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American Morning
Iowa tornado Kills Four Boy Scouts; President Bush Turning Up the Pressure on Iran This Morning; Showdown at the Fast Food Counter; McCain Campaign Doing Damage Control After His Latest Statements on Iraq; Al Qaeda Executions Prompt Backlash in Iraq; GOP focus on Michelle Obama
Aired June 12, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": Can you just turn around and show me, I see the yellow tape. Just to give our viewers kind of an idea of how high the waters have risen and how you've sort of caught -- I'm assuming you have people out of this area. You're not letting people into this area downtown.
LT. COL. GREG HAPGOOD, IOWA NATIONAL GUARD: Well, certainly. If you look at this bridge behind us here, the water is nearly to the top of the opening on each of these bridges. They have been closed by the State of Iowa and local law enforcement.
Certainly, there are areas up river here near Berglund, Marina which is especially vulnerable right now. In fact, we have a mission ready to go this morning. We need to help put 30,000 sandbags in place to raise the current level of sandbags up enough because of the crest which has been revised even higher.
So we're working diligently here in Iowa to make sure that we stay on top of the weather or watching the predictive models and are being very proactive in our planning and positioning of our resources in people.
PHILLIPS: And just seeing this live picture puts it all in perspective. Some of the worst flooding in 15 years. Lieutenant Colonel Greg Hapgood with the Iowa National Guard. We will follow your mission, closely. Thank you, sir.
HAPGOOD: Thank you.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR, "AMERICAN MORNING": President Bush is turning up the pressure on Iran this morning. He's in Rome meeting with Italy's president. He's expected to press Italy to take a tougher stance against Iran's disputed nuclear program, as well as expand its military presence in Afghanistan.
Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with some choice words for President Bush calling him, quote, "A wicked man". The verbal blast comes today after the president said, "All options are on the table in trying to get Iran to drop its nuclear program."
A Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi is blasting Senator Barack Obama. Gaddafi says Obama's behavior toward Israel is, quote, "More white than white people." He made the comments during a ceremony celebrating 38 years since the United States pulled troops out of Libya.
Back to our breaking news. Stories of terror and survival this morning after a tornado slammed into the Midwest. In northeast Kansas, the storm was fast, powerful and deadly. It's winds tearing apart homes and leaving dozens of people injured. The Kansas National Guard is now on the ground there providing support to the towns.
PHILLIPS: And just to the north of the Iowa, Boy Scout camp ground, basically sat like a bull's-eye as a tornado tore through the area. Four people were killed. Three of whom are scouts.
And earlier on AMERICAN MORNING, we actually had a chance to speak to a 15-year-old young boy scout who witnessed it all and barely made it out himself. Here's what he told me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB LOGSDON, BOY SCOUT, EYEWITNESSES TO TORNADO: We were sitting there, watching lightning as Thomas said, the one you interviewed. And we saw it come around the end of the bluff toward the entrees of the camp. So we flipped on the siren and the youth staff members ran to the assigned shelters in the north and east valley.
And then, we were there for about two minutes and the lights went out. Then, our adult leader was like -- OK, somebody gets a flashlight. He got a flashlight from one of the campers and he went outside and came right back in, and said everybody under the tables. So everybody dived under the tables that they were sitting in. And the staff kind of joined in with the scouts.
And all of a sudden, two seconds later, the tornado was on top of us. And I know it picked up our adult leader (INAUDIBLE) through it, 50 -- about 50 yards easy. It was a full ranger. And then he, like when it first started, all the doors ripped opened and my ears popped, and then the windows broke, and then next thing I know the walls of the whole shelter and the roof were just gone completely.
And the chimney house, front of the chimney fell down behind me and it pushed the table into my back. And I went falling forward and I got a gash on my right knee that has four stitches. I have a pretty bad sprained ankle on my right ankle.
And my left hip is extremely sore because it popped out of -- it popped out and then once I stood up, it popped back in. And when it popped back in, I was standing. I'm trying to pull bricks off the kids that were sitting there. And then, I couldn't do anymore because my hip and leg were hurting so badly because it popped back in.
PHILLIPS: Well, Rob, that right there is a sign of a true boy scout. I mean, here you were injured and you responded to the other guys. I mean, this was first-hand training for something that -- I mean, this is why you guys go to camp. You learn about survival and you learn about helping each other and it's a pretty amazing thing that you did what you did.
Were you able to help some of your fellow boy scouts? Could you get them out of the -- were you able to respond to them and help them?
LOGSDON: Yes. There was one kid that was right behind me. He was completely underneath the table that hit me in the back. And I was pulling bricks off the table as fasts as I could. And all of a sudden the table kind of came free, so I kind of jerked it loose and had another kid help me pick it up. And when I was turning to set it down, my hip popped back in. And I just kind of dropped the table and I was leaning up against another one that didn't break. And I had a couple kids help me walk over to our adult leader's truck, which was 50 yards away from the disaster.
And we were sitting there. were a couple of kids that were sobbing uncontrollably, crying. And they were just totally stressed out like, you couldn't even imagine.
PHILLIPS: What did you say to them, Rob --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Because you maintained so calm. What did you say to them?
LOGSDON: I was like, it's OK. We're alive. You've got to calm down because you guys are just a couple of older scouts that the younger ones looked up to. And I was like, you guys got to stay calm. If you guys are calm and levelheaded, everybody else will be levelheaded. If you freak out, then it's just going to open the door for everybody to freak out. We don't want that. That would just be chaos.
PHILLIPS: Well, we know that four people were killed. About 40 injured. Were any of those your good friends or guys that you knew?
LOGSDON: Yes. There was one kid, Aaron Eilerts. I know I went back to Little Sioux after I got out of the hospital and his dad had just found out he died. So I want to give a shout out to Aaron Eilerts family because he was my staff partner and he was a good kid. And it's a big loss. He was a great kid.
And then there was one, another one, Sean West. He got totally buried by the chimney that fell. And he had, I think, three broken ribs -- I heard for sure -- and possibly a broken back.
PHILLIPS: I'll tell you what, Rob, it's pretty amazing that you did what you did in light of what happened. And we lift all of those up that have been injured and also the four that have passed. And we sure appreciate you just telling us your story.
You have stayed so strong. And my guess is you're going to become an Eagle Scout not long from now, Rob.
LOGSDON: OK, thanks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Terrible tragedy there and you can imagine the terror of all those teenagers.
Joining us now is 18-year-old Thomas White. He is a scout leader. He is also an Eagle Scout. He's from Blaire, Nebraska and he's there.
You worked on the scene, I take it, Thomas. You came to the scene shortly after the tornado hit.
THOMAS WHITE, BOY SCOUT LEADER: Well, I was actually -- I was caught in the middle of the tornado and I ended up having to lay down in a ditch on the side when I got hit. I was caught. I was outside.
ROBERTS: Right. So tell me what it was like when that tornado hit.
WHITE: Well, I mean, it was -- it was the most unbelievable thing that I've ever experienced. I mean, the wind got sucked -- or the air got sucked right out of my lungs and I -- the rain was, you know, pelting my face.
And me and the two other people that were with me, we didn't know what to do so we just jumped in the ditch. And it was -- it was horrible. It was terrible.
ROBERTS: I guess the casualties were all in this one structure. What was that structure and you were running toward it, I guess, before you jumped into the ditch. What was that structure and how many kids were inside when the tornado hit?
WHITE: I mean, the shelters -- the shelters they're like one- room cabins. They're not super big. They're just cabins. And yes, I was running towards them. And there was maybe, you know, 50 kids, plus some adults in there. You know, the one that did get destroyed is where all the, you know, fatalities were.
ROBERTS: Right. Did you see that structure get hit?
WHITE: No. See I was -- you know, like I said, I had jumped -- I laid in the ditch and the tornado went right over the top of me. And then I ran back to this other shelter where there were like 50 other kids and made sure they were all right.
I got a hold of a walkie-talkie and I was able to radio the camp, like doctor, and I asked him what I needed to do. So I -- so he said just come and get a first aid kit and then go up to the north valley because there's lots of people hurt. And that's what I did. I just booked it.
ROBERTS: You know you described a little bit of this a second ago. But let me take you back through it again. You know, we hear from the National Weather Service emergency preparedness people that if tornado hits, you've got to try to get to the lowest ground possible, get into a basement if you can, get into a strong area of a structure or if you're on open ground, try to find the lowest point. You found that ditch and you said that the tornado went right over you. What is it like to have a tornado, particularly one as big as the one that hit there last night, go right over the top of you?
WHITE: Well, I guess ditch isn't the right word. It wasn't really a ditch. It was more of just like the same level as the road. So this is the best possible spot we could find. So that's why we laid down there. And it was actually pretty good because it was right next to a hill.
And when the tornado passed over, like I said, it was so like -- it just sucked the air right out of you. You know, the wind and once it was in the eye -- when we were in the middle of it -- it was calm like they always say and it was -- and then once the edge, you know, we knew that it passed once the rain that was really strong stopped. You know, hitting our faces and stuff.
ROBERTS: Could you feel it, Thomas, almost trying to pick you up?
WHITE: Well, I think we were just -- I was just blessed in the spot that we picked to lay down because there was a little hill right next to us. And if we would have been a foot one way, we would have got hit by a huge falling branch. If we would have been a foot the other way, we probably would have got sucked up. So, I mean, it was -- it was like -- it was unbelievable.
ROBERTS: Wow, somebody was really looking out for you.
WHITE: Yes.
ROBERTS: And it's so surprising because the day before, you had actually helped lead a tornado drill. Can you tell me about that drill? What did you do and did you put into practice some of those skills that you were trying to develop?
WHITE: Yes, it was -- it was like a what-to-do in case of a big emergency. It was like a mock injury type thing where, you know, we had a makeup so that the Scouts would know what to do in a situation like this. And, you know, we instructed them before and earlier in the week about what to do if there's a tornado. And that was -- definitely helped out a lot that we did that earlier in the week.
ROBERTS: Right. So, you know, we always know and Kyra was talking about this, motto of the Scouts is be prepared. You prepared as much as you can for whatever is coming your way. Were they able to put some of those skills that you learned just the other day into practice last evening?
WHITE: Oh, yes. It was -- of course, you know, all Scouts, we're always, you know, when we do a lot of first aid stuff like this, you know, we always say -- no, don't panic, you know. And that was a big key, too, as that especially the older Scouts, we were able to get the kids calm because if people -- if there had been more panic, I don't know what would have happened.
I mean, all the preparation and all the scouting that we've done helped out. I mean, it paid off last night.
ROBERTS: Wow. Just an extraordinary event last night. Thomas White, Eagle Scout, thanks for being with us this morning and sharing your story.
WHITE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: And you can find all the latest video and updates, of course, on our Web, CNN.com. And send in your I-reports as well, too. Pictures, video, if you were there, bring us more of an insight. Obviously, nothing is better than those personal interviews that you get from the actual Boy Scouts and the leaders.
ROBERTS: Amazing to think of what they went through last night.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." John McCain hits Pennsylvania to spread his message and correct some past mistakes. We're going to take a look at his new strategy.
And a CNN exclusive -- the al Qaeda files. Michael Ware comes with the graphic and shocking footage found in Iraq.
PHILLIPS: And an outbreak of violence in Mexico's drug wars. Coming up next -- how the U.S. is getting involved to help keep the problem from spreading across the border. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 15 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Your money is issue no.1. And this morning, you're forking out more of it for gas. For the fifth straight day, AAA says gas hit another record high, now $4.06 a gallon.
PHILLIPS: Issue no.1, the economy this election year, Gerri Willis -- Gerri Willis, yes, Gerri Willis. Sorry, I'm a little distracted. Joining us in for Ali.
Hello. How are you?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, good to see you, guys.
ROBERTS: Good to see you, too.
WILLIS: All right. We've got some really interesting numbers here. You know, we were talking just a few minutes ago about the tax policies of the two major candidates out there -- Obama and McCain. How do they stack up? Classic match-up -- Republican and Democrat. Look at these numbers though.
Let's start with low-income folks out there. $38,000 to $66,000 a year. If you're earning that, under the McCain plan, you save about $319. Under the Obama plan, you save over $1,000. So, big benefits going for folks who earn less than $66,000. Now, let's up the ante a little bit. If you're in the middle of the income stream, $66,000 to $112,000, which is actually pretty rich in this country. Your tax bill would come in 1,000 bucks lower under McCain. Under Obama, it would come in 1200 bucks lower.
Now, let's look at people who make a chunk of change. $112,000 to $161,000. McCain, big-time savings there of $2600. Obama, not so much at 2200 when you stack the two next to each other.
But here is the rub, guys. Look at these numbers. If you're super wealthy in this country, Obama is going to sock you with more taxes of more than $700,000. Now, you see the message of that, where he wants to make up tax revenues here.
Interesting stuff from the Tax Policy Center. They are a nonpartisan research organization out of Washington. You see that classic match-up, though.
What's interesting, John, I think, is that you would expect the Democrats to raise taxes on lots of folks, not just the super wealthy. Not the case with Obama. Really going after the super rich here.
ROBERTS: Yes. The whole, I guess, message of this campaign is that -- and Jim Webb was talking about this yesterday, that there's this calcification of, you know, difference between the very wealthy in this country and those who are financially disadvantaged.
WILLIS: Huge gap, growing gap.
ROBERTS: Or even people in the middle class. And I guess they want to try to level that playing field.
WILLIS: They want to level that playing field. And very interesting differences, of course also, Obama giving tax credits to people who don't have income to report. So, very different approach to taxes in this country. Makes it clear as a bell for you out there who are going to be voting in November.
ROBERTS: All right. Lots to consider this year.
WILLIS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Gerri, thanks so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
PHILLIPS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." John McCain trying to come back from a few recent, quote, "presentation problems" by getting his message out in Pennsylvania. We'll tell you about them.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING -- calorie controversy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It definitely affects what you order. (END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Do you really want to know what's in that Big Mac?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I think it's ridiculous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ahead -- a showdown at the fast food counter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As far as we're concerned, it's business as usual.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 21 minutes after the hour. We're following breaking news this morning. A deadly storm system spawning several tornadoes across the Midwest. In Iowa, four people were killed when a twister ripped through a Boy Scout camp ground. And in Kansas, two people died after a tornado touched down there destroying more than 60 homes and 3 schools.
And if you have any pictures or video of the storm that you took, send it to us. Go to CNN.com/i-report.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Well, the fat police are back in New York. A new rule requiring fast food and restaurant chains to post calorie counts on menus has been in placed for just over a month now. But it seems that a lot of restaurants in the Big Apple were not too happy about it. Imagine that.
CNN's Richard Roth live for us at the Dunkin Donuts at Manhattan's Westside.
Now Richard, anyone coming for jelly-filled doughnut does not want to know how many calories exist in that price.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's their problem. But New York City is worried about obesity. That's the number one health issue for New York. But since this law went into effect, only 25 percent of this chain food restaurants had been complying says officials.
And there's a court appeal by the restaurant association today where this will be bought out right now. Menu calorie postings, a new order of the day. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice-over): What's new on the menu at fast food restaurants in New York City? Calories, and they're everywhere. The city has now given chain restaurants an order. Put up calorie counts on menu boards for customers.
THOMAS FRIEDEN, NYC HEALTH COMMISSIONER: The food that people get in chain restaurants has lots of calories. Many more calories than people realize.
ROTH: Some change such as Chipotle Mexican Grill had complied.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's nice to know the calories that are involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it definitely affects what you order when you can see like what you're putting into your body.
ROTH: Some guests have no time for food for thought.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To be honest with you I think it's ridiculous -- the calorie count, because I don't really look at calories. I just -- I want to eat fast food (INAUDIBLE).
ROTH: Chipotle puts up a range of calories for its choices because of different ingredients.
RON DIAMOND, MANAGER, CHIPOTLE: There's been no impact on our business as far as we're concern. It's business as usual.
ROTH: Subway also has calorie counts. Jessica Chamberlain (ph) is glad to see them.
JESSICA CHAMBERLAIN, CUSTOMER: Absolutely. It makes it much easier to adhere to the weight watchers program for any diet.
ROTH: But franchise owners of McDonalds and Dunkin' Donuts are largely ignoring the directive.
CHUCK HUNT, NY STATE RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION: There's a much more intelligent way to address obesity as a problem and it really should start in the home.
ROTH: The city disagrees and will start fining restaurants next month if they don't post the calories.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many calories are in that ice coffee?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To be honest, I really don't want to know.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: San Francisco and King County, Seattle, also moving this year on menu calorie postings. A little bit of an update, Kyra, for those overweight viewers still with us. This vanilla doughnut was 210 an hour ago. It's still 210 calories.
This is not a blueberry muffin. This is a chocolate chip muffin at 630 calories. Notice the comparison. Which do you think has more calories -- this croissant or bagel? It's actually the bagel with more calories. About 50 more calories than the croissant.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: You've been there two hours. I want to know how many doughnuts you've had.
ROTH: I have not had any doughnuts because, as you know privately, AMERICAN MORNING, has a strict weight requirement and reporters in the field have to go through training just to get on the show. So I'm like a jockey at the big brown horse race. I had to hit the weight.
PHILLIPS: And if only our viewers could see you. Thanks, doc. You're quite the sexy reporter. Richard Roth, thank you so much.
John?
ROBERTS: Not only that, but you know, Richard treats his body like a temple, whereas me, I treat mine like a tent.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." John McCain trying to steal some those Hillary Clinton voters from Barrack Obama. We'll tell you what message he's spreading in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania.
And systematic and extreme brutality uncovered in top secret al Qaeda files. CNN has an exclusive look at the highly organized plan to create chaos in Iraq.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 27 minutes after the hour. The Republican nominee in waiting. Senator John McCain holds town hall meetings today in Nashua, New Hampshire. Later in New York City. The McCain campaign is doing damage control after his latest statements on Iraq troop withdrawal.
CNN's Dana Bash joins us now. This is one line out of a quick interview yesterday that's making all kinds of news today.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You're exactly right. And you know, it's interesting what the McCain campaign's goal right now is to do what you were just talking about is to get him away from frankly some awkward settings he's been in lately and getting back into his comfort zone. And that of course for him is a town hall meeting. I can guarantee you it was not to get into a war of words with Democrats over whether he wants troops to come home from Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice-over): John McCain came to Pennsylvania looking for votes his advisers called crucial to fall victory. Democrats who voted for Hillary Clinton here.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I don't agree with Senator Obama that they cling to their religion and the constitution because they're bitter.
BASH: He spoke off the cuff, surrounded by supporters at a town hall, instead of a planned speech on climate change. An attempt to recover from what advisers admit has been a presentation problem. Last week's green backdrop, teleprompter stumbles a day earlier.
MCCAIN: I will veto every single bill with earmarks.
BASH: But finding his general election mojo hit a bump earlier in the morning, when McCain was asked if he knows when troops can come home from Iraq.
MCCAIN: No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea, Americans are in Japan.
BASH: Not a new theme for McCain who consistently argues the emphasis should be on stability in Iraq before troop withdrawal. But Democrats heard the phrase "not too important" and pounced with a deluge of statements.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid saying, "He just doesn't get the grave national security consequences of staying the course." It was reminiscent of another McCain line Democrats made infamous when he was trying to make the same point.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our saying in Iraq for 50 years.
MCCAIN: Maybe 100.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that what --
MCCAIN: We've been in South Korea -- we've been in Japan for 60 years.
BASH: The McCain campaign scrambled a conference call with allies to fight back.
VOICE OF SEN. JOE LIEBERMAN: I view the attacks on Senator McCain this morning as another partisan attempt to distort John McCain's words.
BASH: McCain chose his words on Iraq more carefully at the town hall.
MCCAIN: Is it long and hard and difficult and are the casualties painful to us, even one? Of course.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BASH: McCain's blunt statement that it's not too important for how long U.S. troops are in Iraq, really, John, obviously was a gift to Democrats. It's interesting because many of them are looking at what's going on in Iraq and admit that there is, at least for now, progress because of the surge strategy that John McCain initially pushed. And they're wondering whether or not the war in Iraq may not be as much as a political liability for McCain as they hoped.
ROBERTS: Back to the issue of the town hall versus the scripted speech. He does so much better in the town hall than he does in the scripted speech. But it can't be all town halls between now and November.
BASH: Absolutely. And that is part of the problem that the McCain campaign has. You know, for the past three months while a lot of focus has been on Democrats, John McCain has given speech after speech, laying out his policies and he's been doing it on the teleprompter because he wants to give very specific, very scripted speeches, laying out what he wants to do as president. But they realize that it's definitely not the best setting for him at all.
So they're trying to have this combination of that and these town hall meetings. That's one of the many reasons why they want to have these very high-profile town hall meetings with Barack Obama because they recognize that, bar none, that is his absolute best setting. Another quick thing, you hear more and more from the McCain campaign, them saying, you know, we understand that our candidate isn't somebody who gives eloquent speeches that Barack Obama is perhaps the most eloquent politician ever. They're trying to lower the expectation for McCain, raise the bar for Obama and say for him it's about substance. They realize there's not much more they can do.
ROBERTS: We look forward to your reporting later on today on this town hall meeting. Dana, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Continue to follow breaking news across the Midwest, right now rivers are rising from Minnesota to as far as Missouri, straining a number of aging levees, bridges and dams and the rain, it just keeps coming. Evacuations are in effect for downtown Cedar Falls, Iowa as well, neighboring Waterloo and parts of Indiana. And in western Iowa, a tornado cut a path of destruction right through a Boy Scout camp. Four teens ages 13 and 14 were killed, three were scouts, one was a staff member. That same weather system also spawning tornadoes in Kansas. Two people were killed there.
Something you'll only see on CNN, top secret files from al Qaeda in Iraq, revealing the group's extreme brutality may have led to its own unraveling. Those papers and never seen before execution videos fell into civilian hands after fighters started switching sides. A warning that some of you to or a lot of you rather, these images you're about to see are pretty disturbing. CNN's Michael Ware has the exclusive report from Baghdad.
MICHAEL WARE, CNN CORRESPONDENT : What we're about to share is a window inside al Qaeda in Iraq like we've never seen before. In fact, only members of al Qaeda itself or a few within the U.S. intelligence community have ever had such a snapshot. This comes from a trove of documents, the largest collection of al Qaeda materials in Iraq to fall into civilian hands, which were taken from a headquarters overrun by U.S.-backed militia and given to CNN.
Al Qaeda gunmen brought this man here to die, staged for maximum impact, he's to be executed on this busy market street. We don't know why. The al Qaeda members who recorded this tape offer no explanation. But the anticipation is agonizing, leading to a moment we cannot show you, a punishment for betraying al Qaeda or for breaking their strict version of Islamic law? Either way, it was public executions like this that would help lead to the unraveling of al Qaeda in Iraq and al Qaeda knew it.
Its leaders recognize their greatest threat was not the U.S. military, but the men in the crowds who witnessed the slaughters and who would eventually turn against them. In fact, in this secret memo three years ago, a senior al Qaeda leader warned against a backlash for the public executions. They were being carried out, he wrote, in the wrong way, in a semi-public way. So a lot of families are threatening revenge and this is now a dangerous intelligence situation.
But it took U.S. intelligence more than a year to understand al Qaeda's weakness. Most of these men were once insurgents or al Qaeda themselves. Now they're on the U.S. government payroll, assassinating al Qaeda and patrolling the streets. And it was one of these U.S.- backed militias as unforgiving as this one who overran an al Qaeda headquarters. They discovered computer hard drives with thousands of documents and hours upon hours of videotape and passed them all on to the U.S. military and to CNN.
This gives us an insight into the inner workings of al Qaeda in Iraq. It reveals an organization far more sophisticated, far more bureaucratic. Indeed in one headquarters alone, there were 80 execution videos that were never put on air or used for propaganda. They were merely used to verify the killings to their superiors. So we get an insight on the like we've never seen into an organization more menacing than many had feared.
PHILLIPS: You can see Michael Ware's entire exclusive report on "AC 360" tonight 10:00 Eastern.
ROBERTS: You're watching the most news in the morning. Are wives fair game? Barack Obama supporters say enough is enough with going after Michelle Obama. A look at the attacks that we've seen so far.
PHILLIPS: And the United States giving more than a billion dollars to Mexico to try and keep that country's current drug violence from coming across the border. We're going to talk live to our Zain Verjee.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: This just in on the economy, retail sales out now for the month of May, right? Gerri Willis?
WILLIS: That's correct. You got that right, exactly. Big news here, retail sales up and up dramatically, the largest gain in six months, double expectations, May retail sales up 1 percent. Now, you should know also if you exclude autos here, retail sales were up 1.25 percent, expectations out there pretty anemic. The thought that they would grow just half a percent in May and that (INAUDIBLE) again that they would have grown 0.7 of a percent.
This is important because, hey, consumers make up 2/3 of the economy. We're important to economic growth, critical in fact to it. So what happens in retail stores across the country really matters. Now Ali Velshi e-mailed me this morning to tell me a little something about these numbers and make sure that we got them right.
ROBERTS: He's supposed to be off today.
WILLIS: I know. I know. We heard from him. He says, it's important to understand that these numbers are difficult to read. And they also include gas, so they're highly volatile because of that. Important to know but this is going to be seen as a big win for the folks who are trying to fan the flames of the economy and get it going. As you know, the administration has been very outspoken in saying that the economy is continuing to grow. This is a positive sign. You should know though this is the first month that those stimulus checks would have been taken into account in the retail sales numbers.
PHILLIPS: Next time, when Ali comes back, you can call in and tell him what he's doing.
ROBERTS: Thanks, Gerri. An outbreak of violence in Mexico's drug wars. How the U.S. is getting involved to help keep the problem from spreading across the border.
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PHILLIPS: Candidates are definitely brace for a fight. But should their spouses be fair game? Many Obama supporters say that his wife Michelle is becoming a Republican target and it should just stop.
ROBERTS: CNN's David Mattingly has got more on that for us. He joins us this morning. David?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kyra, some interesting campaign strategies could be in the works that are focused on someone whose name doesn't even appear on the ballot.
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MATTINGLY (voice-over): The Obama campaign is bracing for a fight but the candidate isn't the only one on the defensive. His wife, Michelle Obama, could see her share of jabs as well. Republicans look at her and see a real opportunity.
MICHELLE OBAMA: For the first time in my adult lifetime, I'm really proud of my country.
MATTINGLY: That comment four months ago caught fire, rocketing around the conservative blogosphere. The campaign was quick to say it reflected her excitement about grass roots support. But it still plays every day on the web, stirring the pot over issues of patriotism. It's a theme that's being woven into John McCain's campaign events, smiling statements with a sharp negative sting.
CINDY MCCAIN, JOHN MCCAIN'S WIFE: I'm proud of my country. I don't know about you if you heard those words earlier. I'm very proud of my country.
MATTINGLY: Republican strategists say there's a reason the wife of the Democrat who would be president is fair game.
RACHEL MARSDEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: There's less information about him to temper her comments against. So what she says represents something a lot more important than perhaps other candidates in the past who have had a longer track record.
MATTINGLY: And the issue of Michelle Obama as a potential liability made simultaneous headline on both coasts. The newspapers pointed to relentless online rumor mills, conservative blogs and articles like this one from the "National Review" critical of Michelle Obama. Columnist Maureen Dowd called it a good preview of how Republicans will attack Michelle, suggesting that she does not share American values mining a subtext of race. It's something the Obamas seem to be bracing for with this May appearance on "Good Morning America."
M. OBAMA: We're trusting that the American voters are ready to talk about the issues and not talking about the things that have nothing to do with making people's lives better.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But I also think these folks should layoff my wife.
MATTINGLY (on-camera): Lay off my wife, it was a line drawn on so many levels for this campaign and left no doubt how the Obamas were going to react. And if conventional wisdom holds true until November, opponents of the presumptive Democratic nominee will listen because attacking a candidate's wife rarely pays off.
STEPHEN MARKS, REPUBLICAN POLITICAL CONSULTANT: Mr. Obama is going to come to his wife's defense; he's going to humanize both of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY: Former political hit man Stephen Marks says you only have to look back to 1992, when Bill Clinton stood up to critics of his wife. And we all know how that race turned out. John, Kyra?
ROBERTS: All right, David Mattingly for us this morning. Thanks.
Forty three minutes after the hour, back to our top story now, that tornado in Little Sioux, Iowa that killed four teenagers. Earlier, I spoke with 18-year old Thomas White. He's a scout leader and was at the campground in Iowa when the twister hit. I asked him what it was like when that storm came through. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS WHITE, BOY SCOUT LEADER: It was the most unbelievable thing that I ever experienced. The wind got sucked -- or the air got sucked right out of my lungs and I -- the rain was pelting my face and we just -- me and the two other people that were with me we didn't know what to do so we just jumped in the ditch. It was horrible. It was -- it was terrible.
ROBERTS: I guess the casualties were all in this one structure. What was that structure? You were running toward it, I guess so, before you ran into the ditch. What was that structure and how many kids were inside when the tornado hit?
WHITE: The shelters, there are shelters, they are like one-room cabins. They're not super big. They're just cabins. And, yeah, I was running towards them. There was maybe 50 kids and plus, some adults in there. You know, the one that did get destroyed is where all the fatalities were.
ROBERTS: We hear from the National Weather Service, emergency preparedness people that a tornado hits, you've got to try to get to the lowest ground possible, get into a basement if you can, get into a strong area of a structure or if you're on open ground try to find the lowest point. You found that ditch and you said that tornado went right over you. What is it like to have a tornado, particularly one as big as the one that hit there last night go right over top of you?
WHITE: Well, it -- I guess ditch isn't the right word. It wasn't really a ditch. It was more of just like the same level as the road. So this is the best possible spot we could find. So that's why we lay down there. And it was actually pretty good because it was right next to the hill. When the tornado passed over, like I said, it was still like it just sucked the air right out of you. The wind and once it was in the eye, we were in the middle of it, a calm like they always say. It was -- once the edge, you know, we knew that it passed once the rain that was really strong stopped hitting our faces and stuff.
ROBERTS: Could you feel it, Thomas, almost try to pick you up?
WHITE: Well, I think we were just -- I was just blessed in the spot that we picked to lay down because there was a little hill right next to us. And if we would have a foot one way we would have got hit by a huge falling branch and if we would have been a foot the other way, we probably would have got sucked up. It was unbelievable.
ROBERTS: So we always know and Kyra was talking about this, motto of the scouts is be prepared. You prepare as much as you can for whatever is coming your way. Were they able to put some of those skills that you learned just the other day into practice?
WHITE: Oh, yeah. It was, of course, you know, all scouts. We're always, you know, when we do a lot of first aid stuff like this, we always say, you know, don't panic. You know, and that was a big key, too, is that especially the older scouts, we were able to get the kids calm because if people -- if there had been more panic, I don't know what would have happened. I mean, it -- all the preparation and all the scouting that we've done helped out. It paid off last night.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Thomas White, an Eagle Scout speaking to us earlier. You can find all the latest video and updates on the tornado damage at CNN.com.
PHILLIPS: CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Heidi Collins at the CNN center with a look at what's ahead. Heidi?
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, " CNN NEWSROOM": That's right. Kyra, we're going to be following this story throughout the day, a lot to tell you about. In fact, one of the things that was said was this, all of a sudden a tornado was on top of us. A Boy Scout talks about the twister that killed four fellow scouts in Iowa, new information coming in next hour. And more severe weather in the Midwest, the flooding now turning farmers' fields into lakes, high water affecting Mississippi River traffic.
Join me in the NEWSROOM. We're coming up at the top of the hour right here on CNN. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Heidi.
Barack Obama online. He's harnessed the web's power to raise millions of dollars and he's seen the bad side, too. The good, the bad, the ugly, it's cyber campaign straight ahead.
Drug wars erupting in Mexico near the border. We're going to tell you what the U.S. is doing to help fight that problem. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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ROBERTS: Ten minutes until the top of the hour, we're following breaking news this morning, a deadly storm system spawning several tornadoes across the Midwest. In Iowa, four people were killed when a twister ripped through a Boy Scout campground. And in Kansas, two people died after a tornado touched down, destroying more than 60 homes and three schools. And if you have any pictures or video that you took of the storm, send it to us. Go to CNN.com/ireport.
PHILLIPS: New developments in Mexico's drug war. The House approving more than a billion dollars in aid this week to help Mexico fight drug traffickers. State Department correspondent Zain Verjee here actually from Washington joining us here to tell us more. Hey Zain.
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kyra. Mexico's war on drugs really matters to the U.S. The U.S. is actually the largest consumer of cocaine in the world and almost all of it comes through Mexico. But will new U.S. aid really make a difference?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VERJEE (voice-over): Mexico's drug war, 4,000 killed, more than 400 military and police officers, the country's acting police chief assassinated. It's payback for the government's crackdown on drug cartels. Fears in Washington, the battles could spill across the border and threaten U.S. security.
ROBERTA JACOBSON, DEPUTY ASST. SEC OF STATE: Certainly I think the cartels and the violence that they use can be considered terrorism.
VERJEE: Take a look at this map. The worst areas are along the U.S. border. In just this one town, in one day, nine people were killed. Why is it so unstable? Because of demand, cocaine and marijuana just flow up through Mexico through this area into the United States. U.S. authorities say that Mexican drug traffickers have a presence in 82 cities right across this country. The situation is getting so dangerous that some Mexican policemen scared for their lives, are turning up at the border asking for asylum in the U.S. President Bush wants to help Mexico, helicopters, surveillance equipment, parts of a 2007 initiative to root out corruption and boost border security.
ANDREW SELEE, MEXICO INSTITUTE, WOODROW WILSON CENTER: Building a really good justice system that's effective, building strong police forces that people can trust. And those are the things that are going to give a solution in the long term.
VERJEE: The president wants Congress to fund a $1.5 billion aid package to Mexico over three years.
JACOBSON: I think the Congress understands that Mexico cannot do this alone and that it affects the United States, it affects our security.
VERJEE: But Congress has already trimmed the cash for the first year and is attaching conditions to the aid to make sure the crackdown doesn't violate human rights and the money isn't lost to corruption. Mexico's furious at those conditions and wants Congress to soften them. U.S. officials worry Mexico may not cooperate as running gun battles rage at the border.
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VERJEE: Another really big problem, weapons coming from the U.S. Mexican embassy in Washington, Kyra, tells CNN that police forces there in Mexico are just outgunned by heavily armed drug organizations and there too, but Mexico wants to work with the U.S. to make sure that the security of both U.S. and Mexico is there. Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Zain, this has been a problem for decades. I mean, even growing up in southern California, I remember the corruption just in Tijuana and beyond. These police officers either they join the bad guys and they're part of the corruption or they're killed.
VERJEE: Exactly. I mean it really is a major problem, just for bread and butter issues, but they're just forced into doing it by many of these cartels. So they're in a major problem there as well. Felipe Calderon, the president, has called in the army to crack down and the army hasn't been able to deal with this properly either. One of the issues Congress has is, we may give them the aid, but we don't know a lot of these guys are dirty cops and with the asylum issue, many of them have been working for the cartel. So that complicates things when some of those officers want to come into the U.S.
PHILLIPS: You wonder where that U.S. money is actually going.
VERJEE: Right.
PHILLIPS: All right, Zain Vergee, appreciate it.
ROBERTS: There was the Obama girl that all the online publicity wasn't as pretty. How Barack Obama plans to keep the web rumors from spreading during his battle with John McCain.
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ROBERTS: Every election it seems candidates reinvent the way they use the Internet and Barack Obama is no different. Not all of the web hits have been, shall we say, good.
PHILLIPS: Now his team is trying to make sure that rumors don't go viral for the general election. CNN's Carol Costello has more.
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CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Internet has been Barack Obama's best friend. The Obama girl was just the first in a long line of well-wishers. You could say Obama has been fortunate.
ABBI TATTON, CNN INTERNET/POLITICAL REPORTER: Look at this online fund-raising. One month alone during the primary season, $45 million online.
COSTELLO: But the Internet can turn on you, too. In some ways it's become Barack Obama's worst enemy, too. Negative posts abound about Obama's faith, his patriotism and about his wife.
MICHELLE OBAMA: For the first time in my adult lifetime --
COSTELLO: And there's no stopping the rumors.
TATTON: It happens so fast, as an anonymous smear and it gets forwarded and then it cut and pasted and it might get cross posted and onto a blog post. These are rumors that start traveling virally.
COSTELLO: While the McCain capitalizes on volunteers and the media to discern what is rumor and what is fact, the Obama campaign is going to beef up its camp's Internet operations to aggressively fight back these rumors. There are also reports Obama will hire a smear czar to oversee the effort. Campaign workers will directly respond to Internet attacks by sending supporter e-mail messages refuting online rumors and the campaign has a fact check site on its web site. Analysts say the reason for such strategy is clear. Internet rumors about Obama, especially about his religion, have left cyberspace and have entered the non-virtual world. There are voters who now think he's Muslim. Do you know whether or not Obama ever attended Islamic fundamentalist school, a madrassa?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've heard he did. I don't know any of the facts about it, but I've heard he did.
COSTELLO: Obama is not Muslim and did not attend a madrassa. Still those rumors and new rumors persist and Obama blames the media in part for fanning the flames.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is dirt and lies that are circulated in e-mail and they pump them out long enough until finally you, a mainstream reporter, asks me about them.
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COSTELLO: Still, most analysts say the positive about Barack Obama outweighs the negative online and they say the campaign has been very effective in dealing with the lies. John, Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Did you hear about the job, a smear czar? Imagine being in a restaurant, hi, I'm so and so and I'm a smear czar for the Obama campaign. I wonder how much they get paid?
ROBERTS: Technology changing the world we live in.
PHILLIPS: Thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.
ROBERTS: We will see you again first thing tomorrow morning. Meantime, CNN NEWSROOM with Heidi Collins begins right now.
COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.
