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American Morning
John McCain Holding Major Fundraiser With President Bush; New High for Price of Gas; Major Malfunction for French Skydiver Michel Fournier
Aired May 27, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There'll be a stark contrast between myself and Senator Obama. State like New Mexico. He has no experience or background on any of the vital issues to the people of New Mexico, whether it be water, land, federal issues, or native Americans. And so I look forward to debating here and campaigning here as I have many times in the past.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Obama said he is confident that he can win in New Mexico after people look back at the past eight years of Republican rule.
President Bush makes a rare campaign appearance with John McCain today to raise money for the GOP candidate. And while the president will help McCain with his cash flow, don't expect to see more than a quick glimpse of the two of them together.
Elaine Quijano is live at the White House for us this morning. And why won't we be seeing much of them together on the campaign trail, Elaine?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, politics in a word, John. Good morning to you. Over the next couple of days, President Bush is going to be attending three fund-raisers for Senator John McCain. One tonight in Phoenix that the senator will also be attending. The other two will be tomorrow in Utah. Senator McCain will not be there for those. But at each stop, we are not expecting to see many pictures of the fund-raiser in chief.
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QUIJANO (voice-over): When it comes to raising money nothing beats the power of the presidency. Supported in part by taxpayer dollars to pay for the trappings of the office, a president can draw big donors to fund-raisers. And Senator John McCain's cash-strapped campaign wants to quietly make the most of it.
The McCain campaign has a practice of having their fund-raisers as closed press.
QUIJANO: There will be some airport pictures of the president and Senator McCain together, but as he noted when he endorsed the senator in March, President Bush understands with his low approval ratings, he'll sometimes need to keep his distance.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If my showing up and endorsing him helps him -- or if I'm against him and it helps him -- either way, I want him to win.
QUIJANO: The two men have a long history stretching back to their bitter rivalry during the 2000 Republican primary fight.
BUSH: I am also disappointed in John McCain. This is a man who paid for telephone calls in the State of Michigan implying strongly that I'm an anti-Catholic bigot. And I don't appreciate that kind of campaigning.
QUIJANO: And over the next eight years, they worked to bury the hatchet from campaigning together in 2004 -- to celebrating the senator's birthday. And now, they formed a marriage of political convenience. President Bush is still popular among core Republicans who support and money the senator needs. While a Republican presidency could ultimately boost President Bush's legacy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
QUIJANO: Now, while the president's fund-raising abilities are well known, the McCain campaign is not disclosing how much is expected from the three fund-raisers that President Bush is attending for Senator McCain. One McCain aide simply calls the amount, John, sizable.
John?
ROBERTS: We'll see. Elaine Quijano for us at the White House this morning. Elaine, thanks.
In the Democratic presidential race, there are now eight days and three primaries left. Wow. Eight days and three primaries. Imagine that. Up next, Puerto Rico votes on June the 1st, that's this coming Sunday, with 55 delegates at stake. That's a pretty rich prize.
Then June the 3rd, the last two primaries, Montana and South Dakota, with 31 delegates between them.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Short week begins with another record for gas prices. The average price for a gallon of self-serve regular is now $3.93, that's up a tenth of a cent from yesterday. And according to AAA, the 20th straight day with a new record.
And just in to CNN. Pictures of truckers across Britain protesting the soaring gas prices. As many as 1,000 truckers drove into London to put pressure on the government to compensate truckers for the high cost of gas. Now, if you think we've got it bad here in the U.S., well, gas in Britain costs about $9 a gallon.
And gas prices are hitting food banks with a double whammy. Food banks facing higher costs for food and the gas to deliver the food. 99 percent of food banks have seen an increase in clients due to weak economy. The government has authorized an extra $110 million for the food banks.
ROBERTS: A major malfunction for French skydiver Michel Fournier who was trying to set a new freefall record today. Like a child in a carnival, Fournier lost the helium balloon that was supposed to carry him to his jump point 131,000 feet above north Battleford, Saskatchewan.
While they were filling up the balloon to take him up, somehow it got away and went on the trip without him. So far, no word if they're going to try again anytime soon. But apparently, they do have some reserve balloons and could try it again if they got the cash.
Fournier was trying to beat four records including fastest freefall. The longest freefall, the highest jump and the highest altitude reached by a man in a balloon.
PHILLIPS: We're actually waiting to hear from a reporter there on the scene. I'm dying to know what his reaction was. He had this little moment with his wife, it looks like. I wanted to know --
ROBERTS: How does a child react when their balloon flies away, right?
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. They cry or they scream.
ROBERTS: Yes, it was breezy there in north Battleford. And I wonder if just something failed and away went the balloon.
On alert for extreme weather across the plains. Flooding the big concern today. Could we see more devastating twisters? Rob Marciano is watching that for us this morning.
PHILLIPS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, frozen in time. A disaster captured as it happens. A moment of joy turned upside down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were six couples having their wedding picture taken that day. Some 33 people were inside this building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The images and stories you won't soon forget, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: All right. So we want to take you up to north Battleford, Saskatchewan where the balloon blew away. Michel Fournier trying to set this new record. There's a picture of it as it's deflating. All the helium coming out of it.
PHILLIPS: Murray Oliver has been tracking it from the minute, Michel, attempted -- to make this journey today. Joins us live now, they are on the ground.
So Murray, what was his reaction? We want to know what he said when he got the word it wasn't going to happen.
MURRAY OLIVER, CTV NEWS: Well, we're not sure exactly what he said, but I think we have a pretty good idea how he was feeling. One of our cameraman shot -- Chad Hills, was filming with an extender lens as he stepped out of the capsule. And Michel Fournier, he pushed everyone aside. He began to walk very quickly away. There are some camera crews that are with him. I believe they have come with him from France and they moved around in front of him, obviously, to get his reaction. And he turned his back on them. And it looked like he was very emotional.
And then his wife stepped up to him and they embraced each other for a long, long time. This, after all, is a really life-long dream for this guy. And so it must just be a heartbreaking moment to watch on such a beautiful, perfect day for this record attempt to watch his balloon just float away.
ROBERTS: And Murray, we were watching this morning as the balloon was being filled with helium. It did look a little breeze there on the plains. What happened? Did the wind just -- one of the guy wires fail and it blow away or somebody accidentally pull a release?
OLIVER: I don't think they know. They really have no idea, John. We were talking with some of the team earlier and they don't have a clue what happened. Actually, it really wasn't breezy here at all. The weather has been excellent. It was very, very still. It's a clear, blue sky. Probably as good a day as you will ever get in this part of Saskatchewan to try and attempt.
So I don't think they have an answer at the moment. It's possible that they are going to suspect, who knows, maybe sabotage. The security here has been incredibly heavy. So it's possible they've been worried that maybe somebody was going to sabotage the attempt. I don't know. They're going to have a press conference later today to discuss it.
PHILLIPS: You know, Murray, we've been talking a lot about Fournier, and we've been calling him a daredevil. But actually -- you know, this is someone who is a paratrooper in the French military. He had more than 8,000 jumps. Besides just breaking the record, why else is he doing this. Have you had a chance to kind of get inside his character?
OLIVER: Well, he's a very interesting man. I don't think daredevil does quite captures it. He's not this sort of running around doing different crazy things for the thrill of it. This particular goal, setting the world record for the highest skydive has been really an ambition of his for decades. And he says that in part it's because he wants to contribute to science's knowledge of the exploration of outer space.
And he believes that this work can somehow, some day, offer an opportunity for astronauts to be rescued from very high altitudes. And it is true that science really doesn't know whether a human being can survive the kinds of speeds that Mr. Fournier was going to reach when his body was pitching downwards in free fall from 40,000 meters in the sky. 40 kilometers high. He was going to reach speeds of 1,500 kilometers an hour.
And so, nobody really was sure how will his body react. That's 1.3 mach over the speed of sound. So, obviously there was a scientific component. He felt he was making a contribution. But there's also, I think, something that just must be in his psychology that has doggedly pursued this.
ROBERTS: Well, we'll see if he does it again. Murray Oliver for us this morning from North Battleford, Saskatchewan. Murray, thanks very much.
I guess Murray was saying earlier that he's got a couple more balloons. So, he may try it again. But darn good thing the balloon separated while he was on the ground.
PHILLIPS: Well, that's his military background. You have plan B, plan C and plan D.
ROBERTS: We hope.
Those high gasoline prices, they are turning once popular SUVs into gas-guzzling money pits.
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CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are trapped in gas- guzzling SUVs with a lease they can't break. I'm Chris Lawrence and coming up, I'll tell you why there may be an escape route if you know where to look.
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ROBERTS: Campaign cash wars. Whether John McCain can catch Barack Obama. Whether he will have to see more of President Bush to do it. What they're saying on the talk radio airwaves. That's ahead.
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PHILLIPS: Record gas prices, bottom line. Ali Velshi.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm back.
PHILLIPS: I'm trying to think of some other way to get into you.
VELSHI: You know, there were record gas prices on and off for a couple of days, but there were record gas prices all of those days. I just wasn't here to tell you about them. So, if a tree falls in the woods. $3.94 is what we have right now. We are approaching $4. $3.94 is the national average for gasoline prices. Take a look at how it spreads out across the country.
There are 11 states and the District of Columbia with gas prices now averaging above $4 a gallon for self-serve unleaded. Alaska is the highest at about $4.20 and the lower 48, it's Connecticut at $4.19. There are four states that are less than a nickel away from that right now -- Maine, Ohio, Oregon and Rhode Island. They're on their way to $4 a gallon.
The lowest states, by the way, are Wyoming and Missouri. Both around $3.75. And in California and New York, diesel is now above $5 a gallon.
And as we like to remind you -- we don't like to remind you, we need to remind you. Diesel is very important to our lives, regardless of whether you think you have anything to do with it or not because trucks run on diesel to get you all the stuff that you buy, and farm equipment runs on diesel. So, when it's above $5 a gallon, that's a major problem.
We're still looking at oil above $133 a barrel right now. And somebody said on Thursday from S&P that at the price of a barrel of oil at about $130, $135, gas should be higher than it is right now, except we're catching up.
ROBERTS: Right. So, here's the question people ask me a lot. Why is diesel more expensive than gas when it used to be significantly cheaper?
PHILLIPS: It used to be the alternative.
VELSHI: It used to be the alternative. A lot of people transfer to diesel because you get longer engine life and better mileage out of it. So, there was major shift over to diesel. And as a result, when you take a barrel of oil and you make it into gasoline and diesel and jet fuel and other distillates, there's a combination that you make. There's a -- you know, proportions of everything. And over time, we haven't changed the proportions of diesel that we make.
ROBERTS: So, it's basically demand.
VELSHI: It's supply and demand. Again, we look -- and this is really important point because whenever we look for alternatives, whether it's ethanol or coal or diesel, we have to look at the long- term unintended consequence of that. Does it now make something more expensive because it's in greater demand? You couldn't convince somebody, the average consumer, to buy a diesel vehicle 15 years ago. It was for work in America. Now, I mean, it does work well in the engine and less expensive.
PHILLIPS: Those were really loud. Remember when the first --
ROBERTS: They were really loud. Either your car was broken or was running on a diesel.
PHILLIPS: You sounded like a Harley coming down the street.
ROBERTS: We'll see what kind of alternatives come up because of the price of gas being so high often drives alternatives.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
VELSHI: OK.
ROBERTS: Do you think that there's life on Mars? It's this morning's "Quick Vote" question. Right now 45 percent of you say yes. But the naysayers still winning out. 55 percent of you say you don't think so. Still time to cast your ballot. Head to cnn.com/am. We'll have a final tally of your votes coming your way in about 45 minutes' time.
PHILLIPS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." She can still win. Hillary Clinton gets a vote of confidence from a former president. What does Bill Clinton know that we don't?
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, boiling mad.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am paying $1,200 more a year.
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ROBERTS: Think a gallon is always a gallon? Think again. When the temperature goes up, it might be taking your gas bill with it.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you think you're buying 10 gallons, you may not be buying 10 gallons of fuel.
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The heat advice that could save you money, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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PHILLIPS: It's been called an urban myth that you get more gasoline out of the pump when it's cold outside. But is it?
ROBERTS: Ahah. With the answer, our national correspondent Susan Candiotti. She is live in Miami for us this morning where it's rarely cold.
Good morning to you, Susan.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, John and Kyra. Yes, that's just a myth about filling up when it's cooler in the morning. Doesn't mean a thing. It's a simple matter of physics. When it gets hot, when things heat up, the molecules in gas expand. When it gets cool, they contract.
Well, imagine what that means in year-round hot weather states like Florida and, frankly, every place else when it's hot during the summertime. The question is, because of that expansion of the molecules, are you getting as much bang for the buck when it gets hot? (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: As if paying at the pump wasn't bad enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gas prices just going through the roof right now.
CANDIOTTI: Now add summer heat to the equation. When gasoline gets hot, its molecules expand. So there's less energy per gallon.
JOAN CLAYBROOK, PRESIDENT, PUBLIC CITIZEN: So, if you think you're buying ten gallons of gas, you may not be buying ten gallons of fuel. The consumer is overpaying for that gasoline.
CANDIOTTI: Consumer group Public Citizen estimates Americans are forking over an extra $3 billion a year in hidden charges because of hot fuel. For years, the oil industry has used 60 degree gas as its price-setting standard. Using that figure, a car getting 25 miles per gallon would go 500 miles. But that same car using 90 degree gas would go only 490 miles.
JOHN MASON, INDEPENDENT TRUCKER: 78.9 degrees. This is right from the tank.
CANDIOTTI: Florida trucker John Mason drives his rig 25,000 miles a year.
MASON: Just being 70 degrees I'm paying $1,200 more a year at today's prices.
CANDIOTTI: 84.6 degrees. That's a high temperature. Miami fuel distributor Max Alvarez just got a hot fuel delivery, but he says the oil supplier shaved 75 gallons off to compensate him for the heat.
MAX ALVAREZ, SUNSHINE GASOLINE DISTRIBUTOR: If that was not adjusted to me, I would probably have to charge more. So the consumer is getting exactly what they're paying for.
CANDIOTTI: Consumer groups don't buy it and are urging Congress to mandate retrofitting gas pumps to adjust for temperature. Canada has done it for years to compensate for cool weather.
MASON: Everybody wants to do something. Well, here is something. It's right there. The door is open. Get it done.
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CANDIOTTI: Yes. And the average price for gasoline here in South Florida has reached $4. Here it's just $3.99. But the question is, what about the national conference of weights and measures? They could raise the gas standard for measuring gas at 60 degrees up to 80 degrees, like they do in Hawaii. Or they could retrofit all the gas pumps at the cost of maybe $2,000 a tank.
And if that sounds like a lot of money to gas station owners, consumer groups argue that -- look, where would you buy your gas? At the pump where you think you're going to get more bang for the buck or at another kind of pump? Think about it.
Back to you, John and Kyra.
ROBERTS: All right, fascinating stuff. Susan Candiotti for us this morning live in Miami. Susan, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, frozen in time. A disaster captured as it happened. A moment of joy turned upside down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There were six couples having their wedding picture taken that day. Some 33 people were inside this building.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: The images and story you won't soon forget, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 25 minutes after the hour. The campaign wars continue this morning as John McCain gear ups for some presidential help. The Democrats keep their eye on the convention coming up in August. Joining me now to talk about the latest in the race for president from Fargo, North Dakota, liberal talk radio show host Ed Schultz and from Portland, Oregon, this morning, conservative radio talk show host Michael Medved. He's also the author of the new book "The 10 Big Lies About America."
Ed, Michael, good to see you this morning. Thanks for coming in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you.
ROBERTS: We heard President Clinton -- Former President Clinton on the campaign trail yesterday saying, don't count my wife out just yet. Senator Clinton just needs a little more time. Let's listen to what he said.
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BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There's this frantic effort to push her out because she's winning the general election today, and he's not. According to all the evidence. And I have never seen anything like it. I've never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ed Schultz, let's start with you this morning. What did you make of what the president said?
ED SCHULTZ, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think the Clintons are out of material right now. They are losing in every category. The wave of superdelegates continues for Barack Obama. He leads in states, the popular vote, the majority of delegates. And they are running out of bullet points. So Obama has run a fabulous campaign and it's really taken the breath out of the Clintons.
They didn't think they were going to be $30 million in the hole and in this position, and I think it's really an attack dog approach by President Clinton. It's again the low road and I think it's uncalled for.
ROBERTS: And Michael, I am sure that you would like to see this, as Ed says, low road continues all the way through August.
I don't think it's the low road at all. Generally, when you are playing a football game, even if you are behind in the fourth quarter, you play out the game. You play it out with dignity and determination. And that's what Hillary Clinton is trying to do.
MICHAEL MEDVED, "THE 10 BIG LIES ABOUT AMERICA": I would agree with President Clinton, and I rarely do. But honestly, what is the rush here. What is the wrong thing for Democrats for Hillary Clinton to keep raising issues, to keep talking about this? Not to attack Barack Obama personally. She hasn't done that.
What she's been trying to do is to make the case for her brand of Democratic politics. And this is about the future of the party. I don't truly understand. It's months to go before the convention. And Ed says she's been losing? She hasn't. She's won the big primaries and won it by crushing margins whether it's in Kentucky or whether it's in West Virginia. She's been actually doing quite well recently.
ROBERTS: Ed, explain this to me. There are plenty of occasions in the past where the primary season has gone on this far or the Democratic Party has known who the nominee is until beyond this point. What's wrong with it going through until, you know, the end of the primary season, June 4th, this time around?
SCHULTZ: Well, there's nothing wrong with it but the fact is that the Clintons have attacked Barack Obama. They said he's not ready from day one. They said he doesn't have the experience. Let's go back to when they played the race card. Let's go back to when they talked about plagiarism. Let's go back to when they brought up drug use some 30 years ago. I mean, those are personal attacks. And this has not helped the party.
In the meantime, Barack Obama has had a wave of superdelegates come his way. Why aren't the superdelegates going to Hillary Clinton? No one is telling her to get out. I just think that the writing is on the wall and it has been for a long time.
And I also think the fact that she's $30 million in the hole brings up the question of her managerial experience as to running a campaign. Is that how she's going to run the country? I think it's over.
ROBERTS: Michael, let me ask you about Senator John McCain. He had a couple of big fundraisers planned with President Bush. One of them at the convention center in Phoenix. There was another one with Mitt Romney planned for a large venue in Salt Lake City. Those have both been paired back now. They'll still take place but at private residences.
Is he trying to keep a low profile when it comes to using President Bush? Is President Bush, as Republican Congressman Tom Davis suggested, quote "radioactive," for John McCain?
MEDVED: Well, President Bush is complicated for John McCain. One thing that everybody has to remember is President Bush still has a high approval rating among Republicans, close to two-thirds of Republicans approve of the job President Bush is doing.
And he's -- his support is going to be important to John McCain. One of the things that happens with every president, it happened with Bill Clinton, it even happened with Jimmy Carter, for goodness sake, is towards the end of your presidency. There tends to be sort of a wave of sympathy and support.
And I think that's going to be true for President Bush, too. But, clearly, McCain cannot win if he is perceived as John McSame. He has to emphasize his differences on policy and substance with President Bush and those differences it prevails.
ROBERTS: Ed, do you think that John McCain can avoid being John McSame?
SCHULTZ: I don't think John McCain can win the White House unless he has the Bush Family with him. I think it's a necessary evil. No one in the Republican Party can raise money better than George W. Bush and for that matter, Bush 41.
So how is John McCain going to get there? He's openly told people in the Senate he don't like fund-raising. He doesn't have a record of big fund-raising throughout his entire political career. And he's going to have to keep Bush kind of out of the way from the TV cameras, but I guarantee you those checks are going to cash real nice. He needs George W. Bush.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll see just how prominently he puts them out there. Ed Schultz, Michael Medved, thanks for being with us this morning. Good to see both of you.
Kyra?
MEDVED: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Fears of a new flooding are forcing nearly 160,000 people in China's earthquake zones to leave their homes now. Soldiers and engineers are preparing to blast through a huge wall of debris and keep a so-called quake lake from bursting. Dozens of these lakes were formed by landslides from the earthquake and the aftershocks have shaken that region, including one that registered 5.7 just today. The official death toll 65,000 people. More than 23,000 people are still missing.
Just before the earthquake hit China, six couples were preparing for their weddings. They were actually having their pictures taken when suddenly the entire world came crashing down around them. The couples survived and their story is now getting worldwide attention. CNN's Kyung Lah has more.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Frozen in time. The moment the quake struck. A bride in her wedding dress. Her church in ruins. Young couples who had all scheduled wedding photos taken months before their wedding day as is Chinese custom. They hoped to capture their joy and were now immortalized in horror. This is one of the young couples minutes after the quake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I heard people shouting earthquake, she says. I couldn't run anywhere. I fell forward, crawling on the ground until I found my fiance. He held my hand tightly as the ground was shaking and shaking. Photographer Wang Qiang never stopped taking pictures.
WANG QIANG, WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER (through translator): I could hear the walls crashing but my mind was blank. I started taking pictures out of instinct. Through the aftershocks, they managed to crawl out of the rubble. Their shoes, wig and wedding veils left behind. They made it to this village or what was left of it. Jiang You Cong's home was destroyed. But that night, he shared everything he could. Clothes, food and a fire to stay warm.
JIANG YOU CONG, LOCAL VILLAGER: They are not local, he says, but we are all one nation. How could I to help them?
LAH: A coal truck gave them a lift out of the village. Back home, their families were all safe, their homes still standing.
LAH (on-camera): There were six couples having their wedding pictures taken that day. Some 33 people were inside this building. All of them somehow managed to make it out alive. There are very few signs that this was once a church, but a few remain.
The story of this church and the images have made their way around the world on the Internet, embraced as a symbol of hope amid ruin.
There is something we'll keep for the rest our lives, says the groom. They are the most important wedding photos for us. It's a moment that's changed them as a couple forever. They do have a few photos before the quake hit. But it is the ones after and their life together that they will cherish. Kyung Lah, CNN, Bailu, China.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right. If you can get through that, you can get through anything in a marriage.
ROBERTS: I would think. I mean, wow. Talking about adversity on the first day.
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT: Chills, really, when you see that. Especially the before and the after photos. Really incredible. PHILLIPS: The fact that everybody got out of there alive.
CHO: One thing is for certain, it is something that it's a day that they'll never forget for a variety of reasons. But, wow, yes, incredible story. Lots going on here, right here in New York, guys.
Good morning, everybody. New this morning, a manhunt is under way here in New York City at this moment following a string of overnight shootings. Eight people are recovering this morning. Witnesses say the gunfire broke out after a fight at a basketball game in Harlem. Still unclear if the victims, all in their teens and early 20s, were the targets. Reports say police are looking for several suspects.
The FBI wants to know who fired what appears to be a rocket that shot past a commercial plane shortly after takeoff from Houston. FAA investigators say they still aren't sure what the object was but they believe it was a model rocket. A Continental Airline spokesman says the plane was not damaged and nobody was hurt. Strange incident.
Hollywood has lost a legend. Director and actor Sydney Pollack died yesterday at age of 73 after a battle with cancer. He was best known for directing "Tootsie, "The Way We Were" and "Out of Africa." And he worked with many Hollywood greats including George Clooney who worked with Pollack on "Michael Clayton" most recently. He said "Sydney made the world a little better, movies a little better and even dinner a little better. A tip of a hat to a class act. He'll be missed terribly. And Sally Field too, she said having the opportunity to know Sydney and work with him was a great gift in my life. He was a good friend and a phenomenal director. And I will cherish every moment that I ever spent with him. He was 73.
A 12-year-old girl in West Virginia is doing fine this morning after being stung by, of all things, a scorpion. It happened at a Wal-mart. Megan Templeton was with her family shopping for watermelon for Memorial Day when the inch-long critter jabbed her finger. She had just seen the movie "Indiana Jones." There is a scorpion scene in there and she thought the worst.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGAM TEMPLETON, STUNG BY SCORPION: I had my hand on the side of the watermelon box and the scorpion crawled up and stung me on the tip of my finger. I thought I was going to get really sick because I thought all scorpions are poisonous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, it turns out it was no worse than a bee sting. She says it was like having a stapler stuck in her finger. Wal-mart says the shipment, by the way, came from Mexico and that incidents like this are rare. Makes for good talk, though. As for the scorpion, Megan says she's named it Laura and will take it to school for show and tell.
And it's one of the fastest and most dangerous in England. It involves - this is great. It involves cheese, guys. Check this out. The annual U.K. cheese roll took place in Brockworth, England. Dozens of combatants, as we're calling them, tumbles and flipped down the hill in hot pursuit of what? A circle of cheese. 19 people were hurt. And the winner of the first race had to be taken off on a spinal port. The tradition, by the way, dates back to ancient times, but no one is quite sure why it started.
PHILLIPS: All right. what kind of cheese is this?
CHO: I don't know. I was trying to figure that out. It kind of doesn't matter.
PHILLIPS: That's what I want to know.
CHO: It's kind of like the JV version of the running of the bulls, isn't it?
ROBERTS: oh, ouch, ouch.
CHO: I mean, if it dates back to ancient times you'd think -- why would you - I don't know. Why would you do it? That must be some good cheese. Anyway.
PHILLIPS: OK. You missed the last tumbler there in the mouse outfit. Did you not see that?
CHO: Oh, no. I missed it.
ROBERTS: It's like the thing they do in Australia every year where they try to fly off the pier. All done for laughs.
SUVs used to rule the road. Now drivers can't wait to get rid of them.
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CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: People are trapped in gas- guzzling SUVs with a lease they can't break. I'm Chris Lawrence and coming up, I'll tell you why there may be an escape route if you know where to look.
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PHILLIPS: And Sergeant Mary Dague was serving in Baghdad when she lost both her arms in a bomb blast.
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SGT. MARY DAGUE: I'm laying there and I start to hear this woman screaming as the gonging sound is going away. She just keeps screaming and screaming. And then I slowly realize that it's me. I couldn't feel myself screaming.
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PHILLIPS: Wow. Now she's trying to rebuild her life and actually plan her dream wedding. We'll tell you the story straight ahead.
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ROBERTS: 39 minutes after the hour. Back to the cheese rolling contest there. Got the cheese. 7.5 pound wheel of double Gloucester. It's a form of cheddar cheese there in England.
With gas prices so high, many drivers of SUVs cannot afford to drive their big gas guzzlers anymore. Tied down in long-term leases, they can't afford not to. Out Chris Lawrence has got the story.
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LAWRENCE (voice-over): Gas wasn't a big deal two years ago when this real estate agent leased her SUV.
MARISELA MONTOYA, LEASING AN SUV: It was a little bit over $2 per gallon. Now I'm paying almost double it.
LAWRENCE: First came the housing crash, which wiped out a lot of her business. Then fuel costs cut into what little she had left.
Do you just feel stuck with a truck you can't afford?
MONTOYA: Yes. It is very frustrating. I can't afford the $400 payment on top of the $200 or $300 gas payment.
LAWRENCE: To break the lease, Marisela Montoya would have to fork over up to $5,000. And thousands of people are in the same boat.
JOHN STERNAL, LEASETRADER.COM: We've tracked about a 24 percent increase in customers now looking to downsize their vehicles.
LAWRENCE: Leasetrader.com is seeing a surge of SUV leaseholders looking for a way out. Sites like this charge a few hundred dollars and match them with people who want to take over the payments for however long is left on the lease. Some are pretty attractive. Like a year and a half left on a Pathfinder for under 300 bucks. Others may have a hard time finding a suitor. Who wants to spend nearly three years with this Escalade at more than $1100 a month.
STERNAL: There are a few people that you know what their vehicles just aren't as marketable as the next person.
LAWRENCE: With her job, Montoya can't even cut back on how much she drives.
MONTOYA: I have to take my clients all over southern California to look for properties.
LAWRENCE: But after we first spoke with her, Montoya's lease trader listing got a last-minute breakthrough. With ten months left on her lease, she finally found a taker and will be free to find that small car she needs. Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE) PHILLIPS: It's a match made in the military. How an injured soldier getting her life back, thanks to her pretty amazing husband.
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BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jared now takes care of everything for Mary. There have been many low times.
SGT. MARY DAGUE, WOUNDED IRAQ VETERAN: I had this breakdown where I was like, why me? And I started screaming and crying. And I hated it. I hated everything.
SPEC. JARED TILLERY, HUSBAND OF WOUNDED VETERAN: It's kind of hard to think sometimes that I am 22. I feel like I should be older in a way.
PHILLIPS: More on the story of Mary and Jared coming up on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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PHILLIPS: Sergeant Mary Dague was injured by a bomb explosion while serving in Iraq. Now she's just trying to rebuild her life and plan her dream wedding. Barbara Starr has that story.
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STARR (voice-over): 23-year-old Sergeant Mary Dague married her army sweetheart, 22-year-old Specialist Jared Tillery in a Justice of the peace ceremony in 2006, just before they both deployed to Baghdad. Life changed last November.
DAGUE: I heard this huge gong sound. Everything goes black, and I remember hitting something. It was a humvee. And I am laying there, and I start to hear this woman screaming as the gonging sound is going away. She just keeps screaming and screaming. And then I slowly realize that it's me. I couldn't feel myself screaming.
STARR: A bomb destroyed Mary's arms.
TILLERY: I didn't know how to feel. I didn't know whether to cry or -- part of me is, you know, scared to death because she got hurt and the other part is happy she's still alive. At that point, all I want to do is just get to her and see her and everything.
STARR: Within hours, Mary was airlifted out of Iraq, Jared at her side. Jared now takes care of everything for Mary. There have been many low times.
DAGUE: I had this breakdown where I was like, why me? And I started screaming and crying and I hated it. I hated everything.
TILLERY: It's kind of hard to think sometimes that I am 22. I feel like I should be older in a way. STARR: They still both grieve for Jesse, Jared's 19-year-old brother killed in Iraq just before Mary was injured.
TILLERY: I mean, it was less than a year from my little brother and everything. Yes, it was just all too much.
STARR: The couple is now planning a formal wedding. Mary is trying to find a dress that will make her feel beautiful.
DAGUE: I like just checking out different things, like, you know, would a prosthetic look good in this or should I go without my prosthesis. I found one that I adore. You know, it's the whole back is just baby blue and it's in kind of a corset kind of fashion and it flows down in this big baby blue train. The front is white with just a baby blue, you know, front on the top. It's - you know it was like my perfect wedding dress. I saw it and I am like, oh, god, I wish I would look good in that.
STARR: Barbara Starr, CNN, Brooke Army Medical Center, San Antonio, Texas.
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ROBERTS: God bless her.
PHILLIPS: Really puts things in perspective. Whether you are for the war or against the war, you meet people like that or hear stories like that and you just can't forget the power of the human spirit. I mean, that's just amazing.
ROBERTS: And the power of that relationship as well. Just terrific.
CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away now. And Heidi Collins at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Welcome back.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Am I working? Am I back? Am I working?
ROBERTS: Hey, how are you?
COLLINS: Nice to see you, John. Thanks a lot.
COLLINS: Issue number one on the NEWSROOM rundown today, gas. Hitting a new record high. In fact, the 20th day in a row. A new report shows Americans are actually driving less. Billions of miles less. We'll talk about that.
And China evacuating possibly a million people in the earthquake zone. Engineers plan to dynamite a lake created by landslides. Quite a situation there.
And a Vietnam vet loses his home and his purple hearts. But never fear, the boy scouts are near. We'll tell you about that in the NEWSROOM coming up at the top of the hour right here on CNN. John.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Heidi. And a big welcome back after your time off.
COLLINS: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Speaking of re-entry, the free-fall foiled again. The Frenchman looking to set a world record is done in by a little malfunction this morning. His balloon flew away without him. The latest on the leap that wasn't, just ahead.
PHILLIPS: Plus, just what kind of effects would a 131,000-foot free-fall have on your body? A lot. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is taking a look. Hey, Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Amazing record. The ambitious fellow here. Highest, fastest, longest. But what is happening to the body? I'll give you some clues. Low oxygen and lots of pressure. I'll show you how he's going to combat those. It's coming up after the break.
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ROBERTS: A deflating experience for a French skydiver this morning. Michel Fournier was trying to set free-fall records. While his crew was filling up the helium balloon that was supposed to carry him up to his jump point, well something went wrong and the balloon went up, up and away without him. The team apparently has some more balloons but no word yet on when Fournier may try it again. So, if and when he does Michel Fournier does make his record free-fall, what effect will it have on his body? Will his pressurized suit be strong enough to help him survive and what about careening down toward earth at the speed that he's expected to reach, breaking the sound barrier?
We're paging our Dr. Gupta for the answer. He's our chief medical correspondent. He joins us now from Atlanta. So, he plans to jump from a height of 40 kilometers, that's about 131,000 feet. Nobody has ever done that before. What are the potential effects on the body?
GUPTA: Well, the last thing you just said. The fact that no one has ever done this before is crucial because it's hard to know exactly what some of the effects on the body are going to be. We don't have a lot of data on this sort of thing. Some of this is just sort of hypothetical and predicted things that are going to happen. For example, as you might guess, the air is much thinner up there. He does have the suit on but how effective is it going to be? So, he could develop a condition known as hypoxia, just not getting enough oxygen in the blood stream.
John, just take a look as you go further and further up. At 40,000 feet, the temperatures get colder. 50,000 feet your bodily gases start to expand. 63,000 feet you cross something known as Armstrong's line where the blood in your body starts to change. Starts to become more of a gas-like form. John, there is something known as terminal velocity. We've heard of this. Basically it is sort of regulated by how much friction you have around you as you are falling. Now at that level, at that height, there is less friction. So terminal velocity changes as well. The record speed for a free- fall is around 614 or so miles per hour. He may go faster than that, he may break the sound barrier. All these things could happen to him but it's hard to know exactly what's going to happen.
ROBERTS: You've actually been inside jet aircraft breaking the sound barrier. And there's a certain effect but if you take away the airplane and you break the sound barrier, what are the potential effects?
GUPTA: Well, you know, it's interesting that when you're free- falling like that, the maximum amount of Gs, again typically that people hit will be around 3 or 4 Gs. So, you know, you really are going to feel that. People will start to have a little bit graying out of their vision, for example. When I was flying there, it's the turns, John, as you may know, that really cause the intense Gs. 7, 8 or even higher Gs. So, he's going to experience some of that probably at 3 or 4 Gs maximum. What he may experience more than anything else is sort of this pressure on his lungs. So not only is the air thinner, but it's harder to actually exchange oxygen across his lungs. Again, you know, there's previous records. He's trying to break that. Exactly what's going to happen to his body. He's going to hopefully come back and tell us what happened.
ROBERTS: Well, he has to blow up another balloon if he wants to try out for this morning's mishap.
GUPTA: It's just like a little kid. His balloon flew away.
ROBERTS: Exactly. Sanjay, thanks very much.
GUPTA: All right. See you.
PHILLIPS: Minor league team famous for its wacky promotions may have finally hit one out of the park. All at Senator Larry Craig's expense. Oh ye, we're going to take you to the bobble-foot day at the ballpark.
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PHILLIPS: Do you have a bobblehead? Exactly. We've got our own bobbleheads. That's what happens when you get up that early in the morning. Well, you've seen them. They've been given away at baseball games and other events for years. But a new one is really turning some heads of its own.
ROBERTS: This one is not exactly a bobblehead. It's a bobblefoot. And as CNN's Jeanne Moos tells us, the novelty which was meant to poke fun at a certain senator is now creating a bidding frenzy.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's one thing to bobble Senator Hillary Clinton's head. But Senator Larry Craig's foot? Just when you thought you heard the end of bathroom stall jokes, they're back, thanks to what one Web site called the greatest minor league giveaway of all time. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It reminds me of that senator from, what is it, Oregon?
MOOS: Idaho, actually, with the bathroom. Senator Craig got arrested at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport and the St. Paul Saints decided it would be a great publicity stunt to have bobble-foot day. What a give away. There were only enough for the first 2500 fans.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We did have a lineup that began at about 10:00 in the morning for a game that began at 7:00.
MOOS: Things could have been worse. Last May, the Milwaukee Brewers had rectal rectal exam day. As one Web site put it, turn your head, order a beer and cough. The idea was to promote prostate cancer awareness by offering two free tickets to a future game if you let a proctologist do a quick exam. Bobble-foot day stirred up some complaints.
VOICE The question was, how do I explain this to my kids?
MOOS: Here's what happened if you didn't explain it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going to the bathroom.
MOOS: The stall even included some graffiti for a good time, call this number.
MOOS (on-camera): Hey, I like a good time. But the good time number was just more self-promotion.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you for calling the St. Paul Saints Baseball club.
MOOS: This team is famous for oddball giveaways like a doggy chew toy dedicated to dog fighting organizer Michael Vick and a seat cushion that allows you to sit on the face of either the baseball commissioner or the players union leader. We always thought the Larry Craig talking doll would be the ultimate dumb toy from this scandal. I am not gay. I never have been gay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could even put him in his famous wide stance which has been put in the press so much.
MOOS: Bathroom stall not included.
Now, the bathroom stall is practically all that's included. Plus that spring loaded foot and some fans who got them free are trying to sell them on eBay for around $200 bucks. Now, that's mind bobbling.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
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ROBERTS: Oh, creativity in baseball. PHILLIPS: Well, the results are in. I'm going to move on quickly here. To the "Quick Vote" question we asked you. Do you think that there is life on Mars? That's a perfect segue for the bobblehead, bobble-foot. Here it is 45 percent of you say yes, 55 percent say no way. Thanks to all of you who voted.
ROBERTS: And thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We'll see you again bright and early tomorrow.
PHILLIPS: CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You'll see events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Tuesday, May 27th. Here's what's on the rundown.
China moving 158,000 people today. A lake created by quake landslides will be dynamited.
HARRIS: A trucker is parking their rigs to protest soaring fuel cost. Gas, yes, a new record high today.
COLLINS: Did you know, just one sleepless night can make your brain go a little wacky.
