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American Morning

Testing the Waters for a Terrorist Attack; Mortgage Mess; Deadly Home Invasion

Aired July 25, 2007 - 07:59   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. It is Wednesday, the 25th of July.
Thanks for being with us.

I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

It will be interesting to see how that plays out, what the excuse would be for why you strapped wires and a cell phone battery to cheese.

ROBERTS: How do you explain that?

CHETRY: Yes, exactly.

Well, that's some of the questions they're asking today as airport security officers across the country are on alert this morning.

The TSA, Transportation Security Administration, telling workers to look out for people who may be making dry runs, testing the waters, if you will, for a terrorist attack. The government says that some suspicious looking items packaged to look like bombs have been seized at four airports since last September.

Keith Oppenheim as a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The TSA bullet was meant for law enforcement and it had an alarmist tone. It read, "A Surge in recent suspicious incidents at U.S. airports may indicate terrorists are conducting pre-attack security probes and dry runs similar to dress rehearsals."

The memo cited four confiscations at four airports dating back to last fall, and in each case suggesting what was found may have been meant to resemble a bomb.

September 16th, Baltimore. Agents find a checked bag with a block of cheese connected to a cell phone charger.

November 8th, Houston. Inside a passenger's checked bag, a plastic bag with a 9-volt batteries, wires and a block of clay. June 4th, Milwaukee. A carry-on bag contains a wire coil around an electrical switch, three tubes and two blocks of cheese.

And July 5th, San Diego. A checked bag contains duct tape around two icepacks filled with clay.

The bullet went on to say some of these incidents led the TSA to evacuation terminals, but ultimately the investigation had not linked passengers carrying these items with terrorist organizations. It read, "However, most passengers' explanations for carrying the suspicious items were questionable, and some investigations are still ongoing."

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Well, earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we spoke to the former inspector general at Homeland Security, Clark Kent Ervin. He says it would not be surprising if terrorist groups were trying to find a weak link in security to get these explosives on to a plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARK KENT ERVIN, FMR. DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL: There have been a number of investigations showing it's sometimes difficult for screeners to spot fully assembled bombs, but obviously it's even harder for them to spot components that in and of themselves are innocuous. The fact that there have been so many incidents, the advisory refers to it as a surge. And the fact that al Qaeda has this pattern of testing, doing dry runs, dress rehearsals before attacks, all adds up to a very troubling picture.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: The TSA is still downplaying this latest bulletin, saying it's one of 90 advisories they sent out this year, and that there is no specific threat. But it's interesting, because it comes just a couple of days after that expose at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport where they found a four-hour lapse where TSA simply were not screening anything.

ROBERTS: And it also comes as the head of the Northern Command, the man charged with protecting the homeland, says there may be al Qaeda sleeper cells already in the country, or al Qaeda may be trying to get them in.

So all very troubling this morning.

More flooding problems in England this morning, speaking of trouble. Hundreds of homes in Oxford had to be evacuated overnight after the Thames River overflowed its banks.

And there's a massive operation under way to get drinking water to people who have been cut off by the floods. Three hundred and fifty thousand people still do not have running water. And emergency crews say it could take at least two weeks to get service restored. CHETRY: Well, Monday night's debate isn't over for senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. They both offer different plans when asked how they would handle diplomatic relations with countries like Iran and Venezuela and Cuba.

Obama said that as president he would meet with leaders of those countries during his first year in office. Clinton said she would not. The answers now sparking a war of words between the Democratic competitors.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON (D-NY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I thought that was irresponsible and, frankly, naive to say that you would commit a meeting with, you know, Chavez and Castro and others within the first year.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you want to talk about irresponsibility and naivete, look at her vote to authorize George Bush to send our troops into Iraq without an exit plan. And then asking the Pentagon about what the plan is five years later.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHETRY: Well, so far, no signs of any apologies. Both camps are standing their ground, and also both camps claiming victory when it comes to who is right.

ROBERTS: And he complimented her jacket at the debate on Monday night, too.

CHETRY: Yes.

ROBERTS: The gloves are off.

CHETRY: All that changed.

ROBERTS: New this morning, a deadly plane crash in Alaska. The Coast Guard says a sightseeing plane went down in the mountains yesterday shortly after the aircraft sent out a distress signal. The pilot and four passengers were killed.

The passengers were touring the area while their cruise ship was docked. It was the second day of a second-day roundtrip cruise from Seattle.

Tropical Storm Dalila is gaining steam off of Mexico's coast. Forecasters say it is expected to head up to the coast over the next few days, but it probably will not make landfall. The storm is expected to head into cooler waters and then die at sea. To Thailand now and an overnight race to higher ground. Thousands of people in coastal towns took part in a tsunami evacuation drill this morning. Officials testing a new network of warning sirens. The system started coming together after the 2004 tsunami which killed more than 8,000 people in Thailand alone.

Also this morning, what have we learned from the Walter Reed Medical Center scandal? President Bush will soon find that out. The Commission on Troop Care will submit its recommendations to the White House today. The president created the panel after horrid conditions were uncovered at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The report, though, we understand, will not assign any blame.

CHETRY: Well, there are some other important stories we're following for you this morning with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents.

A top lender says that the housing slump will stay with us at least in 2009, warning that even homeowners owners with good credit could have trouble making their payments.

Ali Velshi following the mortgage mess for us.

Hi, Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kiran.

And in fact, homeowners with good credit are having trouble already. According to Countrywide, which is the nation's biggest mortgage lender, in June, 4.5 percent of lenders with good credit, prime mortgages, were delinquent, 23.7 percent of those with poor credit, those subprime borrowers, were delinquent.

This is a serious problem, because what it means is that regular people with good credit are seeing their mortgage rates adjust, increase with these adjustable rate mortgages, and they're having trouble making the increased payments, possibly because other things are costing them more, like gasoline. But whatever it is, this is a bigger problem, because as people can't afford to pay their mortgages, mortgage delinquency is a serious, serious problem. It affects your other credit, your ability to borrow elsewhere, your ability to spend, and therefore to support the companies that depend on your patronage.

And that is why we saw a 226-point drop in the stock market yesterday. People worried that the subprime mortgage problem which we started to follow a few months ago has become much bigger and has moved its way into the prime lending market.

This is becoming a serious problem which we will continue to follow, but the CEO of Countrywide says don't expect a housing recovery until at least 2009, Kiran.

CHETRY: Wow.

VELSHI: We're on top of this. We will be back with more.

CHETRY: That's not what many homeowners wanted to hear.

VELSHI: No.

CHETRY: All right. Ali Velshi, thanks so much.

Well, a creative way to deal with cold cases in Florida.

Alina Cho joins us now with details.

Hi, Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey there, Kiran. Good morning.

You know, this new idea is actually modeled after those infamous playing cards of the most wanted fugitives in Iraq. You remember those. Well, now Florida's Department of Law Enforcement has printed decks of playing cards with photos of missing persons and homicide victims. Now, those so-called cold case cards are being distributed in prisons all over the state.

The idea is that prisoners may be the best people to help solve a crime.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL MCCOLLUM, FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL: Other criminals tend to talk about their crimes, brag to their fellow inmates at some time or another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: It certainly is an interesting idea. And there is evidence that it actually works.

One case dating back to 2004 was cracked after an inmate saw the playing card and remembered that someone he knew confessed to the crime. But it wasn't until he saw that playing card that he believed the crime actually happened. As a result, two people were arrested in connection with that murder.

Now, Florida is the first state to implement those cards. And though some might think it's insensitive to solve crimes like this, we are told that family members are generally on board and support the idea.

And Kiran, what is interesting is there are 93,000 prison inmates in Florida. We'll have to see if they help solve some of these 104 cold cases in the state. It certainly will be one to watch.

CHETRY: It certainly will. Thanks, Alina.

Well, a possible breakthrough this morning for people with peanut allergies.

Elizabeth Cohen is following this one for us.

Hi, Elizabeth.

You know, it affects a lot of people if you have a kid with a peanut allergy. You're terrified they might accidentally get their hands on something that contains peanuts.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely, Kiran.

Peanut allergies can be deadly. They're not just a nuisance. If you're allergic, you could die if you by mistake eat a peanut. And three million Americans have peanut allergies, and the numbers are going up, especially for children.

And that is why this news from North Carolina A&T State University is potentially so exciting. They say that they have made a peanut that doesn't set off these allergies.

They just took the allergen out altogether. They say it really works.

What they did is they exposed blood of people who are allergic to peanuts to these peanuts, and they saw no reaction whatever. Now, however, we do have to say they have not tried this in people yet. They haven't actually given the peanuts to people who are allergic to peanuts, had them eat it and see what happens.

So we are years and years, if ever, away from seeing these on supermarket shelves. And by the way, Kiran, the people who make these peanuts say they taste just like any other peanut.

CHETRY: Because that's what they want to know, are they still going to taste good on the PB&J sandwiches when they finally get this thing hammered out?

COHEN: Right, exactly. Exactly.

CHETRY: All right, Elizabeth. Thanks so much.

COHEN: Thanks.

CHETRY: John.

ROBERTS: Nine minutes now after the hour, and a thunderstorm threat tops your "Quick Hits" now.

Firefighters battling a huge wildfire in Nevada are bracing for heavy rains and lightning that could spark more fires and floods there. A flash flood watch has been posted for the Sierra Nevada range. There are also major wildfires burning right now in Idaho, Oregon, California, Utah and Montana.

Earlier this morning we asked Rob Marciano, what is going on with hurricane season? Pretty quiet so far. And now one group is downgrading its 2007 projections.

The private forecaster WSI is now predicting six hurricanes instead of eight, with three of them being major hurricanes. Forecasters are changing their outlook because of cooler-than-expected water temperatures in the tropical Atlantic, which is good news for just about everyone.

A small Connecticut town is reeling after a horrific home invasion attack. It left almost an entire family dead. Up next, we'll talk with a woman who was a friend of one of the victims.

AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: And welcome back to the most news in the morning.

There are Americans attending Cuban medical school for free. Well, it tops your "Quick Hits" now.

About a hundred Americans are studying medicine in Cuba. Eight of them graduate today debt-free. Cuba offered full scholarships on the condition that the new doctors go back home to serve communities where people have little access to health care.

Well, a new study says that public schools across the country are devoting a lot more time to math and reading, but they're cutting time out of just about every other subject. The Center on Education Policy says the No Child Left Behind Act has a lot to do with that. The law requires annual testing in math and reading.

And Miss America says she wants to help make the Internet safer for kids. Laura Nelson asking Congress to make it mandatory for kids to take Internet safety classes -- John.

ROBERTS: A horrifying crime rocks a small Connecticut town. A mother and two daughters are dead after two men allegedly broke into their home and then set it on fire with the entire family inside. Amazingly, the father survived the attack, although he has a very serious head wound.

The two men were out on parole at the time. They are now facing charges of sexual assault, arson and robbery.

Sandy Wirth is the associate headmaster of the Cheshire Academy where the mother, Jennifer Hawke-Petit, worked in the health department. She joins us from Cheshire, Connecticut, now.

Sandy, this is just an unspeakable tragedy. How are people there at the Cheshire Academy coping with it this morning?

SANDY WIRTH, FRIEND OF VICTIM: Well, we are absolutely devastated by the tragedy that's rocked our community and rocked the town of Cheshire.

Jen was more than a teacher here. She was more than a nurse here. She was part of our family, she was part of the community. And we're all very devastated by the loss and by the crime in this town.

Go ahead.

ROBERTS: People have said that things like this just don't happen in Cheshire.

WIRTH: No. Cheshire is a wonderful community, it's a wonderful town. It's a safe town. And, you know, my family lives here, and we love Cheshire.

This is absolutely -- this is absolutely a shock to all of us who live here.

ROBERTS: This was a prominent family in the community. Tell us a little bit about them.

WIRTH: Yes. The Petits -- the Petits are a wonderful family. We -- they were a visible presence on our campus.

Jen certainly worked here, but her daughters and her husband came here to dinner. Jen's daughter, Hayley, went to Miss Porter's School, but she was often on our campus. She played basketball at Miss Porter's and played against our team at Cheshire. And when Miss Porter's played Cheshire, Jen would sit at half-court and cheer on her daughter and the Porter's team, but also cheer on the Cheshire girls.

ROBERTS: Jen was the director of the health clinic there. She's been described as almost like a mom to these kids.

WIRTH: Yes. Jennifer was absolutely wonderful to the students here, and all of our parents should feel comforted knowing that when they send their children to Cheshire Academy that they are in the hands of not only our wonderful faculty, but also Jen Petit.

She was very nurturing, very caring. And she was more than a nurse. She was a health care educator.

She educated our kids about health issues about their bodies. I have one comment, an e-mail from a father from Korea expressing his grief about the tragedy, and one thing that he said is that his son spent a little bit of time in the health center last year and that he appreciated how much that Jen cared for his soul and for his body when he was there.

ROBERTS: Right. We're just looking at pictures here of the aftermath of the scene there with the firefighters at the house, and there is a crashed vehicle there on the road that was allegedly driven by the perpetrators. It smashed into a couple of police cars as they were trying to get away from the scene.

WIRTH: Right. Yes.

ROBERTS: Sandy, how do you feel about the fact that the men who allegedly committed this crime were out on parole?

WIRTH: Well, I feel horrible. I feel -- I feel -- obviously, I wish they would not have been out on parole. I wish that they weren't in Cheshire and I wish they weren't in any town. ROBERTS: Well, Sandy, our thoughts and prayers go out to you this morning. I know that it's an incredibly difficult situation. I can't imagine all of you having to cope with such a terrible tragedy. Most of the members of one family all dead because of this.

Sandy Wirth, thanks very much for sharing those thoughts with us this morning. Appreciate you coming in.

WIRTH: OK. Thank you, John.

CHETRY: Well, time now for some "Quick Hits".

Fred Thompson's campaign staff is changing, even though the former Tennessee senator has not officially jumped into the race. Thompson is said to be replacing his acting campaign manager with former senator and energy secretary Spencer Abraham.

And former congressman Henry Hyde is in intensive care, recovering from open heart bypass surgery. He is 83 years old. He served 32 years as a Republican representing Illinois.

Doctors are slowly bringing him out of sedation and they that his prognosis is good.

Lindsay Lohan busted again for DUI and now she's facing jail time. So what was she doing before police caught up with her?

Reporting, our Jeanne Moos on the case. That's coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, this morning, Lindsay Lohan saying yes to rehab, apparently, back in after yet another arrest on drunk driving, as well as drug charges.

CNN's Jeanne Moos has more on Lohan's latest escapade.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Just another day in the life of Lindsay Lohan.

LT. ALEX PADILLA, SANTA MONICA POLICE: She was arrested for driving under the influence.

MOOS: Not to be confused with her influence on teens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I looked up to her so much and it just breaks my heart.

MOOS: First, just the facts, ma'am.

PADILLA: She was chasing after another car. The other car was being driven by the mother of her personal assistant.

MOOS: Her personal assistant had just quit. Her mom was picking her up.

PADILLA: The mother was afraid, she wasn't quite sure what was going on. So she called the police. Regarding a verbal argument that was occurring in the parking lot.

MOOS: Not only was Lindsay allegedly DUI.

PADILLA: While in the jail, officers found in her possession a small amount of cocaine.

MOOS: And before you can say, this just in -- Madame Tussauds Wax Museum had dressed Lindsay in prison stripes and alerted the press.

How do you think she looks in stripes?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fat.

MOOS: Horizontal stripes do that to you. Just a month and a half ago, it was wax Paris Hilton's turn to wear stripes.

MOOS: Do have like, a large supply in case they all get in trouble at the same time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we do not.

MOOS: But something was missing.

She's wearing this thing that's supposed to detect whether she drinks. And though wax Lindsay wasn't wearing it, the real Lindsay was when police arrested her, and so have news anchors demonstrating the device.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you drink any amount of alcohol, it seeps through your skin.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can't wear your skinny jeans with this.

MOOS: At least in her mug shot, Lindsay doesn't look as bad as say, James Brown or Nick Nolte. Even in our celeb-saturated world, there are still those that can't pick Lindsay out of a lineup of celebs gone wild.

You think this is Lindsay Lohan?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I mean, yes, I think so. I'm just a tourist, you know.

MOOS: And that's just Nicole Richie. In the wake of her latest alleged DUI, Lindsay canceled an appearance on the "Tonight Show." Replacing her, comedian Rob Schneider dressed to look like Lindsay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just don't like her. I just think that she represents women badly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She used to be so cute in "Parent Trap." UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And introducing Lindsay Lohan.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now she's in rehab, again.

MOOS: An occurrence so common, it's become a hit song.

AMY WINEHOUSE, SINGER (singing): They try to make me go to rehab, I say, no, no, no.

MOOS: But Lindsay said, yes, yes, yes. Again. Little girls are still holding her hand, Madame Tussauds hasn't put a drink in it, yet.

Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: Well, there you have it.

ROBERTS: Told as only Jeanne Moos can.

CHETRY: Very true.

She's -- by the way, Lohan booked on five charges, including drunk driving, driving without a license, and possession of cocaine, including -- I guess they found it in her pocket once she was already in the jail, so that is even another felony count. And her next court appearance is August 24th.

ROBERTS: Hey, also "On Our Radar" this morning -- you're not going to want to miss this -- is gator wrestling a dying art? An unusual question to ask this morning, but if you've ever been to Florida and you've driven anywhere near the Everglades and see all the signs, "Gator wrestling here," well, apparently, there's not so much anymore.

CHETRY: Right. The demand is waning to see that type of thing.

Well, one gator wrestler is trying to inspire kids to get into the pit, and it might be working. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've always loved animals since I've been little.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, yes, but it's one thing to love animals, but this is an alligator.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think of it as the same thing, like a dog.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Just what every mother wants to hear.

Well, we're going to be talking live to the man inspiring that young guy when AMERICAN MORNING returns. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Got some breaking news to report this morning about the fate of those South Korean hostages that have been held by the Taliban in Afghanistan since last Thursday to report to you this morning.

CHETRY: Yes, the Taliban is saying that a deadline has passed. They were saying that they plan to kill a few hostages.

This deadline passed three hours ago. And at least, according to some of the wire reports, including Reuters, that they are reporting right now that they have, indeed, killed one of these Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan.

ROBERTS: We have not been able to independently confirm that report yet. It's coming to us from Reuters this morning. But again, Reuters saying that one of the South Korean hostages, 18 of them women, five of them men, has been killed.

The Taliban saying that it's making good on its promise to execute the hostages if South Korea did not accede to its demands, which were to pull South Korean troops out of Afghanistan.

We'll keep following the story for you this morning, get the latest on it just as soon as we can.

A new security alert at America's airports today. Concerns that terrorists could be rolling out dry runs for a future attack.

In the past 11 months, airport screeners have turned up some unusual objects in luggage, including, look at this, a block of cheese duct-taped to a cell phone charger. Experts say that the items could be meant to mimic bomb components, and terror groups are trying to see just how hard it would be to get those on to an aircraft.

The TSA is downplaying the bulletin, saying it's one of 90 advisories that have been sent out this year. But as for the people who had those suspicious items in their luggage, the feds say most of their stories are questionable and some of them are still being investigated.

CHETRY: Well, the man in charge of preventing an attack in the U.S. says that he sees a growing threat from al Qaeda in the U.S. Air Force general Victor Renuart, the head of U.S. Northern Command, says that he believes that terror cells are probably either already here or people are working to create them. He is also calling for two more military units trained to respond to a nuclear, chemical or biological attack.

ROBERTS: Massachusetts senator John Kerry is blasting President Bush. Kerry says the president is trying to scare Americans about al Qaeda.

The president yesterday said that Al Qaeda in Iraq has strong connections to al Qaeda run by Osama bin Laden and that leaving Iraq without defeating them would be disastrous for America. Kerry says the president's logic is flawed and he is "putting forth a false rationale for continuing the war."

CHETRY: In Britain, meantime, new prime minister Gordon Brown is considering extending the amount of time that a terror suspect can be held without being charged. Brown wants to double the period to 56 days. It's just one part of Brown's new counterterrorism plan.

ROBERTS: Investigators recently recommended dropping charges against a Marine involved in the Haditha killings in Iraq; 24 Iraqis were killed by Marines there in 2005. The recommendation was good news to some people back home, who are supporting the soldiers. They are part of a growing movement to help the soldiers with legal fees. Sean Callebs has been looking into the story and he joins us this morning from New Orleans.

Good morning, Sean.

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. Indeed, it is a growing trend. A lot of organizations are right now turning to the web trying to get people across the country to donate whatever they can to legal defense funds for a number of these troops, who are now charged with crimes.

One of the larger groups is called Military Combat Defense Fund. If you just go to donations and click on, and they say basically any amount is accepted.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS (voice over): For months now, retired Marine Patrick Barnes has watched money trickle into the Military Combat Defense Fund.

PATRICK BARNES, MILITARY COMBAT DEFENSE FUND: Uh, $300 here, and $25 here, $100, here.

CALLEBS: The checks have added up to more than $150,000. It's just one of a dozen or so organizations using Internet web sites to raise money for U.S. troops accused of crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan.

BARNES: They're from blue-collar families. They don't have a lot of money and to have money for a defense, they just don't have it.

CALLEBS: The web sites are mainly run by ex-military personnel or conservative Christian groups such as the Thomas More Law Center, which has taken on the case of Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Chessani. Chessani could be court-martialed on charges of dereliction of duty for failing to report and investigate the killings of Iraqi civilians by U.S. Marines in the town of Haditha.

The Thomas Moore site has received $300,000 so far, chiefly from donors who describe them selves as patriotic Americans.

RICHARD THOMPSON, THOMAS MORE LAW CENTER: Who want to support our troops in Iraq, who may not necessarily believe that fighting the war is the appropriate thing to be doing, but they are not taking it out on our troops.

CALLEBS: These organizations are encouraged by another Haditha case involving Corporal Justin Sharratt, who was charged in three deaths. Marine investigators are recommending dropping murder charges against Sharratt, saying the allegations were not supported by the evidence.

The corporal's family said, quote, "The monetary donations we received from the defense funds have helped in lessening the financial burden on our family."

Patrick Barnes, himself, a decorated Vietnam veteran, says his fight to defend American military personnel goes on.

BARNES: I know what it's like to kick a door down, and sweep a house, so when I read about these kids being charged with crimes for fighting a war the way they're supposed to, it is somewhat enraging.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLEBS: And let me be clear. These groups are not saying they want troops to commit murder and mayhem. In fact the mission's statement on this one web site says they do not condone or encourage violence against civilians. But one Marine investigator said they were pursuing charges on, quote, "flimsy evidence". So a lot of these organizers of these web sites say that is a dangerous precedent when you consider these are young men and women in combat -- John.

ROBERTS: Sean Callebs for us this morning in New Orleans. Sean, thanks very much.

CHETRY: Also new this morning. Another town in England hit by flood waters overnight. Hundreds of people were forced to flee their homes in Oxford after the Thames River overflowed its banks.

The real challenge this morning is getting drinking water to people cut off by the flooding; 350,000 people do not have running water. And they say it could take up to two weeks to get service restored. Right now the military is going door-to-door handing out bottled water.

Iran this morning says it is considering more talks with the U.S. at a higher level than yesterday's meeting between ambassadors in Baghdad. Both sides agreed to come up with a committee, to set that up, that would work on solving Iraq security problems. It would be a member from Iraq, Iran and the United States.

The meeting also produced some heated exchanges as the U.S. accused Iran of training and supporting terrorists in Iraq.

Also new this morning, in Iraq U.S.-led coalition forces nabbing 20 terror suspects in early morning raids. The U.S. military said the raids happened in Baghdad and Mosul. Top commander say that recent coalition operations are dealing the Al Qaeda network in the region a major blow. From Afghanistan, the Associated Press is reporting that a missing German journalist and his translator have been freed. In fact, just moments ago, CNN also was able to confirm indeed that this man has been freed. This is Christoph Reuter. He works for a German magazine, he had not been heard from in two days since he left Kabul for Jalalabad. But again, CNN, confirming today that this German journalist, who was kidnapped, as has now been freed.

ROBERTS: The leaders of the Democratic presidential pack are engaged in some verbal sparing. Hillary Clinton calling Barack Obama's willingness to meet with the leaders of U.S. adversaries in the Middle East, is quote, "irresponsible and naive."

Obama then accusing the Clinton camp of using his debate remarks to hatch a fabricated controversy. Meanwhile, back at the capitol, the president and Congress confront their incredible shrinking popularity. CNN's Tom Foreman has this morning's edition of "Raw Politics".

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If Washington had a basement, it would be crowded with approval ratings for the president and Congress about as low as they can go. And, yet, a new poll shows Americans still trust the Democratic-led Congress to handle the war more than the White House, even as the president calls for patience.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Al Qaeda is in Iraq. They're there for a reason. And surrendering the future of Iraq to Al Qaeda would be a disaster for our country.

FOREMAN: The poll says six out of 10 Americans now want Congress to decide when troops will come home.

A big Harry pinata party: Republicans are planning summertime attack on Harry Reid and other top Dems in Congress, saying they crippled legislative progress by debating the war endlessly and stalling policy initiatives, investigating pretty much everything the White House does.

The phantom of the campaign opera suffers a cast change. Republican Fred Thompson is still not in the race, but a big campaign organizer has already stepped down into a lesser role.

"Raw Politics" inside scoop, sources say Thompson's wife is calling too many shots to suit some of the political pros who have signed on to helping.

And taxi! YouTubers wanted to know if Barack Obama is black enough to be the first black president?

OBAMA: When I'm catching a cab in Manhattan in the past --

FOREMAN: Now the Obama-rama has new radio ads in South Carolina on primarily African-American radio stations.

OBAMA: We have more work to do when more young black men languish in prison, than attend colleges and universities across America.

FOREMAN (on camera): Among Democrats, Hillary Clinton is still getting most of the black vote, but Obama is chasing her down like a New York cabbie.

The attorney general is in the hot seat today. More on it, where all of the cool kids hang out, "AC 360: Raw Politics" tonight.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And of course, all the day's political news is available any time, day or night, at cnn.com/ticker.

CHETRY: Well, shocking new details in a dismissed rape case. African immigrant living in Maryland accused of horrific crimes against a young girl. Now there may be another victim, and there is more fallout today over why this case was dropped. We will speak to the reporter who uncovered some amazing details, coming up on AMERICAN MORNING

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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN.

A geyser of oil topping your "Quick Hits" now. A major pipeline ruptured near a busy port in Canada yesterday, shooting thousands of gallons of crude oil as high as a 10-story building into the air. The oil spilled into the ocean, into a neighborhood. Bad news for everybody there. Dozens of people were forced to leave their homes.

Witness say oil spouted from the pipeline for about 90 minutes before it was contained. A construction crew punctured that pipeline while doing road work.

Columbian police are training rats to sniff out land mines. They believe they can train the rats to find bombs with a 96 percent success rate. The problem, though, is that rats naturally lose their focus when cats are around. And there's plenty of cats around in the wild. So now to desensitize the rats they are putting them in proximity with cats, as you can see there, to try to get them used to each other.

A crew working on a road in Miami Beach discovered a rusted cannon that could be centuries old. Historians say the cannon is probably from a shipwreck and most likely ended up on dry line after dredging was done to build up the area for development.

CHETRY: An AMERICAN MORNING update for you right now. Yesterday, we told you about this case that has gotten a lot of attention, sparking a lot of outrage around the country, in fact, about African immigrant, living in Maryland, in Montgomery County, accused of repeatedly raping and molesting a seven-year-old girl, his niece, three years ago.

We are also learning there was possibly another suspected victim, just 18 months old, another niece. Apparently those charges were in the initial indictment, but then dropped later.

The judge, though, dropped the entire case against this suspect. The reason for that? Well, it was a claimed they could not find an interpreter who spoke a certain dialect, Vai, that is popular in his country of Liberia.

Well, "The Washington Post" reported that it identified three interpreters, in fact, that speak Vai, in the area. "The Washington Post" staff reporter Ernesto Londono was the first one to file a story on this case, and he was able to find a translator fairly easily. He joins me now with more on this case.

Ernesto, thanks for being with us.

ERNESTO LONDONO, REPORTER, "THE WASHINGTON POST": Kiran, hi. Thanks for having me.

CHETRY: You know, this case, as we said, has gotten the attention of a lot of people. The judge dismissing it on the grounds of his right to a speedy trial, I guess, being violated here. And the reason why is because they say they could not find translators. What was your experience when "The Washington Post" tried to do that very thing?

LONDONO: I spent roughly one day trying to find a Vai interpreter. Vai is a very rare dialect; and it's spoken by no more than a 100,000 people, mostly in Liberia and Sierra Leone. There is a actually a small, but sizable community of Vai speakers in the Washington area.

What I did to find an interpreter who spoke Vai, is I put out a message on a list serve of court interpreters and within a few hours I had strong leads on two interpreters who are on the Rolodex of a company. And also just a man in Gaithersburg, which is actually right outside of the nation's capital, and a few miles from the courthouse who said he had at least 15 people who he felt confident would be able to interpret in this case.

CHETRY: All right. What does this say, though? That the court's claim they launched an exhaustive search, even checking in all 48 states and they were unable to find this Vai interpreter. Yet, you as an intrepid reporter, albeit, but you were able to find it within 24 hours.

LONDONO: The court system was actually able to find a number of interpreters. They had three interpreters who they tried out, and they didn't work for different reasons. The first interpreter, burst out of the courtroom in tears because she was too distraught by the facts of the case. And another one was not very good at interpreting. And another had a family emergency.

By the time this case was getting ready to go to trial, earlier this month, the court system had found somebody that all parties agreed was a suitable interpreter, but the judge by this time, ruled on the motion to dismiss the indictment and said it was too late. CHETRY: Right so they had already found somebody who was already looking over the facts of this case, and Circuit Court Judge Katherine Savage made the call instead to dismiss the case.

You know, this is not going over well with the Montgomery County State Attorney General John McCarthy is saying that the ruling should be overturned. And he is actually hoping that this happens on appeal.

What are you hearing, in your reporting, about the chances this man will eventually have to go to trial for these very serious charges?

LONDONO: Well, prosecutors in Montgomery County cannot recharge him on these -- in this case. But they are appealing through the attorney general's office. What prosecutors will have to do in order to overturn this ruling is convince the appellate court that the delays were justified; that they were valid reasons for delaying the case for three years. And that the defendant didn't suffer adverse consequences as a result of the delay.

CHETRY: One of the other interesting things we didn't get a chance to get to is he attended, apparently, high school and community college here. There is some discrepancy over whether or now he does have a pretty good command of the English language.

LONDONO: Absolutely. Prosecutors argued earlier in the case that he perhaps didn't need an interpreter. They noted that he attended high school in Montgomery County, as well as community school -- community college, excuse me. And when detectives spoke to him they spoke to him in English and he appeared to have a pretty good grasp on the language.

CHETRY: We're out of time, Ernesto, but good job with this reporting. And of course, we'll continue to follow this case. Ernesto Londono with "The Washington Post," thanks.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to 46 minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano is in the Weather Center in Atlanta. Checking extreme weather for us this morning.

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ROBERTS: CNN "Newsroom" just minutes away. Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center with a look at what is ahead.

Good morning, Fred.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR, CNN NEWSROOM: Good morning to you, John. We've got these stories on the "Newsroom" rundown this morning.

Terrorism dry run? The TSA alerts police after strange items show up at airports.

And home invasion questions. Two suspects in a deadly Connecticut attack where burglars were on parole. Now the state is reviewing the system.

Not my stuff, man! Lindsay Lohan busted again for DUI speaks out about confiscated cocaine. Join Tony Harris and me in the "Newsroom". We get started at the top of the hour here on CNN.

ROBERTS: Fred, thanks very much. See you soon.

Coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING. Gator wrestling, an endangered species? We'll talk to a guy who is trying to keep it alive. There he is, in the gator pit. James Peacock joins us from the Native Center. Coming up next. Stay with us, you're not going to want to miss it.

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