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American Morning
Suspected "WikiLeaks" Source Back in U.S.; My Dog, My Child; Didn't Want To Be A "Coward"; Sherrod To Sue Breitbart; Chelsea's Big Fat Secret Wedding; Three American Youths Still Detained in Iran After One Year; CNN Hero of the Week; The Taste of Pain
Aired July 30, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. Good morning. It's Friday, July 30th. I'm Sara Sidner in for Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good to have you with us this week. Thanks for being here.
SIDNER: Great to be here. Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you. Lots to talk about today. Let's get right to it.
In the brig, developing this morning, new fallout from the leak of 91,000 documents on the war in Afghanistan. The suspected WikiLeak source, flown back from Kuwait, now locked up in Virginia. The Pentagon is now essentially accusing WikiLeaks, its founder Julian Assange, and its source within the U.S. Military, of murder.
SIDNER: Detained in Iran for nearly one year now. Three American hikers have been held in Tehran, accused of spying. Today, their mothers will have a protest aimed at winning their children's freedom. We'll talk to the three moms about their new efforts coming up.
ROBERTS: Plus, details of the ceremony: top secret. The party rumored to cost millions. The FAA will shut down the air space over one tiny town in New York tomorrow where Chelsea Clinton is expected to walk down the aisle. And it's all anyone there is talking about.
(BEGIN VDIEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this town has been electrified by the whole thing.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's crazy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Insane. Insane. The only person they haven't interviewed is the wooden Indian in front of the cigar store.
CHO: It's kind of fun like speculating, isn't it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it's great. This is the greatest parlor game since Monopoly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Our Alina Cho is live in Rhinebeck, New York, this morning, trying to get information she can from anyone, animate or inanimate on the wedding of the year.
SIDNER: And, of course, the amFIX blog is up and running. Join the live conversation right now. Just go to CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: First this morning, breaking news out of France. The U.S. embassy in Paris is now confirming that it received a suspicious envelope. Following security protocol, two exposed employees were checked out by medical professionals. The envelope itself is now being analyzed by a laboratory and preliminary reports show it's not harmful. Earlier reports indicated that three employees had to be treated for suspected poisoning.
SIDNER: New developments this morning on the investigation into those 91,000 leaked documents from the war in Afghanistan. The suspected WikiLeaks source is back in Virginia and behind bars this morning, locked up in a Marine Corps big in Quantico. Private First Class Bradley Manning is an Army intel analyst who was already in jail in Kuwait on charges of leaking other classified information.
ROBERTS: He's now the military's focus in its investigation into who leaked tens of thousands of documents to the Web site WikiLeaks. He'll remain in confinement.
Barbara Starr is live for us at the Pentagon this morning.
And strong words, Barbara, from the Pentagon, saying that the Web site, its chief editor and Manning may have blood on their hands.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. Sara, good morning.
A very tough set of words coming from the Pentagon. Bradley Manning moved overnight indeed from Kuwait to the Marine Corps brig at Quantico, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. here. This is a signal of long-term confinement for Private First Class Manning as the military justice process moves forward.
Now, there is an Article 32 under way. That's sort of the military equivalent, if you will, of a grand jury proceeding and if this -- this could lead, if all evidence is found, could, in fact, lead to a full-blown court-martial proceeding for Manning.
At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Robert Gates is saying there are severe consequences from this. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff perhaps having the most dire words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. MIKE MULLEN, JOINT CHIEFS CHAIRMAN: I think we always need to be mindful of the unknown potential for damage in any particular document that we handle. Mr. Assange can say whatever he likes about the greater good he thinks he and his source are doing. But the truth is, they might already have on their hands the blood of some young soldier or that of an Afghan family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: This investigation now moving beyond just the U.S. military. They are looking at Assange. They are looking at the WikiLeaks site.
And Defense Secretary Gates underscoring yesterday that he called FBI Director Robert Mueller and brought the FBI into this. They want to look at what contacts Manning may have had here in the United States, in the civilian sector. They are accomplices, they say. They want to find out what has happened here -- John, Sara.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr for us at the Pentagon this morning -- Barbara, thanks.
It looks like a hacker, a notorious one with criminal record, may have literally handed the military concrete evidence that Bradley Manning was the source of many of these leaks. And coming up in just a few minutes, we're going to speak with a reporter from CNN.com who got his story.
SIDNER: Now, to politics. And New York's 20-term congressman, Charlie Rangel, is facing the prospect of an embarrassing public trial after being charged with 13 counts of violating House ethics rules.
ROBERTS: Joining us now from Washington with more on that and other political hot topics is our Candy Crowley, chief political correspondent and host of "STATE OF THE UNION" here on CNN.
So, what's going on with Rangel these days, Candy? Does not exactly fit in with the narrative that the Democratic Party would like to have leading into the midterm elections.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, especially since they have a speaker who said that she came to Washington to, quote, "clean out the swamp" after a number of Republican ethics problems. Having said that, there are a lot of other things the Democrats have to worry about, this election.
But, certainly, Charlie Rangel is a high-profile Democrat. He does not -- as far as we can tell -- have much of a problem in his district were this -- should this trial go on into the fall. Usually, in these cases, you see the congressman, or this lawmaker, say that they're not going to get out, that they won't resign. And then sometimes, right up to the precipice, they change their mind. That does not seem to be true right now of Charlie Rangel.
But one of the reasons that you are hearing some of his colleagues -- at least privately -- call for him to step down and urge him to step down is because they are worried about the fall.
SIDNER: What about Republicans? They seem to be awfully quiet on this. Are they just sort of thinking, we don't have to do anything because this is just hurting them without us saying a word?
CROWLEY: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
CROWLEY: Pretty much. I mean, this is -- listen, this is a -- I mean, if you talk to Republicans, they'll say, this is a Democratic deal. OK? This is their guy.
Now, obviously, the ethics committee is bipartisan. But it was when some of the Republican lawmakers that had ethics violations or were in deep trouble for one reason or another, Tom DeLay comes to mind and he stepped down. When did he do that? The urging of his own colleague from his own party.
So, it's a good time for the Republicans to step back.
ROBERTS: Let's switch gears and tackle the immigration law. Arizona is seeking a challenge. They want to get an expedited hearing in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on all of this. It's -- by most people's measure -- destined for the Supreme Court.
But what's the political impact there in Washington on all of this? Because the base charge here is: these states have do this because the federal government is not doing its job.
CROWLEY: And here's -- there's the rub, as they say. The problem here, I think, in trying to kind of parse this politically and what it will mean is that this -- this isn't an issue that totally goes along party lines. This is about regions.
So, if you are a congressman in a mixed district with a lot of Hispanic Americans in it, you may look at it differently than you do if you are a congressman with low turnout of Hispanic-Americans or largely, you know, Caucasian conservative place that votes for you.
If you're in New Mexico, if you're in Arizona, if you're in Florida, if you're Marco Rubio in Florida, where there's large Hispanic populations, you have to look at this and try to figure out where to go. It is undecided.
Therefore, this is the question that politicians are going to be asked. And I just don't think it cuts cleanly along party lines at this point.
SIDNER: All right. Candy, last thing here, what's coming up on "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday?
CROWLEY: Talking about immigration among other things. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Carl Levin of Michigan. As you know, the president headed up there, talking about unemployment. The unemployment rate up there has come down but it's still pretty unbelievable.
ROBERTS: Yes. The president going there today as well.
All right. Candy Crowley for us this morning -- Candy, always great to see you. Thanks for joining us.
CROWLEY: Thank you, guys. Good weekend.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
SIDNER: Thank you very much, Candy.
And be sure to watch Candy Crowley on "STATE OF THE UNION" this Sunday morning. She told you there what it's going to be all about. That's 9:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
ROBERTS: Reynolds Wolf is tracking the weather forecast across the country today. He joins us with a brief look.
And, I guess, the word from the South and Mid-Atlantic is: hot, hot, hot today.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Unbearably so. I mean, it is going to be just brutally. I mean, we got a lot of the moisture that's coming in from both the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico. That combined with some daytime heating is going to make things just -- just unreal for you.
In fact, take a look at some of the numbers that we're going to be experiencing later on today. You see the heat index of 120 -- as you can expect for places like Charleston, South Carolina, parts of Georgia.
I'll tell you, if you make your way back into Alabama, even into Mississippi, and even parts of Tennessee and Arkansas, the heat is going to be just relentless. It should remain that way through a good part of the weekend. And in terms of your high temperatures, the forecast now calls for 100 degrees in Dallas, 95 in Houston, 96 in New Orleans, 101 in Phoenix, 106 in Las Vegas.
New York, a little bit -- well, a little bit on the summery side and no doubt bit, 84 degrees. You had some showers yesterday. (INAUDIBLE) like for you today though. It should be a much better day for you there.
Ninety-two in Raleigh, 78 degrees in Minneapolis, 92 in Billings -- very unusual for this time of year.
We will have more on that forecast coming up. Plus, we're going to talk about some potential travel delays. And, yes, we might see a few of those leading into the weekend. That's moments away.
Let's send it back to you in New York.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it, Reynolds. Thanks so much.
WOLF: You bet.
ROBERTS: Well, not since the Dodgers bolted from Brooklyn has a fan base screamed for this much blood. It probably wasn't a good idea for some dude to show up in the Cleveland Indians bleachers wearing a LeBron James jersey. And not just any of LeBron James jersey, but a new LeBron James jersey -- number six from the Miami Heat.
He was literally booed out of the stadium, though he was wearing it for pride. And he had a few $7 beers flung at him at the same time. He liked playing the heel.
But his girlfriend didn't take it well. She got in a shoving match on the way out when one fan threw some peanuts at her.
SIDNER: Wow. She's throwing some punches there, it looks like.
ROBERTS: She is. I'm not sure what the motivation was. But he seems out to be proud of himself wearing the jersey.
SIDNER: I'm sure something was said. And -- obviously, she's saying something with the hand there back.
ROBERTS: He's giving them all a one-finger salute there. You are number one.
SIDNER: Right.
All right. Coming up: who leaked thousands of secret Afghan war documents? A superstar convicted hacker says he knows. Why did he turn in this alleged WikiLeaks source? We're searching for answers -- coming up next.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: If you are a pet owner, then you know just how attached you can become. They are -- for many people -- like a member of the familiar.
SIDNER: Yes, they really are. They're family members. But what happens, though, in divorce?
You can divide the money, the property. That's kind of normal. What happens to the kids, where they go on weekends. But who gets the dog?
A Maryland judge found a creative solution. Carol Costello has today's "Gut Check."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Gayle Myers, Lucky is way more than a cute, loyal dog.
(on camera): Do you view your dog as your child?
GAYLE MYERS, SHARES DOG CUSTODY: I don't have any kids. So, she's the closest that I'm going to have to a child. I have another dog as well. They're both like my kids.
COSTELLO (voice-over): So, when she decided to leave her husband, money and property didn't enter her mind. She left with --
MYERS: My clothes, a few personal items, and the dog.
COSTELLO (on camera): And that's all you wanted?
MYERS: That's all I wanted.
COSTELLO (voice-over): The problem is: her ex wanted Lucky, too. And that made a no-contest divorce a rather testy battle.
In Maryland, a pet is considered property, like a car or a house. Certainly not like a child.
MYERS: Lucky is coming.
COSTELLO: But Maryland Judge Graydon McKee told me he didn't think it was fair to force the Myers to sell the dog and split the proceeds. So, he ordered joint custody. She gets Lucky six months. He gets Lucky the other six months. A ruling that could shake up divorce court for good.
JAMES MAXWELL, MYERS' ATTORNEY: It recognizes the emotional -- the reciprocal attachment between a pet and the other members of the family, and in some sense, elevates the role of the pet to a quasi- family member.
COSTELLO: It brings us back to our question: Should a pet be considered like a child in divorce court?
MARLENE ESKIND MOSES, AMER. ACAD. OF MATRIMONIAL LAWYERS: It would certainly complicate divorce litigation, clearly. It would be a time-consuming proposition.
COSTELLO: As it could become, in the Myers case, despite the custody ruling, there are still questions.
(on camera): What if the dog gets sick? And there's a lot of veterinarian bills.
GAYLE MYERS, SHARES DOG CUSTODY: We are supposed to split the bills.
COSTELLO: Split the bills. So that's also in -- what the judge ordered?
MYERS: I'm not sure exact.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I technically that's not been fleshed out in the order.
COSTELLO (voice-over): But even if it becomes an issue, Gayle Myers doesn't regret any of it.
MYERS: I just couldn't bail on her. She's been there for me. And has faith in me that I'm going to come home every night and feed her and take care of her. What are you doing for -- COSTELLO: After all, they are family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: And consider this. If either Gayle or her ex decide they don't want to share custody of the dog and one of them refuses to turn the dog over to the other, they can go to jail for disobeying a court order. We'd like to know what you think this morning. Should a dog be elevated to a family member in a divorce case? Write to me at my blog, cnn.com/amfix. John Sara.
ROBERTS: Should people that -- I'm sure people will have very strong opinions about that particular question.
COSTELLO: You know, keep in mind, there is a huge backlog in divorce court. So this could only add to that. But you know, people do understand the emotional attachment people have to pets. The judge in this particular case says he just couldn't treat the dog like a piece of furniture because both parties had an emotional attachment to it.
ROBERTS: Carol Costello this morning. Carol, thanks, we'll see you again soon to read some of those comments.
COSTELLO: Sure.
ROBERTS: Meantime, a computer hacker says he knows who leaked thousands of secret Afghan war documents. Why did he turn in this alleged Wikileaks source? We are searching for answers coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: Nineteen after the hour. Back to a developing story now. The Pentagon zeroing in on one of their own. Jailed army intelligence analyst Bradley Mannings that source of Afghan war secrets. And the military may have a hacker, a convicted criminal from California, to thank for cracking thing case.
ROBERTS: He claimed he dug up an online confession from manning but doesn't have it in his possession anymore because he actually gave his hard drive to the defense department. cnn.com's Ashley Fantz spoke to the hacker, Adrian Lamo, and joins us now. So Ashley, tell us who this fellow is and what's his claim to fame?
ASHLEY FANTZ, CNN.COM REPORTER: Adrian is probably most famous for being convicted of one count of computer crimes in 2004. He was able to hack into "The New York Times" internal security system, he has also hacked into yahoo and mciworldcom. And what's interesting about Adrian is that he did that just to amuse himself. He would call these companies and say this is how I broke into your security system. Do you want to know how I did it? I will tell you for free.
SIDNER: Can you tell us about why Lamo believes that Manning's -- why he was able to sort of out Manning -- how did that happen, how did that come about? FANTZ: Well Manning approached him in a chat room and sort of chatting with Adrian. Adrian is not sure why Bradley Manning sought him out and started confessing he had all these classified cables. And Adrian believes that maybe that manning saw a profile in "Wired" magazine written on Adrian. But nevertheless they started chatting back and forth and the chats became more emotional on Manning's side and he eventually confessed he had the secret documents.
ROBERTS: Interesting, and here is a question a lot of people may have, Ashley. And that is that among hackers, there is taken to be a code of conduct. You don't turn the other person in. Why did Lamo in this case decide to go to the Pentagon and say hey, I have this guy who is confessing this to me. You ought to know about it.
FANTZ: He is very clear with me that he felt like the information that Bradley Manning was giving him in these instant messages could endanger National Security. And he felt an obligation to say something about that. He wondered that how could it be that someone would have all of this information and not put someone in harm's way. He felt guilty.
ROBERTS: And Lamo himself now is receiving some threats?
FANTZ: On his Facebook page, there are numerous threats. He says that he's received death threats to his face. His Twitter account is full of threats. Anyone can go on Adrian's Facebook page and see what people have left. And it is quite ugly.
SINDER: One interesting thing here that you also find out, Lamo didn't believe man acted alone. Did he give any idea how many other people might be involved in this leak?
FANTZ: Yes. Adrian did say that he knew of one person. Someone in the military who would have had the computer savvy, the capability, the time and the access to help Bradley Manning. But he wouldn't elaborate on that for me. I asked him how he knew that. And who that might be. And Adrian Lamo would simply not explain what he meant.
ROBERTS: Yes. Ashley, a little while ago you said there was communication between Manning and Lamo in the form of instant messages. He showed you some of the communication between the two. Why didn't he show you everything?
FANTZ: He said that he couldn't give me the full logs because he had given his hard drive to the Department of Defense. And he joked that was his get-out-of-offer question reporter question free card. He also said that the logs contained personal information that he does not want exposed. And that there's information that he has that no one has seen, that could compromise National Security. And that if anyone wanted to see the logs, that they could read about them in "Wired" magazine.
SIDNER: Thank you so much for being here this morning. Ashley Fantz there from CNN.com.
ROBERTS: And the story takes yet another intriguing twist, doesn't it?
SIDNER: Another twist.
ROBERTS: Coming up your "Top Stories," including the frenzy surrounding Chelsea Clinton's nuptials scheduled for tomorrow.
SIDNER: And how hot is on? New York City restaurant claims it brews the world's hottest curry. And we are taking the taste test. Right, John?
ROBERTS: Ah no, no, no. Other people will take the taste test.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN, breaking news.
SIDNER: Nearing the top of the hour now, as you just heard, breaking news here at CNN. A new wildfire exploding in the Los Angeles area. Just as firefighters gained ground on two others nearby, that have burning since earlier this week. There is a picture there now live from a helicopter. The latest fire blackened 5,000 acres and forced nearly 2,000 people to evacuate. We will bring you new information on that fire as it becomes available.
ROBERTS: Top military brass now saying Wikileaks said it's accused source may already be guilty of murder. Private first class Bradley Manning has now been moved from a prison in Kuwait to a marine brig in Quantico, Virginia. He is the prime suspect on the leak of classified intelligence on the war in Afghanistan. In just a few moments we will go live to the Pentagon for the latest on the investigation.
SIDNER: Former Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod says she plans to sue conservative blogger Andrew Breibart, he is the man responsible for posting edited video of Sherrod's remarks on race which we then found out were taken completely out of context. Breibart hasn't said he was targeting Sherrod personally but rather he was taking aim at the NAACP. But speaking yesterday, Sherrod says she doesn't buy that and she plans to take some action.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHIRLEY SHERROD, FORMER GA. DIR., RURAL DEVELOPMENT, USDA: At this point, you know, he hasn't apologized. I don't want it at this point. And he will definitely hear from me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just to follow up on that, there have been reports that you are considering a lawsuit. Have you decided whether you are going to pursue that action?
SHERROD: I will definitely do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: So far, Breibart has not commented on Sherrod's plans to sue. ROBERTS: Just hours now left on the countdown clock to the wedding of the year. Chelsea Clinton and her husband-to-be, Marc Mezvinsky, are tying the knot tomorrow. But most of the wedding details are still top secret.
SIDNER: Here is what we think we know. The ceremony is expected to happen at French inspired mansion on the Hudson River. The estate is in a tiny town of Rhinebeck, New York. And that's exactly where you think you would find Alina Cho. She is certainly there this morning. Alina you have talked to a bunch of those folks in that town. And it sounds like they are really excited about this.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes. They are. I mean, you know, this is really the biggest thing to happen to Rhinebeck in a very, very long time. Guys, good morning. You know, Chelsea Clinton is famously private. So it is no surprise she would want to keep her wedding a secret. Having said that, there is always intense interest in whatever the Clinton's are doing.
Unfortunately, they are not talking. They are not confirming anything. So even now at this late hour, it's a guessing game. And speculation is running high.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: On the eve of the wedding of summer involving the daughter of American royalty, tiny Rhinebeck, New York, 90 miles from Manhattan, is undergoing a transformation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A sleepy little town, but it's not sleepy anymore.
CHO: Now Rhinebeck is a media mecca. Yet nobody's talking because everyone involved in this top-secret wedding has signed a confidentiality agreement.
CHO (on camera): Prying a confirmation out of anyone around here is next to impossible. But take a walk around town and the signs are literally everywhere. "A toast to Chelsea and Marc." "Congratulations to Marc and Chelsea."
CHO (voice-over): Chelsea Clinton and investment banker Marc Mezvinsky will reportedly wed on Saturday night at Astor Courts, a 50 acre estate along the Hudson River. Many guests will reportedly stay at the oldest operating inn in America. A-listers like Oprah, Spielberg, and Streisand, are expected to attend. The current president will not attend.
JIM LANGAN, "HUDSON VALLEY" NEWS EDITOR: It is a big event for Rhinebeck.
CHO: Jim Langan, editor of "The Hudson Valley News" broke the story.
LANGAN: This town has just been electrified by the whole thing.
CHO (on camera): It's crazy.
LANGAN: Insane. The only person I haven't interviewed here is the wooden Indian out in front of the cigar store.
CHO: Can you tell me who is officiating?
CHO (voice-over): Word on the street is Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will preside. Makes sense -- he's a Clinton nominee. But again, we're just not sure.
CHO (on camera): It is kind of fun speculating.
LANGAN: It's great. This is the greatest game since monopoly.
CHO (voice-over): CNN has confirmed the FAA will close the airspace within 1.5 miles around Rhinebeck from Saturday afternoon until Sunday morning for what it calls "VIP movements."
CHO (on camera): Can you give me the inside track on anything about this wedding?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not catering it. That much I can tell you.
CHO (voice-over): John Regan owns Rhinebeck Deli where this week they're serving up "Chelsea's choice wrap," "Bill's all-American sandwich, and "Hillary's "the secretary of steak."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most popular is the "secretary of steak."
CHO: Really. Why do you think that is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really don't know.
CHO: You got sirloin in there.
CHO (voice-over): Rhinebeck has seen celebrities before.
LANGAN: Christie Brinkley. She was here.
CHO: But nearly everyone will tell you this not-so-sleepy little town anymore has never seen anything quite like this.
LANGAN: I think it is the biggest thing to happen since Washington's army drove the British out down the street in the 1700s. I mean, it doesn't get any bigger than this, and never will, I don't think.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Others dispute that. Some argue this is the biggest thing to happen to Rhinebeck since 1939. That's when the post office was dedicated and FDR paid a visit. So this isn't the first time a president has come to town.
Having said that, Rhinebeck does have a rich history. There are more than 400 sites on the national registry, and some say that that is one reason why the Clintons chose this as the site of Chelsea's wedding. Back to you guys.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: So obviously there will be a lot of close family members who are coming. Do we know who any of the a- listers who will be there are?
CHO: Well, as I said, you know, it is all rumor. Remember this, John, it is all rumor.
ROBERTS: Come on. Give us some names.
CHO: We are hearing Streisand. We are hearing Spielberg. We are hearing Terry McAuliffe, a close friend of the Clintons. He bought the Chappaqua house. You know, we are hearing a lot of names.
But what's most interesting, actually, guys, are the people who are no on the list, the people who were left off and who are really, really upset. What we are hearing is that everybody who is on the guest list does have to have a direct relationship or at least know both the bride and the groom.
ROBERTS: Well, you know -- people kvetch. They don't get invited.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: It will be all right. Thanks, Alina. Have fun this weekend.
CHO: There is a lot of traffic going on. Guys, thank you.
SIDNER: One year later, American hikers still being held in Iran without charges. Their mothers are working full time for their release. All three join us live next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: It's 37 after the hour now. A year ago today, Sarah Shourd, one of the American hikers detained in Iran, emailed this to her mother. "Hello, sweetness. So we're traveling, actually we're in northern Iraq. It's totally safe. The Kurds in this area have been pro-Americans since 1991. No single American has ever been hurt on Kurdish territory. So don't worry. Tonight we're going camping. I love you, Sarah."
For nearly a year, her mother and the mothers of the two other detained hikers have been worrying, and today they will be pleading a protest outside of the Iranian mission to the U.N. demanding their release.
We have all three mothers with us, Cindy Hickey, mother of Shane Bauer, Nora Shourd, mother of Sarah, and Laura Fattal, mother of Josh. Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
Cindy, let's start with you. Tell me about the protests that will happen today. And if you changed the way that you are making your demands because -- all of you were very deferential. You seem to be trying to do this in a very diplomatic manner. Now what?
CINDY HICKEY, MOTHER OF DETAINED HIKER SHANE BAUER: We are at the Iranian mission today protesting the detention of our children. It is very unjust. We think we have been more than patient and respectful. It is time for them to be returned. We heard over and over again that they would be granted maximum leniency. Things would move forward in the judiciary. Nothing has happened. We need movement.
SIDNER: Now we are going t go to you, Nora. You got to see your children. Did you ever imagine that it would still be going on for a total amount of a year? They are detained without being told why they are detained and no charges against them.
NORA SHOURD, MOTHER OF DETAINED HIKER SARAH SHOURD: This is unbelievable to us at this point. I mean, it is outrageous that they are still there. You know, it is coming up on a year now. In the beginning we expected it to be over fairly quickly, you know. There is 100 mark, 200 mark, and here we are at a year.
You know, there's no crime committed by these three. No reason to hold them. There never has been a reason to hold them. We know it is totally political. We know they are being used for political gain. And we want this to end right away. It is long enough.
SIDNER: You just found -- the question everyone has been asking, did they actually cross into Iran? You are saying they didn't commit a crime.
SHOURD: No. There is no crime. There is no crime. You know, they haven't even been charged with anything. There have been rumors they will be charged but they haven't been charged. They haven't been allowed to see their lawyer since we hired him in December. We had one phone call. We have had one visit.
These are outrageous things for any prisoner. You know, we are not getting normal family contact with our children at all. And they are not getting normal legal process either. It is only political, nothing else at this point.
SIDNER: I will move on to you, Laura. Very strong statements. Obviously mothers will react to this. You want your children back. You want them to be safe. Do you think that the American administration is doing as much as it can to try and secure their release and really push the Iranian government to secure the release or give you some idea they will be charged, a trial, you keep hearing things? But then nothing happens, right?
LAURA FATTAL, MOTHER OF DETAINED HIKER JOSH FATTAL: Yes. We absolutely believe the American government is working as hard as they can. They are working very closely with the Swiss embassy in Tehran, which are on the ground. They are working with us hand in glove all the time.
When the three mothers -- when we were all there in Tehran, ambassador to Libya was with us and doing as much as possible to help us see the kids as long as possible and also to just facilitate the visit.
And subsequent to our visit that ended May 21, the hardest day of all of our lives, leaving our kids in Tehran, seeing them go into an elevator and us go into another elevator to fly halfway around the world was absolutely the most devastating day of our lives.
We know the American government is working to end this. I know they see this anniversary as a very, very unfortunate anniversary. We never wanted to see a one year of detention.
And I just want to ad Josh's birthday was June 4th and Shane's birthday was July 13th, and Sarah's birthday is coming up on August 10th. Now, I did not even give josh a birthday card or present when I visited him. I didn't want him to think that there were two more weeks in jail.
So every day we take and believe that the Iranian authorities will understand enough is enough, time for these kids to get out of Tehran and come home to the United States.
SIDNER: This is a question to all of you. Any one of can you answer. Have you heard anything from your children? And how does that happen? Are they are allowed to e-mail? Are they allowed to talk to an attorney? Are you getting anything since a couple of months ago when you were there to meet with them?
HICKEY: We heard nothing from our children. Again, one phone call, one visit, no letters. They have written letters. We haven't gotten them. The Swiss has asked over and over again to get in. They can't see them. Our lawyers requested to see his clients and he has not been able to see them. We hired him in December.
So the total of time the Swiss have seen them in a year probably amount to about two hours.
SIDNER: You talk about birthdays. We talked about anniversaries. There are going to things emotionally very difficult for you and for your children. But I understand that Sarah has some medical issues as well on top of all of this. It must make you feel so concerned not only for her emotional state but her physical state.
SHOURD: Yes. Sitting here surrounded by pictures of Sarah. It is hard not to look at them. Sarah has been in solitary confinement for a year. Since day one, she is alone 23 hours a day, which is difficult for me to think about on a daily basis.
She also has medical issues. She has several. She is not really receiving the medical care that she should. She has had one doctor's visit.
And we have asked repeatedly for the past five months for the reports, the lab reports, the findings from the visits, and we have been denied those. You know, she has two different medical things, and she's really depressed, as are the other kids, you know.
So this is cause for alarm for us and cause for concern. We don't understand why this is being neglected.
SIDNER: Cindy, Nora, Laura, thank you so much for being here. The best of luck to you, and I hope everything works out the way you want it to as soon as possible.
HICKEY: Thank you.
SHOURD: Thank you.
SIDNER: It is now 44 minutes after the hour. We will be back in just a bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome back to CNN AMERICAN MORNING, The Most News in the Morning. I'm meteorologist Reynolds Wolf.
Over the last couple of days we've been talking about the extreme heat in parts of the southeast. But right now let's go live out west. We're talking about heat of an entirely different variety -- fires.
Let's show you what we've got, we've got a live image; taking it all from KTLA. You can see the fire is going right up the slopes in Leona Valley, California already (INAUDIBLE) and also south Palmdale under mandatory evacuation. You've got 5,000 acres scorched at this time. And it is zero percent contained.
Again, these are live images compliments of KTLA. We'll watch that story for you very carefully.
But the other story we're watching again takes part in parts of the southeastern United States where we have the combination of high humidity and the high heats. So places like Georgia back into Carolinas, it's going to feel like it's well above the century point.
To be more exact, anywhere from 110 to 120 degrees is what it's going to feel like outside. So any outdoor plans you have make sure you take it easy.
Something else you're going to be dealing with, more heat also into portions of the Central Plains: Kansas City, 90; 10 degrees warmer in Dallas, the high at 100 is expected today; Minneapolis on the other side of the frontal boundary, 78 degrees; 78 in Chicago; and 84 in New York.
That is a quick look at your forecast. We've got so much more coming up in a few moments right here on CNN AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Coming up now, nine minutes to the top of the hour. We are back with The Most News in the Morning.
An amazing story of redemption, when Aki Rha was 11 years old he was given a rifle and trained as a soldier in the communist Khmer Rouge Army. Now, he spends every day trying to atone for his violent past.
Meet this week's CNN hero, defusing deadly land mines with his bare hands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AKI RA, COMMUNITY CRUSADER (trough translator): My name is Aki Ra, I was born north of (INAUDIBLE) in Cambodia.
When I was 10 years old the Khmer Rouge chose me to be a soldier. Then I was trained in how to lay land mines. Sometimes in a week we were ordered to plant 4,000 to 5,000 mines.
We did not think about anything. But I got a sense it was wrong. Because I saw a lot of people dying, I put people in danger and damaged a country.
After the war was over, I decided to clear mines by myself. My equipment was tools that I made myself.
Dig it out carefully. It was active.
That method of demining was simple but it wasn't legal. Now we are working legally and people have joined me. Now it's safe. The villagers are requesting us to demine because the people are afraid of mines. They step on it and die.
What makes me happy is that I have done a lot of good things different from during the war. I have cleared thousands of mines. I want Cambodia to be safe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: To nominate someone who you think is changing the world and deserves to be a CNN Hero, just go to cnn.com/amfix.
SIDNER: All right, just ahead, a New York restaurant claims it makes the world's hottest curry.
ROBERTS: And you know what, they are right. They are right.
SIDNER: We'll have to see. We're going to put to it the test again. John might not do it but someone in the studio is going to do it. Who is going to take the challenge?
ROBERTS: Oh, I'll try it again.
SIDNER: All right, cool.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, if you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen because this next dish might not be for you. SIDNER: Here in New York City, a restaurant is serving up what just might be the hottest curry on record. Strong enough to make you hurt days later as we -- both found out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER (voice-over): In New York City, an inconspicuous restaurant offering a taste of India, hot enough to make a tough guy cry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes I could finish this. I just have to keep eating it.
ANDY PROCTOR, BARTENDER, BRICK LANE CURRY HOUSE: I have seen girls' make up running down their faces. This people soaked, they look like they just got out of the shower. But they look pretty warm and red-faced and purple-faced.
SIDNER: All because they took Brick Lane Curry House restaurant's PHAAL challenge, that's PHAAL, a dish so spicy, one of the ten peppers used in it is being tested in India as a potential weapon against terrorists which explains why the chef who makes it has to wear this.
(on camera): You have to wear a gas mask?
KARTHIK KUMAR, EXECUTIVE CHEF, BRICK LANE CURRY HOUSE: To make sure that I'm safe.
SIDNER: Where's mine?
(voice-over): Since I lived in India and eat curry daily, I decided to take the challenge which means eating one entire order of this nuclear dish.
(on camera): Have you actually finished one of these dishes?
KUMAR: I never finished a bowl.
SIDNER: What?
KUMAR: But I'm -- I'm small. But -- but --
SIDNER: I'm a fool and you're smart.
(voice-over): The owners say about 20 people order the PHAAL curry daily. Only about three finish it.
(on camera): This is Caroline.
CAROLINE: It's not spicy at all.
SIDNER: And she is saying it is not spicy at all. She is a better woman than I am. I will talk to you when you are halfway through.
CAROLINE: Ok.
SATINDER SHARMA, CO-OWNER, BRICK LANE CURRY HOUSE: I can show you that there's more heat in it than flavor (ph).
SIDNER: Caroline, let me see your face.
CAROLINE: I'm like tearing.
SIDNER: Yes. It is rough. Isn't it?
As for me -- am I insane? Do you think I'm a fool? Be honest. You do. You do.
(voice-over): About 25 minutes later, my last bite.
(on camera): Seriously, do I have to eat this? This is ridiculous. Insane. All right. I won. The thing is, it sure didn't feel like it later that night.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: All right. Actually, two days later I could still feel it. They're still like gurgling in my stomach. I will spare you the details. It wasn't pretty.
ROBERTS: Two years -- two years ago. It feels like two years ago. Two hours ago, I tried this. One of the viewers wrote in and said you are so cruel for making me take a bite of this.
SIDNER: I'm sorry. I did suggest that you take a little milk or yogurt.
ROBERTS: I ate some yogurt which helped to kill it but still --
SIDNER: If you finish the dish, by the way, you get a certificate card and a free beer. But I was at work, so I couldn't really take the beer --
ROBERTS: They should give you much more than that. This is the sort of thing where you say if I give you $10,000, will you eat that? No way.
If we won't eat it, Ricky will. You may remember just before the Fourth of July, the Nathan's hot dog eating contest. Rick came in to see if he could eat six hot dogs in 60 minutes; failed miserably. So let's see how he does with this.
SIDNER: Take the same bite John did. Just --
ROBERTS: That's the bite I took, buddy boy. That's the bite I took.
RICK: This is going to be good. Yes, the breakfast of idiots.
ROBERTS: There you go. Watch this. It's not too hot to begin with. SIDNER: Look at him. Champion. Wow. His cheeks are getting a little red. See it? You can actually see it.
ROBERTS: Yes. The heat's coming on.
It gets better as time goes on. This is the gift that keeps on giving.
They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different outcome.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: I'm going to try it. I tried a chunk that big two hours ago.
SIDNER: I'm going to let him do that because frankly, he won't be able to say anything after. Look at him. Look at him.
RICK: It doesn't go away.
SIDNER: Kyra, I really wish that you were here so you could try a little bit of this.
This is some serious stuff here.
ROBERTS: I'm bringing her a piece of it later on today.
SIDNER: "CNN NEWSROOM" with Kyra Phillips starts -- are you ok, oh, my goodness -- starts right now.
