[Miles O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] A state of emergency right now in North Carolina. Major fire at a hazardous waste site, forcing thousands of people from their homes.
[Sean Callebs, Cnn Correspondent:] I'm Sean Callebs in Monroe, Louisiana. The family of a page at the center of the controversy involving Mark Foley speaks out, praising their son as a hero.
[Arwa Damon, Cnn Correspondent:] I'm Arwa Damon in Baghdad. Twenty-one troops dead and the month is only six days old. How are soldiers fighting back when sometimes it feels like they're just chasing ghosts?
[M. O'brien:] And what to do about Iran's nuclear ambitions? A high-level summit with some deep divisions in London.
[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Anchor:] And do you know how much you owe? Too many people are seeing their debts rising out of control. It's not too late to save your credit. We'll tell you how, just ahead on AMERICAN MORNING. Welcome back, everybody. I'm Soledad O'Brien.
[M. O'brien:] And I'm Miles O'Brien. The House Ethics Committee is moving fast on its investigation into the Mark Foley scandal. They'll subpoena dozens of lawmakers and aides in a probe of the former Congressman's contacts with teenaged pages. Congressional correspondent Andrea Koppel, live from Capitol Hill with more Andrea.
[Andrea Koppel, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] Good morning, Miles. And without tipping their hand as to who might be called to testify, the House Ethics Committee say they had approved about four dozen subpoenas, but the top Republicans on the committee that they would go wherever the evidence leads them. At the same time, the embattled House speaker Dennis Hastert got a big boost...
[Andrea Koppel, Cnn Congressional Correspondent, American Morning:] House Ethics Committee said it had approved about four dozen subpoenas. With the top Republicans on the committee that they would go wherever the evidence leads them. At the same time the embattled House Speaker Dennis Hastert got a big boost when he got a call from President Bush, who for the first time since the scandal broke last week, called to show his support to the speaker. Now, that vote of confidence following a very public apology of Hastert, who although he made clear he has no intention of resigning. Also said that he was deeply sorry, and quoting a famous Democratic president, Harry Truman, said, the buck stops with him.
[Rep. Dennis Hastert , Speaker Of The House:] When you talk about the page issue and what's happened in the Congress. I'm deeply sorry this happened. The bottom line is we're takes responsibility, because ultimately, as someone has said in Washington before, the buck stops here. Our children need to be protected, and we're going to do everything we can to protect them.
[Koppel:] Hastert also got a show of support from House and Senate Republican leaders, Bill Frist among them. Two of the others, though, had also tried to distance themselves from him earlier in the week, Roy Blunt and John Boehner. Now, Hastert had intended to make a big announcement during yesterday's press conference that Louie Freeh, the former FBI director, would head up a security review of the page program. But later Hastert's spokesman said that Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, had blocked the move. Said she wouldn't support it. Spokeswoman for Pelosi's office disputes that. She said, she told Hastert, you'll do what you have to do Miles.
[Miles O'brien, Cnn Anchor, American Morning:] Andrea, it's a big investigation. There's not a lot of time before the midterm elections. Is there some desire to get this thing done and the investigation over with before the election?
[Koppel:] Certainly on the part of the Democrats there is, but this is a bipartisan committee. We know the Republican head said that, obviously, this is going to be done as quickly as possible. The Democrats said that it would be done in a matter of weeks, not months. But even so, Miles, this committee doesn't have the authority to punish any former congressional members or former staffers.
[M. O'brien:] Andrea Koppel, on Capitol Hill. Thank you. The family of a former page, who received e-mails from Congressman Mark Foley, the former congressman, is speaking publicly for the first time about this scandal. CNN's Sean Callebs from Monroe, Louisiana this morning. Good morning, Sean.
[Sean Callebs, Cnn Correspondent, American Morning:] Indeed, the page at the center of this controversy really unknowingly became the whistleblower. It was when this page sent e-mails, that Foley had sent him, back to Congressman Alexander's office, calling them "sick, sick, sick, sick". And saying that Congressman Foley was, quote, "freaking him out." But eventually this information became public. Well, the family, yesterday, issued a five-paragraph statement. I want to read you just a bit of it. The family says, "As a young man with integrity, who had the courage to question the intention of the e-mails, we respect and honor our son as a hero. Despite his courageous actions he is becoming a victim due to the harassment by some of the media. Please honor our request that we be left alone. There is nothing more we can contribute to this ongoing matter. He is not"- and that word is bold "the story. And we feel that this intense media scrutiny could endanger our son and family. We have not intention of discussing this further." A couple of points here: This young man received what are being termed as overly friendly e-mails from Foley, the kind of thing "what do you want for your birthday? When is your birthday? And will you send me a picture of yourself?" He did not receive the more lurid instant messages that Foley sent from an AOL account a year earlier. The family goes on in this statement to also praises Congressman Alexander's office for doing what the family wanted, chiefly protecting their privacy. We know who the family is, Miles, and we're going to respect their privacy as well and not use their name. But the family hopes this five-paragraph statement ends the focus on their son.
[M. O'brien:] Sean Callebs, in Monroe, Louisiana. Thank you. Some new poll numbers out this morning, offering plenty for the GOP to worry about. A "Time" survey finds only 16 percent of Americans approve of the handling of the scandal. Two-thirds believe Republican leaders tried to cover it up. A quarter of those polled say the scandal makes them less likely to vote for a Republican candidate in November. Overall, 54 percent say they're more likely to vote for a Democrat in the mid-term elections. The poll shows Americans are split over whether Hastert should resign over his handling of the Foley matter Soledad.
[Soledad O'brien, Cnn Anchor, American Morning:] Also this morning we continue to follow developments out of North Carolina, that out-of- control fire that is going on, right now, at a chemical plant. Over night authorities told 16,000 people, approximately, that they needed to evacuate their homes from the east side of Apex, that is a suburb of Raleigh. There is a cloud of noxious gas hovering over the area. Right now HAZMAT teams are trying to figure out and assess the situation. Reporter Anne Forte, of our affiliate, News 14 Carolina, is covering the fire.
[Anne Forte, Reporter, News 14 Carolina:] Apex officials are calling this disaster the worse in town history. Now, more than 10,000 people have been evacuated. Officials have asked half the town's population of 32,000 to evacuate. This all started at about 10 o'clock last night, at a plant called EQ, that is a business that disposes of hazardous materials. Now fire officials were called downtown at about 10 o'clock last night. There was a plume of smoke over downtown Apex, which turned out to be chlorine gas. A fire subsequently started. Now that cloud of gas has expanded and moved and that's why the evacuations are in order. Fire officials are waiting until this morning to really assess the fire and get an idea of how they're going to treat it. They tell us they can't use water or foam retardant on the fire, because that could cause some chemical spill off, which could be dangerous. Again, about 16,000 people have been evacuated to shelters in the area. They're told to get out of here. They say it's very dangerous to breathe in this chemical. We have reports that 10 police officers had to be decontaminated and treated for some respiratory ailments, as well as one firefighter. That's the latest from Apex. Anne Forte, for CNN.
[S. O'brien:] What kind of effect will the winds have on all that fire? And of courses, that gas cloud, too. Let's turn to Rob Marciano. Another big fire to tell you about as well. This one is in Memphis, Tennessee; seems to have started at a historic old church downtown, quickly spread though to other buildings. Over half of the city's firefighters are on the scene right now. Let's get to Brian Heep, he's with the affiliate WPTY. He's live for us in Memphis. BRIAN HEEP,
[Reporter, Wpty Memphis:] Good morning, Soledad. This all started at about 2 o'clock this morning. It started at a church a couple blocks away and then it spread down here to these two buildings, where I'm standing now. You take a look behind me, you can see this shorter building, where they're still attacking it with the hoses. That building, about an hour and a half ago, was an inferno. The firefighters have made significant progress on that shorter building in the time we've been here. If we can pan up there, Ben, and take them up to the top of the Lincoln Tower, there, which is right next door. You can see some small flames there on the floors, maybe about 16, 17 floors up. You cannot see this from where we're standing, but I'm told that on the opposite side, there are flames pouring out of windows on at least 10 of the floors of that tower right now. Again, it all started earlier this morning at this historic church. The church is built back in about the 1890s. It's well over 100 years old. The church itself was really a giant inferno when we came on the scene. We could see it from a couple of blocks away. The steeple from the church actually collapsed into the street a couple of hours ago. The best news of all about all three of these fires is that no one was inside any of the buildings at the time that they broke out. The firefighters do believe it's a strong possibility that the embers from the church fire might have blown their way over into this direction and started the fires here. These two buildings are actually undergoing some renovations right now. The city of Memphis is in the process of turning them into condominiums and apartments. Certainly this is going to deal a significant blow to those efforts.
[S. O'brien:] Too early to really ask this question, but is there any sense that arson might be a factor here? Is that what they're looking at?
[Heep:] We don't know at this point, Soledad, what the cause of these particular fires would be, we do know, though, that the firefighters tell us there have been a couple of cases of arson in the downtown area in the last couple of days. Certainly that's a possibility. But at this point, it's too early to say.
[S. O'brien:] Something to think about when you think about a church that's been around for a 100 years, and then a new development, warehouse. I mean, it's definitely a possibility. Thanks, Brian Heep is with our affiliate, WPTY. Thanks, Brian. Appreciate the update. Miles.
[M. O'brien:] At the United Nations, a stern but vague warning for North Korea not to test a nuclear bomb. The U.N. Security Council agreed yesterday on a Japanese drafted statement, that warns of unspecified consequences if the Communist North conducts a nuclear test. The North Koreans say they could explode a bomb underground as soon as this weekend. Sanctions against Iran, the main topic at a high-level meeting in London today. Representatives from six nations, including China, Russia and the U.S., trying to decide what to do next in response to Iran's nuclear program. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to attend that meeting. For now, she's wrapping up a tough trip to Iraq. Rice in the oil-rich north today, meeting with Kurdish leaders, who have a long- running desire for independence. Such a declaration could lead to the disintegration of Iraq. Rice is urging the Kurds to work with Arab leaders of the Iraqi government in Baghdad. And it has been a deadly month in Iraq for U.S. troops. CNN's Arwa Damon joining us live to talk about the dangers of those daily patrols through Baghdad's very violent streets. Arwa, hello.
[Arwa Damon, Cnn Correspondent, American Morning:] Hello, Miles. That's right, it has been a very deadly month for U.S. troops who are operating here on the ground. So far it's October 6th, six days into October, 21 troops have died across Iraq. Of those 21, though, nearly half are incidents that involve small arms fire in the capitol, Baghdad. Each day the streets of this city become even more dangerous.
[Damon:] The troops call it chasing the ghosts of small arms fire. They used to laugh at these ghosts and their poorly aimed potshots. Now they take them very seriously. Lieutenant Daniel Quinn and his men move with caution, still trying to engage the people. But these streets are both friendly and deadly. One minute a child is waving. The next
[Unidentified Male:] We've got two rounds, same directions we heard that one round from.
[Damon:] The ghosts fire shots, then fade away.
[Unidentified Male:] There is not way to ID where it came from.
[Damon:] The men move through the dusty trash-filled back alleys, hunting for clues, eyes scanning roof tops. Around them, life on the street seems to continue as normal. Some of the ghosts are just taking pot shots. Others, well-trained snipers, who is lay deadly traps. Another call, another ghost. Quinn's platoon responds to another unit's call for backup, just a short distance from the other incident.
[Unidentified Male:] Shots, one wounded in action. They're still engaged.
[Damon:] But by the time they arrive on site, the ghosts have slipped away.
[Unidentified Male:] It was coming from this house.
[Damon:] But no weapons were found in there.
[Unidentified Male:] Not yet.
[Damon:] This clearly nervous man is the only person in the house.
[Unidentified Male:] Sound, here, yes.
[Damon:] Upstairs, the men look for clues and possible escape routes. [On Camera] The soldier was shot on that street corner, took a bullet through the arm, was immediately medivaced. U.S. forces then searched this home and found shell casings littering the rooftop. [Voice Over] The Iraqi man is detained for questioning and gun powder tests.
[Unidentified Male:] If it was us up here, we would shoot, and then scurry down a couple roof tops before going down. And predetermine if one of these doors opens to get out.
[Damon:] It seems the ghost shooter is long gone. The Army says the wounded shoulder will recover. But the soldiers say every time they hit the streets, they roll the dice. And with each step, the stakes seem to go higher. Miles, it's an incredibly challenging environment that these men operate in. Many of them have seen their fellow soldiers wounded, even killed on the streets of Baghdad. When you ask them how they are able to go out and continue going into these streets, knowing how dangerous it is, every single day, they say it is very tough, but it's the job that they were given, Miles.
[M. O'brien:] I want can't imagine the level of stress they endure. And I guess compounding it all is a sense that they're not making much progress.
[Damon:] Well, yes, in a sense. The stress levels are really unimaginable. I can't even begin to describe what it's really like. I mean, each second they know that the atmosphere could change. It's incredibly unpredictable out there. Especially what you see now is amongst some of the older soldiers, especially those that have been here a second time is a sense of what progress have we made so far? Because they've been here in the past. Some of them operating in different parts of the country, but now in Baghdad, they do wonder exactly what kind of progress is being made. But at the same time, that being said, it doesn't stop them from going out there and at least, they say, doing what it is they can, Miles.
[M. O'brien:] Arwa Damon in Baghdad. Thank you. Soledad.
[S. O'brien:] Still to come this morning, more on the fallout from the Mark Foley e-mail scandal. Exactly what's the rank-and-file Republicans saying about Speaker Dennis Hastert? And California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, looking a little bit like the comeback kid. Could pitfalls be ahead for him, though, as election day draws near? We'll take a look at both of those stories in a moment.