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Garay reports from Houston on consumers' travel plans for the holiday weekend despite the high price of gas. Fisher discusses the Fisher House's efforts to help war veterans
Aired May 25, 2007 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: -- in the CNN NEWSROOM.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And at the top this hour, packing up and getting out. Cue the music -- a little Ricky Nelson for you this morning. Millions of Americans are doing that right now, hitting the road this Memorial Day weekend. It is the unofficial start of summer and one of the biggest travel holidays of the year. But before many of you go elbow to elbow on the beach, you'll go bumper to bumper on the highway. Roads and airports are expected to be jammed with about 38 million travelers this weekend. According to AAA that's an increase of almost two percent from last year.
COLLINS: Most of those travelers, more than 32 million in fact, will be driving. That's up 1.8 percent from last year despite record- high gas prices, that's a little bit of a surprise. AAA puts the average price for a gallon of regular gas at around $3.23. So, how high does gas have to go before Americans cut back on their driving? A "Washington Post"/ABC News poll found Americans won't put it in park until prices hit $4.38 a gallon.
So here's a question for you, Memorial Day weekend travelers, driving or flying? Which is cheaper? Expert advice coming up in the NEWSROOM.
HARRIS: Running the rapids in Killeen, Texas. This is not a river, it is a highway in the central Texas city, flooded after heavy rains moved across the state. Killeen police say every intersection in the city was flooded. Power lines were knocked over. Cars sent floating down streets. Despite all the high water and this dramatic rescue, no injuries reported.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: I want to show you some pretty dramatic pictures right now. Look at this out of our affiliate KTLA in Los Angeles providing these pictures. The aerials of a warehouse fire right now not far from the 10 freeway in California, San Bernardino freeway. Still a lot of questions we don't have answers to at this point, when it started, if anyone has been injured. The early reports indicate no injuries. But we're still checking on that. When it started? How did it start? How many units responded? But as you can see, firefighters have their hands full with this fire right now. We will continue to follow this and bring you updates as we get additional information here in the NEWSROOM. COLLINS: Democrats say they've lost a battle. But they'll keep fighting against the war. Congress sending President Bush a war spending bill with no timetable to leave Iraq. Here is congressional correspondent Dana Bash.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Make no mistake about it, Democrats were not happy about giving in to the president's demand for a war spending bill with no time line for withdrawal.
REP. STENY HOYER, (D) MAJORITY LEADER: The fact is this is simply the best bill we could put together and that would be signed. It's a political reality. It is not what we want to pass.
BASH: In fact, opposition to Iraq has grown so intense --
REP. JAMES MCGOVERN, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: Just show me the money! That's all he wants. Mr. Speaker, I simply can't support it.
BASH: Nearly two-thirds of House Democrats voted against funding the war with no plan to end it, even the Democratic chairman who wrote the bill.
REP. DAVID OBEY, (D) APPROPRIATIONS CHAIRMAN: I hate this agreement. I'm going to vote against the major portion of this agreement even though I negotiated it. Because I think that the White House is in a cloud somewhere in terms of understanding the realities in Iraq.
BASH: But the vote was especially wrenching for two leading senate Democrats running for president, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Both had made promises not to withhold funding for troops in harms way. But in a dramatic turn, both voted against the war spending bill because it did not include a timetable to end the war, something staunchly anti-war Democratic primary voters demand. Many Democrats called the funding bill another blank check for the war, but it does have conditions. If Iraqis don't show political and military progress, the measure threatens to cut off their economic aid and it forces the president to revise his Iraq strategy. Not what Democratic leaders wanted, but they vowed to keep trying.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, paraphrasing the words of Winston Churchill. When it comes to forcing the president change course in Iraq, Senate Democrats will never give in, never give in, never, never, never.
BASH (on camera): This measure may not have a timetable for troop withdrawal. But for the first time, the president will get and sign a bill that directly challenges his strategy in Iraq. A bill that passed with a healthy amount of Republican support that is a significant shift when it comes to the politics of Iraq. Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE) HARRIS: The Pentagon gets about $100 billion from the war spending bill, most of that pays for Iraq and Afghanistan. But the bill also includes a minimum wage increase. The first in a decade and billions in domestic spending like $3 billion for military health care programs. Almost $6.5 billion for hurricane relief along the gulf coast. $3 billion in drought relief for farmers and $650 million for children's health insurance programs.
COLLINS: Rushing relief to Lebanon, a convoy of Red Cross trucks crossing in from Syria today with aid for thousands of Palestinian refugees. The civilians caught up in fighting between a Lebanese army and al Qaeda-inspired militants. Military aid also being rushed in by U.S. and Arab allies. The first American military flights arriving today. U.S. military officials say the cargo includes various types of ammunition to be used by the Lebanese army. They say sending such aid from U.S. stocks in Kuwait will not hurt the war effort in Iraq and Afghanistan.
HARRIS: North Korean missile tests. Reports out of Japan and South Korea say several short range missiles were fired into the Sea of Japan. North Korea launched several test missiles in the past including a long-range model which experts believe could reach parts of the U.S. Last year it rattled the world by conducting its first nuclear weapons test.
COLLINS: I want to go ahead and get you updated on this fire in L.A. that we've been telling you about. These pictures coming into us from our affiliate there KTLA-Los Angeles. Boy, some pretty stubborn flames as you can see. We know it's a two-alarm fire. No injuries to report at this time. But specifically this is a warehouse in City Terrance, that's an unincorporated part of Los Angeles County. Two alarms responding to the fire. Quite a few people as you see them trying to douse the flames. Trying to find you some new information here that we are getting in. We are going to continue to watch this, though, and make sure we bring anything new to you once we learn it.
HARRIS: A new day dawns for commuters in and around San Francisco. The Oakland Freeway that collapsed less than a month ago is open to traffic today. You may remember state officials initially said it would take months to repair the span. One expert, a Berkeley professor, questions whether the speedy repair job has compromised the safety of the structure. The freeway was brought down by intense fire after a gas tanker crashed. See you later, alligator. Reggie has been nabbed. The gator lived in a Los Angeles lake almost two years. Apparently, someone's pet that got too big. City workers and gator wranglers have been keeping an eye on him. They finally made their move yesterday. Reggie wrestled into submission. His jaws taped shut and hauled off to the zoo.
COLLINS: Helping wounded warriors. How your frequent flyer miles can help unite injured service members and their families. The vice chairman of Fisher House will be joining us coming up next in the NEWSROOM.
PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Paula Hancocks in Baghdad. The anti-American Shiite cleric Muqtada al Sadr is back in the public eye for the first time in months. But why? That's coming up.
HARRIS: Home improvement for big time drug dealers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They removed the dry wall below the meter and they tapped into the main electrical lines.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Pot farms coming indoors. Maybe to your neighborhood in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: Drinking and driving, a time-honored tradition?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the American way. It's a classic.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: No way says one group. Outrage over what this liquor store has been selling, coming your way in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Good morning everyone, welcome back. I'm Tony Harris and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Pain at the pump this holiday weekend. We will tell you how much and how it may affect your travel plans. Just ahead in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. Returning with a vengeance. Radical Muslim cleric Muqtada al Sadr back in public and as fiery as ever. CNN's Paula Hancocks has the story in Baghdad. Paula, what did al Sadr have to say? We saw him there in public.
HANCOCKS: Well, Heidi, it was pretty much what he has been saying all along, the U.S. troops should leave Iraq. Now this is the first time we've seen him in public for months. And he made his first appearance leading Friday prayers at the Pupa mosque near the holy city of Najaf. This happened just a few hours ago. He also said as well as telling the Americans they should leave Iraq, saying that he was disappointed seeing his Mehdi army, his militants and working against the Iraqi army and the Iraqi police. He said that he doesn't believe the Iraqis should be fighting each other, instead, they should unite against what he calls the common enemy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MUQTADA AL-SADR, IRAQI SHIITE CLERIC: From time to time we hear of clashes between our brothers in the Mehdi army and the brothers of the Iraqi army and police. Pay attention. This is an important point. As far as I know, the occupation is behind us. Creating an excuse for it to stay in our beloved Iraq. So don't give it a reason, please.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
HANCOCKS: Now al Sadr has been saying for some time the U.S. troops should leave Iraq. And he has been telling Nouri al Maliki, the prime minister and his government, that there should be a deadline, they should call for a timetable. Now they didn't do that so what al Sadr has done over the past couple of weeks is pull his particular cabinet ministers out of the government itself. And maybe one of the reasons why al Sadr turned up today of all days is because yesterday on Thursday Nouri al Maliki replaced those six that he already pulled out. Heidi?
COLLINS: Paula, do we know where he's been hiding all this time, maybe not even hiding, but reading some reports here that it's thought he may have been in Iran.
HANCOCKS: Well, the U.S. military has been saying all along that they believed he was in hiding in Iran. Ever since the start of the year when we really saw this Baghdad security push from the U.S. troops themselves. Now, of course this was early February. We haven't seen al Sadr since then. We haven't seen him since the beginning of the year at least. But al Sadr's aides say that he hasn't been anywhere. He hasn't left Iraq. If he does go to Iran, then he does that on a number of occasions anyway. This is not hiding.
COLLINS: Interesting. All right, Paula Hancocks live from Baghdad this morning. Paula, thank you.
HARRIS: Insurgents preying upon familiar targets in Iran today. A suicide bomber struck outside of a police station in Mahmoudiya. That's about 60 miles north of Baghdad. At least four police officers were wounded. To the south, three bullet riddled bodies reportedly found in Baquba. That is a hot bed of insurgent activity. All three believed to be victims of sectarian violence.
COLLINS: From the field to the homes, suburban pot farms. We've come a long way from a sun lamp and a couple of plants. CNN's Ted Rowlands explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the outside, there doesn't seem to be anything unusual about this house or this one. Neighbors had no idea.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's shocking, actually.
ROWLANDS: These and dozens of other suburban homes, police say, were sophisticated secret indoor pot farms.
DENNIS WERNER, LA COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: There could literally be hundreds more of these in unsuspecting neighborhoods.
ROWLANDS: Los Angeles County Sheriff's Captain Dennis Werner says criminals are moving their operations from the fields inside where they can control the environment. Instead of just one annual harvest outside, they can now get up to six plus the potency and therefore price is much higher with indoor crops like these. In fact, believe it or not, this house was set up to generate millions a year in profits.
WERNER: Every inch of the house of the living quarters had been converted into a basically marijuana grow.
ROWLANDS: Walls were knocked down and replaced with timed lighting and water systems. A ventilation system was put in, even the electricity into the home had been bypassed to steal power and to hide usage level that's could raise suspicion.
WERNER: They removed the dry wall below the meter and they tapped into the main electrical lines.
ROWLANDS: Twenty-one hundred plants were found growing in this house, each according to investigators could easily produce a pound of high-grade marijuana annually. That means this house alone could potentially generate more than $5 million of pot a year. Growing marijuana in suburbia is nothing new. It's the premise of the quirky "Showtime" drama "Weeds" where a housewife grows and deals pot.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've seen them in Michigan, New York City, down in Florida. So really it is sort of across aboard.
ROWLANDS: DEA Special Agent Sarah Pullen says a rise in suburban pot houses may be tied to increased border security, forcing operations originally in Mexico and Canada to move to the United States. She also says quiet relatively crime-free neighborhoods are perfect for organized crime rings to hide from law enforcement and from other criminals.
(on camera): These are expensive homes. Why do it here?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we're seeing is typically when the individuals purchase these homes, they are purchasing them with no money down. These are typically newer neighborhoods where a lot of neighborhoods don't know one another.
ROWLANDS (voice-over): Most pot house busts are from tips or fires caused by makeshift wiring. Investigators say oftentimes once they have one house, it leads them to others. In northern California, federal investigators used real estate records and other documents to uncover a string of about 50 pot houses tied to an Asian crime organization.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard a lot of drilling going on and then they painted the windows in the garage and stuff, you know. They were never here.
ROWLANDS: Investigators say they suspect hundreds if not thousands of suburban homes are currently being used to grow pot. Bringing in millions of dollars of revenue for drug dealers and a new element of crime to suburbia. Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles. (END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: The National Guard stretched thin in a disaster, would it be able to answer the call? Find out in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: A reminder this Memorial Day weekend, turn your frequent flyer miles into hero miles. Fisher House will use those miles to transport servicemen and women wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan and their families to treatment centers around the country. Go to fisherhouse.org. We're going to be talking with Arnold Fisher coming up in just a few minutes right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Making their mark this Memorial Day weekend, gas prices, sky high, averaging around $3.23 a gallon according to AAA. The most expensive gas can be found in Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, California, and where you live on the other end of the spectrum, New Jersey, the only state with gas that's below the $3 mark, averaging $2.95 a gallon.
COLLINS: To go cups now stopped at one liquor store. But changing the culture. A little tougher. Tom Jones of Atlanta affiliate WSB reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the American way, it's a classic.
TOM JONES, WSB (voice-over): Ben Hill Package Store employee Chris Nelson is not happy state alcohol agents are forcing the store to stop selling cups of ice.
CHRIS MELTON, STORE EMPLOYEE: These guys have a hard day at work. And they come to the liquor store, buy a cup of ice. Get a cup, most people -- I'm not saying all of them -- before they get home they're going to drink and drive.
JONES: He says that as a message on the store's cash register urges customers not to drink and drive.
LATRESSE SNEAD, EXEC. DIR., GEORGIA MADD: To give somebody a cup of ice along with the sale of alcohol, it's just there's something wrong about that. I think it sends a mixed message.
JONES: Latresse Snead with Mothers Against Drunk Driving says it's clear customers plan to drink and drive when buying a cup of ice and alcohol, especially when purchasing cups at the drive through. She thinks that's highly irresponsible.
SNEAD: They don't know if that person that they just sold that alcohol and that cup of ice to has kids in the car.
JONES: Someone phoned Snead about the store selling cups of ice and liquor through the drive through. She told us about it. And we sent a WSB TV employee through the drive through. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ok, let me get two cups -- one with ice.
JONES: The clerk soon returned with the cups of ice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That would be a violation.
JONES: We showed our video to state alcohol enforcement chief David Dyal.
DAVID DYAL, GA. ALCOHOL ENFORCEMENT CHIEF: They can't do that. And then you have people drinking in the open. That's a violation of open container laws.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm here to do an inspection of the business.
JONES: Dyal sent agents to the store and after noticing this ice cooler for the to go cups, the store was told to get rid of it and received a warning for the violation. The store's owner says he had no idea he couldn't sell cups of ice.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know that.
JONES: You didn't know?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, nobody informed me.
JONES: Employee Chris Melton told us the ice cup prohibition won't change his customers' habits.
MELTON: They're going to do it the American way. They're going to have a drink while they're driving.
DONZELLA JAMES, SON KILLED BY DRUNK DRIVER: I am shocked. I am very upset.
JONES: Donzella James was appalled to hear the store has sold liquor and cups of ice.
JAMES: We need to stop the madness.
JONES: James' 18-year-old son was killed not far from here by a five-time drunk driver who had open containers in his truck. As for the store employees comments' --
MELTON: It's the American way, it's a classic.
JAMES: I wish you had asked him what if your child gets killed or your loved one gets killed because of somebody who buys a cup in here and has a drink on the way home?
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: The Georgia Alcohol Dealers Association says cups of ice can be sold as long as they have a lid. The state says that's wrong. HARRIS: Dollars but no deadlines. A war spending bill on its way to President Bush. But Democrats say they've got more fight left in them. That's ahead in the NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: And congressional treasure hunt just follow the fine print.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for it on there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's on page 1,384. And it's somewhere in this fine print I'm thinking.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Look for it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right down here.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: There he goes. Secretly spending your tax dollars. Keeping them honest in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: So here we go, the bottom of the hour.
Welcome back to the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone.
I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Heidi Collins.
It feels like Friday, doesn't it?
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: It's beautiful out there.
People are gearing up for the Memorial Day holiday.
HARRIS: Traveling man, Ricky Nelson.
COLLINS: We've got music.
Yes.
We don't normally have music. This is big for us.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: So if you go by plane, bus and car, look at this. Americans are certainly on the move this Memorial Day weekend. AAA predicts 38 million people will be traveling. A majority of them will be driving despite those record high gas prices.
Reporting from Houston, Texas now, Mark Garay with KTRK.
MARK GARAY, KTRK-TV CORRESPONDENT: From Houston, Texas, it's going to cost you a lot more to drive this holiday weekend. But that's not stopping you, at least according to AAA Texas, which indicates more than three million Texans will hit the road.
Nationally, the price of gas is going to hit $3.23 a gallon over Memorial Day weekend. That's up is $0.37 from last year. But it's not stopping Americans from getting away. Just over 32 million people across the country are set to hit the road.
Published reports are indicating the theory behind leaving early today may be flawed. Increasingly, traffic in Houston is building around noon the Friday before holiday weekends and experts say it's really just best to wait out the weekend rush until at least after 6:00 p.m. That gives the roads a chance to thin out, minimize your need to reach for a little antacid.
Many people typically think leaving work early is a good idea to beat the rush. But, once again, experts say that's just not the case.
Reporting from Houston, Mark Garay, CNN.
HARRIS: Rob Marciano, help us with some -- some traveling weather. We've had traveling music from Ricky Nelson. We couldn't do anything better than -- all right, it's fine.
COLLINS: I thought that was your choice.
HARRIS: No. No. I'm trying to find some "Hot Fun in the Summertime" with Sly and the Family Stone...
COLLINS: Yes.
HARRIS: ... some Will Smith.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And we've got to...
HARRIS: And we end up with Ricky Nelson -- Rob.
COLLINS: It's a three hour show. We -- we like that.
MARCIANO: It's a three hour show and I...
HARRIS: No. We need iTunes. We don't have OSHA (ph). I can't -- I'm giving away trade secrets. I'm sorry.
MARCIANO: You know, the last thing we need is D.J. T. Harris and the ones and twos, you know, spin the oldies but goodies, as we head toward summertime.
COLLINS: That's exactly what we need.
What you are talking about? (WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Well, dollars but no deadlines -- a war spending bill with no timetable for leaving Iraq is on its way to President Bush. It provides almost $100 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The bill also includes benchmarks for the Iraqi government to meet, but it allows President Bush to waive them.
Democrats dropped their demand for a timeline for withdrawal from Iraq, but they vow to keep up their fight against the war.
COLLINS: Memorial Day -- a time to honor America's fallen heroes.
But CNN is also putting the spotlight on helping wounded warriors.
Arnold Fisher is vice chairman of Fisher House. That's a program that provides lodging for service members receiving medical care, as well as their families, so they can be right beside them.
He is with us from our New York bureau now to talk about a new rehabilitation center and the Hero Miles Program.
Arnold Fisher, nice to see you.
Thanks for being with us.
ARNOLD FISHER, FISHER HOUSE: Thank you.
COLLINS: I know this is a very busy weekend for you and for the Fisher Houses in general.
Just in case we have some people out there who aren't familiar, can you give us a little detail on what the Fisher House is all about?
FISHER: Well, my uncle Zack started to build Fisher Houses in 1991 to house families of those men and women who have been wounded and are in military hospitals.
We have since started to build houses -- Fisher Houses -- at veterans hospitals. We have 37 active houses now, one more opening next month, three under construction and 21 more in the next four years.
COLLINS: It's an incredibly ambitious plan.
And I know that just recently that two brand new ones that opened up were down at the Center for the Intrepid in San Antonio, where I saw you last.
And as we look at some of these pictures of the family members being able to live together in these really terrific accommodations -- at least the two homes I have been to that we're looking at now in San Antonio -- absolutely wonderful because they feel like home.
What's the sort of feedback that you get from the families?
FISHER: Well, it's -- we found when we started to talk about building CFI, the Center for the Intrepid, we found out it was just as important for the families to be next to the men and women who are being rehabilitated.
COLLINS: Right.
FISHER: They want to go home. They've been away. They want to go home and see their families.
But if their families are with them, they will have the patience to finish up their rehab.
COLLINS: Right.
FISHER: And so the family accommodations next to the center was all important.
COLLINS: And I know that you have been involved since the get go with all of this.
What -- what has that been like personally for you?
Why do you want to do this?
FISHER: My family has been very fortunate in this country to achieve the success we have. And as my uncle once said, that you just don't take from this country, you have to give back to this country.
And these young men and women that are fighting this war -- whether we agree with the war or not -- they are doing such a fabulous job. They are such great young people that we have to take care of them. It's very important that they understand that the American people care about them.
COLLINS: I know that you have given housing -- 10,000 rooms to families, $85 million worth of housing.
I want to touch quickly on something that I heard you say at that podium in San Antonio. You stood in front of the brand new Center for the Intrepid on ground-breaking day and you said, you know, this is our military. These are our men and women fighting. Forget the government. Look at what we can do as private citizens.
How do you motivate people and explain to them that this is a worthy cause and that they should donate their own dollars?
FISHER: Well, originally the government was going to build this rehab center. But you know the way the government works. It takes time. And so we -- a group of businessmen in New York and around the country got together and we raised $50 million...
COLLINS: Yes, in like three hours or, so right?
FISHER: Well, about 3-and-a-half hours. And we built the 65,000 square foot Center for the Intrepid, which is the foremost rehabilitation center in the world. And we did it in half the time that the government would take, at half the cost the government would pay and twice the quality.
COLLINS: Yes. And it is a world renowned facility.
COLLINS: Hey, before we let you go, Arnold, I want to make sure that we get you to talk to us briefly about this Hero Miles Program that we are trying to explain to people about over the Memorial Day holiday.
Tell us a little bit about it.
FISHER: Well, what -- when servicemen and women are brought back to the United States and they go into hospitals to be rehabilitated or to be medicated, the families might live 1,000 miles away or 2,000 miles away.
COLLINS: Sure.
FISHER: And so we've amassed -- Fisher House has amassed through public donations air miles. And that we buy the tickets for the families to come and stay with these wounded in the hospitals. And the more air miles we get, the more we can take care of the families.
COLLINS: And keep them all together.
Boy, that is certainly that is something so very helpful to them.
So you have done an excellent job, you and Ken, with carrying on the vision of your uncle.
And we appreciate you being here today.
We wish you a wonderful Memorial Day holiday.
And we're going to get an update on that -- what is that, the ship -- the Intrepid.
FISHER: Yes.
COLLINS: We're going to take a live shot here in a minute.
Look at that. There she is now, just about to come out of dry dock, I think, for the massive restoration that you guys are doing.
FISHER: It'll take another year before she comes back.
COLLINS: Yes, before people can go and visit and see all of that work.
FISHER: Right.
COLLINS: Well, we will be there for it.
Thanks so much, Arnold Fisher. A pleasure talking to you.
FISHER: Thank you.
COLLINS: And just reminder, can you go to cnn.com/cominghome for more special coverage and powerful stories of pride and sacrifice and service or to get more information on the Fisher House Hero Miles Program.
HARRIS: You aced it as a teen, but could pass a driver's license test today?
Many motorists can't. We're talking about it with our guest.
In the meantime, the rules of the road.
A red flashing light means yield, stop or caution?
The answer in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Congressional cafe open for business. Pork's on the menu again. But you still have to look closely to find how they're spending your money.
CNN's Drew Griffin is keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We're on a treasure hunt, looking for your money.
Let's start with $2 million, your tax dollars right here. Listen...
(on camera): I think I hear a plane.
(voice-over): This is the tiny airport in tiny and remote Rice Lake, Wisconsin. Pull up a chair, grab a magazine, a newspaper, because it's going to take a while to show you how your federal tax dollars were spent here.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
GRIFFIN (voice-over):
(on camera): I think I hear a plane.
JERRY STITES, AIRPORT MANAGER: It's a pretty slow day. So if we had known you were coming, I'm sure we would have been busier.
GRIFFIN: We'll get back to how Congress spent your money in Rice Lake in a moment.
Meantime, here are more ways Congress has secretly spent your money.
Chances you are weren't a guest at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida last summer. But taxpayers spent $96,000 to help renovate it.
Skiing more your style?
You paid $250,000 last year to renovate a ski lift. In our treasure hunt, it was tricky to find that one. The money came out of last year's massive transportation bill. No mention of skiing.
Instead...
TIM PHILLIPS, AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY: For the construction of the Alyeska Roundhouse in Girdwood, Alaska, $250,000.
GRIFFIN: In Congress, such treasure is called an earmark.
ANNIE PATNAUDE, AMERICANS FOR PROSPERITY: Again, no -- no name. And oftentimes these earmarks are certainly a bit vague.
GRIFFIN: Annie Patnaude watched Congress for a conservative economic watchdog group. She found two earmarks for the Alyeska Roundhouse -- a total of $500,000 for the top of a ski lift.
Tim Phillips president of the watchdog group.
PHILLIPS: I mean, imagine this. You've got a blank credit card that's the people's money. And you have the ability to spend that money in complete secrecy without ever having to be accountable for that. No wonder we're having abuses and waste and fraud and mismanagement. It's a recipe for it.
GRIFFIN: That recipe for pork was supposed to change this year. The new open, Democratic Party controlled Congress promised the earmark process would no longer be secret. All earmark requests would made public with plenty of time for debate.
(on camera): But Dave Obey, the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and one of those Democrats bragging about the changes, has decided that earmarks -- those generous gifts of your money -- will be inserted into bills only after the bill has cleared the House floor. In other words, earmarks will still be done in secret -- no public debate.
There was supposed to be a change.
SEN. TOM COBURN (R), OKLAHOMA: Well, they lied to the American public. It was a game.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Senator Coburn says it's the same over on the Senate side.
CNN obtained this e-mail written in February from the Senate Appropriations Committee, asking Senators to submit all requests for earmarks by April 13th. So the earmark requests for this year -- and there have been thousands in the past -- have already been filed. But not even other members of Congress can find out who asked for how much and for what.
COBURN: No, they aren't published. And they're not out there. I couldn't find them if I wanted to.
PHILLIPS: If you're a member of Congress and you're asking for tax dollars for a project, the least can you do is have the, you know, let's say the political courage to put it up on your Web site in advance and to disclose it well before any vote takes place.
GRIFFIN: Sounds reasonable. But not to the senator who gets final say on spending -- Appropriations Chairman Robert Byrd.
In an e-mail to CNN, the Senator's staff told us allowing the public to actually see earmark requests in advance isn't a good idea. Apparently the public can't be trusted with that information.
"If all earmark requests are made public," the e-mail says, "this would almost certainly lead to an increase in requests, as members are pressured from home to compete for more projects."
PATNAUDE: This is an omnibus appropriations bill.
GRIFFIN: This behemoth of a bill is chock full of one-line requests for your tax dollars. We followed the clues back to where we started this treasure hunt.
(on camera): So this is the Rice Lake Airport I asked you about?
PHILLIPS: Sure.
PATNAUDE: Look for it on there.
GRIFFIN: And this is on page 1,384.
And it's somewhere in this fine print, I'm taking it.
PATNAUDE: Look for it.
GRIFFIN: Right down here.
PATNAUDE: Right.
GRIFFIN: So Rice Lake Regional Airport, Carl's Field, Wisconsin, various improvements, $2 million.
(voice-over): $2 million in federal funds without debate.
Back at Rice Lake, Wisconsin, we sat at the end of the runway and waited four hours. In all that time, we counted one corporate jet, one twin engine plane and five single engine planes -- a total of seven aircraft in four hours.
On a good day, we're told, 34 planes in an hour. But no commercial flights.
(on camera): But this airport is vital for corporate executives. They like to visit Rice Lake's manufacturing plants, but apparently don't like to stay the night.
STITES: Before we did the expansion on the runway, they couldn't land here. They had to drive an hour-and-a-half to get to their plant because our airport wasn't large enough for that.
GRIFFIN: And which U.S. Congressman decided extending the runway for a few corporate jets was worth your money?
Wisconsin Democrat David Obey -- the very same person now in charge of appropriations and earmarks.
He said in a statement, "Wisconsin doesn't get the fair share. My only apology," he wrote, "is that I can't do more for Wisconsin."
In the next few months, in what Congressman Obey says is the most open earmark process ever, the bills will be drafted, the earmarks added. But only then, just before those bills are passed, will the public learn where the treasure is buried.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
COLLINS: Drew Griffin reporting.
Meanwhile, colorful sand art and a curious toddler getting on the good foot. The damage caught on tape in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Citizen soldiers ready to answer the call in times of natural disasters.
But does the National Guard have what it needs?
Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With so many Guard resources deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, a grim assessment of the Guard's ability to respond to multiple homeland security crises.
LT. GEN. STEVEN BLUM, CHIEF, NATIONAL GUARD BUREAU: Lives are going to be lost and those lives are going to be American lives.
MESERVE: Guard officials say they simply do not have the equipment and supplies they need here in the United States.
BLUM: Roughly half of what we need is in our hands here at home.
MAJ. GEN. ROBERT FRENCH, PENNSYLVANIA NATIONAL GUARD: The bottom line is that equipment shortages in the Guard result in a slower response time.
MESERVE: Earlier this month, the governor of Kansas claimed the Guard response to killer tornadoes in her state was impaired by equipment shortfalls. Guard officials said their resources were not overly strained in that instance, but say it could be a different story if a major hurricane like Katrina hit the United States at the same time there was another event, like fires or a mudslide or a terrorist strike.
BLUM: We would be overwhelmed and 50 percent would be far less than what would be required. We would need 100 percent of what we're supposed to have and probably then some.
MESERVE: In a recent poll, 52 percent of business owners said they would not hire a citizen soldier, who could be called away for an indeterminate amount of time. General Blum said that could have a big impact on Guard recruitment and retention. It is more worrisome, he said, than Al Qaeda.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
HARRIS: Backed by an army, fueled by anger, a powerful cleric returns to view in Iraq and the U.S. is his target. That's ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: More time on the golf course sounds like a common retirement goal.
Well, one man is doing just that. But he is not spending a lot of time actually playing.
Randi Kaye looks at his life after work.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
RANDI KAYE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Mike Kenny looks like your typical retiree -- spending his days on the golf course trying to improve his game. But, typically, he's not there to get lessons from the golf pro. He's there to recruit him.
MIKE KENNEY, CAREER SERVICES CONSULTANT: And my job really is almost in two pieces. The first piece is I work with country clubs, resorts that are in need of a PGA professional. The back half is I work with PGA professionals with the business skills, help them to prepare better cover letters, resumes, negotiate contracts, anything that I can to help them compete effectively for a position.
KAYE: Kenny spent 30 years working at IBM as a sales and human resources exec before retiring from Big Blue in 1997.
KENNEY: So as I thought about retirement, this is kind of what I get a big kick out of, is helping people. Working with the PGA of America in this capacity allows me to work with PGA professionals with their careers and that's very gratifying.
KAYE: Kenny says he placed over 300 golf pros at courses around the country, including Bill Pantley at suburban Chicago's Glen Flora Country Club.
KENNEY: OK. Now, there's a good instance where you made a lot of emotion during...
In a way, you could think of it as making a good marriage work. If we can satisfy the needs of the employer, it's good for the PGA professional. It's good for the employer. And it's good for the game of golf.
KAYE: But the real question has helping golf pros helped his golf score?
KENNEY: Yes, I would definitely say it's improved. But that may speak to the amount of improvement that was available.
KAYE: Randy Kaye, CNN.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
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