struck is the shore, was captured on video by helicopter crews above and a passenger train with an unknown number of people on board is unaccounted for along the part of the cost is the tsunami hit. a ship carrying 100 people is also missing after it was swept away. the massive earthquake struck the northeast coast of japan s main island, about 250 miles northeast of the capital tokyo. and u.s. and japanese seismologists say it was the 5th strongest tremor worldwide since 1900 and the 7th strongest in history. and the quake was followed by a series of strong aftershocks, which are still continuing now. the tsunami waves it triggered swept into the coast a few hours later and many people were able to escape because of warnings given, but tides of blackwater tossed ships, cars and even buildings, aside, and destroyed everything in its path. back to you, bill.
more during daring helicopter rescues in brazil. it is all caught on camera. helicopter crews use standing baskets to rescue people from a river. drain triggered flooding and mudslides and killed over 700 people in the region. that is a spectacular and deadly explosion in philadelphia last night. it sent up that monstrous fireball, destroyed one house and sparked a raging blaze. one person inside a home was kill and five others hurt. the neighborhood was evacuated and investigating reports of a natural gas leak before that blast. it is not as great as winning a lottery ticket.
gregg: oh, my gosh. these two pilots are in a load of hot water after the cell phone video emerged showing one of $33 million taxpayer funded aircraft dropping into lake tahoe. apparently this was not a training exercise. officials telling nbc news the helicopter crews were trying to take photos of each other s choppers hovering above the lake. they hit the water and managed to regain altitude but the aircraft suffering $50,000 in damage. i guess you and i and everybody are going to have pay for that one. good news for the obama administration mortgage relief program. as of august, 680,000 homeowners
possibility. the good news here is that there have been two oiled birds that have been captured, rehabilitated and released into the wild. it s good that we haven t seen more than that. there are teams of crews and helicopter crews that are scouring the landscape for oiled animals and they haven t seen any yet. good news. remember, the bulk of what we ve seen is sheen. she s animals are just not smart enough to distinguish between a water and sheen, and if they see a bird or a fish from the air they re going to go after it. so down the road, the longer term effects, we just don t know what s going to happen. certainly they test the food coming out of the gulf on a daily basis and when that red flag goes up, it will go up and it hasn t yet and that s the big fear about the long-term effects. more immediate term, it s out on the gulf affecting the fish. whether or not that slick gets to shoreline, that s up to speculati speculation, how long that takes to get here and the longer term
gripping video that s just gone public has the pentagon taking a second look at a deadly and controversial u.s. helicopter assault in iraq that left nine people dead, including two journalists. you saw the video here in the situation room this week, but now there are new questions about whether the helicopter crews followed the pentagon s rules of engagement. cnn s mohammed jamjoom is in baghdad. he s been talking to the family of one of the journalists. but let s begin with our pentagon correspondent, barbara starr, she s here. the incident is being ve investigated because it s causing a huge uproar. a u.s. military official is telling cnn, quote, we are looking at this matter in its entirety. reporter: u.s. military lawyers are now scrutinizing this 2007 video, showing an attack by apache helicopter gunships in baghdad asking themselves if an initial