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Eleven People Killed in Avalanche; Jewel Wrote a Song for Her Son; Emmy Awards Tonight
Aired September 23, 2012 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN HENDRICKS, CNN HOST: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, great to see you. I'm Susan Hendricks.
We begin with a deadly avalanche that swept through these 12 camps on Mount Manaslu when appalled today the eighth highest mountain in the world. A rescue pilot says at least 11 people are dead. An entire camp reportedly swept away when the avalanche hit on high peak. It happened at about 5:00 this morning. Now, rescue efforts are now unfold until tomorrow because of the dangerous weather. We are told the injured have been air lifted to local hospitals, some skiers and over 200 foreign mountaineers grows up to teens of 25 were attempting to climb the mountain and break the world record.
I want to bring in Trey Cook who joins me now from Chemung, France. Trey is editor in chief of epicTV.com, a film company that makes features on CNN climate.
And Trey, you heard from American skier Glen Branch who survived the avalanche this morning. I know it has been a tough day for you all round. We are glad to have you with us. What did Glen say that happened today? And how is he doing.
TREY COOK, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, EPICTV.COM: He's OK, he's a little beat up, he's a little sore, he's got some front teeth, I guess one of his eyes is pretty banged up. But the important thing is that he's OK and he's on his way home.
I spoke to him about 4:30 this afternoon central your time. And he told me that was in a tent next to Greg Costa, one of his fun partners along with one (INAUDIBLE) who was in a tent next to them. And about 4:45, he was reading his bible, reading his daily devotional. And they heard a sound and Greg turned to him and said did you hear that wind? And a second later, he said no, that's an avalanche, he said. Then immediately the avalanche hit them. There was about 25 tents at camp 3. It took them all out and he said it swept him about 300 meters down the mountain over a rock. And when he came to, he was still in his sleeping bag, when he came to rest. He was still on his sleeping bag, still attached, still had his lamp on and punched his way out of the tent. He said that they had all gone to sleep with avalanche transceivers on in case of flash. I guess in case this tragedy happening and he immediately started searching for Greg and Remy and searched for about 10 minutes before he realized that he was barefoot in the snow, at that point I think he found his shoes, he said he found everything in his tent, absolutely everything, but he could not locate Greg and there was no sign of Remy or Remy's tent. HENDRICKS: TREY, any sign of Greg and Remy? What do we know as of yet in terms of these two men? Do we know what the latest is in terms of Greg and Remy, as he said he was looking for them and couldn't find them?
COOK: They -- there was another on the mountain, another team of skiers led by Greg Hill and those guys were immediately on the scene and assisted Glen with his search. And some other guys came up from base camp, evidently all very experienced, have strong skills with their transceivers and they did three different searches and were unable to find any trace of Greg or Remy or Remy's tent. And after the third search, the fog moved in and they have to move down the mountain. That's when Glen called me from base camp.
HENDRICKS: Trey, is there any indication that a climbers here may have that an avalanche is coming or is it like an earthquake, let's say in California where you have no indication that is coming and it could come in any time?
COOK: Well certainly, there have been a lot of snow on the mountain and when I spoke to them. I believe it was on Friday. They called me from camp 2, they had dug out their camp 2 tent had been destroyed by the recent snowfall. So you know, an abundance of snow definitely makes a difference.
But rather than just a normal avalanche, there was a serac fall. There was a serac above the tent that threatened camp 3 and I guess part of camp 2. And it was just a massive serac ball that was probably Glen estimated between 600 and 700 meters wise.
HENDRICKS: Trey, thanks so much for talking with us. We are going to have much more on this story. And of course, our thoughts are with the 11 killed and 38 some missing. Thank you.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sat down today for a one-on-one interview with Piers Morgan. Ahmadinejad is in New York to attend the United Nations general assembly this week. And Piers asked the Iranian president if he's worried that the U.S. will attack his country or were concerns Iran is pursuing nuclear weapon. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST, PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT SHOW: Do you fear that war is imminent? Do you fear that there will be military conflict perhaps even before the end of this year between your country and Israel?
MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Of course, the Zionists are very much - very adventuresome, very much seeking to fabricate things and I think they see themselves at the end of line. And I do firmly believe that think they seek to create opportunities for themselves as their outrageous behaviors.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HENDRICKS: And you can watch that interview with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tomorrow night 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Don't miss that. That is on CNN's "PIERS MORGAN TONIGHT."
You know, the family of an American man who disappeared in Iran five years ago, is hoping meet with Iran's president this week to ask for help. Retired FBI agent Robert Levinson disappeared during a business trip to Iran's Kish Island.
Now, U.S. officials believe he is being held captive somewhere in Southeast Asia. In a video released last year, that was apparently made two years ago. Robert Levinson is asking the U.S. to help him get home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT LEVINSON, MISSING FBI AGENT: Thirty-three years of service to the United States deserves something.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Levinson's wife Christine traveled to New York in the hopes of getting Ahmadinejad involved in situation.
During an interview on CNN, she delivered this message to her husband of 38 years.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTINE LEVINSON, ROBERT LEVINSON'S WIFE: We'll never, ever, ever stop looking for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Now, the FBI has offered a million dollar reward for any information leading to Levinson's safe return.
Now to a police shooting in Houston, an officer shot and killed a double amputee after police say he advanced on the officer's partner in his wheelchair. Police were called initially by the care taker of the group home where the man lived who describe him as schizophrenic and said he was acting aggressively erratically.
Our Nick Valencia has been following this story.
And Nick, when you hear just the basic facts here, you wonder, this guy is in a wheelchair, how could this escalate to a shooting?
NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that was everyone is asking. And that is the fact that we asked to this police department earlier today. But, this all started over candy, cigarettes and soda. This Brian Clench who has been called the suspect by the police, that he became aggressive with his caretakers, after asking for candy and soda and cigarettes of sort at about 2:30 in the morning. That's when the police were called police and when the police got there, Susan, things were sort of escalated. At some point, one of the officers responded in to this darken room, and according to police who we spoke to earlier today, it was the partner, not the officer that was in the corner of the room that fire that fatal shot and the shot, one shot, to the head according to this police, Susan.
HENDRICKS: And of course, that is under investigation. But, what do we know about the group home where this man lived?
VALENCIA: Well, we tried to get in touch, Susan, with group home's director, the owner of the group home. We are unable -- but apparently, according to an interview with our local affiliate and neighbor, said that this wasn't the first time that the police have been called to the business.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A month, to a month and a half ago, you know, the same thing happened. We heard yelling and screaming and we saw them take one or two of the individuals.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VALENCIA: So you see, the neighbors saying that neighbor thought the police had showed up to close down his party, he was having a party the same night that they went to that business there and that's a fatal shooting that took place.
HENDRICKS: And what is the status of the officer?
VALENCIA: Well, it is a good question. This officer, according to reports, was involved in another fatal shooting back in 2009. First standard operating procedure, but according to police department, the officer was put on administrative leave. More details of course will no doubt emerge from this, Susan.
HENDRICKS: Which status quo something like this does happens.
Nick Valencia. Thanks so much.
VALENCIA: Thank you, Susan.
HENDRICKS: You know, New York police are charging the man who jumped into a Rock Zoo tiger den with trespassing. Police say David Villalobos, this man, wasn't drunk or crazy but simply had quote, "a desire to be one with the tiger." You heard it right.
Villalobos is hospitalized with several injuries, most suffered because of leap from a monorail down into that tiger den.
You know, workers at Washington's national zoo, they are heartbroken after the death of a giant panda bear cub. Veterinarians tried to revive the cub after finding it not breathing. They first knew something was wrong when they heard the mother panda hunk in distress.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENNIS KELLY, NATIONAL ZOO DIRECTOR: This is devastating. This is devastating for all of us here. It's hard to describe how much passion and energy and thought and care has gone into this. We have a terrific team that's worked so hard, and I am so confident, so proud of the staff, the volunteers, the scientists, we work that our Chinese colleagues have put into this. So, it is devastating. And this is going to take us time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Now investigators hope that testing will reveal what caused that cub's death. They are thought to be only 1,900 giant pandas in existence (INAUDIBLE).
An uninvited guest turned a sweet 16 party from magic into mayhem and authorities say the whole think began with an invitation posted in the wrong place. Details just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Welcome back.
Pakistan is distancing itself from a bounty on the head of a filmmaker behind that anti-Islam movie even though the $1,000 reward was offered by a government minister. This man invited the Taliban and al-Qaeda to assassinate Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the movie producer said to be in hiding right now.
Meanwhile, Libya's military is taking a stand against militias in the wake of violence that left four Americans dead. The army says fighters have 48 hours to leave bases, public buildings or property belonging to the former regime. Otherwise soldiers will use force to evict them.
And a different kind of violence in Dutch town north of Amsterdam where a sweet 16th birthday party invitation on facebook led to a riot. You see it here, 34 people arrested after the mob smashed store front windows and two cars.
Yoko Ono has just got together with amnesty international to give out peace award. And one of the recipients was Pyotr. He accepted on behalf of his wife, Nadia. She is a member of Pussy Riot, the Russian hunk rock bank given a two-year jail sentence after protest against Russian president Vladimir Putin, you may remember this. Well, he told me how he explains that situation to the couple's 4-year-old daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PYOTR VERZILOV, HUSBAND OF JAILED PUNK BAND MEMBER: You know, Russian politics in a lot of a sense very much like a fairy tale. It has been black and white because Putin in recent years has been taking on the role of this ruthless dictator, who's never going to leave. He's very much really like this evil prince now. So, basically, it's really easy to explain what's happening to a 4-year-old kid. And this is exactly Gayle understands what is happening to her mom and what's happening to Russia. She thinks that Putin as the evil hero has locked up Nadia in the castle in the cage and we have to fight to defeat this evil prince and get her out.
HENDRICKS: I'm always surprised to hear how strong that you sound when talking about your wife and the two other members. Do you ever have bad days about this when you think about how long two years could be without really seeing much of your wife?
VERZILOV: Well obviously, imagine not seeing the person who you love, the person who is very close to you, not only personally but also professionally for two years. Obviously it's an amazing -- it's a very big period of time and, well, it's saying the quiet moments, obviously does give you a very hard feeling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Now, the band supporters are back in court next week to appeal that conviction.
World leaders are coming to the United Nations this week and they thought a lot on their minds including President Barack Obama who takes the world's stage on Tuesday. We have a preview of what the president will say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: While the president and Mitt Romney are on the campaign trail, first lady Michelle Obama is speaking out on voting rights. She spoke at the congressional caucus convention last night about the importance of protecting the right to vote.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, FIRST LADY OF THE UNITED STATES: We all get a say in our democracy, no matter who we are, or where we were from or what we look like or who we love. So we cannot let anyone discourage us from casting our ballots. We cannot let anyone make us feel unwelcome in the voting booth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Now signing up to vote may seem simple enough, but in some states it is not. A lot of states have passed laws that many people say will make it harder to vote. Now, those laws could be game changers this November.
CNN's Jo Johns shows us how.
JOE JOHNS, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: In the past two years, almost every state in the country has introduced or passed some type of change or restriction to the voting laws. Forty-one out of the 50 states since the last midterm election, we are talking about all kinds of changes to the voting laws here for early voting, for voter registration, for absentee ballots. And some of the most controversial changes of all are to laws requiring voters to show photo identification. Eleven states have already gotten photo-id laws and place another six states have photo ID laws that have now been challenge to the courts and are under review. This is going on mostly in Republican controlled states.
We have to say here again and again, polling shows voter id laws are very popular, they make sense to people. Republicans who tend to support these laws say they are needed to avoid voter fraud. But in previous elections and in the primaries this year, we have not seen a significant number of people charged with voter fraud. Democrats who are fighting these laws from state to feat say it doesn't have anything to do with fraud. It's just a plan to try to keep voters and especially minority voters including blacks and Latinos away from the polls on Election Day.
As you might imagine, some of the biggest battles over these laws are being waged in some of the most important battleground states, namely Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida where many people think the presidential election could be decided if it is a close race. The battle is over early voting in Ohio. The Obama campaign is fighting it out in appeals court with Ohio's Republican secretary of state over whether all voters will be allowed to go to the polls on Saturday, Sunday and Monday before Election Day.
And Pennsylvania, where waiting for a judge to re-consider a ruling he made allowing a voter ID law to stay in place. The state's Supreme Court told the media to make use there is enough time for voters to get IDs.
And in Florida it's been a bruising battle over voting rights for the better part of the year. Democrats won a few part of these, Republicans have as well. Now it's coming down to a lawsuit filed by democratic congresswoman Corrine Brown over how many hours, polls will be open for early voting.
And why is all of this important? Well, it's about electoral votes. Ohio has 18, Pennsylvania has 20, and Florida has 29. The candidate who wins or loses these states has a leg up in the race for the White House.
Back to you.
HENDRICKS: Yes. That is key, Joe. Thank you. Appreciate that.
Now, if you would like to see more on the legal battle over voting rights in Florida, Joe Johns has an hour-long documentary premiering next month. Tune in to "who counts" on Sunday, October 14th 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.
And before you can cast a ballot you have to be registered to vote, of course. And out Athena Jones shows us. There's a lot of Americans out there who could have a big impact on the election if they sign up in time to vote.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's a fixture at every Obama campaign rally, a voting call to arms, and Saturday in Wisconsin was no different.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm asking you for your vote.
JONES: Some 73 million Americans are eligible to vote, but aren't registered according to census figures. So, registering people and educating them on how to vote is essential to both campaign campaigns here in Wisconsin, and other states where the race could be very close.
In Virginia, a key battle ground state, the Republican national committee took an advantage of a Romney rally this month in Fairfax to register attendees.
MICHAEL SHORT, REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE: When you have this many people in one place, it makes registering folks a lot easier.
JONES: That is, is also part of the appeal for voters.
LINNEA FARNSWORTH, NEWLY REGISTERED TO VOTE: I went to the library last week, but I hadn't actually done it. This is great to just do it and get it done right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi is your voter registration up to date?
JONES: A few days later, we caught up with Obama supporters in a nearby Harden, Virginia registering voters at local businesses.
LAWRENCE BUSSEY, OBAMA CAMPAIGN VOLUNTEER: The one have the voice in that state vote unless they register. So, that is my purpose. What I try to go where the folks are, in barbershops, beauty parlors, libraries, back to school night. And this is a good place to start.
Where did you live before?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Alexandria.
BUSSEY: Yes, you would need to re-register to vote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENDRICKS: And Athena Jones joins us now, live.
Athena, you talk about registering, the next big step, of course, is turn out for people to register, but people have to show up, right?
JONES: Exactly. And so, you kind a lot to talk about how this is going to be - or there are some thinking this is going to be a largely a base election so the two sides are trying to make sure they can bring out their base. So, for the Obama side, they want to make sure they know that the people who supported the president last time around are going to go back out and vote. And on the Romney side, they want to make sure that their supporters actually get to the poll - Susan.
HENDRICKS: And Athena, what tactics are the campaigns are using to try to boost their turnout. We all know that Obama was considered the first facebook president in 2008. Will they be using social media this time?
JONES: Well certainly, you know, both campaigns are using social media. Both campaigns are doing a lot of similar things. One thing that's been interesting to hear from President Obama himself on this stuff, and also from everyone who introduces him and all the things that goes on around his events, is this big focus on early voting and on voting by mail. Early voting starts in Iowa this coming Thursday. And Iowa is an important battleground state. Absentee voting has already begun in Virginia and in New Hampshire, also battle ground states. And the thing is, according to the campaign, the Obama campaign, the majority of votes came in either early or by mail in several key states that the president won last time around, states like Colorado, Florida, Nevada, North Carolina. So, this is something that's a really big part of their get to vote effort, their ground campaign.
On the Romney side, the surrogates, you may not hear Romney himself much talk about registering to vote, but certainly has started to do an interviews. Another thing that they do is that they make sure that people who requested absentee ballots through their organization, they make sure that they follow up with those people to make sure they actually turned in those ballots. So, that kind of thing, constant voter contact that both sides are really doing to try to make sure that they bring, in all those votes, even all of them come in, many of them come in before Election Day -- Susan.
HENDRICKS: Yes. The absentee ballots, as you know, can be so crucial in that.
Athena Jones, thank you. Good report.
Now coming up today, don't miss a great new Fareed Zakaria special, it's called "global lessons, putting American to work." It airs at 8:00 and 11:00 Eastern and pacific. It is all about how to solve this nation's unemployment problem. Here's a sneak peek at it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FAREED ZAKARIA, CNN HOST, FAREED ZAKARIA GPS: The world's tallest building, over a half a mile high, man-made islands, shaped like a palm tree, sprouting with luxury hotels. There's even an indoor ski slope in this desert Oasis, conveniently located in a shopping mall. Dubai stops at nothing to move tourists. And when tourists come and spend their money, they are like walking job stimulus programs.
FRITZ VAN PAASSCHEN, CEO, STARWOOD HOTELS AND RESORTS: They will create about a million jobs by the end of this decade just from travel and tourism.
Fritz van Paasschen is the CEO of Starwood hotels and resorts, the company that owns the Sheraton, Westin and W hotel branch.
PAASSCHEN: Twenty or 30 years ago, people didn't think of going there. Now if you're in Europe or if you're in Russia, it's a place where people go.
ZAKARIA: By 20, hotel guests are predicted to triple.
PAASSCHEN: This idea that a small city can create a million jobs in a decade? That's an enormous amount of growth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HENDRICKS: Again, it is called "global lessons, putting America to work" tonight 8:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Welcome back.
President Obama arrives in New York to attend the U.N. general assembly tomorrow. Now, the president speaks to the assembly on Tuesday. Administration officials say he is expected to restate his opposition to the online film that insults the Islam religion and denounces the violent act of some protesters. He is expected to do that as well. But that will not be all that has talked about. Expect some fire works with the debate while the U.N. debates some of the world's most contentious issues. So, what is on top, we have Josh Levs. You have a preview for us, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And there is going to be a lot throughout this week. I mean, look. We know that when U.N. nations get together there are always debates. It's very interesting to start pacing through the agenda and see what's there including only issues that are pretty much always there but always lead to similar debates.
Now obviously, major things like Syria will be discussed. But when you take a look, there's some things that you might not realize are want to be in here, or maybe you will. But expect some fireworks around them.
One is the pulpit question of Palestine, this is how it is written inside the U.N. agenda for the week. Keep in mind at one point and instant push for statehood inside the United Nations through UNESCO. And what we are seeing, you know in our won coverage is that, we are expecting a new step on this front after the November elections. Nevertheless, we can expect this to be discussed and some debates surrounded this week.
Also, take a look at this one that's written into the agenda. Israeli "aggression" against Iraqi nuclear installations and you are reading that correctly, Iraqi and here's why. It is looking back in history including military action that Israel took against an Iraqi nuclear site and talking about the consequences of that in today's context. It concerns about the possibility of an Israeli strike at one point potential in Iran. So, that is on the agenda as well.
Let me back to some of this ending the U.S. embargo of Cuba. And the way it's has written in the agenda is quote, "the necessity of ending that embargo." See, a few more hear that are all going to come out this week. The effects of atomic radiation, very interesting topic for a lot of nation that have different takes on this, let's see. We just do one more here, and I feel find this interesting when it's inside the agenda.
They talk about what the U.N.'s role could be in promoting a new global human order. The reason I point to this one, is that some people have concerns when they hear this kind of language at the U.N., that there are some effort to create what will ultimately be some international government taking away national sovereignty along the way, mail like terms like that. There are others who say this is a great way to summarize the idea of nations working together to try to get a lot done. I know we have some video of when this has happened before, the U.N. general assembly every year, every time this meeting has happens.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYING)
LEVS: What you see are some big debates, some issue just kind a go by, but other issues do spark debates in the forum and we obviously wait to see which one has got the most attention this week. But certainly, Afghanistan is going to get a lot of attention and Syria and are some other countries is.
HENDRICKS: So heated debates, Josh as you know, anything really get done though? Is it productive in the long run?
LEVS: Great question. You know, I do a lot now sees on this. Unfortunately, one of the big problems in the world is that the U.N. gets so little done on so many major fronts. And this is - there is a great analysis that I put online on twitter actually from the council on foreign relations that says, that ultimately that usually comes down to nations stating where they stand and getting very little done. But I want to mention quickly, the millennium development goals are a place in which some things are getting done, these are the great big sweeping goals recently the United Nations announced some success in combating poverty around the world, getting water to more people around the world, but lack of success in getting foods to more people on the world, still way too much hunger out there.. Lots more information online, Susan, we will keep a close eye all week.
HENDRICKS: Josh, thanks.
Staying on the topic of the economy next, why the GDP is our biggest economic report card and what kind of grade can we expect?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: Well, there are three big things Wall Street will be watching this week, one thing is a dozy, you could say, it's America's economic report card.
Todd Schoenberger joins me. He is the managing principles, the black bay group. He is in New York.
Todd, good to see you.
TODD SCHOENBERGER, MARKET ANALYST: Thank you for having me.
HENDRICKS: Let's talk about the GDP number, that comes out on Thursday, how key is that, how important?
SCHOENBERGER: Well, it's critical, it's actually going to be quite market influential because Wall Street including Main Street is going to be looking at this number. And what this is a report card, it's going to tell us how the second quarter did for the United States economy. Now, during normal times we should find a two to 2.5 percent rise. But Wall Street is only expecting a growth rate of 1.7 percent. So, we definitely have some work cut out for us.
HENDRICKS: And Todd, as you know, the CEO of Goldman Sachs said this week that austerity measures aren't necessarily going to get you a higher GDP. Is that a message that's resonating on Wall Street right now?
SCHOENBERGER: Well, it is, because you have this fiscal cliff that is looming right now, Susan. And everybody on Wall Street is looking at this thing. We only have a couple of months to really resolve these issues and when Lloyd Blank find us talking about the CEO of Goldman Sachs, he is saying, look, short term budget cuts are not going to do anything for the GDP, you have to have a long-term plan, some type of a strategy that has put into play.
So, we might have Congress that could come out and maybe have some quick solutions from the keepers from jumping off of this fiscal cliff. But realistically, though you need everybody to come together, both Republicans and Democrats and the White House and get everyone together to come up with a long-term plan for budget cuts. That will actually help the GDP down the road.
HENDRICKS: Yes. That is the hope, Todd. We also got the case Shell index live that is a big day on Tuesday. We will know. Is there a full blown recovery under way as many people are hoping?
SCHOENBERGER: Well, I got to tell you, I mean, the housing data right now has been positive. The past couple of months we have seen some real bright spots, with new home sales, existing home sales and housing starts. So, this case sure numbers are going to be interesting. It's actually going to represent what housing values are and 20 of the major metropolitan cities around the country, comes out on Tuesday. We want to see a nice number. This is for July. We are expecting a bit of an uptick of seven tenths of one percent, remains to be seen though, because we want to see some type of sustainability with house values. And I know CNN viewers will be watching that number closely.
HENDRICKS: Yes. It's a big week ahead.
Todd Schoenberger, thank you.
SCHOENBERGER: Thank you.
HENDRICKS: You know the search is on for mountain climbers after an avalanche sweeps down a mountain in Nepal. We are going to talk with an expert climber who survived an avalanche himself about what the climbers are now facing.
And we will get you ready for tonight's Emmy award as well. we are going to take you live to the red carpet ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HENDRICKS: The biggest stars of television are about to hit the red carpet. The show is scheduled to kick off in a couple of hours from now.
CNN's entertainment correspondent Kareen Wynter is live at the red carpet outside the Nokia Theater in downtown L.A.
Hi Kareen. Set the scene for us. Any stars arrive yet, John Han in particular maybe?
KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Susan. They are starting to trickle in. In fact to my right, we are going to see how much talent our cameraman here has on the red carpet. He has lots of talent. So, we will see if he can pan a little bit to the left.
Jesse Tyler Ferguson with "Modern Family" is to my right. He's starting to make his way down the carpet. He is one of the nominees in the comedy category supporting actor category. It is red hot. It is just blazing up.
In a short time from now, there are going to be more stars coming in. And you know, since this is actually going to look kind a like an academy award red carpet and that's because there's so many stars from the big screen, that have now seg way to the small screen. We are talking stars about Nicole Kidman, Julianne Ward (ph), Don Chattel (ph).
So, they are going be making their way down here. We are ready. The fans are ready. Take a look behind me. These people have been in line for hours. It is scorching hot out here. So, I hope they applied an extra layer set of sunscreen and they have the water at the ready.
And as for the night, well, we definitely have our eye on so many categories, in particular, the drama category. We will have to see. You know, every year it is madmen and they have clinched it for the fourth year in a row last year. They are nominated again this year in the big categories. So we will have to see if they win. And if they do, boy, they are going to go down into the history books because it will definitely be a record setter. But they have some competition with other shows on the game like (INAUDIBLE), Breaking fast. So we'll have to see how they fare.
And then the host with the most, Jimmy Kimmel, he is going to keep us all laughing tonight. He is going to be taking the big stage and he says and this is his quote, "you can expect something genuinely weird in terms of entertainment." He is going to keep it going. And he says you know, year after year, sometimes he shows fall flat. I don't want him to fall flat in third in way of the show. So I'm going to keep people laughing. Expect to see things that have never been done before. The Emmy producers have given him creative controls so he is about to. He promises to knock it out of the ballpark. So Jimmy is going to keep us going all night long plus his show has also been nominated. So, we will have to see how Jimmy does.
But, we are ready, ready for the stars to take the red carpet, Susan.
HENDRICKS: He's so talented. I'm looking so forward to Jimmy Kimmel there.
I have to ask you Kareen, who are you wearing?
WYNTER: Susan, I'm so sorry.
HENDRICKS: I was wondering who you are wearing? I think you have to ask people that?
WYNTER: Oh, who am I wearing? I'm wearing the Nicole Miller dress. And we won't pen down because there is a little bit of sweat starting to show. It's so hot. So, we are all trying now, trying to see where there cooler and other control out here. But you doubt we are sweating. We are trying to get through the day and you have to give it to the celebrities, they are the real starts. They have so many different outlets that they can stop and talk to people, and the pressure is on for them. Our job is easy so we'll have to see who makes best dressed at the end of the night.
HENDRICKS: I think it is you Kareen. You need to get her a fan. It's a little hot out there.
Kareen, thank you.
Just ahead, at least 11 climbers swept away in an avalanche. I will talk to a climber who knows one of the survivors. Keep it here.
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HENDRICKS: We have been following the deadly avalanche that swept away a number of camps on Mount Manaslu on a fault today, the eighth highest mountain in the world. A recue pilot says at least 11 people are dead, others are injured after that avalanche take climbers on a high peak at about 5:00 a.m. this morning. Rescue efforts are now on hold until tomorrow because of the danger of bad weather.
I want to bring in pro mountain climber, Conrad Anker, who is in Montana. He is also an avalanche survivor and he has climbed Mount Everest three times.
Conrad, glad you are with us. What is your take on the risk of climbing Mount Manaslu? Is there higher risk on this particular mountain?
CONRAD ANKER, PROFESSIONAL MOUNTAIN CLIMBER: I thank you, Susan, for the invitation. Yes, Mount Manaslu is a particularly dangerous mountain. It is closer to the -- where the moisture comes in from the monsoon and this year they have had more precipitation so reports of the climbing on the mountain has been an increased amount of snow. The serac ice flow delegation triggered a large avalanche and that was the cause of this avalanche. HENDRICKS: Is there ever an indication of when an avalanche is coming as I ask before or is it somewhat like an earthquake let's say. Let's compare it to that where you don't know what is coming and it could happen at any time. You just have to be ready at the desk.
ANKER: When glaciers kind off and shed their naturally occurring ice that forms, it's pretty unpredictable. Very similar to what you would expect in an earthquake. Snow scientists study the structure of the snow, how it bonds one layer onto another. And you have a weak layer and it can slide off like a layered cake and that's what they look at.
But here, we have an instance where there was a lot of snow this season, and then a serac, which is a hanging glacier, capped off and triggered this massive avalanche.
HENDRICKS: You survived an avalanche. Take us through that. What does it feel like to literally be buried in snow? What are the chances of surviving that?
ANKER: We were on (INAUDIBLE) which is in Tibet and it was 13 years ago, the fifth of October, so within two weeks. And it was, again, an avalanche triggered by a serac. The ice stand set the snow off. And my partner Alex Lowe and David Bridges, the two of them were swept up and I survived. And at that moment never leaves from me, and I was probably picked up and thrown 90 feet by the wind blasts and pummeled by the snow and ice, and I thought that was the end of my existence and by some miracle, I survived.
HENDRICKS: It must be so hard to think about that and the people that you lost. We covered on CNN a few months ago someone surviving an avalanche by a new contraption they're using out there. Are more and more climbers and skiers armed with those so they will survive, they will know what to do?
ANKER: You're referring to the airbag system, and something like that is when you trigger an avalanche and you are ready, you can pull it and it's a balloon that inflates with compressed air and then brings it to you to the surface. So when you're in the slide, usually a human triggered the slide is very effective. But in this case, the climbers were in their camp. It was really in the morning, and the best preventive at risk medicine was to be wary of avalanche beacons. And glen take had his avalanche beacon on. He was able to go to standard rescue protocol once her got out of this tent after being thrown for approximately 1,000 feet.
HENDRICKS: Conrad, any thoughts or words that you would like to tell glen who did survive this, who you know?
ANKER: He -- Glen is the same age as I am. We paralleled careers. He is a ski mountaineer. And I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and my heart goes out to him. And being in his shoes is tough. Survival skill is a bear that doesn't learn easily.
HENDRICKS: We are so happy you spoke glad you spoke to us today about this.
Conrad, appreciate your time. Thanks.
ANKER: Thank you, Susan.
HENDRICKS: Just ahead, she has sold millions of albums and now Jewel has a new project and it's inspired by her son. Take a look, how cute. Jewel talks with us about it, coming up.
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HENDRICKS: Jewel has been nominated for four Grammys. Her debut album sold 12 million copies. She's a singer, song writer, an actress, a poet, a producer. Now you can add children's book author to that list. Her new book is inspired by her son. It's called "that's what I do." Fredricka Whitfield has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST, NEWSROOM: Congratulations on the book. It's so sweet!
JEWEL, SINGER, AUTHOR: Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: So tell me, what inspired you to write this book?
JEWEL: I wrote this song for him when I was pregnant, and as I was writing the lyrics out into a notebook, it really struck me that I wanted to make it into a children's book and have it illustrated. So a year later, here I am.
WHITFIELD: Here you are. So was it a difficult thing to do, to kind of extrapolate what you had written, you know, for music and now putting it on the pages?
JEWEL: I'd like to say it was an arduous process that took a lot of time to craft. But honestly, it's the exact lyrics from the song. So, what I had that done, it's sort of in song form in here. It rhymes, which I really like because I want to teach my son rhyming when he gets a little bit older. I mean, at least his sentiment. You know, this is a love letter to my son. I want him to know how loved he was and all the things I would do for him because I love him, and I want to give that to other parents as well.
WHITFIELD: Would you mind reading, maybe, a favorite you know, a verse or two?
JEWEL: Yes. If I had a sun, I would put yellow in a brush and paint you in a portrait you could feel and touch. The sun would hit your face from my picture fill up with night. And as darkness came, the canvass would fill up at night. That's what I do, do, do, do because I love you, you, you, you.
WHITFIELD: It is very rhythmic. In fact, we have a little portion of that CD that is included in the book and we are going to listen to it right now.
(MUSIC CLIP PLAYING) WHITFIELD: How sweet. What's his response when he hears your music?
JEWEL: He loves music. I don't know if he loves my music or not, but he seems to be agreeable to it. He really enjoys of the book. He likes pointing to all the animals and all the things that he recognizes in the book. It's a unique gift I'm able to give to him.
WHITFIELD: Is there any way you can recognize whether he might be musical, too?
JEWEL: He likes my guitar and he loves music, but I think all babies do. So, we will have to just see in time, but whatever he wants to do, I'm 100 percent supportive.
WHITFIELD: Let's talk about some of the other projects you have in the works. You shot right here in Atlanta a movie about the life of June Carter Cash. You have a lot in common with her, you know, besides the kind of musical background. Both of you singer/songwriters, coming from musical families. Is that kind of what lured you to that part?
JEWEL: I was very honored to get to play June Carter Cash. A lot of people know her as Johnny Cash's husband - or wife but not really as her own artist in her own right. And she really was. She was a comedian, she wrote her own skits, she wrote songs. A lot of people don't realize she actually wrote "the ring of fire."
So, I was really honored. You know, I'm not an actress, so one of the things that drew me, aside from my affection for her, was really the challenge of the role. Not many women are offered scripts that are so dramatic that cause such a transformation. I was very honored to take that opportunity and hopefully run with it.
WHITFIELD: God. And speaking of transformation, that picture, we are going to show it again, is one that you tweeted. This is your transformation of June Carter Cash. What did it take to kind of become her?
JEWEL: I studied her a lot. Luckily the internet, you know there's so many videos of her when she was in her 20s, and I really imitated her walk and her talk and her speech and her rhythm. And it was very fun to transform into her mentally, emotionally and through my voice. But when I got to set, I had a wig, I had blue eyes, I had prosthetic teeth. It really just put it over the top.
WHITFIELD: Wow. All right, the movie will be on lifetime later on this year. Of course, we all look forward to that, and we can enjoy your book right now "that's what I do."
Jewel, thanks so much for being with us and thank you for sharing this beautiful musical message to all moms and dads that they can share with their kids.
JEWEL: Thanks for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HENDRICKS: It looks like a great book.
And Jewel is also raising money for breast reconstruction awareness. She is donating proceeds from downloads of her song "Flower" for research in charitable care breast reconstruction patients. She is also performing a benefit concert in New Orleans at the end of October.
That will do it for me. CNN NEWSROOM continues right now with Don Lemon.
Have a great week - Don.