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Midwest Weather Misery Continues; Travelers Stranded; Going to the Movies
Aired March 22, 2008 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, where the news is unfolding live on this Saturday, the 22nd of March. Hello everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm T.J. Holmes. Yes, the 22nd of March. Spring has arrived. Somebody might want to get word to these folks stranded in the Midwest. A lot of travelers are stranded. Spring nowhere to be found there. In its place, snow, a lot of it. The latest delays, coming up.
NGUYEN: Also causing havoc in the Midwest, flooding. Thousands of people are forced from their homes as rivers continue to rise. Our meteorologists are tracking severe weather ahead, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
HOLMES: All right, Easter egg hunts, Easter dinners, might want to put those plans on hold or rethink them or reschedule them or do something.
NGUYEN: Many Midwesterners are spending the weekend battling floods, and in the upper Midwest, snow. Rivers continue to rise in many places after several days of heavy rain. Roads, they are flooded, and thousands of homes and businesses still at risk. Our CNN meteorologists are keeping a close eye on everything for you today.
HOLMES: Reynolds Wolf standing by in the weather center, all dry. We'll start out with Jacqui Jeras, though, who is braving it out there in waterlogged Pacific, Missouri, just west of St. Louis. I guess at least you're standing. You were riding in a boat yesterday.
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I was riding in a boat, right in this area. It's hard to believe that the water has come down this much. So it looks kind of, you know, not too severe on this corner where I'm standing, but you don't have to look too far behind me to see how far that water stretches from the Merrimack River. There are still well over 100 homes and businesses that are just flooded out. You can kind of see the water mark on some of these buildings here, where the water has started to recede. This has affected at least 500 people who have voluntarily evacuated this area. And it's going to take time for this water to go down. It's going to be leaving an enormous mess. You can kind of see some of the debris and also some of the mud here on the roadway. But take a look over here in this corner, if we can zoom in a little bit and show you some of the debris that has washed up. There's garbage, there's water bottles, there's pieces of plywood, and of course, you know, branches and leaves and all kinds of stuff that has just washed out. So emergency crews are asking people to still stay away because it's hazardous. Some of the materials that have kind of washed up, not to mention still the water covering many of the roads. Now, we did find one huge success story out of this flood. The river crested overnight last night, about three feet shy of what the record forecast was, so they're pleased that the water didn't get up quite as high as they initially anticipated. Now, this is the Osage Realty building, and tell you what hard work and perseverance can do. These guys have been here all night and all morning long using pumps to get the water away from the building. There are over 100 volunteers here packing up these sandbags. I don't know if you can tell how many there are here, but there are over 10,000 sandbags piled up here, and now their effort is going to be to take these down and try and do some of that cleanup. Now, Pacific's certainly not alone in this flood fight. Downstream here, we've got major problems in places like Eureka, also in the town of Fenton. 141 is closed and covered in water. The exit ramp from I- 44 closed there as well. Interstate 44 is in jeopardy right now. The water is rising from both sides of the interstate. Traffic was reduced this morning to about one lane each side, and it may have to be shut down altogether. That's new video that you are looking at there. We're waiting for official word from Missouri DOT to find out if that's going to be shut down in the upcoming hours. Of course, a very busy weekend, guys. This is Easter weekend, and thousands of people travel that interstate each and every day. T.J., Betty?
HOLMES: Well, we hope they can get there. We're looking at a live picture. It appears to be a bridge that's taking on a whole lot of water, maybe under water for the most part, out of Fenton, Missouri. Just telling our viewers here what we're looking at, Jacqui. I know you don't have a monitor out there in the middle of all that water with you.
JERAS: I don't.
HOLMES: But we're just telling our viewers what they're seeing here. But our Jacqui Jeras, been out there for us all morning. Jacqui, we absolutely appreciate you.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: You know, the Pennsylvania presidential primary it is still a month away, and it's going to be a quiet Easter on the campaign trail today.
HOLMES: Quiet on the campaign trail?
NGUYEN: Believe it or not. We haven't heard that in a while, have we?
HOLMES: Maybe about what, a year? Democrat Barack Obama has one appearance, he'll be in Oregon, which holds its primary May 20th. Obama's scheduled to speak in Medford in about 90 minutes and then he'll actually go on probably a much-deserved vacation.
NGUYEN: While his rival, Hillary Clinton, she is spending Easter weekend at home in New York with her husband Bill. HOLMES: And John McCain who has the Republican nomination buttoned up, he's still in Europe, he's been polishing his foreign policy credentials by meeting with international leaders, but he has no public events scheduled this weekend. He will be staying in London, spending most of the weekend, pretty much as a tourist.
NGUYEN: Well, with the candidates largely off the campaign trail today, much of the talk though is centering on those candidates' passport files.
HOLMES: Yes. We now know the passport records of all three of the major presidential candidates have been eyeballed by unauthorized folks. Our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The "I'm sorrys" just keep coming. First to Senator Barack Obama, after the revelation that State Department contractors had sneaked a look into his passport file three times this year.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I told him that I was sorry and I told him that I myself would be very disturbed if I learned that somebody had looked into my passport file.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: She called me and offered her apologies, which I appreciated, but I also indicated that this is something that has to be investigated diligently and openly.
VERJEE: Then, word that a trainee, a State Department employee, got into Senator Hillary Clinton's file last summer. Rice called the senator, again offering apologies. Next victim on the Republican side, Senator John McCain. He reacted to the Obama breach --
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If anyone's privacy is breached, then they deserve an apology and a full investigation.
VERJEE: That was John McCain before he found out he was also on the list. One of the same people who clicked into Obama's file surfed his as well. Rice telephoned him in Paris. A top State Department official was dispatched to the hill to brief all three senators' staff. Obama and others are demanding congressional investigations. Big questions remain -- what exactly is in a candidate's passport file? Why would anyone want to see it? And was any of this politically motivated?
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: It is still our initial take that this was -- I referred to it as imprudent curiosity, but we are not dismissive of any other possibility.
VERJEE: We've been down this road before. An unauthorized leak of the passport files of then presidential candidate Bill Clinton in 1992. The probe cost $2.2 million, and no laws broken. The count so far -- two contractors fired, one disciplined for the two violations, and a State Department trainee still on the job. (On camera): The State Department says that computers flagged the breaches immediately. The problem was that low-level supervisors failed to report up to senior management. The State Department is also revealing the identities of the two contractors involved in all of this. They are Stanley Inc. and the Analysis Corporation. Zain Verjee, CNN at the State Department.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, democratic insiders still talking about Bill Richardson's decision to endorse Barack Obama for president. Richardson, who dropped out of the presidential race in January, is, of course, a former member of President Bill Clinton's cabinet. Well, is this a fatal blow to Hillary Clinton's presidential hopes? Going to check in again with our senior political analyst Bill Schneider, he is on the election express in Philadelphia. Bill, we have seen some of these things before. You know, Ted Kennedy came out and endorsed Obama, you had John Lewis, who was in the Clinton camp for a while, then he switched. So you know, they've lost some high-profile, if you will, endorsements. Any reason to think this one is going to bite more than the others?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, only because it's down to the superdelegates who are going to make the ultimate decision about whom to nominate. Neither candidate is likely to get an absolute majority of delegates going in. Bill Richardson is a superdelegate. He has a lot of standing and prestige. He is the only Latino governor in the country. He was a member, as you said, of the Clinton administration, ambassador to the United Nations, energy secretary, was very close to the Clintons. In fact, James Cargill, who is a close adviser to the Clintons was quoted as saying it was an act of betrayal on the part of Richardson, which may be the view of others in the Clinton camp. But it (INAUDIBLE) influence with superdelegates. Richardson said he was particularly inspired by Barack Obama's speech last week dealing with race relations and his personal relationship with Reverend Jeremiah Wright. He said that speech made him proud, and that's one reason why he endorsed Obama. Listen to what he said in his endorsement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) NEW MEXICO: He will make every American proud to be an American, and I am very -- and I am very proud today to endorse your candidacy for president of the United States.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
SCHNEIDER: In his remarks, he also criticized the tone of the campaign, which he said was becoming negative, and he seemed to place most of the blame for that on Senator Clinton. T.J.?
HOLMES: Bill, will he have a problem? We talked about this a little this morning, about when he was a candidate. He talked about how important it was to have experience. He was the guy who had so much experience, and now he's going and endorsing Obama and now saying it is time to move on to a newer and younger generation. Is he at a fine line, will he have some explaining to do to why now he thinks the man who, the lot would say has the least experience in the campaign, why he's now the man who should be president?
SCHNEIDER: Well, certainly that question is likely to come up. What's his view now of the experience necessary to be president? Because he did talk about his own experience. It's interesting that Bill Richardson has extensive experience in foreign affairs. As I said, he was U.N. ambassador. He's been a trouble-shooter, has dealt with -- he once met with Saddam Hussein, with the leader of North Korea. So he has a lot of world experience. He could be saying -- you know, if he endorses -- if he has endorsed Obama, it could be a way of saying he trusts Obama and thinks that he has enough experience to play on the world stage. But I think he's going to have to explain why he feels that way.
HOLMES: And we also -- this might help out Obama in terms of votes, superdelegates, but also, will this help him just in terms of the news cycle? A lot of negative news coming out last week and Barack Obama was on the defensive, that this, at least stopped that string of bad news for a while.
SCHNEIDER: That's right, it was very good news and helped Obama try to put the controversy over Reverend Wright behind him. I'm not sure that that has just gone away. Also, the story about the breach of his passport information. It happened to him, McCain, Clinton. At least, that was a new news story that made all the presidential candidates look a bit like victims and led people to ask what was up, was there anything political behind it. Anything that would get the news media to move on, beyond the controversy over race relations would probably be helpful for Obama.
HOLMES: Have we moved on, Bill?
SCHNEIDER: Well, we seem to be talking about other things, aren't we?
HOLMES: All right, then. We have officially moved on. Bill Schneider said it, so it must be so. Kind sir, it's good to see you, there with the election express. Thank you so much this morning.
Experience the political campaign from the perspective of the voters. You can tune into CNN's "BALLOT BOWL" today 2:00 eastern.
NGUYEN: Talk about pain at the pump. If you think you're paying too much for gas now, just wait. What insiders are saying about a very possible price hike.
HOLMES: Also, coming out of the cave. Rescuers managed to save a group of cavers caught in a dangerous situation.
NGUYEN: There are almost 4,000 Americans who have died in the Iraq war. We're going to meet a mother who lost her son and so much more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: We are continuing to follow this unfortunate situation they have going on in the Midwest. You're seeing this is out of Fenton, Missouri. That home pretty much under water, as it looks like that water is at least halfway up that home, unfortunately. A lot of other things you can't quite make out that are under water there, but this is the scene across so many parts of Missouri. Several other states impacted hard by flooding. At least five states and 16 deaths attributed to a lot of the flooding, but here is some of the newest video. Just hurts your heart. No matter if that's your house or not, you can certainly feel for those folks. Here's now another picture you see a Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, whatever that appears to be, a trailer or something that is covered in that water. So we continue to follow this story. There's good news and still some bad news and still some things to worry about as the rain has stopped, but the floodwaters in some situations continue to cause problems.
NGUYEN: Knoxville, Illinois, far from the war-scarred deserts of the Middle East, but an army mother will always have a connection to the conflict in Iraq, one that broke her heart forever. CNN's Cal Perry reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It was May the 4th of 2006 when we met Caleb Lufkin here in Baghdad's busiest combat hospital, he was scared and near death.
UNIDENTFIED MALE: Don't you dare try to die on me, I didn't give you permission.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't let me die.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I won't let you die. I promise, I give you my word, ok?
PERRY: It was a roadside bomb that shattered his body, and Caleb, like thousands of other wounded veterans, flew to Walter Reed Hospital for follow-up surgeries. Two years later, we wanted to hear for ourselves what had happened to Caleb after he left that hospital, so we came here to his hometown of Knoxville, Illinois, and visited with his mother. Marcy Grosline immediately cast her mind back 20 years when her eldest son was just a kid.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His little hand and you'd take him to the first day at kindergarten. He has the backpack on you know, and you get him to the door where you don't want to let go of their hand.
PERRY: He grew up fast and seemed destined for a life of public service. He wanted to become a firefighter here in his hometown, but soon after he left high school --
MARCY GROSLINE, LOST SON IN IRAQ WAR: He called me up one day, and he said, mom, he said I need my social security card. I said why? And he said, well, mom, I'm going to join the army.
PERRY: And he did. Graduating from basic training. GROSLINE: He was suddenly a man. I mean, he -- he went from being, I guess my little boy -- he was a man.
PERRY: Marcy was against the war in Iraq, but she still had to let her boy go. And so he joined the 5th engineering battalion of the U.S. Army and was soon packing for his first deployment overseas.
GROSLINE: He had his backpack on, and his fatigues, and of course, we're all crying. And he looked over his shoulder before he got on the plane. He said "I'll be all right, mom."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Breathe deep for me, Caleb. Having trouble breathing over there?
CALEB LUFKIN: A little bit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Big breath.
PERRY: Marcy flew immediately to his side, meeting him at Walter Reed Hospital and preparing for what was to be his final surgery before going home.
GROSLINE: He said, now you're going to fly home with me, right? I said you're darn right I am. We're flying home. And so he went in to surgery, and right before he went in, I tussled his hair and I kissed him on the forehead, and I said, "I love you, Bud." And he said "I love you, too, mom."
PERRY: And then in an instant, Marcy faced every mother's worst nightmare. Caleb's heart had stopped and he died on the operating table.
GROSLINE: We had to get on the plane without him. I felt like I let him down. You know, someone said, what's this war mean to you? What has it done? It took away dreams. It took away dreams. To the world, he was number 95 for Illinois. To us, he was the world.
PERRY: That's why you decided to be here?
GROSLINE: He's where he was supposed to be.
PERRY: Under the flag?
GROSLINE: Under the flag. Here we go.
PERRY: Every day she comes to Knoxville Cemetery and tends to the grave of her eldest son. Her world is still turned upside down.
GROSLINE: Moms shouldn't have to bury their child. So now the flag's protecting him instead of him protecting the flag.
PERRY: But what's important to Marcy --
GROSLINE: I just don't want anybody to forget him. And I don't want anybody to forget the other 4,000.
PERRY: Cal Perry, CNN, Knoxville.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, at Fort Eustis in Virginia, soldiers gathered to remember fellow servicemen killed last week in Iraq. Specialist Tenzin L. Samten was killed when his vehicle came under fire, the 33 year old from Arizona leaves behind a wife and two children. Staff Sergeant Juantrea Bradley was also killed in that attack. He had a wife and four children. He was Greenville, North Carolina. And in that same deadly attack on March 12th, 21-year-old private Dustin C. Jackson of Arlington, Texas, lost his life. Now these are just three of the men and women who gave their lives in Iraq. So far, 3,996 American troops have died in the war.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the price of oil is now trading over $100 a barrel. The question now, just how high will it go? Frank Sesno now with some predictions that could convince some of us to trade in our cars, not for hybrids, but for bicycles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK SESNO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): What if oil prices go to $200 a barrel, nearly double their recent benchmark? Hard to imagine? Think again. Venezuela's Hugo Chavez has threatened it. The European Union's Energy Commission recently said it's a possibility. So did some prominent Wall Street analysts. Some think there's a high likelihood oil could go to $200 a barrel and beyond.
MATTHEW SIMMONS, OIL INDUSTRY ANALYST: We're so tight right now that we don't have any tolerance for anything bad happening. That's the problem. We have no spare capacity.
SESNO: What if oil hit $200 a barrel? We'd be pushing towards $6 a gallon at the pump, says an economist at the American Petroleum Institute. Food prices would go up fast, especially things that come from half a world away, because of all the energy that goes into growing, transporting and refrigerating the things we eat. Home heating oil, which is already costing a lot of New Englanders $1,000 a month or more this winter, will set new records. Planes, trains, automobiles, and trucks will get much more expensive to run. Some will make money.
SIMMONS: Oil company profits, like it or not, are going to go through the roof.
SESNO: A lot will want to tax it.
SIMMONS: The governments will say, well, I'd like about three times more tax, thank you.
SESNO: China and India will find their booms getting more expensive and maybe slowing. A lot of people dispute this $200 a barrel scenario. They say there's plenty of oil. But $200, even $300-a-barrel oil is a what-if scenario people ignore at their peril, argues Matthew Simmons, who thinks global oil production has already peaked.
SIMMONS: This is the biggest threat since sustainability of the 21st century and it's right on our doorstep. It's not years away, it's here, it's in our front room.
SESNO (on camera): Why all the relentless upward pressure on prices? One word really and that's demand, and not just the made-in- America variety. Take a look at this, in China and India alone over the next two decades or so, about half the growth in the global energy demand will come from those two countries alone. China looks like it's going to exceed the United States in the next two years or so as the single largest energy consumer. And China, which is going to quadruple its demand for fuel for planes and cars and trucks and all that kind of business, is likely to put another 270 million vehicles on the road in the next 20 years. A lot of those vehicles going to people who have never had a vehicle before. Cars pollute and use a lot more gas than bicycles do. Frank Sesno, CNN, Washington.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, from the spike in black gold to people so desperate for cash, they're selling their gold jewelry. Coming up in our next hour, meet a woman who says she's been forced to sell her bling to the highest bidder.
And in these tough times, the economy is "Issue #1," and we've got financial news covered. The mortgage meltdown, the credit crunch, all in "Issue #1" next week, 12:00 eastern, Monday through Friday. That's right here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Booming business at the box office. How the slumping economy may have a surprising effect on Hollywood.
HOLMES: And the high-water worries, families in parts of the Midwest, struggle to save their homes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It's 11:32 on the East Coast. Right now happening around the world -- fears of a possible confrontation between China and Taiwan easing, following today's presidential election in Taiwan. Voters chose opposition party candidate (INAUDIBLE) who advocates closer economic ties with China. They also rejected proposals that Taiwan join the United Nations as an independent nation. China considers Taiwan a renegade province.
NGUYEN: Travel delays are pretty heavy after snow storms in the Midwest. Hundreds of flights have been canceled in Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Madison, Wisconsin, just to name a few.
HOLMES: Floods are also continuing to plague the Midwest. River levels are surging west of St. Louis.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Now we will turn to some politics. You don't have to follow politics that closely to know that the democrats are in a bit of a quinky dink here. As if things weren't confusing enough, now even the pledged delegates are a bit fickle.
NGUYEN: So Josh Levs is here with a reality check on this quinky-dink of sorts.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm liking these words. What did Reynolds say before, cold bologna. I don't know these terms. What's going on -- and quinky dink.
NGUYEN: That's Reynolds, though.
HOLMES: Sorry.
LEVS: Speaking of confusing terms. All right, so we've heard about the superdelegates and now there's this pledged delegates thing, right? Well, all this focus has been on the supers, but a lot of people don't realize the pledged delegate count is not always determined directly by voters. Look at what's just happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): In the race for the democratic nomination, Barack Obama has laid out this strategy --
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we come into the convention with more pledged delegates, then I think we can make a very strong argument that our constituencies have spoken.
LEVS: But how much do pledged delegates actually represent voters? In the Nevada caucuses, for example, Clinton won by a six- point margin.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I guess this is how the west was won.
LEVS: But she came out one delegate behind because of how the delegates were awarded. Now a new twist shows how far this battle is from a one-person, one-vote system. Remember Iowa? Based on the caucuses, Obama was estimated to get 16 pledged delegates, while 15 would go to Clinton and 14 to John Edwards. Now, throw those numbers away. Iowa held its county conventions, the state's second step in selecting delegates to the national convention, and some of the folks who were chosen at the caucuses to attend these conventions switched camps. Obama is now estimated to get 25 delegates. Many representing Edwards' supporters defected to Obama, as did some who backed Clinton. So she lost a delegate. The campaigns pushed at the county level and Obama won. In caucus states, there are several times when things can change. Just another complexity in this bitter battle. In fact, there is enough difference between votes and delegates nationwide that Clinton's most prominent surrogate predicts a split finish.
BILL CLINTON: By the end of this process, it's more likely that Hillary will be ahead in the popular vote and he'll have a little lead in the delegates.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: Now, Obama insists that he's going to hold onto his edge in that popular vote, but in the end, ultimately, this will be decided by delegates. And all the delegates at the national convention -- pledged delegates and superdelegates -- are allowed to vote however they want guys, really, no matter what the voters said, under the rules.
NGUYEN: Up to them.
HOLMES: My head hurts. Are you kidding me? We thought we were getting this worked out and now you're telling us -- we thought it was the superdelegates you have to worry about, now the pledged delegates can essentially vote for whoever they want to vote for.
LEVS: There are some theories about whether people would go after Clinton. But we don't know if it will get far enough to chase after pledged delegates, but technically, they can go whichever way they want.
NGUYEN: So the bottom line, we still don't know just yet.
LEVS: Right. We don't know yet.
NGUYEN: We'll be watching, though.
LEVS: I'll get you some Excedrin.
HOLMES: The reality checks are just becoming too much for me, Betty.
Experience the political campaign from the perspective of the voters. You can tune into CNN's "BALLOT BOWL", that's today at 2:00 eastern time.
NGUYEN: In Tennessee, searchers have emerged from a cave with four adventurers who went missing yesterday. The two men and two teenagers were exploring a cave in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The group was cold and wet, but they were not injured. Officials say the four were not properly trained or prepared for their overnight cave adventure.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB MILLER, GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATL. PARK: Had they come to get a permit, we would have checked out their gear and realized they were not competent with the gear they had, and we would have advised them that they weren't going to get a permit at the time.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The group reportedly huddled together to stay warm in that cave, where the temperature was in the 50s. So, here's a question for you this morning -- what is in the water? It could take some weeks for people in Colorado to drink from that tap that you see, and it's all because of a salmonella scare. HOLMES: Also, we now know what killed a woman who was caught in a freak encounter with an eagle ray. Stay here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Other stories across America this morning. Don't drink the water. Officials say a municipal water supply in Alamosa, Colorado, is the source of a salmonella outbreak. 138 cases of salmonella have been reported. Seven people were admitted to the hospital.
The medical examiner says a woman killed by a giant ray in the Florida Keys likely died from the blow. Now, the fish never stung her, but the 75-pound fish did hit her in the face as she was riding in a boat.
Let's take you to northeastern Oklahoma. The fires are out, for now, after putting out a large prairie fire Thursday, blowing embers reigniting yesterday. About 200 people evacuated the town of Quinlan, just as a precaution.
HOLMES: Well, taking another look at "Issue #1" now. Of course, it's the economy.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. CNN entertainment correspondent Brooke Anderson reports on one industry that doesn't suffer during economic hard times. It might even get a boost.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BUSH: This is a challenging time for our economy.
BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A challenging time, indeed, but there is one business that generally thrives during times of economic strife.
Nothing wrong with this, Horton, nothing wrong with this.
ANDERSON: The movies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People continue to come to the cinemas even during challenging economic times.
ANDERSON: Last weekend moviegoers shelled out $45 million to see "Horton Hears a Who!" propelling the animated comedy to the year's best opening so far.
You realize that if you tell anybody, they'd think you were crazy.
ANDERSON: Paul Dergarabedian, from box office tracker Media by Numbers, says revenues are four percent higher than last year and could rise with summer fare like "Iron Man" and "Indiana Jones."
PAUL DERGARABEDIAN, PRES., MEIDA BY NUMBERS: People need an escape, and going to the movies is a fairly inexpensive way to get out of the house.
ANDERSON: Box office revenues actually increased during five of the last seven recessions, according to government statistics.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Movie cinemas have done very well during recessionary times.
ANDERSON: The great depression of the 1930s, when movies like "Frankenstein" and "King Kong" made their debut, witnessed a cinematic boom.
DERGARABEDIAN: There were about 70 million people going to the movies a week. That's like eight times more than the number of people who go to the movies today.
ANDERSON: Today people have countless more entertainment choices, but according to the National Association of Theater Owners, movies are still among the most affordable options, at an average ticket price of $6.88. Some people we interviewed are eager to catch their next film, despite belt tightening.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll cut back on a hair-cut, I'll cut back on some eating but the movies, I can't do it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really love movies, so no. The economy's probably not really going to affect my judgment too much.
ANDERSON: Others are hesitant. A poll conducted by CNN and Opinion Research Corporation shows 75 percent of respondents have cut back on leisure activities, including movies, restaurants or travel, or have postponed major purchases.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My money is going more toward bills at this point. Anything I can do for entertainment it has to be either really, really cheap, or free.
ANDERSON: During this economic downturn, Hollywood hopes moviegoers continue to pay the price of admission. Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, ahead, meet a soldier who has gone above and beyond for her country.
HOLMES: She is only the second female soldier to receive the Silver Star since the World War number two. Her amazing story is next in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So, we want you to meet a war hero. At just 19 years old, army medic Monica Lynn Brown dodged bullets and mortar fire in Afghanistan to save her comrades. She's been awarded the Silver Star, becoming the only second woman to receive this honor since World War II. Now, I talked with her a little bit earlier this morning about the attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPEC. MONICA LIN BROWN, SILVER STAR RECIPIENT: We had gotten about a mile or mile and a half outside of a village, and turned left into a river bed, and that's when the fourth vehicle of the convoy got hit by an IED. We immediately stopped the convoy, got out of my truck and grabbed my A bag. My platoon sergeant ran back to the burning humvee at this point and time with me. The guys are about 10 or 15 feet away from the vehicle, and then we were receiving small arms fire at this time. And then drug them to a different location, trying to protect ourselves a little bit from the incoming fire, and the burning humvee started actually like shooting off the rounds that were inside, and the mortar rounds that were inside.
And we also started receiving incoming mortars. And then Sergeant Santos, my platoon sergeant, came back and said that he had a vehicle we could load the patients in. So we moved the patients another 100 meters, got them in the back of the truck and moved out about 500 more meters to a safer location where I was able to actually treat them.
NGUYEN: That is really incredible. When you're in a situation like that, you're seeing the folks, you know, in your unit who have come under attack. Their vehicle is on fire. You are dodging bullets to try to get to them. At any point, did it strike you how dangerous this was, or were you just so focused on trying to save these people?
BROWN: I was just worried about the guys and getting them out of there as soon as possible.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Well, that is why you have earned the Silver Star. And I know you have with you, next to you Specialist Jack Bodani. Now, he is also a distinguished member of your unit, received several honors as well. And Specialist I want you to describe how Specialist Brown's actions went that day and what that meant to you as you covered her, essentially, while she was able to do that important work.
SPEC. JACK BODANI, U.S. ARMY: Well, she did her job, and when I saw her coming up to the truck after we got everybody out of the vehicle, she started assessing the casualties right away and she did it quickly, assessed who needed to be treated first, got everybody away from the kill zone, got everybody, like she said, further and further away so she had more security to work, and she worked quickly and as fast as anything. And everybody was just trying to fumble to help her. So we tried to do our best just to cover her so she had enough security and she didn't have to worry about anybody creeping up on her. And just make sure she could get everybody ok so they could all go home.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What a story there. Well, a little background now on the Silver Star. It is awarded for gallantry in action. The honor was established back in 1918, and it was originally called the citation star. It was renamed in 1932. The Silver Star is the third highest medal of valor. So congratulations.
HOLMES: And we turn now to one of our favorite parts of the morning. We get to say good morning to Fredricka.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Is that because it's the end of the hour?
HOLMES: No, it's because no matter --
NGUYEN: Because we enjoy seeing you.
WHITFIELD: I always love seeing you guys.
HOLMES: You can show up any time and it would be --
WHITFIELD: All right, well, good to see you. We're going to try to, you know, carry on the momentum from your morning into the midday.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: We've got a lot to cover, including politics. Everything from the New York governor, or the seating of the new New York governor to politics of presidential stakes, from race and even the passport files. We'll get into all of that. And then also coming up, tough times for everybody, that we know, but we sent our Ines Ferre into the Latino community, and she discovers how tough it is for a lot of folks. Pawn shops are playing a role in trying to pay the bills, like never before. We're going to delve into all of that coming up in the noon eastern hour.
HOLMES: Everybody's falling on tough times.
WHITFIELD: I know!
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: It's hard.
NGUYEN: It is. Because we had a story earlier about a person who lost his house, living in a camper now because of it. Important story to tell. We appreciate it. We'll be looking forward to that.
WHITFIELD: Yeah. Folks are going to be really resourceful and that's an example of that.
NGUYEN: All right, Fred.
HOLMES: We appreciate it. Thank you so much.
WHITFIELD: Have a good day.
HOLMES: So folks, what's really in a name?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like only a nut would do something like that, but I'm not a nutty kind of person at all.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. So there's quite a lot that goes into a name, if you ask these people. Just ahead, you can meet some politicians who are putting their names on the line.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. A candidate for the U.S. Senate in Idaho has legally changed his name from Martin Richardson to an issue near and dear to his heart. Now, that's not his name, but he now goes by -- get this -- "Pro-Life." No joke.
HOLMES: Well, his story, as you can hear, is a bit unusual, so unusual, that it inspired our Jeanne Moos to ask the age-old question, what really is in a name?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Say hello to Mr. Pro-life because that's how he says hello.
Yes, Pro-life.
MOOS: Mr. Life?
Yes?
MOOS: Actually, Pro-life is all one name. The former Marvin Richardson made it his legal name, and now the state of Idaho says he can use it on the ballot when he runs for the U.S. Senate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like only a nut would do something like that. But I'm not a nutty kind of a person at all.
MOOS: This organic strawberry farmer chose to legally change his name to Pro-life because he says saving the unborn is --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My mission in life.
MOOS: To make the story even stranger, Pro-life is running for the senate seat that Larry Craig is leaving.
LARRY CRAIG: I am not gay.
MOOS: Guess those four words would be too long for the ballot, though Pro-life is not gay. That's his wife. Bloggers are taking liberties with the name change, posting comments like "I guess wide stance was already taken." Taking on odd-ball names is nothing new. There's a guy who calls himself Vermin Supreme, always running for office up in New Hampshire. Then there is this guy, who changed his middle name from Anthony to Low-tax.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In the state of Tennessee Byron Low-tax. MOOS: But he ended up in prison for murder, trying to win an election with a Smith & Wesson by shooting his political opponent, telling one of his buddies --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I killed that dude. I busted a cap in his head.
MOOS: Low-tax really stooped low. And remember Grandpa Munster.
Please, not know.
MOOS: Al Lewis once ran for governor of New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your platform?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Solid oak.
MOOS: Tried using grandpa on the ballot, but no go. Of course, some people are just born with a name that coincidentally rings a bell. Meet Dot Com.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really nobody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, you're Dot Com.
MOOS: Her real name Dorothy Com, but her friends prefer Dot. From dot com to Pro-life, it's on his driver's license, his social security card --
VOICE OF PRO-LIFE: Hey, if people want to laugh about my name, it's fine, just so they don't kill a baby.
MOOS: Pro-life is out to make a point, though he expects to get only five percentage points of the vote.
God bless you.
MOOS: Ok, bye-bye, Mr. Pro-life.
Bye.
MOOS: When it comes to that final good-bye, one e-mailer joked "can't wait to see that tomb stone." Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Jeanne Moos, don't you love her.
NGUYEN: Got to love her.
HOLMES: Fredricka, any name change ideas from you?
WHITFIELD: Nope. I'm not getting in the middle of that battle.
NGUYEN: Sane move.
WHITFIELD: I'll just keep it safe, you know, that's me. Freddie Safe Whitfield. All right you guys, you have a great day.
All right, we're watching wicked weather across the Midwest. The spring storms dumped heavy snow in Chicago, causing slight delays and cancellations for thousands of travelers this Easter weekend. Snow also blankets Wisconsin and Minnesota, but the worst situation right now is flood-ravaged Missouri. Let's get straight to it and CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras who is in hard-hit Pacific, Missouri. We know you could not stay away from this part of the country which is your home. Or at least close.
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