially in the presidential ring but making sure he's in the right place at the right time.
At first, we are getting new information this hour on hurricane Dean. We have meteorologist Reynolds Wolf. He's going to have the latest update from the CNN Hurricane Center in just a few minutes, but right now, Dean is churning toward Jamaica, where it's expected to make landfall just about ten hours from now. This is a dangerous category four hurricane with winds of 100 miles an hour. And Jamaica could get up to 20 inches of rain in some parts. This storm brushing the coast of the Dominican Republic and Haiti right now. Let's go now to Susan Candiotti, one of our many reporters covering this story. She is in Montego Bay, Jamaica.
Susan.
CANDIOTTI: Hi Brianna. Should we say that this is d-day for Dean? People here on the island have been preparing for days, say authorities, and when you talk to people here on the island, they say that they are anxious, they are worried about what lies ahead because a category four storm has not hit Jamaica since 2004. That was hurricane Ivan and serious damage at that time. But over the past several days, people here have been starting, anyway, to board up, going to the grocery stores, buying food, buying water. And at this hour, if you were trying to get off the island, it is too late now. The last flights went out on Saturday night. All of the airports are now closed and the airlines have moved their planes off the island so that they wouldn't get damaged in the storm.
Now, in about three hours from now, Brianna, they are going to be cutting off all the electricity throughout Jamaica. That is so they can preserve the system, the grids, to try to limit the amount of damage that they expect they will get once they get pounded by hurricane Dean. So once again, the preparations are in place, people say they are ready, but naturally, they are very worried about what lies ahead. Brianna.
KEILAR: So they are worried is what you're saying? And we've seen some of your video where people are boarding up shops. Others were open when you filed that report earlier. But we've kind of heard differing reports in the days leading up to these preps, that some people are kind of lackadaisical about it, but you're not having that sense from people, Susan?
CANDIOTTI: That pretty much happens wherever you go, no matter what country you go to, yes, there is an element that says, you know, we can handle this, we're not worried, and we've been through this before. So certainly, that is the case. But when you prod and you ask more questions, most everyone admits that there is a level of concern here, because ultimately, you don't know what the island is going to look like once the storm passes here. But many people here have gone through storms, they have lived here all of their lives. Tourists in particular are quite worried. People always, there is some element that they have a sense of excitement about a storm, never having experienced one before.
Those are usually people who are tourists here on the island. But the government says they have urged people throughout the past several days to stay focused, to be prepared, and in hopes that people will be. They have pre-positioned supplies and some have the equipment on certain parts of the island where they expect more serious damage than others, but at this point, authorities say we pretty much have done about everything we can. There are still some homes, some businesses that have not yet boarded up. Some people, indeed, waiting until the very last minute to make storm preparations, and others, quite frankly, can't afford it. Back to you.
KEILAR: That's right. Seems like some people are really just designed to the fact that this is going to be a long road to recovery there in Jamaica. Susan Candiotti, live for us there from Montego Bay, thanks, Susan.
HOLMES: We turn to our Reynolds Wolf now. Reynolds, we always see these different computer models trying to guess which way the storm's going to go, a lot of different options, but it looks like all of them have Jamaica getting hit.
WOLF: I would say so. I would say within the next couple of hours, we're going to see conditions worsen on Jamaica. You know, we've seen the shot of Susan Candiotti with a little sunshine in the background, a little haze in the sky. That's going to change. Things are going to become dark very quickly, and the reason why is because this big storm, Dean, is going to continue to march westward. More cloud cover, the breeze is going to pick up, the breeze will; the rain will start to develop in many spots.
Places like Blue Mountain, which is on this side, the eastern side of the island with an elevation around 7,400 feet, you'll see a lot of rain there. They could see up to 20 inches of rain other spots on the island, possibly from 5 to 10. What that means is flooding and quite a bit of that. That doesn't even include the flood surge that could affect the eastern shores of the island, and that's the number one killer in these systems.
So where is the storm expected to go? Well, we know it's got its sights in on Jamaica, but the latest path from the National Hurricane Center brings this storm due west. Right now winds are at, let's see, moving west-northwest at 18 miles an hour, getting not too far from 20, moving at a decent clip, winds at 145, but the gusts have been up to 180. So we're talking extreme power here. Storm by the time we get to 2:00 a.m. Monday should be just to the west of the island, but still a category four.
Then the storm is going to enter an area with very warm water, a minimum sheer environment, which is going to allow the storm to grow even more in power, going up to a category five by the time we get just south of Cancun at 2:00 a.m. on Tuesday. There is the possibility this storm could veer a little bit more to the north, moving right into the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps more to the south into Belize. It bears watching, but this forecast at least has it crossing the Yucatan Peninsula, south of the Gulf of Mexico at a category two by Wednesday morning. That's the latest we've got for you. Let's send it back to the news desk.
KEILAR: All right. Very, very scary numbers there behind you, Reynolds, but we'll keep checking in with you for the latest on this.
WOLF: I'll be here.
HOLMES: Thanks, Reynolds. We'll check in as well on Haiti. Not getting the direct hit Jamaica is expecting, but still, it's going to be brushing at least the southern coast of Haiti. Our Karl Penhaul is there for us. Hello to you, Karl.
PENHAUL: T.J., a hurricane warning is still in effect for the southern parts of Haiti, including the capital Port au Prince, but this is the scene here now, the winds really haven't picked up anything more beyond a stiff breeze. From time to time, yes, the wind will gust, but we haven't seen any torrential downpours, either. Forecasters had predicted very heavy rains to come along with those winds here to Haiti, but here in Port au Prince, we haven't seen that.
Now, I have been talking to some of the coordinators of the disaster prevention teams on the southern coast of Haiti, and they say yes, they have seen battering waves. In some cases, those waves have come onshore into some of the small communities there. They do report that some houses have been destroyed. In one case, even, a power line, a power pylon, in fact, fell onto a house and destroyed the house. But they say that the good news is that they have no reports of any deaths so far, and many are expressing surprise that they didn't feel the hurricane-force winds much stronger than, in fact, they do report having felt, T.J.
HOLMES: Karl Penhaul with us for the report from Port au Prince. Thank you so much.
KEILAR: And the Red Cross is poised and ready to help in Jamaica after hurricane Dean hits. Joining us now by phone from Kingston is Dorothy Francis. She is a disaster officer with the Red Cross. And Dorothy, I just want to ask you, what role is the Red Cross going to play once hurricane Dean has swept through?
DOROTHY FRANCIS, RED CROSS: Good morning, Brianna. The Red Cross here in Jamaica, Jamaica Red Cross, is already poised to supply people into most areas. We have branches across the island and volunteers in all of those branches, so we're already equipped and ready to go to do the first assessments. We'll also probably having quite a large role in the shelters, assisting to manager the shelters. The International Federation of the Red Cross does have relief supplies positioned in Panama, which is our response unit. They will be getting those in as soon as the airports are once again viable.
KEILAR: Now, these shelters put up by the International Federation of the Red Cross, how many people -- are people already hunkering down, or do you expect that to come later?
FRANCIS: Quick correction, the shelters are actually provided by the government and the Jamaica Red Cross assists to manage those shelters. The statement on the shelters at the moment is that all of them have been activated. At the moment, my understanding is that 21 of those shelters are now beginning to see people coming in. We have more than 300 people in shelters.
KEILAR: And do you -- do some people come in; maybe they weren't expecting to take shelter? I mean, has this been past experience with other hurricanes?
FRANCIS: Yes. Even though the government has been quite proceed active and has been really asking people in flood-prone areas to get into shelters before we really start to see the impact, people are still a little hesitant to do so. We'll probably see people beginning now, you know, very early in the morning, where the rain has actually started here in Kingston and it has been raining for the last four hours. You should see people beginning now to try to get into shelters.
KEILAR: And Dorothy, no doubt, Jamaica is a poor nation. There are a lot of people there who don't have the money for preparations. We've been hearing this from our reporters. What particular risks are they facing?
FRANCIS: The first problem that most people are going to encounter, particularly in the rural areas, and perhaps even the metropolitan areas, is that we're going to not have access to water. One of the main problems will be people having access to drinking water, and it's one of the things that the Jamaica Red Cross has started doing is positioning and pre-positioning bottled water across the island that we can start getting to people in the shelters and to those homes that we'll be able to reach as soon as access has been provided.
KEILAR: All right, Dorothy Francis, a disaster officer with the International Federation of the Red Cross, thanks for talking with us this morning and good luck on all your efforts. You're doing good work there. Thank you.
FRANCIS: Thank you, Brianna.
HOLMES: We're going to be talking about New York's high-rise inferno. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is on the scene for us. Good morning to you, Deborah.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, a deadly inferno claims the lives of two New York City firefighters who were battling that blaze in a building being demolished at ground zero.
HOLMES: Also, Fred Thompson, word on the street, he's about to make his run for president officially official.
KEILAR: Officially official.
HOLMES: Yes.
KEILAR: Also, Sanjay Gupta is here with a preview of todays "House Call." here's a little listen to that.
SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right, thanks, guys. Well, I know you heard the story this week, lead in your kids' toys are toymakers putting your child in danger? Find out what you can do to keep your children safe.
Plus, absent from school and at risk for drugs. Find out who is most in danger and why. It may surprise you. All that and more of this week's medical headlines coming up on "House Call" at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A deadly fire in a New York skyscraper is now under control.
KEILAR: That's right. Two firefighters, though, were killed while battling this seven-alarm fire, and officials say it broke out about a dozen floors up in the former Deutsche Bank Tower near ground zero. Let's get now to Deborah Feyerick. She is live in Manhattan.
FEYERICK: Well Brianna, the two firefighters who died, both of them were 9/11 veterans, they survived the deaths of 343 of their colleagues on 9/11, and 11 of those firefighters who had died came from their very own company. The shades here are drawn, the flag at half staff. The two men who died, 53-year-old Robert Padilla and Joseph Garfino. He was to turn 34 tomorrow.
We are told that the two men got lost in a maze up inside the building which is being demolished floor by floor, and there is just a maze of curtains and wood as asbestos abatement goes on in that abandoned building. Apparently, the two men got lost in there. They were lifting the hoses using ropes from the street. We are told that they were overcome by carbon dioxide and they were found in cardiac arrest. The mayor spoke with about the sacrifice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NEW YORK: Really are another cruel blow to our city and to our fire department and specifically for the house that engine 24 ladder 5 and battalion 2 are in. They live just across the street from the Deutsche Bank building, and on September 11th, 11 people from this house were killed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FEYERICK: And the Deutsche Bank, just to explain, is right across the street from ground zero. As a matter of fact, the pit is right there. The building has been a big source of controversy for the last six years. It was heavily damaged when the World Trade Center towers collapsed. They wanted to tear it down, but then they couldn't figure out who was going to pay for it, whether it was going to be the insurers, the developers. So that was a big fight. Then they started to bring it down. However, it was filled with toxins, so they had to begin an elaborate asbestos abatement process, while people living in and around the area had to put up with what they called was polluted air.
They begin to demolish the building, and then all of a sudden, they find human remains, some 700 bones and fragments of victims from 9/11. So the work had to stop. Many of the firefighters feel that this building is cursed; it's plagued, that it should have come down six years ago when the World Trade Center collapsed and damaged this building so heavily. The thought that two New York City firefighters should have perished in a building that was really abandoned and in the process of being destroyed is just too painful. Brianna.
KEILAR: It will be interesting to see what happens with that building now then, Deb. Thanks so much for your report.
HOLMES: To politics now. Could Fred Thompson make it official? That's the word, and our John Keen has the word on the Republican's future plans.
KEILAR: Also, toxic toys. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta looks at lead in toys. He's going to tell you what you need to know to keep your kids safe. That's ahead on "House Call" at 8:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Chocolate cake, 620 calories, pecan pie 530 calories, hot fudge sundae nearly 600 calories. Desserts, we love them, but they don't love us. Two thirds of Americans are battling the bulge, but dietitians will tell you denial is not the answer, portion control is. More and more restaurants are now answering the craving by offering miniature desserts. Bite-sized sweets are the hottest food trend of the year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The larger desserts carry sometimes 500 to 600 calories. A small dessert might only have about 200.
COSTELLO: Chef Clifford Ploe uses traditional ingredients in his mini desserts, not low-fat substitutes. He says compromising taste is not an option, so he thinks small, just what dietitians want to hear.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We always encourage portion control, and to see the restaurants kind of on our side, that's a great thing.
COSTELLO: So if you want just a taste of heaven after your meal, go with a little, not a lot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm thinking about having two, no.
COSTELLO: It's tempting, but on second thought, maybe not. Carol Costello, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: CNN is covering every aspect of hurricane Dean, including the World Wide Web.
KEILAR: And Veronica De la Cruz of the ".com desk" is telling us what's up.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN DOT COM DESK: We'll start with CNN.com and more of the I-reports coming in, photos and video. They've all been coming in from all locations that the storm has been so far. Let's look at several photos that have been sent to us from the island of St. Lucia. The photographer is an executive chef at the Sandals Resort there, and you want to keep in mind as you look at these pictures that the hurricane was not as strong as it is right now. Yet check this out. I mean, it still left quite a mess. Guests were confined to their rooms during the hurricane, so the only way to eat was room service, and the chef says that everything is now back to normal. Regardless of all the damage. \
We've also got lots of information on hurricanes at CNN.com that I wanted to show you. Head to CNN.com/hurricanes, and that's going to open up our special report. There you'll find an explainer about this Saffir-Simpson scale, which is how hurricanes are measured. I know we've been talking about, you know, the differences between category one, two, three, four and five. And by looking through this, you can understand why there is a significant difference from one category to the next, like what is a category four, what makes it different from a category five?
Now, if you're in the path of a hurricane, do you know what to do? We've got a special section that will tell you just that. It's full of tips about having extra cash on hand, having an escape plan, also having emergency supplies. It's a great list. There are ten things you really want to remember here, and you can find it all online at CNN.com/hurricanes. So once again, it's a terrific resource all there for you as you prepare for this storm.
KEILAR: All right.
HOLMES: Everything there.
DE LA CRUZ: CNN.com has got everything, everything.
KEILAR: Tools for living and understanding.
DE LA CRUZ: Except for a big birthday message, which I'll work on that.
HOLMES: Thank you.
KEILAR: Who would we be talking about? Let me take a brief moment to say happy birthday.
DE LA CRUZ: Happy birthday to T.J. I'm going to work to get that up on the Web for you.
HOLMES: Thank you so much. See you next time. See you next hit. We're still talking about hurricane Dean.
KEILAR: He is blushing.
DE LA CRUZ: He is blushing, yes, he is.
HOLMES: As the hurricane hits -- just trying to work here, guys -- keep looking for ways to help the people affected. CNN.com has got everything there for you to help them and something else they've got there, CNN.com/impact. Click on natural disasters for a link to various relief agencies. Impacting your world now, a click away, again, at CNN.com/impact.
And yes, we are tracking hurricane Dean here this morning. We've got CNN news crews all over the region where places are getting hit right now from Haiti to Jamaica, expected to take a direct hit. We also have folks in Mexico where the storm's expected to land in the next few days as well, and our Reynolds Wolf, of course in the Weather Center keeping an eye on things as well. Stay right here this is your hurricane headquarters.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, Fred Thompson, come on down! He appears to be the next contestant getting into the Republican race for the White House. Thompson leaving little doubt about that. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED THOMPSON, (R) FORMER U.S. SENATOR: We're doing in a few months what most campaigns have done over a much longer period of time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, Thompson, as you heard there, he showed up at the Iowa State Fair, shook some hands, and greeted some of the folks at the fair. He ranks second in most GOP National Polls, even though he's not yet an official candidate, and he ranks second behind Rudy Giuliani. Coming up at 9:00, we'll be talking to CNN political editor Mark Preston about the race for the White House, who's in, who's out, and the latest from the campaign trail. That's at the top of the hour on CNN.
KEILAR: And in parts of Oklahoma this morning, people are being told to stay home. In El Reno and Oklahoma City, heavy rain creating flash floods, so much rain, it's falling so fast, that actually, rescue crews are out trying to help stranded motorists, because more than 7 inches of rain has hit some areas. The problem is that more rain is expected throughout the morning.
Forecasters say a flash flood watch is in effect for the southwestern part of the state. And let's check in now with Reynolds Wolf. He is tracking hurricane Dean with some scary numbers that he's been showing us about the different categories that Dean is expected to evolve into. Reynolds.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Also, rhythm and blues. A father's story of music and surviving a son's death. That's ahead in the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING. But right now, "HOUSE CALL." We're going to get you to that. It starts right now.
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