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Fake Bombs Missed by Airport Screeners; Toddler Survives Tornado; Trump's Scottish Development; Georgia Drought Emergency
Aired October 20, 2007 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HOLMES: It is Saturday, October the 12th.
NGUYEN: 20th.
HOLMES: Oh, yeah. It's the 20th.
NGUYEN: That's all right. I've got your back.
HOLMES: That was a week ago. All right, Betty, so glad you're here.
NGUYEN: Me, too.
HOLMES: Glad you're all here as well at the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Hello everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Straight ahead -- an amazing survival story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was very scary. To not know where he was at, I didn't know -- trying not to think the worst, but I didn't know if the tornado had taken him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A toddler tossed by a tornado. We've got the happy ending for you.
Also, we've got this story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I honestly expected some people may have trouble picking this winter between heating their home and keeping their home or paying the mortgage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yikes, a frightening financial forecast between the mortgage mess, sinking stocks and the price of oil, we will take a look at how it all adds up.
HOLMES: Also, caught on camera. See how a run for doughnuts turned into road rage at the drive-thru. That story also coming your way here in the NEWSROOM.
NGUYEN: First up, though, a story that we are just happy to bring you this morning. It's really wonderful that this child has made it.
HOLMES: Yes. It's a story about a tornado and a house torn to shreds. Now why would we be happy to bring you that? Well, there's more to the story that includes a baby that somehow managed to survive.
Randy Conat of our affiliate WJRT has this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE SOYRING JR., HOMEOWNER: The house started shaking. Both of us thought it was an earthquake. Started shaking and the next thing I know I got sucked under the basement and I watched the tornado go that way.
RANDY CONAT, WJRT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): That's what Joe Soyring remembering when the tornado struck his Arbula (ph) Township home. He and his fiancee Nicole found her three-year-old daughter alive and well right away, but they couldn't find 15-month-old Blake. Their screams brought next-door neighbor Jeff Hawks running to help.
JEFF HAWKS, NEIGHBOR: We're looking for the baby. We scoured the whole three acres over there, the whole three acres on my side and we couldn't find the baby. And all of a sudden I heard this whimper. I told everybody to be quiet so we could hear it. The baby was under a huge pile of debris.
CONAT: They pulled apart the pile and found the baby was very much alive.
HAWKS: The crib had flipped over, and the mattress was the only thing that saved the baby. The mattress was on top of the baby but there was thousands of pounds stuff wrapped around this baby. I don't know how he made it.
CONAT: They're digging through the rubble, trying to salvage whatever they can, every item they find is precious.
NICOLE OPPERMAN, BABY'S MOTHER: That's Blake. Everybody keeps calling him our miracle baby.
CONAT: Black had some scratches and bruises but was otherwise not hurt. He was checked at Covenant Saginaw and released a few hours later. In the daylight, they could see Soyring's house was destroyed and Hawks' was heavily damaged.
SOYRING: We're lucky to be alive. I mean, look at it. That's a year-old house. Just got it built a year ago. I am going to start all over again.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We talked with this Michigan family just a few hours ago, and the parents walked us through what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPPERMAN: I jumped out of bed to go get the kids, and I didn't make it past the bed before the entertainment center and the dresser had started moving around. And I saw the roof come off the bathroom. There was no way to get to them. I just started screaming, and Michaela (ph) actually came out. I couldn't find Blake. Joe actually was the one who found him, and our neighbor.
SOYRING: Yeah. My neighbor Jeff and I, we ended up finding him under a pile of rubble about 45, 50 feet from the house.
It was probably about ten minutes after we had gotten Michaela, we actually went over to hurry neighbor's house to get out of the weather. Then me and my neighbor p gone outside with a flashlight looking around with him. It was still raining and windy really bad.
It was very scary. I mean, you know, to not know where he's at. You know, I didn't know -- trying not to think of the worst, but I didn't know if the tornado had taken him, where he could have possibly ended up because, you know -- it tore my heart out. I tell you, when we found him, when we heard him and we tore all the debris off and we found him under his mattress, it was the best feeling I've ever had.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And you can see Blake appears to be doing just fine. As one Michigan firefighter said, sometimes miracles happen. The same system of storms that hit several states, however, killed at least six people.
NGUYEN: That is one lucky little boy.
Want to talk now about running out of water in the Southeast.
HOLMES: The drought in several states is now so extreme, what little water is left could be gone in 80 days. These pictures show the growing crisis, a region usually flush with rain and water drying up.
NGUYEN: All right. So take a look at this map. The bright red shows extreme drought. The deep red indicates beyond extreme. Outdoor watering ban are becoming the norm. Here is another perspective of how this drought is, side by side, two views of Lake Lanier, north of Atlanta. One on the left taken six years ago shows what it looks like during normal years. The one on the right shows Lake Lanier now. And just moments ago Georgia's governor called this drought the worst ever and appealed to the president for help.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SONNY PERDUE, (R) GA: That's why we filed an injunction yesterday with the middle district of Florida to immediately restrict water flows from leaving our reservoirs. That's why this morning I signed an executive order declaring a state of emergency. And that's why just this morning I've sent a letter to President Bush asking him to declare a major disaster area in this section of Georgia. We ask him to utilize his power under the Endangered Species Act to prevent catastrophic harm to those both upstream and downstream, human or otherwise.
We need the president to cut through the tangle of unnecessary bureaucracy to manage our resources prudently so that in the long term all pieces may have access to clean water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: We're all over this story. In fact, we're working to get a comment right now from the White House on Purdue's request. We're going to bring you that just as soon as we get it.
HOLMES: Also, to continue on this story, water shortage is so severe some counties are taking extreme measures. In Douglas County, Georgia, that's near Atlanta you water your lawn at your own risk. If your neighbors don't turn you in, the green of your lawn might tip off the water cops.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HERMAN BRYANT, DOUGLAS COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY: The problem is that people watch the news and looking in the paper, they know that it is illegal, and I assume they think they are not going to get caught.
PETE FROST, DOUGLAS COUNTY WATER AUTHORITY: The minute we see it, if it's in the middle of the night, we are not going to knock on their door. We're not going to do any of that. We are just going to turn it off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And when he says turn it off, they mean turn it off. Shut off all the water to that home. Douglas County officials have so far turned off water to 20 residents. Getting that water back off will cost you a pretty penny, as much as $1,000.
NGUYEN: You can save a little water here and a little bit there. Pretty soon you're helping fight the drought. In Georgia, some families are already changing their water priorities.
CNN's Susan Candiotti reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Bob and Melanie Bluett used to take pride in caring for their lawn, but their priorities have changed.
MELANIE BLUETT, GEORGIA HOMEOWNER: If there's no water to drink, that's why your priority is.
CANDIOTTI: Sixty one counties in Georgia are under restrictions for water use due to severe drought conditions. Many face the possibility of completely running out of drinking water. The Bluetts are doing their part to conserve.
M. BLUETT: While it's warming up, you can catch all of that water. If I catch the water in the litter pans, I pour it into there.
CANDIOTTI: And later into her thirsty plants. But that's not all.
BOB BLUETT, GEORGIA HOMEOWNER: I don't know if that's a rule, but you go at least two times before you flush.
JEFF KILLIP, DIRECTOR, JEFFERSON PUBLIC WORKS: Normally the water level is to right about here.
CANDIOTTI: Jeff Killip is the public works director for the City of Jefferson, Georgia. He says the situation is so severe in their city that water is being pumped in from other cities, and that translates to a temporary hike in water bills.
KILLIP: A regular residence, their bill if they use the same water will increase 150 percent. We're hoping with good conservation techniques and observations their water bills shouldn't even change at all.
SYDNEY ROBERTS, SOUTHFACE: Our guest bath comes with ...
CANDIOTTI: SYDNEY Roberts is a program manager for Southface, an organization dedicated to promoting sustainable homes and communities. She says there are many low cost conservation solutions for your home. The first place to check is outside. Fifty to sixty percent of the water being used by a typical homeowner is outdoors. A rain barrel is one way to catch and store water for your lawn and plants.
Another large water user, toilet flushing. So make sure it's not leaking.
ROBERTS: The best way to check it is put a couple of drops of food coloring in the tank, walk away for a couple of hours and come back and see if the food coloring has gone into the bowl. If it has, then you have got a leak.
CANDIOTTI: You can also turn off the tap while washing your hands, brushing your teeth and shaving. Methods the Bluetts hope some will also provide conservation in the wallet.
(on camera): How much do you think you might save?
BLUETT: Compared to last month when you were watering, we'll probably save about $100 at least.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Susan Candiotti, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, conservation also on Presidential Bush's agenda this morning at a wildlife refuge in Maryland. The president said how important it was to protect the nation's fish and birds. And White House correspondent Elaine Quijano joins us now with details of what's happening there. Good morning to you, Elaine.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, T.J. At this hour, President Bush is out on the waters of the Chesapeake Bay behind me doing some fishing. It's really all part of an effort this Saturday morning to highlight his administration's environmental policies when it comes to wildlife specifically.
The president, as you noted this morning, started his visit this morning to a trip to the Patuxent Research Center. He outlined efforts to preserve and restore habitat that migratory birds use as stopovers in the United States.
The president then traveled here to the town of St. Michaels where he signed an executive order that he says is designed to conserve the populations of two fish species. Rockfish or striped bass as they're known and red drum fish.
Now environmentalists question the impact of this executive order is going to have and commercial fishermen are not happy about this order either. They say that this puts the interests of recreational fishermen over their own interests. And today President Bush tried to address those concerns.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, U.S. PRESIDENT: Fish is important to the country. Listen, it's important to be a commercial fisherman. I understand that. But the commercial fisherman and the sport fisherman don't have to be antagonistic. It's not a zero sum game.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, later today, T.J., the president and the first lady Laura Bush will be sitting down for a lunch with the vice president at his residence here in St. Michaels on Maryland's Eastern Shore before the president and first lady return to the White House this afternoon. T.J.?
HOLMES: We've been trying to figure out -- it sounds kind of funny. We're making light, the president signs an order to save the fish, then he goes fishing. But tell us, what do we expect him to be talking about with the vice president at this lunch meeting?
QUIJANO: You know what, really, T.J., that is the interesting part of this story, about his whole trip here. Because it's a significant meeting in that this is the first time President Bush in his presidency has sat down with the vice president in this setting. The Eastern Shore home of Vice President Cheney and the White House really is not saying a lot about what's on the agenda. But, of course, as you know, this is coming at a time when there is a lot on the domestic and foreign policy side to talk about, including Iran and Iraq.
You remember, T.J., in the news conference just a few days ago, President Bush used the phrase "World War III" when he was answering a question about Iran. So a lot certainly on the agenda. But the White House isn't saying much about it. You can bet, though, T.J., this is really not just a social visit. I'm sure there will be a lot of talk of business, if you will. We'll see what they say.
HOLMES: All right. Elaine Quijano for us. So good to see you this morning. Thank you so much.
QUIJANO: You, too.
NGUYEN: Well, you may have noticed, T.J. ...
HOLMES: I did notice.
NGUYEN: Something a little different at the bottom of the screen there. Yes, the CNN logo on the lower left corner has turned green. That's because CNN is going green over the next week, we are digging deeper on environmental issues, covering stories that affect all of us from the air we breathe to the fuel we use.
HOLMES: And we're all going to rain (ph). Does that mean we need to ride our bikes to work and things like that?
NGUYEN: Yeah. I need a pump to work tomorrow. Come pick me up.
HOLMES: Of course, this all coincides with the premiere of "Planet in Peril" Special Report with Anderson Cooper with Dr Sanjay Gupta and Animal Planet's Jeff Corwin. That's next Tuesday and Wednesday 9:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Now this was a scary scene in Vancouver, British Columbia. A small twin-engine plane crashes into a 15 story apartment building. It happened shortly after takeoff. That pilot was killed. At least two people in the building were injured. There is no word yet on what caused the crash.
HOLMES: Well, turning to Pakistan, now, a new attack today at a bus station. At least seven people killed, as many as 20 others injured there.
NGUYEN: Meanwhile, U.S. agents are now in Pakistan helping police investigate the suicide bombing that targeted former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Bhutto escaped injury but 136 people were killed. As funerals are held for victims, police believe they found the head of the suicide bombing. As funerals were held for the victims, believe they have found the head of a suicide bomber. They'll distribute a sketch to try to identify him.
HOLMES: New video this morning out of manila. Police in the Philippines say a bomb is to blame for an explosion that killed nine people at a shopping mall. Ninety others were injured. The national police chief says it is likely this was the work of terrorists.
NGUYEN: Take you to Thailand, now a judge orders pedophile suspect Christopher Neil held for at least 12 days. Prosecutors want time to build their case and it looks like they're doing just that. Investigators say three Thai boys identified Neil as their abuser. The Canadian is accused of sex crimes with boys across Southeast Asia. Police say Neil posted pictures of the abuse on the Internet but digitally obscured his face.
German experts were able to unswirl that photograph, which you just saw, and launch an international manhunt for Neil.
HOLMES: Shocking allegations surface against the magician David Copperfield. Sources are telling CNN police are looking into claims Copperfield sexually assaulted a Seattle woman. It allegedly assault supposedly took place in the Bahamas. Copperfield's lawyer says it absolutely did not happen. He suggests Copperfield was a target because of his celebrity and wealth.
CNN Las Vegas affiliate KLAS reports FBI seized a computer, a memory chip from a digital camera and $2 million in cash, from Copperfield's storage warehouse.
QUIJANO: Hold on to your wallet. And to your nerves. Because a week of big drops on Wall Street affecting millions of nest eggs. Also this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing I remember is being pulled by the hair and thinking, I think every woman's rule is you don't touch the hair. You just don't.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: I've heard that before.
NGUYEN: Don't mess with the hair, man. Bad news.
HOLMES: All right. We know road rage. But drive-thru rage? We'll show you what happened outside of a Rhode Island Dunkin Donuts, of all things. A Krispy Kreme I could understand. But a Dunkin -- Stay here, folks. You're in THE NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Dow stocks, losers every single day this past week. The index fell 571 points since the opening bell Monday morning. Most losses, though, came on Friday, a 369-point plunge.
Investors expected poor earnings from banking and housing stocks due to mortgage crisis. But weak earnings from heartland industrials, companies like Caterpillar, 3M and Honeywell revved up recession talk.
Friday's Dow drop came on the 20th anniversary of the 1987s crash. The Dow fell 508 points back in '87 in that day and that was 22 percent of its value at the time. To match that drop today in terms of value, the Dow would have to drop more than 3,000 points. That's freeway's loss magnified about eight times.
NGUYEN: You might want to get a dime, maybe another nickel. T.J., I think I need a 20. Because higher gas prices are just down the road. That's because oil has topped the $90 a barrel mark for the first time ever. Why? Well, here's our business expert Ali Velshi. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This most recent spike in oil is being driven by speculation that critical oil supplies in the Middle East could be cut off. That's if tensions between Turkey and Iraq escalate and draw other countries in. But even without Mid-East turmoil, oil prices are up because of good-old fashioned demand. The U.S. economy might be slowing down but many of the world's economics are growing and using more oil faster than producers can pump it.
The obvious effect is already being felt. Gasoline prices are up an average of five cents just this week.
PETER BEUTEL, OIL ANALYST: If you've seen a nickel already, say, in the last week, then you've got 15 cents coming.
VELSHI: And if you heat your home with oil, expect your heating bills to be about a third higher than last year.
BEUTEL: I honestly expect that some people may have trouble picking this winter between heating their home and keeping their home or paying the mortgage on it.
VELSHI: Beyond gasoline and heating oil, higher oil means inflation. Everything that needs to be shipped to a U.S. port or trucked to a store is going to cost more. And factories that need energy to heat their plants or power their equipment will likely pass those costs onto consumers.
(on camera): Over the last 50 years, oil price spikes have triggered recessions nine out of 10 times. A small but growing band of people are now predicting that possibility. And what might be more important is that a CNN Opinion Research corporation poll shows that almost half of Americans feel that we're already in a recession.
Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So maybe you've done it, taped your horn in the drive-thru - or tapped it may be even better, to move the other car along. But check out what happened when this woman did it. Road rage in the drive-thru caught on camera. That story straight ahead.
HOLMES: A little later, the little guys behind the big business of Hollywood paparazzi. This guys are the real deal here. Check them out. They're pint-sized paparazzi. We'll meet them later here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So we've all heard of it. Many of us have actually had it. Talking about road rage.
HOLMES: Speak for yourself, there, Betty. What about drive-thru rage or how about a drive-thru rampage. This went down at of all places a Dunkin Donuts in Rhode Island.
NGUYEN: The donut hole it the fan, shall we say, when one driver honked at another, you know, move it along. Well, keep an eye on the lady getting out of the black sedan. That's your alleged victim here. She says that the minivan driver threatened to smack her with a crowbar. Then the victim reaches in for a cell phone to call 911.
HOLMES: That is when it really got down. The woman in the minivan figured she better make a move. But, whoa, not so fast, says the alleged victim. They tussle There's some hair pulling. There's some cussing. Doughnuts and jelly and sprinkles going everywhere. The victim talks about it but didn't want her face on television.
NGUYEN: She got in the window. See that? Oh, my.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said, you get out of the car. That's the only way I'm moving. I picked up my phone to dial 911 and that set her off. The next motion, when I looked at her she was coming out of the vehicle with a crowbar toward my vehicle screaming she was going to kill me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Doughnuts, betty.
NGUYEN: Kill her over doughnuts. These people really need to chill out.
HOLMES: No wonder she didn't want her face shown. I wouldn't either. This actually isn't the end of it. Police say the van driver has pulled a stunt like this before.
NGUYEN: Except that time she threw cream cheese and spit at the honker. We don't make this up, folks. Now she as topping her bagel with felony assault charges.
HOLMES: Wonder where she was that time with the bagel?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Did you say cream cheese and spit? Is that what you said? You didn't just say that, did you?
NGUYEN: I did. That's what happened.
WOLF: She just said cream cheese and spit. That would be dough rage, not road rage. Try the veal.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WOLF: Back to you and the doughnuts and the cream cheese.
NGUYEN: You're safe for now but don't make us mad.
WOLF: I need a shield guard or something up here.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
NGUYEN: Talk now about fake bombs smuggled past airport screeners at an alarming rate. We're going to show you results of a shocking undercover tests that could involve all of our security.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Go to see that. Also coming up, a look at politics. Check this out. Hillary Clinton, according to our poll, is 30 points ahead of her next closest rival, Barack Obama. But he says if he wins Iowa he'll get the nomination. Does the nation just do whatever Iowa does? We actually have the answer for you coming up to the question, are we political copycats? What do you think T.J.?
HOLMES: I don't know, but I know you'll tell us. We always enjoy your reality checks, Mr. Reality. Keeping it real for us, we'll see you shortly.
And a little later, high school students during the day, paparazzi at night. We'll talk to two teenagers about their unusual after-school gig.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Here is a look at some of the headlines happening right now.
HOLMES: Yes, just last hour, Georgia's governor declares announced a water emergency in 85 counties and asked President Bush to help. Extreme drought has cut Atlanta's water supply to about 80 days now. The governor wants the feds to start releasing water from Georgia Reservoirs to Alabama and Florida.
NGUYEN: Want you to check the little guy out right there in mom's lap. That 14-month-old boy got tossed 40 feet when a tornado ripped apart his family's home on Friday. He was actually found under a large pile of debris but is A-OK.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) Louisiana voters casting ballots for governor today, 12 candidates in the running. But it's Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal who is well out in front in most of those polls.
HOLMES: Well, it's show time for Rudy Giuliani. He's courting Christian conservatives this morning in the Washington forum put together by the conservative Family Research Council. Giuliani is trying to convince evangelicals to support him even though he supports abortion rights and civil unions for gays. Evangelicals are pretty much lukewarm on all the Republican presidential contenders. Some strategists say Giuliani's performance today may turn out to be one of the defining moment of the 2008 campaign.
NGUYEN: Now there are only 18 Republican candidates running for president. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is out. He brought in less than a million dollars in third-quarter fund-raising. Brownback hasn't endorsed any of the remaining Republicans.
HOLMES: Well, on the Democratic side, CNN's latest national poll shows Hillary Clinton 30 points ahead of her next closest rival, Barack Obama. And just over half of likely Democratic voters say they will vote for her.
NGUYEN: But Obama says if he wins Iowa, he will be the nominee. So does it really work that way? Joining us now with "Reality Check" is CNN's Joshua Levs.
Hey.
LEVS: Yes. It's one of the things that we keep taking far granted all of the time, Iowa is so important. But is it? I mean, what is the deal? If she's so far ahead, how does one state potentially turn everything around? That is what we wanted to take a look at today, is, does it really have that kind of an effect? And it turns out, looking at history, the answer is, to some extent, yes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): Her standing is the envy of all the other presidential candidates in both parties. The latest poll from CNN and Opinion Research Corporation shows Hillary Clinton with 51 percent of Democrats, 30 points ahead of Barack Obama.
But he says it's all about the Iowa caucuses.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we win Iowa, I'll be the nominee.
LEVS: Can that be true? If Iowa picks someone other than the frontrunner, do voters say, forget what I thought, I want what Iowa wants. To some extent, yes.
In 2004, just before the Iowa caucuses, Howard Dean was at 26 percent nationally, John Kerry at 9. Then Kerry beat Dean big time in Iowa, and turned the tables. The next national poll, even before the New Hampshire primary, found Kerry on top. Some voters switched camps and some undecided voters lined up behind Kerry. America loves a winner.
Of course, it wasn't just the Iowa vote that turned some off to Dean, let's not forget ...
HOWARD DEAN (D), 2004 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yeeaarrgh!
LEVS: Still, this state, with 1 percent of the U.S. population, can act as a reset button for the race. But it doesn't always.
In 1988, Michael Dukakis and George Bush came in third in their respective races in Iowa, but went on to clinch the nominations. Hillary Clinton isn't about to take that risk, hence the push for every possible supporter in the Hawkeye State.
(END VIDEOTAPE) LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) keep in mind that people in Iowa choose candidates based not just on the national issues but on local ones as well. The candidates go to Iowa and they make promises to caucus- goers that are often specific to Iowa. And then those caucus-goers still have a lot of national power, guys, especially as the polls in the state show a tight race on both sides.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, as a lot of focus is there on Iowa, when we look at it, realistically though, who has more at stake, which party?
LEVS: I think it's interesting because they're so different, right? On the Democratic side, everyone is saying that Hillary Clinton needs this in order to prove that this inevitability factor actually means something. Everyone says she seems like the -- inevitably the candidate who will get the nomination. But without Iowa she could lose that.
But over on the GOP side, you really don't have anyone who is so obviously, clearly the front-runner. Our poll does show Giuliani ahead nationally. But Iowa polls show Romney ahead over there. So the race for the GOP side, guys, really is more about creating the idea at all that you even are a front-runner, whereas for the Dems, it's just one person trying to hold onto it.
NGUYEN: Gotcha. All right. "Reality Check," thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks.
HOLMES: Well, of course, CNN, right here, your campaign 2008 headquarters. Next month, CNN and YouTube teaming up again to bring you the GOP presidential debate. Get out your cameras, submit your questions at youtube.com/republicandebate. And of course, you can watch that debate right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, there is important information about your security that is straight ahead.
HOLMES: Maybe we should say insecurity. At America's airports, are those screeners doing their jobs? A startling undercover investigation, that's just minutes away.
NGUYEN: And defying Donald. Meet a man who is standing up to Trump's big money and on colorful language. Don't miss it. It's in the CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Check this out. You know that celebrity scene. The glamour, the glitz, the paparazzi. Would you believe that these guys -- where are my guys? Those guys, there they are. They are a couple behind the camera? Those two young fellows, they are not chasing footballs, they are not even chasing girls around the school, they're chasing the stars. We're going to meet these two later in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: There have already been more than 320 homicides in Philadelphia this year, giving it one of the nation's highest murder rates. Well, now community leaders are using a new tactic to fight against crime. They're calling for 10,000 volunteers to patrol the streets beginning tomorrow.
Earlier this morning I spoke with the organizer of the patrols. Norm Bond is spokesman for the Call to Action group.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NORM BOND, CALL TO ACTION: We're quite confident that we're going to get 10,000 men. The response to this project has been growing as we've gotten closer to the date, and also because of the senseless violence that continues to happen. Right now we're at about 322 murders in the city, 85 percent of those people have been African- American. And we've got a good organization of leaders, including our chairman, Kenny Gamble, the police investigator, Sylvester Johnson, other community leaders and service-providing organizations that are all interested in bringing an end to this violence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Bond says more than 4,000 men already have pre- registered for the event at the organization's Web site.
HOLMES: All right. Airport security lines, for several years we've removed our shoes, our belts, our hats, our jackets, done a little G-rated striptease there, taken coins out of our pockets, everything we're told to do, even jump through hoops if they ask us do. Well, is all of this paying off? An undercover investigation raises some serious doubts.
CNN's Susan Roesgen is "Keeping Them Honest."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the security lines at Chicago's O'Hare airport, undercover government investigators say they were able to sneak through with fake bombs and bomb parts 60 percent of the times they tried. In Los Angeles, the rate was 75 percent. And in San Francisco, the screeners were better, but were still fooled 20 percent of the time.
CLARK KENT ERVIN, FMR. DHS INSPECTOR GENERAL: It is absolutely not acceptable, all these many years after 9/11, all these many years after the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.
ROESGEN: Critics, like former Homeland Security Inspector General Clark Kent Ervin, say there's no excuse for contraband making it past Transportation Security Administration screeners.
Surprisingly, however, some passengers are more sympathetic.
DAVID CASEK, PASSENGER: I mean, I can imagine sitting at one of those monitors and looking at just image after image after image going across the screen. It has got to be a little numbing after a while. Maybe they could, you know, do something to rotate those people in and out a little more quickly to give them more breaks, you know, to keep them fresh and keep them alert.
ROESGEN: In fact, the TSA says the screening procedures are better now than during the year-long investigation that ended late last year, and the TSA says that because bombs don't look like this anymore, the TSA's own tests are intentionally difficult for screeners to pass.
ELLEN HOWE, TSA SPOKESWOMAN: We expect a significant failure rate because if the tests were easy, everybody would be passing. We want the tests to be hard. We want the tests to replicate the real world scenario.
ROESGEN: The TSA also claims that every airport carry-on lane in the country is tested for security breaches every day.
(on camera): The Transportation Security Administration says better technology is on the way, but critics say that humans still run the machines, and that leaves the potential for human error.
Susan Roesgen, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And you can stay tuned to CNN day and night for the most reliable news about your security.
All right. When you think paparazzi, would you think of these guys?
NGUYEN: Take a look.
HOLMES: Yes. This is for real. Paparazzi. They're Cheetos- eating, Coca-Cola-drinking teenagers...
NGUYEN: Hey, that's the breakfast of champions.
HOLMES: ... from California.
Good morning to you, fellows. Yes, these two here, when they are not in school, they are chasing the stars. We will introduce you to these pint-sized paparazzi coming up. Fellows, we will see you here shortly. Don't drink too much Coke. We'll see you in a minute.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Donald Trump says that your property is a pigsty.
MIKE FORBES, QUARRY WORKER: Yes? Maybe to him. Not to me. I've always said, if I had his money, it would look nice.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: All right. So what (INAUDIBLE) to The Donald that this guy's farm is dump? Well, only millions of dollars. We're going to explain a little bit later in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, they call themselves the pint-sized paparazzi, a couple of teenagers who compete with the older photogs to get the money shots, just like the ones we saw in that special CNN "Chasing Angelina."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jolie is on the move.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She ran the light.
JENNIFER ANISTON, ACTOR: They're dangerous. It is just getting out of control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's never an intention of causing damage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's going to do the right on Beverly (ph) (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The is a hot photo, this is Brad and Angelina.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jolie's out. Jolie's out, standby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: They have been knocked down, had their cameras taken away from them, learned to use sharp elbows in this rough and tumble business. Blaine Hewison is 15, Austin Visschedyk is 14.
Fellows, good morning. You look like grown men chilling up there, hanging out. Is this what the paparazzi look like? Is this what you do? Is this rough and tumble life?
AUSTIN VISSCHEDYK, 14-YEAR-OLD PHOTOGRAPHER: No.
BLAINE HEWISON, 15-YEAR-OLD PHOTOGRAPHER: I mean, (INAUDIBLE) experience, it's not as crazy as it sounds.
VISSCHEDYK: No. We just...
HEWISON: It's not...
VISSCHEDYK: That video you just showed was a little over the top.
HEWISON: Yes. That scared me there.
HOLMES: Yes, we tend to do that every now and again, fellows. Tell me here, why, in the first place? This started out as just something kind of cool it seemed like to do? Blaine, you answer this for me first. Was it just kind of something cool and kind of a hobby, or do you think you can make this a career on down the line?
HEWISON: Yes, you know, as a career, make a couple of cash (sic) on the side as well as, you know, selling art photos at art galleries and stuff like that.
HOLMES: Austin, you're 14 years old. What do celebrities -- they don't always like to see paparazzi coming. And when they see you, a 14-year-old kid, how do they react to you?
VISSCHEDYK: Well, a lot of celebrities, they are either nice or they're not. There's no in between. So they're either really sweet and they're, like, hi, and what's your name, and how long have you been doing this? But the other half it's like, eh.
HOLMES: Now, are they actually nasty to you? I mean, still, you're a 14-year-old. You're a kid.
VISSCHEDYK: Yes.
HOLMES: But are they nasty to you still? Do they treat you like any other member of the paparazzi?
VISSCHEDYK: They treat me maybe a little different.
HOLMES: How so?
VISSCHEDYK: It's not a big difference, but it's a pretty -- I mean -- what would you say? They
HEWISON: They treat us like...
VISSCHEDYK: We're kids.
HEWISON: Yes, we're kids, so, you know.
HOLMES: Do you think they don't take you seriously?
(CROSSTALK)
HEWISON: No. They take us seriously. The second -- like, the first look, they'll kind of, like, laugh. And then we'll bust out our $3,000 or $4,000 cameras and like business cards and they'll be, like, oh, all right, they're serious.
HOLMES: OK. Now, tell me, how did you get your parents to go for this? Because I assume to get the money shots a lot of times you have to go to events that are late night and you have to be out late. How did you get your parents to go along with that? And also, you talk about these $3,000, $4,000 cameras as well.
VISSCHEDYK: Well, the money shot doesn't have to be late at night. It can be somebody running in a park early in the morning, you know. Or on the beach in the middle of the day, like Paris or Lindsay. Just somebody -- the money shot is literally pretty much only an exclusive, which means just you. Other celebrities doing something that they wouldn't normally do.
HOLMES: And tell me here, fellows, we have got about a minute left. I want to get to this part, about the money. Now you guys are 14 and 15. We know a lot of money can be made in this business with those exclusive shots. So tell me what photographs you've taken that have fetched the most money and how much did it fetch?
VISSCHEDYK: I think one of my Britneys sold for about $34,000.
HEWISON: He got that like this week.
VISSCHEDYK: Yes.
HOLMES: Thirty-four thousand. What are you going to do with $34,000, Austin?
VISSCHEDYK: Save it.
HEWISON: Yes, right.
HOLMES: Yes, right.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Have you spent some of it already?
VISSCHEDYK: Oh, no. I haven't even gotten the check yet.
HOLMES: So you're 14 years old. What are you going to do with a check for $34,000 though? You've got to do something fun. You want a Xbox 360, something a kid would want.
HEWISON: He has already got that.
VISSCHEDYK: And you do, too, with every game.
HOLMES: What about you, Blaine? What about one of your money shots?
HEWISON: I went and bought clothes at the store, I bought some new shoes for me. You know.
HOLMES: What was the picture though? What was the picture of?
HEWISON: Britney Spears flipping me off.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Britney Spears flipped you off? That doesn't sound like something in her character, Blaine. Are you sure that is what you got?
VISSCHEDYK: No, no, no, no, no. He asked her to flip him off.
HOLMES: Oh, OK. Wait a minute. That's how you do it. That's not an original shot. (LAUGHTER)
HEWISON: No. No, I didn't.
HOLMES: Yes. He just told on you on national TV, Blaine.
HEWISON: Geez.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: There goes the friendship.
HEWISON: Yes. We're done.
VISSCHEDYK: See you later.
HOLMES: Blaine and Austin, gentlemen, it's a pleasure to get to talk to you. And hope I don't have to run out into you at any point out there in L.A. But thank you so much for spending some time with us. It has been a pleasure to hang out with you guys this morning.
HEWISON: Thanks, man.
VISSCHEDYK: All right-y, you, too.
NGUYEN: They are so cool, aren't they?
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Peace out.
NGUYEN: Later.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Got to take some pictures, got to make some money.
WHITFIELD: I like them. I could keep hearing them on and on and on. They are just hilarious.
NGUYEN: Did you see how they did the hair?
WHITFIELD: Yes. It's just so nonchalant.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Go back to the shot. See, look at it, see...
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Just chilling.
HOLMES: They are cool as they can be.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: What it's like to be a kid.
WHITFIELD: Through and through.
NGUYEN: I'll tell you.
WHITFIELD: But smart, too, because they've figured out, you know, their talents and they're running away with it, right?
NGUYEN: They are making money, that's for sure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Whether the celebrities like it or not.
HOLMES: Well, what do you got for us?
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: I'm barging in on your conversation -- your interview...
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: It was good.
All right. Well, coming up straight ahead, hello, first of all.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Noon hour, all right. We are going to have much more on that 14-month-old miracle baby in Michigan, simply thrown out of the house along with the house, but miraculously survived a killer tornado in Michigan. More from the family.
Also coming up, happy to be alive but still a little bit bitter about her experience. Jeanine Thomas is a survivor of this superbug of a Staph infection. And she says, you know what, it took away her athleticism and her adventurous kind of approach to life. But she has got some lessons she wants to pass on to everybody. What everyone needs to know about hospital visits because that's how she contracted it, as well as prevention and treatment. All that straight ahead.
NGUYEN: That is good information right there. Thank you, Fred, looking forward to it.
Well, the magnificent Scottish isles and an American development with big hair and a fat wallet.
HOLMES: Yes. One stubborn Scot stands between Donald Trump and a luxury golf resort. You will meet him straight ahead here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So Donald Trump gets what Donald Trump wants, right? Not so fast.
HOLMES: And I thought that was always the case. Trump has got his eye now on a piece of pristine property in Scotland. Of course, he has got the money, but he has got a pretty big hurdle he needs to get over first.
CNN's Phil Black reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLACK (voice-over): On the shores of the North Sea, along a beautiful stretch of the Scottish coast, Donald Trump wants to build what he calls the greatest golf resort in the world. He describes it as an unspoiled and dramatic seaside landscape.
That's not the sort of language we're used to hearing from the billionaire.
DONALD TRUMP, REAL ESTATE MAGNATE: Taking money out of her big fat (expletive deleted).
She has always been a loser.
You're fired.
BLACK: Few have the courage to defy Trump. Quarry worker Mike Forbes is among the few.
FORBES: They keep saying he is going to be a good neighbor. But he hasn't showed that yet.
BLACK: Forbes' property sits right in the middle of Trump's proposed development.
FORBES: There's going to be a golf course running up that side (INAUDIBLE). And another one this side, you know.
BLACK (on camera): So you'll be an island.
FORBES: Yes, yes, yes. It will be my island, yes?
BLACK (voice-over): Trump has offered to buy, but Forbes isn't selling.
FORBES: Well, it is my history. All of my family come from here, you know? They didn't own it, but I own it.
BLACK: It is fair to say this isn't the tidiest property in Scotland. Rusting cars and crumbling barns.
FORBES: Need a bit of repair, but I'll get onto it someday.
BLACK: Forbes says it's not much, but it's his castle.
What does Trump think?
TRUMP: It's a pigsty. And I say, get your house cleaned.
BLACK (on camera): Donald Trump says that your property is a pigsty.
FORBES: Yes? Maybe to him, not to me. But I've always said, if I had his money, it'd look nice, yes.
BLACK (voice-over): Trump says he can build around Forbes, but he believes the Scotsman's messy ways are a deliberate strategy to frustrate him and drive up the price.
TRUMP: I think he'll probably not want to clean it up. His property is more valuable if it's not cleaned up.
FORBES: (INAUDIBLE) I've got everything I need. I don't need no more.
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