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CNN Saturday Morning News

Ongoing Recovery Operations in Minneapolis; X-Games Extreme; Houses Up for Auction in Las Vegas; Fatal Dog Attack; O.J. Simpson on the Open Mic

Aired August 04, 2007 - 09:00   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, good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes, and this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: Very good morning to you. I'm Veronica De La Cruz in for Betty Nguyen. It is 9:00 on the dot Eastern. 6:00, it is in Las Vegas. Want to go to Vegas?

HOLMES: Yes, I do.

DE LA CRUZ: Probably not for this, but maybe. A huge auction there is getting ready to begin.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do have a lot of vacant homes on the market. On the MLS today, the numbers are astronomical.

DE LA CRUZ: Not good news for so many homeowners. Dozens of home, T.J., mostly new ones, on the auction block starting today.

HOLMES: And have you seen this yet? The x-games. Check the guy out. He takes ...

DE LA CRUZ: Oh. Oh, my gosh.

HOLMES: Yes, folks, the x-games extreme, like they're supposed to be. Check this guy out. He loses his board. He loses his way.

DE LA CRUZ: I can't look.

HOLMES: He lays there for about five minutes. We will get into this and what happened to this young man. Tough competition, very hard landing. That's coming up on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

DE LA CRUZ: We begin this morning in Minneapolis, 8:00 a.m. Central Time. President Bush on his way right now. He's going there to tour the damage. What will he find? On going recovery operations.

CNN's Susan Roesgen is live for us this morning in Minneapolis. Susan, good morning to you. Are the divers back in the river?

SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we're not sure yet, Veronica, whether they will be back in the river this morning. We understand, if there's lightning in the area -- and you can tell it's a cloudy day. There has been some rain. If there's lightning in the area, the divers will not be in the water. If it does rain, even if it rains hard, we've been told the divers will be in the water still doing that very treacherous underwater slow search to try to find any possible victims in the cars that are still under about seven or eight feet of water. Very dark water, very difficult task.

You mentioned President Bush coming, Veronica. President Bush will be here for about three hours. He's going to be touring the area from the air. He's going to get a look at the big picture. Then he's going to be on the ground. He'll be talking to probably some of the drivers to rescue workers to recovery workers, to members of the national transportation safety board, who are here trying to figure out what happened. Then, he's going to speak with Red Cross workers.

The Red Cross said yesterday that 1,200 people here, 1,200 have come for grief counseling. Minnesotans are pretty hardy stock, but this is a tragedy that's affected a lot of people. A lot of people seeking out grief counseling to deal with it.

I've got a copy of this morning's paper, this morning's "Star Tribune." I want to show you what they're talking about locally. The big story here is all the other bridges that need to be checked. Many of them right here in Minnesota that are of similar construction that might also have corrosion issues, fatigue issues that might lead to collapse. A lot of people concerned about workers going out and checking other bridges.

They're also talking about a gas tax to pay for this. There's been some concern that the state was cheap, that lawmakers, had they passed a gas tax earlier, would have had the money they needed to make repairs to this particular bridge. Now they're talking about a special session of the state legislature to do just that, pass a gas tax.

And here's a story I thought was really fascinating. This was one of the women who was actually in a car on the bridge. Her car did not stop. She went right into that great unknown. She felt the air under her, and she felt her car fall 64 feet. That's the equivalent of about six stories right into the water. As you can see, she's alive. She's well. She's sitting up in her hospital bed. Her injury was just a broken tail bone. She told reporters that she was strapped in with her seat belt. She believes that that saved her. And that as soon as the car hit the water, she thought, this is it. I'm going to die. And she felt the water come rising up around her. She said, miraculously, she didn't have to try to break the window. It was already open. She swam out, made it to the surface, and got to land.

We are cheered by stories like this one. We don't know yet how many more victims there might be still under the water. The latest count of the dead, however, Veronica, is just five with about eight people unaccounted for -- Veronica.

DE LA CRUZ: And the investigation continues. All right. Susan Roesgen, live for us this morning in Minneapolis. Susan, we appreciate it. Thank you.

HOLMES: As we reported, police have confirmed the deaths of five people so far. They warn that number certainly could rise as those recovery efforts continue. Our Gary Tuchman set down with the mother of one of the missing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Eighty miles north of Minneapolis in the tiny town of Hinckley, Minnesota, Dorothy Svendsen got a phone call that the I-35W bridge collapsed. She knew that was the bridge where her son was doing repair work.

DOROTHY SVENDSEN, SON MISSING IN COLLAPSE: I just thought, well, he must be -- he must be down there helping people get out of the situation. I never thought he would have gone over already or anything.

TUCHMAN: So Dorothy called her son, Greg Joelstadt's (ph) cell phone.

What happened when you called the cell phone?

SVENDSEN: He just said, this is Greg. I'll call you as soon as he can.

TUCHMAN: His voicemail. She called it in the hours and hours. Then she heard from one of Greg's co-workers that he was in a vehicle called a skid loader and had been seen plunging into the river. Dorothy will not allow herself to have false hopes.

SVENDSEN: He's at the bottom of the river.

TUCHMAN: Greg's wife and three stepchildren have joined the other families of the missing in seclusion at a downtown Minneapolis hotel. But Greg's mother and her companion, Floyd Holmes, are staying put in the comfort of their small town, trying to come to terms with the horror.

SVENDSEN: It was terrible, I'm sure. It had to happen so fast. That's the only good thing is that he didn't suffer a long time. He just went fast.

TUCHMAN: The loss is devastating, and it's compounded by how long it's taking to find her son. But Dorothy says she doesn't want to complain. How hard is it, though, waiting all this time?

SVENDSEN: Yeah, it's terrible. It's terrible. But I think it's our Minnesota demeanor. We like to think we're nice, and so we just be nice and just wait. That's what it is.

TUCHMAN: She's been told the recovery of her son's body could be today. It could be next week. For now, she just waits for a phone call.

VENDSEN: I don't wish it on anybody. I think it was probably God's will. You know, it's one of those things you just can't plan on. Accidents happen. And he happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. That's all. TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Minneapolis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: A look here now at the victims recovered from that scene. Police identified the latest victim as Paul Ikestadt. He was driving the truck that burst into flames that you see there shortly after the collapse. It was right next to that school bus. Also identified, 32-year-old Native American Julia Blackhawk of Savage, Minnesota. She leaves behind two sons. 29-year-old Artemio Trinidad- Mena of Minneapolis has four children, including a 2-month-old daughter. 36-year-old Patrick Holmes of Mounds View, Minnesota, he leaves behind two children. And 60-year-old Sherry Lou Engebretsen, who leaves behind a husband and two daughters.

DE LA CRUZ: The tragedy in Minneapolis has reached people across the country and moved many people to reach out in need. It is impact your world. You can find out more about the disaster as well as what you can do to help. It is all online at CNN.com/impact.

HOLMES: New concerns this morning over British beef. Foot and mouth disease has been found in cattle on a farm in surrey. The farm is being isolated after lab results yesterday indicate cows there have that virus. Hoof and mouth disease poses little threat to humans. Britain's new prime minister says the country will act quickly to contain the disease. An outbreak in 2001 spread to nearly 2,000 animals.

DE LA CRUZ: Police investigating what appears to be a fatal dog attack at the L.A. Home of actor Ving Rhams (ph). Authorities say a care taker was found dead on the front lawn covered in dog bites.

Entertainment correspondent Sibila Vargas with details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): It was a gruesome discovery.

LT. RAY LOMBARDO, LOS ANGELES POLICE: LAPD received a 911 call from the residents that there was a dead body out on the front lawn.

VARGAS: The victim, 40-years-old, badly bitten.

LOMBARDO: Our preliminary investigation indicates that the victim suffered multiple dog bites during a dog attack. The victim is 40-year-old male black. He lives on the property.

VARGAS: In fact, police say the man had worked at the Rhames' home for two years as a care taker and dog keeper. The actor was not home when the attack happened.

LOMBARDO: It appears to be just a tragic, tragic accident. Somebody who cared for these dogs on a daily basis.

VARGAS: The Rhames family told police their dogs, three bull mastiffs, weighed 100 pounds each. And the dogs had never attacked anybody. They were friendly. The sign on the gate suggests otherwise. An autopsy is expected this weekend. The dogs were taken away, quarantines during the police investigation.

LOMBARDO: They're being held as evidence. We want to examine them and see if there's any evidence on them that might put more of the story or the incident together.

VARGAS: Ving Rhames, seen here with one of his dogs in 1999, is a fan of the mastiff breed. He's currently out of the country shooting a film in Bulgaria. Police say he knows about the attack but he hasn't made any public comments.

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN, LOS ANGELES.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: And an evacuation order in southern California to tell you about. Take a look at this mass of smoke bill owing over Santa Barbara County. The fire has been burning for a month. It's consumed more than 44,000 acres. Right now it is gaining strength again. About 300 people under evacuation orders. This fire began on July 4th. Crews had it contained last week, but weather conditions, once again, fuelling those flames.

DE LA CRUZ: Let's go ahead and get a check of the weather now. See what it's looking like in southern California today. Reynolds Wolf in the CNN Weather Center.

Hey, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi there.

There is going to be a rough time in southern California in terms of the firefighters and the efforts they're going to have today. They're not going to get much in terms of rain whatsoever, and they really could use scattered showers, and that's not going to be in the cards for them at all. Something else not in the cards is the break in the heat in St. Louis. Temperatures warming up to 93 degrees.

Check out what we're going to get on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, it's hard to believe high temperatures going up to mid and upper 90s. That's not even with the humidity. When you bring in the humidity, it's going to feel like it's anywhere from 100 to 115 degrees. If you happen to be in the Midwest, be ready for the heat.

Not much in terms of any break today in parts of the Midwest in terms of the heat. There will be scattered showers farther to the north across parts of the central and northern plains. Minneapolis today, you're going to see rainfall there. They've already had scattered showers farther to the south of the twin cities in Man Cato (ph). These showers will be tracking their way to the east and northeast about 15 miles per hour.

Not expecting much in terms of severe weather with these storms, and they're going to continue with the recovery efforts even if you have scattered showers. Problem is, with the rain coming through, you're going to have more silt in the river, more runoff, and that's going to cloud things up even more. A little bit more difficulty, to say the least.

We could see scattered showers in parts of the northeast, New York and Boston. Take the umbrella with you. By midday, you might need it. Look for scattered showers across Phoenix and Flagstaff, maybe across New Mexico, might have some thunder boomers there into the late day. No break at all in parts of central and southern California.

Back to you.

DE LA CRUZ: Reynolds, the wet weather is a Godsend for folks in the desert southwest. I was just in Vegas last weekend, 106, 110. It was miserable.

WOLF: People always say out there, don't worry. It's a dry heat. Forget that. I mean, hot is hot.

DE LA CRUZ: 115, 120, dry heat.

WOLF: Brutal stuff.

HOLMES: Reynolds, thank you. Welcome back. You survived Vegas.

DE LA CRUZ: Thank you. All in one piece.

HOLMES: We've got some chaos to tell you about on Capitol Hill. A shouting match erupts in the House. What in the world happens? We will tell you about this.

And we will say hello to Josh Levs. Good morning, sir.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I get to be at the dot com desk this morning. Check this out. Authorities in Minneapolis looking for pictures of the bridge before it collapsed. Some CNN I-reporters are now the ones sending those in. They may help in the investigation. I've got that and stunning images coming up -- Veronica?

DE LA CRUZ: Don't get too comfortable. That's my chair.

Also this. O.J. Simpson said he wanted to hear from the people. Well, he sure did. "On the Line" with O.J. That's coming up when CNN SATURDAY MORNING continues.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DE LA CRUZ: The breaking news out of Minneapolis traveled all over the world because of the efforts of hundreds of ordinary people at the scene.

HOLMES: Your iReports are critical in showing what happened. Josh Levs looking through the I-reports. It's pretty cool. Folks out there reporting. It's actually helping out.

DE LA CRUZ: Gotten so many of them too. LEVS: It puts us right on the scene. Also coincided with the one-year anniversary of the existence of I-report, which over its time has brought in tens of thousands. This week from this incident alone, more than 550 photos and video clips of this tragedy, including this incredible video of the immediate aftermath. James Summehill caught the sheer terror of this moment as motorists, a lot of them visibly shaken, carefully made their way off the collapsed roadway.

This video, the next one, shot by Steve Dworak shot moments after the collapse. He was at water level. He recorded emergency crews arriving on the scene during the first few frantic minutes. Some of these images may be crucial, ultimately, in finding what went wrong.

This photo was taken by Chuck Green back in March. He heard, as we've been reporting, federal investigators have been looking of photos of the bridge before the collapse. It might show something wrong. This underside of the 35w in the hopes it may ultimately contain some clues.

A lot of you may be worried about the safety of highway bridges where you live. Later this morning, we're going to show you how you can find out about the bridges in your area.

Veronica, you know, it's a great interactive thing. We'll show you how that works.

DE LA CRUZ: There's a map. You should really pay attention to the local paper. T.J. Has the Atlanta journal constitution. I think there are 18 bridges listed there.

HOLMES: Everybody is doing this around their community, showing the 18 worst bridges in metro Atlanta's area. 10 of them on a scale -- they score less than 10 on a scale of 0 to 100. One of them scored in the 3s even. A lot of people going to be interested certainly.

DE LA CRUZ: I have the "San Jose Mercury News" here, which says the bay area bridge has been deemed safe. "The New York Times" has been looking at the Brooklyn Bridge. Josh, that's something you'll tell us more about next hour.

LEVS: Calling for immediate investigations of 750 around the country. We're taking a look at that.

DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, Josh.

HOLMES: Of course, that is the big question. Are some of America's other bridges in danger of failing as well? Tonight 8:00 eastern, Soledad O'Brien looking at that along with the "CNN Special Investigations Unit, "Road to Ruin, Are We Safe." That is tonight and tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern.

DE LA CRUZ: Coming up, T.J. is going to go to Vegas but for this. For this auction. Foreclosured homes on the auction block. Bidding starts at $1. Could the market meltdown have a silver lining for some?

HOLMES: Getting me excited. I'm going to Vegas.

DE LA CRUZ: $1, OK.

HOLMES: Live and on the Internet, O.J. Simpson. Opening him up to the public, and, yes, taking some tough questions.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Chaos in the house. In the neighborhood, on the block, the House of Representatives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The chair called the vote. On 214.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Oh, no. Boos erupting in the House chamber. That was just one of the verbal battles this past week. Thursday night, Republicans lost after a disputed vote on a GOP motion, another shouting match erupted last night after a day of frayed nerves.

We turn to now those foreclosure fears you were just mentioning.

DE LA CRUZ: Going to Vegas.

HOLMES: Going to Vegas. The signs can be seen in neighborhoods across the country really.

DE LA CRUZ: It could be seen as a sign of the times. Edward Lawrence of affiliate for KLAS reports it might be an opportunity.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EDWARD LAWRENCE, KLAS REPORTER: Drive through anywhere in the Las Vegas Valley. You are bound to see this housing market in a free for all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A new home somebody bought and whether they couldn't afford it or they decided not to move or whatever the case may be. But obviously unlived in as you can tell, everything is brand new.

LAWRENCE: Eighty homes like this one in the north part of Las Vegas near 215 Jones will be auctioned off because the bank foreclosed. Last year there were just 12 homes on the market.

JOE IULIUCCI, REALTOR: In the MLS today, the numbers are astronomical. We're competing with them.

LAWRENCE: Joe works with banks to sell foreclosed properties. He says the competition to sell is the silver lining for the right person. This home was built last year and sold for $631,000. Bidding starts at $1. The bank just wants to make enough to cover the loan.

IULIUCCI: In some cases they don't. Unfortunately, they have to settle for less than they are into it for. That's a common thing.

LAWRENCE: Iliucci says likely this home will sell well below market value, but you take it as it is. Traditionally, previous owners destroyed the inside of foreclosed homes.

ILUCCI: Actually in Vegas what we're seeing now is foreclosed home are newer homes.

LAWRENCE: Which may point to investors cutting their losses? Ilucci says that leaves a gem for first-time homeowners or people trying to upgrade homes. Anyone buying now must be prepared to stay in a house for at least five years to see a return on their investment.

Edward Lawrence, Channel 8, Eyewitness News.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DE LA CRUZ: One dollar, did you hear that?

HOLMES: I did hear that. I was taking notes.

DE LA CRUZ: The mortgage meltdown is just one of several topics on today's "HOUSE CALL" with Gerri Willis. You should also look at women in investing and planning for a babe. That's "HOUSE CALL" at the bottom of the hour.

HOLMES: This video is unbelievable. It's going well. It's going real well for this guy, and then this happens.

DE LA CRUZ: Oh, boy.

HOLMES: Yes, folks. A skateboarder takes a hard, hard fall at the x-games. We'll tell you what happened.

DE LA CRUZ: Confronted with crank calls, O.J. Simpson on the open mike.

The story as only our Jeanne Moos can tell it. That is coming up on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Look at that shot there. All right, folks. This is a video you have got to see. We're going to play it over and over and over.

DE LA CRUZ: I'm shutting my eyes. I'm sorry.

HOLMES: Brace yourselves as you watch this.

DE LA CRUZ: Oh, he's got it. Oh, oh, oh.

HOLMES: And bam. That is what happened at the x-games. Jake Brown is his name. He lays there for about five minutes. Did not move. But this is one of these extreme skateboarders. He was doing well on that first jump. Lost it on that second. You see there, after five minutes of not moving, he did get up, gave a wave to the crowd.

Now, the thing that is crazy here, he actually came in second in the big air competition. So I just want to see the video of the guy who came in third. What kind of crash did he have? This guy still came in second. He apparently ...

DE LA CRUZ: I can't watch it one more time.

HOLMES: He's OK. All right.

DE LA CRUZ: So, I peeked. I'm guilty.

HOLMES: We're going to move on ...

DE LA CRUZ: OK.

HOLMES: ...to O.J. Simpson now, taking your questions.

DE LA CRUZ: Right. As you can guess, some of them were kind of tough.

CNN's Jeanne Moos explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Want to call in a question to O.J.? OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hello, Jim.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We lost Jim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We lost Jim. Hey, Dennis.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Dennis is gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We might have a caller if we could just go to it.

MOOS: Complete with technical snafus, it was live and on the Internet.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: O.J. takes the stand.

MOOS: The head of marketnewsfirst.com says O.J. came to them looking for an unedited, unfiltered forum. It was unfiltered all right. Wait till you hear the first crank call.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think it was a bigger feat to break 200 yards in one season or slice two necks in one night?

O.J. SIMPSON: I'm having a little trouble, Kevin, hearing you.

MOOS: The head of MarketNewsFirst is not amused.

VOICE OF ANDREW COFFEY, MARKETNEWSFIRST: First up, that's not a crank question. That's a stupid joke that the caller called in.

MOOS: True, there was plenty of serious conversation about O.J.'s hunt for the real killer.

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