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American Morning
Bombers Attack Worshippers in Baghdad; Knoxville, Tennessee, Shooting Kills Two Congregates; Qantas Defends Its Safety Reputation; President Bush Likely to Sign Housing Rescue Bill; McCain Trying to Get His Message Across to Young Republicans; New Clues on the Massive Hole of a Qantas Aircraft
Aired July 28, 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: Killer clues. Police looking for the motive after a gunman kills two at a gay-friendly church during a children's play.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please pray for this congregation.
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ROBERTS: And back in town.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I admit we did it really well.
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ROBERTS: Barack Obama gets a boost and takes the hits.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL)
NARRATOR: It seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.
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ROBERTS: For a trip spanning to globe, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning. Thanks very much for joining us. The beginning of a brand new week and the last one in July as well. It's the 28th already.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. August is just around the corner.
ROBERTS: How fast these things go by when we're having fun.
CHETRY: It's summer. Certainly we are having fun.
Well, we want to bring you some top stories this morning. And breaking, Iraqi officials are now saying it was three female suicide bombers who blew themselves up in front of thousands of Shiite pilgrims. At least 29 people were killed, more than 85 others wounded. The worshipers, all men, were taking part in an annual march to a holy shrine. To the north in Kirkuk, a gunman and a suicide bomber killed at least 36 people at a Kurdish political rally.
Two explosions going off in a suburban neighborhood in Turkey. Now, at least 17 people confirmed killed. More than 150 others wounded. It happened at about 10:00 at night on a crowded street in Istanbul. So far, no claim of responsibility but Istanbul's governor calls it "an act of terror."
ROBERTS: Qantas Airlines is defending its safety record after an enormous hole tore through a 747 fuselage. Investigators believe one of the oxygen cylinders aboard the Qantas Airline exploded in midair. The company's chief executive saying that more likely the blast was out of their control. Months earlier, the United States Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines to check oxygen bottles aboard the jumbo jets.
A Knoxville, Tennessee, church congregation is mourning two of its members who were killed when a man armed with a shotgun opened fire inside the church on Sunday. Seven other people were injured. The suspect, 58-year-old Jim Adkisson, has been charged with first degree murder. Both local and federal officials now searching for a motive.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is in Knoxville for us this morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, investigators kept many of the church members here for hours interviewing them, trying to piece together the timeline. Nearly, 200 people were watching a performance, a children's performance of "Annie," when the unbelievable happened.
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DORNIN (voice-over): When parishioners at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church first heard the crack of gunfire, some thought it might be part of the children's play they were watching. But confusion gave way to panic as many church members dove under pews or tried to flee as a man continued to fire a 12-gauge shotgun into the congregation.
Witnesses say when a white male first appeared at the door, he fired a shotgun point blank at one church member and then began firing randomly. According to witnesses, the suspect now identified as 58- year-old Jim Adkisson, paused to reload his gun, then he was tackled by two church members.
Less than five minutes after the 911 call came in, Knoxville police had the suspect in custody. Reportedly Adkisson never aimed at the children.
STEVE DREVIK, WITNESSED SHOOTING: We found everyone. There was a little panic at the end when we couldn't find three of the kids. We had to run out by the time I got in there to help search in the woods for the kids. But we located them. They went to one of the church's next door.
DORNIN: Investigators say the timeline of the shooting may get a boost from several people who were videotaping the children's play.
CHIEF STERLING OWWEN, KNOXVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: For those of how you had some experience and as you know, oftentimes, you believe that a video camera captures more than it actually does but we're going to review each and every one of them.
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DORNIN: Adkisson reportedly was not a member of this congregation, leaving the nagging question of why. His bail has been set at $1 million -- John and Kiran.
ROBERTS: Rusty Dornin reporting for us this morning. One of the victims fatally shot 60-year-old Greg McKendry. He is being hailed as a hero for shielding other congregates. The FBI now assisting in the investigation. It's looking into the possibility that the church shooting was a hate crime.
CHETRY: Now to the "Most Politics in the Morning." Republican presidential candidate John McCain taking to the airwaves, blasting Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling plans to visit members of the U.S. military when he was in Germany last week.
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NARRATOR: And now he made time to go to the gym but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.
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CHETRY: Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama is comfortable with his decision because he did not want to make troops part of the campaign event.
And today, Barack Obama turning his attention to issue number one, the economy. Before he leaves for Washington, Obama had to defend his trip at the unity conference in Chicago for minority journalists. Obama said his trip was no different from what John McCain did in March.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing wasn't in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates had done in the past. Now, I admit we did it really well, but --
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CHETRY: McCain was invited to speak at the convention as well but declined. It's now a nine-point lead, 49 to 40 percent in a new Gallup poll just released. More registered voters favor Barack Obama than John McCain.
ROBERTS: Other stories that we're following this morning. The Coast Guard suspending the search for a young girl who disappeared in the waters off of New York's Coney Island. Authorities say 10-year- old Akira Johnson is one of three swimmers still missing after encountering strong ocean currents at New York City in Long Island Beaches over the weekend. Four other people drowned.
Authorities in New Mexico are searching for two people reportedly swept away by flash floods in a resort town of Ruidoso. Some 300 people were evacuated from homes, camp grounds and an RV park after flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Dolly. More than six inches of rain fell in the area causing a river to overflow its banks.
In California, wildfire burning out of control near Yosemite National Park, has destroyed a dozen homes and is threatening some 2,000 others. Fire officials say it was sparked by someone target shooting in the area and then fueled by extremely dry timber.
CHETRY: This morning new evidence an oxygen tank may have ripped a massive hole in a Qantas Airlines' fuselage. Investigators say they found fragments close to where a missing tank should have been. Geof Parry from Australia's Seven News reports.
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GEOF PARRY, SEVEN NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): Australian investigators examining the hole in the jumbo have made an important discovery.
NEVILLE BLYTH, AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT AND SAFETY BUREAU: There's a number of cylinders in that location. There is one cylinder which is not present. It is not accounted for in that area, in the area associated with the damage.
PARRY: Why it's not there is a mystery.
BLYTH: We're obviously looking for evidence of where that cylinder may have gone, for fragments of the cylinder, all the top engineering aspects we should expect to be part of the investigation.
PARRY: The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has now ordered Qantas to check every oxygen bottle on all 30 of its 747s.
PETER GIBSON, CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY AUTHORITY: We think it's prudent to put safety first to get inspections done now rather than waiting any longer.
PARRY: The investigation may be extended to include the airlines' entire fleet.
GIBSON: Some of these bottles may well be in some other Qantas aircraft, obviously, doubt we were getting due course. But because this section involves the 747, we'll start there.
PARRY: Passengers on board QF-30 have also questioned the condition of the oxygen masks. They were forced to use during the rapid descent.
DAVID SAUNDERS, PASSENGER: The mask was falling away. It was starting to black out. We sat back up and held the mask and tried to tighten it again. The more I pulled it, the looser it got.
PARRY: Mr. Saunders says some children turned blue as parents struggled to give them oxygen.
SCOTT ROBINSON, PASSENGER: If you didn't have that oxygen on and you did go over, no one's going to be able to help you.
PARRY: The condition of the masks will be checked as part of the overall investigation.
PARRY (on camera): Aviation experts say even though the cause isn't known, it's unlikely 747s will be grounded. There are more than 1,000 of them in service around the world. To take them out of the skies would bring an already troubled industry to its knees.
In Manila, Geof Parry, Seven News.
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CHETRY: And coming up this hour, just how safe are U.S. jumbo jets and should America's airlines be checking their oxygen tanks? We're going to talk to a former NTSB crash investigator
ROBERTS: Courting young voters. We know Barack Obama is connecting with them, but how is John McCain doing? We asked a prominent college Republican about McCain's youth appeal.
CHETRY: Also, one housing group fighting to help homeowners back from the brink of foreclosure. We'll tell you how.
ROBERTS: And is the mustache making a comeback? Yankees slugger Jason Giambi grew one and started hitting the cover off the ball. We take a closer look at the power of the stache. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: 10 1/2 minutes after the hour. "The Dark Knight" keeps breaking box office records. The Batman sequel taking in $300 million in just 10 days' time. Previous record was set back in 2006 by "Pirates of the Caribbean, Dead Man's Chest" which took 16 days to make $300 million.
CHETRY: Wow.
ROBERTS: Well, nobody in the Senate was out there at the theater because they were working overtime over the weekend to pass the Housing bill. And our Gerri Willis is here to tell us more about what's in it for consumers.
Good morning.
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Hey, good morning, guys. Good to see you. Yes, this was an extensive bill. Housing rescue plan that has lots of stuff in it for consumers.
Let's start with how this bill will insure some $300 billion worth of mortgages for at-risk home loans. This program probably won't be up and running until October at the very earliest. But if you do have a problem with a loan, it's possible you can get a new loan with the amount written down, a guarantee from the federal government insuring that loan.
The next thing that this bill does is it increased loan cap guarantees to $625,000. What does that mean? Well, that means the government will stand behind your loan and that means rates could be lower. This is just an improvement to what FHA is doing, the Federal Housing Administration, help a lot of people out there. It also creates a first time home buyer tax credit at $7,500. Bad news is, though, John, you've got to pay it back.
ROBERTS: Yes. A few -- a whole bunch of stuff in this bill.
WILLIS: Yes.
ROBERTS: Some of the other more critical information and oversight, right?
WILLIS: Exactly. You know, you're talking about the government- sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These are two enterprises that really stand at the center of the mortgage meltdown. These two entities are behind half of the $5 trillion worth of mortgages in this country. There is hope for these two companies and they desperately need it.
It's not clear how much money they're going to need, but the federal government is going to stand behind it using your tax dollars. So that's probably the most important component of this bill. Also, more regulation for those two enterprises. And finally, $4 billion to renovate foreclosed homes and cities and counties and municipalities across the country.
CHETRY: That's the part of it that the president...
WILLIS: Did not like.
CHETRY: ... did not like and was going to veto because of it, but in the end --
WILLIS: In the end, yes, he came on board as did all of Congress really because this problem is so pressing for people across the country. And, of course, it hurts cities and towns because they rely on taxes from real estate to fund their operations.
CHETRY: All right. Gerri, thanks so much. We'll see you a little bit later in the hour.
Fighting foreclosure, we've been talking about it this morning. Well, one group admits it's a bit hostile when it comes to helping struggling homeowners but they're getting results. Find out how.
Also, our Rob Marciano is here. He's watching extreme weather for us this Monday morning. Hey, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hi, Kiran. Nasty storms yesterday causing big-time travel delays across the northeast. Will they re-fire today? Plus, a nasty typhoon planted in Taiwan. We've got pictures. AMERICAN MORNING will be right back.
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ROBERTS: 15 minutes now after the hour and time to fast forward to see what stories will be making news later on today. The safety of our nation's bridges is the focus of a report to be released at 11:00 this morning. Among the findings, America's 600,000 bridges are safe, but a quarter of them do need some sort of costly repairs.
At 11:10 this morning, the prime minister of Pakistan is scheduled to meet with President Bush at the White House. Mr. Bush is expected to press Pakistan to step up pressure on Islamic militants along the Afghan/Pakistan border.
And British billionaire Sir Richard Branson will be scheduled to take the wraps off of his latest aviation marvel today. It's the "White Knight Two." The aircraft is designed to air launch the "SpaceShip Two" which will eventually carry paying passengers into orbit.
And stay tuned because Richard Branson is going to be our guest in the 8:00 hour of AMERICAN MORNING. And that's what we're watching for you today -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Well, it's 16 minutes past the hour. Rob Marciano tracking weather for us from our Atlanta weather center this morning, looking at triple-digit heat for the south and central part of the country. And we may still see some delays because of the messy, messy northeast from yesterday.
MARCIANO: Yes, it was kind of bad up there. The front that caused those storms, Kiran, offshore now but there will probably be some residual pop-up thunderstorms later on today. It won't be quite as bad as yesterday as you see on the radar scope right now. We're not looking too shabby.
Hot and humid across much of the central plains. We have heat advisories with triple-digit heat. As you mentioned, places like Shreveport yesterday got up and over 100. That doesn't include the humidity and that is measured in the shape.
A lot of humidity across parts of the desert southwest. Flooding problems yesterday in New Mexico. This is from the remnants of Dolly actually and that's going to get caught up in places like Kansas and Oklahoma later on today and tomorrow, and getting to the Ohio River Valley as well. We still have flash flood watches and warnings posted for parts of New Mexico.
Typhoon Fung-Wong, check it out, hit Taiwan yesterday with winds of 100 miles an hour. Now it has been downgraded just a little bit but may restrengthen before it hits China later on today. Here are some of the pictures.
A dog stranded in China. Just huddled behind pillars. Look at this raging torrent of water. You know, it's tough to get actual reports of how much rainfall has fallen. But yesterday around noontime just as the outer rain bands were coming in, reports of 14 inches of rainfall. So this thing, tremendous amount of moisture, John and Kiran, and that's going to be the ongoing threat as it makes its second landfall into China later on today. Back to you guys in New York.
CHETRY: All right. Rob Marciano for us. Thanks so much.
Well, breaking overnight. Another suicide bombing in Iraq. This one on top of the series of bombings that took place over the weekend. We're live in Baghdad with more on the violence.
ROBERTS: A young conservatives pumped about having John McCain as their candidate for president? College Republican tells us how McCain is reaching young voters. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: We have been talking a lot about how important the youth vote is turning out to be in this year's presidential election. It seems that Senator Barack Obama is attracting lots of young voters. How is Senator John McCain doing when it comes to bringing in the youth vote?
Joining us now to talk more about this is the president of USC College Republicans, Ben Myers. So, Ben, what are you hearing from young people there on campus in regards to John McCain?
BEN MYERS, PRESIDENT, USC COLLEGE REPUBLICANS: Well, people are very energized about John McCain as far as young conservatives on campus go. We're on summer break right now, but many of our students are, you know, going to events and volunteering across the state. We have people working at a victory headquarters openings. We have people doing precinct walking and phone banking and stuffing envelopes.
ROBERTS: When you see Barack Obama attracting so many young voters, bringing so many in the tent, do you ever get concerned and say, wow, can we match that?
MYERS: Well, we don't necessarily need to match it. We just need to be able to get our message across. We just need to be able to have people listen to us and say, you know, take a second look at John McCain because, you know, young conservatives like myself, you know, really admire John McCain, his character, his service to our country. And, you know, we want to share that with young people across the campus.
ROBERTS: Do you connect with him in the same way that young voters connect with Barack Obama? You know, John McCain recently said that he's illiterate when it comes to computers. He doesn't use e- mail. You know, when you hear things like that, do you say to yourself, hey, this is my guy?
MYERS: Absolutely. I've always been a fan of John McCain. I was a fan of him in 2000. I'm a fan of him today.
ROBERTS: What about the Republican Party, because even many, you know, rock-rib Republicans are saying they're not really happy with the direction of the party. They don't think that it reflects the Republican values that they believe that it should. How are young Republican voters feeling about the direction of the party? And how are they feeling about the future of the party itself under John McCain?
MYERS: I think that young Republicans are feeling very good about the future of the party under John McCain. I think young conservatives are more likely to appreciate a maverick.
ROBERTS: Is he as much of a maverick as he was back in 2000? You know, you look at his voting record. In 2007, he voted an awful with President Bush. He voted 100 percent with President Bush in 2008.
MYERS: I think that at the end of the day, whether he's a maverick or he's a conservative, you know, he's a Republican. And you know, that's going to be better than a liberal Democrat.
ROBERTS: Even John McCain has acknowledged that he's got a bit of a challenge when it comes to young voters. Let's listen to what he said.
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SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I understand the challenge I have, and I understand that this election is really all about people of your generation.
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ROBERTS: When we look, Ben, at a recent CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll, voters 18-29 years old, 40 percent of them identify as Democrat, only 25 percent identify as Republicans. Is it difficult to recruit support for the Republican Party these days?
MYERS: I don't believe so. Certainly not seeing that on the college level. We have get out the vote weekends. We have over 500 students there, you know, walking precincts, you know, volunteering their time.
I have seen more and more people, you know, ask me, you know, hey, how can I get involved. You know, how I can help Senator McCain become president. And so, you know, we're seeing a lot of enthusiasm and it's very encouraging.
ROBERTS: It's going to be interesting to see, particularly coming up in the convention as well. Ben Myers is the president of the College Republicans at USC. Thanks for being with us this morning.
MYERS: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: And a quick programming note for you here. John McCain is going to be Larry King's guest tonight on "LARRY KING LIVE." That's at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Well, just 98 days and counting until the November election. We're going to hear what Barack Obama and John McCain need to do to win the White House.
And Qantas Airlines strongly defending its safety reputation as investigators discover new clues into just what might have ripped that nine-foot hole in the plane Friday.
You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most Politics in the Morning." It's less than 100 days now until the presidential election. John McCain and Barack Obama are again attacking each other on Iraq. But according to our next guest, their positions may be closer than ever on the Iraq issue.
Mark Halperin, a senior political analyst at "Time" magazine and author of "Times" up to the minute political Web site "The Page," joins me now. Good to see you this morning.
MARK HALPERIN, SR. POLITICAL ANALYST, "TIME": Good morning.
CHETRY: So, you know, we have Senator Obama who won the week, I guess you could say...
HALPERIN: Pretty easily.
CHETRY: ... politically...
HALPERIN: yes.
CHETRY: ... with this big eight-day trip overseas. And now a new Gallup poll shows an expanding lead for him. Forty-nine percent of registered voters said they would choose Barack Obama to 40 percent for John McCain. And as we've been talking about, less than 100 days, 98 if you're counting, until the general election.
HALPERIN: Right.
CHETRY: First, talk McCain, what does he need to do to gain some ground?
HALPERIN: He needs to figure out a way to go back on offense. This was a week last week where Obama was really driving the agenda. Now they're both back at home. They're both going to be talking a lot about the economy. McCain needs to talk about the economy in a way where voters have a sense of what he'll do, what his differences are with Obama. He's not done that yet. He's got to start doing it.
CHETRY: You say he needs to go back on the offense. His campaign has an ad out today criticizing Barack Obama for not visiting with troops in Germany. Is that the right path?
HALPERIN: To my mind, that's a little bit of a small thing. It's a little bit of a thing that doesn't really contrast. It's not about the future. It's criticizing Obama for some small thing in the past.
I don't think for my money, that's not where he needs to go to try to win this. I think McCain and his campaign has Obama a little bit in their head. The psychology is to play a little defense. To be a little bit churlish, they need to be bigger than that, I think.
CHETRY: Some analysts have said, OK, well, Barack Obama's likely peaked, that things probably aren't going to get any better than they did for him last week. He has 98 days to go.
HALPERIN: Now, he did have a good week but he's got to have to be a little bit more aggressive. I think some of the Democrats are worried that Obama is being a little bit too passive.
The trip was a big, exciting thing. He's turned downtown meetings. He's not come forward with any signature policy, policy issues that have really broken through. Later today, he's meeting with some economic advisers. We'll see if he also can be maybe a little bit more on the offensive on the economy to say, here's where I differ from John McCain. Tax is an issue though both will be talking about.
CHETRY: Does Barack Obama want to get more specific?
HALPERIN: I don't think he does. He's got a lead. I don't think it's quite as big as that Gallup tracking poll shows. He has a lead and again, some Democrats say he does need to be more specific. Maybe it won't help him win the election but if he's going to govern effectively if he wins, he's got to get more of a mandate for specific policies. That's a choice he faces on domestic policy, and I think it faced a little bit on Iraq, which is why you did see their positions coming a bit more together.
CHETRY: Yes, in fact, I wanted to ask you about that. So we have John McCain over the weekend saying that 16 months would be a "pretty good timetable for troop withdrawal." Barack Obama saying that it would be conditions on the ground that would determine whether or not he would keep troop presence in Iraq. So it seems like they're both coming to the center. HALPERIN: They're sounding -- they're sounding more like each other talking about the reality. Whoever takes over is going to be looking to draw down troops but recognize that there is a continuing mission there.
And I think the American voters are going to see them and say, maybe their issues, positions aren't so different. Maybe their records from the past don't matter. What matters is how would they manage the war going forward.
CHETRY: And so, does that make Iraq drop down as an issue of concern if people think that inevitably we're going to be getting out sooner rather than later regardless of who you pick?
HALPERIN: My guess is Iraq will stay in this mix throughout this election fight. But it's going to be less important than the economy and not so much policy on Iraq but who can exercise the kind of leadership people want to see.
CHETRY: Mark Halperin, great to see you.
HALPERIN: Thanks.
CHETRY: As always, thanks for being with us -- John.
ROBERTS: Coming up on the half hour. And here are some of the top stories that we're working on today.
A 58-year-old man being held in a million dollars-bond this morning accuse of walking into a Knoxville, Tennessee, church and opening fire during a kids' play. Two people were killed, seven others hurt. Most of them critically. No reports of any children being hurt though.
New clues into what might have caused a massive hole to open up on the side of a Qantas aircraft at 29,000 feet. Investigators say they found fragments of a missing oxygen container that may have exploded. The airline CEO says whatever happened, it was, quote, "more than likely beyond their control."
And breaking this morning, in Iraq, dozens are dead after three suicide bombings in Baghdad. The attacks each by females targeted Shiite pilgrims taking part in an annual march to a religious shrine. At least 36 people were killed in a separate bombing in Kirkuk.
CNN's Morgan Neil is live in Baghdad with details for us.
Morgan, this is an increasingly prevalent tactic that insurgents are using there in Baghdad, to use female suicide bombers.
MORGAN NEIL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John. It's because of the difficulties of searching them. Males will not search females here. So, the government is having to specifically train females to go out and do this type of work.
Now, what happened today, what we're hearing from the Iraqi Interior Ministry is that three female suicide bombers set off their explosives within 30 minutes of one another, killing at least 29 people and wounding at least 85 others. The vast majority of them believed to be Shiite pilgrims on their way to the mosque in Khadimiyah.
Now, the blast actually went off in Baghdad's Karradah neighborhood, which is south of Khadimiyah. There has been stepped up security there since the weekend when pilgrims began making their way into Baghdad. Security not as tight as it is in Khadimiyah itself, where the mosque is located.
Now, as I say, Khadimiyah has had females specifically trained to search for just this kind of attack. More than 200 of them. But they were in Khadimiyah itself, not down in Karradah. This pilgrimage is expected to bring something like a million people overall. This attack certainly points out how hard it is to the protect them.
John?
ROBERTS: Yes. Certainly presents, I guess, what to military officials call a target-rich environment there. What about this suicide bombing up there in Kirkuk? As we said, 36 people at least dead there at present.
NEIL: Well, what police in Kirkuk are telling us is that there was a crowd of Kurdish demonstrators protesting against a proposed electoral law. Gunmen opened fire on those protesters. In the midst of that, a suicide bomber in the crowd set off his explosives.
The latest we're hearing on that, police say 36 people have been killed. Another 116 wounded we're told. After this bombing, a crowd of angry Kurdish protesters headed to the Iraqi Turkmen Front Party's headquarters and set fire to a number of cars outside there -- John.
ROBERTS: OK. Particularly violent day in Iraq. Morgan Neil for us in Baghdad this morning. Morgan, thanks.
CHETRY: President Bush is expected to sign a huge housing bill to help struggling homeowners as early as today. The Senate passed this $300 billion package on Saturday. The legislation also sets up a government rescue plan to back up mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
And as America's housing market faces a tide of foreclosures, one non-profit group has found a way to help Americans struggling to pay a mortgage they can't afford. Here's CNN's Kate Bolduan.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, this non-profit group admits they are aggressive and sometimes confrontational when it comes to helping people stave off foreclosure, but they say it's worth it and they say it's getting results.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Patricia Ephraim was desperate.
PATRICIA EPHRAIM, HOME OWNER: I had to start working two jobs to keep the place afloat.
BOLDUAN: She says she could only manage her mortgage payment while all the other bills piled up. So, she, like thousands of other struggling homeowners seeking rescue, says she found it with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America, known as NACA.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to answer all this people, now.
BOLDUAN: The group's leaders say 20,000 people showed up over five days at this event in D.C., many facing foreclosure. NACA negotiates for homeowners directly with their lenders. They say the key is keeping people in their homes, restructuring expensive adjustable loans into fixed rates and keeping the mortgage with the same bank.
BRUCE MARKS, NACA CEO: We determine a budget and we submit that solution to the servicer. They only have to do one thing -- approve it.
BOLDUAN: NACA's CEO Bruce Marks calls himself a bank terrorist and is known for his radical tactics like swamping financial firms with protesters and also personal attacks on big bank CEOs.
MARKS: We go to where they live and we always want to have in the back of their minds -- is a NACA homeowner? Is NACA going to be there disrupting my country club, my social event, going to my kid's school because it's personal?
BOLDUAN: It may be working. Following the D.C. event, Marks says they sent out 10,000 restructured loan requests. 1,000 requests have already been approved. Patricia Ephraim was one of the lucky ones. She anticipates her monthly mortgage payment will drop by $600.
EPHRAIM: Just knowing that I have, you know, that kind of savings coming in is just a stress relief.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: NACA says because of the success they saw at the D.C. event and the fact that there are so many more homeowners in need, they say they're taking their program on the road with an eight-city tour this fall.
John?
Kiran?
CHETRY: Kate Bolduan for us, thanks.
And NACA also provides home loans which are based on your character rather than credit. The group's spokesman says its default rate has crept above one percent.
ROBERTS: 35 minutes after the hour. And speaking of credit, a lot of college students are going to be heading back to school in a couple weeks' time and what college student doesn't want a credit card, Gerri Willis?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes. And how many of them shouldn't have any? Well, coming up next -- how colleges and alumni associations are hustling your college students. That's next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. I just want to quickly make a correction. We told you about NACA, that group that helps provide home loans and helps people who are facing foreclosure restructure their loans to be able to keep their homes. The spokesman for the group says the default rate has never crept above one percent.
So, a success story for this group as they try to help struggling homeowners.
ROBERTS: Well, one percent, something that you'll never find in your credit card when it comes to interest payments.
WILLIS: Maybe for six months. Maybe.
ROBERTS: And with all of these college students heading back to school in the next couple of weeks or so, a lot of them are going to want to carry credits, but caveat emptor here, right?
WILLIS: Exactly. Here's something you might not know that might not be obvious and could actually hurt your college student. Apparently, colleges and alumni associations are making money off of your college students selling their personal information to credit card companies. At stake here, hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars in fees that the credit card companies are giving to colleges and alumni associations.
Here are the details. In exchange, colleges provide the student information to this credit card companies -- names, street addresses, e-mail addresses, even information on the college students' families. Lenders then aggressively market credit cards to these students.
And you know how this works. The rates are pretty high. They may have low introductory rates but then those rates reset higher. The colleges and alumni groups then collect fees from the purchases in some cases of these students.
In one example, the University of Michigan Alumni Association is collecting 0.5 percent on student purchases. They also make fees -- annual fees on each of these students. All of the details of these agreements vary, but suffice it to say, I don't think a lot of parents know out there what's going on with their college students and how they're being enticed into these credit cards.
And as you know, college students carry like $2900 worth of credit card debt, which is sort of disaster for them since they don't have typically a lot of money coming in.
CHETRY: And that's on top of the college loans that they owe. Right?
WILLIS: That's right.
ROBERTS: Kickbacks are alive and well here, aren't they?
WILLIS: Well, I guess you'd call it kickback. I know that this is being investigated. Lots of questions being raised about this right now -- who should have access to this personal information, should it be sold.
CHETRY: Hey, I wasn't that hard of a sell. They were giving out free T-shirts if you sign up for a credit card in college. Sure, why not.
WILLIS: Yes. Don't do that.
CHETRY: Thanks, Gerri.
WILLIS: Yes, don't follow that example.
ROBERTS: Thank, Gerri. We'll see you again soon.
WILLIS: Exactly.
ROBERTS: "Support the Stache." A mustache seems to provide the Yankees' Jason Giambi with renewed home run hitting power. But is it bringing sexy back? We'll take a closer look at the power of the stache. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up on 43 minutes after the hour. Athletes are known to have superstitions. Well, the Yankees' Jason Giambi has got a super stache, as in a mustache. After growing it, he suddenly had a power surge at the plate. Now, his lip fur has grown a legend all of its own.
CNN's Richard Roth is following it all for us this morning.
And I see you haven't quite joined the club yet.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: No. And it didn't help Jason Giambi and the Yankees last night who lost to the Boston Red Sox. And Giambi is sort of tailed off. But that thing you mentioned, John, is small. People don't really like the look of it, but it's brought change. Mustache power, New York Yankees style.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Power up the stache.
ROTH (voice-over): It's the mustache that took Manhattan and all of New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE), drives one right field. This is deep. Towards the corner. This one is gone! ROTH: New York Yankees baseball slugger Jason Giambi was in a slump so he decided to grow a mustache.
JASON GIAMBI, NEW YORK YANKEES: You know, it's kind of grown into its own like little personality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is it. Hard it in the center field for a base hit.
ROTH: The base hit kept on coming for Giambi and the Yankees, an organization that frowns on facial hair started winning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The stache, the power of the stache. Giambi's stache.
ROTH: Then a hair raising trend flourished on the sidewalks of New York.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see a lot of guys coming in with mustache. Must be something new.
ROTH: Of course mustache has never get old. From cartoon stars, to movie actors, to television detectives, to president, the mustache is part of world history.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gandhi, he had a mustache, right? Oh Gandhi is the best.
ROTH: Its men and their mustaches. And 95-year-old Paul Molley's (ph) barber shop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a crowd of people gathering, you know, your mustache in the face is a distinct face.
ROTH: But are mustaches sexy?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It depends on who is wearing it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not at all.
ROTH: But you'll accept Giambi's?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. As long as the Yankees keep winning.
ROTH (on camera): Do you think you attract women more with a mustache?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. I got seven women.
ROTH: Where? In the truck?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's really not very attractive at all.
ROTH: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. He looks much better without it, like you do.
ROTH (voice-over): Mustaches can get out of control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's kind of big and freaky now, I guess.
ROTH: Is there a special power behind the mustache?
GIAMBI: I hope so, because we're winning ever since I started growing it. So, if they get to world championship, I can look like an idiot for a while.
ROTH: Mustache madness climaxed the Yankee stadium this month when the team handed out 20,000 fake mustaches to the crowd.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mustache is all over.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: Well, one opposing player told Giambi his mustache is so bad. It's awesome if the Yankees don't advance to the championship. That mustache is going to disappear like the state that he is playing in.
John?
ROBERTS: Well, he said they didn't do so well last night. Maybe it's the power of --
CHETRY: It's hanging on by a thread.
(CROSSTALK)
ROTH: Like my life. It could be fading. But no, if they get into the playoffs, that mustache is staying. But it will be gone, I'm sure, if the Yankees don't make it.
ROBERTS: It somehow matches you in some weird and kind of crazy way.
CHETRY: It makes me want to play monopoly.
ROTH: It doesn't work on match.com I found.
CHETRY: That guy has seven women. He owes it all to mustache.
ROTH: I know. He says they're in Maine. Only in the State of Maine. I asked him are the women in Maine like men with mustaches more. So, maybe we can get some e-mails on it.
ROBERTS: Maybe you'll get some women from the 18th century calling you up.
ROTH: Yes. Well, I've seen some of those women.
CHETRY: A lot of personal information for Richard this morning. You look great. ROTH: Thank you.
CHETRY: Keep it.
ROTH: We'll see.
ROBERTS: Appreciate that.
CHETRY: Well, forget retirement. One 73-year-old man is keeping busy by bearing all in front of the camera.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the old to the young, Tokuda woos and coos and always gets the girl. With 200 porn movies under his belt, Tokuda that's his porn name is Japan's leading man in the genre of elderly porn.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Why is he doing it? A look at Japan's fastest growing porn genre.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, a sexual healing here to set up a truly unusual segment. His hair may be grayer, his skin less than perfect, but that is not slowing Japan's newest porn star.
CHETRY: That's right. This guy is 74 years old and his popularity is sparking a whole new genre of videos.
Here's CNN's Kyung Lah.
KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John and Kiran. As nearly 80 million American baby boomers prepare to retire, the question for many of them is what is next? One Japanese senior has chosen an unusual way to spend his retirement.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAH (voice-over): Shigeo Tokuda looks like your average retiree, but there is nothing average about this 73-year-old when he steps in front of the camera.
Shigeo Tokuda is a porn star. From the old to the young, Tokuda woos and coups and always gets the girl. With 200 porn movies under his belt, Tokuda, that's his porn name, is Japan's leading man in the genre of elderly porn.
I retired and didn't have anything to do, says Tokuda, a former 9:00 to 5:00 travel agent. This is my second life. I don't know how long I can keep living, but I want to enjoy the rest of it. Tokuda says he's healthier now than he's been in years. So are sales of his DVDs. To be honest, I don't understand why people are buying these videos, says Ryuichi Kadowaki, president of movie productions which makes Tokuda's movies. Ruby pioneered the elderly porn field by accident. It started producing adult movies with middle-aged stars. Then older and older actors and saw better and better sales.
Ruby now specializes in elderly porn and is looking into selling his DVDs in retirement homes and -- the porn industry in Los Angeles just called. They want to get in on this, too.
Director Gaichi Kono says senior citizens are encouraged by Tokuda and other elderly actors. In his generation, Tokuda is a superstar says Kono. He encourages older people to think, I can do this because that old man can do this.
(on camera): Japan has a higher percentage of people over the age of 65 than any other country in the world. Tokuda says while his retirement may be unconventional, he hopes his showing that seniors can continue to be active and vibrant.
(voice-over): My friends say I'm lucky because I have a job where I'm valued, says Tokuda. Many seniors get depressed because they don't have anything to do. They go crazy. Tokuda's wife and daughter support his second career, but they don't want to know the details. Tokuda hopes to work until he's 80 or even older, giving it his all, he says, until the end.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAH: Japan has a long-held tradition of honoring its elderly. This industry says its growing sales are just an extension of that philosophy.
John?
Kiran?
ROBERTS: Hole in the sky. Investigators look at oxygen tanks and oxygen masks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's starting to black out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: After an emergency landing in a flight from hell.
Plus, smash and grab. Caught on tape. Suspects leave armed and dangerous after ramming a stolen car through a gun store.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." We have the latest now on that terrifying midair explosion on a Qantas jet flight. Investigators are now looking at the possibility that an oxygen tank exploded ripping a hole in the side of the 747.
One of the tanks which provide oxygen to the passengers in an emergency is now missing in its place. Some fragments were found. That plane made an emergency landing. And we showed you these pictures on Friday on AMERICAN MORNING.
There were 365 people on board. It plummeted 20,000 feet. You hear the clapping and relief after the landing. Qantas Airways' chief executive said whatever caused that emergency landing was more than likely beyond the control of the airline.
But again, they're still trying to figure that out. Now Qantas is inspecting all of the oxygen tanks on its Boeing 747s. Back in April, the FAA warned about potential problems with tanks in certain 747s.
Greg Feith is a former NTSB crash investigator. He led the inquiry into ValuJet Flight 592 that crashed in the Florida Everglades back in 1996 after oxygen generators caught fire when they were improperly packed. And he joins me now from Denver this morning.
Greg, thanks for being with us.
GREG FEITH, LED VALUJET CRASH INVESTIGATION: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: What are investigators looking at today and looking for today?
FEITH: Well, of course, the focus is that oxygen cylinder or can. You've got to be very careful because a lot of people have been characterizing it as a canister. It's actually a bottle. It's about 4-1/2 to 5 feet tall. So, it's a pretty stout-looking bottle, similar to that of a scuba tank. They're going to want to know why that failed, whether it was the regulator or the bottle itself.
CHETRY: OK. So, we're saying right now that one of them is missing, these oxygen cylinders we're referring to and that there were fragments in the place of where it would be. So, how do they start to determine. It looks like that probably did blow and they need to confirm that. But how would something like that happen, theoretically?
FEITH: Well, there's a number of possibilities. One, the regulator itself. That is the valve on top of the bottle could have failed. If it failed, then, of course, those bottles are pressurized to about 2,000 PSI. So, it becomes a very lethal weapon at that time.
The other thing is, could something have struck it that is because it's located in the cargo compartment. Did something strike that bottle to cause it to fail? They're going to have to look at that very closely. So, they're going to either look at the bottle as being the initiator or the result of some other event.
CHETRY: Qantas' chief executive Jeff Dixon is saying the company doesn't know the cause, but that they believe it's more than likely something out of the airline's control. Do you agree with that assessment?
FEITH: Well, I think that's an early statement by a chief executive who wants to protect, of course, the reputation of the airline. I think the investigators, the facts, conditions and circumstances that the investigators are going to develop, And I think some of those have already been developed, point to the fact that there may be a problem.
It could be a design problem with the oxygen bottle itself. It could be a problem with the regulator. I think right now over the next 24 to 48 hours, we're going to find out more information and see where those facts really point. Whether it's a mechanical problem with the bottle or it's something inherent to the maintenance and upkeep of that bottle by the airlines.
CHETRY: And how does that FAA warning back in April to check to make sure these oxygen cylinders. I believe it was to check the bracketing to make sure that they were in place properly. Does this relate to this incident with this airline at all with this particular airplane?
FEITH: From everything I've read and people that I've talked to, we have two separate events here. We have a bottle that has failed. Whether it was the regulator or the bottle itself. The airworthiness directive or the inspection that the FAA called for was the actual mounting bracket so that this bottle wouldn't come loose.
They're one in the same, but they're not. That is, it does affect the bottle, but in this particular instance, it may not have been the bracket that failed to cause the bottle to come loose. It may have been the bottle itself.
CHETRY: All right. Well, they are going to try to check on that. And of course, increase inspections on 747s around the globe because of this situation. Greg Feith, former NTSB investigator. Thanks for being with us this morning.
FEITH: You're welcome.
ROBERTS: Coming up now to the top of the hour. And here are this morning's top stories.
Breaking this morning, more than 60 people killed across Iraq. Three female suicide bombers suspected in an attack on thousands of Shiite pilgrims in Baghdad. Police say at least 28 people were killed there. More than 85 wounded.
And to the north, in Kirkuk, another suicide bomber and gunman are being blamed for killing at least 36 people. At least 200 people were wounded in those attacks.
The death toll now rising to 17 after two explosions in Istanbul, Turkey. The blast also wounded more than 150 people. They went off within ten minutes of each other in a crowded neighborhood. So far no claim of responsibility. But Istanbul's governor calls the attack quote, "an act of terror." A morning after a deadly church rampage. Police and parishioners want to know why
