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Bracing for Dolly; Piece of Heavy Construction Equipment Tearing through Jerusalem; T. Boone Pickens on Capitol Hill This Morning; Burglars Taking Advantage of the Mortgage Mess; Congress Working on Plan To Rescue Struggling Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae; Barack Obama Takes the Next Step on his Overseas Trip

Aired July 22, 2008 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

You'll see events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Tuesday morning, July 22nd.

Here's what's on the rundown.

Dolly closes in on the Texas coast. Tropical storm could gain hurricane force before hitting land. Live report just ahead.

HARRIS: The presidential candidate confers with the king, Barack Obama, in Jordan now. We will hear from him next hour.

COLLINS: And they take everything, including the kitchen sink. Thieves target foreclosed homes, in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: Let's talk weather. Let's talk Dolly. The hurricane warnings are up, and the clock is counting down.

Tropical Storm Dolly is expected to make land fall as a hurricane near the Texas/Mexico border and coastal residents to the north and south, as you would expect, are scrambling.

They're snatching up plywood, flashlights and other supplies. Texas has mobilized 1,200 National Guard troops and other emergency crews. The state has also put some 250 buses on standby in case emergency evacuations are necessary.

CNN is following all the latest developments. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the Weather Center tracking the storm and her colleague, Reynolds Wolf -- there he is -- sure, right in Dolly's projected path.

COLLINS: Let's go ahead and begin with meteorologist Jacqui Jeras, though, in CNN hurricane headquarters, keeping very close tabs on the storm.

Hi there, Jacqui.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right, Jacqui, thank you.

Want to go ahead and get to Reynolds now. He is, as we said, in the popular beach resort of South Padre Island. Want to get the very latest.

I see your shirt blowing there a little bit in the wind, Reynolds.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and it's been blowing a little bit more just over the last hour or two. It's kind of a surreal experience right here for the time being. I mean if you look around it looks like any other July morning. It's just beautiful. You have a lot of people out here on the beach.

A lot of people are here on vacation. They've been planning this for quite some time and now, sure enough, their timing couldn't be worse. They're coming the same time Dolly is brewing in the gulf and she's heading in this direction.

Right now we do see more clouds blowing in. What we do anticipate later on today is the clouds to really begin to build up. The wind is going to increase. Not just here, but, hey, let's show you some video.

Farther to the north of Galveston, we've got breezy conditions there that are going to pick up. You know this the first system that has really affected the coastline since Humberto, back in 2007 in September, stayed off the coast for about 20 minutes and a cup of coffee before it came onshore, and that was really the only one to affect the U.S. mainland just last year.

Now, right now, for the time being as, again, I mentioned to you, it is kind of a quiet situation here, but for the time being, but I will tell you that people are slowly beginning to prepare.

In fact, over in Brownsville, Texas the city is getting sandbags prepared. People are able to come by and if they bring their owning bags, were able to get about 20 sandbags or if they just go there empty-handed, they're allowed to take home five.

Some of the hotels in the area beginning to board up some of the stores, too. Really kind of a tense situation. They're just waiting and watching for the storm to come in and expecting that weather to change.

Let's wrap it up and send it back to you in the studio.

COLLINS: All right, Reynolds, we will certainly check back with you as the morning goes on here. Thanks so much, coming to us from South Padre Island this morning.

Meanwhile, when the weather becomes the news, remember to send us your iReports. Just go to Ireport.com or you can always ireport@CNN.com into your cell phone. But of course, please remember to stay safe.

And happening right now in Jordan, Barack Obama continuing the Middle East leg of his overseas trip. He arrived in Amman about an hour ago.

We will hear from him live next hour. Our Suzanne Malveaux is watching from Washington.

Suzanne, good morning.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.

HARRIS: What are the challenges still ahead for Barack Obama on this trip, maybe starting with Jordan today?

MALVEAUX: Well, Tony, first thing that he's doing, he's sitting down with Jordan's King Abdullah who really plays a critical role in the Middle East peace process.

From there he's going to head to Israel and Obama really has a delicate balancing act here. Many Arab leaders want to be reassured that the Palestinians are going to come out on top regarding talks with Israel.

Obama's recent comments to pro-Israeli lobbying group, however, in the United States over the status of Jerusalem did create some concern among some of those Arab allies that Obama may favor Israel.

Obama is also -- as well trying to satisfy two very important groups, the leaders abroad as well as the Jewish-American lobby here at home -- Tony?

HARRIS: And, Suzanne, boy, has Barack Obama, to this point, accomplished what would have to be his mission of avoiding political mistakes in Afghanistan and Iraq?

MALVEAUX: You know, so far, it seems like overwhelmingly he has. If anything, he seems to gain some support for his goal of pulling out U.S. troops in 16 months.

It was after his meeting with the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al- Maliki, there was an Iraqi spokesman that said their government would like to see the troops out by 2010. Obama also released a statement saying that the Iraqi leaders want what they call an aspirational timeline with a clear date.

But there are some critics, Tony, and some political pundits, who believe that Obama may have crossed the line in appearing to negotiate with the Iraqis over these troop levels as if he was already president, they say.

Well, Obama's aides say that the candidate fully recognizes there's only one president at this time. And that these are useful and substantive meetings.

So there's still a bit of a ways to go on this trip. We'll see how he does.

HARRIS: That's right. And our very own David Gergen suggested such just last night on "ANDERSON COOPER 360."

All right, Suzanne, great to see you. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Good to see you.

HARRIS: And what are people in Jordan saying about Barack Obama's visit? We're finding out for you.

Our Hala Gorani has that story at the half hour and we expect to hear from Senator Obama in less than an hour, remarks planned for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. We will bring that to you live.

COLLINS: John McCain also talking today, the setting, a little less exotic. He is in New Hampshire. His focus, the economy, gas prices and energy policy.

Yesterday he met supporters at a picnic in Maine and he got some support from another big time political player, former president George H.W. Bush.

Sources in the McCain campaign tell our reporters there has been some talk about the possibility of McCain naming a running mate this week. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

HARRIS: Yes.

COLLINS: But right now that's just talk.

We'll bring you Senator McCain's town hall meeting live at noon Eastern.

HARRIS: And five people injured in a strange incident in Jerusalem this morning. The Israeli government calling it a terrorist attack. A man identified by police as Palestinian crashed into several cars and a city bus with a back hoe. He was shot and killed.

Remember, it was just three weeks ago another Palestinian man drove a bulldozer into cars in Jerusalem. At least three people were killed in that attack. The Israeli government also labeled it a terrorist attack.

COLLINS: Radovan Karadzic in custody this morning, under arrest in Serbia.

The so-called "Butcher of Bosnia" was hiding in plain sight, although with a whole new look.

CNN's Alessio Vinci is live in Belgrade, Serbia this morning with the very latest.

Alessio, good morning to you.

ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Heidi. After 13 years on the run, Radovan Karadzic, the -- one of the most wanted war criminals in the world, ended up in a cell in this building behind me here in Belgrade.

This is the war crimes court here in Belgrade. He was brought here last night, we do understand, that he was already brought in front of a judge who has already made the decision that all the conditions have been (INAUDIBLE) for Radovan Karadzic to be extradited to the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague.

And a decision that his lawyer, we understand, will appeal in the next three days or so. The whole extradition process could take anytime between three to six days.

Karadzic, as you mentioned, managed to escape for so long arrest by basically changes his identity, both in the way he looked, as well as his name. He posed as Dragan Dabic, a doctor who worked in a small practice in an area of Belgrade called New Belgrade.

He grew a beard and was sporting glasses. A very different picture from what we are used to see -- what seeing Karadzic almost more than a decade ago with a very distinctive white puff of hair that was his traditional trademark.

We do understand from his brother, Luka Karadzic, who was the only person so far who has met Karadzic in the prison here, in the cell here behind me, that Mr. Karadzic is in good spirits, according to his brother, in good health. That he has lost a lot of weight, but according to his brother, he is full of optimism.

There are, of course, a lot of people celebrating this arrest. Not here in Serbia, but in neighboring Bosnia, where, of course, Sarajevo that was held by forces, by Serb forces, led by not only Radovan Karadzic but also his military commander, Ratko Mladic.

People there in Bosnia and Sarajevo celebrated all night, and people telling reporters there that they've been waiting for this day for a very long, long time.

Heidi, back to you.

COLLINS: They certainly have.

All right. CNN's Alessio Vinci in Belgrade for us this morning.

Alessio, thank you.

HARRIS: A story on the radar right now, we want to put it on yours. It's a situation going on right now in Melbourne, Florida. A possible hostage situation at the Office Depot on New Haven Avenue.

I want to show you pictures from a short time ago. Of course, I can show you live pictures of this situation right now as police are on the scene as you would expect. No word on how many are being held by how many.

But, again, this is Melbourne, Florida, which is southeast of Orlando, central, eastern coast of Florida. And a hostage, a possible hostage situation there at that Office Depot. Just want to put it on the record.

We are going to continue to follow this story and get you additional information as it comes in to the NEWSROOM.

COLLINS: The down economy hurting Americans in more ways than one, but Treasury Secretary Paulson assures all the nation can rebound. What the government wants to do to boost your bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Welcome back, everybody, I'm Heidi Collins.

Barack Obama may have stolen his spotlight, but John McCain doesn't want him to take the credit. McCain pushes back on Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live breaking news, unfolding developments, see for yourself in the CNN NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: More losses for Americans, big banks and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson urges Congress to act on a rescue plan for the down economy.

Gerri Willis is "Minding Your Business."

OK, Gerri, a lot to cover there. I guess we're talking about Wachovia.

GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Right.

HARRIS: And what is Henry Paulson saying?

WILLIS: Let's start with Henry Paulson.

HARRIS: OK.

WILLIS: He spoke this morning at the New York Public Library, and of course, he was trying to reassure everybody that the banking system is safe. He says 99 percent of banks out there are well capitalized and, as some context here, you might be interested, Tony, he said at the height of the S&L crisis -- that's the last time we had a major banking crisis-- there were 255 bank failures every year.

This year we've had five. So he said the two situations don't even compare. He was really urging Congress to act on the administration's plans to help out Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, and just as we described, those are two government-sponsored entities, really public companies, that stand at the center of the mortgage meltdown.

They actual are involved with half of the 5 trillion mortgages out there. They package them into loans and then resell them as investments. Here's what he said needs to be done with Fannie and Freddie.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HENRY PAULSON, TREASURY SECRETARY: Because of their size and scope, Fannie and Freddie's stability is critical to financial market stability. Investors in our nation and around the world need to know that we understand how important these institutions are to our capital markets broadly and to the U.S. economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIS: And he continued to say that fixing Fannie and Freddie were central -- is central to the speed with which we emerge from the housing crisis. He says housing is the major thing holding the markets back.

Just quickly, I want to talk about Wachovia.

HARRIS: Yes, yes.

WILLIS: Which reported earnings or should I say losses today. Really disappointing quarter for that company. It is the fourth largest bank in the country.

You can see here, earnings down 214 percent. And it is -- this mortgage meltdown that they're really experiencing big...

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: ... loan losses written off for that bank. And, of course, you know, we've seen all of these banks struggling with the results of this mortgage meltdown -- Tony?

HARRIS: Well, thank goodness for Wells Fargo last week.

I got to ask you, Gerri, if you're worried about your money in the bank, what do you do? What can you do?

WILLIS: Well, look, you know, people are coming to me and asking me, do I pull my money out of the bank? And my answer is no, no, no. Where you going to put it?

HARRIS: The Sealy mattress.

WILLIS: No.

HARRIS: All right. OK.

WILLIS: Don't go there.

HARRIS: I won't go there.

WILLIS: I mean, you know, look, somebody could just come to your house and rip you off, right?

HARRIS: That's true. That's true.

WILLIS: What you want to do, look for that FDIC logo on your bank. That means that you are insured. You didn't even have to pay for this insurance. The banks pay for it for you.

Go to FDIC.gov if you have questions. It will tell you how much you're covered for. But as we've been talking about the coverages are $100,000 for individual bank accounts. If you have a joint bank account, maybe with a spouse, your coverage is $200,000, $250,000.

If you have a retirement account, a KEO, maybe an IRA at a bank, there are coverages out there, and more than you may think. So definitely check out the FDIC Web site.

There are still folks who are worried, though, Tony, have questions about their bank.

HARRIS: Yes.

WILLIS: I want to know if it's safe. Go to Bankrate.com. They actually have ratings on banks. You can see how well capitalized your bank is, like that. It's all boiled down to one number.

HARRIS: You know what, Gerri, these uncertain economic times, it is so reassuring to know that you are available with top-notch economic advice, not only the NEWSROOM, "AMERICAN MORNING," "ISSUE #1," "OPEN HOUSE," but also on "The View."

Cue the tape.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE VIEW")

ELISABETH HASSELBECK, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: If you have a mortgage right now, how are you protecting that? How are you protecting your own situation?

WILLIS: Well, I think if you have an adjustable rate mortgage right now, you should go out and get a fixed-rate mortgage, because you don't know where that's going to go.

Interest rates are probably going to move higher, although, you know, I can't forecast rates. But I think there's a big fear out there that inflation is going to higher, interest rates are going to go higher -- get a fixed rate loan.

BARBARA WALTERS, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: What do you put your money in?

WILLIS: What do I put my money in? A lot of mutual funds. I don't like to buy individual stocks. Index funds.

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST, THE VIEW: Well, listen, everybody, if you want to know more, Gerri's on CNN. You can catch her show on Sunday mornings. I catch her every week.

Check out -- everybody in the audience is getting the book. Read it. "Home Rich." (INAUDIBLE) Check it out on our Web site. We'll be right back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Everyone in the audience received a copy of your book, "Home Rich." That is just terrific.

Gerri...

WILLIS: Nice, nice people. I have to tell you that.

HARRIS: How about that?

WILLIS: The nicest group of women I've ever met.

HARRIS: That is terrific.

WILLIS: They are lovely.

HARRIS: It's great to see that you're getting everywhere with this and giving people great advice.

WILLIS: Thank you, Tony.

HARRIS: But we're very happy that we have you right here in the NEWSROOM.

See you a little later this morning, Gerri.

WILLIS: Thank you so much, Tony.

HARRIS: Thanks.

WILLIS: Bye-bye.

COLLINS: A break in the case of the mysterious salmonella outbreak. A hot lead in Texas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: On the hunt for the source of the salmonella outbreak. Investigators say there has been a break in the case. The same strain found on the Mexican-grown jalapeno in Texas.

Our medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, is here now to talk a little bit more about this.

Except for the fact that people have gotten sick from this, you can make a joke that, you know, it was jalapeno in the library with the rope or something.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Right.

COLLINS: Because we've really done a lot of investigating with very few answers.

COHEN: Absolutely. They thought tomatoes and then they thought, they weren't quite sure, it was maybe the cilantro. But anyhow they -- this is the first time that they have actually found salmonella on a piece of food.

COLLINS: OK.

COHEN: Which may be sort of surprising.

COLLINS: Very.

COHEN: I think some people figure, well, of course, they found it before, but, no, this is it -- on a jalapeno grown in Mexico and they actually found this tainted jalapeno at a distribution center in Texas.

They don't know if the salmonella in the jalapeno made contact in Mexico or in Texas. But what they do know is that people are still getting sick, or they're certainly still getting reports of people getting sick. The epidemic is on the wane, but it is still -- appears to be going on.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: 1,237 people infected since this all started in April, 229 people hospitalized. And again, for the first time, they've actually found salmonella on a piece of produce. Forty-one 1 states have been affected.

COLLINS: Wow. I mean it's a pretty big deal.

Are we supposed to stay away from all jalapenos now or what are we doing now?

COHEN: Yes, stay away from all jalapenos that are raw. You can eat them if they're processed or canned or something like that.

COLLINS: OK.

COHEN: And serranos, you want to make sure that if you're old, older people, if you are a baby or -- not if you're a baby, but if you're a parent of a baby...

COLLINS: Right.

COHEN: Or if you have some kind of immune system problem, you don't want to eat serranos either.

COLLINS: Hmm, interesting. All right, so back to the tomatoes real quick.

We thought that they were the culprit. But are they safe now? Are they still on the "don't eat this" list?

COHEN: Yes, the FDA says you can go ahead and eat tomatoes as much as you want, any kind that you want. That's absolutely fine. Now the question that I have is: were tomatoes ever the problem or were they implicated falsely? COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: And the FDA is not giving a clear answer about that. They never found a tomato with salmonella. So it is possible the tomatoes never were the problem.

COLLINS: Wrongly accused.

COHEN: Right. They may have been wrongly accused but there may really have been tomatoes that made people sick. We just don't know at this point.

COLLINS: Yes, yes. Boy, it's hard to know. It's a really good indication after talking about the story for as long as we have, how hard it is to track these kinds of outbreak.

COHEN: Right, because produce travels between countries. It gets touched by a lot of different people.

COLLINS: Yes.

COHEN: It's not like going to grandma's backyard and picking a tomato. I mean it's...

COLLINS: No.

COHEN: It is hard to track where all of these fruits have been.

COLLINS: All right. Well, we appreciate you tracking it for you.

COHEN: Thank you. Thank you.

COLLINS: Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen, appreciate it.

HARRIS: And crossing into Jordan, Barack Obama takes the next step on his overseas trip. His remarks, live, next hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANNOUNCER: Live in the CNN NEWSROOM, Tony Harris and Heidi Collins.

HARRIS: And welcome back, everyone to the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.

COLLINS: Hi there, everybody. I'm Heidi Collins.

Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras is in the CNN hurricane headquarters keeping close tabs on what we now know as Dolly.

Jacqui, what's the latest?

(WEATHER REPORT)

HARRIS: And bracing for Dolly. The tropical storm is gaining strength and gaining ground as you just heard. And it's expected to be a hurricane strength when it comes to shore somewhere along the Texas-Mexico border. One Texas City in that projected path, Brownsville.

Joining us on the phone, Jimmy Manrrique. The city's public information officer.

Jimmy, good to see you. Good to talk to you. I got to ask you, with the information you have right now, the forecast at hand, what kind of weather event are you preparing for?

VOICE OF JIMMY MANRRIQUE, BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER: Well, at this point we're preparing for a lot of rain and some wind damage. Obviously, this is not where we wanted to end up, north of the storm, because like she mentioned, this is the dirty side.

But either way, we've planned very well for these types of events. We're ready. The citizens here are reacting very well. They've stocked up on their supplies. The stores have, you know, been full of people since yesterday. So, we've planned very well. The mayor is in contact with state and federal officials, and local and county officials as well. So, we're prepared. We're - obviously, we've prepared for the worst and hope for the best.

HARRIS: Yes, Jimmy, it does sound like you're prepared. The governor has mobilized members of the Texas National Guard. Are they on standby to your knowledge for your areas?

MANRRIQUE: Well, that's part of our Texas Task Force One Team, which includes the Texas military force, and that's all part of the plan that we have down here, Tony. So, we're -- we're -- you know, everything's in place. We've practiced exercises that we've done throughout the year. Come into place when a storm like this is coming towards us. So, we're ready. We're just -- like I say, we're hopeful for the best.

HARRIS: All right, Jimmy, one more time. Are you ready?

MANRRIQUE: We are ready!

HARRIS: Sounds like you're ready. All right. Jimmy Manrrique on the line with us. And he is the city's public information officer for Brownsville, Texas.

Jimmy, thank you.

COLLINS: A presidential contender gets a lot of press attention during his visit to Amman, Jordan. But some people there are asking, who is Barack Obama?

Our Hala Gorani is in Amman with more on the reaction to his visit.

Good morning to you, Hala. HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning. Well, I'm joining you from a windy hilltop in the Jordanian capital, Amman. We're expecting the presidential hopeful Barack Obama to make an appearance here in about half an hour.

We have local press as well as international and U.S. news broadcast services gathered here waiting for him to address journalists. Now, you mentioned earlier as you came to me that many Jordanians and in the Arab world, ordinary residents of this region are asking who is Barack Obama?

That's because unlike Europe, Barack Obama is not a household name in this part of the world. I do expect that to change as we get closer to the election. But, right now, people are unfamiliar with him, with his policy. Even though who know who he is basically have a general sense of his identity and definitely aren't familiar at all with John McCain.

COLLINS: So, are they, I assume, after this trip, after the speech that we know he will be giving there today, that they will become, then, more familiar -- not only with him, but perhaps, more importantly, with his policies?

GORANI: Well, you know, what's interesting is that according to recent polls many people in the Arab world say -- look, it doesn't really matter who is in the White House. There's great apathy in this region with regards to U.S. foreign policy.

They say U.S. foreign policy is pretty much fixed with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian issue. There's skepticism and they say -- well, no matter who is in the White House, things won't really change for me. So, that's kind of the feeling we're getting. That's why in the next 24 hours, by the way, Barack Obama's trip to Israel will be scrutinized in the region.

COLLINS: Yes, understandably so. All right, CNN's Hala Gorani for us, talking to us this morning from Amman, Jordan.

Hala, thank you for that.

And we do expect to hear from Senator Obama in less than an hour. His remarks playing for 10:00 a.m. Eastern. We're going to bring that to you live when it happens.

Well, Barack Obama may have stolen his spotlight, but John McCain doesn't want him to take his credit. McCain pushes back on Iraq. That story for you coming up in the NEWSROOM.

HARRIS: A piece of heavy construction equipment tearing through Jerusalem this morning. At least five people injured. The second such attack this month.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us live from Jerusalem this morning.

Boy, Paula, as we just mentioned, the second attack of this nature with construction equipment in, what, three weeks. Is today's incident being called a terrorist attack?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, yes. Within minutes of this attack happening, just a couple of hours ago, it was called by the Israeli officials a terrorist attack. But what exactly happened is what, it was a Palestinian from East Jerusalem. A 22- year-old, we understand, who was known to the police.

We take that as having a criminal record. Got into one of these earth-moving vehicles. He hit a bus. He then hit a couple of other cars. Wounding one person seriously to moderately. Wounding lightly about a dozen other people, until he was shot and killed by a civilian and also aboard a policeman.

Now, of course, this comes at a time when security is supposed to be incredibly tight here in Jerusalem. It happened just close to a hotel, where British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was on Monday and where the U.S. presidential candidate, Barack Obama, is expected within hours.

So, certainly security was going to be extremely tight. And, yet, this did happen. Now, it is eerily similar to what happened three weeks ago. That on the main Jaffa Road. One of the main roads in Jerusalem. In that particular attack, three people were killed. This time a civilian on board and a policeman acted very quickly and shot this attacker dead.

Tony?

HARRIS: All Right, CNN's Paula Hancocks for us from Jerusalem.

Paula, thank you.

COLLINS: Let's get you caught up now. Some economic numbers affecting you today. Another price drop at the pump. Gas is down a penny and a half this morning. It's the fifth straight drop, in fact, reported by AAA. Oil continues a slow slide this morning.

Tropical Storm Dolly now expected to have a nominal effect on oil production in the Gulf of Mexico.

We are also watching Wall Street. The markets opening just moments ago. You see it there. The big board showing the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down about 67, 68 points there. So, we'll keep our eye on those numbers as always right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

T. Boone Pickens on Capitol Hill this morning. Oilman talking to Congress about his new energy plan.

CNN's Brianna Keilar is live on Capitol Hill this morning.

And Brianna, there may be people out there who just don't realize that this big oilman is saying, you know, drilling not really the answer.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And certainly, Democrats are seizing upon that. Although, it's not exactly as cut and dry as Democrats are making it seem. But, yes, T. Boone Pickens, legendary oil and gas executive out of Texas. He's going to be -- actually, he's already sat down. Things just getting under way before the Senate Homeland Security Committee. And he's here to discuss his vision for energy efficiency in the U.S.

You probably have seen or heard his ad, perhaps you've seen his Web site. He's got this multimedia blitz going on right now to talk about what he sees as a solution. And he's put his money where his mouth is, if you will.

He's invested hundreds of millions of dollars in wind power, and he's laying out his plan which is to basically build a wind power corridor through the middle of the United States. It would go from Texas up to the Canadian border.

And the thing is, though, he's saying, you know, Congress, the federal government, needs to get involved. Because -- well, for a couple of reasons. It's such a huge undertaking. It spans several states. And also if you've ever lived any place where they've suggested putting say a wind farm, those big turbines, you know, that people always say those are eyesores. I don't want those in my backyard.

So, he's telling Congress that they need to get involved. The oil business of the past isn't the oil business of the future. And that the future really is these alternative sources of energy.

Heidi?

COLLINS: I know he has spent an enormous amount of money on a whole bunch of these ads and we have seen them going across our TV screens now for a little while. Anybody going to listen to him? What's your sense?

KEILAR: Oh, well, you probably got Democrats and Republican listening to him. And I know that just generally speaking, I think the public is somewhat interested because he's got this interesting media blitz and because of who he is.

COLLINS: Right.

KEILAR: What we have on one side is Democrats saying -- look, this is a McCain supporter and he is saying that this offshore oil drilling is not a long-term solution. But like I said, it's not that cut and dry, because he's also been quoted -- Pickens has also been quoted as saying, you know, in the short term drill anywhere and everywhere.

He's also said that all of this discussion that Democrats are promoting about cracking down on oil speculators is a waste of time. So, you really got Republicans and Democrats who can say there are certain parts of Pickens' argument that sort of suit what we're saying.

COLLINS: Yes. And that's the problem with this business. It's never that cut and dry. KEILAR: It's never.

COLLINS: All right. CNN's Brianna Keilar from Washington. Thank you, Brianna.

HARRIS: Burglars on the prowl, taking advantage of the mortgage mess. Even stealing the wires out of the wall. We're live with one neighborhood.

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COLLINS: You already know to catch us weekday mornings from 9:00 a.m. until noon Eastern, but did you know -- because we've been telling you now for a really long time. You can take us with you wherever you go on your iPod. The CNN NEWSROOM podcast, do not miss it. It is available 24/7 right our iPod.

HARRIS: You know, they are calling it a first step to ending the violence in Zimbabwe. Today, a secret location in South Africa, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and the opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai were expected to formally discuss a possible plan to share power.

Yesterday, the political rivals agreed to doing some talks. Zimbabwe has been plagued with political violence since the hotly contested presidential election.

COLLINS: At Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, opening statements set for today in the first war crimes trial since World War II. On trial, a former driver for Osama Bin Laden. Salim Hamdan is not considered a powerful terrorist. Instead, war crimes really refer to his alleged status as an illegal enemy combatant.

Hamdan said he endured beatings and solitary confinement after his arrest. The judge in the case has ruled that his statements cannot be used in the trial because he was subjected to highly coercive conditions.

HARRIS: Congress working on a plan to rescue struggling mortgage giant, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. Part of that discussion, what to do about hefty CEO salaries. Freddie Mac chairman and chief executive Richard Syron made $19.8 million last year, while the company stock lost half its value.

Fannie Mae president and chief executive Daniel Mudd got $12.2 million. More than $2 million of that was a bonus. The curbed on executives' salaries could be added to a housing bill that could be voted on in the House as early as tomorrow. And new numbers coming in just minutes ago. Congressional analyst now says a federal rescue could cost $25 billion.

COLLINS: Taking advantage of someone else's misfortune. Thieves zero in on homes in foreclosure.

CNN's Rusty Dornin is live now in one Atlanta neighborhood who is feeling this. Hi there, Rusty. This is awful.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, this is happening from Stockton to Boston, not only in Atlanta. But these vacant houses and the increasing number through foreclosure, burglaries.

Now, the burglaries are not what you think. They are people coming in, trying to steal things like copper, OK? Pulling out the drywall. Just ripping the insides of these houses out and causing incredible damage. Now, this theft of copper has been going on for a number of years. But the foreclosures and the big houses have been going up so much.

Here to talk to us, community developer Bob Forbes.

You know, you've really had some problems recently with this. Tell us what kinds of damage you're seeing.

BOB FORBES, COMMUNITY DEVELOPER: Well, here in the kitchen, we've got where they dismantled the entire kitchen. I mean, you can see this was once a pretty good house.

DORNIN: There's nothing in here.

FORBES: They've taken all the cabinets. They've taken the dishwasher. They've taken the stove.

DORNIN: They even took the kitchen sink.

FORBES: They took the kitchen sink. (INAUDIBLE). It's going to be a mess to clean this thing up. But we will be able to do it but --

DORNIN: But do you have to worry about people coming back?

FORBES: We're going to worry about that, too. They probably will come back and that's part of our problem. Keeping the trouble out of this house.

DORNIN: Yes, OK. Thank you very much, Bob Forbes. You know, the problem has been increasing so much that they have actually created a special detail of the Atlanta Police Department just specifically assigned to these vacant houses.

Now, we have with us here Burnett Collins and Brian Ernest who are assigned only to help with the burglaries on these vacant houses.

Now, Officer Earnest, tells how bad a problem is at Citywide in Atlanta?

OFC. BRIAN EARNEST, ATLANTA POLICE: It's very bad. It's very bad. You get houses like that wide open and vacant that brings a lot of criminal activity. A lot of vagrants in there. People are going in. They are stealing copper, sinks, cabinets, whatever they can get out of there.

DORNIN: But these are the only calls that you are going out on or actually, houses that are vacant already.

EARNEST: That's correct. Well, that's correct, for the most part.

DORNIN: And they are ripping out everything?

EARNEST: Everything. Anything they can get. Anything that's worth anything, they take. So, what we'd like to see is things like this going up so they'll close the property. That way nobody can get in. And it seems to be really effective.

DORNIN: Now, what we're seeing actually over here -- we're going to just take you over to the side here and show you. We've got some workmen going up or putting up some metal gratings on the windows, just so that the burglars won't come back.

I mean, the city is forcing people to go ahead and board up the windows. But, of course, when you just got plywood, a lot of times that doesn't work that well. So, they are putting up the metal gratings that you can see right here. They are, hopefully, going to keep people out of the houses.

And officers, when you see these boarded up, does it keep people out, or are they able to stop the burglaries from happening again?

EARNEST: It definitely slows them down. It definitely slows them down. Even the plywood. That works also. But just anything to board these houses up so the criminal activity doesn't come in there. It helps.

DORNIN: OK. Thank you very much. A special burglary force for vacant houses, Heidi. And they've had twice as many boarded-up houses that's here in Atlanta. If you look at these neighborhoods, you see house after house boarded up as they have had all of last year.

COLLINS: Yes. It really is amazing. I actually know a couple of people who had work with these companies to go in and clear the homes out after the eviction papers have been handed out and some of the things that they come upon, boy. You did a great job of showing it to us, Rusty. Unbelievable. We sure do appreciate it. CNN's Rusty Dornin coming to us from Atlanta today.

HARRIS: So, here's the question of the morning. Will Dolly develop into a hurricane? Tropical Storm bearing down on the Texas- Mexico Coastline. We are, of course, tracking.

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HARRIS: All right. Oh, we lost the picture. We wanted to show you a pretty cool picture just moments ago of an intense columnar vortex.

COLLINS: There it is.

HARRIS: How about that, Jacqui Jeras? It's amazing what a little Google time will do for you. (WEATHER REPORT)

COLLINS: All right. Also, we want to let you know that we do expect to hear from Barack Obama, coming up, in less than an hour from now. Those remarks will be coming to us 10:00 a.m. Eastern. That's what it's scheduled for. We will bring it to you live when it happens out of Amman Jordan today.

Barack Obama may be making headlines in Iraq and Amman today. But John McCain said he got the story right.

CNN's Dana Bash is traveling with the candidate.

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DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the shores of Maine, to raise campaign cash with his host, the first President Bush, John McCain tried to shrug off all the attention his rival is getting overseas.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: It is what it is. And I'm confident that we'll do very well and we'll succeed.

BASH: But that belies an intense McCain effort to keep Obama from using his trip, especially to Iraq, to burnish his foreign policy credentials.

MCCAIN: It is the surge that is winning this war. He opposed it.

BASH: McCain's message? Obama may have the spotlight, but I'm the one who should get the credit.

MCCAIN: When you win wars, the troops come home. And we are winning. And the fact is, if we would have done what Senator Obama wanted to do, we would have lost. And we would have faced a wider war.

BASH: What McCain aides are trying to protect is one of the few areas he beats Obama, big-time, ability to be commander in chief. The latest "Washington Post" poll gives McCain a 24-point lead on the issue. And some Republicans are quite alarmed at the Iraqi prime minister's weekend comments that appeared to support Obama's 16-month withdrawal deadline, which McCain opposes.

(on camera): Does it trouble you that that seems to undercut the message that you have against Barack Obama?

MCCAIN: It doesn't in the slightest undercut the fact that it's based on conditions on the ground.

BASH (voice-over): McCain pointed to the U.S. military commander for political backup, Joint Chiefs Chairman Mike Mullen, who said this Sunday about Obama's withdrawal plan.

ADMIRAL MICHAEL MULLEN, JOINTS CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I think the consequences could be very dangerous in that regard.

MCCAIN: I hope we pay attention to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, particularly someone who has no military experience whatsoever.

BASH (on-camera): That line hitting Obama for lacking military experience was no accident. With everyone from the White House to the Iraqi government talking more and more about troop withdrawal, what McCain wants to do is make this a debate about who is best to be sitting in the oval office to make tough calls on when and how to bring troops home. Not to mention how to deal with other hot spots around the globe.

Dana Bash, CNN, Kennebunkport, Maine.

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HARRIS: And crossing into Jordan, a live picture now. Barack Obama takes the next step on his overseas trip. His remarks, boy, we're just moments away, it appears. Jack Reed, Chuck Hagel, and the senator from Illinois. His remarks apparently within minutes right here in the NEWSROOM.

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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 rundown.

A candidate walking a fine line in the Middle East. Two groups in conflict want to know where Barack Obama stands. We will hear from him in minutes.

COLLINS: Big sales before the big blow. South Texas residents prepare for Dolly's land fall. The tropical storm expected to strengthen.

HARRIS: And from the grill to the bus. A school district fleet powered by propane? It's Tuesday, July 22nd, and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And we're going to take you to Amman, Jordan, right now where you see Senator Chuck Hagel. He is addressing questions from the assembled press. We are expecting to hear from Senator Barack Obama in just a couple of moments.

Let's get to CNN's Jessica Yellin who is following this event as it is unfolding from Amman, Jordan, for us from Washington, D.C.

Sorry, you weren't on that trip. I know you would have loved to have been there, Jessica. But I have to ask you, what are the challenges of this moment for Barack Obama?

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Barack Obama went overseas to take a firsthand look at the situation on the ground in Iraq because one, it is fundamental campaign promises has been to get troops out of Iraq quickly after he would took office. And I'll tell you something, Tony, things could not have gotten better for him so far.

He has seen events break his way almost every step of this event so far. When he was in Iraq, the prime minister chose that moment to say that he essentially agrees with Barack Obama's time frame for withdrawing troops. Iraqi prime minister saying about the year 2010, he'd like to see a draw down. This is exactly what Barack Obama would have hoped for.

John McCain is trying to draw contrast with Barack Obama making the point over and over that any draw down should be conditions-based.