or two in some spots. water is still rising in parts of the country. we begin with hurricane irene. the storm s impact will be felt for months after the winds died down. the death toll rising to at least 27 people. along with the estimated cost, the cost of cleaning up this mess from north carolina through new england, obama administration officials will visit three states today that were hit hard by hurricane irene. virginia, north carolina and vermont. where floodwaters are still r e rising, higher than they ve been there in 80 years. the governor saying entire communities in his state are under water with hundreds of residents still trapped. 260 loads washed out by flooding in the state making the effort to reach people who need help that much harder. amber lion is live in saxton river, vermont. the governor says in some cases, they can t even get into these towns to assess the damage. in other cases, these towns have been wiped out. i mean, that is the biggest issue fac
good morning. we begin with lingering misery caused by hurricane irene. you re looking at live pictures now from patterson, new jersey, where crews are actually going door-to-door rescuing people from their homes. that water, by the way, coming from the passaic river is supposed to crest today at its highest level since 1903. a pretty eye-catching image of how massive the storm was. this is coming to us from nasa. it s an animated satellite of irene as it s churning up the eastern seaboard like a buzz saw. at last check, 5 million people are still without power. throughout the morning, the death toll has been jumping as well. 38 people are now confirmed dead in 11 states and it could get even higher. three navy ships off the coast of new york to help with search and rescue missions and reps from the obama administration are going to fan out across three of the hardest hit states, virginia, north carolina, and vermont. let s go ahead and start there where floodwaters have dest
washington on capitol hill as democrats and republicans prepare to vote on the last-minute budget deal packed with billions of dollars in spending cuts. so what is really on the chopping block? i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room. but up first, to a near nuclear meltdown in japan where a fresh round of intense quakes are rocking parts of the already disaster-battered country. until today, the crisis at the fukushima daiichi plant was rated at a number five. three mile island, the worst ever in the united states. now the japanese suddenly declaring it at a level seven. that s the highest rating on the international scale. that s equivalent to the 1986 chernobyl disaster in the ukraine. reporter: the change in the level reminds us that this accident is very big, says the government s point man in the crisis. i apologize to the residents of the area, the people of japan, and the international community. but activists aren t accepting the apology. for me it lo
why would i want to consider having sex with a 17-year-old woman who is under age. no one needs to find out. that s exactly what i said. what do you think we should do about that. what do you want me to do? i want to [ bleep ] you. you want to [ bleep ] me? amber lyon here. now very disturbing. yeah. i mean imagine being on the other end of those phone calls, fred, it was tough to deal with after a while. you know, i just wanted to throw the phone across the room. it s pretty remarkable you re being this open and honest and so apparently are they. i told the guys on the phone, several of them, 15, 16, 127 years old which was illegal in the state and they still agreed to come out and meet me for sex. they didn t seem to care. you ended up getting the sex trafficking invitations.
underage. and in a year-long investigation, cnn s amber lyons, reveals the devastating realities of the sex trade business involving young girls. i m going to sell myself for sex on backpage.com just like a 12-year-old girl we found. her ad is almost identical for one used to sell a 12-year-old girl for sex. except that we used a picture of me when i was a young teen. iwas quite awkward calling my dad and asking him to send me a picture of myself when i was 14 so i could post a sex ad online. i have a copy of her exact ad. it says, my name is winter and i would love to meet new people. there i am at 14. let s see if we get any calls. four minutes later, the phone rings. hello. i tell the callers i m under age.