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CNN Live Sunday
Update on Murdered Oklahoma Girl; More Vigorous Responses to Calls for Rumsfeld to Resign; New Book Captures Essence of Worship in African American Churches
Aired April 16, 2006 - 16:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look at that debris! (BLEEP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're in the middle of that tornado. It's on us. We're right over it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It's a place few have gone and few would want to go -- inside a tornado. We will take you there for an up close look.
Also ahead this hour, newly discovered photographs of the quake of 1906, unforgettable images. But the story of how they were found equally remarkable.
And then on this Easter Sunday, the essence of worship captured in black and white.
Hello and welcome to CNN LIVE SUNDAY. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All that and more after this check of the headlines.
Four U.S. Marines have died in Iraq. The military says all four were killed in combat yesterday in Anbar Province in western Iraq.
A melee today in Istanbul after a bomb blast at an outdoor shopping mall. An angry crowd attacked a man police were detaining. The crowd thought he was a bomber. The police say he was only a witness. The explosion left at least 30 people wounded.
An offer from the Reverend Jesse Jackson to pay the college tuition of the student accusing some Duke lacrosse players of raping her. A spokesman says Jackson wants to help the woman avoid similar situations in the future.
An Easter mass at the Vatican led for the first time today by Pope Benedict XVI. In his papal Easter message, the pope urged diplomacy to defuse nuclear tensions and he pleaded for peace in Iraq.
First this hour, the horrifying death of a girl in Oklahoma. The suspect police are holding faces a court appearance tomorrow and the town where it happened is still in a state of shock over the gruesome details police are alleging. With the latest now CNN's Ed Lavandera in the town of Purcell about 40 miles south of Oklahoma City. Ed. ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka. Much of what police say Kevin Ray Underwood planned to do with his 10-year-old victim is too much to say, quite frankly and has left many people here disturbed and quite frankly nauseated.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA (voice-over): Murder isn't the kind of news people in Purcell, Oklahoma are used to dealing with. The last time it happened was six years ago. So Jamie Rose Bolin's murder stings here in a way only small towns understand.
REV. DUANE ELMORE, MISSION ASSEMBLY CHURCH OF GOD: It's like a big family. So that's, it hits everybody hard. It's uncharted territory for our community, but we've got a lot of good people, and I think it will -- I think the community will rally and pull together. I really believe that it will, and I think it will make it stronger once we get past it.
LAVANDERA: Reverend Duane Elmore says Jamie Rose Bolin had recently started participating in a young mission program at his church. After Easter services this Sunday, the reverend said his congregation is struggling to understand how something so evil could happen so close to home.
ELMORE: I told my girls, they were shook up. I said, you know, whoever did that is far from here by now, and that's what everybody is saying.
LAVANDERA: Kevin Ray Underwood is the man police say murdered Jamie Rose Bolin. The 26-year-old was a familiar face around town, especially for customers driving through this hamburger restaurant where he once worked. A co-worker says he was quiet and reserved.
BILL BERDAM, CO-WORKER: He wasn't a happy person, you could see it, you know. He just -- it was hard to get him to smile. But you know, other than that, he was all right.
LAVANDERA: CNN cameras were there just moments after Underwood was taken into custody, following the discovery by police of Bolin's body in his apartment closet. He appeared calm and relaxed, but what investigators say he planned to do with his 10-year-old victim has repulsed this central Oklahoma town.
TIM KUYKENDALL, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: This appears to be a part of a plan to kidnap a person, rape them, torture them, kill them.
LAVANDERA: White ribbons in honor of Jamie Rose Bolin have begun appearing around Purcell, and mourners have started a tiny memorial of Easter lilies and teddy bears in front of the little girl's apartment.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAVANDERA: And that has really been the most difficult part of the story is knowing that many of these people who were involved in the search for almost two days looking for Jamie Rose Bolin that all along she had been in that apartment just feet away from where her family had been standing vigil and police say that before they even knew she was missing, they suspect she was already dead. Kevin Ray Underwood is expected to make his first court appearance tomorrow morning here in Oklahoma. Prosecutors say they will file first degree murder charges against him tomorrow and they will seek the death penalty. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: And Ed, in what other ways is this community trying to cope with this horrible news?
LAVANDERA: Well, you know, of course, this coming on Easter Sunday and many of these details just coming out a few hours before people were heading out to their Easter Sunday services. It has dominated much of the talk from the pulpit as people have headed to church services here this morning. And in some way I think a lot of people here in this community finding comfort in that being around friends and family and that sort of thing. We've heard various pastors who say you know, they have talked about Jamie Rose Bolin this morning in church services and they say that they will get beyond it. You heard the pastor in our piece talk about, they hope that people in here in this community will be able to get past it and become stronger because of it.
WHITFIELD: All right, Ed Lavandera, Thank you very much in Purcell, Oklahoma.
And now scattered debris, decapitated trees and devastated farmland, people in the Midwest are cleaning up today and thanking their lucky stars that the destruction was not worse. Even with all this mess left behind, no lives were lost when severe weather and twisters hit parts of Nebraska and Indiana last night. One resident describes the impact.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I couldn't believe it. It was just amazing. I could not believe the amount of force and destruction that it had.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Also out of the storm, some terrifying images, pictures of a funnel cloud and tornadoes as they formed. One storm chaser shows us the belly of the beast, inside a massive tornado that stuffed down in Gage County, Nebraska.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a tornado right there. It's going over us. We're in a tornado. We're in a [ bleep ] tornado. (INAUDIBLE) I know it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Debris falling everywhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at there. Look at the debris. We're in the middle of that tornado.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Elsewhere in the U.S., the trouble is wild fires. Smoke is choking the skies over Bull Mountain. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine has sent in National Guard troops to help battle the blaze. The fire has already grown to several hundred acres. Meantime, wildfires in the Texas panhandle destroyed two homes yesterday. The flames forced about 100 homes to be evacuated in Amarillo. The area has been hard hit by wild fires in the last month.
Let's check in now with Bonnie Schneider to see what kind of conditions there might be for any kind of fire fighting.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well it looks better today than yesterday but still not terrific. We still have very warm conditions, look at Amarillo. The current temperature right now 79 degrees, gusting winds not as bad as yesterday. We had winds gusts yesterday 44 miles per hour. So today the winds are a little bit lighter than that, so that's good. But to the south, look at Abilene. We've got a temperature there of 93 degrees, so very hot conditions, certainly very dry. That low humidity you do run the risk for fire danger across much of the south. The southern plains, including Oklahoma and this warm weather has stretched all the way up north towards Kansas, as well. Wichita's current temperature is 87 degrees.
Well, speaking of areas towards the mid and central plains we are getting the threat of severe ones. Once again, we have tornado warnings that are in effect until 4:15 for Eastern Piatt and Fayette County in Illinois and Shelby, Effingham and Champagne Counties. That's also in Illinois, but those go until 4:30 p.m.
As we look at the big picture now, you can see the precipitation working its way right through central Illinois. Actually we're getting some strong thunderstorms in the Chicago area as well. Taking a look at the map we see the reason why. Our area of low pressure, the one that brought all the strong storms to Kansas and Nebraska yesterday and the tornadoes there, that is pushing to the east. It's still pulling down that cooler air and tapping into some very warm moist air ahead of it and that's why we're seeing a threat of severe weather across a good portion of the heartland for today and of course the Midwest. We're looking for that toward Indiana tonight where a tornado watch is in effect until 9:00 p.m. for parts of Indiana and that does include Indianapolis. So it will be a stormy evening as we look ahead.
Now, temperatures across the country as we can tell you have been pretty warm and that's only contributing to the severe weather. The heat surges all the way up to the center of the nation into Missouri. We'll look for temperatures to climb all the way to 82 degrees, 91 is the high in Dallas, Texas and still not too cold behind it, but cold enough for that contrast and these disturbances one after the other that have been coming through and tapping into that warm moist air and that's why we've been seeing so many outbreaks of severe weather. Fredricka, it seems like since tornado season started, we have outbreaks every weekend.
WHITFIELD: It's been never ending already. All right. Thanks so much, Bonnie.
It has been a deadly weekend for troops and civilians in Iraq. The U.S. military says four Marines were killed in action in the Anbar province west of Baghdad. And at least 12 Iraqis were killed in a pair of car bombings today. It happened in Shiite areas in and around the capital; 27 others were wounded.
Should he stay or should he go? There was a lot more talk today about Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano is live with the latest on this verbal volley. Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you Fredricka. President Bush actually interrupted his Easter weekend break on Good Friday to issue a paper statement giving his full vote of confidence to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Well today from outside the White House, there were more vigorous responses to calls for the secretary to resign.
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QUIJANO (voice-over): The defense of Secretary Donald Rumsfeld intensified just two days after President Bush's strong statement supporting the secretary. Retired chairman of the joint chiefs General Richard Myers called it inappropriate for retired generals to call for Rumsfeld's resignation.
RICHARD MYERS, FMR. JOINT CHIEFS CHMN: It's inappropriate because it's not the military that judges our civilian bosses. You judge Secretary Rumsfeld, you're also judging the commander in chief because that's the chain of command.
QUIJANO: But recently six retired generals have done just that, calling for Secretary Rumsfeld to step down and Democrats have piled on, arguing the need for a fresh start.
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D) CALIFORNIA: So I think the country is on the verge of civil war. I think the president would be well served and the nation well served with a new team.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D) NEW MEXICO: My view is that the secretary should step aside.
QUIJANO: Republicans dismiss the idea.
REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R) CALIFORNIA: You don't change horses to simply give a cosmetic appeal to a situation which is a long, difficult, and tough campaign by any standards.
QUIJANO: Pentagon source say the department's press office distributed what's described as a fact sheet late last week to a group of former military commanders and civilian analysts who regularly appear on TV. It read in part, quote, U.S. senior military leaders are involved to an unprecedented degree in every decision making process in the Department of Defense. The memo notes Secretary Rumsfeld has met with the joint chiefs 139 times since the beginning of 2005 and has met 208 times with combatant commanders. Yet some say it's not about the number of meetings, but whether officers' concerns were heard during them.
BRIG. GEN. JAMES MARKS, U.S. ARMY (RET): It's whether it's received and whether action is taken upon those recommendations.
BRIG. GENERAL DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET): Any organization, be it military or civilian must have efficient communications and that's more than just having meetings. That means communications that establish trust and confidence which then allows the loyalty, both up and down and that needs to be fixed.
QUIJANO: Yet even some who are critical of Secretary Rumsfeld say it crosses a line from military officers whether retired or active, to call for a civilian leader's resignation, especially in the middle of a conflict. One former commander says the proper way to express dissatisfaction is at the ballot box come midterm elections in November. Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Elaine Quijano at the White House. Thank you so much.
Well, straight ahead, there could be a new danger for U.S. troops in combat, the very clothes on their back. We'll explain.
Also, they're definitely not your typical family photos. They open a window to one of the great tragedies of the last century. We'll show you.
And the faithful flock. We'll show you how Christians around the world are celebrating Easter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, this is lieutenant Dave Karnell (ph) currently deployed in Bahrain at Navsis (ph). I would like to wish my wife Holly and son Shawn a happy Easter in (INAUDIBLE) Connecticut.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, this is PFC Mendoza (ph). I want to say hi to my family back in Chicago, Illinois. I am in Baghdad right now. I just want to say hi for the Easter holidays and I hope that everybody is doing good back home as far as my family and friends and just keep prayers coming and I hope to see you guys soon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Christians around the world are celebrating Easter, their faith's most joyous day. At the Vatican, Benedict XVI led his first Easter mass since becoming pope. In his Easter message, the pope called for an end to nuclear tension and he pleaded for peace in Iraq. The pope is also marking his 79th birthday today. In Jerusalem today pilgrims gathered in larger numbers than they have in recent years. The bigger turn-out, a reflection of the relative calm between Israelis and Palestinians.
In Baghdad, members of Iraq's Christian community celebrated Easter. Many braved violence to get to their houses of worship. Christians in Iraq have a long history stretching back more than 2,000 years to ancient Mesopotamia and surrounding lands.
In Atlanta, thousands of worshipers gathered at the Georgia dome for a celebration billed as the biggest Easter service in the country. The choir alone had 500 people.
Some stories making news across America now. Rangers may have captured the huge black bear that killed a little girl in Tennessee. They found a trapped bear in the Cherokee national forest today. The girl's little brother and mother were injured in Thursday's horrifying attack. The bear has been euthanized.
A mountain lion is dead after it attacked a seven-year-old boy yesterday. Wildlife officials tracked it down and killed it at Flagstaff Mountain in Boulder, Colorado. The boy is hospitalized with bites to his head. His family pelted the mountain lion with rocks until it ran off.
Minnesota authorities are looking for an escaped rapist. They say Michael Dale, Michael Dale Benson rather and three other men smashed open a window at a sex offender treatment center in St. Peter last night. The three other men have been caught. Police say Benson may be driving a stolen 1997 Ford Crown Victoria.
The Reverend Jesse Jackson is offering to pay college tuition for the woman who is accusing some Duke University lacrosse players of raping her. The woman says she was assaulted at an off campus party where she had been hired as an exotic dancer. No word yet on whether she plans to accept Jackson's offer.
New developments in the Natalee Holloway case today nearly a year after her disappearance. Police had detained and are questioning a 19-year-old man. Holloway was last seen on May 30 last year leaving an island nightclub with three other people. The 18-year-old from Alabama was on a class trip celebrating her high school graduation. Earlier, I talked with Aruban journalist Tito Lacle about this latest arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TITO LACLE, JOURNALIST: They asked the person to come in voluntary to give a statement. If they do not want to do that, they can also use force and detain the person for that sole purpose and after that let the person go. This was not the case in the sense that the person did show up voluntarily yesterday late afternoon and after they questioned him, they had a reason to detain him at at the moment, which is also what happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP) WHITFIELD: Some U.S. Marines in Iraq are hot under the collar about a new ban on the kind of clothing they can wear while on patrol. The synthetic T's are great for Iraq's hot weather but they can melt when exposed to the extreme heat of a roadside bomb. CNN's Gary Nurenberg has a story you first saw on "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There's a basic fact about duty in Iraq
UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: This is hot. It's definitely hot. Out there in the sun just beating down on you and you just constantly sweating, constantly drinking water and you have to keep cool.
NURENBERG: So to keep cool many Marines wear synthetic t-shirts and shorts made by companies like Nike and Underarmor (ph), which display the items at stores on military bases. The clothing transfers sweat from the body to the outside of the fabric.
SGT. JUAN FLORES, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It helps evaporate the sweat on your body so you're not feeling all icky and stuff and it's very comfortable.
NURENBERG: But if you're caught in the intense heat caused by one of those improvised explosive devices, IEDs.
COMMANDER MAUREEN PENNINGTON, U.S. NAVY: This material actually will melt and it fuses on to the skin.
NURENBERG: Commander Maureen Pennington oversees surgical operations in Fallujah.
PENNINGTON: When we're cleaning the area and scrubbing away the debris, it's more difficult for us.
NURENBERG: And for the burn victim.
DR. JAMES JENG, WASH. HOSP. CTR BURN UNIT: You have a sticky mess that's also hot that really makes the burns a lot, lot worse.
NURENBERG: So Marine commanders in Iraq have banned use of the synthetic garments in areas deemed dangerous. Nike and Underarmor refused repeated requests for on camera interviews. Underarmor's Web site does warn its product may melt in extreme heat. The company issued a statement saying, U.S. military leaders should determine the appropriate combat uniform for the world's best soldiers and Underarmor will continue to support them. Nike's statement says, it will continue to sell these products on military bases for their recommended use during sport activities and in environments deemed non-threatening for U.S. military personnel. But not wearing the cooling clothes.
FLORES: I believe the Marines upset out there. I mean I was out there and I can understand what they are saying. I can understand what they are going through. NURENBERG: Neither company promotes the clothing for use in battle zones and neither disagrees with the ban in Iraq, but Marines on some message board there is anger they can no longer make the individual choice between safety and comfort. Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And you can watch "The Situation Room" weekdays. Wolf Blitzer hosts Monday through Friday at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific.
Exploring your family history. It can lead to some pretty amazing discoveries. Coming up I'll talk to a man who found photos taken by his great grandfather. They offer a revealing look at life in the aftermath of a national tragedy.
Also you can buy almost anything in an Afghan bazaar, including U.S. military secrets. Who is to blame?
And alter, the flood waters are rising and the sand bags are piling up. Is any relief on the way for these soaked Serbians?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: how you doing? This is Private Simmons (ph), in Iraq. I want to give a shout out to everybody in Birmingham, Alabama, my grandma, (INAUDIBLE), my mother Yolanda Simmons (ph). Happy Easter, everybody. I'm safe.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. This is Specialist Gilbert Baro (ph) stationed here at Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq, just wishing all my family in Tucson, Arizona, a very happy Easter. I love you all. I miss you very much and I'll see you very soon.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, this is Staff Sgt. Rojeck (ph), deployed here in Kabul, Afghanistan. I would like to say happy Easter to all my family and friends back in Antioch, California.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: It's been 100 years since the San Francisco earthquake. Much of the city by the bay was devastated at the time. Now newly found photographs are giving us a unique view of the destruction. The discovery of the pictures is a story in and of itself. Joining us now with more is Richard Torney, grandson of Ned Torney, the man who took the pictures that you're about to see. Good to see you. Can you hear me OK?
RICHARD TORNEY, GRANDSON OF PHOTOGRAPHER: Yes, I can.
WHITFIELD: OK, great, now, you actually came across these pictures by happenstance while you were doing some research on your great granddad, is that right?
TORNEY: That's correct. My great grandfather was the chief medical officer in the Presidio at the time of the earthquake.
WHITFIELD: OK and so you're doing this research and how is it you just came across these photos? Take me back.
TORNEY: I had reached out to my cousins and family members to see what information they may have had in their trunks and attics about my great grandfather and in the process one of my cousins came across an unmarked envelope containing 75 unmarked images, negatives, actually, of images taken during the earthquake and we were just shocked to find them and haven't been able to find out from any surviving members of our senior generation that know who took them but there are enough clues in the collection that we know my grandfather took the photographs.
WHITFIELD: All right. So how did you connect the dots? Your granddad was actually -- or you great granddad was actually an attorney, right and then you come across the photos. How did you put two and two together that he actually took the pictures?
TORNEY: Well, my great grandfather was a surgeon. My grandfather was the attorney and we have some other photographs from the same trunk where the negatives were found in which he is shown and there's a defect in the camera that took the photographs. It caused a little flash of light in the lower left corner. So we have a photograph of my grandfather taken with the same camera. The photograph was taken in front of the home where his father, the medical officer, lived in the Presidio at the time of the earthquake.
WHITFIELD: Wow and that really is remarkable. So through seeing these photographs through the point of view of your granddad really taught you and showed you what about what people endured about the destruction that had taken place?
TORNEY: Well, I was most surprised to see how far he got around the city on the day of the earthquake and on the days following and the interest that -- and the images that he took the photographs of, I find just remarkable. I'd seen a number of other professional and other snapshot photos from the earthquake. It's just a different man's point of view.
WHITFIELD: And what is your understanding about the circumstances in which these photographs were taken? I mean here he was an attorney and you know you suspected that maybe this was his off day and when this happened, he just pulled out his camera and got to work?
TORNEY: Yeah. I'm sure that was the case so it was not business as usual downtown. And apparently he had several rolls of film because as I mention there are 75 images. So some of the photographs were taken in the days following the earthquake.
WHITFIELD: All right, Richard Torney, thanks so much. And thanks so much for sharing these photographs as we look back 100 years since the great quake.
TORNEY: Thank you. WHITFIELD: Well an attorney's camera also captured the huge tent cities that sprung up to accommodate the many homeless. Some estimate, say between 200 and 300,000 people were left without shelter. More on that when we continue our conversation with Richard Torney in the next hour.
And now a look at the top stories for this hour. Four U.S. Marines have been killed in hostile action in Iraq. The U.S. military says they died in two separate incidents in Iraq's Anbar province yesterday. More than 2300 U.S. troops and civilians working for the military have been killed in Iraq since 2003.
Police in Turkey say 30 people were injured when a bomb exploded in Istanbul today, detonated near a sidewalk cafe in a popular shopping area. Police fired into the air to keep an angry crowd from attacking a man they thought was responsible. The crowd at least thought so. Police say it turned out the man was just a bystander.
The man accused of brutally killing a 10-year-old Oklahoma girl is expected to be charged with first degree murder tomorrow. Jamie Rose Bolin's body was found Friday in neighbor Kevin Ray Underwood's apartment. Authorities say she was killed as part of a plot that involved kidnapping, torture and cannibalism.
The bear that mauled and killed a little girl may have been captured. The girl's younger brother and mother were injured in Thursday's attack as well. Rangers say they caught and killed a similar looking bear today in Tennessee's Cherokee national forest.
Caught in the crossfire, the Pentagon says seven Afghan civilians were killed, another three injured when they were caught in a fire fight between U.S. forces and insurgents. It happened yesterday in northeast Kunar province. The military says several insurgents were killed in the battle and the rest ran away.
The U.S. military in Afghanistan is having trouble keeping secrets. CNN has confirmed that classified U.S. intelligence is turning up in Afghan bazaars and we still don't know it got there. This report from Brian Todd which first aired in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A sprawling bazaar just yards from the biggest U.S. facility in Afghanistan where hundreds of suspected terrorists are held. For sale here, athletic shoes, flashlights, watches, an old kid's basketball hoop.
MEERWEIS, CONTRACTOR AT BAGRAM AIR BASE (through translator): Everything you find in the base, you can find here.
TODD: Including flash drives like this one, the size of a cigarette lighter. CNN was provided access to information on one of these disks, what appears to be classified information from a U.S. military briefing at Bagram Air Base in February 2005 -- maps showing border crossing points; U.S. and Afghan military positions; construction of roads and other installations; important information on Taliban personnel and sympathizers, with first and last names; and on the diversion of al Qaeda resources to Iraq.
The selling of similar disks was first reported by the "Los Angeles Times." CNN is not reporting all the information we saw out of security concerns.
One former Special Forces soldier who examined this information says it appears to be authentic and there are key characteristics he recognizes. We don't know when this disk made its way out of Bagram or exactly how.
CNN interviewed several Afghani men who work inside or with the Bagram base. This man, who says he's the president of a company that does contract work at Bagram, says some material is smuggled out by locals who work there.
But with some items ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It's the Americans themselves who bring it outside the base. They themselves, day and night, steal anything that comes in their way and bring it. The Afghans bring it, too. They probably help each other.
TODD: It's not clear if he means American military personnel or civilians. We called the Pentagon for comment. They referred us to the local U.S. command in Afghanistan.
U.S. military officials there would not go on camera, but say the army's criminal investigation command is looking into the allegations. And when reached by CNN, a spokesman said, to protect the integrity of the investigation, they would not comment further.
The military did issue a statement reading, in part, "Coalition officials regularly survey bazaars across Afghanistan for the presence of contraband materials, but thus far have not uncovered sensitive or classified items."
CMD. SGT. MAJ. STEVEN GREER, U.S. ARMY (RET.): There's a number of items here that, in and of themselves, are probably highly sensitive. The good news in this is that it appears this information is dated.
TODD: Still, retired Army Sergeant Major Steven Greer, who spent 10 years in the Special Forces, says this information can still be of use to Taliban and al Qaeda forces.
GREER: It presents a look for the insurgent forces as to what we look at and what we think is important when we conduct our campaign.
TODD: And what Greer calls battle rhythm, like a calendar showing when commanding generals were meeting each week.
Another military intelligence expert says it's possible these disks were leaked out as part after deception campaign but Steven Greer says in those operations he has never seen a case where first and last names were released. (on camera): If investigators find evidence of a security breach at Bagram it won't be the first time. Last July four key al Qaeda suspects about to be sent from Guantanamo Bay escaped from the detention facility there. They are still at large. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And you can watch "THE SITUATION ROOM," weekdays, Wolf Blitzer hosts Monday through Friday beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, 1:00 Pacific.
Well, Easter is the perfect time for this. Powerful images from the tradition of the African American church later on CNN LIVE SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: News in our "World Wrap" tonight. Possible new views of Iranian nuclear facilities. The Institute for Science and International Security is a U.S. think tank. It released what it says is satellite video that proves Tehran has expanded a nuclear facility and re-enforced another one. Iran says it wants to make nuclear energy not weapons.
A bomb sends glass flying in a busy shopping area in Istanbul. At least 30 people were hurt, some seriously. No one has claimed responsibility for that attack.
Also in Turkey a drag racer loses control of his car and veers into a crowd. You're looking at it right there. It happened during a championship race in the resort town of Alanya. Three spectators were killed and the driver was injured.
Sandbags and an army of volunteers battling to keep the Danube River in its banks are having little effect. The mighty river and its tributaries are flooding parts of the Balkans in Central Europe. Our Tim Lister reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TIM LISTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Danube and its tributaries are wreaking havoc in three countries swollen by melting snows and spring rain. In Serbia the river has reached a record high level of 9.6 meters, 31 feet.
Flood waters have already overwhelmed sand bag embankments in several places. Two towns are under water and authorities are considering a mass evacuation of areas close to the river.
Some of Serbia's best farmland is now inundated, threatening this year's crops. A similar story downstream in Romania. This is the moment when flood defenses gave way west of Bucharest, inundating land. Further downstream several river ports suddenly became a lot bigger with ships marooned and keysides (ph) submerged. The Romanian government has ordered controlled flooding of 10,000 hectares of low lying land to try to he's the pressure on towns like Djirju (ph). Among the places worst hit by the rampaging Danube, the town of Nikopol in Bulgaria. People here are used to the river's tempestuous mood. This man describes it as God's deed. Nothing stops water and fire he says, it's fate. But fate has struck twice in a year. This region was only beginning to recover from floods last summer that killed scores of people.
So now the citizens of Nicopol must row through what were their streets. With their houses underwater some take to small boats to stay dry while the local fire service continue as seemingly hopeless struggle to fend off the flood waters. Local officials are worried that raw sewage will spread disease and there's little relief in site.
Forecasters say the Danube in Bulgaria may recede in the next couple of days only to rise again later in the week as millions more tons of water surge downriver. Tim Lister, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Sundays at church. Straight ahead exploring what makes worship such an important part of the African American experience. A story told in pictures.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: More of CNN LIVE SUNDAY strayed ahead with Carol Lin.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Did you hear about that story in Omaha, Nebraska about how the state legislature is dividing school districts down racial lines? All black school districts, all Hispanic, all white. It was the idea of a black senator, state senator, the only African American state senator on the legislature. And I'm going to interview him and ask him why. Also a white senator who says this is segregation. It's never going to pass a constitutional test.
WHITFIELD: Right. We'll look forward to that.
LIN: All right. At 6:00.
WHITFIELD: Six o'clock.
LIN: The 6:00 hour. Of course, all the day's news.
WHITFIELD: OK. Very good. Thanks so much, Carol.
Well, with many of you celebrating the Easter holiday we thought it might be a good time to preview a new book set for release next month. It's called "Soul Sanctuary." A unique book that captures the essence of worship in African American churches. Take a look.
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WHITFIELD: Well let's meet the man behind the lens who captured the beautiful pictures of praise. Jason Miccolo Johnson joins us now from the nation's capital this afternoon. Happy Easter to you, Jason, and good to see you. JASON MICCOLO JOHNSON, PHOTOGRAPHER: Thank you very much.
WHITFIELD: And congratulations on the project.
JOHNSON: I appreciate it.
WHITFIELD: All right. So what was the epiphany for you. Why did you decide now is the time to document the experience of the African American church?
JOHNSON: I think it really was a moment in 1994 as we started to see more black churches being burned and I felt to myself this is a very important legacy in the history that we're losing. Every time we lose a black church. And so I started at that time to put together a proposal to document many of the churches across the country.
WHITFIELD: And it's not loss, also the evolution of the church experience. Something that you wanted to capture were some very simple traditions from the little girls that we're seeing in the pictures right now dressed up in the Sunday best to a number of the pastors and religious leaders who are gathering and giving each other inspiration before taking to the rest of the congregation.
JOHNSON: Absolutely. Some of those traditions are starting to change now. A lot of it is due to the size of the churches, increasing and the number of ministries that have been added to churches. It's much different than when I was a child. So I wanted to capture some of those iconic images that I remember as a child growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as show the public where the church has progressed. So we take you from the rural South, the storefront churches, to the megachurches of the East Coast and the West Coast.
WHITFIELD: The pictures are beautiful but sometimes equally fascinating is watching the photographer in action. Seeing the kind of gymnastics you have to perform in order to blend in with the crowd there not to be conspicuous. Tell me about the length that you had to go in order to get these very spontaneous images?
JOHNSON: Well, one of the techniques I used is a visual call and response style of shooting. And I work with a camera that has a very quiet shutter. No flash. Everything was shot with available light. I would use and it just try to blend in by either remaining out of the normal eyesight of the parishioners and pretty soon they would get used to seeing me. And by them not seeing a flash or not hearing a shutter go off then it wouldn't disturb the service and wouldn't cause them to change their expressions.
WHITFIELD: Wow. Let's talk about an inspiration in your profession as a photographer. A late Gordon Parks, a mentor for you. Someone you looked to for advice and even inspiration in the photographic world but at the same time so much so that you helped not only plan his 90th birthday celebration, you met with him, talked with him, and then he wrote the forward in your book and then in the end following his death earlier this year you actually spoke at his funeral. Tell me about the remarkable impact that this man has had on your life.
JOHNSON: Well, actually I spoke at the repass of photographers after the official funeral. His impact was tremendous upon my career. Because I had known him for 26 years. I have actually known Gordon Parks longer than I have known my own parents and grand parents put together.
What he did was a remarkable thing. He showed me that if I shot by insight instead of just eyesight I would be able to render images that had a strong emotional connection to the person that was viewing the images. And he was very encouraging. Every time I asked him about something in relationship to the project, he would always help me out and offer words of encouragement.
WHITFIELD: Well, beautiful. Jason Miccolo Johnson, your work is great. Your insight and eyesight in "Soul Sanctuary."
JOHNSON: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Congratulations on the project. And we have all enjoyed the images.
JOHNSON: Thank you very much. And I hope you can see the traveling exhibition that opens in Boston on April 27th.
WHITFIELD: Fantastic. We'll be looking for that.
JOHNSON: Twenty-city tour.
WHITFIELD: We'll try to have you here hopefully in Atlanta.
JOHNSON: If not you can go to my Web site at soulsanctuarybook.com and keep up with my schedule.
WHITFIELD: All right. Jason, thanks so much and congratulations.
JOHNSON: Thank you, Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: Well they don't scale a fence. They jump the pond.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is like being at the top of a ladder or two rungs from the top and you can't get to the top.
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WHITFIELD: Straight ahead a couple from Ireland fighting for immigration changes inside the U.S.
But first, more images from Jason Miccolo Johnson and his look inside African American churches through "Soul Sanctuary."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: Say illegal immigrant and most anyone stares south but the picture isn't complete unless you look across the Atlantic as well. This husband and wife are working in America and fighting to stay here. Randi Kaye has their story. Her report first aired on CNN's "ANDERSON COOPER 360."
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RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For a decade, Brian and Caroline have called America home.
BRIAN, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: I am American as much as President George Bush. I do everything American. I follow the NASCAR, I follow the American football. I hunt like the Vice President Dick Cheney.
KAYE: They own a home in Yonkers outside New York City, pay taxes, and both have jobs. Brian owns a plumbing business. Caroline works as a secretary.
BRIAN: We want to have a family in this country, but the situation we're in at the minute, we can't go forward. We're stuck.
KAYE: Stuck because Brian and Caroline, who asked us not to use their last name, are living in the United States illegally.
BRIAN: It's like being at the top of a ladder or two rungs from the top, and we can't get to the top.
CAROLINE, UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT: I'd find it very, very hard to leave here. Because just made it our home.
KAYE: Caroline lives every day in fear of being deported back to Ireland where they both came from on tourist visas, now long expired.
(on camera): Is it strange for you because you're living the life of an American citizen, yet you're not a citizen?
BRIAN: Exactly. It's just, it's very frustrating for me because, like I am doing everything an American citizen does, but all I need is that small piece of paper, the green card.
KAYE: He travels the country to speak out at rallies like this one held today in New York City.
BRIAN: ... what's going to happen. We're going to stand together!
KAYE: What would you say are some of the greatest challenges that you face here, living here illegally?
BRIAN: Well, the number one challenge, as you saw today, is the driving. That's the biggest danger for me at the minute is not having my driver's license.
KAYE: The law requires anyone applying for a new license provide a valid Social Security number. Since he's illegal, Brian doesn't have one.
BRIAN: I employ two Irish guys and two American lads. One of them I actually employed just to drive me around and to work.
KAYE: And travel? That's out of the question. Too risky.
CAROLINE: I missed both grandparents' funerals. I couldn't go home for them.
KAYE (voice-over): Before the couple's wedding in New York last October, they hadn't seen family and friends in years. They feel they are being treated like terrorists, not like the hardworking, tax- paying citizens in training they consider themselves to be.
(On camera): Do you see a clear path of citizenship in the future?
BRIAN: Definitely, I do. I think the immigration system is definitely progressing, and I feel very strongly that they have to do something. I think they will.
KAYE: Brian and Caroline hope next year, if immigration reform passes, they will have new Visas, and soon after, they'll have children. American citizens who won't have to wait like their parents did to walk freely and legally on U.S. soil.
Randi Kaye, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And get a fresh perspective on the day's top stories from Anderson Cooper. Join "AC 360" weeknights beginning at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.
So much more on CNN. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Carol Lin and more of CNN LIVE SUNDAY right after this.
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