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CNN Sunday Morning
Arizona Prison Break; Russia's Deadly Wildfire; Carpet Bombed with Chemicals
Aired August 01, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there, folks. Good morning to you all from the CNN Center. This is "CNN Sunday Morning," 6:00 a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia, where we are already into August.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Where did July go?
HOLMES: I don't know. I miss July.
BOLDUAN: I miss July.
HOLMES: Good morning, folks. I'm T.J.
BOLDUAN: I'm Kate Bolduan. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us.
HOLMES: We always want to say a special good morning this hour to our military men and women for watching us around the world on the Armed Forces Network. Thank you for what you do and thank you being right here.
We're going to share a special story for you this morning. It's coming out of Afghanistan, an Army National guardsman says he owes his life to a pair of dogs that he actually had to leave behind. We'll show you though the reunion this morning.
BOLDUAN: And today is the first full day of married life for the Mezvinskys. Have you seen the pictures of Chelsea Clinton's wedding? Well, we're going to show more of them to you coming up this morning.
HOLMES: But first, let me give me a look at some stories making headlines and a story overnight that has a lot of people on edge especially in Arizona, where three convicted murderers are on the loose.
They escaped from a prison there in the northwest part of Arizona. Police are warning people they need to be on the lookout, you're looking at a picture of a woman they believe helped in this escape. We'll have a full report on the story in just a moment.
Also in northwest Pakistan, look at these pictures, some of the new pictures we are getting of this devastating flooding after the monsoon rains came down for several days. Eight hundred people are dead now, a lot of concern, a lot of anger right now directed at the government over the response to this disaster. We'll get an update on this throughout the morning and also the fact that more monsoon rains are in the forecast for tomorrow.
Also one more story to bring you here out of California, we've been watching three major wildfires burn out there, but the largest of the three, the so-called crown fire is now 82 percent contained.
Weather has been helping a bit and as you saw in some of these pictures a lot of those planes have been up in the air putting a lot of chemicals trying to get the fires out, about 30,000 acres in all have been burned by the three fires, but it looks right now firefighters are making some headway.
BOLDUAN: And we want to get you to the latest on this Arizona manhunt that we mentioned, this is a pretty wild story and it's not over yet, it centers now this story on a truck stop, where two of these jail escapees hijacked an 18-wheeler. Jennifer Parks of our CNN affiliate KNXV has the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody told me don't go outside, there is a big truck at the fuel line and there are cop cars all around because it's escaped prisoners and don't go out there.
JENNIFER PARKS, KNXV (voice-over): Janna Branburg later learned convicted murderers, Tracy Province and John McClauski (ph) escaped from an Arizona State Prison near Kingmen and accused of hijacking an 18-wheeler with two truckers forcing them to drive at gun point to this little America truck stop in flagstaff.
ROGER EARL, TRUCK DRIVER: Got a gun, they came up behind him. They get out, go to the restroom, a lot of times they knock on your door.
ANDREW CULVER, TRUCK DRIVER: I'm glad they didn't get hurt. If a guy answer got a gun pointed at you I guess you're driving where he wants to go.
PARKS: The Mojave County sheriff's office says this woman, 44- year-old Casslyn Welch out of Mesa assisted the men. Her car was seen near prison. It's described as a 1996 Blue Chrysler Concord.
A third man, Daniel Renwick who was serving two consecutive terms for murder also escaped, but authorities think he's on his own. How the three men got out of the medium security prison dormitory and cut two holes in the fence is unclear.
Authorities won't discuss any leads they're following up on, but warning the public the three men are armed and anyone who sees them should call police.
UNDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know the police are going to get them, it's a matter of time and I'm sure they'll be caught. But in the meantime, I think everybody needs to be warned.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, so that is a developing story this morning. Right now, they don't know if the three escapees are still together. There's a good chance that they are not.
But again as you heard, the two people that were actually held were released without any injuries, but right now, a lot of people on edge and how in the world did three convicted killers make it out of jail. A lot of questions about that right now as well.
BOLDUAN: I even hate that we have to say it, sounds like something out of the movies how people now can break out of jail today with the technology out there anyway.
HOLMES: Three killers in a medium security prison. A lot of questions out there.
Some questions as well about the use of chemical dispersants, it's been a lot of back and forth, how much should be used. Yes, it helps, but it hurts the environment in some ways as well. We've got a new controversy cooking up over the use of dispersants.
BOLDUAN: We're going to take you live to New Orleans for the latest on the Gulf oil disaster next. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: It's day 104 of the Gulf oil disaster and BP is preparing for its final solution to that blown-out oil well off the coast of Louisiana. They're going in for the kill we'd like to say.
HOLMES: Yes.
BOLDUAN: Starting either tomorrow or Tuesday.
HOLMES: Yes, this is the static kill. We got two different kills we need to do essentially. We have the static kill that's going to essentially have them go down and start pumping a lot of this mud into a certain area of the well.
The bottom kill is the one you've been hearing about that has to do with the relief well that's being drilled. This is the actual permanent solution. However, with the static kill that's happening in the next couple of days, that success will help them better determine how successful the bottom kill would be.
But the bottom kill incident, no matter what's happening right now and what you're hearing about the process that's going on, the permanent and final solution still happening sometime in mid to late August.
At the same time, we've got some new controversy over the so- called dispersants. We've got some newly revealed documents from a congressional subcommittee that suggests the U.S. Coast Guard gave BP a lot of latitude and some are saying a little too much latitude when allowing the oil giant to use these chemical dispersants in combating the spill.
You may remember back in May, the government stepped in and said BP you should not be using these dispersants. That was so widely reported. You have stop using or cut back on using that's what the government told BP to do.
While at the same time, these documents reveal BP was actually getting the OK from the coast guard to continue using these dispersants on a number of occasions.
They were only supposed to be used for rare occasions, but some members of the subcommittee saying none of the occasions were rare.
BOLDUAN: There's nothing rare about it.
HOLMES: Seventy four, 75 different times they were allowed to make these exceptions so the back and forth there continues.
BOLDUAN: Yes, that will be interesting.
HOLMES: Yes, but meanwhile there's another story -- I know you are very interested, I'm not going to put it on you.
BOLDUAN: Come on -
HOLMES: A lot of people were interested in it.
BOLDUAN: A lot of people were interested and we talked about it a lot yesterday. We were finally getting to see some of the --
HOLMES: Yes.
BOLDUAN: -- only images maybe that we will see of the Chelsea Clinton wedding, former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton was married yesterday, and the ceremony took place at Astor Courts, a 50-acre estate in Rhinebeck, New York.
Take a look, if we can show you at the beautiful wedding pictures, you see the former first -- the former President Bill Clinton walking his daughter down the aisle.
The bride as some predicted wore a dress designed by Vera Wang. It's absolutely beautiful. The strapless dress had a swirling silk organza ball gown skirt.
HOLMES: What does that mean?
BOLDUAN: Well, I could draw you a draw, think of a ball gown, fuller on the bottom. Organza is a type of fabric. Sorry, gentlemen, good morning. We're going to talk about organza this morning.
HOLMES: But that was - you know, our Susan Candiotti has been there and she's there live again in Rhinebeck. Susan, we have these pictures, we have a lot more details and confirmation of what was going on. But while it was going on, the town of Rhinebeck feel like they were actually a part of it? They were so closed off. We all were in some ways.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm sure they did in many ways. You know, there had been, really, hundreds of people strolling through town during the course of the day, just waiting to see whether they might spot anyone they recognized.
But during the hours when the wedding ceremony took place and the reception afterwards really the streets kind of peeled out a little bit and got much more quiet, however, when the time came when we started reporting on the release of the official photos, all of the sudden people started appearing on the sidewalks here again.
I think waiting to see those photographs and in fact, after we showed them to our audience last evening, a number of people wanted to see what they looked like so I was turning my Blackberry around and showing them the photographs so that they could get a look at them, too.
T.J., it was quite a ceremony. You have to think, and Kate, that when the couple began planning their ceremony so long ago, they had to have been worried just a bit about the weather because it turns out it was an outdoor wedding, and they didn't have to worry at all, because it was a perfect day, sunny, wonderful temperatures.
The setting was on the hilltop, a hilltop overlooking the Hudson River, and it couldn't have been better for them, I'm sure. We know that the five official photos were released, as you said no more speculation about the dress, she wore Vera Wang.
The mother of the bride, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton wore a dress by Oscar dela Renta, a good friend of hers and the family also released a statement. We have an excerpt for you.
It reads in part, let's see "we watched with great pride and overwhelming emotion as Chelsea and Marc wed in a beautiful ceremony surrounded by family and their close friends. We could not have asked for a more perfect day to celebrate the beginning of their life together and we're so happy to welcome marc into our family."
And also a friend after the ceremony read a poem to them by the late poet Joel Mercks, is that the name? It read in part "the life that I have is all that I have and the life that I have is yours." A lovely sentiment, wouldn't you agree?
BOLDUAN: It's lovely!
HOLMES: That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard. I'm sorry.
CANDIOTTI: Also an interfaith wedding.
HOLMES: Yes.
CANDIOTTI: We've been talking about that. You might see in one of the pictures and we'll probably get to it since we have five of them to scroll through all morning.
When they're up in the ceremony, there's a document on an easel behind them and that's a katuba, that's a Jewish marriage document. That is why that is there if anyone is wondering.
HOLMES: I don't know what I'd do without you two this morning. Kate and Susan -
BOLDUAN: I'm here to walk you through, baby.
HOLMES: I know we're going to talk to you throughout the morning, some more details. More and more seeping out, but we appreciate you this morning again from Rhinebeck. We'll check in with her again.
And you'll be hearing more details from us this morning about the big day for the former first daughter who is now of course all grown up, 30 years old and married now.
Congratulations to the bride and groom. Twelve minutes past the hour here on this "CNN Sunday Morning." Quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Quarter past the hour now, there are several key races that are highlighting the upcoming primary season. The president will play an important role as he tries to influence outcomes. One issue is going to dominate, no doubt, and that is jobs.
BOLDUAN: No surprise either. It's shaping up to be a busy week ahead in politics as it seems to always be a busy week ahead. We have CNN Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser to gives us a preview of what's going on.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Good morning, Kate and T.J. Election fever heats up again this week four states Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Tennessee, they hold primaries.
Keep an eye on competitive Republican gubernatorial contest in Michigan and Tennessee and a tough GOP Senate battle in Kansas. With three months to go until November's midterm elections, both parties are picking up the pace and raising big bucks.
President Barack Obama plays the role of fund-raiser in chief headlining an event for the Democratic Party in Atlanta on Monday and he's the main attraction at a bash for his birthday on Wednesday in Chicago, which is doubling as a party fund-raiser.
This is the Senate's last week before summer recess. Senators are expected to confirm Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court and James Clapper as director of National Intelligence.
Democratic lawmakers will also try to pass a scale (inaudible) energy bill and funding for states to pay for Medicaid and prevent teacher layoffs. But it's likely these bills will fail due to Republican opposition. Finally, Friday the most important number in politics right now, we'll find out July's unemployment rate as the Labor Department releases the monthly jobs report. Kate, T.J. --
HOLMES: All right, thanks to our Paul Steinhauser.
Coming up here, we have been seeing record heat in Russia and it's leading to record wildfires now. Firefighters for the most part right now are losing this battle. Thousands and thousands of people affected here, but you also have hundreds of homes, buildings destroyed and you have the death toll that continues to rise as well.
BOLDUAN: We're going to have the latest details on the deadly flames coming up in our top stories.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Checking some of our top stories now, Russian authorities say two firefighters are among the 28 people who have died in a massive wildfire that's been raging in western Russia.
The Kremlin says it's dispatched 240,000 people to battle the blazes described as the worst ever to hit the region. Russia's emergency ministry says more than 1,200 homes have been destroyed, thousands are homeless.
And in northeast China, 47 people are dead, another 45 missing after a week of flooding. The heavy rains are blamed for sweeping thousands of barrels filled with chemicals into a major river. The barrels are being retrieved but no word on what, if any, contamination those barrels may cause.
And yesterday, on the one-year anniversary of their captivity, the three U.S. hikers accused of trespassing into Iran get renewed attention. People around the U.S. gathered to protest their detention. The Iranian government calls the three hikers spies. The parents of all three are demanding their safe release. T.J. --
HOLMES: Kate, as we talked about just a moment ago on this day 104 of this Gulf oil disaster, we have seen some new controversy pop up over dispersants, but that's not the only thing going on. There are a lot going on the ground right now and underwater, I guess I should say.
Reynolds Wolf who is live in New Orleans for us this morning. We talked yesterday about the time line kind of moving of this static kill operation and also we're getting word that, I don't know if I should call a special visitor to the area that's coming?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, you're talking about BP's Doug Suttles actually going to head down towards Venice, Louisiana. You know, we've been talking, T.J. and Kate, over the last couple of days about the oil. Where is it?
I mean, it's been very hard to find out in the open water, but there are people in the southern part of Louisiana, especially near Plaquemines Parish, we have Venice, the city of Venice and the surrounding areas.
And they say the oil is easy to see, all through the marshlands, it's inundated the area and BP's Doug Suttles is going to look at it firsthand and see the cleanup efforts.
Back to the time line, what a time line we've had. It's actually been pushed back a little bit due to a little bit of some silt and sand that actually made its way into one of the relief wells.
And today, they're really going to continue working on that cleanup measure of cleaning out the relief wells, that's one step they had to take before they get to the static kill procedure. When they clean out the relief wells, they're going to removing some sand and silt that actually dropped into the well when the remnants of Tropical Storm Bonnie moved overhead.
They're going to clean that out and then they're going to lay what they refer to as casing in there, which is basically just a hollow metal pipe. Now after they put the casing in, that's when they're going to proceed with the static kill procedure.
Where they inject a combination of cement and mud into the containment cap and that's going to be the first step. The second big step is the bottom kill, the bottom kill is going to occur sometime in the middle of this month or possibly towards the end of the month, and that should be the final deal on the well.
But certainly one thing it could really sidetrack the entire venture is if you have a tropical system that might develop in the Gulf of Mexico and certainly it's the time of year where that can definitely happen. Back to you guys.
HOLMES: You said that's the time of the year where it can definitely happen, but right now is there a pretty good window of opportunity as far as the weather goes?
WOLF: It really does look good, T.J. In fact, we're not expecting any storms out on the Gulf of Mexico whatsoever. Out in the Atlantic, there is possibly a little bit of activity that may stir up in the next five to 10 days.
But in terms of the gulf, right now conditions are pretty pristine, that's exactly what they need over the next couple of days to really get a good foothold on the measure with the static kill. No question.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds for us in New Orleans, good to see you as always. We're going to be checking in with Reynolds plenty throughout the morning. Thanks so much, buddy.
As we all know the music -- I shouldn't say we all. We've never tried to get into the music industry, but we're told it's a tough game out there. Everybody is looking for a way to set themselves apart. Rapping as easy as it seems to some people is not easy. So we got one rapper trying to get into the game, set himself apart by what? Jumping out of an airplane.
BOLDUAN: Yes, and that's just one of the viral videos Josh Levs has for us this morning. Hey, there, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I love weekends, I get to pull out these unbelievable videos that everybody is watching out there. This guy, his name is Distorm and (inaudible) that he will live out to pretty much any dare so he is rapping while plummeting. You're seeing him there and you'll hear from him next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 24 minutes past the hour here on this "CNN Sunday Morning." We always have a new star it seemed every week on the internet and just a star for the week for the most part.
BOLDUAN: Right.
HOLMES: This new star we've got is just a kid that's 4 years old.
BOLDUAN: Yes and he got his drumming skills that are putting some pros to shame. That's another one of the hot viral videos Josh Levs has for us this morning. A lot of music, Josh.
LEVS: Yes, well, you know that's the stuff that catches on all the time and this little kid, 4-year-old boy, Howard Wong, take a look at him here.
This is impressive enough, drumming "I hate myself for loving you" by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Skip to the next deck and watch what he does. All right, the fans about to go wild.
Look at that, tiny little 4-year-old hands. Kid's got a future. He is getting people, all the conversation online, take this one video alone has now had about 8 million views and even before this, he's had some other videos that were posted of him back when he was 3 years old.
And those are getting hundreds of thousands in some cases millions of views as well. He, believe it or not, this little 4-year- old boy is one of the most popular drummers on the entire internet.
Speaking of kids, this next thing I love. You got to see this video of dads catching foul balls while holding their babies. I can't believe someone put this together.
From the folks at deadspin.com, if you look at closely, it's all of the pictures over the years of dads who got their baby in one hand and catching foul balls in the other hand.
Dude, skip to the next section we'll see one more. Folks at deadspine.com always do a good job of piecing through sports video for unlikely viral material. In the background we're hearing "Baby on Board," which is an episode of the Simpsons by a barbershop quartet on that show. And finally you got to see this guy whose name is Distorm who does the funky rapping videos. He's talking about how he got this latest challenge that he has to rap while plummeting out of the airplane.
As you can imagine, his language goes a little while. See what he pulls off. I got to catch my breath just out of the plane and I'm scared to death can't see the ground but I'm coming down.
There goes the wild bleeping. He actually manages to lip sync accurately the whole time while falling from that plane which explains why this one just went up and got about a quarter million views online.
I put all of the videos at my Facebook page, send me your favorites. I'll bring some of them here next week so T.J., Kate, what do you think? Of those, who is more impressive, the 4-year-old drummer or the flying rapper?
HOLMES: I think it's kind of creative on his part.
BOLDUAN: The rapper.
HOLMES: Hard to do that and trying to rap at the same time.
BOLDUAN: I do love the dads catching the foul ball, also the dad catches the foul ball, gives it to his daughter and tosses it back in. It's so cute. You can see it on his face, how could you be mad at her. Good videos. Thanks so much.
HOLMES: We have a scene to describe for you, and when we just tell you the story and don't give you all the actual inner workings of it, you will think we're describing a Hollywood movie script.
This actually happened, it's for real, three inmates escaped from an Arizona prison and all three of them are convicted killers.
BOLDUAN: You won't believe how they pulled this off. The details coming up in our top stories. Twenty eight minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Bottom of the hour now on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Welcome back, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BOLDUAN: Happy Sunday morning and to all of our military men and women watching on the Armed Forces Network good morning to you around the world. I'm Kate Bolduan.
Let's get a quick check of top stories.
In northwest Pakistan, growing anger in the wake of epic flooding that's left more than 800 people dead and another 150 still missing, some storm survivors complain the government is not doing enough here. Complicating the rescue and recovery effort, more monsoon rains are in the forecast for tomorrow.
Police in Arizona are looking for three escaped prisoners, all convicted murders. Police say they cut their way through a fence at a medium security prison in Kingman and got away with the help of a woman. They are considered armed and dangerous, two of them already hijacked a truck and took two people hostage before releasing them unharmed.
And more favorable weather conditions helped firefighters battle wildfires in Southern California. Hundreds of firefighters were able to beat the flames of the Crown Fire, that was the biggest fire, into submission yesterday. The blaze is now more than 80 percent contained and all evacuation orders have been lifted. They were working to keep that fire from destroying power lines it was getting dangerously close to. These power lines, of course, providing electricity throughout the region. The Crown Fire scorched about 14,000 acres and two other fires burned more than 17,000 acres.
HOLMES: It was three years ago today that the I-35 bridge in Minnesota collapsed into the Mississippi River; 13 people were killed, another 100 were injured. And we were left with those images that you certainly cannot forget.
BOLDUAN: A school bus, so many people, that was like the iconic image of the horrible disaster, a school bus dangling across the crumbling bridge, the driver saved all of the children on that bus, including two of her own. CNN's Chris Welch talked to them about the struggle to put that day behind them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIM DAHL, SCHOOL BUS DRIVER: It's hard. Because you just think, you know, what had happened here. Some of me is still here and will always be here, the independent side of me.
It went like up and then it went down, and that's when we were like freefalling. The kids were quiet for a moment and also the dust kind of settled and then the kids just started screaming and that.
ARRIANNA MERRITT, BRIDGE COLLAPSE SURVIVOR: Once in a while at school, you know how they ask you these questions like do you know someone famous or do you know someone that's a hero? And I just stand up and I go yes, I do, I know my mom.
DAVID: I just haven't, I just don't feel like talking to people about it.
MERRITT: It reminds me of the sound when it fell.
DAHL: It's OK.
I mean, like would a little chunk look good in my garden? What are you thinking?
MERRITT: Sorrow.
DAHL: Yeah?
MERRITT: So many people probably go by this and don't' even take a second glance. Just to remember the people who died.
Thirteen other people died and they didn't get another, they didn't get a chance to move on with their lives.
DAHL: It's almost like your freedom's taken away. I can't lift the milk up and put it in the cart. I can't bend over and grab stuff and that, because it causes pain. But I know I have to live like this now, and it's not, you know, who I really was before.
MERRITT: When my mom was in the hospital or getting surgeries, I have to step in and be the surrogate mother to my younger siblings, because she can't do the things she used to love to do. Now I kind of understand why I have to stand in and why sometimes I have to be the adult.
DAVID DAHL, KIM'S HUSBAND: I don't know if life will ever be normal like it was before pre, like it was July of '07 and prior, but we've made the best where we've adjusted our lives and changed our lifestyles, and we just got to be positive.
DAHL: Between my kids and my husband, I couldn't ask for a better family, I mean, they all just do everything for me.
MERRITT: Put your arms around my neck, don't choke me, though.
DAVID: Whoa, whoa.
MERRITT: It's kind of nice that we get to, we stayed together and even though this happened, my dad has stayed strong, and did his share of work and my brother and my sister.
D. DAHL: It could have been worse. It could have went, our family unit here in this house is five people and within an instant it could have been two.
MERRITT: Ultimately I think it's a very good experience that made us so close.
D. DAHL: We're not 100 percent yet but we're getting there.
K. DAHL: If I need anything they're always there. And I just- like I said, I couldn't ask for a better family.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 38 minutes past the hour. This is a fun one to be able to bring you this morning.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: I love this lady. Congratulations, one of our own here at CNN with a huge honor and a fabuloso dress last night.
BOLDUAN: Fabuloso dress, I love, we're talking fashion this morning.
HOLMES: Made out of organza?
BOLDUAN: No, that is not made out of organza. You are hilarious.
Anchor and special correspondent Soledad O'Brien, as I'm sure you guessed by now, has been selected as journalist of the year by the National Association of Black journalists. She was honored last night in San Diego at the group's 35th annual convention. O'Brien was recognized for her work on CNN's acclaimed "In America" franchise, "Black in America II" was highest rated cable news documentary in 2009, if we may say so ourselves. Last night our Don Lemon congratulated Soledad. And she described the honor of being named journalist of the year this way.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: I am so excited. And this is probably the only award in my whole life that my children have a clue what it's about. They are like, wow, mom, journalist of the year, that's big. They're pretty little, so it felt good they were impressed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That's so cool and I'm sure she is watching us right now.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: Because she partied last night in San Diego where it was all going on so I'm sure they're still up, 3:30 in the morning out there.
BOLDUAN: Yeah, um-hum.
HOLMES: Soledad, congratulations. By all means, if you want to call in we'll put you on live right now.
BOLDUAN: I would like to compliment her, she was talking about her kids, I believe and I hope I've got this number right, I think she is a mother of four.
HOLMES: Four, yes.
BOLDUAN: That say that is a huge feat in and of itself
HOLMES: Yes, she's gotten a number of awards over the years.
BOLDUAN: Of course.
HOLMES: But they are of the age now and everybody understands the best of the year. It is as simple as that. So that is cool. Congratulations to her.
BOLDUAN: Congratulations, Soledad.
HOLMES: And we got our guy-
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Always better to be vague.
HOLMES: -who is always the meteorologist of the year.
BOLDUAN: Our best of the year, our best Reynolds Wolf of the year.
HOLMES: Reynolds, good morning, buddy.
BOLDUAN: Good morning, dear. Don't tear up.
WOLF: Good morning guys, I'm really taken aback by your kind words. I really am. So touching.
BOLDUAN: Don't cry.
WOLF: I won't, I'll hold off.
I wish we could hold off from this heat. I am happy for Soledad, now only for her award, but she happens to be Southern California, where their temperatures have actually been below normal, especially in a place like San Diego. It is one of their coolest summers on record.
In parts of the southeast United States it has been the opposite, extreme heat, they've had heat indices in many places across the Southeast. Today, heat advisories, watches and warnings across nine separate states including here in Louisiana, it is going to be just brutal today especially by late afternoon. So any outdoor plans you have, limit them to either early in the morning or late, late, late in the afternoon or even into the evening. Mid-afternoon is when it will be the hottest and it will be brutal.
(NATIONAL WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Reynolds we appreciate you, buddy, and see you soon. Its 42 minutes past the hour. We'll be right back here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Checking some of our top stories now.
Russian authorities say two firefighters are among the 28 people who have died in a massive wildfire raging in Western Russia. Those fires are described as the worst-ever to hit the region. Russia's emergency ministry says more than 1,200 homes have been destroyed, leaving almost 3,000 people homeless.
And it's been a year-a long year-since three Americans were detained by Iranian security forces. Now their mothers are again calling on Tehran to set the two men and one woman free. Their call was echoed by people rallying in New York yesterday. Iran has accused the three of spying.
And the crew aboard the International Space Station got a little surprise, was jarred awake by a warning alarm when a power spike forced a cooling loop, and other systems to shut down. The crew was not in any immediate danger and soon went back to sleep. I guess they are used to it. But an engineer stayed awake to troubleshoot the problem.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, about 10 minutes to the top of the hour.
An Army National Guardsman says he owes his life to a pair of dogs. Dogs he had to leave behind in Afghanistan. The animals actually helped him by sounding the alarm when a suicide bomb attacked.
BOLDUAN: And now with a little help from Pet Airways, Rufus and Target, are getting a new home.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SGT. CHRISTOPHER DUKE, U.S. ARMY NAT'L. GUARD: They just went above and beyond the call of duty.
Two of my roommates were in our room, they said they heard the dogs just going crazy, almost instantaneously, when the explosion happened. When I came back from being medevaced, returned to the compound, we made plans to get them, trying to make plans to get them taken back to the States. And we were told it wasn't possible and forget about it, so we kind of did.
ROBIN KELLEHER, PRESIDENT, HOPE FOR THE WARRIORS: We had him submit a wish to our program and it was approved. And so together we were all able to facilitate this effort.
ALYSIA BINDER, CO-FOUNDER, PET AIRWAYS: We're big advocates of bringing dogs from Afghanistan to be reunited with soldiers.
DUKE: There's one here. Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, puppies.
DUKE: To be honest with you, until just this minute I was still skeptical until I saw them walk around the corner. It was pretty unbelievable.
Hey, buddy. Hey, buddy.
I really didn't expect him to be honest to even live, much less be here with me, and at my house is, it's out of control. It doesn't remind me of anything, except for how loyal they are and how much I love them really. It's indescribable. I can't -- I can't believe it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can tell it's good to see him, you just can't stop smiling.
DUKE: Come on, Rufus.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BOLDUAN: The non-profit group Hope For The Warriors, also helped sponsor that, very sweet reunion.
HOLMES: It is a nice reunion. He was obviously excited, those are their partners, too, and quite frankly they are fellow soldiers over there, as well.
BOLDUAN: They go through a lot together. They clearly went through a horrible experience and helped out, so congratulations.
HOLMES: Good ending there.
BOLDUAN: Welcome home.
HOLMES: Yes.
And the White House, that's home, as many of you know for the first family.
BOLDUAN: Not to you or me.
HOLMES: But it is also your workplace.
BOLDUAN: Sometimes, right.
HOLMES: And what else is the White House?
BOLDUAN: It's also home to some of the most beautiful pieces of art in the world and we're going to take you behind the rope for an eye-opening tour. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Harry Truman once said "The White House is the finest prison in the world." That's one way to look at it, but also did you know it houses some of the country's greatest art, maybe a lot of people didn't know that. We don't get this behind the scenes tour.
BOLDUAN: We don't. We don't. And in effect the first family kind of lives in a museum. Here's what we mean. CNN White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux is going to take us on an exclusive art tour.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILLIAM ALLMAN, WHITE HOUSE CURATOR: This is the Red Room. It's the sort of mirror image of the Green Room, the two rectangular parlors that flank that oval shaped blue room in between.
MALVEAUX (On camera): What kind of art, in general, is here at the white house? ALLMAN: Well, we have I mean principally our collection is portraits of presidents and first ladies.
MALVEAUX (voice over): We'll get to that with White House Curator Bill Allman in a minute. First, some surprises.
(On camera): The most famous portrait inside the White House is this portrait of George Washington. And as famous as it is, it actually has a mistake. Here, it says the Constitution laws of the United Sates. It's missing the T.
(Voice over): The painting is the only piece of art saved from the original White House that burned down. Officially, there are more than 500 works of art here but nearly everything is considered part of the collection, from the cloth walls, carpets, furniture, and odd objects.
ALLMAN: One of the most interesting pieces is the silver-plated hot water urn, above the spigot it is engraved with the initials "JAA" for John and Abigail Adams.
MALVEAUX: This unique chair.
(On camera): Can I sit in this chair?
ALLMAN: Sure.
MALVEAUX: Tell me who has sat in this chair before.
ALLMAN: Most often it is the first lady. I think, Mrs. Bush, Mrs. Clinton, both particularly liked that chair and the guests got to sit in this chair.
MALVEAUX: This is considered part of the artwork, part of the historical collection.
ALLMAN: Unlike most museums where everything is under glass and behind ropes, you know, here the nature of the White House collection is for people to come in, and actually be able to enjoy it, in the sense of sitting on the chair, walking on the carpet, eating off the china.
MALVEAUX: Bill, I have to say I am enjoying this chair. It's very comfortable. You let me know when I can eat off the china, OK?
(voice over): Most of the pictures on the first floor are from the 19th century. Traditional portraits and landscapes, with a few recent modern additions, like this abstract by African-American artist Jacob Lawrence. There are fresh flowers everywhere.
ALLMAN: Fresh flowers were not in the White House until the 1850s. It was considered unhealthy.
MALVEAUX (on camera): Really?
ALLMAN: They had glass or cloth flowers and they asked all the time always asking me what are the species? And I'm like, those are roses. I got roses down. Beyond that.
MALVEAUX: A very beautiful part of the art as well; 350,000 visitors traipse through each year. Does Bo, the dog, ever get to run on the carpets or are there any rooms where there are off limits?
ALLMAN: As far as I can tell no.
MALVEAUX: Really?
ALLMAN: Bo is a really, really good dog.
MALVEAUX: Has he ever messed up the carpet, honestly?
ALLMAN: Not that I've been told.
MALVEAUX (voice over): And like I promised, all the past presidents and first ladies are here.
ALLMAN: President Monroe was painted by Samuel Morse, who invented the telegraph. This one is based on the idea that Lincoln is sitting in his chair listening to his generals and his admiral, advise him on how to bring the Civil War to conclusion.
President Kennedy was done by Aaron Schickler. It is a very sort of contemplative, looking down, you know, with the weight of the world on his shoulders kind of theme.
MALVEAUX: That's what Mrs. Kennedy wanted?
ALLMAN: Right.
MALVEAUX: So, let's go take a look at the first ladies.
ALLMAN: OK. So, this is the ground floor corridor.
MALVEAUX (voice over): Here, Hillary Clinton, Jacqueline Kennedy, Ladybird Johnson and Eleanor Roosevelt.
(On camera): The art collection of the first family. They're private collection is in the residence, and the East and West Wings. That is where you see their personality and their tastes reflected in their artwork.
If we were in the Obama residence what kind of different art would we see?
ALLMAN: Well, it's these large generally abstract works by, you know, famous American artists, Jasper Johns, Luis Nevelson (ph).
MALVEAUX: Also more works by African-Americans, women, and other minorities. In the Oval Office, a bust of Martin Luther King, and a Norman Rockwell of the Statue of Liberty torch. Before we let Bill, go we had to ask one more question.
(On camera): There have been lots of rumors about the White House being haunted. Any of these paintings ever seem to talk to you or --
ALLMAN: I'm not big in on the haunting story.
MALVEAUX: Do you find it true?
ALLMAN: But there are people-President Truman thought it was true. He claimed that President Lincoln's ghost was here. He claimed that the paintings were moving because of President Lincoln's ghost.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You worked at the White House. What's up?
BOLDUAN: I've seen those paintings move.
HOLMES: You have?
BOLDUAN: No, I have not.
HOLMES: Seriously?
BOLDUAN: No, I have not seen the paintings move.
HOLMES: It's OK, we won't think you're crazy.
BOLDUAN: Would you think I was crazy if I thought the White House was haunted? No, it's not haunted I don't think.
It is very beautiful to see. They are very beautiful to see. We get a glimpse of them once a year when they have the holiday party. You have be very careful.
HOLMES: Oh, yes. You said you spilled something, didn't you?.
BOLDUAN: No, no, no, no, everyone had a cocktail napkin, and a little mishap with the red wine.
HOLMES: We'll get into that in the break. You won't get to hear that part.
BOLDUAN: You don't want to hear that part.
HOLMES: What you will hear, though, is what Arizona authorities are very concerned about. They have three people on the loose right now. There they are. They escaped from a prison this weekend, and the three are all convicted killers.
BOLDUAN: Yes, the details coming up, in our top story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is 7:00 a.m. where we are here in Atlanta. It's 4:00 a.m. out in San Diego, California. Wherever you may be, thank you for being right here. I'm T.J. Holmes
BOLDUAN: Good morning, everybody, I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for starting your day with us. Here are some of the stories we're watching this morning.
Dispersants were widely used in the Gulf to break up the oil there. New documents show the Coast Guard may have allowed BP to bend the rules. We'll tell you more about the new details we're getting in.
HOLMES: Also, it is wildly popular, all you got to say is Shark Week and everybody knows what we're talking about. This morning, we're showing you some things you have never seen before in a preview of what you'll see all week as we talk to a marine biologist who advises the Discovery Channel on all things shark and Shark Week in particular which kicks off this week. Look at that.
All right. We'll move on, though, to some of the stories that are making headlines this morning -- and a big concern. They are armed, dangerous and on the run right now -- that is how they're being described by law enforcement out in Arizona. Three convicted killers broke out of prison yesterday -- or rather last night. This was near Kingman, Arizona. This is in the northwest part of the state.
Two of the three apparently hijacked a truck at gunpoint during their escape. Police think they all may be headed for the Mexican border. They're also looking into a woman -- you saw her picture go up for a moment as well. They believe she may have helped in their jailbreak.
Also, in Pakistan, the anger is growing now, after one of the worst disasters they have seen there in quite some time. We're talking 800 people dead in the record rains and flooding going on. Another 150 people are missing -- but the anger comes from many of the survivors saying that the government is not doing enough in the response, calling the response to this disaster slow and to complicate things even more, more monsoon rains are forecast for the area, for the country tomorrow.
Also, to southern California now where they are starting to make some headway in the three big fires that are burning there, the biggest of them called the "crown fire" has burned some 15,000 plus acres. Thirty thousand acres have been burned all together in these three fires. But authorities say that 82 percent of that big fire, the crown fire, now has been contained.
BOLDUAN: Some new documents -- we were just talking about this -- new documents released by a congressional subcommittee seemed to indicate that the Coast Guard allowed BP to use excessive amounts of chemical dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico. It's gotten a lot of attention. We've been talking about it for awhile.
But BP used the chemicals to break up oil after the April 20th Deepwater Horizon rig explosion sent millions of gallons of crude gushing into the Gulf. But despite a federal directive restricting their use, the Coast Guard routinely granted exemptions, this committee says. The House Energy and Environmental Subcommittee report says the Coast Guard approved more than 74 exemptions in 48 days -- really saying that there was nothing rare about them granting these exemptions.
HOLMES: And there's been a lot of talk about these things -- you use them because, yes, it does disperse this oil. And a lot of people are saying right now, we can't find a lot of oil to even skim anymore. So, that means probably maybe the dispersants worked.
BOLDUAN: Right.
HOLMES: But a lot of people are worried about exactly what is it doing to the environment.
BOLDUAN: Right. What's the long lasting effect of it.
HOLMES: Could possibly be -- we might not know that for some time.
BOLDUAN: Right.
HOLMES: Our Reynolds Wolf is there for us in New Orleans on this day 104.
And, Reynolds, good morning to you once again. And this could be a big week, this week, as it comes to trying to finally kill this well.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. You know, guys, we don't really see the light at the end of the tunnel, but we see something looming and it sure looks favorable. And I'll tell you that the thing we're looking at possibly the two end capping procedures. We have the cap, of course -- of course, the containment cap, but you have the kill process, the static kill, and possibly bottom kill.
Static kill might take place, say, in the next coming days. But it looks like the bottom kill is going to take something that's going to take in a couple of days, a couple of weeks perhaps towards the end of the month.
First things first, though -- let's talk about what we have, first and foremost, with BP's Doug Suttles. Today, BP's Doug Suttles is actually going to take a trip to the southern end of Louisiana, down towards Venice, down towards the marshlands and actually see firsthand where some of the oil still has inundated much of the marsh. And although oil is hard to find out in the Gulf of Mexico in the open waters, they've got plenty of it down there and he's going to see it right up close and personal.
Now, the second thing that's going to be happening today is they're going to continue cleaning out one of the relief wells that is going to be a key component into the next couple of procedures. We're talking about the static kill. Static kill is basically when they're going to inject that combination of both mud and cement into the containment cap and that's going to be what they call static kill. The second procedure that may come inspect next couple of weeks, towards the end of the month, is the bottom kill, which is the process of injecting both the cement and the mud into the lower portion of the well, right near the source of the oil itself. And that should kill it off all together.
But, guys, we've been talking. You have to have perfect weather for this kind of stuff and the weather has been pretty good, which is a great thing. What they do not need is have another tropical system, be it a depression, be it a tropical storm or a hurricane, anything like that can change the schedule over the next couple of weeks and that certainly could really mess up this great schedule that they have.
But, again, baby steps first. Looks like, hopefully, we'll be done with this thing by the time we get into August. And then you have the long-term ramifications of what this has done with the economy, a lot of people still without work, you got the moratorium in place in terms of drilling for oil, and, of course, at the same time, fishermen now finally being allowed to go back and start their craft, which is certainly some good news -- guys.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, we know you mentioned the weather -- we're going to be talking to you throughout the morning about the weather for the rest of the country as well. Reynolds, we'll talk to you again here soon, buddy.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
HOLMES: A lot of people out there know, you just can't live without the BlackBerry.
BOLDUAN: Unfortunately, I wish we could, but it seems --
HOLMES: We could.
BOLDUAN: I would love to believe you.
HOLMES: OK. Well, there's one place you are going to travel, some of you will travel possibly, but you might need to leave that BlackBerry at home.
BOLDUAN: We'll tell you why and where the smartphone isn't getting much love.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
BOLDUAN: Look at that beautiful sunrise in New Orleans. We've seen a couple really beautiful sunrises in New Orleans.
HOLMES: Always beautiful, right there on the river, the only thing -- it is hot as all get-out in New Orleans.
BOLDUAN: I like the way you put it. HOLMES: It shouldn't be that hot that early in the morning.
BOLDUAN: I know.
HOLMES: As soon as the sun heats up on the other side of the Mississippi there -- woo! I know from doing live shots right there, you are just in a bad place.
BOLDUAN: Yes. Good morning, New Orleans. Good morning, everybody.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: A beautiful shot nonetheless. We were talking about this right before the break, everybody is hook on these things. They called them "crackberries" for a reason. But a setback now for BlackBerry in one of the world's fastest growing economies.
BOLDUAN: And we're talking about the United Arab Emirates. The country has decided to suspend most services on the smartphone on October 1st.
Why? Security concerns. They say some features are a threat to their national security and they are banning e-mail, Web browsing, instant messaging and social networking. The suspension will remain in place until, quote, "acceptable solutions can be developed." No comment yet from BlackBerry.
HOLMES: Yes. Well, the threat there --
BOLDUAN: I think we could say safely say darn it.
HOLMES: People there -- can you imagine if the United States says nobody can use your BlackBerry starting in October? Oh, my goodness.
BOLDUAN: No. I cannot actually.
HOLMES: Yes, you can.
BOLDUAN: I'm not being dramatic either. Look at your loved one right now. I'm sure they're like this.
HOLMES: You know, we all -- we all should learn a lesson there and put the BlackBerrys down just a bit. We always think we have -- you look like you're about to cry.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: OK.
BOLDUAN: Yes, T.J., we should. In a wonderful world, we should.
HOLMES: All right.
BOLDUAN: Now, I will get back to work. HOLMES: Nine minutes past the hour here now, as she works.
We have a dog rescue, a daring dog rescue to show you coming up.
BOLDUAN: Yes, firefighters worked tirelessly to save this canine. Josh Levs has this story.
What is this, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Let's take a look at some pictures right here. I'm going to tell you how this dog became trapped inside a building that was on fire. And you will see what happened next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Ten minutes past the hour now.
A dog rescued by firefighters, a car that crashed into a restaurant, and a national dance day? These are some of the events our iReporters are capturing for us this morning.
BOLDUAN: Yes. One point I thought you were talking about one story. That would have been --
HOLMES: All in one story?
BOLDUAN: All at once.
(LAUGHTER)
BOLDUAN: Josh, clear this up for me, please. I'm apparently confused.
LEVS: Yes. We got a lot of iReporters all over the world, you know, and they capture all sorts of interesting stories for us. These are all very different stories.
And let's start off with this one from Lance Rothwell. This is getting a lot of attention. This an apartment building in Daytona Beach, caught fire Friday night and the only living being that w as inside was this dog.
These firefighters battle a blaze for three and a half hours, the dog was trapped inside. They did manage to rescue him. They administered oxygen and water to buck and returned him to his very grateful owner, David Hoffman (ph). Some firefighters are taking some real risks there and saving that canine, making people happy.
We got another story for you here in Atlanta. A car crashed into a Dunkin' Donuts. Chris Curry captured this one for CNN iReport.
And you know what's weird living here in Atlanta. I can tell you -- that's not the first time that I've seen a car crashed into a Dunkin' Donuts. And this one was just this weekend. The ones I've seen previously were in previous years. So, careful driving near Dunkin' Donuts.
Listen, this is interesting. Take a look at this artwork out of the Philippines. This is the world's largest mosaic, according to the presenters there. And it shows Corazon Aquino, who was president. This came idea came about at the time of her death.
Photojournalist Revoli Cortez had been collecting pictures of her and put this together. It is 250 feet by 200 feet. It's a single photo mosaic. And presenters are saying it's the largest mosaic in the world. We're going to wait for Guinness to weigh in on that to make it official. We got this iReport from Sher Dacalanio.
And, finally, I think we have a little video here that I can show of this. Take a look, guys. Apparently, yesterday was National Dance Day. I can't believe T.J. didn't talk about this all morning. Somehow we didn't know.
But our superstar iReporter Chris Morrow got a great idea. She went over to a jazzercise class. We got a video of 60 people there celebrating National Dance Day.
What a better way to celebrate this.
BOLDUAN: If we zoom in, I think I see a T.J. Holmes in the back.
HOLMES: You don't.
BOLDUAN: In the back row.
HOLMES: National Dance Day -- it didn't say National Dance Well Day. So, it doesn't -- it's different.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: It's a jazzercise class. It's fine.
BOLDUAN: I don't know if everybody at Holmes -- home knows.
HOLMES: Holmes (INAUDIBLE).
BOLDUAN: You're at home.
Reynolds Wolf is one of the best dancers you will ever meet.
LEVS: Right. There's video of him dancing to Madonna on YouTube and it's hilarious.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
LEVS: I should call him actually, telling him it's National Dance Day.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Oh, it's the last thing you need to do, is to get Reynolds. BOLDUAN: It's pretty fabulous. We're not going to lie, everyone.
LEVS: Keep those iReports coming at iReport.com.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: See you, guys.
HOLMES: Well, western Russia -- they are battling a beast of a fire right now. And it's being called the worst they have ever seen in that particular region.
BOLDUAN: Twelve hundred homes gutted and thousands of people are homeless right now. Details after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Checking top stories now.
Russian authorities say two firefighters are among 28 people who have died in a massive wildfire raging in western Russia. Those fires are described as the worst ever to hit the region. Russia's emergency ministry says more than 1,200 homes have been destroyed, leaving almost 3,000 homeless.
In northeast China, 47 people are dead, another 45 missing after a week of flooding. The heavy rains are blamed for sweeping thousands of barrels filled with chemicals into a major river. Those barrels are being retrieved, but no word yet what, if any, contamination those barrels may cause.
And looking high into the sky, warning alarms wake up the crew onboard the International Space Station today. A power spike, we're told, forced a cooling loop and other systems to shut down. The crew wasn't in any danger and went back to sleep shortly after the alarm went off. But an engineer did stay awake to troubleshoot the problem.
HOLMES: It is Shark Week. You know it by now, and you love it by now.
They've been doing this for 20-plus years and they're kicking off another week. We have one of the shark experts along coming up that helped the Discovery Channel put this week together and he's going to help us better understand what this week is about, but also understand these creatures and just what our fascination is with sharks.
Seventeen past the hour. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Take a look at that. You all may remember this -- it was a shark sighting the in the waters off the coast of Chatham. This is the video of it. But we are always just so fascinated by these things.
Well, it's summertime and we've seen in the summertime for the past 20-plus years now, it means we have a Shark Week that comes up.
BOLDUAN: And we are excited.
HOLMES: Well, you can tell one of us, at least, is very excited. No, this is very cool stuff.
BOLDUAN: Yes, it's exactly very cool stuff and we love sharks. I love sharks, but we don't know enough about sharks.
So, let's bring in the shark expert, Andy Dehart, joining us from New York.
Hey, Andy.
He's a shark expert for the Discovery Channel. You know, Shark Week begins today.
How are you, Andy.
ANDY DEHART, DISCOVERY CHANNEL SHARK ADVISOR: Good morning. Happy Shark Week.
BOLDUAN: Happy Shark Week. So, what should we be looking for, looking forward to this week?
DEHART: Well, we kick off our fabulous week tonight at 9:00 Eastern Time with "Ultimate Air Jaws," we take some high def super slow-mo cameras over to South Africa. And we're getting these fantastic great white shark breach activities at about a second attack in real time, spread out across one minute. It's absolutely fantastic.
HOLMES: Andy, why does this work every single year? Why are we so fascinated by sharks? It wasn't just the movie "Jaws" that did it for us, was it?
DEHART: Oh, this is the 23rd year of Shark Week. So, we've had a great viewership through the whole time. Certainly, people have been fascinated with sharks long before "Jaws." "Jaws" certainly piqued everybody's interest, maybe built a little bit of fear.
I think people are just innately interested in what's going on underwater. And sharks are a big predator that lives in the ocean. And, unfortunately, they attack people sometimes. So, that makes a lot of news.
BOLDUAN: I always find it's important when you talk about, right, what makes the news is when people are attacked by sharks. I actually -- I mean, I dove with whale sharks. They are very docile as well as nurse sharks during my honeymoon.
But it's always important, Andy, and you know this best, is that they're not necessarily out to eat people, right?
DEHART: They definitely are not out to eat people. That's one of the misconceptions, that they're mindless eating machines. They're actually fairly intelligent as far as fish go. On average every year, there's less than 100 attacks per year worldwide. Of those, only five or six are fatal.
So, it's more dangerous to drive to the beach or even, you're more likely to get hit by lightning while standing on the beach than you are to be eaten by a shark.
HOLMES: All right. Andy, I was fascinated by this. I have the press release in my hand about Shark Week that, of course, we were sent. But they say, this week describes what people were going to find out. But you can also find out how shark attacks happen and what you can learn to do so that neither you nor the shark gets hurt.
Now, Andy, why, if I have a shark attached to my leg should I be concerned about the shark's well-being?
(LAUGHTER)
DEHART: Well, first and foremost, you know, we're after human safety here. There's a few things you can do -- avoid swimming at dusk and dawn. These are peak shark feeding periods. Also, there's a bait fish in the area -- or if you're on the west coast, if there's a lot of sea lions and seals in the area, certainly try to pick a better place to swim.
Those activities bring in a lot of -- a lot of sharks. But, unfortunately, we are hurting sharks quite a bit. We're killing sharks at a rate of 73 million per year on average and sharks are slow to reproduce, have very few young, and can't take that fishing pressure.
HOLMES: Well, how are we killing them there, Andy? How are they being killed?
DEHART: The main goal here is for their fins -- shark fins are extremely valuable. There's an awful process where -- these fishermen bring the sharks onboard, they cut off their fins and they throw the living shark overboard to essentially suffocate. So, this is something we want to try to stop to stop.
There's the Shark Conservation Act up for review in the Senate right now and we hope that passes, because that will close loopholes that allows that finning to keep going on.
BOLDUAN: And you're working with a great organization, Oceana, which has a lot of conservation efforts across the globe really.
Let's bring in our Reynolds Wolf, another shark lover, which I actually didn't know.
And I think -- I hope we can roll this, because I know, Reynolds, you have a question for Andy. But, Reynolds, you also did a little shark driving yourself.
WOLF: Absolutely, over at Georgia Aquarium. But I've got very two rapid questions for Andy. Andy, first question would be, if someone happens to be swimming out off the coast and they happen to see a shark, what action should they take ? Should they get to shore immediately, or should they just remain calm? How do you -- how would one react?
DEHART: It really depends. If you're snorkeling or scuba diving, put a smile on your face, enjoy the encounter because sharks may not be around forever so enjoy that encounter. It's going to be usually a calm, very peaceful one, unless you're spear fishing. If you're spear fishing, take the fish to the top and get out of the water as soon as you can. If you see it on a beach, discretion is the better part of valor and I would just sit on the beach for a little while.
WOLF: And, Andy, final question. Last year , when I sent swimming at the Georgia Aquarium with the sharks, T.J. Holmes tried to get me to go swimming with a belt made out of raw meat -- bloody raw meat. Is that a good idea? Or was that a bad idea? What category would you chart that one off to?
DEHART: Sharks have incredible sense of smell. They're cruising through the ocean looking for food. So, I definitely do not recommend bait belt.
BOLDUAN: No bait belt.
WOLF: Sorry, T.J.
BOLDUAN: If you get any takeaway from Shark Week, do not wear a bait belt when you're going --
HOLMES: Andy, I know a lot of people had to be fascinated by the answer you just gave to Reynolds' question. If you're out there, if you're snorkeling and you see a shark, you should just put a smile on your face and enjoy the experience? Really? Are you serious?
BOLDUAN: I know, I am not alone in this, I'm totally with Andy. It's beautiful when you're in the water and when you see these great animals.
But, I'm sorry, Andy, I'm stealing your thunder.
DEHART: It really is. We have to understand these are still large predators --
(CROSSTALK)
DEHART: -- you have to always treat them with respect. But, no, don't wear the meat belt.
HOLMES: All right. Andy, we are looking forward to this week like we are every single year, and we appreciate you taking the time out with us.
Showing some more video of it here, but this is the video you all were able to capture with the HD and this slow-mo. And, again, I think I was reading correctly as well -- you all have some updated slow motion cameras, probably some of the best in the world that are capturing these images, is that right?
DEHART: That's correct, tune in tonight, "Ultimate Air Jaws," 9:00 Eastern Time.
HOLMES: Oh, the great spokesman for the -- I don't have to read the promo now. Andy took care of it for me.
BOLDUAN: Exactly.
HOLMES: Andy, we appreciate you buddy. Good luck with this week, all right?
BOLDUAN: Super exciting.
DEHART: Happy Shark Week.
HOLMES: Thanks so much.
Well, we're talking about killer sharks there. Thanks to our Reynolds Wolf.
BOLDUAN: Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: We didn't mean to just leave you hanging. Thanks for our Reynolds Wolf.
Killer sharks, but also, killer food? Killer curry. Yes, you're looking at it.
BOLDUAN: I can't wait to know more about it. One chili used is being tested in India to fight terrorism. Hmm?
HOLMES: You heard this right, folks. We got some stuff so hot that it's going to be used to fight terrorism, possibly. And one of our own took the challenge, but would you actually eat this stuff?
Twenty-five minutes past the hour. Stick around.
BOLDUAN: More dangerous for even the shark.
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HOLMES: I love this song. Lovely day in New Orleans, don't let that picture fool you. You step outside, you're going to melt.
BOLDUAN: That shark is not flying.
HOLMES: And the shark is there. We just talked about Shark Week. So, a perfect shot at our director just found for us with the sunrise there in the back over the Mississippi, and a nice little shark there for us in the foreground.
BOLDUAN: Beautiful.
HOLMES: But spicy food, are you a fan?
BOLDUAN: I am a fan, but I don't know if I could possibly be a fan of this spicy.
HOLMES: This stuff. Yes, a lot of people think they can handle spicy food --
BOLDUAN: People like to say they can handle it, you know, yes, I love Buffalo wings. And they're like, hey, can I have the bleu cheese?
HOLMES: Yes, and they end up in the bathroom 20 minutes later. But, a lot --
BOLDUAN: T.J., it's Sunday morning, dear.
HOLMES: If you're a rookie, and if you haven't taken the curry challenge at Brick Lane Curry House in New York's East Village, maybe you should try it out.
BOLDUAN: You might be missing something. The owners dare patrons to eat an entire bowl of their spiciest curry dish. It's loaded with 10 different chilies and peppers and one of our crazy CNN correspondents took that challenge.
Check it out -- the chef has to wear a gas mask to prepare the dish, everyone, and everyone has to take cover when it hits the flames.
HOLMES: Yes. We haven't seen that correspondent since actually. We're looking for him. Give us a call.
BOLDUAN: Give us a call we miss you.
HOLMES: We got a new assignment for you.
We're going to be back with more live news, more top stories coming up at the top of the hour when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
BOLDUAN: But, first, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." begins right now.
