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Residents of San Bruno Return Home; Iran Offers to Free American Hiker; Are Americans Forgetting the Significance of 9/11?; Pipeline Safety: Is Your Neighborhood at Risk?; Tennessee Church Welcomes Mosque; Hurricane Igor Intensifying

Aired September 12, 2010 - 22:00   ET

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

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: This hour on CNN, everything you need to know for your week ahead, including the deadly gas explosion in California. An example of more to come if we don't update our crumbling infrastructure. We'll tell you how to find the gas line where you live and just how old they are.

A very powerful hurricane is churning in the Atlantic. Barely a storm a day ago, now a major threat and it's headed our way. The CNN hurricane headquarters is tracking Igor.

It is a provocative question, we know. Do American Muslims need a reality check? Even more interesting, the person asking is a Muslim. A conversation you need to hear this hour.

Good evening, everyone. I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining us.

We start tonight in San Bruno, California, where there are new questions about that gas pipeline that exploded on Thursday, killing at least four people. Some are still missing. CNN has obtained a document from the owner, PG & E, saying the pipeline had a relatively high risk and likelihood of failure.

Some residents were escorted back to their homes today to see the damage to their neighborhood. Those with the most badly damaged homes are still being kept away. CNN's Ted Rowlands went along with one family left speechless by the devastation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy (EXPLETIVE DELETED). What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is that?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This incredible home video was captured moments after the explosion from a house balcony just behind the blown gas pipe. The voice you hear belongs to Walter McCaffrey. He had one hand on his video camera, the other on his phone telling his wife not to come home with their three children.

This is the view from that deck now. Walter and his wife Cherry were allowed back Sunday afternoon to their house for the first time since the explosion.

WALTER MCCAFFREY, RESIDENT: Just looking at all of this, I mean, I saw all this from the news, but being here and the first time coming up here and looking at all this, it was just -- there's no words. I can't really explain.

ROWLANDS: Teams are still sifting through ash, searching for remains of people still listed as missing. As investigators try to learn what caused the explosion, questions have surfaced about the section of pipe that blew.

A PG & E document outlining costs to replace the pipe says, quote, "The likelihood of a failure makes the risk of a failure at this location unacceptably high."

That doesn't mean PG & E thought there was a chance the pipe could explode, but Mark Toney, executive director of the consumer watchdog group Utility Reform Network says it's important if reports that residents smelled gas before the explosion are true.

MARK TONEY, EXEC. DIR., THE UTILITY REFORM NETWORK: Nobody, PG & E included, could have imagined something as horrible and terrible as the San Bruno blast and fire as happening. But the fact remains that when PG & E got the reports of gas leaks from several customers over several days, they should have realized that this was an area that was old, that was at high risk, that they identified as high risk.

ROWLANDS: Federal investigators leading the investigation are looking into the reports about the smell of gas in the days before the explosion and how PG & E responded.

CHRISTOPHER HART, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: We would ask anybody who says that they smell gas and called it in to let us know.

ROWLANDS: The McCaffreys plan to move back when they're sure it's safe to do so. While their home suffered only minor damage, their neighborhood will never be the same.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: And Ted Rowlands joins us now live from the burnt out neighborhood.

Ted, is PG & E commenting?

ROWLANDS: No, Don. Since the NTSB took over this investigation, the PG & E has basically said because it's ongoing and we're not leading it, we can't comment. Remember, the first few days they had a lot to say, but no comments. So we don't -- we just don't have their perspective as far as the history of this pipe unfortunately.

LEMON: And that will come out in the days and probably months to come.

Ted, I want to ask you this. We're just getting word that the number of missing has changed from six to four. What happened?

ROWLANDS: Well, good news. This afternoon, at some point, the city of San Bruno found two of the people that were reported potentially missing. So they are alive and well. So the level dropped by two. Still four confirmed dead.

LEMON: All right, CNN's Ted Rowlands reporting from San Bruno, California tonight. Thank you, sir.

You know, after seeing the San Bruno explosion, you may be wondering what's underneath your home? Stick around and we're going to show you where to go online to see if pipelines are in your neighborhood. That's coming up in about half an hour right here on CNN.

An American woman is hoping this is her last night in Iranian custody. After some flip-flopping, Iranian officials are again offering to release Sarah Shourd. She is one of three American hikers detained by Iran after they allegedly crossed over the border from Iraq in July 2009. But as Susan Candiotti tells us, Iran wants a big chunk of bail money before letting her go.

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Don, the families, as they have been for months, have been leaning on each other for support. And so this latest announcement about a demand for bail to the tune of $500,000 brings a whole new set of complications with it. And on top of that, Iran's official news agency reports that Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal are also indicted on spying charges. You will remember that the family all along has flatly denied that they are spies and that if they cross the border, it was by accident.

Now, among those sorting through all of this is the Swiss ambassador. Since the United States has no diplomatic ties with Iran, the Swiss government would likely be acting as intermediaries. The ambassador in Tehran tells CNN that technicalities have been imposed by the prosecutor in Iran and that all of those are being reviewed at this time.

It's also unclear where the money would come from. The families are keeping quiet about all of this. Whether the funds would come from some other source is also not known.

And as far as trade sanctions being a possible sticking point among others, well, there's talks of perhaps waivers being involved that could clear up all of that.

A State Department spokesman tells CNN, quoting here, "We're in a wait-and-see mode. We want all three released and returned and President Obama has said the same thing consistently."

Later this month, the UN General Assembly meets in New York and Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to be attending. There's been speculation that perhaps he might bring all three hikers with him.

Certainly, Don, the families have been urging him for a humanitarian release. Don?

LEMON: Susan Candiotti in New York. Susan, thank you very much for that. A desecration of the significance of 9/11. That's what the man, who wrote the eulogies for the heroes killed on that day, says about this weekend's dueling rallies over a proposed mosque near Ground Zero. And he tells us why he's worried America is forgetting what 9/11 should stand for.

Plus, Hurricane Igor is picking up steam. Could it be a threat to the U.S coastline anytime soon?

And it's time for you to be a part of this show, a part of the conversation here. You can have your say. Log on to any of the social media sites you see right there and send us a comment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Yesterday, the nation remembered those lost on September 11, 2001. But some people say the anniversary this year was unlike the last eight. They feel the controversy surrounding a proposed Islamic center two blocks from Ground Zero turned a patriotic day of mourning into political football.

John Avlon, a regular contributor to CNN, says the anti-Islamic center rally he attended yesterday was a desecration to the meaning of September 11. He told me there's been a 9/11 amnesia in today's politics.

JOHN AVLON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: You know, one of the things that came out of that awful day wasn't just the beginning of a wider war that we are still engaged in, but an awareness that what unites us is fundamentally more important than those things that divide us as Americans.

And what we're seeing with the rise of partisan politics and an ugliness at some of these rallies marks the fact that I think we're forgetting that again. The divisions that are deeply divisive to Americans, whether Democrat or Republican, completely unimportant under the wider lens of the war we're in. That was an awareness that really sunk into people after the attacks...

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: What did you specifically see, John, at the rally -- at these rallies that made you use such harsh words?

AVLON: Just on both sides, a lot of politicization, harshly political rhetoric, and a lot of -- not just anger, but hate. Keep in mind, one of the organizers of the big rally in the afternoon is somebody who has referred to President Obama as the Muslim in the White House over 250 times on her blog.

There's an inherently partisan political nature of this. It's not about Democrat or Republican, but really a divisiveness. And that's what we need to push against. That's what we need to remember. In fact, on the day when McCain and Obama went to the Ground Zero ceremony in 2008 together, that is the spirit of this day. That's the spirit we need to keep in our minds and hearts. We're losing it. LEMON: OK. You're talking about the politicization of this. And yesterday I had a conversation here and everyone agreed that everyone needs to take a step back and take a deep breath and not call people names and listen to both sides.

Now, in listening to both sides, that would mean that Muslims would have to listen to the people who, you know, don't want this proposed mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero. And the same thing, the people who do want it would have to listen to the Muslim community.

I want you to take a listen to what Irshad Manji said this morning on "This Week" with Christiane Amanpour. Irshad is with the NYU School of Public Service. Take a listen to this, John, and we'll talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IRSHAD MANJI, NYU SCHOOL OF PUBLIC SERVICE: And one of the reasons that they do have those anxieties is, you know, over the last nine years, moderate Muslims have failed, moderate Muslims have failed to make the case for why there is nothing to fear about Islam.

When Major Nadal Hassan opens fires on a group of fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, shouting Allahu Akbar, God is great, and the first thing you hear out of the mouth of a moderate is please don't misunderstand, Islam has nothing to do with this. You can't blame ordinary Americans for scratching their heads and wondering what role does religion play here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Does she have a point? And can you view this as a reaching across the aisle of sorts to say that there are regular Americans, many of them who are not racist and who are not anti-Islam who have questions and concerns about Islam?

AVLON: Absolutely. And Irshad Manji makes an important point and a brave point. Look, we are in a war against radical jihadists, Islamist terrorists, but we are not and have never been in a war against Islam.

And if we're going to be a civil society, we need to -- and create an example for the world. We need to always remember that America's greatness flows from our goodness. And we need to be inclusive. Good people can disagree about the mosque and many other things.

That's the tone that we need to set. That's the example we need to set. And while recognizing the reality that we are still at war with Islamist terrorism, but we have not and have never been at war with Islam.

LEMON: I have to ask you this, and this leads me to the next question. Your book is called "Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America." So I have to ask you about Pastor Terry Jones. Go. AVLON: Well, look, I mean, that's a great example of the way that extremists have a disproportionate influence. But this guy is fairly insignificant figure, was able to hijack media and in fact hijack much of the media surrounding the ninth anniversary of 9/11 by going from 50 congregations to being on the cover of 50 newspapers simply by threatening to burn the Koran.

It's a good example and a cautionary tale of the way that extremists are able to gain the system and hijack the media with deeply disproportionate, you know, unrepresentative statements. And that kind of ugliness too often occupies our attention. We need to push back on that.

LEMON: Hey, John, I have to run and I'm really enjoying this conversation. You have some very, very smart points here. So then what do we do, besides from, you know, besides, you know, going to each and every person's door to try to explain, you know, to them about what Islam exactly is, what do we do in this situation then?

AVLON: I think we need to recognize that we are in a -- there's a wider war between freedom and fundamentalism around the world and each of us has an obligation as Americans to try to be the change we want to see and stand up to extremism wherever and whenever we see it.

If we Americans do that, beginning at their dinner table and extending to larger conversations, we can help turn the tide and stop these extremists from whatever form they might range in, from having this distorted thoughts, from hijacking our debates. And we need to recognize that this is a wider war, and it's the forces of freedom versus the forces of fundamentalism.

LEMON: Thanks to John Avlon.

Three days after a gas line explosion and fire killed at least four people and devastated a San Francisco suburb, you may be wondering how safe is your neighborhood. It's a good question. Coming up, a look at the hidden dangers that may be under your home.

Plus, could this man soon be the next speaker of the House? Some Republicans are predicting yes, and Democrats, well, they aren't taking it lightly.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Time now to preview the week in politics. There could be a big break in a Washington standoff. House Minority Leader John Boehner now says he would vote with President Obama to extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone but the wealthy, but only if he had no other option.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I'll vote for them. But I've been making the point now for months that we need to extend all the current rates for all Americans if we want to get our economy going again and we want to get jobs in America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Our senior political editor Mark Preston has put on a jacket now from his earlier reports and he joins me.

Mark, what is going on here? John Boehner has been outspoken on his call for the tax cuts to apply to everyone including the wealthy. What's up?

MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, you know, Don, so is all the Republicans. You know, they have been forceful in saying that President Obama needs to extend these tax cuts. They cannot let them expire. But, you know, President Obama came out and was very critical of John Boehner and the Republicans just a couple of days ago.

So what we saw today is John Boehner coming out and saying look, bottom line, if I'm put into a corner, if this is my only option, this is what I'm going to do. And, you know, his aides put out a statement, Don.

Let me just read you this line from the statement to show you why John Boehner made this comment today. It says, "Boehner's comments deprived President Obama of the ability to continue making false claims about where Republicans stand on these critical issues."

Bottom line, Don, Republicans don't want Democrats to say that Republicans are anti-taxes for the middle classes. Anti-tax cuts.

LEMON: Tough words. And it's only going to get tougher leading up to the elections in November.

So, Mark, you know, it's going to be a busy week in politics. Give us the highlights.

PRESTON: Well, you know, extremely busy week. Let's start off with Tuesday, Don. Seven states and the District of Columbia are all holding primaries. Up in New Hampshire and Delaware, a very divisive contest. Senate Republican contest up there. Here in Washington, D.C., Adrian Fenty, the mayor of the nation's capital, up against the wall as well. Up in New York City, you have Charlie Rangel as well who is in a tough re-election as well. The embattled congressman from Harlem.

Let's move on to Wednesday. The Republican National Committee, Don, kicks off a 48-state election tour, all the way up to Election Day. They're trying to rally the troops heading into November.

And then reeling into Friday, social conservatives come to Washington, D.C., Don, for the Values Voter Summit. They want to hear from the likes of Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and Mike Pence. These are all potential presidential candidates.

LEMON: Oh, boy. OK. So who's going to be in Iowa this Friday, Mark? PRESTON: Well, you know who's not going to be here for the Values Voter Summit is Sarah Palin. But Sarah Palin, Don, is heading to Iowa. She is going to keynote a very big fundraising dinner out there. So for all the naysayers out there that say Sarah Palin isn't looking at 2012, run for possible presidential nomination, she's headed to Iowa.

LEMON: For the very latest on what's on our ticker, go to cnnpolitics.com.

Mark Preston, thank you, sir.

PRESTON: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: All right. We're keeping a close eye on the tropics as Hurricane Igor gains strength. It is now a Category 4 storm. Is it -- the U.S.-- is the U.S. in its path?

Plus tonight, one of Mexico's most wanted men behind bars. And the arrest is a big win in Mexico's fight against powerful drug cartels.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Time for your top stories right now on CNN.

A wildfire that has burned more than 1,000 acres is forcing people to leave their homes near Loveland, Colorado. That's about 30 miles from Boulder. Fire officials issued mandatory evacuation for people living within four miles of Pinewood Reservoir. Officials think at least 100 homes are threatened. So far, they know one house has been completely destroyed. About 100 firefighters, nine air tankers and four helicopter tankers are trying to get the fire under control.

In Texas, 11 people including eight children are hospitalized after two boats collided today on. It happened on Lewisville Lake, north of Dallas. Helicopters airlifted the most seriously injured including a 10-year-old boy. A spokeswoman for the Texas Parks and Wildfire Department says both boats had been rented by the same group and that one vessel apparently t-boned the other.

One of Mexico's most wanted men is in custody. Marines in central Mexico nabbed alleged drug lord Sergio Villarreal or "El Grande" as he's known. He's believed to be a key leader of a big drug cartel. His capture comes just weeks after the arrest of a fellow cartel member and rival, the American-born "La Barbie."

Meanwhile, dozens of alleged drug cartel members and hit men are on the loose after breaking out of a prison near the U.S.-Mexican border. Authorities say the 85 inmates scaled the walls of the prison in Reynosa, Mexico on Friday. A massive manhunt is under way right now. Two guards are also missing. Dozens of other guards are being questioned in the largest prison break in Mexico's history.

Oh, boy, time to watch this one. Hurricane Igor is churning away in the Atlantic and has now reached Category 4 status. Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras tracking the storm in our hurricane headquarters. Jacqui, it's not very big but powerful.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: So powerful, you know, Don. It was just, you know, 24 hours ago, we were talking about Tropical Storm Igor with winds of 75 miles per hour. Rapid intensification with this system today. And now we're looking at a Category 4 system with winds of 140 miles per hour.

So just unbelievable the way this thing intensified today. It's got a huge eye on it. About 20 nautical miles. And you can see that it's a very symmetrical storm. So it's very round. It's very balanced. But it will likely be going through some changes over the next couple of days.

Now it's moving in a westerly direction. We expect it to continue on that track for a couple of days. But as we head into Wednesday and Thursday, as it gets closest to the Lesser Antilles, it's when it's going to turn more westerly. So that's some good news that we're anticipating landfall in this area. But certainly we'll have some impact with some wave action. If this storm goes larger in size, we could be concerned about some Outer Banks and that would include the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as Puerto Rico.

So just something to watch as we head toward the middle to latter part of the week. After that we still have a little bit of a question mark. But most of the computer models are keeping it turning and somewhat of a similar track to what we saw with Earl last weekend. Remember the one that got close to the Outer Banks and then headed up toward the Canadian Maritimes?

Right now, we think it will probably go to the right of that. Potentially closer to Bermuda. But we're talking about over a week away from now, there's a lot of room for errors. So the U.S. coast does need to be alert and continue to watch Igor.

Now in addition to Igor, we also have -- look back here, over to Cape Verde Islands. This is tropical depression number 12. And this developed today. Winds right now, 35 miles per hour, but it's very likely, as those thunderstorms in here intensify, that this is going to become Tropical Storm Julia. In fact, that could happen with the next advisory coming up before the top of the hour. And if that happens, of course, we'll bring that information along to you, Don.

LEMON: Jacqui Jeras, thank you very much. Appreciate it. Have a good one.

You know, the devastating gas pipeline explosion in California may have left you wondering about safety in your own neighborhood. Tonight, we talk to an expert about what you need to look for.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need to ask, you know, how old is the infrastructure? How old are the pipes? Have they been replaced? Are they being replaced? And pay attention in that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Plus a fiery crash caught on video. The driver is trapped as the car burns. I'll show you how it ends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The gas explosion in California is raising questions about the massive network of oil and gas pipelines that crisscross the country. There's more than 2.3 million miles of pipe, much of it put in, well, decades ago. I asked Dan Weiss. He's a member of the Georgia Public Service Commission about the aging infrastructure and what kind of questions we should be asking the people in charge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STAN WISE, GEORGIA PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION: In the country there is an aging infrastructure but in many jurisdictions, they are upgrading in Georgia. That's one of the things that we've continued to do. And in the last decade we've replaced about 90 percent of the infrastructure in our state. But in other parts of the country they probably have not been as aggressive. But it's still a safe delivery system.

LEMON: So what's being done? You said you have replaced -- here in Georgia, you've replaced a lot. But what's being done around the country to address this issue?

WISE: Again, it's a partnership between the local jurisdiction, the utilities, the public service commissions, and the federal jurisdiction that has some oversight over the pipelines in those areas.

LEMON: So as I'm walking in my neighborhood this week and the people are, "Oh, my gosh, that explosion. You know, we live in an old historic neighborhood." What kinds of questions should we be asking our city officials, our state officials about this?

WISE: Clearly, you could start with your Public Service Commission. You need to ask how old is the infrastructure? How old are the pipes? Have they been replaced? Are they being replaced? And pay attention in that way.

At the same time, you can go ahead and always be an observant citizen as well.

LEMON: All right. We talked about all the gas pipe -- the lines that run under the country. Look at that. We said that 2.3 million miles of them underground -- under us. Most of them, the bulk of them in Louisiana and Texas, obviously, we get a lot of our oil from there. We're doing the story with the Gulf oil --

WISE: Right.

LEMON: -- and what have you. So look at all this. And we cover these stories all the time about gas explosions. You don't know. We always say in the news, could it happen here? It really could. WISE: It could. There's always a possibility of that. And that's one of the things that individual jurisdictions are working so hard to upgrade these aging systems. And that's what we do and that's what many of the other states with appropriate leadership can do. But there's a cost associated with it.

And so if there's an aging infrastructure in San Bruno, and it's a 60 or 70- year-old system, then you have to look to utilities. You have to look to the state public service office.

LEMON: OK, so here's the thing. You smell gas, natural gas, although we don't really smell the gas. It's the additive they put in so you can smell it. Correct?

WISE: Right, exactly.

LEMON: So you smell it all the time and you don't think twice. So what do you do now if you smell gas? I'm sure more people, if they're paying attention to the news, are going to be calling to say, "Hey, I smell gas."

WISE: There's a catch phrase: smell gas, act fast. Call 911.

LEMON: Really?

WISE: Absolutely. Call 911. If you smell gas, don't play around with it. Get it done.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: All right. We want to help you out here and really bring this home for you. This is what happened. The San Bruno blast happened when a gas transmission pipeline ruptured. It's a 30-inch pipeline. So, look how big. Imagine natural gas pouring out of that. The minute it gets ignited, man, that is one big explosion as we saw.

So what about what is underground. Here's what the transportation department reports. There are 2.5 million miles of pipeline in the country. That's enough to circle the earth 100 times. And you can get a sense of just how much it is on this map. Look at all that. And you can see the blue and the yellow right there. The blue states, that's where -- shows that pipelines that run through multiple states. And then there's the red ones as well.

Now this Web site, the one right here, take a look at that one. That Web site is a national pipeline mapping system that lets you see the pipelines in your area. And also here, this one talks about integrity. You can search by county, and we checked out the Dallas, Texas, for instance. And the green lines that you're looking. Those are gas transmission lines and the red lines are pipelines that carry hazardous liquids.

All right, let's go to number four now. On this Web site, you can even see and put in your street address here as we did for the CNN location. And there are no pipelines that show up where we are here. Now, it's important to note that it doesn't mean that there aren't any pipelines in CNN's neighborhood. The map only shows pipelines that fall under the federal government's jurisdiction.

So gas lines that provide directly to your house do not show up on this map. So you're going to have to contact local officials about that and to more digging.

And check this one out. A lot of information here. So if you want to go, go to our blog at CNN.com/Don. You can find a link to all of this. It will really help you out if you have concerns. I know that my neighbors in my neighborhood were particularly concerned because we live in an older neighborhood, and there is a concern about infrastructure. And obviously people don't want the worse to happen like what happened in San Bruno.

A four-way fight for the Senate Republican nomination in New Hampshire to tell you about. Now Sarah Palin is stepping in as the race heats up before the state's Tuesday primary.

We're back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Time now for "CNN Equals Politics" update. And we're keeping an eye on the latest headlines of the CNN.com political ticker.

And our deputy political director Mr. Paul Steinhauser is in Washington.

Paul?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Don. A busy Sunday night on the CNN political ticker at CNNPolitics.com.

Let's start with the New Hampshire primary. We are just two days away in New Hampshire and six other states, plus the District of Columbia all holding primaries. But in New Hampshire, the establishment of Republican candidate there for the Senate nomination, Kelly Ayotte, she has been backed by Sarah Palin. We just learned that plain has now recorded a robocall which will be sent out to Republican voters in the state urging them to vote for Ayotte. This has become really a four-way fistfight for the Senate Republican nomination up there.

Next thing on the CNN political ticker, the vice president Joe Biden back on the campaign trail tomorrow. He's going to Pennsylvania. He's going to be campaigning with the Democrat's Senate nominee up there, Joe Sestak. The two term congressman and former admiral. The vice president is going to be helping raise money, campaign cash, for Sestak who right now, according to polls, trails the Republican nominee up there. That's a seat the Democrats want to keep in party hands.

And, finally, last but not the least, check this out on the CNN political ticker. Our CNN 100. We updated a list of the most vulnerable House seats. We have 100 of them. And guess what, right now, we say that 85 of those seats are Democratic seats. Fifteen, only 15 are Republicans. Remember, Don, the magic number for the Republicans who win back control of the House, they need a net gain of 39. We'll keep an eye on this and a lot more. Check it all out at CNN political ticker -- at CNNPolitics.com.

Don?

LEMON: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thank you. Reporting from the CNNPolitics.com desk in Washington.

All right, let's check the stories that will be grabbing the headlines in the week ahead -- from the world of politics to Wall Street to show business. We start tonight at the White House.

ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ed Henry at the White House. On Tuesday, the president is heading to Philadelphia to deliver his second annual back to school speech. Last year, Republicans charged that he was trying to indoctrinate student. The president brushing that criticism off because he wants to give students a pep talk and give the American people an update on his education initiatives.

Later in the week, he's going back on the campaign trail, Connecticut, to raise money as we get closer and closer to those critical midterms.

DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'm Dana Bash on Capitol Hill, where Congress is going to return this week after a month back home and after a summer that everybody admits was not good for the Democrats. The economy is the top issue this election year and it's going to be the focus during Congress' brief time away from the campaign trail. A bill to help small businesses looks like it will now pass the Senate with the help of one Senate Republican, but Democrats are divided on whether or not to extend all Bush era tax cuts, or let those for the wealthiest Americans expire. That's what the president and democratic leaders want to do, but others in very, very tough re-election battles say they're not sure they want to get pegged with raising taxes in a bad economy.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. It is a big week ahead for Wall Street. After a holiday short and trading weekend, investors will continue to look for signs of life in the U.S. Economy. We'll get the latest readings on retail sales and also a look at consumer sentiment this week.

And on Wednesday, former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan will speak in New York. Then on Thursday morning, we'll get those first time jobless claims. Those are critical. We'll also get earnings from tech giants Oracle and also Blackberry maker Research in Motion.

A.J. HAMMER, HOST, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT: I'm SHOWBIZ TONIGHT's A.J. Hammer. Here's what we're watching this week.

We're expecting big news to break Monday when Oprah Winfrey kicks off the 25th and the last season of her show. She's promising huge headline making surprises. And will this weekend's MTV Video Music Awards finally put an end to the old Kanye West and Taylor Swift fiasco? SHOWBIZ TONIGHT is live at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on HLN. And we are still TV's most provocative entertainment news show at 11:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

LEMON: All right, thank you very much, guys.

Azadeh Ansari joins us now to tell us what's going to be happening internationally. We've heard what's happening domestically.

Let's go first -- why don't we go to France where there's some news about a burqa ban.

AZADEH ANSARI, CNN INTERNATIONAL DESK: Right. So on Tuesday, the French Senate is scheduled to vote on whether or not to outlaw the wearing of the burqa in public. Now should this happen, if someone is caught wearing burqa in public, they could be fined up to $180, Don, and also sent to citizenship courses to learn about French citizenship values.

LEMON: OK. That's a very interesting story that we will be following. Now what about Afghanistan? This is very important. The parliamentary elections.

ANSARI: The parliamentary elections, exactly. So on Saturday, they're going to vote for -- Afghans will hit the polls and they'll vote for 249 seats out of 2,500 candidates. Can you imagine this? Imagine what the ballot looks like. But anyway, so if this goes well and there's no violence and there's no vote rigging, it could really help the legitimacy of President Hamid Karzai's government given what happened in his re-election last year. So again, another story we'll be following.

LEMON: It's important for the men and women in uniform. It's important for the civility of the region. So we'll be watching that very closely.

OK. You have the story. This one is a little bit lighter. Are you going to use that tape measure?

ANSARI: I will.

LEMON: Go for it. This one is a "Guinness World Book of Records" in the town of London.

ANSARI: It's out of London. So the "Guinness World Book of Records," the 2011 version is actually going to be out this week. It's going to be released in the U.S. on Tuesday and a worldwide release on Thursday.

Now, one of the main entries here that we have is the world's shortest man.

LEMON: OK.

ANSARI: Who stands at -- he's a little over 70 centimeters which puts him about two feet -- let's see here, two feet and four inches. That's how tall he is.

LEMON: That's how tall he is. That's pint sized.

ANSARI: He's actually from Colombia, 24 years old and weighs 22 pounds.

LEMON: All right. Very interesting stuff. I like having you standing here, chatting with you over here.

Great stories and much, much more we'll be following at our international desk this week.

Azadeh Ansari, thank you. Have a great week, OK?

ANSARI: Thanks, Don. It's great to have you back.

LEMON: Good to see you again.

You know, it seems the controversial debate over the proposed Islamic center near Ground Zero has sparked a lot of anti-Islamic sentiments around the country when Tennessee pastor hopes to send another message.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I didn't know much about Islam. And I didn't know -- I only knew one fellow who is a Muslim. And so, you know, I knew it was going to be a learning process for me. But we follow Jesus.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He will tell us how his message is being received -- coming up.

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LEMON: From another stimulus package to taking a bite out of Apple's iTunes. Here's Stephanie Elam with this week's "Getting Down to Business."

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: President Obama is pushing a $350 billion plan to create jobs, shore up infrastructure and get the economy moving in the right direction. One group in particular that could benefit? Young people. Less than 48 percent of people age 16 to 24 had jobs in August. That's the lowest level on record going back more than 60 years. New unemployment numbers are out Thursday.

There's battle of the brands happening in stores near you. A new study by Consumer Reports found grocery brands well in competition with their more expensive name brand counterparts. In 21 head to head case match-ups, national brands won seven times, store brands won three and the rest was a tie. According to consumers union, store brands are typically 30 percent cheaper than name brands. The latest retail sales report is coming out this week. Apple will soon have some big competition. Sony and Google both have announced they will be launching digital music services to rival Apple's iTunes. Sony's platform is expected to launch next year, while Google is pushing for a release before the holidays. That's this week's "Getting Down to Business."

Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.

LEMON: Thank you.

We want to check our top stories right now on CNN.

Denmark has raised its terror threat level after an incident involving this man. Here he is at a Copenhagen Hotel on Tuesday. On Friday, he was injured in an explosion in a bathroom at a hotel that police say he triggered. Now they are investigating whether he was targeting a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the prophet Mohammad in 2005.

Secretary State Hillary Clinton heads to Egypt tomorrow to try to keep Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations on track. Talks resume in the Red Sea Resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday, two weeks after they began in Washington.

Israeli settlement expansion is expected to take center stage. The Palestinians want Israel to extend a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank. The freeze is due to end September 26.

At least two people were killed today in Afghanistan while protesting against a Florida pastor who had planned to burn the Koran. Security forces open fired to prevent the crowd of 600 people from storming government offices. Four other demonstrators were hurt. Protests over the burning had started in Afghanistan before Pastor Terry Jones abandoned his plan.

You know with all this talk of burning Korans and blocking the building of Islamic centers, a church in Tennessee offers a refreshing change. The Heartsong Church in suburban Memphis opened its arms to its new neighbor a mosque.

Jamel Majors from our affiliate WMC has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAMEL MAJORS, WMC REPORTER (voice-over): These words say it all.

PASTOR STEVE STONE, HEARTSONG CHURCH: Once we put up the sign, probably within three days, people from the Islamic center contacted us they were overwhelmed with emotion that we would be so welcoming.

MAJORS: Steve Stone, pastor of Heartsong Church, says when he heard about plans for the multimillion-dollar Memphis Islamic center complex being built near his church, he knew he had to react.

STONE: I didn't know a lot about Islam. And I didn't know -- I only knew one fellow who is a Muslim. And so, you know, I knew it was going to be a learning process for me. But we follow Jesus and he tells us to love our neighbors.

MAJORS: Stone says he hopes that by putting out a welcome mat for Muslims, it will send a strong message to those who may have associated Christians with being anti-Islam.

STONE: People that associate Christians with folks that are afraid or don't like Muslims, I can't judge those people that are Christian. I just believe to take the name of Christ and to be hateful and do hateful things is a real insult.

MAJORS: To prove his point, Stone says the Heartsong Church congregation is taking its new relationship with members of the Memphis Islamic center one step further.

STONE: Their facility was not quite finished, still isn't, and they came and asked us if they might be able to use our facility for Ramadan prayers which we took as a high compliment.

MAJORS: Stone says it's the beginning of a friendship he hopes will inspire others to love their neighbors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEMON: Coming up, an incredible crash caught on tape. Three deputies tried desperately to free a driver whose car burst into flames.

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LEMON: We want to get you ready for your week ahead. This could certainly affect you. We have some new information. Our Jacqui Jeras says it concerns two storms, really that very powerful hurricane and also now a tropical depression being named a storm, right?

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right. Yes. We warned you TD-12 might get upgraded to tropical storm Julia. That's exactly what happened. It's now tropical storm with winds around 40 miles per hour. It's this one over here up the Capeburg Island. So this is, you know, very far away from land other than the Capeburg islands. So they will be feeling the impact of this storm, but does have the potential to get stronger over the next couple of days.

Boy, Igor just continues to intensify. This is incredible. Winds are now up to 150 miles per hour. Very high end of a category four storm now. The official forecast track also has been updated along with the intensity. And look at this, by tomorrow evening, 155 miles an hour. If you're over 155, it's a category five storm. So we could see that in the next 12 to 24 hours. So Igor continues to be a very powerful and very dangerous storm.

We'll be tracking both of these along with tropical waves that's in the Caribbean that has some potential. Things are really getting busy and very active -- Don.

LEMON: From a tropical storm in 24 hours to a cat 4, and then now almost a cat 5 -- JERAS: Almost a cat 5 -- yeah, it's amazing.

LEMON: Boy. OK, Jacqui, thank you very much.

JERAS: Sure.

LEMON: You know, on Sundays, we always want to try to catch you up on some news you might have miss throughout the week. And we call it, "News You Missed."

Three sheriff's deputies in Georgia put their lives on the line to save a man from a burning car. Their bravery was caught on the cruiser's dashboard camera. It happened last Sunday on I-75 in Gordon County, Georgia. A man lost control of his car. It crashed and burst into flames. The deputies and a passerby tried to knock down the flames. And finally broke a door window to pull the driver to safety.

And just announced a book sale unlike any other. You could call it the ultimate best seller. Auction house Sotheby's says this book "Birds of America" by John James Audubon is the most expensive in the world. Expected to go for about $9 million. Wow. The auction on November 7th will also offer what Sotheby's labels as the most important book in English literature. "First Folio" from 1623 contains all the plays of William Shakespeare. That anticipated price? About $2 million.

Take a close look at this video. Is it a young girl running after a ball that goes into the street? This is part of a traffic safety campaign in Canada designed to make drivers slow down at high-risk intersections. It's actually a decal in the pavement that creates a 3D illusion. Reaction has been mixed. Some people worry it may cause drivers to swerve and hit something else, or eventually become immune to the image of -- that image and actually hit a child in the roadway. Drawing some controversy there.

We'll follow that story. And we'll be following hurricane Igor as well. So make sure you tune in to CNN's AMERICAN MORNING tomorrow morning at 6:00 a.m. to get updates on that.

In the meantime, we appreciate you joining us. I'm Don Lemon at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Have a great week. Thanks for watching. Good night.

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