Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Obama's Rating on Health Care Deflates; FBI Chief Blasts Scottish Justice Secretary; Man Charges U.S. Government of Profiling; Gay Iraqis Tortured, Killed; Chicago's Killer Town
Aired August 22, 2009 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: Surf's up: a major hurricane scrapes the Northeast for the first time in years and the first family heads into the path of the storm.
Global outrage: Imagine the guy who blew your loved ones up on an airplane and he is released from prison early to a hero's welcome. How compassionate is that?
War zone at home: Gangs and thugs run rampant, families lose children it seems every day, but they refuse to be victims. Can we save Chicago's deadly streets?
Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon.
Weakening but still dangerous -- that is word on Hurricane Bill as tropical storm warnings are posted in New England, and huge battering waves are crashing into east coast beaches this hour. Bermuda felt the storm's punch earlier with flooding and power outages, but no reports of casualties. And this late summer weekend could be a deadly one for east coast beachgoers who venture into the dangerous rip currents spawned by the storm.
Straight now to our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras, keeping a close watch on it all -- Jacqui?
JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hello, Don. The waves have been incredible today. We've seen lots of video of surfers and crashing waves and the threat of the rip currents out there, and that's the biggest issue now as we deal with Bill. Like you mentioned, it has weakened, but the winds are still very strong, 85 miles per hour. That's nothing to sneeze at.
And other thing to think about it here too, is the size of the storm. Look at how big this thing is, it just fills up the entire basin right there from like Cape Hatteras all the way through New England and up into Canada there. So, the size of the storm impacts how big the waves are and that's why this has been such a problem for today.
Bill is less than 300 miles away from the U.S. mainland now, and the closest approach is going to come within about 150 miles is our best estimate. The worse of this is coming in the overnight hours. So, hopefully, you're sleeping, but we could see some rough winds along the cape and out into Martha's Vineyard in Cape Hatteras, 40-plus miles per hour. So, maybe some spotty power outages. There you can see the map of the wave action. The worst of it is over with for the southeast, but really picking up now across parts of the northeast. We're seeing the showers and thundershowers and some of these outer bands beginning to make their way on to the coast now and even some severe weather here across the Mid-Atlantic States. That's due to the cold front. But that cold front, you can thank it, because that's what's knocking Bill out of here and preventing the U.S. landfall.
Watch for those winds to begin to pick up in the coming hours. Showers and thunderstorms so heavy, we've had some problems with flash flooding. So, use a lot of caution if you do have to travel at all.
Check out our iReport. This is the best picture I've seen so far of surfers. This is from Michael Black, our iReporter from New Jersey. He said there were at least eight to 10-foot breakers out there. He had a good time, but hopefully he stays safe, too -- Don?
LEMON: Jacqui, doesn't it look fun? Look at that behind you. I love those big curls.
(CROSSTALK)
JERAS: You better know what you're doing though.
LEMON: I know. Yes, it is very dangerous. It looks fun but you gave very good advice. Jacqui, thank you -- Jacqui's keeping watch on Bill as well, as the other weather in the country.
The top five executives at Qwest Communications will no longer receive tens of thousands of dollars a year to pay for expenses like club memberships. Shareholders criticize the perk during the company's annual meeting in May. The official line from the company: the allowances were eliminated to simplify executive compensation and provide more transparency to shareholders. Qwest CEO was getting 75,000 bucks a year to pay for things like financial counseling, physical exams and club memberships.
There is a mad rush to car dealerships across the country, all thanks to the cash for clunkers program. Car lots are reporting brisk business ever since Congress gave the rebate program an injection of $2 billion. Now, everyone seems to be rushing to trade in their old clunker for a new, more fuel-efficient vehicle. But some dealers are scrapping the program before it's officially set to end on Monday night. They say the government simply isn't paying them.
Hurricane Bill shouldn't be a problem for President Obama and his family as they arrive tomorrow in Massachusetts. The president and the first family headed for Camp David yesterday. They leave for Martha's Vineyard tomorrow morning.
Meantime, Mr. Obama is using his weekly radio address or his address -- I should say -- to the nation to talk about health care and to talk back to his critics. He says his political opponents are misleading the public.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We've had a vigorous debate about health insurance reform, and rightly so. This is an issue of vital concern to every American, and I'm glad that so many are engaged. But it also should be an honest debate; not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions, spread by the very folks who would benefit the most by keeping things exactly as they are.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. You heard the president.
Now, Georgia congressman and doctor, Tom Price, delivered the Republican response. He calls the status quo unacceptable. But he also says Americans don't like the Democrats' plan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. TOM PRICE (R), GEORGIA: I can tell you that Washington is incapable of processing the personal and unique circumstances that patients and doctors face each and every day. That's why a positive solution will put power in the hands of patients, not insurance companies or the government.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The U.S. deficit will reach about $9 trillion over the next 10 years. That's according to a new budget forecast the Obama administration plans to put out next week. And as the deficit balloons, the president's health care approval rating deflates.
Could this be the tipping point for the administration? CNN's Tom Foreman digs deeper.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The new deficit news can only throw more gasoline into the firestorm over health care reform. The president's signature issue is Exhibit A for those who say he is spending recklessly. And a new poll now shows more disapproval than support for how he's handling the issue. He blames the opposition.
OBAMA: I would love to have more Republicans engaged and involved in this process. I think early on, a decision was made by the Republican leadership that said, "Look, let's not give them a victory."
FOREMAN: But independent voters who were so hot for Mr. Obama's election have also grown decidedly cooler, many because of the ballooning deficit and what some see as a massive spending spree.
(on camera): Look at this, the Northeast is the only part of the country where health care reform had broad support when we measured it recently, and this is a Democratic stronghold. Out here in the West, it only has 50 percent support. And the rest of the country is against it, even though some of these states contain large percentages of uninsured families.
(voice-over): The apparent contradiction is being driven by age. Many of those states have lots of elderly people.
Craig Gordon is with Politico.com.
CRAIG GORDON, POLITICO.COM: They think about it, they talk about it, it's on their mind every day and they really have not had a very clear explanation from the White House of how the health care reform overhaul would affect their lives.
FOREMAN: Even congressional Democrats remain divided. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says a government-backed public insurance option is a must.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE SPEAKER: There is no way I can pass a bill in the House of Representatives without a public option.
FOREMAN: But fiscally conservative Democrats have been warning for weeks that a deficit bomb could cripple their party in elections next fall.
Aware of their anxiety, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer says...
REP. STENY HOYER (D), MAJORITY LEADER: I'm for a public option, but I'm also for passing a bill.
OBAMA: My point is...
FOREMAN: That's because the president's supporters insist health care reform is necessary to ultimately control the deficit.
PETER SINGER, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: There is a saving in providing the basic treatment for everyone.
FOREMAN: But the latest deficit news -- one way or another -- will almost certainly intensify the fire from right, left and center.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Tom.
Hero's welcome for a convicted terrorist that ticks off the FBI chief as well as Tony Blair.
Plus, we'll have this for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIO HARDIMAN, CEASEFIRE ILLINOIS: If you come up into Killer Town here and people don't know who you are, we can get shot right now (INAUDIBLE) in this car riding down the street. We can get shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: We head right into the middle of Chicago's deadly streets where people are desperate for solutions to curb the violence that's taking over many neighborhoods.
Also, we want to hear from on this story and all the other stories that you're interested in that we're putting on and some that you'd like to see -- Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or iReport.com.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: New revelations tonight about allegedly harsh interrogation techniques during the Bush administration. "Newsweek" magazine reports CIA interrogators threatened one terror suspect with a gun and a power drill. The man accused in the bombing of the USS Cole was also allegedly waterboarded. The magazine says the details are contained in a CIA inspector general's report. A federal judge has ordered it released next month.
FBI Director Robert Mueller is blasting the Scottish executive who released the Lockerbie bomber this week. Abdelbasset al Megrahi was welcomed as a hero in his native Libya when he was freed on, quote, "compassionate grounds." He has terminal cancer.
But Director Mueller isn't working up much compassion. He calls al Megrahi's release a mockery of the rule of law. Mueller wrote in a letter to Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. He says, "Your action makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21st, 1988. You could not have spent much time with the families, certainly not as much time as others involved in the investigation and prosecution. Where, I ask, is the judge?"
Meanwhile, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair denies claims that a deal was cut with Libya for al Megrahi's release.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Let me just make one thing absolutely clear. The Libyans, of course, were raising the case of Megrahi all the way along, not just with me but with everybody. It was a major national concern for them.
But as I used to say to them, I don't have the power to release Mr. Megrahi, and indeed, the release that has taken place is a decision by the Scottish executive, which has taken place on the compassionate grounds and those compassionate grounds didn't even exist a few years back.
So, yes, of course, it's absolutely right. The Libyans were always raising this issue. But we made it clear that the only way this could be dealt with was through the proper procedures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: And Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son said this week that al Megrahi's release on the negotiating table in Libya contracts with Britain for oil and gas. That has created outrage here in the United States.
A Florida man has been released after being detained as a suspected terrorist for nearly five months -- this after he was acquitted of illegally possessing and transporting explosives. The case pitted national security against charges of racial profiling.
And CNN's John Zarrella has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The federal government tried painting Youssef Megahed as a terrorist or a man likely to engage in terrorism. In a major setback, an immigration judge has dismissed the case, saying prosecutors didn't prove it.
No surprise to Garry Meringer.
GARY MERINGER, JURY FOREMAN: It proved today that whatever he did, there's no evidence of it. So, thank God, in this country, you got to prove somebody guilty before you can incarcerate them.
ZARRELLA: Meringer was the jury foreman in the first federal case brought against Megahed. Megahed, who came to the U.S. from Egypt in 1998, had been charged with possessing and transporting explosives. After a three-week trial and three days of deliberations, Meringer and 11 other jurors circled "not guilty" on the verdict form.
YOUSSEF MEGAHED, FLORIDA STUDENT: I'm very happy for this.
ZARRELLA: For Megahed, freedom, right? Wrong. Megahed was rearrested.
(on camera): Now, they're flat-out saying that you're a terrorist and they're going to deport you. You know, how does that -- how do you react to that?
MEGAHED (via telephone): I would say this is a false allegation. Baseless. And I go to court to fight those allegations again.
ZARRELLA (voice-over): We talked by phone with Youssef Megahed because for, quote, "national security implications," we were not allowed to bring recording devices into the detention facility. So, how did all this unfold?
Two years ago, Megahed, a student at the University of South Florida, went on a road trip with a friend, Ahmed Mohamed. Pulled over for speeding in South Carolina, police found a pipe with potassium nitrate inside along detonator cord for model rockets, Mohamed claimed. But it wasn't what authorities found in the car. It was a video posted on YouTube that made the case against Mohammed.
(VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: In Arabic, he demonstrates how to outfit a model car with explosives. Mohamed pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists and is serving 15 years. Megahed claimed he had no idea what was in the car.
On the family's home computer, authorities say they found videos, documents and an Internet search history that supports, quote, "jihad against the United States." The jurors believed Megahed, not the government. He was freed for all of three days.
(on camera): This time, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is accusing him of being, quote, "engaged in or likely to engage in any terrorist activity."
(voice-over): Megahed says he's been profiled and that this is contrary to President Obama's call to end the, quote, "cycle of suspicion."
MEGAHED (via telephone): First, it's double jeopardy. Second, they keep talking about change and change. If President Obama wants to talk about change, he should look first inside, inside the U.S. before talking about change worldwide.
ZARRELLA: A senior administration official told CNN the White House would have no comment on this case.
But jury foreman Gary Meringer has had plenty to say.
On a dreary Saturday, he got in his car for a two-hour drive to visit Megahed at the Florida detention facility.
MERINGER: I told him that I wanted him to know there were people out here that cared about him, that were praying for him. I want this kid to get a fair shake.
ZARRELLA: John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Iraqi officials are investigating if members of its security force assisted suicide bombers in six deadly attacks this week. At least 100 people died Wednesday and hundreds more were wounded when truck bombs crashed into government buildings in Baghdad. Iraq's foreign ministry says surveillance video shows a suicide bomber driving through a checkpoint until he reached his target. Meantime, the Iraqi military has arrested members of a cell believed responsible for Wednesday's attacks.
Gay in Iraq and targeted by security forces. We'll take a closer look at the life and death consequences.
Also this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I could say anything to that parent whose child caused my child to lose his life, I hope you never feel like I feel.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEMON: It is said there's no greater pain than a parent losing their child, and it's happening way too often on Chicago streets. We head right there to find out what's going on and get some solutions for you -- Chicago's deadly streets.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: OK. This is a sign of the changing times. Another U.S. church says it is OK for gay pastors to have sex.
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America is the nation's third biggest Protestant denomination. Up until now, it required gay and lesbian clergy members to be celibate. But it changed that rule last night.
The new policy abolishes the celibacy rule for clergy members involved in, quote, "lifelong monogamous relationships." Conservative Lutherans say the new policy encourages sin and some are talking about leaving.
Although attitudes maybe changing in America, there are many places around the world where gays and lesbians face hostility and violence, and even death.
CNN's Arwa Damon reports from Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Don.
Human Rights Watch released a report on Monday, listing chilling atrocities committed against Iraq's homosexuals. Like many conservative societies, Iraq views homosexuality as a disease that needs to be purged.
(voice-over): When this video sprung up on YouTube back in January showing Iraqi gay men partying, it caused a terrifying backlash.
In its report released on Monday, Human Rights Watch warned of a, quote, "spreading campaign of torture and murder" against Iraq's gay community.
"They always used to hunt us, but after this video posted, it became much worse," this gay man tells us.
He and his three friends -- brave enough to speak out but too frightened to have their identities revealed.
(on camera): What are some of the atrocities that are being committed against the gay community that you know of?
(voice-over): "Many of my friends were killed and many others wounded or harmed," the eldest among them said. "Some were tortured, they shot and blown up their anus. They have started a war against us."
"I was with my boyfriend driving around, I had my head on his shoulders," this man remembers. "Security forces stopped us and ordered us out of the car. They beat my boyfriend severely and put him in jail. He's been there for four months."
This list was posted in Baghdad Shia slum of Sadr City. It lists names of individuals accused of being gay. Part of it warns, "If you do not end this shameful behavior, your fate will be death."
Some gay Iraqis have even been killed by their own families, ashamed of the stigma surrounding homosexuality.
This widely circulated cell phone video shows a transsexual being harassed by Iraqi police.
"He was a hairdresser," his friend tells us. "He was killed by his family after the Iraqi police threatened to kill him. I heard that they even wanted to burn him alive or stone him to death."
This young man tells us how they were captured by militias to cut off their hair. One shows the scars left by acid doused on his leg. The other displays a slash on his wrist.
(on camera): Members of Iraq's gay community have to try to blend in when they're out on the streets or face the consequences. The Iraqi government says it condemns the murder or abuse of any of its citizens, but has done little else to protect the country's homosexuals. Those we spoke to say, they are left to fend for themselves.
(voice-over): According to Human Rights Watch, it is difficult to place an exact number on homosexuals killed. Indications are that the number is in the hundreds.
(on camera): Homosexuality is actually not illegal in Iraq, but there are very few, if any, laws to protect homosexuals. Quite the contrary, Iraqi's vague criminal code actually gives police and prosecutors broad scope to punish individuals whose behavior and appearance they quite simply don't like -- Don?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Arwa, thank you very much for that report.
Hurricane Bill targeting the east coast. And CNN's Jacqui Jeras in our hurricane headquarters tracking every little bit of it. She'll join us in just a little bit.
Plus, we're going to have this for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TIO HARDIMAN, CEASEFIRE ILLINOIS: Chances are, I know most of the people in the area. If I was to get out of the truck, and said, look, it's Tio, I'm doing something with CNN, they would give us a pass.
LEMON: But just from riding here, we're taking our lives in our hand?
HARDIMAN: Yes. You're talking the chance right now, Don. I have to be honest with you, because people shoot and they ask questions later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: We survived going inside Chicago's deadly streets. But while we were there, there were shootings and killings, even as we were talking to officials about solutions. We're going to take you there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You know, this is a developing story because, obviously, the hurricane is still moving, still churning and we're keeping a very close watch on Bill this hour. Downgraded though to category one, but it still -- as our Jacqui Jeras has been reporting -- a very big storm and look at those waves there, Jacqui Jeras, and that is really the problem here. You have some information just in to CNN.
JERAS: Yes. We just got word now from the National Weather Service, they're saying that Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, that they've had 50 water rescues taking place today because people are going out in the water, they're getting caught in rip currents and they can't swim out of them -- 50 people and that's just in one beach.
So far, thankfully, we've had no reports of any deaths. However, you know, people go in the water throughout this weekend. Unfortunately, I'm afraid this is going to end up happening. So, heed those warnings if those flags are flying. This is the number one threat from Hurricane Bill to the United States.
And the storm is so large, even though it's weakened. When you get a large magnitude storm, it creates bigger waves. And that's what we're going to be dealing with.
Here you can see that we're looking at the storm bringing in some of those outer bands. We'll watch this increase for tonight and expect to see those winds beginning to pick up. They're not too bad at this hour. There you can see about 10, 12 miles per hour in Boston. Watch for the potential for maybe 20 to 30 overnight tonight -- Don?
LEMON: All right, Jacqui. Thank you very much.
So, this next story that we're going to tell you about here, we are going to go to Chicago's deadly streets and this story should be on every single newscast, especially considering this: Nearly 300 people have died in Chicago just this year alone, many of them, young people, 21 and under. I think it's like 69 or so. Some of them were innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. They are someone's loved ones, family members.
And so, I went to Chicago to find out what was really going on. Pay attention.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Tio Hardiman knows Chicago's deadly streets and takes us for a ride so dangerous it's been dubbed Killer Town. TIO HARDIMAN, CEASEFIRE ILLINOIS: If you come up into Killer Town here and people don't know who you are, we can get shot right now (INAUDIBLE) in this car riding down the street. We can get shot.
LEMON: Hardiman grew up out here, but now runs Ceasefire Illinois, a nonprofit that tries to get troubled youth, gangs and drug dealers out of the neighborhood.
HARDIMAN: Chances are, I know most of the people in the area. If I was to get out of the truck, and said, look, it's Tio, I'm doing something with CNN, they would give us a pass.
LEMON: But just from riding here we're taking our lives -
HARDIMAN: You're taking the chance right now, Don. I have to be honest with you because people shoot and they ask questions later. There's no method to the madness.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: We were out in Chicago's deadly streets. You're going to hear about what happened to us. You want to join us tonight at 10:00, but also when I spoke with the parents about the day, the night that they lost their children, there was a chilling irony in all of it. All of their children were taken to the same hospital and they mentioned, "the room." I asked them to explain.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): When you said not the room.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were all in the same hospital.
LEMON: Right. What is the room?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I refused the room. It's the family room. And it's the room that they take you in when they know that your loved one is already gone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Devastating story. You'll hear more of my conversation with those parents. We discuss solutions and what needs to be done about violence in Chicago on a national level. Tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, you definitely don't want to miss that. Not covering this story would really be a crime in itself, so we have been following it especially on this show.
25-year-old Zack Isaac is a graduate school at Loyola and has lived on Chicago's south side his entire life. In this I-report he talked to an elementary school teacher in his neighborhood about how to stop this violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACK ISAAC, CNN I-REPORTER: Teachers like Alma Sokoya teach life lessons along with the required curriculum.
ALMA SOKOYA, 3RD GRADE TEACHER: ... you can't win the fight with more violence, only more people they shot, the more people get killed.
ISAAC: Mrs. Sokoya teaches third graders and is hoping to reach them before gangs do, but she wants communities to join the effort.
SOKOYA: We need to stop dehumanizing gang members and we need to start humanizing them. And what I mean by that is we need to start actually taking an active and proactive approach to these people, and that's who they are. They are our brothers, our sisters, our uncles, our aunts and we need to treat them as such. And we need to be able to go to them and say, you know what, what you're doing is affecting all of us. It's bringing down our community and it's truly affecting the children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: If you have a story about how gang violence has affected you, send it to ireport.com. We definitely want to hear from you. And tonight we're taking an in-depth look at Chicago's deadly streets. We take you to the neighborhoods where the killings are happening. We'll question police and look at what one group is doing to stop the violence.
And we'll go one on one with Chicago's former school CEO, Arne Duncan, now President Obama's secretary of Education.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (on camera): When you see all of the kids, you know, all of the people who are killed in Chicago this year. It's terrible that it happens, but many of them are school-aged kids, it's happening in and around schools. Solution?
ARNE DUNCAN, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: First of all, it's a devastating problem and it's unacceptable. And, you know, kids can't learn if they don't feel safe. It's the one area why I felt in my time in Chicago, we improved in so many ways. This is one area where I feel like an absolute failure.
LEMON: Why do you feel like a failure with that?
DUNCAN: Because I look at trends and from the time I started raising this four or five years ago when 20 students were killed. I think every year those numbers have gotten worse, not better.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, former CEO of Chicago public schools. Our special report "Chicago's Deadly Streets" airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on CNN. You can see more of my reporting from Chicago as well as my producer Annika Young, her blog, about her personal connection to the story. It's all in our web site, CNN.com/newsroom and just click on Don. Hurricane Bill, targeting the East Coast. Jacqui Jeras tracking the storm right now in the severe weather center. She's going to tell you about what's happening on one beach, too many rescues. Stay out of the water.
Plus this for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For over a year, I was lucky if I was getting two hours of sleep every night. and I was a walking zombie.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: The U.S. Army trains their soldiers bodies but what about their minds?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: That's a new video to show you here, just into CNN. Look at that wildfire. Dozens of them erupted across Greece today. Man, check it out. The fires are destroying olive groves and the flames are surrounding villages plus a few are advancing on the northern suburbs of Athens.
The fires are in an area more than 25 miles wide, including two large children's hospitals, camp sites and several villages. Anti-aircraft missiles have even been removed from a base north of Athens that's threatened by those fires.
Man, Jacqui Jeras, does that happen Greece, often?
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It happened before, just a couple of years ago there were huge fires and it was threatening, you know, some of the historic grounds in that area. So, yes, Greece is no stranger certainly to wildfires. Some scary pictures going on there as well.
Scary stuff happening here at home too, weather wise. Of course, Bill is a big story. We just got our 8:00 advisory in a little early. Thanks to those hard working folks over there at the National Hurricane Center. Bill is holding its own, still 85 miles per hour maximum sustained winds and it's about 275 miles away now from the New England coast.
The tropical storm force winds extend out about that far. So it's possible that we could start seeing some of those gust move in, but we think the strongest winds at this time are right over here in that right quadrant of the storm. So you're probably not going to be feeling them too badly. At least, not for the next couple of hours.
The forecast track, just the same, no changes here. We're moving northward now, but expecting that gradual northeastward turn, keeping it away from the U.S. heading towards Nova Scotia. Nova Scotia could be seeing landfall here tomorrow, maybe sometime mid morning-ish and then move over towards Newton Foundland. So this is going to be a serious storm for the Canadian Maritimes.
They were talking about the threat that we have dealing with here just a couple of minutes ago, we told you the news of the 50 rescues from Wrightsville Beach in North Carolina. I just got an e-mail from my friend, Brandon Gage (ph) over at CNN Radio and he just got off the phone with the fire department there and he says that life guards say that numbers are actually closer to 80.
One person was take on the hospital after going under water briefly. They decided not to close the beach there today because they said it would be really difficult with 50,000 people and a beautiful weekend. You know, it is a great weekend and it's one of the last weekends of summer. And people want to be out there. You know, go ahead and look, but - you know, don't go out in the water, you really don't have to do that.
We'll zoom in and show you some of the showers and thundershowers that we have been dealing throughout the day for today and they've been very strong because that cold front has been moving on in. Another big threat we have been dealing with, especially New York City, Philadelphia, down into Virginia. We have been seeing incredible amounts of rainfall, one to three inches. So we have been getting a lot of reports of water-covered roadways.
If you're going out tonight, it's Saturday night, I know you want to go out. You know, heed my advice on this one too. Don't drive through any of that water, if it's covering the road, you can't see how deep it is, better to stay safe. Don.
LEMON: Jacqui.
JERAS: I know, I'm such a mom.
LEMON: I know but that's great, because you're absolutely right, especially when you're talking about - you know, you said 50 people having to be rescued in the water, you're exactly right. You get it right on. So listen to our Jacqui Jeras. Jacqui is tracking everything related with Hurricane Bill and the rest of the weather in the country. Thank you, Jacqui. See you in a little bit.
Let's head out to the coast right now. A tropical storm warning is in effect in Chatham, Massachusetts. That's where we find CNN's Susan Candiotti. She's keeping an eye on the waves and the approaching storm. So I don't see - is the water behind you, in front of you? Can't really see.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I'll show the water in a second.
LEMON: OK. Wait, Don.
CANDIOTTI: A scenic shot of the light house because we're on Light House Beach here in Chatham.
LEMON: Beautiful. Yes, that's gorgeous. CANDIOTTI: Does that look lovely, over which (INAUDIBLE) it is. It's been a lovely day, really it has, light winds, broken clouds, although the beaches, Don, have been closed since yesterday afternoon. As a matter of fact, no one's taking any chances. You know, the last time, they had a hurricane here was 18 years ago. Hurricane Bob, looks like once again (INAUDIBLE) obviously escaped a direct hit.
Joining us now from the Coast Guard station across the street is Petty Office Jordan Berrian (ph). Thanks for joining us. You know, as we take a look at the water here over your shoulder. We're losing light fast, obviously. It looks so calm out there. What do we see beyond that sand bar?
JORDAN BERRIAN, COAST GUARD: Yes, generally in the harbor areas it's going to stay pretty shallow and it's pretty calm in the shallow waters. But out there it's about 8 to 10-foot swells right now. (INAUDIBLE)
CANDIOTTI: And it could get much higher than that, maybe after about 9:00 tonight?
BERRIAN (ph): Yes, we're looking at about 19-foot swells out there tonight.
CANDIOTTI: Obviously that's a big danger to especially boaters out there. What is the condition been like during the day and what about tonight?
BERRIAN (ph): Today, it's been generally calm out there, just picking up in the last couple of hours, but tonight (INAUDIBLE) we recommend everybody stay off the beach.
CANDIOTTI: For the most part they have been coming in?
BERRIAN: Yes. It's been normal traffic today. I saw a lot of people towing their boats out of the water, the small vessels. The fishermen are just going out here in the harbor (INAUDIBLE) provide a safe haven.
CANDIOTTI: Of course they'll be watching out, obviously, Don, for beach erosion here. That's going to be a key thing, it always happens here when there's a big storm that comes through. And as you know, President Obama is going to be arriving tomorrow afternoon here on the Cape and then flying to Coast Guard station on Marine One over to Martha's Vineyard.
LEMON: All right. That's Susan Candiotti in Chatham, Massachusetts. Having a little problem with the satellite. We can see why, because there's an approaching storm. So Susan got to finish her report -the president is arriving tomorrow. He's at Camp David now and he will be leaving tomorrow morning for Martha's Vineyard. We'll have it covered for you.
The storm is missing shore but it's causing some dangerous rip currents along Atlantic Coast beaches. So what is a rip current, right? We always talk about it. What is a rip current? And what should you do if you get caught in one?
Well, the best thing to do is not to get in one in the first place. Stay out of the water when there's a warning but our Reynolds Wolf has some answers for you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST (on camera): You know, here on Florida's east coast, conditions couldn't be better. We have partly cloudy skies. People out here enjoying themselves. You never know that roughly 1,000 miles away, we got a major hurricane that's brewing. And although we don't have the wind and of course, the heavy rainfall here, there's still a threat from that storm. We're talking about rip currents. So the question is, what is a rip current? We'll get an answer if we go over this guy.
This is Gio Serrano, and Gio, what is it? What's a rip current?
LT. GIO SERRANO, FORT LAUDERDALE OCEAN RESCUE: Rip current is a tunnel of water. It happens when we have easterly winds, 10 miles plus sustained. They have a lot of water accumulate against the shoreline and the channel of water pulls all that water back out to sea.
WOLF (voice-over): When an increased volume of water is pushed towards the shoreline by a tropical system or Nor'easter. It retreats rapidly back into the surf, creating channels. An unsuspecting swimmer caught in this conveyor belt of swift water is at the mercy of the current. The key for survival is to remain calm.
(on camera): But the key is don't panic.
SERRANO: Do not panic, never panic and do not swim against the current.
WOLF: Sounds easier said than done. We're going to try it out ourselves.
(voice-over): Five minutes later, and 50 yards off shore, there's a definite ebb and flow of the ocean's rhythm but not a strong outflow current. Life guard Larry Cox is with me and he says if carried away from the beach, the best course of action is to swim parallel to the shoreline and out not against the rip current. When free from the current's grip, slowly swim to show. Larry also said the best way to avoid problems is to use common sense.
LARRY COX, FORT LAUDERDALE OCEAN RESCUE LIFEGUARD: Look at the flags that the life guards have up because they're aware of the water conditions. Always swim near a life guard tower, and if you are not a strong ocean water on a rough water day, steer clear of the water.
WOLF (on camera): So basically when in doubt, don't go out?
COX: Exactly.
WOLF: All right. There you go. (END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: All right. Thank you very much. Reynolds in a wet suit. Good advice from that life guard and our Reynolds Wolf, of course. By one account, currents account for more than 80 percent of rescues by surf beach life guards.
Too many American soldiers are returning home with post-traumatic stress disorder. So the army is requiring all soldiers to train their minds as well as their bodies.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: A grandfather from Washington state has become the oldest U.S. soldier to die in Afghanistan. 59-year-old First Sergeant Jose Crisostomo was killed in Afghanistan by a roadside bomb on Tuesday. Crisostomo who was known to friends as Joe Sinbad was well aware of the risks of combat. In 24 years in the military, he served in Vietnam and Kuwait before retiring from the military in 1993. After 9/11, Crisostomo decided to re-enlist in the U.S. Army.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICIA CRISOSTOMO, SOLDIER'S WIFE: When 9/11 came up, he insisted in going back and serving his country which he loved to do and that was his passion, his life. You know, friends and family say why did you let him do it and you know, I just simply say, it's what he wants and we support him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Jose Crisostomo was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. He is survived by his wife, four children and 10 grandchildren.
About 20 percent of troops touring Iraq and Afghanistan battle a new enemy when they return home. Depression and suicide. But the Army hopes to attack this problem head on with a mental boot camp. A camp meant to head off mental health problems and improve combat.
CNN's Elaine Quijano spoke with one soldier about his post combat struggles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For all his training as an Army Ranger this First Sergeant Creed McCaslin said it was a coffee urn that shielded and saved him the day a suicide bomber blew up a dining hall in Mosul, Iraq.
1ST SGT. CREED MCCASLIN, ARMY RANGER: I was about 20 feet from the bomb.
QUIJANO: 22 soldiers died. McCaslin knew 19 of them. But he shook it off, or so he thought.
MCCASLIN: I convinced a doctor that was good to go and got back on the plane and went back down the range.
QUIJANO: He returned to combat but another suicide bomb left him with a broken back. This time there was no shaking off his physical and psychological pain. And no training that could have stopped him from feeling.
MCCASLIN: When you watch people burn alive and the smells that come from that or when you see, you're coming up trying to save a family and watching them get executed before you can get to them and save them those aren't things you can recreate in your life.
QUIJANO: He began drinking heavily and barely slept.
MCCASLIN: For over a year I was lucky if I was getting two hours of sleep every other night and I was a walking zombie.
QUIJANO: Eventually his higher ups intervened, temporarily demoting him and forcing him into treatment for post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. McCaslin is not alone. Nearly one in five service members returning from Iraq or Afghanistan reported suffering symptoms of PTSD or depression.
According to a survey last year by the nonprofit Rand Organization. Now the Army is focusing more attention on soldiers' mental and emotional well being. With new training, aimed at helping them deal with mental health problems. Creed McCaslin believes the first step is getting soldiers to overcome their fears of looking weak.
MCCASLIN: Stigma kills. And we've got to do a culture change within our military.
QUIJANO: McCaslin now speaks to other soldiers about PTSD as he did recently at Fort Hood, Texas. His message? That soldiers can and should reach out if they need help.
MCCASLIN: Soldiers have to take control themselves. It's not just, hey, everybody needs to take care of me. The soldier's got to take care of himself.
QUIJANO (on camera): As for the Army program, all active duty and reserve soldiers will have to take a 170-question survey. It's meant to identify potential mental and emotional problems and direct a soldier to counseling if needed.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Elaine, thank you.
Banks, investment firms and car makers, all of them received huge federal bailouts but what about the country's largest employers, small businesses? It turns out pickings are slim for them. It's your money. It's your Main Street. Plus, tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern we're going to take you inside the deadly streets of Chicago and some of the most dangerous neighborhoods there and talk to people who say they're gang bangers and they sell drugs and also people who are turning their lives around and the family members, as well, who have lost loved ones in this violence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Say you want to create jobs? One North Carolina restaurant owner says he'd create 35 jobs within three months if you send some stimulus money his way. He just needs a loan, he says. But as CNN's Christine Romans reports, it's a dog eat dog world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Dinner time in Lumberton, North Carolina.
ROD REDFEARN, BLACK WATER GRILL: Everything good?
ROMANS: Restaurant owner Rod Redfearn.
REDFEARN: We did a million two in 2007. It's not bad for a small town and a small restaurant.
ROMANS: He's got 35 employees, a crowded bar on weekends, a dependable banquet business. Five years ago he turned a century-old mule stable into this. He's confident he's got the ingredients to open another restaurant, here, 35 miles north on i-95 in Fayetteville.
REDFEARN: I'll hire 50 people in three months if I get the money.
ROMANS: $150,000 to be exact.
REDFERN: My issue is stimulus money that everybody is talking about needs to flow through to the small businesses like this one. I don't want a bailout. I just want you to open the door. I'll walk through myself.
ROMANS: But so far that door is shut. We called BB&T bank, the area's biggest lender and asked them why. It turns out Redfearn's credit score doesn't match his confidence. A spokeswoman for BB&T who recently paid back its own $3 billion bailout said we would have turned him down based on his credit history. Redfearn admits to bumps in the road that have dinged his credit. This is the new world of lending.
LEE CORNELISON, DISTRICT DIR., SBA, NORTH CAROLINA: Lenders are returning to the old financial lending standards. You know, they're making loans with the expectation that all of them are going to be repaid.
ROMANS: That means making fewer loans to only the best applicants, even small business owners like Redfearn who have had no trouble borrowing money in the past are being turned away.
STACY COWLEY, SMALL BUSINESS EDITOR, CNNMONEY.COM: We've sort of ended up in a chicken and egg situation here where the banks don't want to make those loans because the small business sector as a whole has been having such trouble but then small business owners can't get financing they need to run their businesses normally to expand.
ROMANS: The number of new small business loans is less than half what it was before the recession but the stimulus has helped. The amount of money loaned through is SBA's programs has risen 50 percent since February.
Ever the entrepreneur, Redfearn doesn't have the loan but he still has the vision.
(on camera): And you look at this parking lot and you see cars and you see a successful restaurant.
REDFEARN: I see it full.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, Lumberton, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. A lot of you have been responding to our stories about Chicago. We hope you tune in tonight. Here's what some of you are saying. This is on twitter. Primadonna says gang issues are not addressed appropriately. This is why they continue to grow. The situation unfortunately will get worse. Fwj1950 says we need big brothers, rehabilitated gang members, special police force, social programs, and development, jobs and community aid.
Time4twit says I'm from the Chicago burbs and will tell you there is a difference on how the city reacts to crime on the north than it does south. That is a big issue in Chicago right now. It's been in the news media because there has been some rise in violence on the north side as well as the south and west sides of Chicago.
And we want you to be part of our community here. Twitter, Facebook, Myspace.com or I-report.com. There you see it right there. So tonight at 10:00 we are taking an in depth, in depth look at Chicago's deadly streets. We take you to the neighborhoods where the killings are happening. We will question city officials.
And we look at what one local group is doing to stop the violence and we'll go one-on-one with Chicago's former school superintendent, Arne Duncan, now President Obama's Secretary of Education.
Tune in for our special report "Chicago's Deadly Streets." It airs tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. You will be a part of it because we will be taking your comments.
I'm Don Lemon, right here at the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'll see you back here at 10:00 p.m. Eastern. Meantime, "AC 360" "Extreme Challenges, Health Care" begins right now.
