[Harris:] And good morning again, everyone. The bottom of the hour. Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
[Collins:] Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Blackhawk down in Iraq 14 U.S. soldiers dead in a helicopter crash. Let's get right to Baghdad now. CNN's Dan Rivers is joining us now live Dan, what can you tell us about the crash?
[Dan Rivers, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Heidi, this happened during a night operation near Kirkuk in Northern Iraq. Two Blackhawk helicopters flying together. One went down, as you said, with 10 passengers and four crew aboard. We don't really know too much more about the causes, although all indications, the U.S. military are telling us, are that this was not as a result of hostile fire, that there was some sort of mechanical failure. One source has told us that there may have been some problem with the tail rotor, but we haven't really had that confirmed officially. They're still looking into it. But all indications are that this helicopter not shot down. There was some catastrophic failure on that aircraft and it came down near Kirkuk Heidi.
[Collins:] All right, Dan. As you try to get more details, we will wait for them here. Thanks so much. Live from Baghdad this morning, Dan Rivers.
[Harris:] Heartbreak in the heartland this morning. Incessant rains have been inundating the Midwest and the Plains. Twenty-two people are dead, dozens of homes lost. In Northern Ohio, one official describes it as the worst flooding in 30 years. Hundreds fled as homes filled with waters. Cars became submerged along highways and main streets and crops already damaged by drought now dealt a new blow. There was no mail delivery in Mansfield, Ohio. Postal trucks flooded. Now fears receding waters could fill up flood basins, causing even more problems. And the flooding left people stranded across the Midwest. Shannon O'Brien of CNN affiliate WOIO tells us about one dramatic rescue.
[Leroy Patton, Rescued By Coast Guard:] I never rode in a helicopter in my life. The first time.
[Shannon O'brien, 19 Action News Correspondent:] How was that for a first time helicopter ride?
[Patton:] It was a good ride. I enjoyed it.
[O'brien:] First time flier, 71-year-old Leroy Patton, rescued by the Coast Guard after raging floodwaters trapped him in his furniture store in downtown Shelby plucked off the roof by a Coast Guard helicopter.
[Patton:] They come right down and they kept it real steady. And then they come and they hooked me up, they grabbed me up and I went up. I sure hung on tight.
[O'brien:] Also trapped, 26-year-old Melvin Rister. Rescuers had to go back down for him.
[Melvin Rister, Rescued By Coast Guard:] It was blowing water everywhere real loud, just ferocious. It wasn't as scary as the water, but they basically put a harness around both, you know, around each one of us with a strap that came through. They bolted us or hooked us up to him. And he just told us, you know, to kind of relax, just hang free. And then they just they raised us up to be able, you know, when we got up there in the helicopter, lay on your back and he was going to slide you back into the further back in the chopper.
[O'brien:] A successful rescue by air. Eleven other people had to be rescued by boat. This type of flooding they haven't seen around here in 20 years. [on camera]: You guys have been flooded out a couple of times. Why do you keep why do you stay there?
[Patton:] Well, that's my home. I can't leave. I've got no place else to go.
[O'brien:] You never thought of selling the furniture store and moving it somewhere else or getting out of there?
[Rister:] I never thought of it. I'm thinking of it now, though. I've had enough of it.
[O'brien:] And he never, ever wants another helicopter ride. In Shelby, Shannon O'Brien, 19 Action News.
[Collins:] And in parts of Wisconsin, little letup in the storms that started over the weekend. Some people who were evacuated got a brief break. They made their way home on streets filled with debris only to find possessions covered in mud. Hundreds of homes are complete losses. The death toll from the flooding stands at 22. The body of a missing Minnesota man was found in a tree and more trouble may be in store now. Rivers and creeks are still rising. More rain could be on the way. Reynolds Wolf is with us now to give us an update on all of that, as we look at the central part of the country Reynolds.
[Reynolds Wolf, Cnn Meteorologist:] You know, it's a bad combination when you have ground that's already saturated then you have more rain on the way.
[Collins:] Yes.
[Harris:] Well, a piece of cake not the usual description the day after a category five hurricane. But it is how one official on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula describes Dean. CNN's Gary Tuchman reports.
[Gary Tuchman, Cnn Correspondent:] A rare category five hurricane, by definition a potentially catastrophic storm, moving into Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula in the dark of the overnight and mercifully losing its strength in the morning hours. While the storm was huge, the strongest part of it hit a relatively unpopulated area and that has led to this initial report.
[Jeremy Smith, Cruz Roja Mexicana:] Nobody has died. There's no deaths registered.
[Tuchman:] What about hurt?
[Smith:] One injury, a minor injury in Chetumal is the only thing that happened.
[Tuchman:] But the search continues for other potential victims. Authorities closed off roads, even to returning residents, because the streets were considered unsafe. But while we were there, they were reopened and people were allowed to return to their homes to see what had happened while they stayed in shelters. UNIDENTIFIED MALE They found out good news at this modest home. UNIDENTIFIED MALE Jelovia Champez stayed in his home in Umay, Mexico during the hurricane, along with his mother. The other 11 members of the family had just come through the checkpoint and found out the reassuring news they were both OK. UNIDENTIFIED MALE The grandmother doesn't speak Spanish, only Mayan. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE The Champez family is very poor. And holes in the now leaky thatched roof will take some money to repair. But they are all relieved. A category five hurricane came but did not conquer. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Umay, Mexico.
[Harris:] We can't say it enough, we can't thank you enough for sending in your I-Reports. You have really helped us tell the weather story with Dean and in the Midwest. Look, keep them coming. Stay safe, but if you see weather happening in your area, send us an I-Report. Go to CNN.com and click on I-Report or type ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone where's that big cell phone and share photos or video with us.
[Collins:] The politics of Cuba what the presidential candidates are saying about U.S. efforts to isolate Fidel Castro. Is it time for a change?
[Harris:] Help wanted spying apply to the U.S. intelligence community why contractors are playing a bigger role in sensitive security work.