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BBC Journalist Alan Johnston Freed; Record Security, Record Crowds, Record Heat; Heat Wave Across United States; New Diagnosis of TB Patient Andrew Speaker; EBay Takes on Rival Craig's List, One Language at a Time

Aired July 04, 2007 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEMON: And this is Alan Johnston.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN JOHNSTON, BBC JOURNALIST: It is the most extraordinary Fourth of July for me that I could imagine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He may not be an American, but after 114 days as a hostage in Gaza, Johnston is celebrating freedom today.

PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: His BBC colleagues are celebrating, too. But his mom says she never lost hope. You're live in the "CNN NEWSROOM."

At the top of the hour, record security, record crowds and record heat. Welcome to July 4, 2007. Visitors to the nation's capital getting checked out before heading to the mall. About half a million people, maybe more, are expected for the fireworks and concert there tonight.

Across the country, folks are trying to keep cool. It's sizzling from Las Vegas to Phoenix. Temperatures could reach 115 degrees today.

PHILLIPS: In a number of cities, highly-specialized units are making sure this 4th is a safe one. As CNN's Dan Lothian reports from Boston, it's not only by land.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Above the Charles River in Boston, an Air Force fighter jet rehearses a Fourth of July fly-over. As state police dive teams plunge in below, they're scanning and securing four fireworks barges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of these divers are trained to locate any kind of IED, improvised explosive device, that may be placed on this barge that could be activated at any time through a cell phone or radio-operated device.

LOTHIAN: They're also sweeping this shallow lagoon and nearby bridges. A half million people are expected to show up here on the 4th. Law enforcement officials call it a potentially rich target. THOMAS KALIL, SERGEANT, MASS. STATE POLICE MARINE UNIT: We want to make sure that between the water and the land, we can cut off any type of threat. Whatever it may be.

LOTHIAN: In Boston Harbor, more vigilance, too. State police and U.S. Coast Guard units are patrolling around a natural gas tanker, a navy war ship, a federal courthouse, and Boston's Logan International Airport.

KALIL: There is an increase in security land, sea, and air.

LOTHIAN: The Coast Guard says it is ready, even though no additional units from outside the region will be brought in.

BILL KELLY, COMMANDER, U.S. COAST GUARD: Coast Guard forces in the greater Boston area are essentially on duty or on call. We are ramping up in that basically everybody is going to be at work.

LOTHIAN: Law enforcement ramping up while reassuring the public.

KEVIN BURKE, MASS. SECRETARY OF PUBLIC SAFETY: Every precaution is being taken and we should not let events that occurred overseas interfere with our normal activities.

LOTHIAN (on camera): Officials stress that there is no known threat, but they realize that in this current climate and certainly with such a major holiday, they have to be prepared.

Dan Lothian, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: How about a Fourth of July without fireworks? That's reality in parts of the Midwest, swamped after weeks of rain. The holiday tradition also banned in places so dry that one spark could be disastrous. This includes southern California and Georgia, both in the grip of a devastating drought.

This 4th is no picnic for a lot of folks. Serious news here.

Reynolds Wolf, you've been getting tornado conditions and you're tracking them for us. What do you have?

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely right. From the Storm Prediction Center, we have two tornado watches in effect. Also a severe thunderstorm watch in effect. Right here on the screen you can see through much of the Ohio valley, we've got those watches that are now popping up.

No warnings as we speak. Not a lot of activity as of yet, but wait until later this afternoon and into the early evening.

Let's zoom in here from New York, south into Boston also into Columbus, Ohio, Cincinnati, Charleston, West Virginia. Even in Pittsburgh we've got that chance of some tornado activity later in the day. The atmosphere is becoming increasingly unstable, especially back over toward Columbus Ohio and Cincinnati.

(WEATHER REPORT)

That's the latest for. Let's send it back to the news desk.

LEMON: Reynolds, in Arizona temperatures already over 100 degrees.

WOLF: Hard to believe.

LEMON: Hard to believe. Thank you, Reynolds.

WOLF: Thanks a lot.

LEMON: We'll go to Tempe, Arizona, and speak to one of the reporters at our affiliate there in a moment.

PHILLIPS: Held hostage in Gaza every day for four months, Alan Johnston wondered whether that day would be his last. But Johnston survived and today he was set free. The BBC correspondent spoke to fellow reporters earlier today in Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSTON: He said I wouldn't be killed, I wouldn't be tortured. I'd be treated with respect as a Muslim prisoner and that turned out to be true. But you don't know whether to believe a man with a red and white (inaudible) wrapped around his head.

At 3:00 in the morning, they woke me up and put a hood over my head again and handcuffed me and took me out into the night. You wonder how that might end. But they were just moving me to another hide-out. And actually things for that first month were good. And my treatment was -- was good in that I was fed simple kind of things that my stomach could cope with. I got ill first of all and then they gave me the simple things that I asked for, bread, cheese, eggs, stuff that I could cope with.

They moved me a couple of times. And the regime got quite relaxed in the second place. I was able to use a kitchen next door to my room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, Alan Johnston was snatched from his car March 12th in Gaza. The group holding him calls itself the Army of Islam.

Sources in Gaza tell CNN at Hamas leaders promised not to harm the group if Johnston was released unharmed.

Usually reserved, famously unflappable, staffers at the BBC let down their hair at the news of Johnston's release. CNN's Carl Penhaul reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Workmen, take that poster down.

CARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The banner comes down at BBC headquarters in London. Relief beams across the faces of Alan Johnston's parents as they arrive at the BBC's World Service.

And the BBC announces news of the release of one of their own.

UNIDENTIFIED BBC ANCHOR: The BBC journalist, Alan Johnston, enjoys his first hours of freedom after being held hostage in Gaza for nearly four months.

PENHAUL: As Palestinian gunman were freeing TV reporter Johnston after 114 days in Gaza, his co-workers on night shift back in London heard the news.

UNIDENTIFIED BBC JOURNALIST: We thought it was a pretty normal night shift. And then this suddenly broke after 2:00. And the newsroom went mad. There were people hugging each other. It was wonderful. Really wonderful.

PENHAUL: Patchy communications and the chaos around his release meant Johnston only managed a brief call to his parents. As he talked by phone to CNN from Jerusalem, the interview was interrupted so he could listen in to his parents' reactions in a live news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSTON: It's a huge battle. You can imagine.

UNIDENTIFIED BBC ANCHOR: OK. Alan, if you can just hold there just one moment because we've got actually a press conference taking place now involving your parents. I know you want to hear what they have to say.

JOHNSTON: OK. Thanks.

GRAHAM JOHNSTON, FATHER OF ALAN JOHNSTON: So that's all we've heard from him so far, but we've seen him on the box.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PENHAUL: His father last saw his son on TV, apparently pleading for his life.

G. JOHNSON: It's been 114 days of a living nightmare. Just to hear his voice, he telephoned us. There was a lot of noise in the background. I think he had been jostled a lot. All he said was, "Hello, Dad." I said, "Hello, son. How are you? Are you all right?" He said, "I'm 100 percent."

PENHAUL: FOX News cameraman Olaf Wiig understands a little about that nightmare. He was held hostage last August for two weeks by the same group that snatched Johnston.

OLAF WIIG, FOX NEWS CAMERAMAN: I'm not sure that you're ever really aware of just how destructive kidnapping can be. The pressure on your loved ones and family is just so intense, that they don't have any word from you. They don't know whether their alive or dead.

PENHAUL: Friends and colleagues never lost hope, staging weekly vigils at the BBC and newsrooms across the world, keeping up pressure for his hand-over.

But the wait is over. And for now, BBC bosses are focusing on welcoming Johnston home and giving him time to recover.

MARK THOMPSON, BBC DIRECTOR GENERAL: Alan has not had many choices himself over the last few months. This is for him and his family. Alan is going to be reunited with his parents, Graham and Margaret, soon. Alan, I hope, is going to take a few days to figure out what he wants to do, how long he wants to take to work this through. This is an enormous experience for anyone to digest and make sense of.

PENHAUL: Even before flying back to Britain, Johnston in Jerusalem joined his co-workers in London via satellite link-up to celebrate his return to freedom.

Carl Penhaul, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Let's get back to the heat wave now here in the United States. A sunny Fourth of July in Arizona. The only problem, it's sizzling and getting hotter by the minute.

Jeanne Herwerth, of our affiliate KPHO, is here with a first-hand report.

Hot there in Arizona, right?

JEANNE HERWERTH, REPORTER, KPHO: Good afternoon. The expected high here in the Valley of the Sun in Tempe in Phoenix, 116 today for everyone's Fourth of July.

How people are staying cool is kind of an individual kind of thing. A lot of this. Some people even have their own very -- their misting systems to try to keep them cool. And, of course, where people are going to be sitting, there's misting systems going for that, a lot of ice, a lot of water, a lot of tents, umbrellas.

Fifty thousand people came out to this Fourth of July party last year. They are expecting just as many this year.

The gates open here at 4:00 Arizona time. And that, of course, is the hottest time of the today with an expected 116.

But everyone who runs the party, the vendors here, all taking precautions to make sure everyone has a safe Fourth of July. I think every tent has water and ice for people. There is going to be water games, water wars for the kids. So at least everyone can stay wet.

And also medical personnel standing by in case anyone suffers from heat stroke. They are doing their best to make sure that everyone has a safe Fourth of July and warning everybody just to drink a lot of the H2O before they come out here.

Reporting from CNN, live in Tempe, Jeanne Herwerth.

LEMON: Jeanne, you are really prepared. Everyone should be as prepared as you. You've got your water, your fan, and a very festive Fourth of July frock top on. Where on earth did you get that?

HERWERTH: You know what? I have had more comments on this shirt today than anything else. I think I bought it five years ago. And I wear it once a year on the fourth of July. But I'm going to go into the business of finding out where I got it and see if I can't sell some.

LEMON: What else did you expect, Jeanne? It's a flag. Oh, well.

HERWERTH: I know. Exactly. You want to absolute me, don't you?

LEMON: Yes. Jeanne, we appreciate it. Listen, stay cool. We realize it's very dangerous temperatures. Nice shirt.

HERWERTH: OK, thank you.

LEMON: Thank you, Jeanne.

PHILLIPS: This helicopter proved to be a life-saver for two pilots. Their chopper was shot out of the sky just south of Baghdad and it seemed they were doomed, but this Apache Helo whisked them away in a daring rescue. It's an amazing story and you'll hear from the crew coming up.

Almost four and a half years ago I was on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln for the start of that onslaught that was billed as Shock and Awe. How has Iraq changed? A look at then and now, straight ahead from the "CNN NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This is CNN. The most trusted name in news.

Here are the stories we're working on here in the "CNN NEWSROOM." Alan Johnston is a free man. Speaking with his fellow reporters, Johnston says he often was unsure whether he would live or die.

The son of former vice president, Al Gore, is in jail. Al Gore, III, was arrested on traffic charges in southern California where police say they found marijuana and prescription drugs in his car.

The British government has reduced the terror threat level in the U.K. from critical to severe now. And sources say investigators have found a suicide note written by one of the suspects in last week's terror plot. There were no deaths.

LEMON: An update on high-profile killing in Texas we told you about last month. A golden gloves boxer has been arrested in the beating death of David Morales. He was killed trying to protect the driver of the car in which he was riding after it struck and injured a child. Police in Austin say 20-year-old Curtis Colvin has been charged with felony manslaughter and more arrests are possible.

PHILLIPS: A hunt for a Fourth of July barbecue turns tragic in Connecticut. Three children are in critical condition today after being pulled from a submerged van. The driver had stepped out near a concession stand at Beardsley (ph) Park. She was asking for directions to a cook-out when a van rolled down a hill and into a pound. Scuba divers from Bridgeport Police Department pulled the children and one adult from that van. They'd been trapped inside for nearly half an hour. No word on the adult's condition.

LEMON: A harrowing plunge from a parker deck in Atlanta. Witnesses say the driver of this red sports car was speeding and possibly trying to pull off a stunt when it slammed into a railing. The car blasted through and fell several stories. The driver was injured. Witnesses say he demanded a lawyer when police arrived. CNN affiliate WSB says the driver faces charges of drunk driving and reckless driving.

PHILLIPS: A new diagnosis for the man whose world travels set off an international TV scare. Now he's speaking out to our own Anderson Cooper.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, he set off a tuberculosis scare. Now there's word at Andrew Speaker does not have the worst form of T.B. as first diagnosed by the CDC. The CDC is standing by its recommendation to isolate the Atlanta lawyer.

Speaker says the agency went too far. He spoke with our Anderson Cooper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, HOST, AC 360: Do you think you're owed an apology by the CDC?

ANDREW SPEAKER, TB PATIENT: Yes, I do. I think they owe an apology to the people they scared. They do dual testing here where. When they're running a test to see whether or not someone has tuberculosis or what kind, they run two of the same kind to make sure their results are correct. They traded a huge international panic -- they scared, you know, millions of people around the world.

WIFE OF ANDREW SPEAKER: And I think, too, I know I was reading NBR is, too, something that is definitely not something that we're happy that drew has and it's difficult to treat, but there was a half a million cases in 2004. I don't know the latest year, but I think the term XDR is what scared people to such a degree. And also because that diagnosis, Drew was put on very scary drugs, drugs with some very awful side effects.

SPEAKER: That I wouldn't have been put on.

WIFE OF SPEAKER: That he wouldn't have been put on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, the CDC says that Speaker's condition remains serious and no matter when strain of T.B. he has, he should not travel because he could put others at risk.

LEMON: You say eBay and I say Kijiji. The popular online auction is betting on Swahili as a way to make more money.

Stephanie Elam, will you please translate this story?

She joins us know from our New York studios and not the New York Stock Exchange because it's closed today.

What does Kijiji mean?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right. I'm trying to keep you on your feet here.

It's a clash of the classified. EBay, the cyber forum for more than 50,000 categories of merchandise, is taking on rival Craig's List one language at a time. Last Friday, the auction company launched very quietly the U.S. version of a successful overseas network Kijiji. And like the meaning of the Swahili word, which is village -- to answer your question, Don -- eBay is hoping to build a village of its own around the globe.

Kijiji's U.S. debut comes as investors grow more and more concerned about eBay's stalled growth in big markets, like the U.S. Kijiji is already the market leader in other nations, like Italy, Germany, Canada and Taiwan. It is now available in more than 200 cities in the U.S. as well -- Don.

LEMON: Oh, OK. So how is this going to match up against other classified sites? Isn't Craig's List much bigger and most of it is free?

ELAM: Yes. Craig's List runs more than 300 sites across the U.S. and in 50 countries. It also plans to introduce 50 additional sites in the next few weeks. So, yes, it's way larger than Kijiji.

But what's interesting here is that eBay knows Craig's List business from the inside out. It bought a 25 percent stake in the world's biggest free bulletin board three years ago. It wanted to study how Craig's List connects users to jobs, apartments, furniture, even love. You name, they've got it there.

EBay purchases Kijiji a year later stating at the time it had no intention of encroaching on Craig's List in the U.S. We'll have to stay tuned to see how that one pans out.

And we'll also have to stay tuned to see how the stocks react to all of this. The U.S. financial markets are closed today. In the first two days of the week, the Dow gained 170 points. Trading resumes tomorrow morning. For now, Don, I'm going to leave you baharini (ph). That's good- bye in Swahili. How do you like that?

LEMON: Didn't he win "American Idol" or something or was a runner up?

ELAM: You know what, Don?

LEMON: All right. Well, baharini (ph) Kajiji to you.

ELAM: Thank you. And back to you as well.

LEMON: See you soon.

ELAM: Have a good one.

PHILLIPS: A BBC journalist savers a holiday most Brits are not accustomed to celebrating.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSTON: It is the most extraordinary Fourth of July for me that I could imagine.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Alan Johnston goes free in Gaza after almost four months in captivity. You'll hear from him ahead in the "CNN NEWSROOM."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Hello, everyone. I'm Kyra Phillips, live at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.

LEMON: And I'm Don Lemon.

Two seats, four men. You do the math.

PHILLIPS: It came down to the wings and some prayers. You'll here from the pilots that pulled off a rescue in Iraq. You're live in the "CNN NEWSROOM." First up, though, Britain has lowered its terror threat from critical to severe. Eight suspects are being held in connection with last week's terror plot. At least one expected to die and left a suicide note. No word on where the note was discovered. Investigators believe the same two men, both doctors, planted car bombs in London and drove an SUV into the front of the terminal at the Glasgow Airport. Both of those suspects survived and are in custody along with the others.

LEMON: Held hostage in Gaza every day for four months, Alan Johnston wondered whether that day would be his last. But Johnston survived and today he was set free. The BBC correspondent spoke to fellow reporters earlier today in Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHNSTON: He said I wouldn't be killed, I wouldn't be tortured. I'd be treated with respect as a Muslim prisoner. And that turned out to be true. You know, you don't know whether to believe a man with something red and white (inaudible) wrapped around his head.

And at 3:00 in the morning, they woke me up and put a hood over my head again and handcuffed me and took me out into the night. Of course, you wonder why that might end. But they were only moving me to another hide-out. And actually things for that first month were good. And my treatment was -- was good in that I was fed simple kind of things that my stomach could cope with. I got ill first of all and then they gave me the simple things that I asked for, bread, cheese, eggs, stuff I could cope with.

They moved me a couple of times. The regime actually got quite relaxed in the second place. I was even able to use a kitchen next door to my room.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Alan Johnston was snatched from his car on March 12th in Gaza. The group holding him calls itself the Army of Islam. Sources tell CNN that Hamas leaders promised not to harm the group if Johnston was released unharmed.

Alan Johnston's abduction and his long, tense time in captivity illustrate the danger faced by Western Journalists every day in the Middle East.

Now few people know that better than our very own veteran correspondent in the region, Ben Wedeman. Ben is a personal friend of Alan Johnston and I spoke with him earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He was based in Gaza. I go down to Gaza, I've gone down to Gaza for many years on a regular basis. Oftentimes we would meet for breakfast and chat about the situation in Gaza. He would sort of update us because he lived there. He really knew the place far better than anybody else. And the ironic thing is the last time we had breakfast together, we joked about kidnapping, about the possibility of what we would do if we were kidnapped. And it was sort of a light-hearted moment. And after that, we -- we stopped joking about it.

LEMON: He really credits Hamas with his being set free. And I've heard him talk about it. Has he spoken to you? I know you spoke to him on the telephone. What was your conversation about? Did he talk to you about that and what else did he speak with you about?

WEDEMAN: What he told me was that the experience was a nightmare. There were days, he said, when he just felt that he was never going to get out of this situation. And I could hear in his voice just how happy he was to get out, how happy he was to talk to somebody he knew, just to sort of get that basic feeling off of his chest that finally I'm free. Finally I can speak. Finally I can look forward to something different than what he saw for 115 days in Gaza.

LEMON: As a foreign correspondent, someone who is over there, your feelings right now, now that your friend and your fellow co- worker is back and is safe.

WEDEMAN: Great relief. The longer he was there, really, Gaza became a place where you didn't really want to go. You felt that when you're there, you're really taking a risk. His being freed kind of lifts that dark cloud on Gaza. I've been there twice in the last two weeks and certainly since Hamas has taken over, the fighting that really endangered foreign journalists has come to an end. Hamas does seem to be trying to impose law and order there. But now that Alan is out, we can sort of approach Gaza with a good deal less trepidation.

LEMON: What are you going to do? What is the first thing you're going to do when you see him?

WEDEMAN: Well, I'm going to invite him out for a drink. I'm sure he desperately needs one after all that time. I was told by somebody at the BBC that he got rather tired of the food that he was given while in captivity, so he probably needs a good meal as well. So I'll invite him out to dinner and a few drinks and just chat.

LEMON: Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A roadside bomb in Afghanistan has killed six Canadian soldiers. The bomb went off along a gravel road in Kandahar Province, killing the six Canadians and their Afghan interpreter. They were returning to their base after a search operation in a village where Taliban rebels are believed to be operating. 2,500 Canadians are serving with NATO forces in Afghanistan. 66 Canadians have died there. 22 this year alone.

This is what military types mean when they say adapt, improvise and overcome. If you haven't seen or heard about this week's amazing rescue in Iraq, let me break it down for you. See this black and white image? That's an army apache attack helicopter. The white thing in the center of your screen, is a man. The pilot of a crashed aircraft that went down in hostile territory. He's holding on for dear life to the outside of a two-man chopper. Standard operating procedure, it is not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C.W.O. MARK BURROWS, U.S. ARMY: The attackers arrived on both sides and started shooting into the canal at us. They couldn't see us but the rounds were literally passing right beside us. It's a miracle we didn't get hit, but Steve got in, the original front seat of the apache, strapped on the outside of the aircraft. I strapped on the other side. We had to do that because it's only a two-person aircraft. It's just an emergency procedure that somebody had developed in days past. We actually trained for this before we came here in the event that it happened, so we all knew exactly what to do. I sat on the left side of the aircraft resting against the engine and I had no helmet, no hearing protection. They were going about 120 miles an hour so it was a pretty wild ride but at that point I was just elated. It wasn't the most enjoyable ride, but we were getting out of there. It was only about a ten-minute flight to Baghdad.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well talk about keeping a cool head. Let's take a look at that video again. He's holding on to what's called a hard point where missiles or rockets or extra fuel tanks are usually mounted. Now I spoke to these quick thinking rescue pilots earlier today and they told me there was no time to make any other plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

C.W.O. MICAH JOHNSON, U.S. ARMY: It was just really a split- second thing. I knew it would take less time just to put him in the front seat and the -- and Mark seemed, he was a little more lively, a little more able to talk to at the time. So I told -- I just told Steven to get in the front and took Mark to the other side. And he pretty much knew what to do. Like he'd been prior-trained on it. So I just told him to hold on. Went around, made sure the door was shut where Steven hopped in. Hopped on myself, just clamped in, and off we were.

PHILLIPS: And we're actually looking at the gun camera video right now. You're on the other side. This, right here, is Mark strapped on the right wing, you were on the opposite. What were you thinking on that wing as you were taking off? Did you have your weapons with you? Did you have to fire back at the enemies at any point? Just kind of give me a feel for what it felt like.

JOHNSON: It just felt unreal really. It was actually Mark on the -- on the left side and I was on the right. We were both wearing tan flight suits, however they were a little hard to distinguish at first because they were in neck-deep water as I was told. So they had really dark uniforms at the time. And for a split second, it was really difficult to actually tell who they were. So we both had our rifles. Mark had his flung at the time. I went to go sling mine as well around and I -- found out my sling was actually broken at the bottom of the butt stock so I actually just held on to it with my right hand the whole way out. Once the wings started pushing up against the aircraft, past you know, maybe about 80 knots or so or 90 miles an hour plus, really you probably become ineffective as far as being able to shoot off the side of the aircraft at all.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Amazing. All four aviators made it back to Baghdad safe and sound with nobody badly hurt. And that's how you get four people out of trouble in a two-seat helicopter. Believe me. You won't find that in any flight manual.

Well almost 4 1/2 years ago I was on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln for the start on that onslaught that was billed shock and awe. How has Iraq changed? A look at then and now, straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well, we have some news just into CNN, so bear with us. It's just coming in now. We're hearing it's coming from Crescent Beach, Florida. Apparently there a resident there found an old military explosive near a lake. Now we're hearing that the navy ordinance team is preparing to detonate that. Jeannie Emack, is on the phone with us now. Tell us about this old device. When you found it and what happened. You were walking your dog, right?

JEANNIE EMACK: I was walking the dog about 7:20 this morning and saw something unusual on the beach and went over to investigate and it was a torpedo. What was amazing was it was all in one piece. It was covered with all kinds of crustaceans, but it was -- it was definitely a torpedo.

LEMON: That's amazing. We're looking at that image right now that you sent to us, Jeanne. And you immediately alerted officials, did you?

EMACK: Right, correct.

LEMON: What did they say to you?

EMACK: Thank you, we'll be right there.

LEMON: I meant once they were on the scene. You were there when they got there and you showed them where it was, right?

EMACK: Right, correct.

LEMON: Tell us what took place then.

EMACK: They got in touch with I guess the bomb officials and they came on the scene. There were probably about 10 vehicles down on the beach. And they asked us to evacuate and that's when they exploded the bomb.

LEMON: Yeah. So this is a -- Jeannie, this is what we're getting from officials there. They think that it's a 250-pound World War II era bomb. If it's a live bomb, we're told that they have to detonate it and remove it. Did they detonate it when you were there?

EMACK: Yes, they did. In fact, they had asked us to leave and we left and came back and about 10 minutes later, they detonated it. And we heard it at the house. Felt it.

LEMON: You did? So it was huge?

EMACK: Uh-huh.

LEMON: Wow. Jeannie, what a find.

EMACK: Yeah. I'm just glad it wasn't pointed at us.

LEMON: What's going through your head right now? EMACK: It's been an exciting July 4th. I think it's amazing that it turned up today.

LEMON: Yeah, of all days, the Fourth of July, Independence Day. We're glad you're safe. And we're glad you found this and then sent us those pictures. We appreciate that. Jeannie Emack, thank you. Jeannie Emack of course an unexpected iReporter and if you have pictures like that, you can send them to us, go to our website and look for CNN iReports. Thanks again Jeannie.

PHILLIPS: All of us here wish you a happy Fourth of July. An independence day when more than 160,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq and Afghanistan. Literally battling to win independence for countries that haven't known freedom in our lifetimes. It's also the fifth 4th to come and go since the Iraq war began. I was there then with the first bombs fell on Baghdad and a few weeks ago, I went back to see it now, hoping to see tremendous improvement.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mission objectives, we heard that. Hit the target.

PHILLIPS (on camera): Well, welcome to shock and awe from the USS Abraham Lincoln.

(voice-over): It was four years ago this week I watched fighter pilots suit up and fill the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln. I knew at this moment that within 90 minutes, Baghdad would light up with blinding fire power.

The mission would be called shock and awe.

Operation Iraqi Freedom was now under way. Iraq was about to change forever. Attempting to forge freedom, but creating years of chaos. The smoke is cleared and this is Baghdad today. It looks peaceful from here, but on the streets, it's anything but.

(on camera): Just to give you an idea of how dangerous it still is here in Baghdad four years after the war started, right now we're in a Shiite neighborhood and you can see we have an Iraqi police escort in front of us with armed police officers. And also behind us. We've got two trucks behind us. And you can see there's members of the military and also the police that are constantly talking to us. We have checkpoints every 600 yards. And the curfew is in place from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. You can see how difficult it is just to travel less than a mile.

(voice-over): Even Iraqis move quickly through the streets with very little expression. There are no gatherings at cafes or catching a movie. They may have political freedom, but not freedom from terror. Of course I'm scared, this street vendor tells me because I feel I'm not secure. I'm standing here, but I expect danger to happen to me at any moment. Danger this wedding shop owner fears every day. I'm afraid of everything, she says. From car bombs, from people, from anything. I feel scared even inside my store or inside my home. I remember the stories we reported as the war began. Our Baghdad correspondents based at the landmark Palestine hotel search for weapons of mass destruction and we wrote about democracy, justice, and a better life for the people of Iraq.

(on camera): This was actually our CNN NEWSROOM. There were computers, edit equipment, satellites. They filled up this room. Matter of fact, this entire hotel was wall-to-wall journalists. Now there's only a few reporters left, and they all stay here at their own risk.

(voice-over): Mohammed Fahzi still works here. He never loses hope, but life just isn't the same. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, he explains, the Iraqi people were happy and had smiles on their faces. They were comfortable in terms of the future. The hope and smiles have disappeared. God willing, things will get back to normal and our children will have a better future. No one knows for sure how many Iraqis have died since this war began. Figures range widely from 50,000 to 600,000. More than 3,200 U.S. troops have lost their lives. Now the sounds of morning prayers combined with gunfire is just a reality. Faith and fire fights. Good battling evil. Iraqis and military troops enduring yet another war anniversary with very little celebration.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: That was Kyra Philips reporting. Some troops fight for the red, white and blue and even though they aren't Americans, immigrants have protected this country for generations.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON (voice-over): In keeping with America's history as an immigrant nation, most legal permanent residents can enlist in the U.S. military. More than 68,000 immigrants are now on active duty. Nearly 5 percent of enlisted troops in the U.S. armed forces are immigrants. Almost 7 percent of the U.S. Navy's enlisted personnel are immigrants. Federal law permits only U.S. citizens to become warrant or commissioned officers. In 2002, President Bush signed an executive order fast tracking the naturalization process for immigrant service members. They can qualify for citizenship after serving one year of active duty. About 40,000 immigrants in the military are eligible to apply to become U.S. citizens.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Jenna Bush grew up largely out of the spotlight, now the president's daughter is coming into her own with a new book and a new mission. That's straight ahead from the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, a dreary fourth for folks in parts of the Midwest and southern plains. In northeast Oklahoma, flooding has forced a new round of evacuations. Hundreds of people in the city of Miami are spending the holiday in shelters now. And just north of Tulsa, another river is on the rise threatening even more homes. Upstream in southeast Kansas, flood waters are receding ever so slowly. At least 1,000 people are still out of their homes. And in Texas, more downpours and more flooding.

LEMON: You're likely to see security everywhere you turn in the nation's capital this evening. Hundreds of officers from practically every agency are on duty today, many at the National Mall. As in the past, it's fenced off and visitors wanting to watch tonight's fireworks and concert there have to pass through checkpoints. The mild weather a record crowd is expected perhaps more than a half million people.

PHILLIPS: Well about 55,000 runners took to the streets of Atlanta this morning after a security sweep of the route. It was the 38th running of the Peachtree Road race, the nation's largest 10k. It was the first Peachtree for Martin Irungu of Kenya. But the first time was the charm. Irungu led from start to finish.

LEMON: The first time for someone else too.

PHILLIPS: That's right, our producer Sonia Houston, I think she was right behind him, actually. You'll see her in just about two seconds there.

LEMON: I thought she won and we just got it wrong.

PHILLIPS: She won the woman's part.

LEMON: Oh ok.

PHILLIPS: She was just a little -- few steps in front of him.

LEMON: We'll have to congratulate her when she gets back. Congratulations Sonia, we're very proud of you.

The first family's twin daughters, Jenna and Barbara Bush, have largely been spared the glare of the media spotlight. Well that is about to change. Jenna Bush is taking a much higher profile job thanks to her work with UNICEF. She also has a book coming out in the fall. Our Suzanne Malveaux had a rare chance to see her up close and personal.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jenna Bush is stepping out. The 25-year-old captured the international spotlight when she traveled to Africa with her mother, the first lady. It's a tease for a new role she'll soon play, as good will ambassador for UNICEF.

BARBARA BUSH: She will have a higher profile and it's been really fun for me to have this opportunity to be here with her.

MALVEAUX: At first glance, Jenna seems shy in front of the cameras, saying little, nodding in agreement with her mother. She's now embracing her first daughter duties, which includes a lot of standing around with other first daughters. Occasionally she's caught looking bored, but Jenna comes to life when she's with children. She's engaging, affectionate, and disarming. The many she befriended, she generated down-right excitement. These images are a far cry from the infamous picture of her snubbing the press and reports of her days as party girl.

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: I think it's a great time for Jenna to step out into the public because if you think about what her peers are doing right now, none of them are fairing as well as she is. You've got Lindsay Lohan, who is of similar age. She's in rehab. You've got Paris Hilton who just got out of prison and is partying in Hawaii right now.

MALVEAUX: Since leaving the White House, Jenna has been teaching at a charter school in Washington, D.C. She also worked in Panama for nine months, documenting children's stories for UNICEF. She's got a book coming out in the fall that focuses on a 17-year-old she befriended.

BARBARA BUSH: The girl that she wrote about, her parents are dead, she's an AIDS orphan and she contracted AIDS at birth from her parents. So it's just a story about her amazing courage and inspiration. She inspired Jenna.

MALVEAUX (on camera): The first lady told me it was also Jenna's twin sister Barbara who inspired her to get involved in relief work. Barbara had volunteered in South Africa before taking a job at a New York museum. Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Washington.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: We'll tell you what Jenna's grandpa was up to today, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, when you're holding a Fourth of July golf tournament outside Washington, having a former president on hand is par for the course. Tiger Woods welcomed former President George Bush to a tournament that Woods was hosting in Bethesda, Maryland. Woods looked on as the former president hits the ceremonial first shot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiger, would you do us the honor of teeing up the golf ball for President Bush.

TIGER WOODS: I got it. Yeah, I got it.

GEORGE H.W. BUSH: The no laughing rule is in effect. If anybody laughs when I hit it, they're dead. We've got the secret service here to look after me.

All right.

BUSH: You have Mulligans? You ready? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Drum roll, please.

BUSH: There's no way I can get down there.

WOODS: You're ready.

BUSH: All right. Why did I agree to do this?

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: I'm just glad he didn't miss.

LEMON: What a nice job and a lot of pressure.

Now it's time to turn it over to our Susan Malveaux.

PHILLIPS: That's right. She always tees it up and knocks them dead. Suzanne Malveaux take it away.

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