[Kagan:] Want to get back to breaking news just outside of Detroit, Michigan in Dearborn. An explosion and a fire at a steel plant. We have with us now Rob Meloni with WDIV Rob. All right.
[Meloni:] OK. Go ahead, Rob. Yes. You're clipping yourself, Jeff.
[Kagan:] OK. Well, apparently Rob Meloni does not...
[Meloni:] OK. We're live here in Dearborn, Michigan. As you can see, this is the Rouge assembly plant, which goes for a couple of square miles in Dearborn, Michigan as a storied plant. They used to make Model TS here. Now, they were making Mustangs up until a while ago. And now they make F-150 pickup trucks. But the section of plant that we're looking at right now is called the Severstall Steel Plant. It used to be Rouge Steel up until a couple of years ago. And we have fire equipment on the scene here. What you're seeing is video of a of the area in the Rouge Steel Plant, which is the casting area. And you can see that orange vehicle there is a big truck that has a cauldron in it that pours molten steel. Apparently there was a fire in the section where this truck was operating. And up until a couple of minutes ago, the fire crews were pouring water on that. There has been explosion in the building and you can see the damage there to right of that vehicle. And we're told now that there are at least three people who have been brought to the hospital. And the company has confirmed at least one fatality, perhaps more. But clearly this is a very dangerous line of work to start with. And there was a fire inside this building. And then two large explosions that blew this section of the building apart. We have looked for evacuations. We haven't seen a mass evacuation. This plant is the size of a small city. And so far, most of the people are still working in this area. But as you can see, there are fire crews and also emergency crews on the scene. And they are when they do these things, investigators move right in to figure out precisely what happened and hope they can't have another one like this. But as things stand right now, this is way too early to know precisely what happened. But when you're talking about making steel, you're talking thousands of degrees of heat inside that cauldron with all of the steel, the liquid, molten steel that is in there. And so something happened in the transfer process. A couple of years ago, there was a major explosion out here, where there was a gas line that actually blew up ruptured at the Ford plant, which just around the back end of this facility. So for now, we know there have been fatalities, people have been hurt. And we will certainly stay on top of this and bring you more a little bit later. Daryn, back to you.
[Kagan:] All right. Rob Meloni reporting for WDIV, bringing us the latest from Dearborn, Michigan. Let's go back now to Florida. Disturbing, new details this morning in the case of Jessica Lunsford, the missing 9-year-old Florida girl whose body was found over the weekend. The Citrus County sheriff now says she was sexually assaulted and may have been held for as long as two days before she was killed. CNN's Sara Dorsey has been covering the grim story in Inverness, Florida Sara.
[Sara Dorsey, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Daryn, Citrus County Sheriff Jeff Dawsy is scheduled to meet with the state's attorney today to discuss murder charges against John Couey. He is the man who allegedly confessed to killing Jessica Marie Lunsford. We are told those charges could be filed as early as this afternoon. And the sheriff has already told us he hopes to seek the death penalty.
[Dorsey:] Law enforcement sources tell CNN it appears John Couey walked into the Lunsford home, made his way into Jessica's bedroom, put his hand over her mouth, told her to be quiet and then forced her out of the house. JEFF DAWSEY, SHERIFF, CITRUS COUNTY, Florida: There is evidence, through the M.E., of a sexual assault. Sources say it appears Jessica was not killed immediately. Couey might have held her hostage more than a day, possibly two. Investigators say because of Couey's drug haze, quote, "His timelines are all over the place." Couey, the alleged killer, sits in jail, just one town away. He made his first court appearance handcuffed and shackled Sunday morning in front of Circuit Court Judge Stephen Spivey on unrelated charges.
[Stephen Spivey, Judge, Circuit Court:] Do you have any questions of the court this morning?
[John Couey, Alleged Child Killer:] No, sir.
[Dorsey:] Citrus County Shariff officials say charges in the Lunsford case are coming. Jessica's dad wants to see Couey gone for good.
[Mark Lunsford, Jessica Lunsford's Father:] I hope you rot in hell and I hope you get the death penalty. And I hope you can find it somewhere in you to be a man and stand up and take your punishment.
[Dorsey:] John Couey was extradited overnight from Georgia, where he allegedly confessed to killing Jessica and told investigators where her body was buried. Those that knew Jessica, and some who only knew her unfortunate story, packed into Faith Baptist Church, Jessica's church to try to find some comfort after such a senseless crime.
[Rita Soderberg, Churchgoer:] We're all thankful she's heaven now. We're happy about that. It's just sad how the road that she took to get there.
[Dorsey:] The crime scene tape, still visible from the Lunsford's front door. A reminder of a three-week search that came to a horrible end. And the Lunsford family is spending the better part of today making funeral arrangements for Jessica. John Couey is being housed in jail, away from the general population. We are told for his own safety and because of the national attention this case is getting Daryn.
[Kagan:] Sara Dorsey live from Inverness, Florida. Thank you. Programming for you at home, a special edition of "NEWSNIGHT with AARON BROWN" focuses on protecting our children. That's tonight at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific. Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY more on the controversial Terri Schiavo case. Legal analyst Kendall Coffey will be with me. Plus, Gerri Willis has some tips we all need to hear on creating a living will.
[Gerri Willis, Cnn-fn Personal Finance Editor:] Hey there, Daryn. We'll tell you everything you need to know if you want to prevent pain and suffering felt by Terri Schiavo's family. We'll talk about living wills when CNN LIVE TODAY continues.