Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Alim Hamdan Pleading Not Guilty This Morning; A Baghdad Neighborhood Rag by a Car Bomb; New Developments in the Death of a Pregnant Woman Whose Uterus Was Cut Open; A Record-Setting Opening Weekend for "The Dark Knight."; China's New Clean Air Campaign
Aired July 21, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
You'll see events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Monday morning, July 21st.
Here's what's on the rundown.
From the Gulf of Mexico to the U.S. mainland, tropical storm Dolly may develop into a hurricane. Our Weather Center tracking it now.
HARRIS: War zone tour stop. Barack Obama meeting military commanders in Iraq as part of his overseas trip.
COLLINS: And let's make a deal. Sellers offer homes and -- throw in a car, too, in the NEWSROOM.
A trio of storms, one a possible threat to land. Tropical storm Dolly now moving over Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. It's headed into the Gulf of Mexico and could become a hurricane by tomorrow. It's on track to make land fall later this week near the Texas/Mexico border.
Tropical storm Cristobal threatened the North Carolina coast yesterday, but then turned away from land. Storm warnings for the Carolina coast were lifted last night.
And Hurricane Fausto in the Pacific about 400 miles off Mexico now, not a threat to land.
HARRIS: While Dolly poses the most immediate threat, residents along the south Texas coast preparing for the storm. Right now Dolly is crossing Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula as a tropical storm. But forecasters expect it to become a hurricane when it re-enters the Gulf of Mexico.
I'm thinking about oil prices here. Plywood flying off the shelves at do-it-yourself stores.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRED BALLINGER, STORE MANAGER: The last one we had we were set out front here with our plywood and we just had a big long line. People were coming in at the last minute to get it, and we had plenty of plywood. But, like I said, eventually we got to close the store and board in just like everybody else.
RACHEL O'NEAL, PREPARING FOR DOLLY: We've just been ready. But mostly I think the water and having gasoline and things like that are very important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: All right. So let's get straight to it. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is tracking all of these storms.
Reynolds, take it away.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WOLF: Be careful. Those rip currents can be dangerous.
COLLINS: Oh yes.
WOLF: Listen to those lifeguards. They are there for a reason.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: Absolutely. All right, Reynolds, thank you.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
COLLINS: Happening right now in Iraq, presidential candidate Barack Obama getting a firsthand look at what's going on there. He's part of a congressional delegation, but it's his plan as a potential president that had everybody talking about this particular trip.
Our Morgan Neill is in Baghdad this morning and Jessica Yellin is on a story from Washington.
Morgan, let's start with you. What will the senator see today?
MORGAN NEILL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, that plan you talk about, a plan to stop combat operations in Iraq within 16 months taking office, were he to be elected president -- the latest we've heard about Barack Obama visit here that he has now met with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
This happened just recently. We haven't gotten the pictures of that meeting yet. But according to the prime minister's office, Obama praised the prime minister for his leadership, talked about his support for what the government of Iraq has done, but also said that support would be stronger if the government were able to get some important laws passed -- oil law and election laws.
Now not -- or a bit surprisingly, Baghdad was not the first stop here for Senator Obama. The first stop was Basra, a city in the south. Now Senator Obama stopped there. He met with military commanders from the U.S., British commanders and Iraqi commanders as well.
Now he is expected to meet with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, to get some -- to get his position on just what is going on on the ground here, to hear what is behind the security improvements we've seen in Iraq over the last year, but we are -- he is likely to hear what General Petraeus has often said in the past, that those security improvements of fragile and reversible -- Heidi?
COLLINS: Morgan, now that he has met with these people, the prime minister and General David Petraeus as well, is headed back to the United States?
NEILL: Well, we -- for security reasons we don't know about Senator Obama's plans at this point. He is expected to continue a tour of the Middle East and on to Europe from there. But it's been very sort of tight-lipped his time here in Iraq and for very good reasons. Despite those security gains, Iraq remains a very dangerous place -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Morgan Neill, joining us live from Baghdad this morning.
Thank you, Morgan.
HARRIS: You know he's not in charge, but he sure wants to be. Barack Obama talking about what he'll do in Iraq and Afghanistan if he wins the presidency.
How is that playing in Washington?
Jessica Yellin is there, and Jessica what can Barack Obama hope to accomplish in Iraq today?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, he has to go with an open mind and approach this as a listening tour, which is a phrase politicians like to use, because Barack Obama went into this trip with a policy position already outlined.
He wants that withdrawal within 16 months. So it's -- he's not going to, substantially, change that. But we've heard him say that he might be open to refining it, and when he meets with the generals today, particularly General Petraeus, it's important that there is a connection there that allows both men to walk away with a feel that they go could, A, work together in the future and, B, that neither -- that General Petraeus, the military, will not, in any way, suggest that Barack Obama was be closed minded.
It's important that he show that he's flexible and open to listening and yet still walk away with that same policy position that has been so crucial to his electoral success.
So far after his trip to Afghanistan, at least it seems, he is committed to his vision. He says what he saw on the grounds has not significantly changed in any way his idea that Afghanistan needs more troops.
Let's listen to what he said yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I believe U.S. troop levels need to increase, and for at least a year now have called for two additional brigades, perhaps three.
I think it's very important that we unify command more effectively to coordinate our military activities, but military alone is not going to be enough. The Afghan government needs to do more but we have to understand that the situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan and I believe this has to be our central focus, the central front on our battle against terrorism.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YELLIN: Again, so Barack Obama making the case that the U.S. should be sending more troops to Afghanistan with NATO help and begin to draw down from Iraq if he should take -- should he become president. He would do that immediately -- Tony.
HARRIS: Jessica Yellin in Washington for us.
Jessica, thank you.
COLLINS: Barack Obama's Republican challenger says he's happy his opponent is in Iraq.
John McCain says the trip will give Obama a chance to assess the so-called troop surge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm glad that Senator Obama is going to get a chance for the first time to sit down with General David Petraeus and understand what the surge was all about, why it succeeded, and why we are winning the war, and that is because, we carried out a strategy which has succeeded, and Senator Obama rallied against, voted against, and use his opposition to the surge as a way of gaining the nomination of his party.
I hope he will have a chance to admit that he badly misjudged the situation and he was wrong when he said that the surge wouldn't work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: The money and the message -- John McCain's focus this morning in Maine. He's meeting with the president's father today in Kennebunkport.
Besides talking with George H.W. Bush, McCain's got a couple of private receptions. He'll also go to a picnic at the Marine Military Museum.
Last night, there was time for a little R&R at the ball game. The senator hung out with former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani at a Yankees game, of course. Giuliani says he's just trying to get his longtime friend elected and that he's not worrying about speculations he could be McCain's pick for running mate.
HARRIS: Nuclear talks with Iran going nowhere. That's the reaction from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying Iran's chief nuclear negotiator didn't weekend talks with the European Union seriously. For the first time a U.S. diplomat was at the table.
Before those talks broke up, Rice told CNN Wolf Blitzer that time is running out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: The world is sending Iran a message on both tracks. First of all, there are consequences for continuing to defy the will of the international community -- continued economic isolation, continued isolation that is leading to an ever-worsening economic situation in Iran. And on the other hand, a pathway out -- suspend and negotiate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Rice says Iran has two weeks to respond to nuclear proposals put forth at that meeting.
COLLINS: Right now Navy and Coast Guard teams are searching for the crew of a B-52. The Air Force bomber crashed this morning in the Pacific Ocean northwest of Guam.
Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joining us now.
Barbara, good morning.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Heidi.
Very sad news, of course, for the families of those involved. The search does go on according to the Pentagon. Both Coast Guard and Navy crews looking for the B-52 bomber, a crew of six on board, when it went down about 30 miles off of Guam. According to reports, there is an oil slick and they are continuing to search the area looking for any indication of what has happened to those on board.
Family, certainly, at this hour being notified of latest information on the situation. That B-52 was on a four-month tour of duty in Guam out of the air force base at Barksdale, Louisiana.
And you know it was back in February there was another very serious crash. A B-2 bomber with two on board crashed right on to the runway in Guam. In that instance, both crew members ejected safely.
This time the incident, obviously, under investigation. No indication yet of whether it was some sort of malfunction or mechanical issue that brought the plane down. We are told no ordinance was on board -- Heidi COLLINS: Wow. And such a huge aircraft, too.
All right, CNN's Barbara Starr, our Pentagon correspondent - thank you, Barbara.
STARR: Sure.
HARRIS: A first of its kind. A trial beginning today at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Salim Hamdan is facing war crimes charges. The government says Hamdan was a member of al Qaeda and even served as Osama bin Laden's driver. He is the first Guantanamo's detainee to be tried under new military commission rules.
You may remember that the commission's parameters were changed after 2006 ruling by the Supreme Court. Because of that ruling, detainees are now allowed to challenge the charges.
COLLINS: Well, here's one for you. Buy a house, get a car for free. Unique incentives to jump-start slow home sales.
ANNOUNCER: CNN NEWSROOM brought to you by...
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Market momentum. Will the new week start off as well as the old one ended? We are watching Wall Street, oil prices and the Gulf of Mexico.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN NEWSROOM on CNN, the most trusted name in news.
COLLINS: Quickly we want to show you some of the -- first video coming to us now of Senator Barack Obama in Iraq. You see him meeting there with some troop members. We also know that he met earlier today with Prime Minister al-Maliki.
Also we believe -- not quite sure if it's happened yet, we're trying to find out right now -- that he will be meeting with General David Petraeus, obviously, the head of U.S. troops in Iraq.
So this is his visit. He will be there for one day and then on to other countries, we're told, in the Middle East. Not quite sure, obviously, of his travel plans.
But that's (INAUDIBLE) right now. Just wanted to show you some of these pictures as they are coming in.
Again, Senator Barack Obama in Iraq.
HARRIS: So let talk about "Your Money" now. It is "ISSUE #1" for you and for all of us, really. Some good news trickles out of the gas pump. AAA reports the national average price for a gallon at about $4.07 a gallon this morning. That's a one-day drop of eight-tenths of a cent, the fourth consecutive decline -- we'll take the good news. Oil is inching up, however, after last week's steep slide of about $18 a barrel.
A mix view of the economy from the Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. He says hard times will last for months, but the nation's banking system is safe.
And we will keep an eye on Wall Street as it rings in a new trading day at the bottom of the hour. How will investors follow Friday's volatile session?
COLLINS: Houses sitting unsold, a byproduct of the mortgage mess and the economy. So now some sellers are getting pretty creative.
CNN's Kate Bolduan take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CATHERINE POE, TRYING TO SELL HOME: Come on upstairs.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Maryland resident Catherine Poe bought this three-bedroom colonial with her daughter as an investment property in 2005. They share a love for restoring historic houses.
POE: We always had two parlors in those days.
BOLDUAN: They've fixed up and resold two historic properties before no problem. But not this time.
POE: It was the beginning of what people just thought was going to be a blip. And actually it started -- went blip, blip, wop, and dropped drastically.
BOLDUAN: The house has been on and off the market twice in two years. Poe's hoping the third time's the charm with the help of a Prius thrown in.
POE: I'm hoping that it makes people say, oh let me go take a look, because that is something wonderful.
BOLDUAN: Extreme economic times calling for extreme house selling measures -- a free car, a free vacation, raffling off a house for $100 a ticket, and even buy one house, get one free, in the case of one San Diego developer. All examples of creative incentives and the lengths people are going in today's floundering housing market.
Poe's realtor says it's a first for him but worth a try.
CHUCK MANGOLD, REALTOR: You have to make a specific house more attractive to a buyer so that it can compete with the inventory that's out there.
BOLDUAN: But the National Association of Realtors warns that creative incentives may not be the best way to close the deal.
ELIZABETH BLAKESLEE, NATIONAL ASSN. OF REALTORS: If they're going to offer incentives, offer closing costs help, or if it's a condominium, offer to pay condo fees for six months.
Your incentive ought to deal with what you're doing.
BOLDUAN: Despite the draw of the free Prius, just a handful of people showed for Catherine Poe's open house. She now expects to take a loss of at least $60,000, further proof the housing slump has not yet passed?
POE: The love affair of historic houses is still there. But we're having a (INAUDIBLE) also.
BOLDUAN (on camera): The National Association of Realtors says these kinds of incentives are often negotiated out during the sales process. Poe says if the buyer doesn't want the car, they will gladly take the 20 grand off the price of the house.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Tunes and the tap. Elizabeth Cohen -- what are we talking about here -- with a new study linking loud music -- oh -- and increased drinking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Turning up the volume and draining the glass. OK.
French researcher say the louder the music, the more you booze?
Medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here.
All right, Elizabeth, tell me here, how much of an affect on drinking are we talking about here? Good morning.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Good morning. This is such an interesting study.
HARRIS: It is.
COHEN: They actually could measure that there was a difference when the music was loud. So what they found is -- these French researches, it was a tough job. They went to bars.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: They hung out in bars and they measured how much people were drinking, and then they said to the bar owner, hey, crank the music.
HARRIS: Right.
COHEN: And then they measured again how much people were drinking.
And so what they found was that when the music was loud, people drink more. In fact they drink one more drink per evening and they also drank faster. When the music was soft...
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: ... it took them three minutes longer to finish that drink.
Now, this is a tiny study.
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: It doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot, but it might say something about our brains when the music is loud, what's happening in our brains that makes us drink more or it might just be when it's loud, you can't hear anybody so you go drink.
HARRIS: You can't talk to one another so you -- exactly. You may as well have another drink. And there's got to be some other research out there, studying the impact and the effects of music on a drinking patterns. Come one, this can't be the only one out there, is it?
COHEN: Right. Because this is a very important topic, so yes, lots of research here.
And one of the things that they found -- I thought this was so strange -- is that when the music is slow...
HARRIS: Yes.
COHEN: ... people will pay more money for drinks.
HARRIS: Like these little cocktail hours...
COHEN: Right.
HARRIS: ... in these little jazzy...
COHEN: They'll buy -- kind of expensive stuff.
HARRIS: Yes, with the umbrellas and the like.
COHEN: Right. So maybe there's more to do with the location than anything else. And also they found -- now get this -- at wine stores, when you play French music, people buy French wines. When you play German music, people buy German wines.
I'm sure this will help medical science in some way, shape or form, I just don't know how.
HARRIS: We just haven't figured it out.
COHEN: Right. We'll figure that out for the next time. HARRIS: You're going to come back at 11:00 with something else, right?
COHEN: Right.
HARRIS: OK.
COHEN: Talking a boy and girl twins who don't drink.
HARRIS: That's correct.
COHEN: Yes, there's no drinking. And they don't listen to music.
HARRIS: We'll see you then.
COHEN: OK. See you then.
HARRIS: Thanks, Elizabeth.
COLLINS: High waves, rough winds. A trio of storms to talk about. We'll see what's threatening the U.S. mainland.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: The "Opening Bell" brought to you by...
Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Heidi Collins and Tony Harris.
COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Welcome back in to the CNN NEWSROOM and good morning, everyone.
We'll get to Dolly in just a moment. A lot to tell you about Dolly, but today is cleanup day in parts of western Massachusetts. Strong storms uprooted trees and knocked down power lines over the weekend.
Officials in two communities, Whately and Sunderland, have declared a state of emergencies. Whately's emergency management director says nine out of ten residents lost power there. Several roads were blocked by debris, but no injuries have been reported.
COLLINS: And meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is tracking the storm named Dolly.
I guess that's where we should start, right, Reynolds?
(WEATHER REPORT)
COLLINS: Quickly, we want to show you this. The opening bell just a couple of seconds ago. Oh, boy, oh, boy, that's a very enthusiastic opening bell. Maybe, just maybe, it will bring good things for the Dow Jones Industrial averages and other tradings. Obviously, Friday, we ended up, you know, to the positive by about 50 points or so. Still at 11,500 points is where we open up today.
And we're hearing that maybe, just maybe, as you can see there, that they are set to open higher. I wonder how long that will last in the day but I am feeling positive, right? Only, maybe. All right, we'll check in with Susan Lisovicz a little bit later on.
HARRIS: An update on the first of its kind trial underway at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Salim Hamdan pleading not guilty this morning. He is facing war crimes charges. The government says Hamdan was a member of al Qaeda and even served as Osama Bin Laden's drive.
He is the first Guantanamo detainee to be tried under a new military commission rules. You may remember that the commission's parameters were changed after a 2006 ruling by the Supreme Court. Because of that ruling, detainees are now allowed to challenge the charges.
COLLINS: Just moments ago, we found out Barack Obama met this morning with Iraq's Prime Minister. Right now, Obama is in Basra. We have those pictures in. Our reporter in Baghdad says, when Obama met with Nuri al-Maliki, he praised his leadership but said the government needs to get election and royal revenue laws passed.
Obama is on a trip to Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere with the congressional delegation. He visited troops in Kuwait on Friday and had breakfast in a mess hall in Afghanistan on Sunday. Obama will also visit Jordan, Israel, the West Bank and make a couple of stops in Europe as well.
The money and the message. John McCain's focus this morning in Maine. He's meeting with the president's father today in Kennebunkport. Besides talking with George H. W. Bush, McCain's got a couple of private receptions. He'll also go to a picnic at the Marine Military Museum.
Last night, there was time for a little R&R at the ball game. The senator hang out with former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the Yankees' game. Giuliani says he's just trying to get his long time friend elected and that he's not worried about speculation that he could be McCain's pick for running mate.
HARRIS: A Baghdad neighborhood rag by a car bomb. One Iraqi civilian was killed in the Sunday night attack. Four others were wounded in Northern Iraq. U.S. forces killed two men both believed to be members al Qaeda in Iraq. Another suspected terrorist was captured. Police say one of the men killed was the 16-year-old son of a local government official.
The Strait of Hormuz, a passageway for much of the world's oil. Iran says it could choke off those supplies if becomes under attack. Tensions are high and so are the stakes.
CNN's Wolf Dinnick is there as a U.S.-led task force patrols the scenes.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This destroyer is cutting through the waters of one of the world's most strategic locations. The Strait of Hormuz. About 40 percent of the world's crude oil moves through this narrow passage. This vessel is part of a U.S.-led task force to ensure security.
In the past, Iran has threatened block the strait's narrow choke point to the Persian Gulf if attacked. Bob Davidson is the commander of the task force.
COMMODORE BOB DAVIDSON, HMCS IROQUOIS: I'm not surprised that they would say those things. As I said, I don't think it's in their interests or ours to close the strait. So, I think they would only do something like that in extreme circumstance.
DINNICK: The revolutionary guard can use small boats and sea mines according to naval officials here. They say that could be a serious threat to even a massive destroyer. Given tensions between the U.S. and Iran, the commander keeps a close watch here. If there's trouble, you can have up to 15 ships at his disposal.
This ship goes on alert when it enters the strait. An unsettling operation for the captain.
CAPT. BRENDAN RYAN, HMC IROQUOIS: My primary concern going through the Strait of Hormuz is the choke point. I have limited options for where I can go. The Strait of Hormuz is only 20 to 25 miles wide.
DINNICK: Not much room to navigate especially in a crowded shipping lanes. There aren't just royal tankers here, but also cargo ships, pirates and drug runners. The vessel does not rely solely on sophisticated radar systems. Several smatter also crowd the bridge keeping an eye out.
(on-camera): Here on the bridge they are trying to identify every single boat out there. They are looking for an anomaly, any boat that seems out place. The real threat here is an attack from a small, unidentified vessel.
(voice-over): There have already been incidents with Iranian boats. Earlier this year, the U.S. accused Iranian Revolutionary Guard Boat of harassing and provoking U.S. navy ships.
Iran reportedly said it was not a serious incident. No shots were fired. But there are concerns here that a situation could spin out of control.
The commander says revolutionary guard boats will often pull alongside the (INAUDIBLE) ship. A few tense moments of checking each other out. And they move on. The task force and crew constantly watching from all angles this narrow strait of water. A massive military presence just off the coast of Iran, sending a message they are ready for whatever may come.
Wilf Dinnick, CNN, aboard the HMC Iroquois, Strait of Hormuz. (END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: We are expecting big news today in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The case dominating the international headlines last year when the British toddler vanished during a family vacation in Portugal. Police named the girls' parents as formal suspects along with a local man. All have denied involvement in her disappearance.
Portugal's attorney general is due to make an announcement today. Among the possibilities, clearing any or all of the formal suspects filing charges or ordering the investigations be put on hold.
HARRIS: Deadly explosions aboard a pair of city buses in South- western China this morning. Two people are dead as many as 14 other people were injured. The blast in Kunming came about an hour apart. Public security official say it was a deliberate attack. Police have clamped down on traffic in and out of the area as part of the on going investigation.
China's new clean air campaign trying to curb pollution ahead of the Olympic Games.
CNN's John Vause with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 18 days before the Olympics and Beijing still can't breathe easy with this sprawling city of 17 million waiting to its usual heavy days of pollution. To clear the air, hundreds of factories in the capital and beyond are now closed. Others have cut production. More than a million cars are off the road, and work on all construction sites is on hold.
Thousands of workers have been sent home and unpaid vacation many say they didn't want.
We want to work hard for a long time, he says, but because of the Olympics, we don't have jobs anymore.
No work means no pay, says another.
The government has opened new subway lines and put more buses on the roads. And has lowered the cost of fares. It's a last-minute drastic scramble to reduce pollution. A plan which has no absolute guarantee of success.
MALCOLM GREEN, BRITISH LUNG FOUNDATION: To my knowledge this has never been done before. Somebody take a city and hugely reduce the amount of polluting sources like cars, factories. And it will be fascinating to see what does happen.
VAUSE: Olympic officials admit they are hoping for a stiff breeze and some good rain to wash the air clean. If that doesn't happen, pollution might stay stubbornly high.
GEORGE THURSTON, NYU, ENVIRONMENTAL MEDICINE: And if they put on the control measures, my expectation is it's still be probably at least double what the pollution level would normal be in a city like New York.
VAUSE (on-camera): And all of this is just a quick fix for the Olympics and the Paralympics. After mid-September, the factories will fire up, the construction will restart, and all the cars will be back, and so will the pollution. John Vause, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COLLINS: "The Dark Knight," a smash at the box office and a smash with our iReporters. A look at what you sent in.
But first, investing in a shaky market now. It could have pay off down the road. Ali Velshi shows us "Right on Your Money."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Money may be tight these days, but now might be the time to invest even if it's only a small amount.
HILARY KRAMER, AOL MONEY COACH: We're so low. It's always where you start investing. This is a perfect time to put your money in the market. Absolutely perfect.
VELSHI: The key could be thinking long term.
KRAMER: It is the power of long term investing. What you have to realize is that if you invest $500, $500 in an S&P 500 Index, and it does 10 percent over the next 20 years, you're going to more than double your money. So, as long as you have a very, very long time horizon, decades rather than months through the years, there's a lot of money to be made.
VELSHI: But there are ways to invest and cash out sooner rather than later.
KRAMER: Well, it depends when you need access to the money. If it's in the next one to two years, do a Certificate of Deposit.
VELSHI: CD's are offered for fixed terms. From a few months up to five years. But remember, withdrawals before maturity will usually be hit with a substantial penalty. And that's this week's "Right on Your Money."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: She vanished just days after telling her sister she was leaving her husband. This morning, a soldier missing from Fort Bliss in Texas has been found alive. Family members of Private First Class Jeneesa Lewis said she had been beaten and stabbed but she is OK. They say Lewis told them she was abducted by her husband. That man, Clinton Lewis, is being held right now in an El Paso jail. He is charge with aggravated kidnapping. COLLINS: New developments in the death of a pregnant woman whose uterus was cut open. Police have charged another woman, Andrea Curry- Demus, with criminal homicide, kidnapping, and unlawful restraint. They say she's the same person who showed up at a hospital with a baby that was not hers.
Our Jim Acosta has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Using dental records, the Allegheny County Medical examiners office identified the body of 18- year-old Kea Johnson. Police say the pregnant woman was found inside a suburban Pittsburgh apartment building with her arms and legs bound. Her mouth gagged. Investigators believe she was drugged before her baby was cut out of her womb.
KARL WILLIAMS, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Her abdomen had been opened with a sharp weapon. The uterus had been opened. The uterus appeared to be what we say is gravid, meaning that there had been a baby there.
ACOSTA: Police say the apartment where Johnson's body was found belong to 38-year-old Andrea Curry-Demus. Investigators believed the two may have know each other.
CHARLES MOFFATT, SUPT. ALLEGHENY COUNTY POLICE: We have information that they've met one another. How far it goes back, we don't know at this time. But we do have evidence there was contact between the two of them.
ACOSTA: Last week, authorities say Curry-Demus took a baby to a Pittsburgh Hospital and claimed it was hers. Then she said she bought the infant from a local woman. Curry-Demus told reporters after her arrest, quote, "I didn't do nothing." That stunning news put a new renewed focus on the whereabouts of Kea Johnson, who had recently gone missing. Before Johnson's body was identified, relatives were beginning to worry.
SHAKEEA WASHINGTON, VICTIM'S SISTER: I don't know where she's at. She is pregnant. It's not like her. She'd been gone for three days. It's not like her just to be missing. She would have called somebody. She does not not go home.
ACOSTA: According to the "Pittsburgh Tribune-Review," Curry- Demus suffered two miscarriages ages 12 and 21. In 1990, she was accused in an alleged plot to steal a woman's baby and in a separate incident of kidnapping an infant from a hospital. She was sent to prison after pleading guilty to various charges from both incidents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did she do that? Why did she do that? Why?
ACOSTA: Flash forward to this year. Friends and relatives say Curry-Demus had told them she was pregnant and went so far as to attend a baby shower. STEPHANIE EPPS, SUSPECTS SISTER-IN-LAW: She would never like let you touch her stomach. (INAUDIBLE) some of that. A pregnant woman do things like that. They are happy because they are pregnant. But she would never do any of that. She wouldn't let me do that at all. She just kept a distance from me.
ACOSTA (on-camera): Authorities say that baby boy Andrea Curry- Demus brought to the hospital is doing fine. Curry-Demus is scheduled to appear in court later this week.
Jim Acosta, CNN, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: A summer Sunday outing and an air show upstage by a surprise appearance. This Northwest Airlines 757 had to interrupt yesterday's air show at Dave International Airport in Ohio. An engine computer had failed on attempt to Detroit flight. And that force the unscheduled stop. The plane landed safely and the show resumed.
COLLINS: A buffo weekend for "Batman." See "Batman" had come in. That would have been a really big surprise.
HARRIS: Now, you're talking.
COLLINS: Find out how much money moviegoers spent on the super hero.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: OK. A lot of folks went to see this movie over the weekend. I'm telling you let's hope it boosts up the company's stock here.
COLLINS: Yes. That's ours, right?
HARRIS: That's ours. A record-setting opening weekend for "The Dark Knight." They took in a whooping $155 million. That shatters the previous record set by "Spiderman 3" in 2007. Movie goers are raving about the performance by the late Heath Ledger. He plays a deeply disturbed Joker.
COLLINS: And I know you went to go see "Mama Mia."
HARRIS: Twice.
COLLINS: So, those --
HARRIS: Oh, no, I'm going to see that. I need something for my spirit after "The Dark Knight."
COLLINS: Yes, got it. Hey, there's also a music video that was shot without a camera. And this box office smash that you just saw. Just a few of the most popular stories on CNN.com this morning.
And Veronica De La Cruz is joining us now with the details. You've been busy, busy.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN INTERNET CORRESPONDENT: "Mama Mia"? Did Tony say he went to go see "Mamma Mia"?
HARRIS: Yes. Go, go see "The Dark Knight." You will be running to see "Mama Mia." Something to lift your spirits. Guarantee.
DE LA CRUZ: Tony, for shame, all right. All right, let's go ahead and get you to this most popular stories. And start with a radio who has a new video. With no lights like Heidi, was just saying, no camera.
This new music video for House of Cards is getting a whole lot of action especially on CNN.com this morning. You're looking at it right here. It's the most popular video on our Web site right now. It features director James Frost who talks about just how he did it. He traded in lights and a camera and he replaced them with lasers and a computer.
And Tom York who is the lead singer for the band said that he really, really wanted to push the envelope when it came to technology. There you see a portion of the video. They recreated his face 3-D imagery.
So, what do you think, Heidi?
COLLINS: I think it's pretty cool. At first, I was going to poo poo it. But now, I'm not. I think it's kind of cool. I haven't seen it in its entirety. So, I think it looks pretty cool.
DE LA CRUZ: It's already great.
COLLINS: Also, big on the Web, as you well know, the new Batman movie.
DE LA CRUZ: "Mama Mia."
COLLINS: Yes, "Mama Mia." I hear Meryl Streep is great.
HARRIS: Yes.
COLLINS: But seriously -- boy, Heath Ledger, people are talking about him like crazy this morning.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. It's all over the Web. It was big at the box office. You know, "The Dark Night" stars Heath Ledger as the Joker. Christian Bale as Batman. And like Tony just said, it broke box office records taking in a whopping $155 million in its first weekend.
So, let's go ahead and show you what our iReporters had been saying about all of this. It's big on the Web.
Brandon Thompson sent us this. He says that he got dress up to go and see the movie and says that the hype is justified. As a fan of the comic, Heath Ledger created the definitive Joker. What do you think? How does he look? How does Brandon look?
COLLINS: Oh, like a freak.
DE LA CRUZ: No, he looks great. He looks great.
COLLINS: OK.
DE LA CRUZ: Brandon says it is the best movie of the year. If not, ever. And he thank Heath for making something truly amazing.
All right, what do you think about Spencer Tucker then, Heidi, because he also got dressed up?
COLLINS: He looks like Marilyn Mason.
DE LA CRUZ: He looks like the Joker.
COLLINS: He does. OK, he looks exactly like the Joker.
DE LA CRUZ: So, Spencer says that the movie was so epic. Every other film is terrible in ratio. May as well give up on trying to find another film and watch "The Dark Knight" over and over and over again.
Finally, Christina Perez. She also got dressed up as the Joker. Let's take a look at Christina.
Heidi?
COLLINS: OK. It's getting better.
DE LA CRUZ: It's getting better?
COLLINS: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: I think she did a good job. She says that she waited with her friend in line for four hours to see it. And she says that we all love Heath Ledger and this is our way of celebrating his life.
COLLINS: Wow.
DE LA CRUZ: Just a little bit of what we're seeing coming into iReport.com. Let us know what you thought about the movie. You can log on to iReport.com and you can send us your submission.
Heidi, are you going to dress up as the Joker?
COLLINS: I'm definitely not dressing up. There's no danger in that. But I'm considering seeing it now. I wasn't really into it until everybody was telling me about Heath Ledgers and how great he is.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Yes. I absolutely agree.
COLLINS: Did you see it? DE LA CRUZ: I haven't seen it yet. "Mama Mia" is on my list now.
HARRIS: That's what I'm talking about.
COLLINS: Changing minds here in the CNN NEWSROOM. That's right. All right, Veronica, thank you.
HARRIS: How about this? No charge for the world' most famous wardrobe malfunction. Remember Janet Jackson's expose breast during the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Well, CPS got $550,000 by the FCC for indecency.
COLLINS: Is that all?
HARRIS: But just minutes ago -- how about this? A Federal Appeals Court tossed out that fine saying the FCC overstepped its bounds.
COLLINS: All right, back to the news now. A candidate (INAUDIBLE) on the war on site. And we're also talking about Barack Obama's visit to Iraq. We're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COLLINS: Good Morning, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.
HARRIS: And I'm Tony Harris. Stay informed all day in the CNN NEWSROOM. Here's what's on the run down. Dangerous Dolly, tropical storm could make land fall in the U.S. as a hurricane. It is on our radar.
COLLINS: Dolly, already have threat oil prices. They are higher today after fears of the storm could stop the Gulf of Mexico drilling.
HARRIS: And the candidate's second stop in a war zone. Barack Obama in Iraq right now after visiting Afghanistan. It is Monday, July 21st, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.
COLLINS: New details coming this morning in the shooting death of two young Oklahoma girls. The victims, one 13 and the other 11 years old were found along a gravel road last month. Police have scheduled a news conference for this morning. They are expected to release the 911 call made by one of the girl's relatives. No arrests had been made.
HARRIS: Happening right now in Iraq. Presidential candidate Barack Obama, talking with top leaders about progress and plans for the country. He is part of a congressional delegation but he's getting a lot of attention on this trip as potential president.
Our Morgan Neil is in Baghdad. Our Jessica Yellin is on the story for us from Washington.
And Morgan, let's start with you. Has Senator Obama, met with sitcom commander General David Petraeus yet? MORGAN NEIL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have not heard about that meeting yet, though it is one of the meetings we do expect to see take place. The most recent we've seen is with between Senator Obama and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. That just happened a short time ago. Surprisingly, though, Baghdad wasn't the first stop for Obama and the Congressional delegation.
