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Pregnant Soldier Found Dead in North Carolina Hotel; Courting Latino Voters; Child Prostitution: Internet a Tool in Growing Problem; Fit for Kids: Post-Katrina Playground; Driven to Change: Americans Getting Out of Their Cars; California Wildfire: Blaze Threatening Big Sur; Solar Power Setback
Aired June 28, 2008 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Well, from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is the CNN NEWSROOM. It's Saturday, June the 28th.
Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Randi Kaye. Betty is on assignment. Thanks for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: Well, the presidential candidates might pass each other in the hallway today. They're actually going to be giving back-to- back speeches at an event this morning in Washington, and it's all about the Latino vote.
We will have live coverage of that. McCain and Obama trying to impress the Hispanic voters today. We'll hear from them both.
KAYE: Yes, we will.
And if you're headed to the mall today, do us a favor, don't try this, please. Is this a new exercise craze, a good workout maybe for the abs? We've got all that, plus all of the iReports this hour.
HOLMES: But we do need to start with a new development -- new developments in a story, a case, actually, you have been covering this for "AC 360" about a pregnant soldier who was found dead in a North Carolina hotel. Well, a paper right now, "The Fayetteville Observe," says it has received a letter from a person that's claiming to have killed this young woman.
KAYE: That's right. And the letter reads: "To whom it may concern, the following is to inform that I am responsible for the dead body that was found on Saturday, June 21st, 11:30, in room 143 at the Fairfield Inn." It goes on to say that he was -- this was a masterpiece. This person confesses that he may have killed before.
Just to give you some exact examples from the letter, there was also a symbol in the letter which was identical to one that was found that had been written in lipstick on the mirror. It resembles the crosshairs of a rifle scope. That is the symbol. It also is closely connected with the zodiac killer, the notorious killer from the 1960s.
The police there in Fayetteville are saying, apparently, that they believe the letter. They're calling it valuable evidence, but that it was written, they believe, to mislead investigators. This is all according to "The Fayetteville Observer" newspaper.
They in fact are not even ready, as they've been telling us all week, they're not ready to call Megan Touma's death a homicide. The letter writer claims to have killed many times before in several states. The police are not commenting on that. It appears to have been composed in a typewriter, and it's dated -- this is interesting -- June 17th, four days before Touma's badly decomposed body was found in the bathtub of her hotel room.
So we will certainly keep on this, and we're also talking to investigators there to see if we can get some more information.
HOLMES: And as you were saying to us, you said -- I mean, that letter is four days before she was found. But you said it could have been several days before. I mean, even nine days, up to nine days.
KAYE: Right, because she was last seen on the base at Fort Bragg on that 12th, that afternoon for roll call. And then she never showed up for any other roll call after that. She was not declared AWOL.
Nobody actually said that she was missing. So, if her body wasn't found until the 21st, she actually could have been dead for nine days at that point.
HOLMES: A strange story. Like we saw that report earlier from you, a lot of unanswered questions, and this adds to the mystery here now.
KAYE: It certainly does.
HOLMES: So we'll keep you updated.
KAYE: The battle this morning for Latino voters. Barack Obama and John McCain hit the campaign trail in the nation's capital next hour.
HOLMES: Yes. They're going to be making back-to-back appearances at a conference of Latino officials. McCain delivers the first speech. He's up at 11:00 Eastern. Then Obama will follow at noon.
CNN -- that's us -- CNN, three letters, not five, like I just said, are going to be covering both speeches. We'll bring them both to you live.
Well, immigration reform certainly key to Spanish speaking voters this election year. So, where do the candidates stand? Both support Bush's (ph) immigration reform legislation with improved border security and a legal pass to citizenship.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We must support our borders first. Our borders have to be secured. I know how to do it. I come from a border state. These borders are broken. We will secure when I'm president the borders, and we will then have the governors of the border states declare that their borders are secure. Then we will have temporary tamper-proof biometric I.D. cards. And anyone who employs someone without that will be prosecuted to the full of the extent of the law. We will round up and deport two million people who have committed crimes in this country and we will reward no one, no one, for illegal behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've got to have -- we've got to have proper border security, and I'm committed to that.
Number two, we've got to fix our legal immigration system, because if you've got a backlog of 10 years, and they keep on raising the fees, but the services don't get any better, a lot of people are pushed into the illegal immigration system. So we've got to have a legal immigration system that is fair and just and brings in enough workers to meet the needs of our economy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So exactly what do these candidates need to do to reach out to Latino voters? Joining me now on the phone is Jaime Castillo, a columnist for "The San Antonio Express-News."
Jaime, I appreciate you being here.
Help us understand. McCain did fairly well among Latinos in his primary. Obama, not so well among Latinos in the primary against, of course, Hillary Clinton. So, does that translate to any kind of advantage do you think for McCain going into the general election?
JAIME CASTILLO, "THE SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS": Well, I think in a lot of ways he represents the perfect stealth candidate. You know, there's a lot of harsh rhetoric on the right of the Republican Party about immigration reform that McCain thus far has not adopted. And so I think a lot of Latinos have seen that he's put forth some moderate proposal on immigration reform, and that gives him some entry into the communities. But by the same token, I think a lot of Obama's problem was the fact Hillary Clinton was in the race.
HOLMES: Yes.
CASTILLO: And particularly female, older female Latinas, who were just excited and beside themselves with the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. And it's going to be interesting to watch this dance that Hillary and Obama are doing, whether it's supposed to be a genuine political marriage, or is it just one out of convenience?
HOLMES: OK. So people will be watching that. And that picture we saw, that unity picture we saw yesterday -- and you'd think, like you just said there, Latinos who are in favor of her, you said a lot of older women, are they really examining that to see if it's genuine? Are they really looking for some kind of genuine sign from Hillary Clinton that it's OK to go with Obama?
CASTILLO: Absolutely. I think especially in a state here like Texas, I would imagine similarly in California, where there's a lot of Mexican-Americans. Bill Clinton was very well liked by that community, and they just really -- and when I say "they," it's Latino women, particularly older Latino women, invested a whole lot in Hillary's campaign.
I've heard from women here in Texas that if Hillary's not on the ticket, then they're not voting.
HOLMES: Wow.
CASTILLO: And these are Democrats. And you know, I think there's some bluster in that and some movement that's going to happen if the Hillary and Obama relationship is going to prove to be a real one and not just one to retire Hillary's debt and to...
HOLMES: And Jaime, quickly here, finally, does it really boil down to where? I mean, people take these national polls all the time and see who's doing better among Latinos. But does it matter where you're doing better? And is Florida really going to be the key for both of these candidates?
CASTILLO: Well, I think absolutely. I mean, because we have different communities.
We like to talk about the Latino voting bloc, but it's really not. I mean, you know, Miami and Los Angeles have palm trees and, you know, ocean-side-views but they're very different communities. Cuban- Americans tend to be more conservative in Florida versus, you know, central and Mexican-Americans in California.
So if we're going down to these key states like New Mexico, California, Florida, Nevada, which everyone is saying are going to be very, very important in November, it is going to be a matter of targeted outreach to the Latino community.
HOLMES: All right. Again, joining us on the phone, Jaime Castillo, columnist for "The San Antonio Express-News."
We appreciate your time and insights this morning.
And we do want to remind you all that we will be hearing from Senator John McCain and Senator Barack Obama. They're delivering speeches at 11:00 and noon, respectively, at a conference of Latino elected officials today in Washington. We'll bring that to you live.
KAYE: All right.
And you've heard of the fence the U.S. is building along the border with Mexico. You may be surprised to learn Mexico is building a fence of its own. Mexico yesterday began planting about 400,000 trees to the border to protest the U.S. fence. Eventually the tree wall will stretch more than 300 miles. And one Mexican governor calls it a wall of life to contrast what he says is the wall of shame and hate on the U.S. side.
Now to another hot-button issue: same-sex marriage. Arizona voters will again decide whether to ban gay marriage in an amendment to the state constitution.
Lawmakers last night approved a proposal to put the issue on the November ballot. Arizona already outlaws same-sex marriage, but supporters of a constitutional ban say it's necessary to prevent judges from overturning the state law. The same issue came before voters in 2006, but was defeated.
HOLMES: Well, we turn to some international news, some disturbing international news and the worsening situation in Zimbabwe. There are allegations this morning of violence aimed at voters.
Opposition leader are talking about beating, killing and forced votes. They're blaming the president there, Robert Mugabe. He's the only active candidate on the presidential ballot. The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, dropped out early this week, citing violence against his supporters. President Mugabe's government denies any wrongdoing.
These are demonstrators who gathered outside Zimbabwe's embassy in London to protest the election in Zimbabwe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSE BENTON, PROTEST ORGANIZER: The other candidate has had to pull out because the violence has been too extreme. That is because democracy has totally died in Zimbabwe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Many of the protesters are members of Zimbabwe's opposition party. Their candidate, of course, as we said, Morgan Tsvangirai, of the Movement for Democratic Change, did drop out, citing increasing threats and violence against his supporters.
KAYE: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vows that the U.S. will push for strong steps against Zimbabwe's government when the United Nations meets on Monday. But today she's dealing with anger over American meat.
Police in Seoul, South Korea, have been battling protesters for weeks. And the demonstrators are angry at their government for agreeing to resume imports of American beef. They fear mad cow disease.
Secretary Rice met with her South Korean counterpart this morning, saying she wanted to assure the people of South Korea that American beef is safe and that the U.S. government will work with South Korea to instill confidence. Did a violent video game inspire a teenage rampage? Police in Nassau County, New York, thinks so.
Armed with baseball bats and a crowbar, two young men were among six arrested for a series of violent attacks late Wednesday. Those are those men right there. One man says the teens' values were warped by popular video games like Grand Theft Auto.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Games like Grand Theft Auto, you're going into a realm of a virtual world. The real world is, the parents should exercise a certain degree of, you know, control and responsibility. They don't teach the kids a sense of worth. It's a quick buyoff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Grand Theft Auto is one of the best-selling titles in the world. It glamorizes the thug mentality by rewarding carjackings, muggings, murders, and all forms of violence. Police said during their investigation they determined the suspects had decided to actually act out that game.
Hard to believe.
Well, if you like the idea of a four-day work week -- you like that?
HOLMES: Yes.
KAYE: Sound kind of nice to you? Maybe our bosses are watching. You might want to consider moving to Utah.
HOLMES: I hear it's beautiful this time of year.
KAYE: Beautiful, lovely.
HOLMES: Starting there in August, which is when I will officially change my permanent residence, the...
KAYE: You can do the show from there.
HOLMES: Yes. We're live all over the world, aren't we? The Department of Motor Vehicles and many other places like that, the state offices now -- state offices -- will be closed on Fridays to what else? Save money.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AUDRY WOOD, UTAH POLICE EMPLOYEES ASSN.: We want to make sure that the public is served and that the taxpayers are served. And that the public employees are able to do that efficiently. And, you know, being closed on Friday, is that going to create a burden?
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: OK. There's a catch, kind of here.
Seventeen thousand state employees will have to work 10-hour days four days a week now. Now, for some of us in the news business, 10 hours is pretty standard.
KAYE: It's a half day.
HOLMES: Oh wow. But, the governor there says that the change will cut energy costs by about 20 percent.
KAYE: But they'll still get the same salary, I guess.
HOLMES: Same salary.
KAYE: They're not going to be losing money.
HOLMES: And you just get a three-day weekend, and you are adding a couple days to your workday.
KAYE: All right. Let's check out real estate in Utah.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, some kids who survived Hurricane Katrina are getting a little something to lift their spirits today.
KAYE: Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta is outside in New Orleans helping build a new playground. That's in Metairie, Louisiana, and he'll join us live with the report.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Every day there's something new on the Internet, some new piece of video that's hot and you look at it and you say, what in the world is going on? And we ended up using a lot of it right here.
KAYE: This morning, exactly.
Josh Levs has come across a couple that certainly made all of us look twice -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, we don't recommend trying this.
And you guys are having a field day with this. It's great.
HOLMES: Yes.
LEVS: This is one of the viral videos in America. It's amazing what will catch on? We've got to get to it fast. I'll just show it to you online, and then we're going to bring it up to you on the full screen. This is some sort of new art form, I guess. Let's take it full so everybody can see. You guys have got it there in the control room.
This is apparently the latest art form, if you can learn to do it properly. She is the world's leading expert at spinning at the top of an escalator. And you can all imagine the dangers.
And we're trying to figure out who she is, by the way. If you're watching, call us now.
In the "Don't try this at home" category, let's take a look at somebody else who wanted to be a YouTube sensation and went and tried to do it on his own. Ow. Just watch this young -- there you go.
And then -- and then he gets one leg caught, and then he's stuck in that position and now he can't even get out, and he needs for his friends to come over. But notice that one of his friends keeps shooting the whole thing instead of helping, which reminds me that we definitely are in the YouTube era, ladies and gentlemen.
You guys love this, right?
KAYE: Yes, we do. Look at that one -- she just went right by him on the escalator. She didn't bother to help.
HOLMES: We should try to get his parents. How about getting them on the phone?
KAYE: I'm sure they're not exactly in the mood to talk after seeing that.
HOLMES: Yes.
LEVS: What will people not do to be on YouTube these days? It's amazing.
And speaking of which, we've got another hot YouTube -- we're watching -- this is (INAUDIBLE), but we've got more coming up later this hour. Stay tuned.
Amazing simian stuff. How's that?
KAYE: Nice tease.
HOLMES: Nice tease. Very nice, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks.
HOLMES: We'll see you soon.
LEVS: OK.
KAYE: Federal agents break up child prostitution rings. Underage sex slaves rescued from a horrible existence. It is a problem made worse by the Internet. HOLMES: Yes. We're going to be talking to TV host Lisa Ling. She's investigated the world of child prostitution for several specials. She'll share some of her insights here in the NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(NEWSBREAK)
KAYE: A major bust for federal agents cracking child prostitution rings. Here are the numbers.
The FBI says 345 people have been picked up. They also say 21 children were taken to safety.
The arrests were made from coast to coast, 16 cities all together, from Washington and Los Angeles to Toledo, Ohio. The announcement came on the fifth anniversary of the Innocence Lost initiative. Organizers say they've rescued some 400 kids from the illicit sex industry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: We together have no higher calling than to protect our children and to safeguard their innocence. Yet, the sex trafficking of children remains one of the most violent and unforgivable crimes in this country. And what is different as we stand here today is that we are faced with the increasing use of social networking sites and other advances in technology to carry out these crimes and facilitate these criminal enterprises.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: This latest child prostitution sweep focused on Internet sites, as well as motels, truck stops and casinos.
Lisa Ling examined the seedy underworld of the sex trade in her special "Who Cares About Girls: Sex Workers or Victims?"
She joins us now from Los Angeles.
Lisa, this is such a disturbing story to cover. How prevalent is the child sex industry here and overseas?
LISA LING, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER: Well, I was certainly shocked to learn the numbers. And in fact, according to the University of Pennsylvania, there are some 300,000 children in America alone that are at risk of becoming sexually violated or sexual targets. And in our minds, we envision prostitutes as being solicitors of sex, approaching cars and so on and so forth. What we don't realize is almost all of these child prostitutes are being forced by these pimps.
They are mostly runaways who come from very, very broken homes. Never had any kind of affection or parental guidance. They end up on the streets. And these pimps are -- you know, they essentially take advantage of the most vulnerable of little people in the world. KAYE: You've had a chance to actually talk to some of these girls. We've seen that in the documentary. What do they say to you? What is their state of mind? What is it like for them to be sold into this?
LING: Well, they are so impressionable. And just think about how vulnerable any young girl is. But then think about these little girls who don't have parents, who have been living on the street, and these pimps come up to them and say, we'll take care of you, we'll buy you nice clothes, we'll provide a roof over your head. But in exchange, you need to do something for me.
And then there begins that vicious, vicious cycle. And what most people don't realize is, these girls, they are slaves.
They are not paid one cent. Every penny that they make is given to the pimp, or else.
KAYE: And so who's going to help them? How will we be able to move past this?
LING: Well, first of all, I think that we need to start targeting the pimps. For so long we've been exclusively targeting the actual girls or the johns. But that's why I was so thrilled to hear about this raid that actually targeted the pimps, because they are, to me, this cancer. And there is such a big demand for sex in this country and around the world, particularly child sex, and there are no shortage of men or pimps who are trying to exploit these girls and meet that demand.
KAYE: And it's so hard to find them, too, these days with the Internet, because they don't even have to come out on the street anymore.
LING: Well, that's the thing. Many of the girls that we met actually got caught because of sting operations that were being conducted on the Internet.
They sell themselves on Craigslist or in various chat rooms. It's really disturbing, and the Internet has really just made the whole process so much easier and driven it further underground.
KAYE: I just want to talk to you about the gang MS-13. You've also worked on a documentary with them. Many of them obviously were caught. This is a very large gang, about 38 states here in this country that they've been able to infiltrate.
Can you tell us a little about it and where they started and why they have become so powerful here?
LING: Well, this gang, MS-13, is considered to be the world's most dangerous gang, and it actually started in Los Angeles. A small group of Salvadoran immigrants, they were actually -- they banded together to protect themselves against much bigger established L.A. gangs. But over the years they have really become global, and with increased deportation, they're being sent back to El Salvador and actually committing L.A. gang-style crimes there, but it spread.
And what was once a sort of street gang kind of organization has now become this very, very scary, intense international drug trafficking organization. And they just -- they have no regard for the law whatsoever.
KAYE: All right. Two very interesting documentaries Lisa Ling was joining us to talk about.
Thanks so much for your time this morning.
LING: Thank you.
KAYE: And you can see Lisa's special, "Who Cares About Girls: Sex Workers or Victims?" on the Oxygen network. That airs this Tuesday at 10:00 Eastern Time.
And you don't want to miss our own CNN special investigation. That's tonight. Teens advertising on the Web, selling their bodies. Young girls making erotic offers for money. Now police are using the Internet to save them from themselves, in many cases, and they're tracking down the adults behind some of these operations.
Our "SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT" has the story. That's tonight in the NEWSROOM" with Rick Sanchez, 10:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Well, from science fiction to science facts. Video could represent a huge breakthroughs in medical science. Even though this video may be funny and even cute to some, it could really lead to some groundbreaking technology improvements. We're tapping into the brain to control machines without touching a thing, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We want to let you know that we are awaiting at the top of the hour Senator John McCain, who is going to be addressing a conference in Washington, D.C. He, along with Barack Obama. Not at the same time, of course.
We're expecting Senator John McCain at 11:00 to make that speech, and then followed by Senator Barack Obama at noon. Again, the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. We'll have live coverage of both of those speeches when they do happen.
Well, we will turn now to some viral video. We've been having a good time with the video we've been seeing today.
KAYE: We keep playing it.
HOLMES: But this one...
KAYE: Can't get enough of it.
HOLMES: Can't get enough. This one is -- it's kind of strange, funny to look at. But it has some serious implications.
KAYE: Yes. Actually doing some good.
What if you could switch on a light or turn up the volume just by thinking about it?
HOLMES: Yes.
Josh Levs here with that story. And again, more of that video.
LEVS: It is great to think about like the paralyzed person. That's part of what this is about. But on the flip side, you don't want people to be able to do just anything with their brains. Think about that, too.
Let me show you something. The lesson here at the top is that CNN has stuff first. Before I show it to you, where it is, viral, on YouTube, and all that stuff now, this is our story, where we have it going right here. It's about these monkeys. This monkey is controlling this robot with its brain.
Let's take the video full now so you can see more of that monkey. You guys have it in the control room. Look at this. This is from the University of Pittsburgh.
This monkey is bringing that banana to its own mouth purely with its brain. No one is touching anything.
What they did was, they mapped (ph) these electrodes into its brain. This is the best I can explain it. Now they have the signals from those electrodes going through the Internet to robot arms and legs, which in turn bring in the banana every time it wants to eat it.
It is a very cool thing and people are loving it. It's a viralist video in America. At least it was yesterday.
And there is something very cool about this in terms of what it could do in science. These researchers and other researchers at Duke and other schools are trying to help paralyzed people control things with their minds.
So there you go, guys. That's why everybody gets to enjoy this monkey business along the way.
KAYE: Monkey business.
LEVS: Monkey business.
KAYE: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks, Josh.
And we are going to be combining now fitness and fun. The idea behind the project taking place this morning, to help kids affected by Hurricane Katrina.
And our Dr. Sanjay Gupta and his Fit Nation crew are helping build a playground down in New Orleans.
KAYE: Yes.
HOLMES: Or just outside New Orleans. And we are going to be checking in with the good doctor. He said he was going to have some of this stuff done...
KAYE: He pretty much promised the whole thing was going to be built...
HOLMES: By the end of the day.
KAYE: ... by the end of the day. It's going to be very interesting.
HOLMES: Oh, there he is.
KAYE: Sanjay, how's it going?
HOLMES: Sanjay.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: First, you know, I want to let you guys know that I'm going to be busy working here myself. But I wanted to give you a little bit of a bird's eye view of what's going on here.
We've got about 200 cubic yards of mulch. This is one of the hardest parts of this job, actually putting this mulch all around here.
But Mike, let's go ahead and show -- they don't believe me, so show Randi and T.J. what we're already getting done here. Take a look.
Remember what it looked like earlier today?
KAYE: Wow.
GUPTA: They've already got a lot of the groundwork laid there, starting to put up a lot of the grids for this playground. And you start to get a sense are, A, of not only how many people are working on this -- these are people who are all volunteers from various organizations -- but also, how much work is already done.
So, Randi, you sounded a little skeptical. But I'll tell you that I think we might get done earlier than you think even.
And right in front of you, I don't think you can see that, but that concrete in front of you, that's 10 tons of concrete. That's also something that we're going to lay down over time.
KAYE: I just like the idea, Sanjay...
GUPTA: Pretty impressive.
KAYE: I just like the idea that you're up on this Hill directing everything.
HOLMES: Yes.
KAYE: Are you actually sweating? Are you doing any of the work there?
GUPTA: Whew. Hang on a second. Yes.
No, you know, look, I'm just up here doing the shot, but I'm...
KAYE: Oh. But we had him up on the hill.
HOLMES: Right, he's working.
KAYE: I think -- yes, somebody must have been working to maybe get rid of that shot, in fact.
HOLMES: Yes.
KAYE: Oh, there he is.
HOLMES: He's still talking.
All right. Sanjay, we're going to check in with you here in a little while. You've got a lot going on there.
KAYE: He's just directing. You do that, you do this. Going to hang out up here.
Ice disappearing from the North Pole. What in the world is going on? Well, we'll take you to the top of the globe to see the pictures.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: And just want to let you know that we are keeping an eye on that podium there. This is in Washington, D.C., where Senator John McCain will be speaking to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. A large gathering of about a thousand elected collected there trying to court the Latino vote. He will be speaking at 11:00. We will dip into him live. And then right after him will be Barack Obama speaking to the same group at noon, and you will hear some of that live as well.
KAYE: Firefighters in Colorado are battling a wildfire this morning that's burned more than 1,000 acres. The Park County fire is burning in an area of forest and dry grass. It's forced about 100 people to flee their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It has come close to homes, but they have all been saved.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Officials say lightning started the fire Thursday afternoon.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, they said it would never happen, but CNN's Allan Chernoff now explains that $4 a gallon gas is in fact getting Americans out of their cars.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SR. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jen Castagna parks near her home and shares a 40-minute drive with co-worker Ceciley Robinson to their office in Danbury, Connecticut. With gas prices so high, carpooling is a big money saver for both of them.
JENNIFER CASTAGNA, COMMUTER: What does it cost to fill this up, Ceciley?
CECILEY ROBINSON, COMMUTER: Oh my gosh, like $60, $70.
CASTAGNA: Oh my God.
ROBINSON: I know.
CHERNOFF: Rich Levy, a pharmaceutical executive, doesn't have to worry too much about gas. He's got six vehicles sitting in his driveway, including a motor scooter. Even so, he still takes the train whenever possible.
RICH LEVY, COMMUTER: I think it's ridiculous. I think it's not only the monetary, but it's the principle of it, as well.
CHERNOFF: Rich, Jen and Ceciley reflect what's happening around the country. As gas prices soar, Americans are driving less.
For six months in a row, motorists have been curbing their driving, logging nearly 30 billion fewer miles between November and April, the latest month on record, then during the same period a year earlier when gas prices were averaging well below $3 a gallon.
(on camera): The expensive gas is a primary motivator for Americans to drive less. But there are other reasons, as well. They're trying to avoid traffic, high tolls, and, they say, they want to be more environmentally conscious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all are much more conscious about the environmental effects and much more conscious about energy and our resources of energy today.
CHERNOFF (voice over): Four dollar gas seems to have sparked something in the psyche of our car-loving nation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Both my wife and I are very conscientious now. We never thought about just getting in the car, for instance, on weekends, and running errands all day.
CHERNOFF: If gas prices keep rising, or even stay at their sky- high levels, the trend away from driving may have just begun.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, you know how it goes, this little piggy went to the market, and then something happened.
KAYE: There's the cute little piggy.
HOLMES: Oh, we were supposed to hear the piglet.
KAYE: Oink or something. No.
HOLMES: OK. He's a quiet piglet this morning.
KAYE: Apparently. But somehow this little piggy fell out of the truck and hit the highway in Minnesota. A passing motorist rushed to the piggy's aid.
HOLMES: OK. I don't even want to go on with this.
KAYE: Just keep going.
HOLMES: Sabrina is now the name of this little piglet. It's recovering at the vet's office and said to be doing much better.
We can hear her there now.
Once she's well enough...
KAYE: Squealing.
HOLMES: ... the vet will look for a farm to take her so she can end up being breakfast one of these days.
KAYE: Oh, stop.
HOLMES: That's what happens.
KAYE: No.
HOLMES: We know that's going to happen.
KAYE: Oh, see. OK. No. Anyway, can we move on?
HOLMES: Maybe bagel (ph) bacon. OK. I'm sorry.
KAYE: Please. That's awful.
HOLMES: Sorry.
KAYE: They have been called military brats, but you might call them school survivors. Children of military parents go through so many school systems, no wonder they are relieved to graduate. Now some states may provide extra relief. And that story is coming up. HOLMES: And some finger-pointing in Washington. That's not helping anything. Not helping you pay a little less for gas.
Congress, you know what? They've been working hard on this. They need to take a little time off.
KAYE: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back.
You are looking there at a live picture from Washington, D.C. Senator John McCain and Barack Obama are both expected to address Hispanic voters today. And Senator McCain is expected to take that podium in just about 10 minutes, 11:00 Eastern Time. And Obama is supposed to speak at noon Eastern Time.
Something around nine million Latino voters expected to vote come November. So this is a group that is very much up for grabs. So they certainly want to address them.
HOLMES: Want to turn now back to the fires we've been talking about out in California, the northern California region, which is really seeing 1,000 fires strike up because of lightning strikes over the past several days. Firefighters have had their hands full.
Terry Reedy is with the U.S. Forest Service, a fire information officer, specifically this time talking about the Big Sur fire.
Tell us, what are you up against here? How big of a fire do you have on your hands, and how much do you have it under control?
TERRY REEDY, CALIFORNIA FIRE INFORMATION OFFICER: Good morning.
We have a fire that's about 27,000 acres now, and we only have three percent containment on our fire, the basin (ph) complex. We have another fire, Indian Fire, about seven miles to our east. I do not have any information on that, but that was over 60,000 acres.
It's a real possibility the two of them will burn together. Very rough terrain with heavy fuels.
It for the most part is working its way through a wilderness area, which makes it very inaccessible. However, we've just been given permission to open up some old dozer lines that had been built during the other fires years ago. So that will help a lot in being able to use equipment in there.
HOLMES: And sir, you mentioned there burning through a wilderness area. Is that -- I guess can be good and bad news. Good news, maybe not too many people out there, not too many structures to burn, but then you've got a whole lot of vegetation.
REEDY: That's correct. Of course, there's a lot of hiking trails and campgrounds in places, country campground that will be affected by this.
But at least it's -- you're right. It's not near many homes or structures, for the most part, other than right along Highway 1, along the ocean and stuff, which they're dealing with structure protection.
HOLMES: All right. Well, again, Terry Reedy from the U.S. Forest Service.
We appreciate you taking the time. Know you all are busy out there with your hands full. We appreciate you giving us and our viewers a live and quick update here. You're right there on the ground with it.
But again, 27,000 acres, only three percent contained right now. That's what he said about that particular Big Sur fire that's still in a wilderness area, not really affecting that many people with homes and that many structures right now. But we'll stay on top of it.
KAYE: Imagine the icy North Pole. Now picture it without ice. Tough to imagine, huh?
Well, one leading scientist says that's what we're facing this summer. It would be the first time ever for a complete melt at the North Pole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE SERREZE, NATIONAL SNOW AND ICE DATA CENTER: There's supposed to be ice at the North Pole. The fat we may not have any by the end of this summer could be quite a symbolic change. Things are happening pretty quick up there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Don't panic just yet. There is really only a 50/50 chance for an iceless North Pole this year. But that is bad enough. Scientists have found the ice that is there is thinner than in years past, so does that make conditions right for the melt.
That just doesn't sound right, North Pole, no ice.
All right. We will turn to oil. Record highs. Some national leaders calling for energy independence. The government is taking action that seems a bit contradictory here.
KAYE: The Bureau of Land Management has ordered a two-year freeze in using federal land to develop solar power.
Bill Tucker reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is one of only two commercial solar-generating plants in the United States. It's in Nellis, Nevada. The other is in California.
Solar's appeal is simple. It's clean, plentiful, widely available, but cost is a factor. Solar is still expensive.
Solar costs roughly 15 cents per kilowatt, wind 78 cents per kilowatt, compared with coal at 5 cents per kilowatt. To help bring down those costs to help develop solar energies supporters of the technology argued the federal government ought to be aggressively and fully supporting its development.
PAUL SIDLO, SUNRGI: There's many things to look at to get our dependence off of fossil right now. And one of them is solar. And we certainly should be spending the billions of dollars that they're spending on oil and coal to do research on solar.
TUCKER: Instead, the Bureau of Land Management has ordered a freeze on all solar projects on federal land for a two year environmental impact study. The bureau is under pressure from environmentalist, 150 applications already on file will be evaluated and cleared for development. No new ones will be accepted.
Despite appearances, a BLM spokeswoman insists quote "We are going full speed ahead with solar development. The existing applications are for land with the greatest potential for development." The new applications would cover 1,000,000 acres. There are currently no solar projects on any federal land.
Bill Tucker, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We want to turn back to Mr. Josh Levs. He's been keeping an eye on things on the Internet. And a lot of viral video.
And we're told you have another kicker here for us.
LEVS: We have one more. And it's a good thing that I have this screen set up on the Internet desk, because there are folks from all over the world here at CNN that are going to help us decide this one.
This is another one of the viralist videos in America. And it's a soccer steal out of Britain.
I'm going to start to play it here, but let's bring it full in the control room so everyone can see what happens. Bring up that video.
If you watch carefully, the goalie is going to get it in his hand. But then watch what happens.
He doesn't know someone's behind him from the other team. So watch. There you go.
It's called "Sneaky Soccer Steal." Watch. He's going to get around him, and he scores.
OK. Now, this is the question for our international folks. Is this legit or not? I'm hearing yes, I'm hearing no. Anyone? Where are we weighing in? Yes?
Roy's saying yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he takes the ball out of the smaller box, that's not good.
LEVS: Was that one OK or not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's...
LEVS: See? This is what -- there's a big debate going on in Britain about this. We're seeing lots of Web sites about it. But apparently that one actually did count.
T.J., you know a lot about this stuff. You're able to see, right?
HOLMES: Yes. I'm just -- I don't know. You had us all excited for it.
And, you know, go back to the monkeys controlling the machines with their brains, the girl on the escalator. Come on. What is this?
KAYE: We'll have to get world leaders involved here to determine whether or not this was legit.
LEVS: You're supposed to like this stuff. What happened? I'm totally disappointed.
HOLMES: And you're taking up our people's time over there at the international desk who need to be working on other international stories.
LEVS: You can tell -- I know. You're right.
HOLMES: But you're talking about soccer.
LEVS: As usual, I'm ruining our air. I apologize for that.
But if you want to see it, just go to CNN.com or go to YouTube. You got it.
HOLMES: Josh...
LEVS: Get out of here!
KAYE: Where's that monkey?
HOLMES: And you wonder why we don't you let you...
KAYE: Or let's go back to the piglet. Can we go back to the piglet? He's cute, too.
HOLMES: All right. All right. We're done, Josh. Thank you.
And folks, the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
Well, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
Stuff is happening all over the place on this Saturday. And it is June the 28th.
Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KAYE: And I'm Randi Kaye.
Today, the top two talking to a Latino audience. It is the battle for Spanish-speaking Americans.
HOLMES: Also, a pretty big debate going on in the Bronx. Should all adults get tested for the HIV virus?
KAYE: And Dr. Sanjay Gupta will join us from the sandbox, so to speak. A playground that just might come with a little bit of hope in Katrina-struck New Orleans.
You are in the NEWSROOM.
