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American Morning
Car Bomb Kills 41 and Injures Others in Afghanistan; Tropical Storm Bertha Becomes the First Hurricane of the Atlantic Season; President Bush and Dmitry Medvedev Sits Down and Talks About Iran Missile Defense; Tapping Canada's Oil in the Sands; Cooler California Weather Will Help Battle Wildfires
Aired July 07, 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: Jobs first. John McCain takes his economic plan on the road. Democrats say we've heard it before. Trading jabs on issue number one.
Plus, salvation from high gas prices. The church offers people a ticket to ride.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least there'll be some way of getting them around for some basic needs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: On this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you. Thanks very much for being with us. Hope you had a great Independence Day weekend. Did you?
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, absolutely. Got to see some fireworks.
ROBERTS: Get some barbecue?
CHETRY: That's right.
ROBERTS: Excellent.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Hotdogs and --
ROBERTS: I had a little bit of barbecue myself. Terrific.
Well, welcome back as we begin a brand new week and lots to tell you about today.
CHETRY: Yes. We start off with breaking news and a potentially dangerous weather story developing right now. Just a short time ago tropical storm Bertha became a hurricane, and that hurricane is the first of the Atlantic season.
Right now, its winds are 75 miles per hour and expected to strengthen. Our Rob Marciano is live in the CNN Weather Center for us tracking all of Bertha's moves this morning. It's your first hurricane, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is.
CHETRY: I mean for this year.
MARCIANO: Of this year for sure and more to July. So we still have a long ways to go. Hurricane Bertha now a 75-mile-an-hour winds, as you mentioned, strengthening and getting more defined during the overnight hours, entering some toastier waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
Here it is on the satellite. You see it behind me. Winds gusting to 90 miles an hour. The track of this thing or the position, I should say, is about 774 miles east of the northern Leeward Islands and the movement is west northwest at about 17 miles an hour.
It really has been motoring along the Atlantic over the weekend anywhere from 20 to 23 miles an hour at a time. It has slowed down just a little bit, and that has kind of sort of helped to get a little bit more of an outflow, more of a structure going and just a little bit of an eye right in through there.
All right. Where is this thing going? National Hurricane Center's forecast for this brings it farther to the west and then eventually a recurvature into what's called the subtropical ridge, a little bit of weakness there. That's good if this subtropical ridge here was strong it would then make more of a beeline towards the U.S. So we certainly hope that that forecast continues.
Eighty-five-mile-an-hour winds is the expected strength of this thing over the next few days. Coincidentally back in 1996, Hurricane Bertha formed in the same spot on the same day, but then made its way all the way to the North Carolina coast as a category two hurricane. So this one hopefully will not do that.
Our first hurricane in the season. Much more on that plus the other weather stories during the rest of this broadcast. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: All right. We'll check in with you throughout the morning on that. Rob, thanks.
MARCIANO: You got it.
ROBERTS: We also have breaking news out of Afghanistan this morning. A car bomb explodes near the Indian Embassy in Kabul. At least 41 people were killed, 139 injured in the attack. The bomb exploded on a crowded street during a busy time in the morning. The blast sent smoke into the air, was heard from miles across the city. Authorities say the attack was the work of a suicide bomber.
The three American hostages rescued from Colombia will speak out later on today. Here's some brand new pictures of them reuniting with their families at the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas. Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell were among 15 hostages freed last week in a daring mission by Colombian commandos. They were held by rebels for more than five years after their plane went down in the Colombian jungle while doing drug surveillance work. That was back in February of 2003.
This morning President Bush is getting to know the new Russian leader. Ahead of the G8 Summit in Japan, he met with Russia's new president, Dmitry Medvedev, for the first time since he took office in May. The two men say they agree on the need for Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, but they remain divided over U.S. plans for a missile defense system.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had a good discussion. We talked about Iran. We talked about a variety of issues. And while there's some areas of disagreement, there are also areas where I know we can work together for the common good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CNN's Elaine Quijano was live on the island of Hokkaido, Japan, and she joins us now live with more. The first thing we should point out, Elaine, is it's an amazingly spectacular setting that they're holding this summit in.
ELAINE QUIJANO, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It really is and remote as well. Of course, security issues always a concern surrounding these summits. President Bush, as you said, getting a chance to assess for the first time the new Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, since Medvedev took office.
The two leaders met ahead of the formal start of the G8 Summit for more than an hour. Now, it was all smiles and pleasantries when cameras were allowed. And after that meeting, the two leaders expressing their agreement on the need to curb the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. But as you know, they do not see eye to eye on the U.S.' push for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe. In addition, President Bush was asked what he thought of Medvedev.
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GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not going to sit here and psychoanalyze the man, but I would tell you that he's very comfortable. He's confident and I believe that when he is telling me something, he means it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now, that cautious assessment stands in contrast to what President Bush said back in 2001 after he first met with then Russian President Vladimir Putin. You recall that President Bush famously said he had looked Putin in the eye and gotten a sense of his soul -- John.
ROBERTS: So nobody's looking at anybody's eyes, at least not yet, Elaine? QUIJANO: Not yet. But you know interesting to note, John, that there was sort of a sense of informality at least on the part of the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev. At several points throughout that appearance before the cameras, Mr. Medvedev referred to President Bush by his first name, George, and even made it a point to say that he wished George, in his words, a happy birthday. He congratulated him, he said, on his birthday. Of course, Mr. Bush turned 62 years old yesterday.
ROBERTS: That's right, yes. Well, we'll see how this relationship develops. Elaine Quijano for us there following the G8 Summit in Toyako in Hokkaido, Japan. Elaine, thanks very much -- Kiran.
CHETRY: And turning now to the race for the White House. This week Senator John McCain is zeroing in on issue number one. Speaking today in Colorado, McCain will lay out his plan to fix the economy and balance the budget. The McCain camp saying that it can get the U.S. back in the black by cutting wasteful spending and overhauling a number of federal programs including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Former Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is trying to use the economy downturn against John McCain. Appearing on CBS' "Face the Nation" yesterday, Kerry, who's an Obama supporter, said McCain's stance on the economy and your taxes is just more of the same.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CBS "FACE THE NATION")
SEN. JOHN KERRY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: If you like the Bush economy, if you like the Bush tax cut and what it's done to our economy, making wealthier people wealthier and the average middle class struggle harder, then John McCain's going to give you a third term of George Bush and Karl Rove.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Kerry also called McCain's judgment when it comes to the war in Iraq "dangerous," saying he's been wrong on every decision he's made about the war.
ROBERTS: New this morning, Agricultural officials in Mexico are denying reports that the U.S. plans on closing the border to some Mexican produce. But American health officials say they do plan to start testing produce from Mexico today as it comes into the country.
Authorities are still struggling to find the source of a salmonella outbreak that has made at least 900 people sick. After first focusing on tomatoes from Mexico and Florida, investigators are now looking into other Mexican vegetables found in salsa. Vegetables like cilantro and jalapeno peppers.
And imagine having to give your child cholesterol medicine. A new study just released today says kids as young as 8 may need pills to help prevent future heart problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics is giving its strongest guidance ever on the issue indicating that there is more and more evidence that the factors leading to heart disease start very early on in life. The academy also recommends giving low fat milk to 1-year-olds and wider cholesterol testing.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the new front in a big battleground.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is your right to vote.
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CHETRY: New citizen and how they just might change everything.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think Obama.
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CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: It seems like an appropriate song to send out to the oil companies this morning.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
ROBERTS: By special request from everyone who ever pumps a gallon of gas in the United States of America.
Ali Velshi is back. He spent some time up in Calgary, Canada.
VELSHI: Oil capital of Canada but it was -- but that's not why I was there. I was there --
ROBERTS: Stampede.
VELSHI: This Calgary Stampede, the biggest rodeo on earth.
CHETRY: All right. Show it.
VELSHI: Lots of good fun.
CHETRY: Show it off.
VELSHI: Yes. All right. Well, I got to show you this. I got something.
ROBERTS: Wait a minute. Hold on.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROBERTS: What's he showing off here? VELSHI: Yes. My belt buckle.
ROBERTS: Oh --
VELSHI: My Calgary Stampede belt buckle.
CHETRY: Look at that.
VELSHI: Look at that, 2008 Calgary Stampede belt buckle. Looks a little funny on this little belt that I've got a bit of a city slicker belt that I've got on.
But you know, here I am. I'm in an elevator on Friday morning in Calgary and I'm looking up at that little news thing in the elevator and it says oil is near $146. In fact, on Friday oil reached $145.29 a barrel. Actually it went higher than that in after-hours but that's where it settled. Can you imagine $145.29, up a $1.72.
Obviously, these increased prices of oil are having an affect on gasoline and we have a new record in gasoline, $4.11 for a gallon of gas. So we continue to keep track on that.
And because of these high prices, you know, about a week and a half ago I was up in Alberta before this last trip, and I was on part of CNN's energy hunt. We are going around and looking for people who are digging in for energy, looking for oil and looking for other forms of energy.
I went up to the tar sands of Canada. Here's a little bit, a sneak preview of what I saw.
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VELSHI: All right. This is it. This is what we came here for. This is oil sand. It's sand that's encased in water and oil. In fact, this is about 10 percent real crude oil.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Taking advantage of this fuel (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to lose certain things, you know? Our traditional lifestyle will erode.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I come here and every teacher that ever told me, you don't do good in school, you're never going to make it. I'm making triple what they make.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The oil sand, they dumped that stuff into those trucks. I'm going to tell you all about that over the course of the next few days and what the advantages and disadvantages are, what it's doing to the environment, and how it's helping us get more oil. That's over the next few days. Energy hunt in the oil sands of Canada.
ROBERTS: That's really weird. You were so far north and so close to the electromagnetic field that it was affecting all the video. Making it all --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: Making the (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERTS: Yes.
VELSHI: That's a new effect. That makes it look kind of funky.
ROBERTS: Is that what it is?
CHETRY: I thought -- I thought that was on purpose.
VELSHI: It was on purpose. Yes.
CHETRY: OK, good. Ali --
VELSHI: I'll be back with more in a bit.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
CHETRY: Good, thanks.
Well, move over soccer moms, NASCAR dads. There are now Obamacans and McCainocrats, and may decide this election. They could determine who wins the White House in November. Will tell you who they are and what's being done to win them over.
ROBERTS: And this morning, exhausted wildfires scrambling to take advantage of cooler weather and lighter winds as they battle hundreds of wildfires ahead all -- the all-out assault and the progress that's being made in northern California.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, the weather today will help firefighters battling dozens of wildfires in California. They're looking at cooler temperatures and also higher humidity. And that will make progress easier as they try to fight those fires.
Our Kara Finnstrom has more for us now -- Kara.
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this has been the scene all across California, fierce wildfires that refuse to be put out. During the last month, firefighters had battled more than 1,000 fires. This morning, hope that they may be making progress against the two largest which have threatened thousands of homes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FINNSTROM (voice-over): A small air force is in the skies above California; 140 tankers and helicopters dropping hundreds of thousands of pounds of water and flame retardant. Right now, crews in the air and on the ground are taking full advantage of a gift, higher than expected humidity and cool temperatures.
RICK NEWTON, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Today's a big day to get a lot of this work done before the weather changes on us.
FINNSTROM: Firefighters near Big Sur in northern California where a stubborn wildfire has destroyed 22 homes are intentionally lighting backfires to destroy fresh fuel along the blaze's edges. Down south near Santa Barbara, volunteer firefighters in an isolated canyon community use their own trucks and fire retardant to spray down their own home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE FIREFIGHTER: It's good.
FINNSTROM: Those firefighters working in the shadow of the state's swelling ground attack. Across California, 24 major wildfires are raging, with more than 20,000 firefighters converging with trucks, shovels and hoses.
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: Our personnel and resources was stretched to the breaking point. Our firefighters are exhausted.
FINNSTROM: Over the weekend, hopeful signs they're gaining ground in both Big Sur and Santa Barbara. But with the fire season raging long before it usually starts, nobody expects much of a break.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE FIREFIGHTER: It's going to be that kind of year.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FINNSTROM: And here near Santa Barbara, firefighters are feeling confident enough that they started lifting some of those mandatory evacuations -- Kiran, John.
ROBERTS: Kara Finnstrom for us from the fire lines this morning.
Life in the fast lane. We will take you to the epicenter of a new movement to conserve energy and slow down. Put down your BlackBerry and smell the roses.
CHETRY: Changing sides --
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RAUL MARTINEZ (D), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: But the younger Cubans, they're saying, look, you know, enough of the rhetoric.
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CHETRY: The country's newest citizens bring some new ideas.
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LEANOR GONZALEZ, NEW VOTER: I think Obama.
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CHETRY: How they can turn the tide in Florida. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: Nineteen minutes after the hour. Over the holiday weekend thousands of men and women took the oath to become naturalized citizens. And while they pledge their allegiance to the United States, many of them have yet to decide on a political party.
That's where election year politics begin. Republicans and Democrats see a political bonanza in these first time voters. Our Susan Candiotti now with the political wrangle over new citizens.
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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Leanor Gonzalez is a wanted woman.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you a registered voter?
CANDIOTTI: Republicans want her and so do Democrats.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As American citizens it is your right to vote and make sure you get your voices heard.
CANDIOTTI: Gonzalez is one of 6,000 people sworn in as U.S. citizens recently in Miami Beach.
LEANOR GONZALEZ, NEW VOTER: I'm feeling so good because finally I'm going to become a citizen, OK? An American citizen.
CANDIOTTI: A new American citizen who can vote. Just outside the swearing in ceremony, Republicans and Democrats are wasting no time trying to scoop up a potential mother lode of voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because they just became citizens and they're excited about registering.
CANDIOTTI: Florida is considered a key presidential swing state and every new voter is crucial. One target group, Hispanics.
CANDIOTTI (on camera): This year in Florida for the first time, more Hispanics are registering as Democrats than Republicans. But the GOP says it will catch up.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): From January through May, the Florida Democratic Party says it picked up more than 30,000 Hispanic Democrats, almost two-thirds more than Hispanic Republicans. In the case of Cuban-Americans, many of them don't automatically vote Republican anymore.
RAUL MARTINEZ (D), CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: We do have a lot of the elderly Cubans that are still sticking with the Republican Party. But the younger Cubans, they're saying, look, you know, enough of the rhetoric of Cuba.
CANDIOTTI: But increasingly, new Hispanic-Americans are from Colombia, Venezuela, Central America. Senator John McCain recently made trips to Colombia and Mexico.
CARLA RIVERA, REPUBLICAN PARTY OF FLORIDA: Senator McCain does what he does best. He talks directly to the people, explains how he's there to help. He's very interested in helping the Hispanic community.
CANDIOTTI: This man just registered as an independent. He's leaning toward McCain.
ROBERTO FALCON, NEW VOTER: I prefer McCain because he -- he has more experience.
CANDIOTTI: Leanor Gonzalez is in Senator Obama's camp.
GONZALEZ: I think Obama.
CANDIOTTI: Why is that?
GONZALEZ: Because I think he has more experience in economy.
CANDIOTTI: As new citizens, many of them will soon experience U.S. politics in a way they never have before, voting for a new president.
Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami Beach.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Breaking news this morning, a first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season. There's the satellite shot right now. The winds are gaining strength as it feeds off the warm waters. We are tracking the storm with our Rob Marciano in the CNN Weather Center.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, heaven sent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This downgraded to a small card.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It does.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then now, even that is too expensive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it is.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The church steps in to keep people moving. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, this presidential election swing voters could be the ticket to winning the White House in November. Both Barack Obama and John McCain have made no bones about trying to win over members of the other party. So what will it take for Republicans to vote Democrat and vice versa?
Political analyst John Avlon is the author of "Independent Nation" and he joins me now with more on the phenomenon that we've been hearing about, McCainocrats and Obamacans. Who are they?
JOHN AVLON, AUTHOR, "INDEPENDENT NATION": That's exactly right. Well, here's what's fascinating.
CHETRY: Obamacans exactly.
AVLON: Obamacans. You've got organized groups especially on the Web, Republicans for Obama, and Democrats for McCain. And they're really making this election a healthy competition for voters in the center.
What we've got is the opposite of a play in the base selection. We've got candidates reaching out across party lines and some voters reciprocating. That's an exciting dynamic. It's a healthy dynamic. These are voters who are putting patriotism ahead of partisanship.
CHETRY: Why are they switching sides?
AVLON: Well, in the case of Republicans for Obama in particular, you see a real disgust with the divisiveness of politics in recent years. That's the overwhelming thing you hear from folks on both sides is a real disgust with the divisiveness for conservative -- for concerned Democrats, McCainocrats, what you have is a lot of folks who are national security hawks, who have residual discomfort with the democratic position. Folks like Joe Lieberman being a good example of a McCainocrat.
But on the Republicans for Obama side, it's folks who are really tired of the mistakes of this administration and who feel that the divisiveness has put our country back.
CHETRY: And clearly they're up for grabs. We take a look now at a "USA Today"/Gallup poll from a couple of weeks ago that shows 23 percent, nearly a quarter of voters, are considering swing voters...
AVLON: Yes.
CHETRY: ... are considered swing voters and are considering swinging over to the other side. So how does each candidate breaking from their party platform appeal to these people?
AVLON: Well, here's what's so significant about this election. Since the very beginning, early in the primary, both these two candidates started running against traditional partisanship. They started pledging to end high (ph) partisanship in Washington, and that's one of the things that helped them break through. They were appealing to Democrats, Republicans and independents. And they ran in some case against the establishment of their own parties.
So you've got a very unique circumstance where Obama and McCain have a lot of credibility with independent voters and crossover voters. So those seeds have been laying for a long time. CHETRY: However, in many ways, Obama is still very much a Democrat, yet he's pro choice. He's pro universal health care.
AVLON: Sure.
CHETRY: He wants to raise taxes for people making over $250,000. And McCain still stands for many of the Republican issues being pro life, as well as supporting Bush's tax cuts even though he didn't at first.
AVLON: Sure.
CHETRY: So is it wishful thinking that they can actually reach over when many of their platforms are still solidly with their party?
AVLON: I don't think so. Both these men have pledged and have said so much of their political identity around the idea of post partisanship. John McCain has enormous credibility with independents. In the past he's been almost as popular with Democrats as Republicans because he's been principled and independent and stood in profile and courage against Tom DeLay's Congress and a lot of folks on the far right. That's earned him enemies, but it's earned him a great deal of credibility across the political spectrum.
CHETRY: So is the mainstream media that's making much of the "flip-flopping?" I mean, when you talk about, you know, John McCain saying, of course, I'm not calling him a flip-flopper here but I'm saying there's been some articles written today about conservative banks with him, talking about supporting stem cell research. Or for the side of Barack Obama, did he not come out strongly enough on the democratic positions based on the Supreme Court rulings about gun rights in D.C.?
AVLON: So you have activists on either side who always want to impose an ideological litmus test on their party's candidate.
CHETRY: Right.
AVLON: What's healthy is the candidates reaching out across the aisle and declaring their own independence to vote.
CHETRY: Does that matter to the voters?
AVLON: Sure, it does because it's a sign of independence. It creates credibility. It's a sign that you're not going to get politics as usual. And that's the thing that voters are really so frustrated and disgusted with this divisiveness, this predictability on our politics.
And when candidates have courage to reach across the political aisle, when they take positions that listen to their own conscience rather than just playing into base or being locked in lock step with the ideological activists in their own party, that's when politics gets interesting. That's when politics gets exciting, and that's what independents feel like they've got people speaking for them.
CHETRY: Before we go, quickly, who do you think has the best chance of capitalizing on this swing voter?
AVLON: What's really exciting right now is that independents and swing voters like both of them equally. There's a sense that both these men are independent.
John McCain's got a decade of credibility reaching across the aisle. Barack Obama has made it the hallmark of his candidacy since he first appeared on stage in '04, about saying there's not a liberal America or conservative America.
CHETRY: Right.
AVLON: There is the United States of America. Both men have a lot of credibility, and that's why this is exciting.
CHETRY: All right. It certainly will be interesting. John Avlon, great to see you.
AVLON: Great to see you.
CHETRY: Thanks -- John.
ROBERTS: We are closing in now on the half hour. We're following breaking news for you this morning.
And take a look that this. There it is. That spinning swirl of red, green and white out there in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. It's the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season, churning over the middle of open waters.
Hurricane Bertha now packing winds of 75 miles an hour. Those winds expected to strengthen a bit in the next couple of days as this storm feeds off the warm waters. Right now, forecasters say still too soon to say if this storm will hit land.
And Congress back at work this morning after a week-long break. They're going to be busy as well. Among the issues they'll be tackling, a $300 billion bill to help homeowners that are facing foreclosure. The Senate also expected to vote on an electronic surveillance measure that provides telecommunication companies with immunity for warrant less wiretaps.
And in need of a nose job. This Northwest Airlines flight from Detroit to Tampa landed safely but with its nose cone caved in. Take a closer look at this here.
Northwest Airlines says the 182 passengers on board were never in any danger calling it a "minor maintenance issue." The cause is still being investigated. The plane thankfully grounded for now.
And breaking news from Afghanistan, this morning. Officials say a suicide car bomber killed at least 41 people and wounded dozens of others in Kabul. The blast occurred in a crowded street near the Indian Embassy. This comes as a Afghan government is blaming the U.S.- led coalition for at least two different instances of civilian deaths. Our senior international correspondent Nic Robertson was recently in the war-torn nation. He joins us now from London.
Nick, first of all, expected that the death toll from this suicide attack could go higher?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Very correct, John. That's what we've seen in the past when these explosions happen. There's chaos on the streets. It takes a long time to get all the wounded people to the hospital. We already heard from hospital officials, from doctors, that some wounded have gone to one hospital, some to another. So it will take a long time to piece it all together. Of course, outside the Indian Embassy at that time of the morning, there were many Afghans there ready to get visas to go and work in India. India and Afghanistan have a very close relationship at the moment. So, who knows exactly how many people were there. It will just take a long time to go through those figures, John.
ROBERTS: And Nic, to this issue of civilian casualties over the weekend. Afghan officials claim that the coalition forces killed 23 people who were attending a wedding.
How damaging could this potentially be to relations between the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition?
ROBERTSON: This is an on going problem for the Afghan president Hamid Karzai and for the coalition. There was already from an attack on Friday, when the coalition said it killed 15 militants. Afghan officials in that same area, in the east of the country they said, no, there were at least five civilians killed, a doctor and two of his children. So there was already an investigation into one incident of civilian casualties.
This second case, the apparent attack on a wedding party. Coalition believing in that area was chasing down militants. Again, it makes president Hamid Karzai, puts him in a very difficult position. It makes him to many of his population, appear to be a puppet of the west. That he is incapable of stopping these kinds of instances. For the coalition, it weakens their position and popularity among the Afghan people because they're trying to implement a counter-insurgecy strategy which means winning over the local populations.
So when civilians gets killed it completely counteracts against that. And of course, playing into all of that, the Taliban will use this to recruit more young fighters and to work against the coalition and against the government of president Hamid Karzai -- John.
ROBERTS: Difficult situation over there. Nic Robertson for us, from London. Nic, good to see you, thanks.
CHETRY: President Bush meeting with Russia's new leader ahead of today's G8 Summit. The two presidents sitting down face to face for the first time since Dmitry Medvedev took office in May. And unlike 2001, when President Bush said he could get a sense of former president's Vlatimir Putin's soul, this time Mr. Bush just saying, he's a smart guy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm not going to sit here and psychoanalyze the man but I can tell you he's very comfortable, he's confident and I believe that when he tells me something, he means it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: After the meeting the two men say they agree on the need for Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions but remain divided on U.S. plans for a missile defense system.
And the issue of climate change will be a key topic during the G8 summit. So we're taking a closer look at an environmental movement that's sweeping Japan. It's called the Slow Life. And it's urging people to move out of the fast lane to help save the planet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Good morning, John and Kiran. The world's leaders are gathering here to Hokkaido to try to solve the world's problems at the G8 Summit. But one Japanese movement says the solution isn't with them, but with you at home.
(voice-over): Everything moves so fast these days, in a 24/7 global economy the scramble to be first, the richest, never let's up. And then, there is this place, the Slow Cafe. Where the coffee comes with tranquillity and customers slow down and think.
KEIBO OIWA, SLOW LIFE FOUNDER: We are too fast. So we have to slow down again.
LAH: Professor calls this "Slow Life" and it's a movement now sweeping Japan. "Slow life" says the Earth can't keep up with the speed of modern living. The environment losing ground of conveniences like the power hungry vending machines found on every Tokyo street corner, gas-guzzling cars and life's outright excesses. "Slow Life" asks, does Japan really need a 20 million energy sucking electric toilets that warm and wash your rear end?
OIWA: People used to say the poverty is problem but I just disagree. The problem is wealth. Actually it is wealth that has been producing poverty and that has been closing environmental crisis.
LAH: The solution doesn't lie with the government leaders attending this week's G8, says "Slow Life," but with the individual. Willing to walk instead of drive, re-use instead of throwing away, conserve and adjust life to Earth's natural pace. Electronics like the BlackBerry...
OIWA: What does this do?
LAH: They don't even know about here.
OIWA: You must be tired.
LAH: If you have to carry one just to keep up, slow life is easier said than done.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I want to lead a slow life, says this woman, one of Japan's millions of mid-level salary workers, but I can't actually do it, not in reality.
LAH (on camera): Even if you can't quit your corporate job and grow your own food, "Slow Life" says you can make small strides. Carrying your utensils like these chopsticks, can over a lifetime, save dozens of trees. A small step toward repairing a seemingly insurmountable problem -- John, Kiran?
ROBERTS: Beautiful setting like that, a slower life does seem to possible.
CHETRY: How about it? Can you imagine that? Trying to hand your BlackBerry back? I'm sorry, it's part of my new slow life mission.
ROBERTS: Don't call me, I'm not available on weekends. I don't think that would fly.
It's coming up on 36 minutes after the hour. For the very first time, the American hostages rescued in Colombia will be speaking out about their years in captivity. Ahead, an in-depth look at their amazing rescue.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, divine intervention.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At least there would be some way of getting them around.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: The church takes on high gas prices. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. With gasoline prices up to $4.11 a gallon this morning, one church is adding tickets to ride to its charitable giving, bus tickets.
Our Dan Lothian has got that story for us today. Hey, Dan.
DAN LOTHIAN, CNN BOSTON BUREAU CHIEF: John, Kiran, the high cost of gasoline has caused a lot of people to turn to public transportation. But even that for many, is too expensive. So here in Rhode Island, the Diocese is offering a ticket to ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LOTHIAN (voice-over): Jennifer Munoz has a car. But these days with gas over 4 bucks a gallon, the single unemployed mother of two is riding the bus. Running errands and look for a job.
JENNIFER MUNOZ, COMMUTER: Help save money. I don't have to keep filling my tank up every few miles.
LOTHIAN: And she doesn't have to pay for this trip to the grocery store because the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence is picking up the tab.
MUNOZ: Which means I don't have to be set back when I don't have the money for the gas. I can still depend on me to go do what I have to do.
LOTHIAN: The Diocese which provides shelter and food for the needy, is now handing out books of ten one-way bus tickets. Each book worth more than $17, tapping into their charity fund to pay the bill.
BISHOP TOM TOBIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF PROVIDENCE: We thought that by purchasing these bus tickets and sharing them with people if they can't afford gasoline, if they don't have their own car. At least to be some way of getting them around for some basic needs.
LOTHIAN: The church never expected to be in the business of funding public transportation. But as gas prices kept increasing, so too, was the burden on many commuters. Like Munoz, who not long ago was driving a large SUV.
LOTHIAN (on camera): And why did you get rid of it?
MUNOZ: The gas is too expensive. Way too expensive. So I kind of had to down grade.
LOTHIAN: So you down graded to a small car.
MUNOZ: Yes.
LOTHIAN: And then now even that is too extensive.
MUNOZ: Yes, it is.
LOTHIAN (voice-over): So far the Diocese has spent more than $17,000 to buy bus tickets. And more than 400 of the books have been handed out to people they can show they have a real need.
TOBIN: We have a very simple application process. We don't want to make this so burdensome or so bureaucratic that it defeated the purpose.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: Bishop Tobin says he realizes that this effort won't solve all the problems of those who need a little help. But he says, at least it will help relieve some of the pain -- John, Kiran. ROBERTS: Dan Lothian this morning. Dan, thanks.
CHETRY: Also, Rob Marciano joins us. He's tracking extreme weather and what will be the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, Bertha.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Bertha developed over night. Hi, guys. 75 mile-an-hour winds, Category 1 expected to strengthen. More cash tracks coming up when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
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ROBERTS: If you're shipping up to Boston today, or maybe you're shipping out from Boston, you're going to want to know about the weather there. 70 degrees right now and cloudy. It looks pretty foggy. Thanks to our friends from WCBB for these pictures. And it's going to be 84 degrees but some thunderstorms which could affect travel in and out of Logan Airport. So make sure that you check with your airline if you're in or out of Boston. Thanks to the Drop Kick Murphy's this morning.
CHETRY: That song will wake you up.
ROBERTS: Do more than wake you up. If you're Matt Damon it might kill you.
A man flies from Oregon to Idaho in his lawn chair. We spoke with Ken Couch on AMERICAN MORNING, last year. Ken Couch, who flies on a lawn chair. When he flew 193 miles. But this time Couch, using more than 150 helium balloons, went 235 miles. Couch's flight took more about nine hours before he slowly brought himself back down to Earth by shooting the balloons out one by one, with a BB gun.
CHETRY: How cool.
ROBERTS: You want to be careful to get them one at time if you're doing that.
CHETRY: Yes, exactly. Well he perfected his technique. Because last year he fell a little bit short, right? He flew 193 miles but he said that he popped the balloons too quickly. And so...
ROBERTS: As said, you want to be careful with that BB gun.
CHETRY: Congratulations. Quite a sight in the air.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
ROBERTS: For the first time today, in their own words, we're going to hear from the three Americans now freed. They were held hostage for years, deep in Colombia's jungle. Ahead, minute by minute details of their daring rescue.
CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the end of Bin Laden.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Al-Quaeda has been thrown under the (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: He's still out there, but is he relevant? Paula Newton looks at why even extremists are turning against him.
You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: Today we'll hear from the three American hostages for the first time since their dramatic rescue, deep in Colombia's jungle. This morning, we're hearing more about the elaborate rescue operation to free them and also what they went through during more than five years in captivity.
Here's CNN's Karl Penhaul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Park rebels toting assault rifles, now watch in a drug plantation in eastern Colombia. The time on the video says 1:22 p.m. 15 of the rebel's most valuable hostages wait nearby. Including former presidential candidate, Ingrid Betancourt and three American defense contractors.
The rebels believe that a helicopter that has just landed is a humanitarian mission to ferry their captives to another guerrilla camp. They have no idea this is the final phase of a daring operation by Colombian military intelligence, months in the planning.
It's now 1:24, according to the video. One military intelligence officer posing as a camera man, asks a question of this FARC commander Nova Cessa (ph). Cessa seems relaxed but declines to answer. Like the other hostages, American Keith Stansell is handcuffed, ready for the flight. 1:27, Stansell utters the word "gringos," or Americans and shows the plastic cuffs to the man he thinks is a (INAUDIBLE) camera man.
Lieutenant Raimundo Malagon, held hostage for 10 years, seems agitated. I'm Lieutenant Malagon of the glorious Colombian army. I've been held in chains for 10 years, he says. A minute later, the hostages walk the final yard to the waiting chopper. The audio is cut as we see Ingrid Betancout preparing to board. She looked haggard after more than six years as a hostage. A last shot of the guerrilla captors and minutes later, this. Pure joy. Betancourt is in tears. The hostages have just been told they are free.
(on camera): The full details of such secretive military operations are rarely revealed. But the key fact, 15 long-suffering hostages are now home free.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Bogata.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: How amazing video. And also this morning, Cuba's former president Fidel Castro, now, calling on Colombia's FARC rebels to release all of their hostages. At the same time Castro says, the rebel group should not lay down its weapons.
ROBERTS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, al-Quaeda over and out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's starting to hit home, it's starting to hurt the organization. Al-Quaeda has been thrown under the (INAUDIBLE).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Signs that Osama bin Laden may be losing hearts and minds.
Plus, spider man security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It shoots almost like a rubbery, gelataneous mass. It wraps around limbs and wraps around the torso and the person can't move.
ROBERTS: From goo guns to sonic rays. The $50 million to protect political conventions. You're watching the most news in the morning.
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CHETRY: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the end of bin Laden. He's still out there, but is he relevant. Paula Newton looks at why even extremists are turning against him. You're watching the most news in the morning.
ROBERTS: And welcome back to the most news in the morning. Your political ticker on this Monday, July the 7th. John McCain is promising to balance the budget by the time his first term is over, if elected president. And included in that promise is a plan to overhaul Social Security. The Obama camp says McCain's plans are quote, "preposterous." With a deficit projected of almost a half a trillion dollars by the year 2013, which would be the end of this term.
Senator John Kerry blasting John McCain on issues one and two. Kerry said McCain's stance on the economy is just more of the same and his judgment when it comes to the war on Iraq is quote, "dangerous." Kerry added that the John McCain of 2008 is not the McCain he courted as a possible running mate four years ago.
CHETRY: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are hitting the campaign trail together again this week. The Obama campaign says they'll team up for three fundraisers of Clinton's home state of New York. One of the events is for the Clinton campaign which is still in debt from the primary season.
And for more up to the minute political news, head to CNN.come/ticker.
ROBERTS: Beyond tomatoes and now beyond our borders. The FDA says starting today, some foods coming in from Mexico will be stopped at the border and tested. It still has not found the root of a widening salmonella outbreak. More than 900 Americans and Canadians have now been infected.
CNN's Louise Schiavone is tracking this story for us, from Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The focus of the investigation into the nation's salmonella outbreak us turning to the Mexican border. Sources familiar with the investigation say the Food and Drug Administration has alerted growers and the brokers who handle their products, that as of Monday, inspectors will stop shipments from Mexico to the U.S. of ingredients common to Mexican cuisine. Former Health and Human Services secretary Tommy Thompson says, he's been informed of the plan and it's a straightforward process.
TOMMY THOMPSON, FMR. HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: At the border what they do, is they take samples of these and they send them to their laboratories. And the laboratories examine them for any possible evidence of any salmonella or E. coli. And then they make a determination.
SCHIAVONE: The FDA's expanded probe includes the following products: Cilantro, jalapeno peppers, serano peppers, scallions and bulb onion. This former director of FDA import operations says that, while intriguing, the expanded search leaves many questions unanswered.
CARL NIELSEN, RET. DIR. IMPORT OPERATIONS, FDA: Where's the contaminated product? How would you know? And where along the supply chain did it happen? Was it at the retail level? Is somebody doing something to expose a product at the retail? Is it wholesale? Is it at the grower, is it at the processor? Is it in transport? Where is it? They don't know.
SCHIAVONE: All agreed this still expanding outbreak has produced many casualities.
THOMPSON: $450 million alone for the tomato growers. That's just the tomato growers. You don't even take into considerations the thousands of people that have been sick and how much it's cost in drugs, loss of time and mental anguish for people that are sick from these.
SCHIAVONE: Louise Schiavone for CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: One farm says it has hundreds of tons of tomatoes sitting in a warehouse near the Texas-Mexico border and that they may all rot.
CHETRY: Well it is 57 minutes after the hour. The top stories this morning. Bertha gets bigger, the tropical storm became a hurricane over night. Right now it's still about 900 miles east of the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean. Bertha is the Atlantic's first hurricane this year.
Also breaking this morning, a car bomb explodes in Kabul, Afghanistan, killing at least 41 people and injuring more than 100 others, authorities there say. A suicide bomber exploded near the Indian Embassy. An Indian diplomatic official tells CNN that among the dead are an Indian defense attache and a political consult.
Meeting with Medvedev. President Bush sitting down with Russia's new leader while at the group of 8 summit in Japan. Our president saying that the Russian president is a smart guy who means what he says. The U.S. and Russia though still clash when it comes to America's plan for a missile defense system in Europe.
Back to our breaking news this morning. Bertha has become the first hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic season and it expected to get stronger in the week ahead. Our Rob Marciano is watching it for us this morning.
Hey, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, Kiran. This thing really picked up steam over the weekend, moving westerly at over 20 miles-per-hour at times. Now it's slowed down a little bit to 17, but it has expanded its cloud base. It's got a little bit of an eye going. And winds now at hurricane status. Here it is on the satellite picture. You see it behind me. You can kind of see that very familiar cloud signature where we get out flow on both side. And this is the direction it's going as mentioned. A 75 miles-an-hour gusting to 90. But it's pretty far away at the time.
What's steering this thing? High pressure out in the Atlantic. That's what moves these things down across the trade winds and towards the U.S. The question is, when does it make that turn and maybe miss the U.S.? Well, the National Hurricane Center is still saying it looks like that that turn is going to be made some time in the next couple of days. But before it does that, we're looking at winds that could get to 85 maybe 90 miles-an-hour at a forecast strength. It's going over some pretty warm waters there and we expect it to strengthen just a little bit. Coincidentally in 1996, similar storms routed out in a similar spot. Ended up going into North Carolina. So we certainly want to keep an eye on this. We could shift the track farther to the West and if that happens then all hands on deck.
Kiran, back off to you.
CHETRY: Rob, thanks.
ROBERTS: To our other top story this morning. At least 41 people have been killed, more than 100 wounded after a car bomb blast in Kabul in Afghanistan.
