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American Morning
Afghanistan Airstrike; Palestinian Crisis; Hamas In Charge; Drag Race Horror Show; On The Road With Romney; Minding Your Business
Aired June 18, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. A coalition air strike in eastern Afghanistan kills seven children. Dozens more killed in an insurgent attack on a police bus in Kabul. A dramatic escalation of violence in the other war on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And good morning to you. It is Monday, June the 18th. Thanks for joining us. I'm John Roberts.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Alina Cho. Kiran Chetry has the morning off. Glad you're with us this morning.
ROBERTS: We have a lot of news to get to this morning, so let's get right to it. News that broke overnight while you were sleeping.
Seven children killed at a madrassa, a religious school, in a U.S.-led air strike in Afghanistan. The military says it was going after an al Qaeda operation in Paktika Province in eastern Afghanistan and had no idea that the children were in the building. We're going to speak with the coalition spokesman, Major Chris Belcher, in just a few moments. As soon as we get him on the phone, we'll bring that to you. Stay with us here.
CHO: We've got some active tornado warnings in Texas right now. We're going to go right to Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta.
Hey, Chad, good morning. So what do you have?
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: As we mentioned, there was an air strike in Afghanistan overnight targeting a madrassa, a religious school. Seven children apparently were killed as coalition forces were trying to target al Qaeda. Major Chris Belcher is on the telephone with us now from Afghanistan.
Major Belcher, how did all of this happen?
ARMY MAJ. CHRIS BELCHER, COALITION SPOKESMAN: You know, the Afghan and coalition forces were conducting an operation on a compound that had been identified as a safe house for al Qaeda in the area. They observed that compound all day and there were no indications there were children inside the building.
ROBERTS: So you say that there were no indications that there were children inside the building. What kind of intelligence did you have on the ground? Did you actually have assets on the ground or was this aerial, electronic surveillance? What was it?
BELCHER: Yes, we had -- there were assets on the ground surveilling the building or surveilling the compound all day. And the information we got from possibly (ph) children who survived is that they were prevented from leaving the building (INAUDIBLE). The people we had who were doing the surveillance did not see the children or we would not have targeted that compound.
ROBERTS: Right. So you say that children on the ground who you talked to after the air strike said that they were kept inside the building by the adults who were there. This is a case of what, then, to the U.S. military?
BELCHER: Yes, this is a case of, you know, the al Qaeda using civilians as a shield or as a means of, you know, increasing outrage over, you know, a death in (INAUDIBLE) Afghanistan. We didn't intentionally target them. And, in this case, we didn't know they were there until we'd got done (ph) with the fight and began doing an assessment.
ROBERTS: Right. Could it also be that the children were told to stay inside because it was during the day? Were they in classes? Was it dangerous to go outside?
BELCHER: Yes, I don't know the answer to that specific question. You know the information we got is that when they tried to leave the building, they were prevented from leaving.
ROBERTS: All right. All right. Army Spokesman Major Chris Belcher joining us on the line from Afghanistan this morning about this latest incident. A case where coalition forces in Afghanistan targeted a religious madrassa, a religious school. Seven children killed inside. The target was al Qaeda. It appears as though there have been some civilians that were killed in that. We'll keep following this story for you this morning. We had Major Chris Belcher on the line with us and we'll try to get more information as the morning progresses.
Alina.
CHO: It's been a violent morning in Iraq, as well. Iraqi and British forces are fighting house to house with Shia militiamen south of Baghdad. A statement from the U.S. military says at least 20 insurgents had been killed in raids on secret cells in Amarah (ph). Insurgents believed responsible for importing explosively formed penetrator weapons, or EFPs, into Iraq.
Here in the U.S., a new immigration bill could come to the floor of the Senate as early as Thursday. But this weekend, Senate Majority Leader Mitchell McConnell said he still doesn't know if the votes are there to pass it. McConnell says the Senate should warp it up one way or the other by the July 4th holiday.
And one last check of the recently revived International Space Station computers is planned today before the shuttle Atlantis undocks tomorrow. You'll remember those computers experienced some problems over the past several days. Atlantis astronauts completed their fourth and final space walk on Sunday. Atlantis is due to come home on Thursday.
John.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Alina.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in the United States right now. He's going to be meeting with President Bush tomorrow. Both the United States and Israel are now lining up behind Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the new emergency government that he has swore in after Hamas took control of Gaza. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live in Jerusalem.
Ben, the European Union also stepping up support here, releasing aid to the Palestinians that had been held when Hamas was voted in more than a year ago. Is this a case here of trying to show Palestinians in Gaza that this is what happens when you throw your lot in with an extremist group, that you don't get the benefits that are acceded to, or at least afforded to, a government that wants to play ball in the peace initiative?
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Certainly there's hundreds of millions of dollars potentially for the Palestinian Authority led by Mahmoud Abbas. Not only in released tax revenues that Israel has withheld, but direct European aid and eventually, possibly, direct American aid. We are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars that are desperately need by the Palestinians. The problem is, the government doesn't really know how to spend the money because there are 1.5 million people living in Gaza now under Hamas rule, how they're going to get that money to the people of Gaza and bypass Hamas is a very good question.
The Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, of course, also risks the possibility of being seen as a collaborator with Israel, with the United States, by taking this money and dispensing it on political grounds. So it's a very fine line they're going to have to walk in the coming days as this money becomes available.
John.
ROBERTS: All right, Ben Wedeman in Jerusalem for us with the latest on that. Thanks.
So what does this mean for the peace process in the Middle East? What does it mean for war and peace? Does Israel plan an invasion in Gaza? What's going to happen next. Afshin Molavi is the director of the Middle East Global Initiative at the New America Foundation in Washington. He joins us now.
Afshin, you talk about this idea of there being two Middle Easts. And we've got some maps to illustrate it. First of all, this is the map of the overall Middle East area. What are the two Middle Easts that you're talking about?
AFSHIN MOLAVI, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: Sure, John. As you can see, we have flash points all across the region right now. Almost as an arc of crisis and instability, or potential instability. So if you look from Egypt on into Israel, Gaza and the West Bank, where we see this violence between the Palestinian factions, in through Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, where former Secretary of State Colin Powell described it as an ongoing civil war, into Iran where we have the potential for U.S. military confrontation, we have this arc of crisis and instability.
ROBERTS: Now these used to be separate entities and now they're all kind of tied together, right?
MOLAVI: Absolutely. They are very much tied together. And Iran has a great deal of influence in what happens, for example, in Gaza, West Bank and particularly in southern Lebanon.
And then you move to the Persian Gulf region, particularly the Arab states of the Persian Gulf region, and it's almost as if we have a different Middle East. We have -- they're prosperous. There's a business boom going on.
One of the things that has happened in the past five years, John, one of the most under reported stories, is we've had this tremendous oil windfall. $1.5 trillion has moved into this region in the past five years. And as a veteran reporter, you know you got to follow the money, right?
ROBERTS: Yes.
MOLAVI: And when you follow the money, you see that the money is staying in the region, modernizing the economies, but it's also being invested in the broader Arab world, creating pockets of prosperity. So which Middle East is going to emerge is the question.
ROBERTS: Right. But what are the chances that this flash point arc that you showed us earlier, including Iran, the rise of Sunni extremism in Lebanon, Hamas being in control of Gaza now, what are the chances that that could spread over and affect the more prosperous Persian Gulf region.
MOLAVI: I think that's the ultimate question. And I think that Middle East is probably going to have more of an effect on the region than this prosperous, you know, economically dynamic region because one of the things that we look at that map of the Persian Gulf, if we do see conflict with Iran, it's important to note that 40 percent of the world's oil passes through the Persian Gulf region and something like 75 percent of the oil from that region passes through that Persian Gulf region, the vital Straits of Hormuz. So I think that they have their eyes on these conflicts just as much as we do.
ROBERTS: Yes, well, obviously, it's bad news for the region, bad news for the world, if it were to blow up.
MOLAVI: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Afshin Molavi of the New America Foundation.
Thanks very much for your expertise.
MOLAVI: Thank you very much.
ROBERTS: Appreciate it.
MOLAVI: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Alina.
CHO: Thanks, John.
We're following breaking news all morning long. An American air strike on a school in Afghanistan.
A tornado warning in Texas.
Plus, these "Quick Hits."
The wife of evangelist Billy Graham, Ruth Graham, was laid to rest Sunday at the new Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was 87 years old. Visitors can pay respects to her grave site starting today.
Disbarred, disgraced and now possibly facing criminal and civil charges. Durham District Attorney Mike Nifong plans to officially resign this week. An ethics committee found him guilty of a politically motivated fiasco in prosecuting three Duke lacrosse players. Attorneys for the players may file additional charges.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Out of control in Tennessee. A drag racing car plows into a crowd during a charity event. Was it driver error or did something else go horribly wrong? We're live on the scene next on AMERICAN MORNING. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're following breaking news out of Afghanistan for you this morning, topping our "Quick Hits." Seven children among those killed in an American air strike on a suspected al Qaeda militant hideout in eastern Afghanistan. The air strike came hours after a suicide blast on a police bus. It was the deadliest insurgent attack since the Taliban fell in 2001.
The Transportation Security Administration is fighting back against a harassment allegation YouTube style. The TSA posted this security video on its website after a woman claims that she was mistreated by officers at an airport checkpoint. The TSA says the video clearly shows the woman dumping water out of her toddler's sippy cup and onto the floor. She was later asked to clean it up. You can see her there cleaning it up. The woman says an officer threatened to arrest her after the water spilled, telling her that she was "endangering the public." She had been asked to empty the sippy cup because there was more than the three ounces in it that are allowed through security checkpoints.
A small plane in New Zealand makes an emergency, but surprisingly smooth crash landing without wheels. Take a look at this. It lands on its belly then skidded down the runway. A perfect belly landing there. If you can have a perfect belly landing. None of the 17 people on board were injured. Pilots say any landing it can walk away from is a good one, but I've never subscribed to that.
CHO: Oh, my goodness. It looked like a normal landing, though.
ROBERTS: I like the nice, smooth, uneventful ones.
CHO: Me too. I'm with you on that one.
All right. There are questions this morning about how a supercharged dragster was allowed to race down a crowded highway with no guardrails. The car careened into a crowd at a charity event over the weekend killing six people under the age of 22. More than a dozen people are still in the hospital. Sean Callebs live for us in Selmer, Tennessee, this morning with the latest. That's about 80 miles east of Memphis.
Hey, Sean, what do you know?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we can tell you, this is really a small town dealing with a big tragedy this morning.
Want to set the scene for you. It was over the weekend a tremendously large fund-raiser. There were thousands of people lining this stretch of highway to watch a bunch of muscle cars come down the street. If you look here in the middle of this four-lane highway, you can still see the rubber as one of the cars just simply accelerated to show off for the crowd.
But something went horribly wrong. It raced down this road a bit, then jumped off the road slamming into people just off the road on the shoulder, into a utility pole. If you look at that pole this morning, it has become a makeshift memorial. A lot of candles there, stuffed animals and such. People virtually around the clock as this remains a town in mourning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God.
CALLEBS, (voice over): Everyone in Selmer, Tennessee, knew drag racers were going to burn rubber. It's what they came to see. But no one anticipated this. A powerful car lurching out of control into a crowd killing six and injuring more than twice that number. Thirty- five-year-old Renee Jones caught the whole episode on tape.
RENEE JONES, WITNESS: I just kept following it. And you could just see the car fishtail and then it hit. CALLEBS: The dragster was driven by Troy Critchley. He's a 20- year veteran of the sport. Tennessee authorities spent much of the last two days interview Critchley. So far, no criminal charges have been filed.
MAYOR DAVID ROBINSON, SELMER, TENNESSEE: And Highway Patrol have told us that we should have a full report in about a week. I think the only thing we can do right now is really just kind of grieve together as a community.
CALLEBS: Each June, at least 40,000 people line this four-lane highway to watch an event called "Cars for Kids," a weekend that raises about $200,000 for a local children's hospital. This year the event also raised questioned. Why no protective barriers and why would a muscle car like this that can go from 0 to 200 in a matter of seconds be encouraged to go full throttle.
Blake Carroll, a chaplain with the McNairy County Sheriff's department, spent the weekend consoling families.
CHAPLAIN BLAKE CARROLL, MCNAIRY COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT: The only thing that you can do basically in those times is just wrap your arms around those people and let them know that you love them and that God loves them and that you're praying for them and that you know the Lord will help them through times like these.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLEBS: And we should know more about the investigation in a matter of hours. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations, as well as the state police, are going to hold a news conference at about 10:30 Eastern Time. And, interestingly, about all of this, the way this whole charitable event came about 17 years ago, the man who started all this, his son was critically injured riding a bicycle, hit by a car. He said, if his son was able to live, he was going to devote himself to raising money for children's charities. But no one expected this.
Alina.
CHO: I know it raised $200,000 each year and it's a very, very good event for those people who care about "Cars for Kids." But I have a question about the people in the hospital. I know more than a dozen are still in the hospital this morning, Sean. Any update on their conditions?
CALLEBS: Well, we know that perhaps the death toll could even go higher. There are at least two people in critical condition. And it's really hard to get a gauge on how many people were hurt. Even at a candlelight vigil last night, we saw a handful of basically walking wounded in various degrees of casts on their arms, their legs. This is something that's touched this community to its core.
CHO: Sean Callebs live for us in Selmer, Tennessee.
Sean, thank you. And stay tuned because in our next half hour we'll be speaking with Renee and Kiley (ph) Jones. They captured that incredible home video of the crash. Stay with us for that because that's in our next half hour.
John.
ROBERTS: Eighteen minutes now after the hour. Every Monday here on AMERICAN MORNING, we're taking a look at the presidential candidates, their campaigns, going with them on the road when we can, looking at their defining moment as well. Today it's Mitt Romney. Could he be the Republican front-runner. If you look at early presidential polls and fund-raising numbers, political insiders are starting to think that the once long shot candidate is in the midst of a surge. This weekend I traveled out to Iowa and traveled around with him a little bit to find out why he's the front-runner.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MITT ROMNEY, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: How are you? Nice to see you.
ROBERTS, (voice over): At Mitt Romney's Iowa campaign stops, they're adding chairs to accommodate the crowds.
ROMNEY: I think my message is connecting. I think people recognize that the country has some real challenges.
ROBERTS: Including the war in Iraq. Something he's challenged on at every event.
ROMNEY: About Iraq, Iraq, Iraq.
ROBERTS: Romney, himself, has no significant foreign policy experience and never served in the military.
You have five sons. None of them have ever been in the military. Might that become an issue?
ROMNEY: Each of my five sons gave two years of their life to the service of their church and I consider that service to be laudable. But I very highly value those who serve in the military. But it is a volunteer military and I hope that we keep it that way.
ROBERTS: Some recent polls put Romney in the lead in Iowa. And a new CNN/WMUR survey also has him ahead in New Hampshire. He's the first Republican to run a major ad campaign in the Hawkeye state selling his business success story.
How did you make your fortune?
ROMNEY: I began by starting a business, a small business, and then it became a large business.
ROBERTS: Investing in companies like Staples and Domino's Pizza, Romney is now worth at least $200 million. That, combined with his movie star looks, smooth style, blonde wife and picture-perfect family, leads voters to an obvious question.
You've been described sometimes, and people say this in a joking way, as governor perfect. And in response to that you have said "I have plenty of weaknesses, plenty of failings." What are they?
ROMNEY: Well, tons. I'm not as organized as I'd like to be. I make mistakes when I speak. I often times say things not exactly the way I meant to say them and I get in trouble for that.
ROBERTS: Your father, when he was running back in 1960, kind of tripped up with that line about, you know, when he came back from Vietnam and he changed his support for the war to opposition for the war and he said that he had been brainwashed.
ROMNEY: Right.
ROBERTS: Did that teach you -- what did that teach you?
ROMNEY: Well, I think that, plus my Olympic experience, plus being governor taught me you've got to be very careful in your choice of words.
ROBERTS: And in his first national campaign, the former Massachusetts governor is under a new level of scrutiny.
Is there a real pressure for you to be so guarded that you almost have to be on all the time?
ROMNEY: Well, I think we are all on all the time. I think you're always recognizing that people are there with video cameras, YouTube, cell phones. You're always being recorded. There's really no off moment. Not if you're running for president.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And later on this morning, I'll ask Mitt Romney about the defining moment in his presidential run. Tell you a little bit more about him. Let you get to know him a little bit better. And if you want to watch the entire interview that we did with Mitt Romney, go to cnn.com/americanmorning.
CHO: He looks great, sounds great, smells great.
ROBERTS: Yes. And you'll notice that in the back of the car, too, we were wearing seat belts.
CHO: I did notice that, John. Very well done on that one. Yes, a reference to an earlier interview.
All right, breaking news topping our "Quick Hits" this morning. Active tornado warnings in Texas right now, just north of Dallas. We're going to go live to Chad Myers at the CNN Weather Center in just a moment, so stay with us for that.
Also, Yasser Arafat's Nobel Peace Prize was stolen when Hamas militants looted his home. That's according to "The Jerusalem Post." Also stolen, gifts from world leaders.
More critics taking shots at Michael Moore, the famous director. Why some Canadian filmmakers are slamming his controversial style. We'll have that story for you.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now at 27 minutes after the hour. A new U.S. Open champ tops our "Quick Hits" now. Unknown golfer Angel Cabrera from Argentina held off Tiger Woods by one stroke to win the U.S. Open in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, on Sunday. It is Cabrera's first win ever on the PGA tour.
And Barry Bonds is another step closer to becoming baseball's all-time home run king. Bonds hit number 748 on Sunday against the Boston Red Sox. Now just seven behind Hank Aaron. It was Bond's first homer in Fenway Park, the oldest stadium in the majors.
And four was greater than 13 at the box office this weekend. "The Fantastic Four" sequel, "The Rise of the Silver Surfer," earned $57 million, knocking "Ocean's 13" out of the top spot. Can't stay there forever.
CHO: No. Can't. I haven't seen either, so I got to get a life.
ROBERTS: I haven't seen a movie in -- I can't remember.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I saw "Nancy Drew" on Friday.
CHO: Oh.
VELSHI: Opening night. I think there were three of us in the theater.
CHO: Well, I can't imagine then it's going to be like "Fantastic Four."
VELSHI: Yes. No, I don't think so.
CHO: Anyway, 27 minutes, almost 28 minutes after the hour. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Got to love a Paris air show.
VELSHI: Oh, I love it. For all the deals that will happen today, the most exciting ones have already started. Outside of Paris, Le Bourget Airport, the Paris air show. We haven't seen one of these for two years. It is the biggest air show in the world. And it is now a big competition, as it always has been, between Airbus and Boeing. That's the Airbus 380 that was shown at the air show two years ago.
Back then, things looked fantastic. Things are very different right now. Airbus is looking to another plane, the A350, for its relief right now. The A350 is still some years away, but it's a mid- size, long range plane. Two aisles. It is -- in fact, we just head it got an order from U.S. Airways announced this morning for between 22 and 30 of these planes. They're expecting to have about 150 of these sales announced this year. It is competing directly with Boeing's Dreamliner, the 787, which comes out within the next year or so.
CHO: How big a plane is this? I mean, how many seats?
VELSHI: They're in the 200 to 300 seat range depending on configuration. But Boeing has more than 500 orders for these things.
CHO: Wow.
VELSHI: Two years ago Boeing was in the backseat. Now Boeing is on target to become the world's biggest airline maker again. The industry will be profitable this year. There still remain problems with the 380, the big one. I'll come and tell you about that in about an hour. But expect some big deals out of the Paris air show.
CHO: All right. We'll look forward to it. Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business."
Ali, thanks.
ROBERTS: And I want the back story on what a bachelor was doing at the "Nancy Drew" movie this Friday.
"Quick Hits" now with a look at some stories on cnn.com.
Police in Melbourne, Australia, are searching for a gunman who opened fire on a downtown street during the morning rush hour. One man was killed and two others were shot, including a woman who police believe had been arguing with the gunman before he started shooting.
And one of the most popular stories on cnn.com. Italian fashion designer Gianfranco Ferre has died. Ferre was the former top designer for Christian Dior. He suffered a massive brain hemorrhage and died yesterday at the age of 62.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, terror in Tennessee. A deadly drag race down a city street lined with thousands, including children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pure chaos. Nothing like I've ever seen before.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Could it have been prevented? The story next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHO: Beautiful shot of Miami courtesy of our affiliate WSVN in Miami, Florida. We think that's over Biscayne Bay there. What a beautiful day. I think it's going to hit 90.
ROBERTS: Yes, WSVN is right on that causeway there in the northern part of Miami on 79th Street. It just goes -- looks right out into Biscayne Bay.
CHO: Not a bad view.
ROBERTS: Not a bad view at all. No.
Welcome back. It's Monday, June the 18th.
Thanks for being with us.
I'm John Roberts on this AMERICAN MORNING.
CHO: And I'm Alina Cho.
Kiran Chetry has the morning off.
Got a lot of stories "On Our Radar" this morning, including this -- tragedy in Tennessee. A dragster careens into the crowd, killing six people, more than a dozen injured. A lot of questions this morning -- and there's the home video of it.
A lot of questions this morning about why there were no guardrails protecting the crowd from the drag racing car. We're going to talk to some witnesses. In fact, the people who shot that incredible home video coming up.
ROBERTS: From the beginning it looked like it was something that was about to go wrong, didn't it?.
Also, Michael Moore answering his critics. A Canadian documentary called "Manufacturing Dissent" says he did interview General Motors chief Roger Smith for his famous documentary "Roger & Me," but left that interview on the cutting room floor. Moore is denying that that ever happened. However, he did stash a copy of his new movie "Sicko" in Canada because he says he's afraid that U.S. authorities will confiscate the film because of a trip he made to Cuba.
Our Lola Ogunnaike will be here in a little while to explain all of that.
We begin with breaking news overnight. Seven children killed in a madrassa, a religious school, in a U.S.-led airstrike in Afghanistan. The military was going after an al Qaeda operation in Paktika province, in eastern Afghanistan.
We spoke with a U.S. military spokesman a few minutes ago. He told us that the surviving children are saying they were being held inside the building, not allowed to go outside, and the coalition forces would never have targeted the building if they knew that children were inside it.
And the latest report from Kabul now on what is now the deadliest insurgent attack since the U.S. invasion back in 2001. A suicide bomber blew up a bus full of police trainees on Sunday, killing 35 people. The Agence France-Press this morning reports that police are holding a suspect who was taking pictures of the bombing with his cell phone.
Some anger this morning over one of the queen of England's official birthday honors. The knighting of "The Satanic Verses" author, Salman Rushdie, has drawn criticism from both Iran and the Pakistani parliament.
You might remember that Rushdie was targeted for assassination after the book was published. That was "The Satanic Verses". It forced him into hiding for nine years.
Much less controversial was the honoring of CNN's own Christiane Amanpour. Christiane was named commander of the British empire. You can go with CBE for short.
Now, she's not knighted. Or the female equivalent of that is to named a dame, though. But still, what an honor, commander of the British empire. We'll talk with CBE Christiane Amanpour, or, rather, actually, more officially, Christiane Amanpour, CBE, in our next half hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHO: And meeting the queen no less. That's a good thing.
ROBERTS: What a thrill.
CHO: No kidding. No Kidding.
All right. We're keeping a close eye on the extreme weather in Texas. Chad Myers tracking it in the CNN weather center.
Hey, Chad. Good morning.
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Alina.
Big-time flooding in Denton, in Dallas, in Fort Worth overnight. People stranded. People standing on their rooftops trying to get out of the water in downtown and just north of downtown Fort Worth. Lots of rain there. Four to six inches of rain in just a few hours.
Now we have storms that are rotating. We still have tornado watches. And right near the town of Sanger, just to the north of there, a tornado on the ground about an hour ago.
That storm has slowed its rotation a little bit as it moved close to Pilot Point. There's that town right there. But I'm going to zoom out a little bit. And you can't see too many storms, but the storms that are there didn't move very much, and those are the cells right there just north and west of Dallas, into Fort Worth and north Fort Worth. And this is where it's going to rain more during the day, John. It's not done raining there yet. So if we've got flooding now and it just rains on top of it, that is not a good thing.
But farther to the east, where we do need some rain, especially through this very dry area -- remember the story about Lynchburg up here, Tennessee, not even having enough water in the Jack Daniel's wells there? Well, they're going to get a lot of rain in the next couple of days. Good news. And maybe it will spread this rain out a little bit.
Back to you, John.
ROBERTS: That will be good news. It's a treasure in this country.
Babies fighting for life tops our "Quick Hits" now.
Three of the sextuplets born in Minnesota a week ago have died. Three of them are in critical condition. The babies were born more than four months prematurely.
A secretive group of wine terrorists is threatening the French government over falling wine prices. They say they have lost between 40 and 50 percent of their income, and they have issued an ultimatum to lawmakers -- raise the price of wine or blood will flow.
Caught on tape, the dramatic and deadly crash of a dragster on the streets of Selmer, Tennessee. We'll talk with the husband and wife who are behind the camera, behind these pictures now that you're seeing.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Tornado warnings in Texas and storm damage in South Dakota tops our "Quick Hits" now.
Weekend storms produced at least two tornadoes. Large hail and heavy rain near the South Dakota-Wyoming border. Texas is at risk for severe weather this morning.
Tubes of toxic toothpaste have now turned up in Florida. The counterfeit product -- and we must stress, this is a counterfeit product -- it looks just like the Colgate brand, but it comes in a five ounce tube. Colgate does not make a five ounce tube for sale in the United States. And there are words on the package that are misspelled.
So watch out for that.
Pet owners in Florida are taking sides over a law that would force everyone to have their cats and dogs spayed or neutered. The proposed law has exceptions for show dogs and guide dogs. Everybody else, though, that doesn't cede to the law faces a $500 fine.
Forty-two minutes after the hour now.
Michael Moore's newest movie "Sicko" was about the health care industry. It hits the big screen at the end of this month. But a leaked version of the film posted on YouTube over the weekend, and some Canadian filmmakers say that, well, Moore, who likes to shine a bright spotlight on people who aren't so honest is not so honest himself in the past, leaving out key elements of a particular documentary, "Roger & Me," on the cutting room floor.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Lola Ogunnaike is here with more.
Let's -- why don't we start with the leak on YouTube here. How much of the video was leaked and what's this going to do to the premier of the film?
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's every filmmaker's worst nightmare. The entire film was leaked, actually, 14 consecutive chunks. And people have been visiting it.
Some people have seen chunks that are -- like 500 visitors have visited some chunks, 1,600 visitors for some other chunks. It's out there.
He's obviously taking great pains to not have this out there. In fact, he's under investigation by the government for his trip to Cuba which is featured in the film. And he was so worried about this getting out there that he actually sent the master copy overseas, and it's hidden in a secret location. So clearly Michael Moore does not want this out there.
ROBERTS: Can I tell you something though? A conspiracy theorist would take a look at this and say he's out there saying that the film could be confiscated. Parts of it were leaked on YouTube. That this is all just designed to create a buzz.
OGUNNAIKE: Well, they're saying -- you know, conspiracy theorists, pessimists could say that this is all a massive publicity stunt. Michael Moore is not above that. We know that. But he has -- you know, he has wanted this to be seen in its proper -- rolled out properly. He does not want this thrown out there. So...
ROBERTS: And what about this idea, too, that this Canadian documentary saying that, not so honest in the film "Roger & Me"?
OGUNNAIKE: Well, they're saying "Roger & Me," that there are chunks of it that just -- he's been bending the truth to suit his own needs. The thing that they're pointing to in particular that he had an interview with Roger Smith, who was then the head of GM, and they're saying that, look, you had this interview, you didn't feature it in the film, you did that on purpose.
He's saying, look, that is not true. Whoever is saying this, that is a complete bald-faced lie. If I had the interview with Roger Smith, why would I not feature it in my film? ROBERTS: Well, the bottom line of all of this, though, is that Michael Moore is getting lots of publicity.
OGUNNAIKE: He's getting lots of publicity all right. We're still talking about him, and I'm going to see the premiere this evening, so we'll talk about that tomorrow.
ROBERTS: All right. Looking forward to it.
Lola Ogunnaike, thanks.
Forty-four minutes after the hour -- Alina.
CHO: All right. Thanks, John.
A rare turtle tops your "Quick Hits" this morning.
The Tennessee Aquarium is showing of a four-eyed turtle. It doesn't really have four eyes. The white spots on his head look like an extra pair.
The little guy is very small. Take a look at him. Just slightly bigger than a dime. That's incredible.
And nothing small about this manta. She is believed to be the first giant manta ray born in captivity. The Japanese aquarium where she was born says she was more than six feet wide at birth. The other end of the spectrum.
A drag race spins out of control, killing people in the crowd. And it was all caught on tape. Coming up, we'll talk to the people who shot that video.
Stay with us. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Forty-eight minutes after the hour.
An alleged drug-dealing granny tops our "Quick Hits" this morning.
Police in San Antonio say 56-year-old Rose Cruz (ph) split her time between taking care of her elderly father and running heroin for the Mexican Mafia. She was caught with a pound of heroin worth over $300,000. That's enough to give her a life sentence if convicted.
A major mob trial is set to begin tomorrow in Chicago. Three reputed crime bosses head the list of defendants. The trial stems from the FBI's Operation Family Secrets probe of 18 unsolved murders allegedly tied to the outfit which is Chicago's organized crime family.
Security concerns in Ohio this morning. A computer backup device containing names and Social Security numbers of all 64,000 state employees in Ohio was stolen from a car owned by a 22-year-old intern. He was taking the device home as part of a security plan that had each employee hold the drive on a rotating basis rather than leaving it at one central location permanently.
CHO: Well, you probably have seen the video by now. A dragster in Tennessee going out of control and hitting a crowd.
Six people were killed in the crash. More than a dozen were injured. And a lot of questions this morning about why there were not any guardrails protecting the crowd from the cars.
Not an easy video to watch. Just imagine what it was like to be there behind the camera.
Well, we're joined now by the people who shot that tape. Renee and Kyley Jones join us live from Selmer, Tennessee.
We thank you for joining us this morning.
I know you were about 40 feet from the action. Renee, you were holding the camera. It must have been hard to keep your composure.
What were you seeing at that moment that it happened?
RENEE JONES, VIDEOTAPED CRASH: Just disbelief. Seeing like that happen so close to you, it just -- it still doesn't seem real. It all happened so fast.
CHO: Kyley, you did not -- Kyley, what -- explain to me what you saw. You did not have the camera in your hand. You had an unobstructed view. What did you see as the car was crashing into the crowd?
KYLEY JONES, WITNESSED CRASH: What I saw was the car careening into the crowd after something going wrong, and it was completely horrific. Bodies being thrown everywhere. Pieces of car, the pole, no telling what else being thrown.
It wasn't a very nice sight to see at all. And I thought it soon as that car took off and when he didn't let off, where the founder of Cars for Kids told him to shut off, I knew something was going to go wrong right then.
CHO: Now, I know that what happened just before the crash was there was this tire-spinning stunt. And then the driver steps on the accelerator. Is that common? You've been to this event before. Does that happen every year?
K. JONES: Well, as far as cars like show cars, yes, they do a little bit of it going down the main drag here. As far as the top fuel dragster that had wrecked out here, this year is the first year that they had actually done something like this. So, I mean...
CHO: Well, I should mention that this stunt actually, this tire- spinning stunt, is actually done to create a lot of smoke. So did that add to the confusion when the car crashed into the crowd? K. JONES: No, because all the smoke was back behind him. And so he had a clear view of what was in front of him. I'm pretty sure after, the people that were behind the car once he had passed, there was a lot of confusion. But other than that, everybody in front saw what happened up to the (INAUDIBLE).
CHO: I know there are a lot of questions this morning about why there were no guardrails protecting the crowd from the cars. Is this anything that people brought up in years past? I know there were no incidents in 18 years, but any concern among people there before? And certainly there must be now.
K. JONES: Well, this is my first year, my wife and I, our first year of being out here. My parents are also with the Cars for Kids group, and they have been out here for the last couple of years. But like I said, this is my first year, and I never -- I just thought it was a normal car show.
I never thought it was going to be something like this, you know. So -- especially where we were at. We were actually standing behind the guardrails and further on down here was where it was wide open. But still, this is the first year that they actually let a full-blown top fuel dragster cut loose out here to show off.
CHO: Well, a lot of questions about the guardrails or lack thereof, and a lot of questions about whether this Cars for Kids charity event will continue. It would be a shame if it didn't. It's for such a good cause.
Renee and Kyley Jones, we thank you for joining us this morning -- John.
ROBERTS: Such a tragedy there.
Breaking news out of Afghanistan tops our "Quick Hits" now.
The U.S. military says seven children were killed in a U.S. airstrike on a compound. Several al Qaeda militants were also killed. A military spokesman claims that there was no sign of children inside the building before the attack, and that the children inside were being used as human shields.
The Homeland Security Department says Congress' plan to delay the new passport requirements is a bad idea. The spokesman says it is not acceptable to delay the rule which was supposed to require U.S. citizens at the Canadian and Mexican borders to have passports. But there's a huge backlog in passport applications.
Christiane Amanpour is our chief international correspondent, and now she's on the queen's list. Queen Elizabeth salutes Christiane's service to journalism.
You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ROBERTS: Your "Quick Hits" starts with a Texas tornado.
The storm system that drenched central Texas yesterday brought a tornado to Copperas Cove. At least a dozen modular homes were damaged. The Red Cross was working to help about 20 people.
Severe weather expert Chad Myers is closing monitoring the warnings there this morning. We'll be checking in with him in just a few minutes' time.
David Beckham is heading to the United States now. He played his last game with Real Madrid, helping them win the Spanish league title. Beckham is going to play for the L.A. Galaxy, Major League Soccer.
And artists from 11 different countries took part in Berlin's annual sand station sculpture. It's a festival there. Each 13-foot sculpture represents the artist's vision of paradise.
That one looks like it includes -- is that a bore that it includes?
CHO: I mean, how do you learn how to do that? Do you go to school for that?
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ROBERTS: An ice sculpture is difficult enough. Look at that one with the gates there.
CHO: That's incredible.
ROBERTS: Oh yes.
CHO: It doesn't look like sand.
ROBERTS: It's amazing.
CHO: All right. Coming upn 58 minutes after the hour.
Ali Velshi "Minding Your Business" this morning.
So what do you have, Ali?
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are these market sand castles? Oh, that was good.
We are looking at a very strong open on the stock markets again today. We've had a rough couple of weeks, although we ended up last week pretty well.
Take a look at these markets.
The Dow was up for the week about 1.6 percent. The S&P, 1.67 percent. The Nasdaq, 2 percent. That was after -- I mean, these were all 100-point moves or more every day last week. Choppy because of concerns about interest rates. But the Dow was up on Friday, three days in a row. It is now 37 points below yet another record, and futures are looking very strong this morning.
This market is still being driven by mergers and acquisitions and private equity. Penn National Gaming, the owner of I think about 18 casinos, agreed to be taken private by Fortress Investments, which is another of these big private equity firms. On Friday, Expedia was up on rumors that it might be a buyout candidate, although the company said that's not going to be the case.
A couple of clouds on the horizon though. Crude oil is up to $68 right now, and that is the highest that it's been in nine months. And that will start to affect your gasoline prices.
I'm going to be back in half an hour with more about that fantastic air show, where I think we're going to see most of the deals that happened today.
CHO: Oui oui.
Ali Velshi, thank you very much.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
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