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American Morning
Epic Flooding in Iowa: Cedar Rapids Under Water; Obama Fights Rumors with New Web Site; How Floodwaters Impact Food Prices; Gas Prices Hitting New Record Overnight; Los Angeles Has New Plans to Solve Drinking Water Shortage; Saving on Food and Fuel by Eating Some Home Cooking
Aired June 13, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Friday the 13th, it's a good day. It's a good day.
(CROSSTALK)
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, boy, that's right. And don't think about it. Nothing is going to happen.
ROBERTS: Good morning, John Roberts together with Kyra Phillips. This is your last day here.
PHILLIPS: That's right. It's been a fun ride, I must say.
ROBERTS: It has been terrific. It's been great to have you here.
PHILLIPS: Thank you for being a true gentleman. And, of course, the floor crew, I'm going to miss you guys. Love you all.
PHILLIPS: All right.
ROBERTS: Pick us up.
PHILLIPS: Well, we begin this morning with breaking news in that epic flooding we've been talking about. It's pushed thousands of people from their homes across the Midwest and this morning in Iowa, it's getting even worse.
The city of Cedar Rapids is actually underwater. Flood waters from the swollen Cedar River pouring into the heart of that city after a levee gave way. And right now, the river is 17 feet above flood stage and rising. Hundreds of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed.
CNN's Betty Nguyen is live right there on the flood lines. Betty, give us a feel for what it's like.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, it's finally stopped raining overnight, but I will tell you that the water is still rising. In fact, I'm standing right now in about, I don't know, a foot of water, but that doesn't even compare to what you see behind me. If you look really closely, you'll see a fire hydrant there. It's partially underwater. Homes are underwater. This river to my left just a couple blocks is about to crest today. They're expecting it to rise to about 32 feet. That's the highest it has ever been in history.
You know, the record here is only 12 feet. That was set back in the 1800s. Today expected to crest around 32 feet. That's only the beginning of the problems out here.
We have evacuations. Some 7,000 homes and businesses have been evacuated; 19,000 people included in that. And overnight because of all the flooding, Mercy Hospital had to be evacuated. People were sent to nearby area hospitals.
Also, they are asking people here, the local residents, to not use the water system if at all possible. It's only working at about 25 percent capacity, which they're saying if you can't, please don't use the water system. Only use it for drinking water purposes only. Don't wash your clothes, don't wash your face, don't take a shower, and don't flush if you don't have to.
Again, this water is continuing to rise today at record levels, and we'll be here to follow every step of the way. Back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Betty Nguyen, thank you so much.
And yesterday we can't forget those eight seconds of chaos. That's how survivors are describing the tornado that killed four boy scouts in Iowa. About 100 people held a candlelight vigil for those victims in Omaha last night.
These four young boys were inside the shelter in the direct path of the tornado, and dozens of scouts are being called heroes today because of how fast they responded to that disaster. Moments after the shelter was reduced to rubble, the boys used skills that they learned in an emergency drill, get this, just a day before. They actually dug fellow scouts out from under the bricks and used shirts as tourniquets on the injured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH JESSEN, TORNADO SURVIVOR: All of a sudden the door flies open. Scout master yells, get under the tables, get under the tables, get under the tables.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY, TORNADO SURVIVOR: I saw people doing CPR, and I saw people lifting up stuff to pull other people out. Half of the people were half in the rubble and half out, and there were people bleeding and we helped them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: And at least a dozen people are still in the hospital this morning -- John.
ROBERTS: Attorney General Michael Mukasey says military trials for detainees held at Guantanamo Bay will go forward despite a major Supreme Court ruling against the Bush administration. The high court says the 270 or so detainees can now challenge their indefinite imprisonment in U.S. civilian courts. Mubarak says it does not affect military commission trials of enemy combatants like alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. President Bush commented on the ruling from Europe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We will abide by the court's decision. That doesn't mean I have to agree with it. It's a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree with those who dissent it. And their dissent was based upon their serious concerns about U.S. national security.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The court's conservative wing accused the majority of meddling in a wartime matter with Justice Antonin Scalia saying the ruling will "almost certainly cause more Americans to be killed."
Well, here's more on the prison at Guantanamo Bay in an "AM Extra."
The naval station in Cuba became the central prison for unlawful enemy combatants back in 2002. It currently holds some 270 detainees. Some have been there for most of the past six years. Just 19 have been identified for trial by military commissions.
Preliminary hearings began last week for five suspected senior al-Qaeda detainees including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11th attacks.
Well, the Iraq war could end up costing taxpayers $2.7 trillion by the time it's over. Lawmakers telling Congress that the reasons include the high cost of providing health care and other long-term benefits to injured veterans, and many soldiers who recently completed their service are also facing foreclosure or unemployment. Back in 2003, the Bush administration originally estimated the war would cost $60 billion to $100 billion.
PHILLIPS: The latest stop on President Bush's European farewell tour, the Vatican. Just about an hour ago, the president and first lady were greeted by Pope Benedict XVI. They got a rare look inside the Vatican gardens, a spot usually reserved for the Pope's private prayer. The president heads to France later this morning.
Barack Obama and John McCain back on the campaign trail today. Obama talks to senior citizens in Ohio. McCain has a town hall meeting in New Jersey. Both candidates going at each other pretty good over issue number one for voters, the economy.
According to a new CNN/Opinion Research poll, well, 50 percent of voters say Obama is better suited to handle the economy. Forty-four percent say no.
ROBERTS: New this morning, the House agrees overwhelmingly to extend unemployment benefits up to 13 weeks, but it may not get through the Senate quite so easily, and President Bush is also threatening to veto it saying it wastes money in states where unemployment is low. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the bill would be a good economic stimulus because the money would be spent quickly.
Brand new numbers on home foreclosures out this morning. According to RealtyTrac, 73,000 homes were repossessed in May. That's a jump of 150 percent compared to the same time last year. May was also the 29th straight month that foreclosures increased compared to last year.
And videotape surveillance now confirms a fire at the governor's mansion in Texas was arson. Investigators say the video shows someone lighting an object on fire and then hurling it onto the porch, but it's not clear if there was more than one person involved. No one was hurt in the fire. The mansion was vacant at the time undergoing renovations, but the roof must be completely replaced.
PHILLIPS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." More fees when you fly. Why you may want to rethink how you pack.
ROBERTS: And fed up since the start of his campaign, Barack Obama has been the target of persistent rumors on the Internet. Now he's answering the claims with a new Web site. A look at that ahead.
PHILLIPS: And danger in Iowa. One hundred streets in Cedar Rapids underwater. The very latest from the disaster area. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: So what do we have to pay for next? A seatbelt?
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, seriously. I'm telling you, by the end of the year you will be paying -- you'll get a discount if you can land the plane. More --
PHILLIPS: I wouldn't mind that actually.
VELSHI: Well, first of all, you're paying more for your fares. This is the 19th attempt...
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: In D.C. they're trying.
VELSHI: ... 19th attempt at a fare hike. Airlines are talking about gas prices being the problem here, but it's the 19th attempt and the 13th one that has stuck, which means it's successful. Take a look at this.
A new $20 fuel surcharge, American, Delta, Continental, Northwest, United and U.S. Airways, all piling on for this one.
These attempts are interesting. One airline starts them and then the others try and they pull back and they try. It usually takes 48 to 72 hours to get this thing going, but that's what's happening there.
Now, there's more news. United has joined American Airlines now in charging for the first checked bag in coach if you're not some kind of super premium fantastic person. So I just -- as I walked in here, as luck would have it, there's a suitcase. So this is the one bag.
You pack all your stuff and this is an unusually large suitcase, but now United is going to make you pay for this the first time. So what's going to happen is everybody is going to have big bags, and everybody is going to carry all their stuff in their pockets because they don't want to have a second checked bag. And everybody is going to be walking around the planes, like it's all going to be full, sit down and things are going to break and you're going to be -- your coach is going to be over --
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: I can't imagine going through security.
VELSHI: And security is going to take forever. Where do I get the bag you asked?
ROBERTS: One of two.
VELSHI: This is one of two of Kyra Phillips' bags. Now, Kyra, I suppose you're going to Atlanta so you're going to go on Delta?
PHILLIPS: That's correct.
VELSHI: So you still get two free bags.
PHILLIPS: Did you go through my bags?
ROBERTS: And those are the small ones.
VELSHI: I didn't know people had bags like this anymore. This is going to be the future, though. For all of you who had those little roll-on, those carry-on things, forget it. This is going to be the future. This bag is the size of me.
PHILLIPS: And that's just shoes.
VELSHI: I'm realistic.
PHILLIPS: Wait, I've got a dead body in there. Don't tell anybody.
VELSHI: All right. I'll see you guys in about half an hour.
ROBERTS: The other bag she's got --
VELSHI: I'll bring it. The other one you got to pay for.
PHILLIPS: OK. Thanks, Ali.
ROBERTS: The other one is big enough to put a smart car in, Ali. So she's got transportation when she gets home.
PHILLIPS: Oh, goodness. All right.
Well, we're keeping an eye on other things besides my bags, that's for sure.
ROBERTS: Yes, very important news.
PHILLIPS: We're talking about the flooding in Iowa. Right now, more than half of the state's counties are actually being declared a disaster area. Streets remain literally under feet of water. You can see here by our pictures.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, from toilet to tap.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The days of just thinking that water is unlimited are over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Tough times call for drastic measures.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mere thought of what some people do with their water kind of grosses me out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The growing trend that could be coming to a faucet near you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just wanted to be sure in my own mind that it's safe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 14 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
Extreme flooding in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, right now. Nine rivers in the state are either tying or breaking record flood levels, and more than half of the state's counties have been declared disaster areas. Tough times for folks there.
And also, some looming problems out there in Colorado as well. You remember earlier this week, Rob Marciano was talking about the fact that they're still skiing out there in the Rockies, out in the Aspen area at Ajax.
And guess where Rob is this morning? He's live in Aspen. Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John, you're right. Record snow pack here in the Colorado Rockies has led to an extended ski season. It's led to some record snow melt as well. The past week or so, real cold air has locked down that snow pack so flooding is not as much of an issue here as it is elsewhere.
Adding insult to injury across the rest of the country is that we have tornado watches that are in effect right now and some severe thunderstorm watches in effect as well. We start it off with the Michigan radar, which is highlighting some strong storms that are rolling across the lower hand and through Grand Rapids heading towards Saginaw. That watch theoretically in effect until 9:00 a.m. local time, but it looks like it's beginning to shrink and weaken.
Slide it down to the map down to the south and west, Chicago, some severe thunderstorms rolling through your area. Your watch though has since been dropped and allowed to shrink down to the south. And here we go.
The areas that don't need the rainfall in through parts of Missouri, you're getting some heavy rainfall north of Springfield and a strong thunderstorm just north of Tulsa right now. This one has had some rotations. It's got a severe thunderstorm warning on it, and tops on this thing at about 60,000 feet. So an incredibly strong cell for this time of the day.
All right. Let's talk big stories, the flooding, and that is the case still southern Wisconsin in through eastern parts of Iowa and western parts of Illinois down through Missouri as well. This is going to be an ongoing story, not only for the rest of this week, not only for the rest of next week, but probably the week after that, as all this amazing amount of water needs to get down through the Cedar River, through the Iowa River, through the Des Moines River that's got all those rivers of the tributaries into the Missouri and Mississippi water system need to empty, and the problem is they're still getting some rainfall.
Just talked about the snow. Let's go to the mountain pass here. Just up in Independence Pass where twice the amount of snow fell this past year, and it has yet to melt. It's been an incredibly cold spring and because of that they haven't seen the flooding that they feared. That's the good news there.
Also good news is that they're getting a lot of water down to the areas that need it. There's a lot of -- there's a huge growing movement here with organic farming, taking farms, some small local farms and bringing that local produce to your table, and it's helping the area and hopefully this will spread nationwide because of the price of gas. You don't have to move that produce, that product over thousands of miles.
We'll have that story coming up in about a half an hour. Kyra and John, back over to you.
PHILLIPS: He's doing a good job justifying his trip to Aspen, I must say.
ROBERTS: But he forgot to mention was that there's still some ski areas open, Rob.
PHILLIPS: He doesn't want to give it away.
MARCIANO: Ajax is open. When the sun comes up, we will show you that. I have not yet begun to justify my presence here.
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: It's amazing.
MARCIANO: There's also a food and wine classic, by the way, happening just coincidentally.
ROBERTS: Perfect.
PHILLIPS: That's amazing.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: That's amazing.
MARCIANO: We'll talk about that as well.
ROBERTS: Earlier this week he told us about it and I said, Rob, it bears further investigation, and somehow he talked to our executive producer and let him to go to Aspen.
PHILLIPS: There he is.
MARCIANO: You call the shots, my friend.
ROBERTS: Nicely done. All right, Rob. We'll see you soon, thanks.
PHILLIPS: Barack Obama has had enough. The presidential candidate out with a new Web site aimed at debunking rumors and smear campaigns. That story coming up next.
And the deadly salmonella outbreak in tomatoes is spreading. More people sick and this morning a new warning. We'll have all the details that you need to know.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: And welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
Barack Obama dogged by persistent rumors on things like his patriotism and religion. Many claims peppered on the Internet now. So Obama is using cyberspace to fight back. Suzanne Malveaux has more -- Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN White House CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra, John. Obama has been burned in the past. During the primary season, rumors continue to dog him questioning his patriotism, his faith, sincerity. Well, now, he's trying to reintroduce himself to voters across the country in the general election. So he's not letting false claims spread over the Internet go unanswered.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX (voice-over): Barack Obama has had enough while he's been dogged by rumors over the Internet for months. It was the claim that his wife Michelle was on videotape in church referring to someone as whitey that propelled his campaign to fight back.
His new Web site, www.fightthesmears.com takes on that rumor first. It cites conservative Republican blogs and talk show host Rush Limbaugh as the sources behind the smear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: They're waiting to use it in October -- of Michelle going nuts in the church, too, talking about whitey this and whitey that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: The Web site counters, the truth is no such tape exists. The rumor hit Obama directly last week when a newspaper reporter confronted him with it.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRES. NOMINEE: 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, and then that gives legs to the story.
MALVEAUX: Another story Obama confronted is the claim he attended a radical Muslim school.
OBAMA: This is the same kind of nonsense that we started with the madrassas, in which CNN had to fly to Jakarta to disprove it.
MALVEAUX: Obama's Web site actually has a link to CNN's report which debunks the false rumor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, FIGHTTHESMEARS.COM)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The deputy headmaster tells me he's unaware that his school has been labeled an Islamic madrassa by some in the United States and bristles at the thought.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MALVEAUX: Obama's Web site states he is not a Muslim but a Christian. A photo shows he was sworn into the U.S. Senate with his hand on a family bible, not the Koran. And there is video showing him leading the pledge of allegiance debunking the rumor he refuses to do so. The persistent false claims have been frustrating.
OBAMA: Simply because something appears in the e-mail, that should lend it no more credence than if you heard it on the corner.
MALVEAUX: Conventional wisdom has been for candidates to ignore the buzz and hope that the vitriol goes away.
ALEX WELLEN, CNNPOLITICS.COM, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR: At the lightning speed at which rumors are being spread, it's wise for a lot of these campaigns and they're learning this, to respond in a way that kind of debunks the information quickly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MALVEAUX: Obama's campaign aides tell me that the best antidote to a smear campaign is the truth, and it's the campaign's responsibility to make sure the most accurate information about Obama is actually out there. And the Web site also encourages supporters to fight these false claims by sending mass e-mails discrediting the Internet buzz -- John, Kyra.
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux for us this morning. Suzanne, thanks.
Combined bad fertilizers, water worries, and a land shortage, and you've got a recipe for the end of food. Or so says one author. He joins us live with a sobering look at what's in store for our food chain in the not so distant future.
PHILLIPS: And with each passing hour this morning, another street goes under as the rivers rise and the misery grows in the Midwest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like New Orleans after Katrina. The roadways are waterways, homes are ruined, lives are now changed. And it all happened in a matter of a few hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: We're live on the flood lines with the latest. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 26 minutes after the hour. The salmonella outbreak in tomatoes is growing. The government says 23 states have reported 228 cases so far. Still no word on the source of the bacteria, but the FDA says tomatoes in Florida and California are safe to eat.
The record rain fall and flooding in the Midwest is sinking farmers and their crops along with it. But even if you're high and dry, you're going to be paying for it at the grocery store.
Paul Roberts is the author of "The End of Food," a brand new book, and he joins me now to talk about all of this.
The Midwest floods we see these pictures of lakes where there used to be fields. What kind of an impact does that going to have on the harvest this year? And what will that do to food prices I guess not only in this country but around the world?
PAUL ROBERTS, AUTHOR, "THE END OF FOOD": Well, it's more bad news. I mean, you know, the wet, heavy rains, the wet soil is keeping farmers from getting their crops in as early as they like. The farmers that have got their crops in the ground, those crops are going to be coming up late, highly vulnerable to drought this summer.
So the bottom line is the hopes for a bumper crop this year that will take from price pressure off the markets, those hopes aren't going to materialize. You know, we're going to see higher prices, at least another year of higher prices. And I've seen projections of corn of $10 a Bushel.
ROBERTS: Wow.
P. ROBERTS: And keep in mind that just a few years ago we were looking at corn at under $2 a Bushel. So really bad news from the standpoint of food security.
ROBERTS: And corn, I guess, because there are a number of pressures on corn, right? There's the fact that the harvest may be lower than expected. Some farmers I think were also converting to soy because prices for soy have gone up and pressure from the ethanol markets as well.
Proponents of ethanol say it's hogwash that ethanol production is taking corn out of the food chain to produce this, and therefore leading to higher prices. What do you say?
P. ROBERTS: Well, I say, they can't have it both ways. I mean, you know, the ethanol industry can't say at the same time that they are producing huge, new supplies on alternative fuel and improving our energy security, while at the same time claiming to have a negligible impact on the supply of price of the grain needed to make that fuel.
Keep in mind, the United States is the biggest producer of corn, biggest exporter of corn. We're a major player in corn markets, and the suggestion that we could, you know, more than quadruple the fraction of the corn crop going into ethanol and not have an impact on prices just doesn't wash.
ROBERTS: Take us beyond our borders. Globally we are in a food crisis that the U.N. says we urgently need to address. How did we get there?
P. ROBERTS: Well, you got a couple of -- you know, just as in the United States we're seeing crop problems, crop failures, droughts in other parts of the world, particularly Australia. It's a big grain exporter. They've hot drought for years.
We're seeing problems in Canada as well. So you've got a supply issue. At the same time you've got new kinds of demand. You've got biofuel not just in this country but in -- you got in Europe, you've got a little bit in Asia, more importantly though we've got changing diets.
You know, in emerging Asia it's not only just the population is getting bigger but they're getting richer, and what people do when they have more money is they eat more meat. And this is critical because meat is the single most resource intensive food you can have. It takes on average eight pounds of grain to make a pound of meat. So as this traditionally vegetarian cultures turn carnivorous, it's a geometric increase in the demand for grain.
ROBERTS: Right.
P. ROBERTS: And the question is, you know, where are we going to get all the grain to feed this new meat habit?
ROBERTS: You know, we're talking about this earlier with Russell Simmons, the hip-hop producer, who is a vegan saying that, you know, vegan is the new green because it takes far less feed to -- or fertilizer, whatever you want to say, to create a vegan diet than it does a meat diet.
But there's a paradox in all of this that you point out in the book. You say, "Despite the fact that food costs are half of what they were 50 years ago and despite a global food supply that now exceeds per capita caloric needs by 20 percent, the world has nearly as many malnourished citizens as it does overnourished ones." How does that happen? How do we have so many overweight people and yet at the same time so many undernourished people?
P. ROBERTS: Well, we got a food system that's sort of inefficient. I mean, for decades the food security problem was one of distribution. We had enough calories. There were more than enough calories on the planet. We just couldn't get them all to the people that needed them.
People that didn't need them were getting more than they needed. Places in Africa, they had bad roads. People were too poor to buy the food. Today we've got those problems still, but on top of that you're adding a new layer of scarcity. We're seeing tightness in grain markets that we haven't seen for 50 years, so the old problems are still there. We just added some new ones.
ROBERTS: All right.
ROBERTS: So the U.N. is calling for a 50 percent increase in food production by the year 2030. Can it happen?
P. ROBERTS: Well, it's great to call for that, but again where -- how are we going to produce that all. If we look at projections, we're going to need another billion tons of grain every year on top of what we're already producing. Fifty percent increase.
And you're looking, how do you -- where are you going to grow all that? We've got water scarcity, fertilizer cost. Keep in mind, this is a food system built for oil, $15 a barrel. The idea that we're going to have oil at, you know, 10 times that, even more, raises real questions about how long it --
ROBERTS: It's a fascinating read. The new book is titled "The End of Food." Paul Roberts, thanks for being with us this morning.
P. ROBERTS: That was great, thanks.
ROBERTS: It was good to see you.
PHILLIPS: We're just at the half hour now. Let's take a recap of some of the stories that we're following this morning.
Gas prices hitting a new record overnight. More than $4.06 a gallon. That's according to AAA. 27 states now paying more than 4 bucks a gallon.
A Code Red alert for air quality in effect this morning in the Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham triangle of North Carolina. Apparently, smoke from a massive wildfire in and around a wildlife refuge has drifted hundreds of miles.
And several wildfires burning right now in northern California. At least 10 homes destroyed, thousands of others in danger, close to 20,000 acres wiped out. Crews say that heat, high winds and extremely dry vegetation are fueling the fires.
And breaking news right now, extreme flooding in the Midwest this morning. The worst may be in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where more than 100 city blocks are now under water. Thousands of people have been forced to leave their homes. Let's take a look now with more from Gary Tuchman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is a catastrophic flood in progress. Dazed people watching their neighborhood fill with water, not knowing what to do next.
TUCHMAN (on camera): Pretty startling, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I can't even think right now.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): When we first arrived in the southwestern part of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, water from the nearby Cedar River was just starting to rise.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There we go.
TUCHMAN: But it was only the beginning. Suddenly, we saw telephone poles floating down the streets. The powerful currents of the rapidly escalating waters started pushing huge dumpsters. The water started lapping up to homes.
TUCHMAN (on camera): We've been on the street for just 15 minutes and the rain is now coming down heavily. Before when I was walking here, the water was up to my knees. Now, it's getting closer to my waist. Within a couple of hours, who knows how high it will go.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): And that's a very frightening feeling for the people who are helplessly watching the river come perilously close to their living rooms.
TUCHMAN (on camera): How worried are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I think I'm past worried. I'm just sad. This is where I grew up.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): We are with Rochelle Charnowski as the water starts coming into her home. It's the first house she ever bought.
ROCHELLE CHARNOWSKI, CEDAR RAPIDS RESIDENT: I got off to work at about 12:00 and this has come up probably four feet in the last hour and a half. I don't even know what time it is right now.
TUCHMAN: You look outside the window right now, you see, you know, wood floating around and refrigerators and it looks like you're living on a canal in Venice. Is there anything you can do?
CHARNOWSKI: Just hope and pray that we might be able to salvage something out of it all.
TUCHMAN: This man rescued his dogs out of his home that is already under water.
TUCHMAN (on camera): It's such a helpless feeling, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you can do nothing. I was going to ride it out, but can't.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Good Samaritans in monster trucks prowl the streets looking for people who might need rescue. It looks like New Orleans after Katrina. The roadways are waterways. (INAUDIBLE). Lives are now changed. And it all happened in a matter of a few hours.
TUCHMAN (on camera): So, what happened to that woman whose house we visited, Rochelle? Well, she stayed another 30 minutes after we left. She says by the time she left, more than a foot of water had covered her first floor, and it was continuing to rise when she walked out.
John and Kyra?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Gary Tuchman this morning. Gary, thanks.
Congress is getting tough on oil traders, taking another stab at new rules to crack down on speculation in the markets. Earlier this week, Democrats tried to tackle speculation, which many people think is driving up the price of oil. Republicans blocked the measure, though, because it would have also imposed the tax on windfall profits of oil companies. But now they hope by separating this out as a single measure, it might get through.
The great American logger is about to change passports. Missouri senators who are trying to stop the $46 billion sale of Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch to a Belgian brewer. They wanted Attorney- General Michael Mukasey to start an antitrust investigation, but experts say there's no legal reason to stop the sale. The Belgian company is promising not to cut jobs or close brewers.
We reported on the potential health risks of plastic chemicals found in some baby bottles and in the wiring of -- well, in plastics that are flexible, including the wiring of iPod ear buds.
Now, a new study says that a new shower curtain smell could actually be toxic. The warning comes from the Virginia-based Center for Health, Environment and Justice. It says certain vinyl shower curtains made with PVC release toxic chemicals in the air that could lead to liver damage and damage to the central nervous, respiratory, and reproductive systems. It's calling on chains including Wal-Mart and Target to phase out those shower curtains.
Everybody loves that new shower curtain smell but apparently may be a little dangerous for you.
PHILLIPS: Eat healthy, save cash, help the environment, few good reasons to buy food that's grown near your own backyard. We're going to hit a farmer's market and check out the growing trend.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING -- waste water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ew.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yuck.
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ROBERTS: When the wells run dry --
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The days of just thinking that water is unlimited are over.
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ROBERTS: Every last drop counts.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just wanted to be sure in my own mind that it's safe.
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ROBERTS: Where your next glass of water might be coming from. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: 37 minutes after the hour. From the toilet to the tap. Los Angeles has a new plan to solve its drinking water shortage. Chris Lawrence has more.
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CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Los Angeles, image is everything. The world sees beautiful beaches, but residents live in a bone-dry desert.
The film "Chinatown" dramatized the L.A.'s historical battle over water rights. But in this environmentally-conscious age, officials can't just divert distant rivers to supply the city.
MAYOR ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA, LOS ANGELES: The days of just thinking that water is unlimited are over.
LAWRENCE: L.A.'s mayor is promoting a plan to add nearly 5 billion gallons a year by recycling waste water into something fit for the faucet. Skeptics are squeamish.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ew.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yuck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mere thought of what some people do with their water kind of grosses me out.
LAWRENCE: Orange County residents went through that yuck factor when it started recycling sewage this year. Jack Skinner wondered how it might affect his grandchildren.
DR. JACK SKINNER, USES RECYCLED DRINKING WATER: They're going to be drinking this water for a long time, and I just want to be sure in my own mind that it's safe.
LAWRENCE: Skinner served on the committee that reviewed that plan. He was especially worried about removing pharmaceutical drugs like birth control pills, which are excreted into the water.
SKINNER: There's no shortcuts to this type of project.
LAWRENCE: But in Orange County, state-of-the-art reverse osmosis is just the beginning.
(on camera): There's really no such thing as toilet to tap. The water is actually filtered through microscopic membranes to weed out any viruses or pharmaceutical drugs. Then, it's hit with an ultraviolet light and treated with hydrogen peroxide to remove anything that's left.
LAWRENCE (voice-over): After all that, water is pumped back into the ground traveling for months or even years before coming out of the faucet. L.A. is modeling its plan on Orange counties, but it will take years to win approval and even longer to build the plant.
LAWRENCE (on camera): San Diego and South Florida have similar plans and all of them cost hundreds of millions of dollars. State and federal money will help, but no one is ruling out an increase in water bills to pay the tab.
Chris Lawrence, CNN, Los Angeles.
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PHILLIPS: Home construction, it can turn into a money pit if you're not careful. We're going to take a look at the legal options you have if your contractor walks off the job without even finishing it.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING -- farm to table.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you want my harvesting bucket?
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ROBERTS: A growing movement. Keeping produce local and cutting down on costs.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, from the time we cut this, when is it going to market?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, it will be delivered this afternoon.
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ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Saving on food and fuel by eating some home cooking. It's a trend catching on across the country. Farmers selling to stores right across the street. Chefs growing and even raising their latest dishes.
Rob Marciano live for us in Aspen, Colorado, trying to figure -- yes, I see you laughing because that's some of the best skiing going on right now for this time of year and you're talking about, you know, local cooking.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're talking about it all, Kyra. And since you mention it, you asked for it last half hour. Here it is. The shots of them opening the mountain. About a thousand feet of vertical up there on Ajax Mountain. And skiers took advantage of it yesterday and we'll be taking advantage of it all weekend long.
It just happens to coincide with the food and wine classics where foodies and celebrity chefs convene here to celebrate food. And this year especially they're celebrating local food. Food that's grown close to here and that's organic. And there's a lot of advantages to you, the consumer, but many of them while they are not quite as obvious as you might think.
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JENNIFER CRAIG, LITE CITY FARMS, WOODY CREEK, COLORADO: We're going to slide down here into the garden.
MARCIANO (voice-over): Jennifer Craig is part of a growing movement in agriculture, one that's steering away from the high cost of fuel.
CRAIG: The price of fuel is definitely going to shift the way we grow food, and I really hope so if that's the case.
MARCIANO: While most U.S. produce travels an average of 1500 miles from the farm to your table, Craig's crops are delivered within 15 miles of her ranch using a fraction of the gasoline of larger commercial farms. And being that close to market also means ultra fresh products for the consumer.
So from the time we cut this, when is it going to market?
CRAIG: Well, it will be delivered this afternoon.
MARCIANO: Nice.
Fresh and easier to trace if you're worried about food safety.
JEROME OSENTOWSKI, CENTRAL ROCKY MOUNTAIN PERMACULTURE INST.: A one liner for this week would be -- do you know where your tomato is grown.
MARCIANO: Buying at a farmer's market puts the customer face to face with the person who grew the food.
THOMAS CAMERON, CARBONDALE FARMERS MARKET: I see it as that people really want an opportunity to connect with where their food comes from.
RYAN HARDY, EXECUTIVE CHEF, THE LITTLE NELL: So here we have some of the produce that we actually put into place on a daily basis here.
MARCIANO: Ryan Hardy grows it, buys it, and cooks it. He's a farmer and chef at a local five star restaurant.
HARDY: We're in what we call the drip room, and this is where we cure all of our meats and cheeses and set aside some of our preserves.
MARCIANO: Stock produce, we talk dairy, but meats, you're telling me these big pig legs are coming from your farm?
HARDY: They are, they are. MARCIANO: Organic or not, the hanging hams are a little creepy.
HARDY: These are really some of the most beautiful greens that we've been able to pull out of the gardens here recently. So we have things like little local Swiss chard. Some of these turnips when they come out are just -- it's so fresh and this has been on the ground in less than a day.
MARCIANO: And the color just jumps out at you.
HARDY: It really does.
MARCIANO: And if gas prices continue to jump higher, small organic farms will give the big boys a run for their money.
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MARCIANO: This has been on the radar of the United Nations for quite a while. And they've been talking about, you know, let's maybe get a label together.
Well, Iowa State has proposed a food mileage label. Imagine having a mileage label next to your nutritional label on the packaging your food. For example, apples. Let's say grown in Iowa, would travel an average of about 60 miles from the orchard to your table. That would register as low impact, low environmental impact for your transportation costs.
Or say you want to have some grapes in the middle of winter. Well, they come from Chile. So you've got cargo ships, you've got truck transportation, they would register a little bit more high because you're talking about grapes that have to travel 7,000 miles just to get from where they are picked to the food on your plate.
So especially with gas prices on the rise, Kyra and John, you can imagine that if the food is grown just down the street, it eventually could become a lot cheaper and much safer.
You know, this whole tomato outbreak, you know where your food is coming from when you look the farmer in the eye and you buy that stuff directly from the grower. It's a cool trend that's really happening quite a bit right here.
PHILLIPS: Now I see the connection here. You bring up the grapes, you talked about good grapes, that moves into Chilean wine, the whole Chile connection. I get it now.
That's good, Rob.
MARCIANO: I didn't think about that, but you're good. Yes, it is a food and wine classic although I don't drink in the morning.
PHILLIPS: In the morning. Thank God. John Roberts, maybe you should start growing your own garden, John Roberts.
ROBERTS: Next, he'll be telling us that wine is a food. It's 46 minutes after the hour. Home contractors. You pay them and you trust them with your remodeling projects, but what happens when they walk away without finishing the job?
Our Sunny Hostin answers your legal questions, coming up.
PHILLIPS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING -- the great grocery challenge.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Should we synchronize our list?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
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PHILLIPS: Our Washington whiz kids stop talking politics and start talking price per pound.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $29.99 a pound?
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PHILLIPS: The corner grocery, the upscale market, and the buy in bulk mega store.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: White chocolate Pentagon.
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PHILLIPS: We're loading up the carts, doing the math, and checking receipts. The final tally just ahead. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: It's ten minutes to the top of the hour. It's Friday and time now to answer your legal questions. Our legal analyst Sunny Hostin is here with answers to your e-mails.
And Sunny, Debra from New Jersey wrote in to say this, quote, "I gave a company $5,000 to renovate my basement and a small bathroom. The owner cashed my checks and is now nowhere to be found."
SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The missing contractor.
ROBERTS: She needs some help. What do you got?
HOSTIN: And we got a lot of e-mails about this. And you know, the home contracting business, John, is a $200 billion business. So I have to tell Debra, I do not think that your contractor has vanished into thin air. You do have to find him though. An attorney can hire an investigator if you go the attorney route and that attorney will find this missing contractor.
But also you can sort of self-help. You can do things yourself. You can Google this person, you can do a first lookup on his cell phone which hopefully you have, that sort of thing. But once you have located the contractor -- or he may, by the way, be working somewhere else because again this is a huge industry.
Once you found the contractor, Debra, please, please either hire an attorney or do it yourself. You can go to small claims court. Many, many people don't use that. In New Jersey where Debra is, John, she's got a $3,000 limit. So she may lose $2,000 by going to self- help route but, again, she can do it.
ROBERTS: Do you have to find the contractor before you go to small claims court?
HOSTIN: Well, you really should. But you can also just get a judgment so you can go if you have the right name and you have the right address, certainly you can. You can do that. But there are some tips that I want to give our viewers, John, to make sure that they can avoid or that they do avoid these contractor nightmares.
One thing, shop around. Very well may be that the lowest price, the cheapest price, is not the best price. Also check references. Check business history. Make sure that your contractor is licensed and bonded.
And, finally, I know that I'm an attorney, but put it in writing, folks. Put it in writing. Get a contract because that is what can be enforceable in a court of law. And also only 10 percent down.
Debra -- it seems that Debra put all her money up front. No, no, no. 10 percent down and then incremental payments. One part of the job is done, pay a little bit. Half the job, a little bit.
ROBERTS: Sometimes you give these contractors the whole thing and that's when you never see them.
HOSTIN: And that's what --
ROBERTS: We also heard from a lot of contractors in this as well, right?
HOSTIN: You know, we did. And the take away is there are good contractors out there. Take a look at this. Chris from Oak Bluffs, Massachusetts says I am a general contractor. I take pride in the fact that not only am I well informed, but I have numerous repeat customers and a great work ethic.
I always wonder why contractors are portrayed as shoddy and dishonest people. They are not all shoddy and dishonest. I work with great contractors. I'm sure you have, but you've got to do your homework so that you can find them.
ROBERTS: Good tips. Good advice. Sunny, thanks very much.
And don't forget to e-mail, Sunny, your legal questions. Drop her a line at sunnyslaw@cnn.com or log on to our Web site at cnn.com/am and look for the button. She will answer your e-mails every Friday.
Camp horror stories.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just kept waiting for myself to wake up from a dream.
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ROBERTS: Boy Scouts trapped by a deadly tornado put their skills to the test.
Plus, tightening the belt inside the beltway.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Should we synchronize our lists?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Todd, Jamie, and Zain take the great grocery challenge.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're here at Costco.
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ROBERTS: Is bigger, better?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $3.09 a gallon. That's cheaper than gasoline.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Does whole foods fit your budget?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $29.99 a pound?
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Ways to save when you're on deadline. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Checking the "Political Ticker" this Friday. John McCain holds another town hall meeting today. This one in New Jersey. He had one in New York City last night. McCain hoped that it would be the first of ten joint town hall appearances with Barack Obama, but the Obama campaign has not agreed to the proposal.
Coming up in our next hour, we'll ask communications director Robert Gibbs where the Obama campaign is with this proposal.
The economy, issue no. 1 for voters nationwide. In a new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll shows a majority of Americans believe Barack Obama is better suited to deal with the country's economic troubles than John McCain. 50 percent say Obama would handle the economy best. 44 percent say the same about McCain.
And Ron Paul officially suspends his presidential campaign, but he's starting a new campaign. The Ron Paul campaign for liberty. His goal now is to help other so-called limited government Republicans get elected at the State and Federal levels.
And for more up to the minute political news, just head to cnn.com/ticker.
Kyra?
PHILLIPS: Right. So let's say that you're looking to be picked for vice president by either Barack Obama or John McCain. How do you get the word out that you're available? And what are the dos and don'ts of getting on the ticket? It's the subject of a new "Time" magazine piece by Mark Halperin. He's a "Time" senior political analyst and the author of "The Page." Time's up-to-the-minute political Web site. He joins me now live from Washington.
Good to see you, Mark.
MARK HALPERIN, SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Great to be here.
PHILLIPS: All right. So looking at the dos, these four things you lay out, I like this one. Make nice with the candidate's spouse.
HALPERIN: Well, there's no question. You know, it's great to be on the candidate's good side. But in almost every case, if you look back in recent years, the last person the presidential candidate talks to is the person he's married to. And they say what do you think about "X" or "X" and "Y."
So I think it's a good idea if you were interested in this job to figure out a way to get on the good side of either Mrs. Obama if you're a Democrat or Mrs. McCain if you're a Republican.
PHILLIPS: And you talk about have allies, make your case, demonstrate expertise, whatever asked by the campaign do it. Do you think there are any potential VP candidates who are hitting these points right on the nose at this point?
HALPERIN: Kyra, I think the one who is doing the best on the Republican side is Mitt Romney. I didn't think his chances of being picked when the nomination fight ended were very good. The former Massachusetts governor, as everybody watching knows, clashed with McCain when they were running against each other.
But since Romney has gotten out of the race, he has got that do list down. He's doing pretty much everything you need to do to position himself. I think he's been really the leader, particularly doing one of the things you mentioned, do what the campaign asked.
They've asked him to raise money, they've asked him to go on TV, they've asked him to stay on message against Obama. He's been very strong there.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's look at the things that you say not to do and let's talk about those. Openly campaign for VP spot, make gas in the spotlight, be a lobbyist, rebuff the campaign vetters. What stands out to you as the main one as you talk to these campaigns?
HALPERIN: Well, look, I asked all these people who have in the past worked on these things. You don't just sit back passively. If you're going to get this, you have got to work for it. In almost every case the people who have gotten it have done things quietly behind the scenes.
You got to also be active and not making errors. So far so good, I haven't seen anybody do a particularly bad job in taking themselves out of consideration. One of the critical moments that's coming now is when the campaign vetters, the background checkers start to ask you for your documents.
You got to be ready. And you can't say, you know what, I'm not going to give you my tax returns or my financial records or whatever. You've got to be ready for that moment.
So right now if someone is out there watching and you're interested in being on the ticket, make sure those documents are ready and make sure you're willing to turn everything over because that's a big don't. If you don't turn everything over, it raises a real red flag with the campaign.
PHILLIPS: Has anyone made any major mistakes, do you think, that sort of fits into this, you know --
HALPERIN: You know, so far I think everybody is doing pretty well. They're being very cautious. You see a lot of them going out on TV. One of the important things is to strike that balance. You don't want to look desperate for the job. You don't want to be out there saying make me vice president.
At the same time you don't want to go and be like hamlet. You don't want to say I'm not that interested. You got to be a little bit in between. And so far I think on both the Democratic and Republican side they're doing pretty well. But the moment of truth is coming soon. The pressure is going to mount and making a gaffe at this point, having something in your background to come out or making a new mistake that could be poison. That could end somebody's chances in the next few weeks.
PHILLIPS: Oh you know the dos and don'ts. Why don't you throw your name in the ring?
HALPERIN: You know there's a lot to do's and don'ts. One of them is don't go for it if you got no business being involved. I think they both got pretty good candidates to choose.
PHILLIPS: All right. Mark Halperin, great to see you. Have a great weekend.
HALPERIN: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right.
John?
ROBERTS: President Bush will soon be on his way to Paris as we cross the top of the hour.
