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CNN Saturday Morning News

Muslims Kicked Off Plane; Flooding Forces Evacuations; Drone Targets Radical Cleric In Yemen; New Bin Laden Details; Tracking and Finding Bin Laden; Troops React to Bin Laden's Death; Missing in Afghanistan; Recovering In Tuscaloosa

Aired May 07, 2011 - 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: Good morning, everybody. Welcome to CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Listen to this: Two Muslim men kicked off a flight from Memphis last night reportedly because other passengers were uncomfortable. We'll tell you what the airline is saying today.

Also, a 7-year-old boy is rushed to the hospital after being attacked by a leopard during a school field trip to the zoo. Witnesses say the boy jumped a railing to get closer to the animal. We'll tell you how that boy is doing today.

I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could be here with us. It's 6:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia at our world headquarters. It's 5:00 a.m. in Memphis, Tennessee and Memphis is one place that is just getting hit and hit hard by what many describe as a slow moving natural disaster.

This floodwater. This is not a flash flood. You hear that often times. Those waters can rush in immediately and come up on you. No. This is a slow moving natural disaster. These waters are rising slowly.

We have seen evacuation orders in a number of communities along the Mississippi River. The flooding has forced people from their homes in a number of states. Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas as well.

Take a look at the map. You'll see the states we're talking about, the effected States. Look here. The Mississippi River just runs north to south in this Country right through the heart of the Country.

We highlighted there for you that red dot. That's Cassville, Missouri, that is where the coast guard is closely monitoring traffic on the river. They are afraid the wake from the ships will make the flooding even worse. After closing the river, the coast guard has now reopened the area but still only one ship is allowed to go through at a time.

Now take a look at what's happening in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, today. They know this thing is coming. They are next. Water is starting to rise. They moved south towards Louisiana. The Mississippi won't crest there for at least two more weeks.

Again, this is just one of a number of places bracing right now but it's a slow moving -- as I bring in Alexandra Steele, she's in our Severe Weather Center, we get to welcome her in to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Good to have you here with us. We call this a slow moving disaster. It's not often that you get two week's notice that this is coming.

ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right, it's really just a wall of water pushing southward. I heard someone ask the other day, what can you do to prevent it? There's nothing you can do. You can't suck this water up. Unfortunately we're only going to make it just a little worse. We'll talk about this flooding in the Lower Mississippi Valley and the Ohio Valley and really of the most imminent concern, Memphis. I'll show you why.

You can see these are where the floodwaters are meaning flooding is happening or is imminent. Most imminent you can see Memphis and four days from now it's expected to crest. Cresting about and moving about a foot a day all of the way down the Mississippi. Cresting at 48 feet, to give you perspective major flood stage is 46. Could break the old record or just shy of it from 1937.

To give you perspective, of really the intensity and the magnitude of this, this flooding worse than we've seen since the '20s and '30s in the U.S.

So where will we see this record flooding again? A wall of water. This water, the Mississippi of course flows from north to south and it's just taking that water nowhere to go but taking it farther south.

So on May 20th in Vicksburg, we'll watch a crest of 14.5 feet above where we should be. You can see May 22nd, Red River Landing on May 23rd and Baton Rouge 12.5 feet above flood stage.

More rain coming? Unfortunately there is. Not so much today but in the next five days we could see another inch or two of rain just to exacerbate the situation. More on the flooding coming up in just a few minutes. Back to you.

HOLMES: All right, Alexandra Steele. We appreciate you, and again welcome to CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Good to have you here with us this weekend. We'll check in with Reynolds Wolf in just a moment as well.

You heard Alexandria mention Memphis, Tennessee, so many of the watches and warnings are up right there. We want to go back and focus on that right now. People there finding evacuation notices posted on their doors.

There's not a lot of mandatory evacuations in place right now. These are suggestions to evacuate. You heard the saying before. Don't wait, evacuate. Wise words, yes. Common sense tells you to go but a lot of people are not doing so at this point trying to ride this thing out.

We'll go to Memphis now with our David Mattingly, he's there with the latest on how the city is trying to cope with rising water.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J. as the floodwater makes a slow relentless rise into Memphis, people here are in a nervous guessing game. Should I stay or should I go? Four days from its projected peak and the mighty Mississippi is not done with Memphis by a long shot. A few houses already in the water. The owners apparently heeding evacuation warnings. Neighbors on a little higher ground still not so sure.

KYLE CRESON, MEMPHIS RESIDENT: It's 45 now. It's supposed to come to 48. If it goes over 48, we'll probably have to move.

MATTINGLY: How much faith do you have in those predictions?

CRESON: Goodness, I don't know.

MATTINGLY: All along the banks water pushes into areas that haven't seen flooding in generations. Anything that isn't protected by a levee is in danger of being covered by the relentless waters. Some of the worst damage so far is nowhere near the river front. With the water in the Mississippi continuing to rise, the water in the tributaries, other rivers around Memphis have nowhere to go. The result is what you see here. Widespread flooding and disruption miles away from the Mississippi. As you look at all this damage, city officials say don't get the wrong idea. The city itself with all its tourism and nightlife is high and dry and expected to stay that way.

MAYOR A. C. WHARTON, MEMPHIS TENNESSEE: I want to make one thing clear, as you know tourism, entertainment is a big part of our economy. I want everybody to know that Downtown is still open. Everything that has been planned will go on.

MATTINGLY: Nevertheless, engineers keep a watchful eye on a decades old levee system never tested like this before. Volunteers fill sandbags hoping they will not be needed and road crews shore up escape routes just in case of any last-minute evacuations.

David Mattingly, CNN, Memphis.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Now it seems like we've had one natural disaster after another in this country. And it was just last week, last Wednesday, we had an historic outbreak of tornadoes in the south. Hundreds of people killed. More than 300 killed. 250 in Alabama alone. Right after that tornado and all that outbreak of tornadoes, just a day or so later, we had the Royal Wedding, which took up a lot of the headlines. Unfortunately or we had to cover it, it was there. Feel how you feel about it. It kind of knocked tornadoes off the headlines. Two days later Osama Bin Laden was killed so that dominated the news for this entire week. It seems like as I bring in my buddy Reynolds Wolf who is at a Red Cross Relief Center in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Reynolds, unfortunate but they got hit with a natural disaster in the south and then became victims of the news cycle and so many other things knocked our friends in the south away from the headlines. You are there. We're trying to make sure we continue to tell these stories because those folks will need help for quite some time.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: No question about it. Even though the story has indeed moved on, the problem still exists they still remain. What's interesting is you have so many people across the southeast, over 300 people lost their lives in Alabama.

One of the hardest places hit was Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I'm at a Red Cross Disaster Relief Area where we have 183 people staying here overnight, just trying to keep the voices down, just a little bit.

This is a place for people who no longer have a home and no longer have anything and can walk through the doors here, get something to eat, they can get some something to drink, take showers. Obviously sleep. They can do anything from eat a sweet roll and within minutes go to a dentist office set up here and have a tooth pulled. A sweet roll in one hand and tooth removal moments later. It's a dream come true.

It is just one small step that they are taking to get their lives back to normal. Many people will take time but it is one great step. Coming up, you'll meet some of the great men and women here at the Disaster Relief Center and the amazing job they've been doing. But first, let me give you a little bit of a curve ball.

T.J., as you know, on CNN SATURDAY MORNING and CNN SUNDAY MORNING we are a family. I got to bring it back to you.

How are you mom and dad doing? They're in Memphis. We've been talking about flooding there. How are they doing?

HOLMES: Thank you for asking that. My folks are OK. My sister is having some issues. Power was out for a while. Flooding in the streets. Couldn't get out. It's been rough for a lot of folks. They're in a position a lot of families are in. These are our folks.

Reynolds, from Alabama and me from Arkansas. This is personal to the two of us. Reynolds, I know we'll check in with you again here shortly. Thank you so much, buddy. We'll talk to you soon.

WOLF: You bet.

HOLMES: Give you a look at a couple other stories making headlines this morning. The U.S. Military targeting a radical cleric in Yemen who some say could be the successor to Osama Bin Laden.

An official tells CNN that a drone fired a missile into an area where Onyan O Awlaki is known to spend time. He was not killed in that attack. However, Awlaki was born in the U.S. He is accused of recruiting the so-called underwear bomber who tried to blow up a plane in Detroit in 2009.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is warning that food shortages could lead to riots like we saw in many countries a few years ago. Listen to what she said at a United Nations food summit in Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, SECRETARY OF STATE: Anger and frustration over food prices sparked riots in dozens of countries. Now thankfully the situation we face today is not yet as serious. We must act now. Effectively and cooperatively to blunt the negative impact of rising food prices and protect people and communities.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: She also said food security was a foreign policy priority for the United States. The World Bank says that 44 million people have been forced into poverty by rising food prices in the past year.

A not guilty plea for a man accused of leaving a homemade bomb at a mall in Denver last month. Earl Albert Moore, who you are seeing there, is being held on federal charges of arson and use of a destructive device. He was linked to the device by DNA evidence. No one was injured in that incident.

Also, legendary golfer, Seve Ballesteros has died. He was just 54 years old. Doctors found a cancerous brain tumor in 2008 that led to his death early this morning. His career accomplishments include three British Open Championships, two Masters Titles. Ballesteros was the first European to ever win the green jacket at Augusta. His success paved the way for other European golfers to break into the American golf landscape.

And rescuers hope to save pilot whales that stranded themselves in shallow water near Key West. Thirteen have already died. Eight others are being cared for in a holding pen. Some could be released today if they are strong enough to go. Experts say one of the whales was sick and the other whales may have followed it into shallow water.

We're getting more and more details coming up about the killing of Osama Bin Laden. What exactly did agents know about Bin Laden's trusted courier and how the weather played a major part in the operation. We're going live to Pakistan.

Also, how exactly did U.S. Troops -- what did they think exactly when they heard the Bin Laden news? You'll hear their responses in just 60 seconds.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hello, 13 minutes past the hour. We are getting fascinating new details coming out five days now after Osama Bin Laden was killed. "The Washington Post" reporting that the CIA had a safe house in a Abbottabad, the Pakistani City where the terrorist was found.

The compound was kept under surveillance for several months and satellite surveillance was used to monitor that property but Bin Laden made rare appearances outside of the compound which made it difficult to confirm if he was there.

Also learning that a single phone call from an old friend to Bin Laden's trusted courier led to the couriers cell phone number and from that U.S. intelligence found the compound there in Abbottabad.

Our Nick Paton Walsh is there, in Pakistan. Nick what can you tell us about this. It fascinating, ten years looking for this mean and it seems like it all came down to a single phone call.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. It really is just this one detail we have, T.J. Senior Pakistani official confirming that the hunt really began, this episode, the chase, to that compound behind me with one phone call made by one of the couriers. We're not clear exactly which one or clear to who it was made. What actually happened with that has joined the dots toward the building behind me.

That's absolutely vital because after the process began where the Americans began to crunch the numbers more than the Pakistanis say they were handing to them on a regular basis and that eventually led to the special operations raid we learned about last week, T.J.

HOLMES: Nick, we know there were others in that house besides Osama Bin Laden including at least one of his wives. She's in custody we understand. Are they getting more intel from her as she's being interrogated by the Pakistanis?

WALSH: Absolutely. It's been an interesting last few days because as we see the White House and the Obama Administration's narrative of what happened emerge, there's been conflicting details put out by the Pakistani officials citing those 12 to 13 people they picked up in the compound once the Americans had left.

The key one is Bin Laden's wife. A 21-year-old Yemeni we understand. One of the most important things she said is as far as she is aware and Pakistani officials are aware, Bin Laden was not armed. That did lead the Americans to adjust their narrative earlier on last week.

Another point she made more recently is they had been in the compound. Her and her family had been there for about five years. That does date Bin Laden's presence here to longer than months that originally were being stipulated. No proof exactly when it was that he arrived.

HOLMES: All right, Nick Paton Walsh with some interesting details still coming out. Nick, we appreciate you as always. HOLMES: And if you were like the rest of us in the world, really got caught off guard by the news of Osama Bin Laden's death. U.S. troops in Afghanistan came to a surprise to many of them too.

Mohammed Jamjoom talked to the troops to see what they think of the killing of Bin Laden but also if they think his death is going to affect their mission in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MOHAMMED JAMJOOM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here at the main nerve center for American Operations in Afghanistan. We came out here to talk to U.S. troops about what they thought about the news of the killing of Osama Bin Laden and how that affected the overall mission here in Afghanistan.

Where were you when you heard the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed?

SERGEANT ADAM BERGER, U.S. ARMY: I was training afghan national police. We got a message from headquarters here on our tracker that he was KIA. At first we thought it was a joke. Thought it was an April first, but it was May.

It's not really effecting the mission, we're still here trying to support the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and support them in their efforts to maintain their legitimacy to the rest of the people so that as we start to build them up and they become functioning better, we can pull ourselves back and let them take over the reins.

STAFF SERGEANT TYLER MILLER, U.S. ARMY: I'm torn in a lot of ways. Osama Bin Laden really didn't play a part in Afghanistan after 2002 to 2003 when he ran back over into Pakistan and took up hiding. We're not fighting a war to target. We're fighting an insurgency and counterinsurgency effort and no matter what we do, we can't kill our way out of it.

JAMJOOM: A prevailing mood of cautious optimism and acknowledgement from these troops that while a big American objective has been achieved, this mission is far from over.

Mohammad Jamjoom, CNN, Afghanistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The father of an American soldier captured in Afghanistan more than two years ago is making his first public appeal for his son's release. Army specialist, Bowe Bergdahl disappeared in June 2009 and it's believed he is being held by allies of the Taliban. His father, Robert Bergdahl is in Idaho and now released a YouTube video addressed to the Taliban and those holding his son.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT BERGDAHL, FATHER OF CAPTURED SOLDIER: I pray this video may be shown to our only son. God bless you. We love you. We've been quiet in public, but we haven't been quiet behind the scenes. Continue to be patient and kind to those around you. You're not forgotten.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You hear him saying translating to forgotten no.

We'll get back to this flooding taking place in the middle of the country. Waters are rising but look at that. The power of these waters often times. We'll tell you how this story played out. A 93- year-old woman was trapped in that car.

In 90 seconds I'll tell who came to the rescue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty one minutes past the hour now. Keeping an eye on this slow moving natural disaster taking place throughout the Midwest and South. Take a look at this. A rescue of a driver caught in that car.

This is in Southeastern Missouri. The woman in that car was a 93 year old great grandmother. She was trapped there by the water. That water was moving at about 40 miles an hour. A couple Missouri national guard soldiers jumped in and pulled her out. They had a hard time trying to get to her battling that fast moving water.

Another problem they say that water was mind numbingly cold. They got her out. She's OK.

Flooding causing a traffic headache for truckers and other drivers. Interstate 40, one of the major East-West roads through the Country. In Arkansas, this highway runs from one side of the State to the other. A lot of truckers have to use this. Cuts right through Little Rock. A very important artery. It's not possible to use it. A lot of these trucks have to go around and use smaller roads causing them some problems causing traffic issues there as you see as well.

They did have to close parts of I-40 for a time. Not sure if they are reopened but big chunks of I-40 had to be closed. Truckers not too happy adding a lot of time to their travels through the State of Arkansas.

We've been telling you about the flooding taking place. That is no doubt a natural disaster taking place in this Country. A slow moving natural disaster. Last week in this country we were dealing with a different disaster. It was a tornado disaster of historic proportions literally. One of the largest outbreaks of tornadoes this country has ever seen. Hundreds of people killed. More than 300; 250 alone in the State of Alabama.

We are keeping a close eye on our friends there in Alabama and the South. Our Reynolds Wolf is joining me once again this morning.

Reynolds, hello to you. I checked in with you a bit ago and you were trying to be quiet. You said people were having to sleep in that shelter. It's 6:20am in the morning here and not a lot of people moving around just yet I assume.

WOLF: Absolutely. Reason why they are sleeping is plain and simple. It's early and bigger reason for many people this happens to be home. Homes no longer exist. The tornado that came through this part of the world is long gone but a lot of problems remain and people here at this Disaster Center Relief here for American Red Cross are doing what they can to help out.

Coming up we'll find out ways how you across America can help the American Red Cross help others. We'll have that story coming up. You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: The death of Osama Bin Laden has been dominating the headlines this week. We of course are still covering those tornadoes that did so much damage across the South.

Our Reynolds Wolf joining me once again. He's in one of the hardest hit communities of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Reynolds, good morning to you once again.

WOLF: Good morning, T.J.

You're right, there are so many people that have been affected by this. We've talked with hundreds who lost their lives but others who have been affected by many of those people who have homes that no longer exist at this point. Trying to get back on their feet.

One of the great things helping them to do that is the American Red Cross. This morning we have a wonderful person with us with a very difficult name to say.

Bear with me, Danelle, I have had one cup of coffee. I need a carton of it. How do you say your name?

DANELLE SCHLEGELMILCH, AMERICAN RED CROSS: Schlegelmilch.

WOLF: Schlegelmilch. What's the most pressing need you have at the American Red Cross?

SCHLEGELMILCH: The biggest thing we need right now is financial donations. We'll be here for a long, long time. Biggest thing we need is money to buy products and things that we need to get these people moving around and back on their feet.

WOLF: To help people get back on their feet, you need a lot of volunteers. You came in from Nebraska.

SCHLEGELMILCH: I'm from Omaha, Nebraska. We have volunteers from all over country. We have about 1,000 volunteers in Alabama right now. A huge operation for the American Red Cross.

WOLF: So how many centers are here around parts of the Southeast?

SCHLEGELMILCH: I have no idea. I think we have about 11 here in Alabama but they just go where the need is the greatest. We'll be here for the long haul for these folks.

WOLF: How does this place compare to what you see in other places, in terms of the damage you've seen in Tuscaloosa.

SCHLEGELMILCH: It doesn't compare. I was speechless when I went out there. I came from Mapleton tornado three weeks ago and through Arkansas earlier last week and now I was speechless. It's hard to describe the destruction beyond -- I can't even say anything.

WOLF: You have a frame of reference. You grew up in Oklahoma. You lived in Nebraska. You have seen a lot of these things with your American Red Cross work and now you're here. What kind of people are coming in here? Do you have just adults? Children? What groups?

SCHLEGELMILCH: We have everybody from a 9 week old baby who survived a tornado up to elderly folks. That's a great thing about this place. We have everyone who can come here to have a safe place and warm cup of coffee, meal and smile. It's a really great place to be able to come and get your help and get a little bit of hope too.

WOLF: It's more than that. People can come in here and get something to eat and place to rest but they also can have dental work, medical work, what else?

SCHLEGELMILCH: We have so many great partners. We have eye doctors and dentists and doctors and nurses and mobile clinic in the parking lot. We had a Zumba class last night. So there's something to keep people going and make sure they are mentally and physically taken care of.

WOLF: I mean if you get Zumba, that's half the battle, let's just be honest here.

SCHLEGELMILCH: I know.

WOLF: One of the things is we talked about other elements that people have. You have fractures and injuries but there's a lot that happens mentally too. Do you have any kind of Counselors that help out?

SCHLEGELMILCH: At the Red Cross we have trained mental health professionals and they work with people to make sure their emotional needs are met. Disasters aren't only hard on your body and your home and property but mentally they are grueling. We have children talking about having nightmares up in this tornado so we're really making sure that we are here to help them with every need they have.

WOLF: I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Have a wonderful morning and we'll hopefully get chance to talk to you again. T.J. it's an amazing story. It's just a - you know, really it's just a great deal of simplicity with this. It's simply Americans helping Americans. Very heartwarming thing in the midst of a terrible tragedy.

HOLMES: Thank you for that. We'll check in with Reynolds plenty throughout the morning.

Also just ahead, a story you are not going to believe. The N word etched in stone on several graves on several headstones. Can you believe this? Coming up, I'll explain the story and why it's gone 50 years and not been corrected. And who wants to correct it now.

But first, just last night two men get on a plane only to get kicked off a plane. Why? They say it's because they are Muslim. And that the other passengers were uncomfortable flying with them. I'll tell you about all this and what the airline is saying this morning.

That's all next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: It's 33 minutes past the hour on CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could spend part of your weekend here with us.

We're talking about this epic flooding taking place along the Mississippi River. This is a slow moving natural disaster. Not a flash flood where water might rush in and surprise you. No, this is a slow rise and people know it's coming. Still, not a whole lot they can do about it. We've seen evacuations ordered in many communities along the Mississippi. The flooding has forced people from their homes in a number of states, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana Kentucky, Tennessee as well as Arkansas.

Take a look at the map here and you see the river there. You see how many states have been affected along the way. We are a red dot you see there. That is on Caruthersville, Missouri. This is where the Coast Guard is closely monitoring traffic on the river because they're afraid the wake from the ships could actually make the flooding even worse. After essentially closing the river for a time yesterday, the Coast Guard now reopened the area but only one ship at a time being allowed to go through.

Take a look at Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This is what they are going through, folks. They know it's coming. They're trying their best to get ready so that rising waters making their way south Mississippi won't crest there for at least two more weeks. We'll have more on what comes next in just two minutes.

I want do want to turn to Alexandra Steele now. Our meteorologist joining me with a look at this destructive power of water.

You know, we see it but we don't really realize just how powerful this stuff is once it gets going. STEELE: Absolutely. Look at this. This pad, the height of this, 6 inches high. All right? So 6 inches of flowing water can actually drown a person. Knock a person off their feet to say the very least.

Let's look at this. Really called the power of water. I mean, we had record flooding from Cairo, Illinois, all the way down to Pocahontas, Arkansas dating back to 1915, breaking records.

But the power and the enormity of water. All right. So that is 6 inches, it can knock a person, even can drown a person. Two feet of floating water can, believe it or not, float a car with the flowing water.

One other interesting thing. Water flowing at 4 miles per hour can destroy a home, but it also has the same strength as an EF2 tornado. It is incredibly powerful. And you know, 6 inches, this is it. This can drown a person.

So, look at this. Some of these rivers, 12 to 15 feet above what's, quote, "normal". Here's a look at the flood threat and where we have it. Cairo, Illinois, and you know, of course, this is the Mississippi. It heads from north to south. It is really just a wall of water slowly making its way down. It will flood as it goes.

Places like Memphis, that is of most imminent concern. Expect it to flood and peak in about four days. Let's take a look at this from Memphis down to Vicksburg. What we'll see along the Mississippi. Again, the Mississippi crests and again, we've got a little time. One to two weeks. Unfortunately what we're going to see? More rain in the forecast unfortunately. Not an inundation of rain, but another inch or two. We'll watch this water get about a foot a day rise. It's dramatic, T.J.

HOLMES: It's good to explain that to folks and in terms we can simply understand and everyone can relate to 6 inches there. A lot of that people had no idea about just how little water it takes to knock you of your feet, or take out your home.

Alexandra, good information this morning. Thank you. We'll check in with you throughout the morning.

We want to look at some other stories making headlines. Protesters in Syria say government troops stormed a coastal city overnight to try to stop demonstrations that began after Friday prayers yesterday. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement condemning the Syrian government's actions. She called for an immediate end to the killing, arrest and harassment of protesters, activists and journalists. A human rights group says 800 people have been killed in Syria since protests began seven weeks ago.

Atlantic Southeastern Airlines is investigating an incident in which two Muslim men were removed from a flight. This happened yesterday on a flight from Memphis to Charlotte. Both men were dressed in traditional Muslim attire and they say they were told that other passengers on this Delta commuter flight were uncomfortable with them being on the plane. Here's a statement now from Atlantic Southeast Airlines.

They say, and I quote, "We take security and safety very seriously and the event is currently under investigation. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

However, their statement does not go on to explain why those men happened to be removed from the plane. Also, the TSA says the two men were screened and cleared to fly.

NASA has postponed the launch of space shuttle Endeavour, again. The next launch attempt will be no earlier than May 16th. NASA engineers trying to figure out what caused an electrical circuit to malfunction forcing an earlier delay. This is the last scheduled launch for Shuttle Endeavour, and second to last for the 30-year-old space program.

In two minutes I'll take to you a cemetery in California that has grave stones that some find very offensive. And it's been that way for 50 years. And no one has done anything about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Twenty minutes to the top of the hour.

Listen to this story about righting a wrong or maybe one that should have been righted a long time ago. This is a story out of El Dorado, California. It caught our attention here. It is about blatant racism etched in stone. Some of this language you are going to find offensive in this story, and a lot of people do, as well you should.

For more than 50 years a forgotten cemetery has disgraced the bodies buried beneath with offensive grave stones. These are graves moved from a town called Negro Hill, but the word Negro was changed when the Army Corps of Engineers moved them many, many years ago. So, they don't say these folks, these bodies, are from the town of Negro Hill. The N word is used in place of Negro.

Now take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHARLES PATILLO, CALIF. PRISON INDUSTRY: Kind of unbelievable why this hasn't been done long before now. I appreciate the way the Army Corps of Engineers stepped up and said there has been a wrong committed, and we need to fix this.

JOHN KNIGHT, EL DORADO COUNTY SUPERVISOR: I think the common reaction was it was pretty degrading what they did on the tombstones. It is not a very good show of class to us, and we'll try to make it better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Now, try to make it better there. Inmates at Folsom Prison trying to help out. They say they want to help right this wrong. They are experienced in concrete work. The prison says they'll do the $30,000 job for free.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It will be a real pleasure and honor to help the situation out. It's always good to change a wrong into a right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: All right. So this has been this way for 50 years. Why hasn't this been changed and done already? The Army Corps of Engineers says they're not responsible for the cemetery anymore. They say you need to talk to El Dorado County. But the county now says talk to the Corps. They also say they need to do a legal study.

Negro Hill, by the way, was located near Folsom, California. It was named after an African immigrant who struck gold there back in the 1800s. In 1950s the town's hay day passed and the town was abandoned. The Folsom Dam was built in 1995, and now what was once Negro Hill sits at the bottom of the lake. That is why the graves were moved.

A local newspaper check the records for the time and the town, and found an interesting fact. The graves now marked with this offensive language are mostly filled by white men and women.

We'll turn to gas prices here next. They are about $1 higher than they were a year ago. Why? Maybe Ali Velshi can explain it to me in a couple minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Gas prices flirting with $4 a gallon. Average price is $3.98 for regular that is across the country. Mid grade, you see that? That is over $4. The premium stuff, $4.25 on average. Take a look at this. A year ago the nationwide average for a gallon of regular was $2.92. That's a full dollar cheaper.

The president doesn't buy a lot of gas himself, of course. He tried to show he's aware of the pain at the pump.

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BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I confess it's been a while since I filled up. Secret Service doesn't let me, you know, fill up my motorcade. But it hasn't been that long ago since I watched those numbers scroll up, and I know how tough it is.

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HOLMES: All right. Who exactly are we blaming for these high gas prices? That's the question for our Chief Business Correspondent Ali Velshi.

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ALI VELSHI, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: With these gas prices doing what they're doing, it makes you want to pull your hair out. But you need to know who to blame. And I'm beginning to think that it might actually be us. Because gas costs the same. The reason gas prices are high are because of oil prices. Before you start worrying about who is gauging you, look in the mirror.

Normally around this time of year we start to think about that increase in summer gas prices. Two things that happen in summer that change what we pay for gas. First is that summer gas and winter gas are two different chemical mixes. There are different things that go into it.

You have to get rid of your winter gas, you have to reformulate it, you have to get new gas delivered. And it's a different kind of gas. More importantly this is a driving nation and typically we drive more for fun, for leisure, when summer comes around.

Most people understand the simple demand-supply and demand equation. These are not normal times. We've been seeing an increase in the price of gas that has nothing to do with new summer gas. And nothing to do with an increase in supply. It's entirely got to do with the price of a barrel of crude oil, which is ultimately the biggest influence on the price of gas in America.

Most of it is how much oil costs. And then there is an expense for marketing and distribution of that gas, for refining of the gas. And a little margin that goes to retailer and then a chunk that goes to states and federal government. Gas is made up of a lot of things. Most of those proportions have not been increasing. The only part of the price of a gallon of gas that's been increasing is the cost of crude oil, which has been going up for over a year now.

The price of oil is a commodity. Part of it is supply and demand. The other part of it is speculation. Some people think there's a better investment in oil than in other things. They trade, they buy oil, oil futures. Not because they'll ever need oil, but because they can make money off of it.

Oil priced the same way no matter where it is in the world. There is one price whether you get it from Canada or Saudi Arabia or you get it from Russia. Oil is priced at a market price. The world determines how much you will pay for oil. When there is unrest, the concept, the psychology that says we may have problems getting oil is enough to start moving the price of oil higher and higher.

In most cases the gas station or the retailer is free to set their own prices, but generally there are lots of gas stations around. So they have to set a price that people will come and buy gas at. If there is a gas station across the road that's $3.75 and you sell for $3.89, you are not going to get customers. Now, there are always examples of gas stations that are one off. There was one in Orlando which interestingly is right on the way to the airport after you have been at Disney or theme parks. And they were charging over $5 because once you get there you realize you have to fill up your tank before you give your rental car back. That's an example of gouging.

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HOLMES: All right. Thanks to our Ali Velshi.

All week people talking about Osama bin Laden. It's been getting a lot of headlines and part of the story a lot of people have, and a lot of questions right now, is just what did Pakistanis know? Weren't they supposed to be helping us hunt down bin Laden? He's just there, outside of the capital?

Before you get too hard on Pakistanis, in just a minute we'll remind you of another time when Pakistanis really did help the U.S. out.

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HOLMES: About eight minutes to the top of the hour.

Pakistan's image and reputation as a U.S. ally have taken a pounding since the world's most notorious terrorist was found hiding out in their own backyard. But during a military operation in Mogadishu, Somalia, when American troops were under siege, the U.S. turned to Pakistan for help. A lot of people remember the story, at least, from "Black Hawk Down." You remember this? This is a clip from the movie you are seeing now. Our Nadia Bilchik, joining me again.

Nadia, fill us in on the role Pakistan played. You know people looking at Pakistan now, wait, I thought you were a friend, but we have to remind folks they helped out at times.

NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: They certainly did in Mogadishu, in 1993. What happened was U.S. troops went in, not that dissimilar to trying to get bin Laden. Went in to try to get a warlord known as Adide (ph) and his cronies.

They go in to Mogadishu at this particular mission and there are three helicopters. One is damaged. Two go down. The soldiers come out of the helicopters. There is massive chaos and there are not enough U.S. troops or enough armament or equipment by U.S. troops. So they call in U.N. troops. And the U.N. troops are comprised, mainly, of Pakistanis and Malaysians.

There is a large Pakistani contingent who go out of their way to help the U.S. soldiers. Now we know that about 19 U.S. soldiers died any way. And many were injured. But many more would have died without help of Pakistanis.

And, in fact, Major General Montgomery, who was deputy commander of the U.N. mission actually said of the Pakistani soldiers in this, he said many of the soldiers, the U.S. soldiers, are alive today because of the willingness and skill of the Pakistani soldiers, who worked jointly in a rescue operation with Malaysia and American soldiers in the most difficult and dangerous combat circumstances.

HOLMES: It's always been--certainly for the past several years it's been a very touchy relationship. An ally, yes, but it always comes with a "but". BILCHIK: Sure there is that sense of "but". But we do have U.S. troops training in Pakistan. Right now there are around 120 Pakistani troops training in the U.S. There certainly is an alliance. It is our non-NATO alliance. It's a sense of some camaraderie between the two, but some skepticism.

And do we know what the ISI, which is the Pakistani version of the CIA, really knew about this mission? We don't. It remains to be seen.

But I think the story of "Black Hawk Down" and Mogadishu in 1993 certainly shows us support from Pakistani soldiers and Pakistani forces in that instance. So, nothing is ever black and white, is it? It is always nuanced.

HOLMES: And it is always-and people have, quite frankly, short memories. They are thinking right now, how in the world could have this man been here for years and years. Just outside of the capital and you not know? A lot of questions still to be answered.

BILCHIK: Well, hindsight is perfect science.

HOLMES: Nadia Bilchik, good to see you, as always this morning. We'll check in with Nadia, in a little while once again.

Also coming up, we mentioned this earlier. A boy, a seven-year- old boy goes on a field trip to the zoo. Kids are curious. They want to get as close to animals as possible. He got too close to a leopard and ended up in the hospital. We'll tell you how that little boy is doing.

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HOLMES: Time for us to go "X-Country". We'll look at stories our affiliates are covering.

First stop in Lawrence County, Alabama. Where a woman who lost her homes in last week's deadly storms in a pretty good mood; after digging around the rubble for a week, she found the diamond engagement ring she had taken off right before she had to duck into a storm shelter.

What are you doing taking of that ring, first of all? Glad she found that. Something to smile about after all that destruction in the South.

Also, turn to Wichita, Kansas. Listen to this, a first grader on a field trip at the zoo is mauled by a leopard. Witnesses say this happened after the 7-year-old climbed over a rail and walked up to the animal.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The cat just really reached out and grabbed him by his hair and clawed him. A man and a woman who were sitting there jumped up through there and kicked him in his head and he released the child and they just grabbed him and put pressure on the side of his face where he clawed him.

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HOLMES: The boy is listed in fair condition with injuries to his head, face and neck. School officials have set up a crisis team to try to help other kids process what they saw.

Also, to New York, a decade's old tradition here is still going strong at state university, at New York's Stony Brook campus. This is the annual cardboard boat race. Yes, you can get the idea here. They're all made of cardboard, duct tape and a little Elmer's glue. Students try to paddle them across the pond without the boat falling apart. It doesn't always work that way though.

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