Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Thousands Forced from Homes; Help Wanted: Marijuana Critic; Interview With Joe Jackson
Aired June 26, 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.
Four thousand homes are under water in Minot, North Dakota. But the mayor says despite the hardships, there's great news. We'll explain.
Also, are you one of those out there looking for a job? Well, how much do you know about weed? We could have a job opening for you.
Also, forget a thousand words. This picture is worth a couple million dollars. We'll tell you why someone paid big for this photo of one of the most notorious outlaws in history.
From the CNN Center, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING for this June the 26th. I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you for being here.
And as always, we want to say good morning to our men and women who are serving in the Armed Forces who are watching us right now on the American Forces Network around the world. Thank you for being here and thank you what you do.
Six A.M. in Atlanta, 5:00 A.M. in Minot, North Dakota. That's where we need to start. Thousands of people there are out of their homes, homes that they know they may never be able to live in again. At least a third of the people of Minot had to get out of there.
CNN's Jim Spellman is in Minot with the very latest on this disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM SPELLMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): T.J., it's been heartbreaking for the people of Minot, North Dakota to watch their city fill with water over the last few days. This was once a major intersection in downtown Minot with a train track and a tunnel that went under it. And now you'd think that you're in the middle of a pond or a lake or something.
Four thousand homes under water, T.J., 12,000 people evacuated with very uncertain futures. They knew days ago that they couldn't protect this whole city from the floodwaters that the dikes that they had were just too low. That there's no way they could do it.
And with the water coming fast, time running out, they focused only on critical infrastructure like the City Hall and the - and the Police Station Complex here. So they've built these temporary dikes here that were - that were higher, but you can see after only a day of having heavy water against it, already storm drains are backing up, they have to pump water out from the other side of the dike. It's been quite an undertaking for them.
You know, we've seen residents come back to try to take a look, try to peek and see if they can get any information about their homes. What they found so far is mostly bad news.
STEWART COLLUM, EVACUEE: I hate to say it but I had tears in my eyes this morning, you know? It's a sickening feeling, you know? Because I know when I come back is - probably not even be worth fixing because the house is almost 100 years old.
SPELLMAN: And, T.J., it's going to be a long way for people like Stewart Collum that's going to get back into their homes.
We've learned from the National Weather Service today that they're estimating that the water will stay essentially at this level through Thursday and above record flood levels for at least another week. A real long term disaster for the people here and the authorities are trying to deal with this terrible flood - T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: To our Jim Spellman there. The Souris River that runs right through the center of Minot expected to crest maybe sometime today. The mayor of the city is calling that great news. Well, why? Well, he says because the river is expected to crest several inches short of what was originally feared. So maybe they take the good news where they can get it.
Let me bring in Reynolds Wolf now for some perspective. Good morning to you. We talk about several inches below what was expected -
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes.
HOLMES: -- but it was still expected to be several feet above the flood stage. So help us put this in perspective.
WOLF: Well, to someone who's casually listening, you're hearing is they're saying, oh, my gosh, what difference does it make?
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: It can make a tremendous difference.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: It really and truly can. But the thing is on the face, well, it sounds wonderful. But the problem is, there's no proof of this as of yet. But through nearly eight years of experience of doing weather I can tell you that what this normally means is that farther upstream you've had a levee failure at some point, which keeps that bubble of water that flows to the end of the Souris River from being quite as high.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: So you had spillover in other places.
HOLMES: Somewhere, yes.
WOLF: So, unfortunately, at the same time you go, you're pointing at the other side of the coin, had levees been stronger upstream, really strong which would prevent the overflow or the structure failures of the levees, you might have a higher crest going through town. So to the detriment of others, some people are going to benefit. So there you go.
HOLMES: OK. Wow. Thank you.
WOLF: It's a sad perspective. But I was just going to say it's going to be great for everyone, but unfortunately that's not the case.
One thing it is going to be great for people in Minot is that they are getting a little bit of break in the action in terms of the rainfall. As we zoom in with our radar, you're going to see Minot right there, rain-free for the time being. However, we still have the chance of seeing some of this precipitation roll a bit more to the east. And when it does, more cloud cover into Minot. With that possibly some scattered showers, heavier rain is falling a bit farther to the south. We'll get to that in a moment.
Let's talk more specifically about the river in Minot. The latest we have in terms of the cresting, again, crested overnight. You can see where we happen to be right now. The blue line indicates the level going right through Minot, against just the level at the rim (ph), 1,561.8 (ph) that's above sea level. And as we get into Monday, Tuesday, and then Wednesday, a slow, slow recede back. Still above major stage. Flood stage when we get into Friday.
I mean, it gives you the idea of just how massive the flooding is. That's ridiculous. Take a look at that. One thousand five hundred fifty-five feet above sea level and that is still - still as we get into next Friday. So, again, the flooding stories are not going to go away anytime soon.
Back to the rainfall. Again, the heaviest amount falling well to the south of Minot. We pull a bit more to the east. We're seeing here some of it develops over towards Fargo, also to parts of Nebraska and into South Dakota. The heaviest rainfall as we speak that was falling back towards parts of the Midwest into the Ohio Valley. South of Evansville, you can see the rain is moving through.
Also, notice the shape that you have of these storms rolling through. That indicates a great deal of wind coming in from the west, moving toward the south and the southeast. And back towards St. Louis you'll have some heavy thunderstorms this morning. Now you're going to have a little bit of a break, but still some heavy rain this morning there. And in Madisonville, southward to Portland, you can expect a little bit of flash flooding in poor drainage areas. Meanwhile, towards parts of the desert southwest still dry. A little breezy, though. One thing that's good, though, is they did get a little bit more of a handle on the fires yesterday. Winds did not really materialize too strong into the afternoon, which is great. So they believe that as we get into - let's say Wednesday, one out of the three major fires in the State of Arizona may be contained by Wednesday. That is the hope if weather conditions cooperate. Today may be a little better, still very warm, still very dry, but at least the winds not quite as strong.
Again, we talk about the stormy conditions in parts of the Central Plains into the Midwest. Rain possible for the northeast. Hazy, hot and humid for parts of the Southeast. We've got that humidity. The heat, though, will also be back in full force, going up to 94 in Atlanta; 89 in Tampa; 74 in Boston; 79 in Minneapolis; 83 in Salt Lake City and 77 in Portland; 71 in Los Angeles.
T.J., you're up to speed, my friend. Let's pitch it back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, good stuff, buddy. Thank you this morning
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: We'll check in, of course, with Reynolds as always plenty of times throughout this morning.
I want to update you now on a story we were telling you about here yesterday. It's a tragic update. We now know that six people died after a tractor-trailer slammed into a moving Amtrak Train near Reno, Nevada. I want you to get a look here at some cell phone video that was taken just after the accident. Look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). She's out there. Tell her to hang and jump. Tell her to hang and jump. There's somebody over there. Why don't she -
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Move out. Get out of this car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, some of the passengers as you were kind of hearing and you're seeing here had to jump from the burning train. Investigators say they haven't found all those who were supposed to be on the train. The truck tried to stop but ended up skidding 300 feet into the train. The driver of that tractor-trailer died in the crash.
Also, James "Whitey" Bulger, he's due back in Boston Court this week to answer a host of charges stemming from his days as an alleged mob boss south of Boston. Right now, he's at the maximum security Plymouth County Correctional Facility. It's the same place that held shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Bulger was caught last week in Southern California after 16 years on the run.
And the murder trial of Casey Anthony expected to get back underway tomorrow. The judge called an unexpected recess yesterday. He met with attorneys for nearly an hour away from the jury, then came back into the courtroom and abruptly sent everybody home for the day. A judge would say only that a legal issue prompted the recess.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE BELVIN PERRY, ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: As both sides concurred that a legal issue has arisen unrelated to the issue that we talked about, first thing is morning dealing with Dr. Furton that would necessitate us recessing for today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Six million dollars worth of bonuses being paid to Congressional staffers. The First Quarter Congressional Expense Reports came out this week and we've been going through these numbers and the bonuses range from just a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE ELLIS, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE: I think that lawmakers have to be very judicious about how they use the bonuses and they can't just be writing checks willy-nilly. That's not to say that staff shouldn't be compensated for the work they do, hard work like long hours.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But when it's in the millions of dollars.
ELLIS: Then you have to be questioning is this a good use of the - of the taxpayers' money?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, some will tell you that bonuses are necessary because staffers don't make much money to begin with. Here are some of the average salaries, though. The Chief of Staff averages just over $136,000, Press Secretary around 64,000, a staff assistant, though, makes around 31,000. But the starting salary for some staff assistants is under $10,000.
Much more on these bonuses in our 8:00 hour.
President Obama is getting in the middle now of these deficit negotiations. He is holding separate White House meetings tomorrow with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the Republican Senate Leader, Mitch McConnell. Talks between the two parties on raising the debt ceiling broke down last week. Republicans balked at the idea of eliminating some tax breaks.
Well, we are ready now for the fourth round of Wimbledon. Serena Williams did move on. She's into the fourth round, but she's upset, not because of how she played, but because of where she was forced to play. Sports minute after the break.
Stay with us on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning, Atlanta. Just across from our CNN World Headquarters, you just have to take a look to (ph) a live picture of downtown Atlanta. A beautiful shot this morning. Hello to you, Atlanta. Hello to you all on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING with 13 minutes past the hour.
Give you a look at some of the major stories in sports this weekend. Are you keeping up with Wimbledon? Well, the top-seeded man Rafael Nadal, he is advancing, now going on to the fourth round. Also the favorites on the men's side are advancing. He won in straight sets yesterday. He's going for his third Wimbledon title.
On the women's side, Serena Williams also won in straight sets playing on Court One. She is a multiple Wimbledon champion. She didn't get a chance to play on the prestigious Center Court. Earlier, she had complained about some of her court assignments. She had been relegated to Court Two, just like her sister, Venus, as well who has won several Wimbledon champion. Didn't think that was fair. She did get to go to Court One, but she argued that on the men's side at least a lot of the top men and also certainly some of the former Wimbledon champions never were relegated to some of those other courts.
Move to soccer. Did you keep up with this yesterday? Maybe you don't watch a lot of soccer, but yesterday was a big one. A big grudge match between the USA and Mexico in the Gold Cup. Well, in the final yesterday, the U.S. jumped out to a two - a two-goal lead then blew it. Lost four to two to Mexico, losing out on the Gold Cup. Mexico winning its second consecutive. Now, meanwhile this was held out in California, Southern California and people will tell you that the Americans were outnumbered in the crowd. More people cheering for the Mexican side.
But look at this here. This is a 19-year-old amateur, could win at all at the Travelers Championship in Connecticut. This is Patrick Cantlay. He leads the field. He became the first amateur golfer to card 60 on the PGA Tour, but says he's not thinking about turning pro just yet. But the amateur making some noise on the PGA right now.
But, we, speaking of sports, our hearts are heavy this weekend at CNN because we just lost one of our originals here. Nick Charles, he was the face of CNN Sports for almost two decades. He died Saturday of complications from bladder cancer. This is someone that a lot of folks around here will tell you literally is responsible for helping to put CNN on the map.
Our Sanjay Gupta profiled him just a couple of week ago - a couple of weeks ago on his show, "SG, M.D." Sanjay is going to be joining me here in a little while as well, coming up next hour. He's going to be sitting down and talking about Nick Charles' battle with cancer and his huge contribution to the World of Sports and also to CNN. So you want to stick around for that.
Now, quarter past the hour now. It is the only known surviving authentic photo of the infamous gunslinger Billy the Kid. Well, someone just bought it and it was sold for a lot more than a lot of people were expecting.
Also, a newspaper in Tucson is looking for a marijuana connoisseur. If you have the credentials for this job, you should be embarrassed.
Sixteen minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Nineteen minutes past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
You have heard of food critics. There are wine critics out there. Might as well throw in weed critics now. A newspaper in Tucson has put out an ad, yes, looking for a weed critic.
Sergio Avila from our affiliate KGUN with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SERGIO AVILA, KGUN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You can spot the ad running in the "Tucson Weekly," wanted, medical marijuana critic. As chill as that may sound, "Tucson Weekly" editor Jimmy Boegle tells "9 On Your Side" that writer will be providing an important service.
JIMMY BOEGLE, EDITOR, TUCSON WEEKLY: A lot of sick people are going to be using medical marijuana and they are going to know things like how is it to park, how - how good is the stuff that they're selling in terms of helping them with their symptoms, whether the prices, what kind of things are offered.
AVILA: Adorned in my unrelated green shirt and tie, we decided to look for candidates at a job center. Lawuan Johnson has been looking for work for seven months.
AVILA (on camera): Do you have a good grasp on this - on this topic here?
LAWUAN JOHNSON, MARIJUANA JOB APPLICANT: Sure. I think I would. I think by my perspective, because I know a lot of people are still indulging in smoking marijuana.
AVILA (voice-over): But not anyone can apply. You have to be a registered medical marijuana patient with a clean driving record and not working in the medical marijuana field.
BOEGLE: The ad makes it very clear we want someone who's going to be serious about this.
AVILA: Shockingly or not, Boegle admits the medical marijuana critic applicants are lagging. Only two people have applied. Cesar Lopez told us he wouldn't apply but wanted the info for a friend.
CESAR LOPEZ, APPLICANT: I'm not interested in a - in a job with the "Tucson Weekly" medical marijuana, although - as a medical marijuana critic. Although I'd like to work with the "Tucson Weekly." Maybe that's a way to start.
AVILA (on camera): There you go. Get your foot in the door.
AVILA (voice-over): Johnson's hoping his time on KGUN9 helps sway the "Weekly's" decision.
JOHNSON: Especially with this, this is an opportunity to put my face out there to see if I can become a medical marijuana analysis or sampler or whatever, you know?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: OK. We got wine critics. We got food critics. Then maybe this is the next step. There are 16 legal medical marijuana states plus D.C. right now.
But, I don't know, Reynolds, is this the way we're going? And people kind of make light of this, but, really, some of these dispensaries, they do take this very seriously and we have heard of things like this already where they do have people who sample the marijuana.
WOLF: Well, I can tell you right now that when I was back in college, most of the guys in my dormitory would basically be perfect for that job. Seriously, I mean, it was to the point where smoky bear could actually driven by, you know, our dormitory, looked up and see the smoke and said, what's going on up in that building, that kind of thing.
So, unfortunately, I mean, there are probably a lot of people who would be well suited for that job.
HOLMES: Qualified. Qualified.
Now, some states as we know are considering taxing it as well. California was one of them. Some are saying it could bring in billions of dollars in revenue. We shall see.
Something else is here, Reynolds. I don't know if a lot people - it's weird to say you're a fan of Billy the Kid. But Billy the Kid is someone that everybody is familiar with. A lot of people will tell you, hey, how can you be a fan of this guy? He was a murderer. Literally, he killed - he killed law enforcement officers. But, still, the fascination is there.
And now in Denver, a photo, the one you're seeing here of Billy the Kid, sold at auction for $2.3 million.
WOLF: Unbelievable.
HOLMES: The winning bidder was billionaire William Koch. Now, Billy the Kid reportedly paid 25 cents to have this photo taken himself. And, Reynolds, the reason this was a - this one is a big deal, it's supposedly the only known authentic photo of Billy the Kid that's out there.
WOLF: Is it any surprise (INAUDIBLE) when you look at that picture, I mean, that's a slice of Americana. I mean, Billy the Kid died, but he was young, shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett in Arizona. The thing that's amazing about him, though, is he is kind of like an iconic symbol. Like a Bonnie and a Clyde kind of thing.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: I mean he really truly is, but an amazing picture of him. No question.
HOLMES: All right.
We'll turn to Virginia now. A soldier - these are always cool. A soldier home on leave from Afghanistan gave his son a big surprise. Check this out. Sixteen-year-old Trevor Hendrick (ph) was enjoying some music yesterday at Virginia Beach, his dad just showed up right on cue. The band was in on the surprise. But these are always cool where the guys come home and they jump out of sometimes presents and surprise their kids at school and so on and so forth.
WOLF: I know.
HOLMES: But these never ever get old.
And one more thing for you, Reynolds, and for our viewers and a lot of people, it's hard to look at sometimes.
WOLF: (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: Look at this, folks. This is out in California. This is a Chinese crested Chihuahua mix that walked away with the title of World's Ugliest Dog. We're going to get another shot of it here in a second. The dog's name is "Yoda." Is that it? Oh.
WOLF: How can you refer to it as it?
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: Really? Because, you know, it's funny. There are things in life that sometimes people breed on purpose, like, say, for example, the Arabian horse. You have got different strains you put together to make a better animal. When you have something like this, you wonder, why do you want that to replicate it? Why do you want that to continue? Yoda.
HOLMES: The owner - owner said they first thought Yoda was a rat when they first -
WOLF: You can see how that could happen and you see it could happen (ph).
HOLMES: All right.
WOLF: Somehow that ties into medical marijuana, too. Hey, T.J., it was - let's just leave it right there. Set it up on the "T" for you.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, thanks, buddy. We'll be checking in with Reynolds on all things weather related here in just a bit. Thank you, buddy.
We're 24 minutes past the hour.
Some other video to show you. Look at this. Three thousand students in Chile, what are they doing? Yes. They did a little Michael Jackson impersonation. This is a flash mob, but they're no just doing this for the fun of it. This is actually a protest. We'll explain it in just a second on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We're coming up on the bottom of the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Welcome back, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.
And take a look at this. We are getting out of Santiago, Chile. Another choreographed tribute to Michael Jackson. As you know, Saturday was the second anniversary of his death. Now, this was a flash mob in Chile. They weren't just doing this for the fun of it to pay tribute. They're actually doing a protest here.
These are students who say they are dancing for a better education, trying to get the attention of their government. They want that government, the Chilean government to pay for that better education.
But also on the Michael Jackson note here. You know that jacket well, don't you? The classic red and black jacket that he wore in the music video for "Thriller"? This is the original jacket. Well, that jacket can be yours. It is going to be auctioned online today. Get your scraps together, check maybe in the cushions of that couch. Pull up some extra change and if you come up with somewhere between $200,000 and $400,000 in loose change, it can be yours, because that's what it's expected to go for.
And two years after Michael Jackson's death from a drug overdose, his father hasn't been able to move past the grief over how his son died and who, if anyone, is to blame. He spoke last night with CNN's Don Lemon about what he calls a conspiracy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know you said that you believe that, I guess some people conspired to kill him, is that correct?
JOE JACKSON, MICHAEL JACKSON'S FATHER: Michael told his mother and he told his manager, Dieter Wiesner, who's writing a book now, "The Truth About Michael Jackson." He told them they were going to kill him for his publishing. He told his mother that and he told Dieter Weisner that, but he never did tell me. I didn't know that until after he was dead.
LEMON: Do you know who those people are, who wanted to kill him for his publishing?
JACKSON: We got a great idea of who they are and there's a lot of other people know who they are as well.
LEMON: You wouldn't say, though?
JACKSON: Don, I didn't say that. I'm - I'm not saying, calling names right now, but -
LEMON: OK.
JACKSON: -- you'll know in the book -
LEMON: OK.
JACKSON: -- that's coming out.
LEMON: Are you writing a book?
JACKSON: No. Dieter Wiesner wrote a book, as was Michael's manager. He's the one that fired John Branca.
LEMON: OK. I got it. I thought you were talking about a book that has already been out. So you're talking about a book -
JACKSON: No, no. The one that the whole world should know about. That book.
LEMON: OK.
JACKSON: The truth. The truth.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, Michael Jackson's personal physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. His trial scheduled to begin in September.
Giving you a look now at some of the other stories that we're keeping a close eye on this hour. Michele Bachmann going to make a big announcement tomorrow. Could you imagine what it is? Yes, she is going to say she's officially launching her campaign for president even though you've noticed, in some of our coverage, she's already running.
The new poll of Iowa Republicans show she is virtually tied with the presumed frontrunner, Mitt Romney. Today, she's scheduled to hold a meet and greet with voters in Waterloo, Iowa, and that is where she'll make the announcement on Monday.
And so the defense attorney in the Casey Anthony trial in Florida says he expects proceedings to resume tomorrow. Saturday (ph) was supposed to be the beginning of a long day of testimony. The defense is trying to prove two-year-old Caylee Anthony was not murdered but instead accidentally drowned in the family pool.
But the judge suddenly ordered a recess yesterday over what he called a legal issue that came up. He didn't exactly say what it was. He said it had nothing to do with the testimony of a chemistry expert the defense had planned to question.
And the Souris River is beginning to crest in Minot, North Dakota, expected to rise 12 feet above flood stage but stay several inches below what they thought they'd get. It should start to slowly fall starting tonight, maybe.
This is yesterday in Minot, about 3,000 homes underwater. More than a third of the city evacuated. People who stayed behind have been told to boil their tap water for at least a minute before using it.
We'll have more on those floods just ahead. Our Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on all things flood related, all things weather related this morning. Hello again to you, sir.
WOLF: Hey there, T.J. We're going to give you the very latest on what's happening over in parts of the Dakotas in terms of the flooding.
But, at the same time, we're going to show you some of the - the bizarre weather around some of the nation. We've got strong storms to deal with, heat in many places, even some snow in the Sierra Nevada that people are still hitting the slopes, doing their skiing. We've got to get that summer time skiing in, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Well, always appreciate you, buddy. We'll see you again in just a second.
Also, I want you to stick around and see something that's just downright cute. A couple of kids looking to make a phone call, they're looking around for somebody to let them borrow a phone, and who do they find? The president of the United States, and he lets them make a call. Wonder if it was a local one?
Quick break. We're right back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It says call (ph) a message - have a message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds working hard this morning, a lot going on, a lot of attention has been paid, and rightly so, to North Dakota.
WOLF: Yes. Absolutely. You know, we got some good news and bad news. Obviously, a devastating (INAUDIBLE), but now we're not expecting the cresting to be quite as high as we originally expected. HOLMES: OK, good and bad you were explaining.
WOLF: Good and bad. Good for obviously the people who happen to be in Minot, but farther upstream, what likely happened is that you had some issues in terms of some of the levies, a little bit of a structural failure. Some people were possibly had the worst flooding to the benefit of others.
Yes, I know. Two sides of the coin. What can you (ph) possibly do?
But we're going to show you what's happening. Again, if we take a look at this chart, it appears pretty easy to see what you have. This line that happens to be in blue, it indicates your level. You see the steady increase, especially as we get into Friday and into Saturday. It kind of levels out today.
Now, we're expecting to stay pretty - basically the same, around 15, 61 (ph) - 1,561.8 feet. You have that 0.8 in there. That's going to level out. That's above sea level as we get into Sunday, and then into early Monday we're going to see a slow, slow drop.
But if you take a look at this line, right here, that's - shows you a major flood stage, 1,555 feet. So they're going to be above major flood stage even into next Friday. So even though we're expecting a little bit of a drop, it actually wouldn't going to be one of those issues where people are going to be able to move right back in. It's going to be a long, long process, and unfortunately heartbreaking for the people who call that area home.
We do expect a chance of more rainfall in parts of the Dakotas today. It could happen, possibly some strong storms, tornadoes. You can't ever rule it out.
I wouldn't say that it's not likely for a major tornadic event, but you could see some storms develop. We've already had some into parts of, say, places like St. Louis this morning, back into portions of the Ohio Valley also. And then out to the west we have something else altogether different.
Even though that the conditions in place like California have been awfully nice, something weird has been happening up in parts of the high Sierra Nevada - skiing. Yes, I know that it is summer, but just take a look at this video, people getting out there. Kind of slushy, but still, skiing is skiing, up on Mammoth Mountain, not far from the L.A. basin, a short drive up there.
What an incredible thing you're going to see up there in parts of the California mountains. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing, people getting up there, making the most of it. A lot of people wearing short sleeves, a few people braving shorts.
It's weird. Crazy times out there. Hopefully you'll get a chance to enjoy it.
What you may not enjoy is going to be the high humidity that many of us are going to be dealing with across much of the southeast. Take a look at these conditions, the conditions that we can expect, from the Carolinas, even up to the nation's capital, back over to places like New Orleans. Hazy, hot and humid, maybe a stray afternoon shower that might cool you off for a bit, but in terms of heavy rainfall, the heaviest of that is going to be up in the Ohio valley and back across parts of the nation's midsection.
Pretty sunny out towards the west. That heat will continue for much of the desert southwest, including spots like El Paso, where highs are going up to 108 in El Paso; 98 in Dallas; 95 in Houston; 91 in Kansas City. Cooler obviously as you head north, 79 the expected high for Minneapolis; 67 in Billings; 81 in New York; 94 in Atlanta; and 91 in Miami. Better chance of rain in Miami as we make our way through the afternoon.
That's your forecast. T.J., back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, appreciate you, as always.
Well, 37 minutes past the hour.
We want to show you something now, and I want you to listen to it as well. But the president of the United States, sitting in his limo, and a couple of kids need to make a call to their mom. Mr. President, do you have a phone we can use?
I want you to listen to this and watch this play out, then I'll explain it more on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Who do you want to call?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm going to call my mom's cell.
OBAMA: See if she picks up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she pick up?
OBAMA: Is it ringing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It just says call (ph) a message - have a message.
OBAMA: Leave a message. Leave a message.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, mom. We're in Mr. President's car, so call me. It's cool. It's really cool.
OBAMA: All right. Bye.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: OK, the mom didn't pick up the phone. He had to leave a message. But what happened here, this was actually at the end of last year. You remember, the president was going around, selling some of his economic policies? He was going and having these backyard meetings?
Well, this was after one of them, and the - the car was out front, the kids were out there, and he just had some fun with the kids. They got to hop into the presidential limo - The Beast, as it's called - hop in, got to make a phone call on the president's phone. Mom even didn't answer the phone.
But, again, this video is just hitting YouTube. We're just seeing it now, even though it took place at the end of last year. Kind of a cute little moment there with the president and a couple of kids.
Now, I imagine the president doesn't have any kind of issues with his phone bill. You might, though. Go grab it right now while we take this quick break, because up next we're going to look at this thing together.
We're going figure out if you are one of the estimated tens of millions out there that the federal government says is being hit with unauthorized charges. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You might be one of the estimated 20 million people being wrongly charged hundreds and hundreds of dollars possibly by your phone company. But, right now, you can stop it from happening. How? Look at your phone bill, folks.
Our financial analyst, Clyde Anderson, joining me now. Clyde, always good to have you here with us.
This is something that the Federal Communications Commission calls cramming.
CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL ANALYST: Yes.
HOLMES: Explain what that term means (INAUDIBLE).
ANDERSON: Cramming is just really as simple as having unauthorized charges show up on your phone bill. That's it.
HOLMES: That's it?
ANDERSON: That's it.
HOLMES: All right, now - and it's key here that we are talking about land lines only.
ANDERSON: Yes, we're talking about land lines only, but it has popped up in some cellular cases as well. Wireless providers have gone and actually settled some lawsuits where they were doing this in the past. HOLMES: OK, what is this stuff? And I told people to pull out their phone bills.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HOLMES: So what are we even looking for? Sometimes we see stuff and go, I assume that's supposed to be there.
ANDERSON: And that's what happens to most people. They see these charges and they look official - usage charge, monthly service fee.
HOLMES: Well, usage charge, that's legit, right?
ANDERSON: No, no, no. I mean, because your phone company, what happened is - it happened when actually the FCC required people to start separating, the phone companies, to separate these bills.
HOLMES: OK.
ANDERSON: In the past they didn't have to do this, and now you see these charges that are bogus charges, for the most part. Calling plans, monthly fee, other fees. You know, a lot of times we'll see another fee and don't pay attention to something that says other fee. But just take it as - as what it is -
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: USBI? What is that?
ANDERSON: They look official, right? And you think that -
HOLMES: That was -
ANDERSON: Universal service. It's just really just these letters that they're putting in there, and these third-party companies are charging you and we're paying them because we don't want to take the time to call the company.
HOLMES: OK, now, you call the company and they say, oh yes. That's your - that's your service fee. Of course that's in there.
ANDERSON: No -
HOLMES: How can you argue that?
ANDERSON: Well, if that's a service - you know, a lot of times they're going to tell you it's a third party charge, and that's what they have to do. And if you feel - feel that it's a bogus charge, that's when you contact the FCC, because you're going to contact them first, and a lot of times they're going to let you know if this is a third party vendor or not, or if this is a charge that's coming directly from us as your provider.
HOLMES: OK, they know what they're doing? Now, some of these can, you know, accidentally charge you. Oh, that's what it's supposed to really be on your bill. Are they making a conscious effort to get at us?
ANDERSON: Well, some of them are legitimate charges, and what they're doing a lot of times, and when you set up these -
HOLMES: No, this cramming thing. This cramming. Are they legitimately and consciously doing this?
ANDERSON: Well now, some of them, yes, they're definitely - they're targeting you. I mean, you think about it, it's a big business. You're talking about 20 million people being affected by this, and so you're talking about charges that range from $1 to $19.95. You're talking about a $100 million plus business that these people are making huge amounts of money.
HOLMES: Now, are we just talking - I saw some - I think four companies had been fined, but they were smaller companies, I think, out of Pennsylvania or somewhere.
ANDERSON: Yes.
HOLMES: But are the big dogs doing this as well, the larger companies?
ANDERSON: Yes. I think we're going to see - you know, the FCC is working on something. They really work with transparency. They're not really rolling out the details yet, but it really wants more disclosure and transparency to come out, so in July we'll kind of see what they're talking about and what are the companies they're going to target. But, so far, it's been $11 million in fines handed down for this type of thing.
HOLMES: And we, you know - and we have some seen examples. Now, a fee might end up being a couple bucks here, a couple bucks there, but there have been some cases where people are going years not seeing this and you're costing yourself -
ANDERSON: Years and years.
HOLMES: -- hundreds and hundreds of dollars.
ANDERSON: Exactly. And also, when you set up the phone charges - so when you set up your phone account, a lot of times you have charges on there that you're not using the services. The phone company is not going to call you and say you're not using these services either, so you need to check that as well while you're looking at your bill.
HOLMES: All right, good stuff. I - I was looking for my bill before this segment. I couldn't find my bill, but I'm curious now, because I do - I see a lot of those names, I say, OK. Well, sure. OK.
ANDERSON: And we just pay. And we just pay.
HOLMES: Man, I'm a sucker.
ANDERSON: Yes, we are.
HOLMES: All right.
ANDERSON: A sucker no more.
HOLMES: All right. That's good stuff this morning. We appreciate you, as always.
ANDERSON: My pleasure.
HOLMES: Thanks so much.
Well, keep your hands off your honey - well, at least in public, because that could land you in jail.
We'll tell you where this is happening, why it's happening and who's sitting in a jail cell right now. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, about 48 minutes past the hour. Let us say good morning to Nadia Bilchik with our "Morning Passport." Good morning to you.
We got - got a few people sitting in jail right now in Dubai for just a little too much loving.
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCER: And all foreigners. You have a man from New Zealand, you have a woman from England, and you have another woman from Brazil.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: And the story, T.J. - I have to tell you the story from the beginning.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: In December of last year, you have your New Zealand gentleman in his apartment, with his current girlfriend, who's from England.
HOLMES: OK. So far, so good.
BILCHIK: OK, the Brazilian ex-girlfriend comes to the apartment, knocks on the door, lets herself in, sees the two of them together - the New Zealander and the British girlfriend.
HOLMES: That's a problem.
BILCHIK: Gets very upset, gets very jealous, goes into a jealous tirade.
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: Then, the - the man from New Zealand calls the authorities, because he's very concerned. She's slashing pillows and throwing things.
At this point, the girlfriend, the British girlfriend, is in the closet.
HOLMES: OK, hiding?
BILCHIK: Hiding.
HOLMES: All right.
BILCHIK: The authorities arrive. They then find all three of them, and then arrests all three of them. That's in December.
HOLMES: What, for disturbing the peace?
BILCHIK: No. For being together, not being married, because in Dubai, you are not allowed to have illicit relations. Outside of marriage, you cannot be together. You cannot even rent a hotel room together.
HOLMES: So they're not even supposed to be in the room together?
BILCHIK: They are not supposed to be together -
HOLMES: And these - and these are the characters here.
BILCHIK: -- and they're certainly not - yes.
So you're seeing the lady in the shorts, it's the Brazilian model.
HOLMES: Yes.
BILCHIK: In the middle, you have Toby, who is our banker from New Zealand; and then you have Danielle, who is the British current girlfriend.
HOLMES: OK.
BILCHIK: So they get arrested in December. They do spend some time in a kind of communal detention center. The two women become great friends.
But why this is relevant is that this week they were sentenced. So Toby, the banker, the New Zealander, gets two months because he's got two girlfriends, well, a current and an ex. And each of the women get a month.
HOLMES: Now, is this just - I mean, what about if you're just walking down the street, holding hands, a peck on the cheek?
BILCHIK: You could walk down the street. You could only hold hands if you are married.
HOLMES: Only married.
BILCHIK: It's called the morality laws of Dubai, the - in the United Arab Emirates.
Now, I don't know if you remember "Sex and the City."
HOLMES: I remember that.
BILCHIK: "Sex and the City 2" was actually supposedly going to be set in Dubai, then Dubai said no, so they said it's going to be in Abu Dhabi. Well, finally it was shot in Morocco. In fact, they said we are in Abu Dhabi.
And there's that scene where Samantha - Kim Cattrall's character - is on the beach or with her boyfriend over there. Take a look at those two, because they are clearly not married. There's so much passion between the two of them.
And then you'll notice the couple - remember, he puts his hand over his wife's eyes? Because you cannot see a couple who are not married even walking together.
HOLMES: Now, will they come up, will they question you on the street?
BILCHIK: Absolutely. They'll question you.
In 2008, they arrested a couple on the beach who were not married. The couple then went and quickly got married.
HOLMES: Did they stay married?
BILCHIK: Not for very long.
But the point is that the British Embassy has actually, in Dubai, set out a public service announcement saying please be very careful.
HOLMES: They need to be aware. Yes.
BILCHIK: This is a country that have a very strict morality code and you need to adhere to it.
HOLMES: Well, that's good information for a lot - a lot of folks. That's still a destination for a lot of people. Dubai, a lot of people go there to have a good time, so you need to know this.
Nadia Bilchik, interesting "Morning Passport."
When do they get out of jail, by the way, the -
BILCHIK: They'll - a month. Toby will, in a month. And one of the girlfriends actually have been - we've been in touch with over Facebook and she says we can talk to her as soon as she's out of prison.
HOLMES: All right.
BILCHIK: So it's supposed to be interesting.
HOLMES: Looking forward to that.
Nadia Bilchik, a good one this morning. Thank you so much.
We're about eight minutes to the top of the hour now.
There's a special committee for the African Union planning to meet today in South Africa. They're looking for a peaceful solution to the ongoing war in Libya. That's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Now, we're getting close to the top of the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
NATO's bombing mission drawing criticism from the Libyan government. The regime insists civilians are being killed.
The latest claim from the Libyan government says NATO warplanes bombed a bakery and a restaurant in a key oil refinery town east of Tripoli. NATO says there's no indication this happened.
NATO started bombing military targets in March after the U.N. Security Council issued a resolution authorizing force to protect protesters.
Libya is a member state of African Union. A special committee from the African Union is meeting today in South Africa. They'll try for a second time to negotiation a peace plan.
CNN's Nkepile Mabuse is standing by with the latest from there.
This is another effort here, so what are the real chances that there could be some movement or some kind of success here?
NKEPILE MABUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., the problem with the African Union is they've been meeting many times, as - as you've said. They've even gone to Tripoli and met with Moammar Gadhafi, and the president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, also went on his own to speak to Moammar Gadhafi.
The problem is they keep on coming up with the same unimplementable solutions over and over again. They sent a cessation (ph) of hostilities, this despite the fact that neither NATO nor Moammar Gadhafi himself have ever shown any sign of ceasing - of wanting to cease fire.
They also say that they want the rebels to talk with Moammar Gadhafi. Well, the rebels said that they don't want talks between themselves and Moammar Gadhafi. They want Gadhafi to step down.
So the A.U. has been unable to come up with what I would say a Plan B to all these obstacles, and I really, really hoped, they'd prove me wrong today, but I don't expect anything new to come out of the discussions today.
HOLMES: Well, that's unfortunate to hear but, at the same time, they keep coming up with solutions that can't be implemented. But do they have much of a stance, have they hinted at all about how they feel, whether publicly or behind the scenes? Do they want him to stay? Do they want him to go?
MABUSE: Well, they haven't said whether they want him to stay or whether they want him to go categorically. But what - for them, the mere fact that they're pushing for him to talk to the rebels mean that they feel that they want him to stay in order for some kind of transitional authority to be formed that would lead to elections.
That is the thinking here on the African continent. But, as I said, they spoke to Moammar Gadhafi many, many times and, in fact, when they were in Tripoli in April, the president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, came out, saying to the world press that Moammar Gadhafi had committed to a cease fire. Well, guess what? The war continues. Well, they have failed - the African Union - to force him or convince him to cease fire in Libya.
So, as I said, I really, really hope that they prove me wrong, but I'm not expecting them to change tact from, you know, what we've been hearing over and over again - T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Well, if they can help in some way, that would be great to hear. And, into this conflict, people continue to die in this conflict.
Nkepile Mabuse, we appreciate you this morning, live for us in South Africa.
And to our viewers here, we're coming up on the top of the hour. Let's reset for you on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Four thousand homes underwater in Minot, North Dakota, but the mayor says, despite the hardships, there is some great news. We will explain what he says the great news is.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING for June the 26th. I'm T.J. Holmes. Thank you so much for being here.
I want to get you caught up on some political news that is maybe getting some people's attention this morning. Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann running neck and neck in Iowa. That is according to a new poll there.
Look at this. This is the first poll from the Des Moines Register newspaper on the Republican candidate, and look at that. Romney, who was the presumed frontrunner, he is leading with 23 percent. But Michele Bachmann, the U.S. congresswoman with the Tea Party backing that a lot of people maybe didn't know a whole lot about, she has clearly gotten a lot of attention, and right now is close behind, with 22 percent.
Iowa, as you know, the first caucus state in the presidential election calendar. Now, Bachmann in Iowa and Sarah Palin, well that's all topping our look at the political week ahead. Here now, CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, good morning, T.J.
Michele Bachmann makes it official tomorrow. The congresswoman from Minnesota formally announces her candidacy for president in neighboring Iowa. That's the state that kicks off the presidential caucus and primary calendar.
You know, Bachmann, who's a favorite of many Tea Party supporters, is launching her White House bid in Waterloo, Iowa, that's the town where she was born. But the announcement is no surprise. She spilled the beans nearly two weeks ago at our presidential debate in New Hampshire.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), MINNESOTA: I just want to make an announcement here for you, John, on CNN tonight. I filed today my paperwork to seek the office of the presidency of the United States today. And I'll very soon be making my formal announcement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: The next day, a very positive movie about Sarah Palin premieres in Iowa. The film was made by a conservative filmmaker and it highlights Palin's years as Alaska governor and her entrance on to the national political spotlight as John McCain's running mate in the last presidential election.
Palin, of course, she's considering a run for the White House. And guess who's on Iowa on that very same day? Yes. President Barack Obama. He's got an economic event in a state that gave him his first victory in 2008 and his path to the White House.
Iowa was and will be again a crucial battleground state.
Behind the scenes, all of the presidential candidates concentrate on raising campaign cash with the end of the second quarter fundraising coming to a close at the end of the week. By Friday, we could learn how much money some of the campaigns have in their war chest -- T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Thanks as always to our Paul Steinhauser.
And the president is getting in the middle of the deficit negotiations this week. He's holding separate White House meetings tomorrow with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell. Talks between the two parties on raising the debt ceiling broke down last week. Republicans balked at the idea of eliminating some tax breaks. The murder trial of Casey Anthony is expected to get back underway tomorrow. The judge called an unexpected recess yesterday. He met with attorneys for about an hour, away from the jury, then abruptly came back into the courtroom and sent everybody home. The judge wouldn't say exactly what the problem was. But he said that there was a legal issue that prompted the recess.
James "Whitey" Bulger due back in a Boston courtroom this week to answer a host of charges stemming from his days as an alleged mob boss in South Boston. Right now, he's in the maximum security Plymouth County correctional facility. It's the same place that held shoe bomber Richard Reid. Bulger was caught last week in southern California after 16 years on the run.
And a sad update now to a story we were telling you about here yesterday. The death toll has gone up in that train accident out in California. We now know that six people died after a tractor-trailer slammed into a moving Amtrak train near Reno.
Take a look at this cell phone video that was taken right after the accident.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's out there. Tell her to hang and jump. Tell her to hang and jump. There's somebody over there. Why did she --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) get out of this car.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. You hear some of the chaos there. You heard someone telling someone to jump. Apparently, that's exactly what some of the passengers had to do, jump from the burning train to save themselves. Investigators say they have not found all of the people who were supposed to be on that train.
Now, the tractor-trailer, it tried to stop but ended up skidding 300 feet into the train. The driver of that tractor-trailer died in the crash.
Well, Southwest Airlines, one of their pilots, back in the skies two months after criticizing his crew members and others on an open microphone. His tirade went out to air traffic controllers, also went out to other pilots who were in the area.
Have you heard this stuff yet?
CNN's Jeanne Meserve with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The pilot's tirade about flight attendants is peppered with obscenities, insults and slurs against homosexuals and women. PILOT: Eleven (EXPLETIVE DELETED) over the top (EXPLETIVE DELETED) homosexuals and a granny. Eleven. I mean, think of the odds of that. I thought I was in Chicago, which was Party land. After that, it was just a continuous stream of gays and grannies and grandes.
MESERVE: "Grande" is an apparent reference to overweight people.
PILOT: I don't give a (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I hate -- I hate 100 percent of their asses.
MESERVE: The pilot talks about exploits with some of them.
PILOT: So six months I went to the bars three times. In six months, three times. Once with a granny and the (EXPLETIVE DELETED), and I wish I hadn't gone. At the very end, with two girls, one of 'em that was probably doable --
MESERVE: An air traffic controller tries to stop the pilot.
CONTROLLER: Whoever's transmitting better watch what you're saying now.
MESERVE: But the rant goes on.
PILOT: I just wouldn't anyone to know if I had (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I mean, it's all these (EXPLETIVE DELETED) old dudes and grannies, and there's like maybe a handful of cute chicks.
CONTROLLER: OK. Someone has got a stuck mike and telling us all about their endeavors. We don't need to hear that.
MESERVE: Finally, the transmission ends. Pilots on other planes chime in to quickly to say, it wasn't me. One adds some commentary.
SKY WEST PILOT: And they wonder why airline pilots have a bad reputation.
MESERVE: The Federal Aviation Administration says it expects a higher level of professionalism from flight crews.
Southwest put out a video press release.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What he said is offensive and inconsistent with the professional behavior and overall respect we require from all employees.
MESERVE (on camera): The pilot was reprimand, suspended without pay and underwent diversity education. He's now back on the job. The pilot has apologized, Southwest says, to controllers, his bosses, pilots and, of course, flight attendants.
But the flight attendants union is not happy. It says Southwest's response to the incident has added insult to injury and it is considering filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, First Lady Michelle Obama with her daughters Sasha and Malia wrapping up a visit to South Africa and Botswana. Coming up, we will get an inside of the first lady's meeting with Nelson Mandela.
Also, at six minutes past the hour, let's say good morning to our friends, Reynolds Wolf.
Hello there, sir.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey. Good morning, T.J.
And what a weather forecast we have for you today. It's going to include flooding, fires and snow skiing during the summer. Go figure. That's straight ahead. We'll see you in a little bit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Ten minutes past the hour on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Michelle Obama and her daughters return to Washington tomorrow after a week-long trip to South Africa and Botswana. One of the highlights was the first lady's meeting with Nelson Mandela as you see in this picture. Her daughters were there for that meeting as well.
Later, the first lady reflected on the significance of her meeting with South Africa's first black president who is now 92 years old.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHELLE OBAMA, U.S. FIRST LADY: The one thing I told him, you know, I wanted to make sure he understood how important his leadership and sacrifice has been to who I've become, to who my husband has become. And, in short, I just said thank you. It's really hard to know what to say to such an icon.
My daughters -- watching them meet him was an experience. But I don't think they knew what to say. I don't think they'll really fully understand just what happened to them for years, you know? I think they know, but do they really know?
So, well, it's a memory that they will have forever and treasure, I know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Just commenting about that to Reynolds, thinking these girls, Sasha and Malia, the opportunities they're getting and certainly they're starting to understand it now, but they'll appreciate it later in lives. To be the ages they are, to grow up in the White House and do things like that.
WOLF: You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right.
But, you know, when you're young, I think most kids were in a situation like that, doesn't everyone get to meet Nelson Mandela? But you're right, the older they get, the more they're going to be able to look back and appreciate those moments.
We were talking about this also. Doesn't Nelson Mandela look amazing?
HOLMES: Great, 92.
WOLF: Unbelievable.
HOLMES: Looks great. He's got a secret that I wish he'd let us all in on. But he looks great.
WOLF: Something that does not look great, switching gears here, like the beauty of the hatchet. The issues in terms of the flooding in Minot.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: The forecast, again, it looks a little better in terms of the cresting not going to be quite as high, a few inches lower -- which is great.
HOLMES: But even a few inches, can it make that big of a deal?
WOLF: A little bit. I mean, you know, unfortunately, you have a house that has maybe 9 feet of water ahead as opposed to, you know, maybe nine and two inches. Your house is still messed up. There's no question about it.
I mean, it's going to be too late for many people. But hopefully for people farther downstream, the issues will be better.
But, as we mentioned earlier this morning, because it didn't crust as high in Minot, what that means normally is that farther upstream, there's something happened. You have a levee that was breached, something with the water escaped the banks, went over the levees, so the water level was not quite as high as it went to Minot.
So, what's detrimental for some is beneficial for others. It is really a feast or famine type of thing when it comes to your forecast.
What we have today in terms of your river levels -- again, the latest reading we have is right here shaded in green. It's kind of hard for you to see at home. So, I'm just going to read that for you -- 1,561.8 feet. That sounds awfully high. Well, keep in mind, that is the feet above sea level.
So, plainly speaking, it's about, I'd say, about six feet or so above major flood stage. Certainly, some rough conditions they're going to be dealing with. You'll notice, the water only going to drop just a little bit as you get into Thursday and Friday of next week.
So, still, it's going to be at record stage, massive record flooding in many places for quite some time.
Meanwhile, for the rest of the nation, scattered showers and storms possible for parts of the Northern Plains, back into the Midwest. For the Southeast, what you're going to have is pretty humid conditions. But the issue with this situation is you're going to have a lot of the sea breezes going to be kicking in from both the, at times, low level, right along parts of the Carolinas, also coming in from the Gulf of Mexico at times.
And that combined with your daytime heating is going to give you a chance of storms. It's also spinning around this area of high pressure, in a clockwise formation. You're going to have storms popping up across portions of Texas.
Very quickly, what we can expect high temperatures -- in Atlanta, 94; in New York 81. For Chicago, 76; 93 in Denver; 99 in Albuquerque; 73 in Seattle; and Los Angeles with 68 degrees.
All right. T.J., let's pitch it right back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we're kind of giving you a hard time about this today.
WOLF: What's new?
HOLMES: OK, yes, you're probably right. Reynolds and Tinker Bell. I'll just tee it up like that and let the story kind of tell itself, right?
WOLF: OK. Here's how it goes. OK. There's a new show. It's called "Peter Pan." And it's basically going to change the way we view theater. It's an incredible thing. And it features this 360 degree computer generated set that makes -- actually makes things look like we're flying through the air, especially Peter Pan.
Well, I got to play the part of Peter Pan, I hooked up with Tinker Bell, as we all do. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: This is just amazing.
EMILY YETTER, "TINKER BELL": Yes.
WOLF: That's me flying through what appears to be the streets of London. And with me, Tinkerbelle, well, really, that's Emily Yetter who plays Tinkerbelle in 360 Entertainment's "Peter Pan."
(on camera): How amazing is this, to actually fly for a crowd? What's that like?
YETTER: You know, it's -- it really is an indescribable feeling. It's just like this sort of high feeling of life. It's this feeling where you are feeling the rush of being able to fly. There's all these people watching you and they're sort of sharing it with you.
WOLF (voice-over): That shared experience is one of the goals of the show. Unlike traditional theater, the production travels with their own housing, stage, seating and all inside the massive tent. The ceiling is used for 360 degrees of computer generated graphics, literally immersing the audition within the show.
ROBERT BUTTERS, PETER PAN PRODUCER: You have to have your own environment to really do this. So, this is absolutely the first time it's been done.
WOLF: Stage Manager Gavin Millar takes us underneath the stage to get a look at the 12 projectors they covered the venue ceiling with CGI.
GAVIN MILLAR, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER: Each one does cover part (ph) degrees of the tent. So, that's why it makes (INAUDIBLE).
WOLF: And above the stage, aerial chief Floyd Hues ensures every moment in the air is perfectly choreographed. The flights are operated with this joystick system.
FLOYD HUGHES, AERIAL CHIEF: When you're flying somebody, each operator has a personal relationship with that actor. So, you're almost like one person. It's a symbiotic relationship. You're working together to create a performance.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can fly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, come with me, Wendy.
WOLF: Producer Robert Butters says it may change the way theatre is produced.
BUTTERS: I think the future is going to be something like this, where it becomes immersive. It will always ultimately though be about the performance. It's about what's on stage, because otherwise, it's just a film. So, for us, it really is that combination of cinematography and live performance. So, I'm looking forward to many more productions like this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: And this amazing production is making stops all over the country. Right now, it currently is in Chicago. And it really has changed the way we look at theater, probably many more productions like this.
Something else that's interesting, is when we're hanging up in these wires, the camera really doesn't do this justice. We're about 20 feet off the stage.
HOLMES: Oh, wow.
WOLF: So, yes, it looks like we're maybe three or four -- no, no. Not the case. And I'm a big log, if you've ever seen, I'm a mutant. And how these two tiny wires holding me, the lady next to me probably weighs 80 pounds. I'm pushing 200, OK? So, I'm waiting for this thing to fall, to become one with the stage, you know, a nasty spot on the floor.
But, thankfully, the steel wires were strong enough.
HOLMES: I thought you were going to tell me it was kind of cool, but you said it was a little strange experience.
WOLF: It's creepy. I'm very impressed of the actors.
HOLMES: Appreciate you as always, buddy. Thanks so much.
And we're at 17 minutes past the hour now.
Sanjay Gupta has just walked into the studio this morning. Of course, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." coming up at the bottom of the hour.
But Sanjay is here to have a conversation with me about the story that really touched a lot of you, the story of one of our own, Nick Charles, who just passed away yesterday after a battle with cancer. My conversation with Sanjay right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Twenty-one minutes past the hour. Pleasure being joined by a good friend here, Sanjay Gupta, chief medical correspondent.
Good to see you this morning.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Thanks for having me.
HOLMES: It's unfortunate, the circumstances that have kind of brought you in this morning. Nick Charles who was -- I think everybody would say he helped put CNN on the map.
GUPTA: Yes. I think you and I are here in part because --
HOLMES: Because of him. Passed yesterday. And I don't know what kind of reaction you got, but I get so much unsolicited feedback to the special we did about Nick Charles.
GUPTA: We got a lot of feedback. I think a lot of it was people seeing themselves in Nick's life to some extent. People asking the same question Nick was forced to ask himself. He was told in 2009 that he essentially had about two years to live.
And, you know, what would you do with that information? What would you change about your life, dream bigger, get into compartments?
He did a little bit of both, a lot of short-term goals, but also his dreams got even grander it seemed. He has a 5-year-old daughter pep wanted to plan for her life. It's just a very inspiring guy.
HOLMES: But why, that was the point that struck me and a lot of people, you talked about him building his dream home. He's told he is going to live two years and he decides I'm going to build my dream house.
GUPTA: Yes. You know, I think it's because even though he was very much forced to live in the present, he took it upon himself to say that is in no way going to impede from continuing to dream and imagine the future, and also dreaming and imagining what the lives of his daughter and his wife were going to be like when he was gone.
He took me into the closet where his daughter's clothes will hang one day, and he gets a little emotional, but he says this is going to be the prom dress right over here. And he's pointing to the blank spot in the closet, because I'm not going to see it. But I'm imagining what Giovanna is going to look like on that day.
And, you know, man, I totally -- I lost it at that point, as did he when he was talking about that. But, you know, it's a tough diagnosis that he had, bladder cancer.
HOLMES: You said, he went out of his way as well to make sure he didn't hide it from his daughter.
GUPTA: That's right.
HOLMES: Make sure she knew exactly what was happening to him?
GUPTA: Yes. This is a conversation, I think, takes place in a lot of families if you're suddenly given this sort of diagnosis and you have young children -- how much do you tell them? Do you tell them at all? What are they to know? What are they going to think as you start to get increasingly sick?
And his choice was to be completely transparent about it. And the daughter is young, 5 years old. And he would have this conversation with her. And she said, as long as you're not going to heaven today, I'm OK with this. But then, of course, you know, the time came.
HOLMES: Now, a lot of people -- we certainly speak about, we know cancer is a big killer out there, but there are other cancers people talk about and focus on. But bladder cancer, I don't know how familiar the audience necessarily is. And we hear he goes from diagnosis to dead in a matter of a couple of years.
GUPTA: That's right.
HOLMES: And you talk about he didn't go get checked out. But this is an aggressive cancer? Normally, is -- I mean, can you catch it early?
GUPTA: You can catch it early. And that's one of the things that Nick talked about quite a bit with me. I mean, look, he was in his early 60s. He started to have symptoms that at that age probably should have been checked out.
He said, I want to leave a message to every man, if your body is starting to do things that are -- that's unusual, just different, you should get it checked out, no matter what.
In his case, he was getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom a lot. Some people say, look, that's just old age. In Nick's case it was not. It was because a cancer in his bladder was starting to make it difficult for him to urinate, to good to the bathroom. And he had to get up often to do it. That was the earliest sign.
If this is a cancer that gets caught early, he could have been treated successfully and we wouldn't be having this conversation.
HOLMES: Is it as simple as that? And he's not the doctor, you are. But to hear him say that, sometimes it's as simple as, if your body is doing something that's out of the ordinary, go get it checked out.
GUPTA: I think that that -- that was it. It was as simple as that, and more so for men. I think, you know, if you look at studies on this, women are the primary health drivers in families and they're also more likely to actually go to the doctor themselves and encourage family members to do so.
But men often keep symptoms to themselves. They don't talk about it and may talk to their buddies about it, but even then, you're not getting, you know, the complete answer. And in Nick's case, he says, you know, if there was one thing that he regretted in this whole thing was not getting this diagnosed earlier.
HOLMES: All right. Bottom of the hour, just a few minutes away, "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D.," again, a special focusing on Nick Charles this weekend, right?
GUPTA: Talk about his life. You know, we know he died yesterday, but this is about his life. And I think lessons that we can all learn.
HOLMES: All right. Sanjay, good to see you this morning.
GUPTA: Always. Thanks, T.J.
HOLMES: Again, Nick Charles, a CNN original, a legend around here.
Sanjay Gupta coming up, just a few minutes on Nick Charles.
A quick break. We're right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, some other stories that are making headlines this morning. The Souris River in Minot, North Dakota, expected to crest 12 feet over the flood level mark, that's several inches short of what we first expected. More than 4,000 homes underwater right now and a third of the city's residents have evacuated. People not forced out of Minot are being told to boil their water.
Also, people who ran from the so-called monument fire in southern Arizona have returned home. The firefighters have the wildfire under control now. The fire burned more than 28,000 acres. Elsewhere, the so-called horseshoe two fire also under control.
I'll be back at the top of the hour with more live news. But first, you heard my conversation just a moment ago with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about his visit with Nick Charles shortly before Nick died. Well, we are going to now have a special "SANJAY GUPTA, M.D." once again about the life of Nick Charles, who has certainly one who helped put CNN on the map. And that starts right now.
