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Candidates Closer to Announcing VPs; Most Passengers Feared Dead in Madrid Runway Crash; Tropical Storm Fay Floods Florida; Poland Agrees to House Missile Defense for U.S.
Aired August 20, 2008 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the race is getting tighter, time's getting shorter, and speculation's never been higher. So who is it going to be? We're watching the winners of the veepstakes.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Florida is waiting for Fay to get lost. What this storm lacks in strength it makes up for in stamina. That means huge amounts of rain and lots of flooded homes.
LEMON: And pay attention. Your tap water may contain traces of deadly poison. It won't kill you, but it could raise your risk for diabetes. Our medical unit is on the case for us.
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
PHILLIPS: And I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.
We begin right now overseas with a runway disaster in Madrid. We're hearing reports at this time that most of the 170-plus people on board a passenger jet may be dead. The Spanair MD-82 veered off the runway while taking off from Madrid's international airport. Witnesses say that that jet caught fire, and local officials now say only 26 people survived.
We are working to confirm these figures right now. Our Al Goodman, our correspondent there in Spain, working the details for us, talking to investigators. He's going to bring us more with a live report as soon as we can get connected to him.
LEMON: In the meantime, we're following developing news. When it concerns politics, they're the best kept secrets of the presidential campaign, for now, anyway: Barack Obama's and John McCain's choice of running mates. We could find out at any time, at least Obama's choice. And in fact, the Democratic V.P. candidate is scheduled to speak at the national convention one week from tonight.
McCain has more time to make his decision. His options, apparently, run the gamut from a former presidential rival to a Senator who once ran for president as a Democrat.
As for Obama, speculation swirls around Virginia Governor Tim Kaine and a pair of fellow senators, Evan Bayh and Joe Biden. Biden, for his part, insists he doesn't know whether he'll be asked to join the ticket. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN (D), DELAWARE: I promise you I don't know anything. I have no idea. I've spoken to no one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you saw someone in the campaign at all? You said, "It's not me."
BIDEN: I have not spoken with anyone. I have not spoken with anyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're not ruling out that you're still being considered, though?
BIDEN: I have no idea. You guys know as well as I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, McCain's former rival, Mitt Romney, gets a lot of attention as a potential VP, but so do Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and even Senator Joe Lieberman, the Democrats' vice-presidential nominee back in 2000.
Earlier today CNN confirmed that Lieberman will give a speech at the Republican convention. Lieberman's support for the Iraq war helped cost him the Democratic nomination for his Senate seat in 2006. He got reelected by running as an independent and now strongly supports John McCain.
Let's talk about poll numbers now. The latest CNN national poll of polls suggests Obama's lead is shrinking. He's now ahead of McCain by a single point. That's according to CNN's average of five nationwide surveys. Now, yesterday's poll of polls showed Obama up three points. He led by eight in mid-July.
Let's bring in our senior political analyst, Mr. Bill Schneider. He is already in Denver getting ready for the convention.
So Bill, why is John McCain moving up, or maybe even a better question is, why is Barack Obama moving down? Is that, in fact, the case?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SR. POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it looks like the race is deadlocked going into the two conventions. Why? I'd point to two words: Russia and drilling.
On the issue of Russia, we've had an international crisis for the last two weeks, which has highlighted the perception that McCain is ready because of his long experience in military matters and foreign policy to deal with an international crisis. Voters continue to have questions about Barack Obama's experience, faced with a situation like that.
On the drilling issue, McCain has hammered really hard on the oil drilling, saying it may not be the total solution, but we have to drill for more oil. That's a popular response. All the polls show people support it.
Now what's interesting is, these echo the approach that Hillary Clinton used because Barack Obama in the primaries. Remember, she had that 3 a.m. ad: who is prepared to be president? Well, we've had a 3 a.m. moment. And she called for a gas tax holiday, which a lot of people said was crude populism, but the fact is, that too, was popular.
LEMON: And, Bill, you know, we hear a lot that the candidates -- we don't really care -- from their campaigns -- we don't really care about national polls. We care about the battleground states. Does a national political poll really matter at this point?
SCHNEIDER: Well, actually, no. There is no national political election. As we discovered in 2000, the national winner doesn't matter. It's the state winners who matter.
And our CNN electoral map shows how the states are divided. We have no winner yet. No one has the 270 electoral votes needed to win. Those red and pink states are the states that are currently leaning towards McCain. The blue and light blue states are the ones for Obama. Obama is ahead right now in the electoral count. He has 221 electoral votes, McCain, 189.
But there are 128 electoral votes in toss-up states. Those are the yellow states. Several of them here in the west, including Colorado, where the convention is. Many are in the Midwest, a couple in the outer south, Virginia and Florida, and one even in the northeast: famously independent New Hampshire, where McCain has a very strong base of support -- Don.
LEMON: Senior political analyst Bill Schneider. Bill, we appreciate your reporting. Thank you very much.
PHILLIPS: More on the top story that we told you about just a few minutes ago, that runway disaster in Madrid, Spain. We're hearing at this point that most of the 170-plus people on board that passenger jet may be dead.
Al Goodman there, close to the scene. Joins us now by phone.
Al, can you tell us what you're hearing, what you're seeing? Any type of description of this crash?
AL GOODMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, a terrible scene. We're at a vantage point, literally a hill overlooking the airport. We see the smoldering remains of this plane. Eyewitnesses tell us that it went off with -- the officials tell us it was on the left runway of the two parallel runways here. And eyewitnesses say that it veered off before the end of the runway off to its right and had the bad luck to go into a sort of ditch, if you will, an area that was not flat, right next to the area.
These two rescue workers happen to be maintenance workers at the airport, who were pressed into duty, along with their colleagues. They saw -- they saw many, many dead, they said. One man telling us he talked to a Colombian. Said, "What happened?" She didn't have any idea what had happened and asked about her son.
Another rescue worker saying that he saw a blond-haired woman who he took to be an (INAUDIBLE) woman who seemed to be among the best suited among the survivors. She seemed to be in relatively reasonable shape -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Tell me how I pronounce this airline. Is it Spanair?
GOODMAN: That's correct. And it is -- this was a code share flight with Lufthansa, the German airline. So this was headed from Madrid on a clear, sunny August day from Madrid at mid-day, heading down to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, OK?
And the -- according to at least one person (ph) there was a problem on the plane. It's reports of an engine fire. And the pilots trying to get control, ended up veering off the runway, it appears, and ran into this ditch where the plane was really burned up. The rescue workers telling us here they didn't even see those ramps to get people off.
They were brought up by the fire crews as soon as the fire was minimal enough to help start moving people. Initially, they used blankets to carry the wounded off. Then the blankets to cover the dead.
PHILLIPS: So, Al, what do you think? The number that I got just a minute ago, possibly 26 people survived? Is that a good number?
GOODMAN: We do not have an official confirmation. Our partner station, CNN Plus, is reporting 90 dead. The number has gone from 7, to 20 dead, to 40, 45 dead, and now a huge jump to 90. But it would appear that information is getting out, and they're doing a check. There were 106 passengers and 6 crew. That's according to the airline. And they count the people who are at the hospital. And it looks like those may be the numbers, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Al Goodman, we'll stay in touch with you.
If you're just tuning in, we're following this, apparently an engine fire in an aircraft of Spanair Flight 5022, taking off from Madrid, heading to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. Possibly more than 100 people dead right now, possibly about 20 to 26 survivors. Al Goodman will continue to work this for us. We'll bring you more information as we get it.
LEMON: We're also following breaking developing -- I should say developing news on the storm and on the weather. Tropical Storm Fay just won't go away. It's still pounding the east coast of Florida with very heavy surf, flooding rains and gusting winds.
Now it is blamed for at least one death. In St. Lucie County, thousands of homes are flooded, and airboats are being sent on rescue missions. Where Fay is going next, well, that is anybody's guess.
Water woes in Oklahoma. Around two dozen counties are under flash flood watches and more drenching rain is expected. The same goes for north Texas. Around Dallas, overnight storms knocked out power. Flooding is a real concern there, as well.
Meteorologist Chad Myers is tracking Tropical Storm Fay. Chad, what's it up to now? Is it still stalled or moving out?
CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Still moving a little bit. Maybe three to five miles per hour, either to the east a little bit or maybe a little bit to the north of due east. Getting it in, back into the water. Now, only half of it, really, is in the water, even if it's right there on land.
And we do expect it. We think that it's right there at Cape Canaveral. Half of it over water, the other half over land. But it's trying to redevelop itself. It's trying to still make rain showers and thunderstorms. This is going to be, like we said yesterday, a flood maker and then a tornado maker. And we've had both of those damages, but no real storm surge, no real wind damage.
There's the center of circulation, not that far from where the shuttle would be parked right now, if it were out there. It is not out there, though.
Daytona Beach, you're getting a pounding with these waves on these shore. It will eventually stop going into the Atlantic Ocean, turn and go to the west and go across northern Florida. They can use the rainfall here. Across Dale City and also backup here through Tallahassee, Florida City and then maybe even into Mississippi, Alabama with then an eventual turn on up into Alabama. Maybe northern Georgia. We'll see from there. That's many, many days out.
It's only a 50-mile-per-hour storm right now. This is just basically a little blow at this point in time. But it's the onshore rainfall, the heavy, heavy rainfall making the flooding that is the most dangerous -- dangerous to anybody's life if you get into too much water there, Don.
LEMON: Yes, they could use the rainfall, but definitely not the flooding, right, Chad?
MYERS: Right.
LEMON: All right. Thank you, sir.
MYERS: You're welcome.
PHILLIPS: The U.S. has a new partner in missile defense. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Warsaw, where she and the Polish foreign minister signed a deal to place American interceptor missiles near the Russian border. Russians are not too happy about that.
CNN's Zain Verjee is in Warsaw. We're going to go to her live in just a few minutes.
And it appears that Russian troops have begun to pull back from cities in occupied positions inside Georgia. But not fast enough for American officials watching the cross-border tension. A U.S. National Security Council spokesperson says that Russia doesn't need anymore time, and the pullout needs to speed up.
Now Russia's president promises his troops will be out of Georgia by Friday, although there's been little movement to support that time line.
And U.S. food, and aid, and supplies are now reaching the people of Georgia, who need the help the most. These food rations are for people in the town of Kuspi (ph). That's just west of the capital of Tbilisi.
The mother of missing Florida girl is still behind bars, despite efforts to get her released. We're going to hear from the bounty hunter who's trying to get Casey Anthony out of jail.
LEMON: OK, so what on earth is going on when this third grader is seen as a potential terrorist? And he's not alone. We'll meet some Americans who get the third-degree every time they fly.
PHILLIPS: And could your drinking water make you prone to diabetes? We're going to tell you about a disturbing new study.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. This just into the CNN NEWSROOM. You can see the live pictures there. It involves a small plane at BWI Airport, Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Now, here's what we're told, according to the FAA, that shortly after 12:30 Eastern Time, just a couple of minutes ago, this plane ran off the runway, we're told. Runway 33. We're told there are no injuries to report here in this incident.
But again, you can see these live pictures, and you can see firefighters there, working the scene, along with emergency crews surrounding that aircraft, examining what went wrong. We'll try to get you some information behind exactly what happened here.
But again, this is coming from BWI, Thurgood Marshall Baltimore- Washington International Airport. That's the latest. We'll update you.
PHILLIPS: All right. A couple of signatures in Warsaw prompting language not heard from Moscow since the Cold War. And as we mentioned, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice signed a deal to put a U.S. missile defense outfit right near the Russian border.
Let's get live to Warsaw. CNN State Department correspondent Zain Verjee there for us.
Zain, why don't we start by talking about what Rice told you in the interview?
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Kyra, from Warsaw.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told us in our exclusive interview that this missile-defense deal that she just signed with Poland is not directed against Russia. She said it's not a threat against Russia, and the Russians shouldn't take it that way, because they're viewing this whole thing as a provocation.
Secretary Rice said that this is really as a deterrent to any ballistic missile attack by Iran or North Korea. Secretary Rice also went on to warn Russia to warn against attacking Poland, as it's been threatening to do, because of this deal.
Here's what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: That's pathetic. The Russians must know that we have an Article V guarantee to Poland as a member of NATO. They must know that the United States would never permit an attack on the territory of an ally under Article V. And finally, they do know that this missile defense system is not aimed at them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Kyra, this deal has been around for many months now. It had stalled over various Polish demands that they were making of the Americans, and they never actually came through. And they were probably just ironed out after Russia invaded Georgia. And all of a sudden, we have this deal, and Secretary Rice came here to sign it.
So this is a situation that is going to raise tensions between the United States and Russia, and by signing this, it's really a poke in the eye at Russia -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, bring it home for us then. What does this missile defense deal mean for us here in the U.S.?
VERJEE: Well, to the U.S., what it essentially means is, is that there's an agreement here to transfer military technology and military hardware to Poland. Part of the deal -- and this is what Poland got out of it. This is what they wanted, that the U.S. wasn't quite sure they wanted to give. But they were getting and are getting additional air and military defense batteries to Poland. And the Poles are going to use that in case they're attacked by the Russians.
Poland also wanted to get a number of U.S. military servicemen stationed in Poland. And they're going to get about 100, as well as training and other kind of technology transfer -- Kyra.
VERJEE: Well, knowing you, you probably asked the secretary about the Olympics, as well, and why she wasn't there. Did you get an answer?
PHILLIPS: Well, yes, I've been trying to watch the Olympics as much as I can from here. You must have been, too. You know, Secretary Rice is an athlete. So she was supposed to be in Beijing for the closing ceremonies later this week, but she ended up being here. And what she said was that she gets back to her hotel room, and she does try and watch the Olympics and she's been watching Michael Phelps. And here's a little bit more of what she said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICE: I'm very disappointed that I'm not in Beijing. It's a great Olympics. The Americans are looking -- looking great, and I'm following every move when I get back to the hotel room on television.
VERJEE: Did you watch Michael Phelps?
RICE: I did watch Michael Phelps.
VERJEE: ... last race, one one-hundredth.
RICE: I actually saw it on replay. And, of course, I've got my tape -- TiVo going too, to try to see as much as I can when I get home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VERJEE: I then had to crucially follow-up, Kyra, by asking Secretary Rice what else was on her TiVo, but she declined to answer -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: I was just thinking, OK, we TiVo about every news program that we know of. You wonder what the secretary of state TiVos. We'll find out. I'll have you investigate.
Zain Verjee, thanks.
VERJEE: Not "General Hospital."
LEMON: Well, this case certainly does get stranger by the day. We're talking about Caylee Anthony. The 3-year-old Florida girl hasn't been seen since mid-June. Her mom didn't report her missing until mid-July.
Now Casey Anthony has been in jail ever since on charges of child neglect and lying to police for days.
A bounty hunter has been trying to get her out. And for days, complications have arisen. The bounty hunter attempted to explain last night on Headline News.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEONARD PADILLA, BOUNTY HUNTER: Listen to me, listen to me, listen to me. We will not revoke the bond if she doesn't disclose anything. My nephew is the bail agent. I have paid him to post the bond. He has an agent from -- excuse me, Florida that will be posting it.
There's a glitch that has come up, because there's a bunch of bail agents in Miami and the surety company orders in Yale. And what they're saying is you have to pay $50,000 to the -- to the Florida bondsman also. So now they want another $50,000. The man is saying, no, that's not true.
Tomorrow the Department of Insurance in Florida is going to have to make a decision on what these fellows in Miami are saying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Padilla goes on to say that he believes Caylee is alive, and he hopes he can get some new information from Casey Anthony.
PHILLIPS: Diabetes on tap? Well, new research suggests the connection between diabetics and a chemical often found in tap water.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. Move over Chicago. New York is looking to be the next Windy City. I should say the new Windy City. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has a plan that could change New York's famous skyline, and Stephanie Elam is at the New York Stock Exchange with details on that.
And Stephanie, you know I'm paying close attention to this. What's going on?
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know you are, especially when we start talking about Chicago.
LEMON: Right, right.
ELAM: Getting a little personal there, Don. Right. But this is -- it's actually being called Mayor Bloomberg's boldest environmental proposal ever.
Speaking at an alternative energy conference in Las Vegas Tuesday, New York City mayor, he actually proposed a plan that would put wind turbines on the city's bridges and skyscrapers and even in the water. The plan is still in the early stages. No word just yet on which bridges or buildings would be candidates for windmills. But obviously, people will be keeping an eye on what the skyline would look like, Don.
LEMON: Yes, you said early stages, too. So how likely is this plan to actually happen?
ELAM: Well, analysts say it would take years to turn New York into a major source of wind power. The initial costs are likely to be huge. Also Bloomberg, he's got less than a year and a half left in office, and there could be opposition from New Yorkers who don't want the appearance of their neighborhoods to change.
Still, the city maintains the idea of renewable power in New York City as being realistic. Bloomberg even met with T. Boone Pickens. He's trying to build the world's largest wind farm in Texas. My suggestion is they should put them downtown during the winter, because that's when the wind seems to blow between these buildings and gets really cold. But it's strong, too. Personal observation. LEMON: Right on the Hudson. That's where.
ELAM: Right.
LEMON: Or the East River right there.
ELAM: Exactly, right around the Statue of Liberty.
(STOCK MARKET REPORT)
ELAM: But coming up next hour, gas prices are down again: 34 days and counting. We'll take a look at that very soon.
Don, back to you.
LEMON: You know that Windy City thing wasn't really about the wind. It was more about the politicians in Chicago blowing hot air.
ELAM: That's what it was? OK.
LEMON: All right. All right, thank you, Steph.
ELAM: Thanks, Don.
PHILLIPS: Time now to check in with the presidential hopefuls on the campaign trail so you can hear what they have to say in their own words. Senator John McCain is in New Mexico, and he held a town hall in Las Cruces within the last hour or so. Here's some of what he had to say about Iraq and how his policies would differ from those of Barack Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On Iraq, Senator Obama says he wants peace, but he still opposes the surge that succeeded. He opposed the surge. He said that it wouldn't work. He announced his policy towards Iraq the day before he left, for the first time in over 900 days, to visit Iraq, and then refuses to acknowledge that the surge has succeeded. Remarkable. Remarkable.
I mean, no rational observer could go to Iraq and see what we've succeeded in doing in the last two years and say that the surge hasn't succeed. That's what this is all about, my friends. This is what it's all about: securing our nation.
Even in retrospect, with all we know today, he'd still choose the path of retreat and failure.
You know, yesterday Senator Obama got a little testy on this issue. He said I'm questioning his patriotism. Let me be very clear. I am not questioning his patriotism. I am questioning his judgment. I am questioning his judgment.
Senator Obama's made it clear he values withdrawal from Iraq above victory in Iraq, even today, with victory in sight. Over and over again he's advocating unconditional withdrawal, regardless of the facts on the ground. And he voted against funding for troops in combat after he said it would be wrong to do so. He's made these decisions not because he doesn't love America, but because he doesn't think it matters whether America wins or loses.
I'm going to end this war, and I'm going to bring them home. And they'll come home with honor and victory, leaving Iraq secured as a democratic ally in the Arab heartland. That's what I'm going to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: And stay with us. In about ten minutes, we're going to hear what Barack Obama says he's learned from voters while traveling the country during this campaign.
LEMON: Three friends hitching a ride to the swimming hole.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Normally our bus drivers say, they see them so they open the door, and there's a tassel full of them. They jump in the book, and then they greet everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Yes, it is the dog days of summer. And we'll have more from the old swimming hole a little bit later.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Time now to tell you some of the stories we're working on for you today, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.
The death toll climbs in a fiery plane crash in Spain. The jet swerved off the runway at Madrid's airport today. Local officials tell our sister network CNN Plus, only 26 of 172 people aboard survived.
Tropical Storm Fay is creeping up Florida's Atlantic coast dumping buckets of rain. St. Lucie County got swamped. Authorities say more than 8,000 homes may have been damaged by all of that water. And in just a few minutes we'll check out iReporters from along the storm's path.
And Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Warsaw, Poland, today to formally sign a ballistic missile defense deal. The Polish government is letting the Pentagon but a missile interceptor base in the country, a move that has infuriated nearby Russia.
PHILLIPS: Well, we're going to take a few minutes now to tell you about a pair of 90-minute specials tonight on CNN. In-depth profiles of both John McCain and Barack Obama.
In "Revealed: John McCain," our John King reports on the Republican hopeful's life and career, including details of how he and his wife Cindy McCain first met.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
J. MCCAIN: I saw her there and struck up a conversation with her.
CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: I was a little taken back because I was a lot younger than he was. And I was surprised he'd be interested.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And you lied about your age?
J. MCCAIN: I lied.
KING: The age disparity -- she is 17 years younger, was the least of their worries. McCain was still married to Carol McCain, their daughter Sydney was 12 years old. The marriage was in trouble. He had been having affairs for several years.
(on camera): And how does it sit with you to those who have over the years have said John McCain comes home from Vietnam, you know, leaves his wife and then marries this younger, beautiful, wealthy woman.
C. MCCAIN: At the time I didn't really understand what they were saying because my husband had been separated. And he'd -- you know, 6 1/2 years, it was a long separation.
KING (voice-over): McCain wrote in his memoir that he began dating Cindy after he separated from his wife Carol. In fact, his own divorce filing shows they dated for nine months while he was still living with Carol. And records show he applied for a marriage license in Arizona, before his divorce was final.
(on camera): The chronology that has presented publicly doesn't necessarily match the chronology of the documents that you had applied for a marriage license in Arizona, at a time when your divorce wasn't final yet.
J. MCCAIN: It was 30 years ago, I have a happy marriage.
C. MCCAIN: His reasons are his reasons. You know, I think I've been a good wife and I think I'm a good mother. And I think that's what he wanted -- I think that's what he saw in me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Now, that was just a small preview of tonight's John McCain profile. We're also getting a preview of "Revealed: Barack Obama." That's coming up in the 3:00 hour of CNN NEWSROOM.
And once again, later tonight, "Revealed: John McCain," it will air at 8:00 Eastern and "Revealed: Barack Obama," follows at 9:30. You can preview clips from tonight's specials and learn even more about the candidates at CNN.com/revealed.
LEMON: And just a few minutes ago, we brought you some of what John McCain had to say about Iraq, this morning in New Mexico. Now , we want to check in with Barack Obama. He is in Virginia, at a town hall and he talked about what he's learned from voters during his campaign.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, people ask me, they say, well, what have you learned about America? As you've traveled through the 48 states in the continental United States? What have you discovered? And I've said, well, number one, America's big. When you got to travel through all of it, you realize what a magnificent piece of real estate we have here, the United States of America. From sea to shining sea, it is full of beauty and grander and it just makes you proud and realize how fortunate we are to be here.
Second thing you learn is that its people are as wonderful as the land. Everywhere you go, you find out the American people, they are decent, they are generous, they are hard-working, they are self- reliant, they are independent, they think for themselves, they've got a common set of values that cut across race and religion and region. We've got some good people in America.
(APPLAUSE)
We've got a great treasure in the American people. That's the second thing you realize.
Third thing you realize is, is that those same people are worried about the future. You're worried about the future. Obviously here in Martinsville, in Henry County, people have gone through some very tough times. When you've got entire industries that have been shipped to overseas. When you've got thousands of jobs being lost, that's tough. But it's not unique to here.
The one thing I want to communicate is what this community is going through, folks in southern Illinois are going through. Folks in southern Ohio are going through. People in Pennsylvania and Michigan and Indiana, and now Florida. I just came back from Florida, they're going through the first recession they've had in 16 years. All across the country people are struggling.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Well, Senator Barack Obama has another event in Virginia later today. A town hall with voters this evening in Lynchburg.
Senator Ted Stevens' corruption case will be tried in Washington, not in Alaska. A Federal judge today denied a motion for a change of venue. Lawyers for Stevens, the Senate's longest serving Republican, argue that had the focal point of the case, Stevens' residence, is in Alaska, and so are the witness. Stevens is accused of lying about hundreds of thousands of dollars in home renovations and other gifts he received from an oil services contractor. His trial is set to begin late next month. PHILLIPS: Pretty desperate situation in southeast Florida right now. Airboats are being sent to rescue people trapped by floods from Tropical Storm Fay.
Our John Zarrella joins us now from Port St. Lucie.
What can you tell us, John?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, it's absolutely amazing here. You would not believe the amount of water you can see behind me here on this street. The car down there that's just about half way submerged. Neighborhoods back that way and it's all flowing out of what's the north fork of the St. Lucie River over there.
And you can see how the water the flowing down into these streets here and into those neighborhoods back there. There are thousands of homes all over St. Lucie County that have some extent of flood damage.
Now, the only way we could get back into those neighborhoods was on an airboat. And the sheriff's office took us back there a little while ago to get some pictures. Now, it is unbelievable. The water is absolutely half way up on some of the garage doors. There's water in most of the homes back in that neighborhood. But yet, there are people still in there. We talked to some who said, look, they weren't going to leave. Their houses were raised a bit. They thought, perhaps they had another 12 to 15 inches of clearance. They weren't going to get out.
Other people were making trips in small boats just trying to get as much of their belongings out as they could to high ground. And then they were going to go back and stay in their homes. Of course, obviously, concern you don't want to leave your property. But the sheriff's office is telling them they don't know how much longer this water is going to continue to rise.
A lot of the rivers, they're saying still have not crested here. And they're also telling us that one of the problems they have is even some of the bridges, the low-lying bridges, the water is very, very high and close to overtopping some bridges in these areas. So it is a very, very difficult situation here.
Upwards of at least 10 inches of rain fell here because of how slow-moving Tropical Storm Fay was. And the right side of the storm came right over this area, Port St. Lucie County. Again, you can probably see in the distance some of the high ground. People way back there, Kyra, trying to get some supplies out, trying to get some of the stuff out of their homes, salvaging what they can.
Even now you can see we're still getting some of the squalls from Tropical Storm Fay. Even though it's moving up the coastline. And you know, an alligator actually came up across the street here this morning along with a snake and other animals. So, it's not a great situation to be back there in those homes or trying to wade through that water to get your belongings out. In fact, it's quite a bit dangerous -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Wow. Just out of curiosity, do they bring in any type -- we know our well-known alligator wranglers there in Florida.
I mean, do they have to call in a specialist in times like that?
ZARRELLA: Yes. There actually was someone was here from Fish and Game. But the gator took off into that high water back over there. And you can see, there's actually homes back in there.
So, they really don't know exactly where it went. They did have a Fish and Game guy out here and he was trying -- tried to find the gator, but they did not have any luck. So, there's concern that where there's one, there can be a lot more because all of this area is very swampy and again, you have the river right there and there's a lot of alligators out there -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, just know that we're happy with one live shot today.
John Zarrella, thank you very much.
LEMON: All right, does tap water raise your risk for becoming diabetic? A new study suggests a disturbing connection.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Here's a very disturbing question for you. What do tap water and rat poison have in common? A chemical that could make you more prone to Type II diabetes.
And our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with results of a disturbing new study.
And it's just in the water?
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, I want to be clear that the arsenic that's water is not there because of rat poisoning.
LEMON: OK.
COHEN: There's no connection there.
LEMON: OK.
COHEN: It's naturally occurring in many water sources. The trick is, is that some water systems do a better job than others at getting it out.
So, let's take a look. This study is really, really interesting. What they found, Don, is they looked at people with Type II diabetes and they found that those with Type II diabetes, had a 26 percent higher levels of arsenic in their urine. It was very simple. They took diabetics, they examined their urine. Diabetics were much more likely to have lots of arsenic in their urine. Which makes them conclude their drinking water had higher levels of arsenic.
LEMON: OK. So then how do you know if your drinking water has a high level of -- I mean, is it just by testing randomly you get this?
COHEN: Right, how would you know? Exactly. If you don't have someone from John Hopkins coming and doing a study on you, right, exactly. It's an excellent question.
What you do is that you can go on the Internet. And there is a site that will show you arsenic levels across the country. So, for example, you look here, the higher levels are in red and the lower levels are in green. And so you can take a look at this map and you can see, oh, gee, where I live, there tend to by here areas. And that will give you at least some idea of what the levels are where you live.
LEMON: I would think that most people use a public water source. So, if that is indeed the case, what do you ask them to do about this?
COHEN: Right. You can call them and say, hey, are you doing everything you can to lower the levels of arsenic? There are certain filters, there are certain processes that they can use. And you can say, are you doing those things?
LEMON: OK. Will a faucet do it? Is there anything else that will help you out?
COHEN: Right. A filter. Right. A filter on a faucet.
We were told by an expert that those will not help get rid of arsenic and that you should not rely on them.
LEMON: OK. Because I had my questions today I wanted to ask you because a lot of people -- that would be a filter that, you get in your store, what have you, this public drinking water.
My other question was what about bottled water? A lot of people are drinking bottled water now.
COHEN: Right. We were told that many kinds of bottled water are indeed better than tap when it comes to arsenic. So that might be one thing that you can think about trying is bottled water.
LEMON: So, is this something that we should really be worried about? Maybe we should go out and get a test on it?
COHEN: You know, this is a very early, early stages. This is one of the first studies that has linked diabetes and arsenic. So, it's really more something to think about and be aware about.
And if you're going to talk to the people in your local water supply, you might want to say, gee, how much arsenic do we have and are we doing everything we can to get those levels down?
LEMON: It is concerning though.
Thank you, Elizabeth Cohen -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: We're just getting word in that Democratic Congressman Stephanie Tubbs Jones has suffered an aneurysm. Apparently this happened yesterday. We're now able to confirm this.
She is stable in the hospital we are told. This is what happened. Apparently she was driving her car erratically yesterday and she had crossed over a number of lanes going the wrong way. So a police officer had pulled over and -- to warn oncoming traffic and was able to reach her vehicle and then found Tubbs Jones in medical distress.
You may remember the Congresswoman, she's the first black woman to represent Ohio in Congress. She also was one of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's biggest boosters during the primaries. She's also a superdelegate at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver. So, we're wondering if she will even be able to attend that coming up in Colorado. She also backed Barack Obama in June.
But once again Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones hospitalized right now for an aneurysm that she suffered. Apparently in stable condition. We'll continue to update you.
Well, same name, same problem, big trouble at the airport for a former prosecutor now. A pilot and also a third grader. We'll tell you about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Trapped on the terror watch list. As our Drew Griffin discovered his own name on the list, dozens of CNN viewers have written in with similar stories. Here's Drew's follow-up with three people who share the same name.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: Looking for terrorists? Meet the Robinsons. James, a former assistant U.S. attorney general and Washington lawyer. He's on the terror watch list.
JAMES ROBINSON, FMR. ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL: For years now.
GRIFFIN: This James Robinson is a retired Air National Guard Brigadier General. He still flies as a pilot for a major airline. And get this, his license by the TSA to carry a gun in the cockpit, but he is not allowed to check his luggage at the curb.
CAPT. JAMES ROBINSON, AIRLINE PILOT: They've got these two lists that aren't talking to each other. I'm carrying a weapon, flying a multi-million dollar jet with passengers, but I'm still screened as, you know, on the terrorist watch list.
GRIFFIN: And this James Robinson is -- well, James Robinson, the third grader.
(on camera): Are you a terrorist?
JAMES ROBINSON, THIRD GRADER: I don't know. GRIFFIN (voice-over): Don't laugh. Apparently James' government still doesn't know either, because for the last three years, every time he goes to the airport with his family, James is singled out as a potential terror suspect.
(on camera): Do you feel like anybody in the government cares about you?
DENISE ROBINSON, JAMES' MOTHER: No.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): It all started about the same time for all three of our James Robinsons. The Robinsons of California were heading to New York, dropped off at the curb to check in and --
D. ROBINSON: All of a sudden we were told, no, you can't check in at curbside.
GRIFFIN: At the ticket counter, mass confusion, lots of phone calls and a ticket agent who kept asking the same question --
D. ROBINSON: So then all of a sudden he goes, how old is he?
And I said, he's 5.
He was on the phone -- he's five. We were like, what is going on? And so he hung up and he said, I can't tell you anything, but he said, I'm going to print out some information for you and I'll give it to you and you just do what is on this information that I'm going to give you.
GRIFFIN: The information was on how to contact the TSA to get off a terror watch list, which according to the head of Homeland Security, should be very easy.
MICHAEL CHERTOFF, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: There is actually a simple solution to this. If you can get from the innocent John Smiths, their date of birth or some other additional, unique identifying fact, you can put that into the system. And then when they present identification, they're immediately taken out of the system.
GRIFFIN: Here's the problem -- every one much these James Robinsons did exactly that three years ago. Like me, they followed the procedure, sending passports, date of birth information. The older Jim sent in driver's license and voter registration cards. But all of us are still on it.
Captain James Robinson suspects he and the 8-years-old James and the attorney James will never get off.
CAPTAIN JAMES ROBINSON: There is going to come a point in time where everybody is going to be on the watch list.
GRIFFIN (on camera): Now the twist which won't make you feel any better about security --
This continues to happen?
D. ROBINSON: Yes, yes.
GRIFFIN: And what do you do?
D. ROBINSON: Well I've found ways around it.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): Tip a skycap, she says, and the watch list disappears.
D. ROBINSON: And they'll take it straight to the ticket agent and they will do whatever they need to do. And he comes back and says, and they'll say here's your boarding pass.
GRIFFIN: Denise has also booked James as J.Pierce and avoided the list.
Captain James says Jim Robinson or J.K. Robinson are not on the list.
(on camera): I myself have placed my first and middle name together as one and avoided the hassle.
D. ROBINSON: The fact that I can go to the skycap and I can get on pretty easily and the fact that I can change his name -- it means that it's far from being an air-tight system.
GRIFFIN (voice-over): January 2009 is when the TSA is expected to roll out its next possible solution, the secure flight program. Maybe then the attorney James, the captain James, and the 8-year-old James will no longer be considered the terrorist James, whoever that is.
Drew Griffin, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Well, ahoy, Fido. Some canines find a way to beat the heat in these dog days of summer.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: All right. Who let the dogs on? in Tennessee, a couple of canine canines graduate from stowaways to star attraction and they do it quite swimmingly. Check out this tail-wagger from Todd Dunn of CNN affiliate WKRN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD DUNN, WKRN REPORTER: Jeff Heathcock (ph) runs the Red River Valley Canoe Rental in Adams, Tennessee.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can't think of a better way to spend my day.
DUNN: Jeff is not along in his love for the river. Several local dogs have learned they can catch a bus ride to the river bank.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They was waiting right there by the road. And normally our bus drivers -- they see them so they open the door and there's a tassel full of them. They jump in the boat and then they greet everybody.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, they do it all the time. They get on, they ride the bus up to the farm. And when they get to the farm, they'll pick out somebody they like and they'll float down the river, ride a while, swim a while, eat a few good groceries, you know, whatever they can beg.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, pretty cool.
DUNN: Denise Loser (ph) doesn't mind giving a ride to the dogs.
Last time I came, they had told me about the dogs. And then there he was following us. We were in the bus and he was just chasing us down the road in the bus. And they had told me they'd come and he always rides with him.
DUNN: But once on the water, the dog called Roscoe, usually catches a ride on the canoe.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just jumped in. I didn't even notice when he got in, actually. I just turned around and he was there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're just free entities. I don't claim ownership of anything. I want them to feel like they're having their own life.
DUNN: Heathcock says the dogs just found their way to his farm and he feeds them, but they do pull their weight.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They earn their keep. You know, they keep the coyotes out of the field and the raccoons out of the garden. And you know, they do their purpose. They earn their food.
DUNN: And they know how to relax and have a good time on the water.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that's their life, it's a good life, it's a river dog's life.
DUNN: On the Red River, Todd Dunn, News 2.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Well, there is nothing like the fragrance of wet dog, is there?
That was Todd Dunn reporting from CNN affiliate, WKRN in Nashville.
The next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM starts right now.
