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Search for Flooding Victims; Spirit Airlines Pilots on Strike; Stranded Teen Sailor Found; Sound Like a World Cup Expert; CNN Hero Trying to Break Prison Cycle; Joran van der Sloot Held in Peruvian Jail

Aired June 12, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: From CNN Center here in Atlanta, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. It's June 12th. Good morning. I'm Drew Griffin.

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Suzanne Malveaux. We're both in for T.J. Holmes this morning. It takes two.

Thanks for starting your day with us. It's 10:00 A.M. here in Atlanta and 9:00 A.M. in Langley, Arkansas, where at least 16 people are dead in flash floods, dozens are hurt. Officials fear more people might be trapped. The search is on right now.

We're going to go live to Arkansas, straight ahead.

GRIFFIN: And there's great news this morning for the family of a California teen sailing across the world. Abby Sunderland's brother says rescue workers have found her and she is fine. She was trying to set a world record, the youngest person to sail around the world alone, but a rogue wave ended her quest.

We're hearing from her family. They may be coming up soon.

But, first, a check of the headlines.

GRIFFIN: The world now watching South Africa and the start of the World Cup today. Americans are into it, as you can tell by these exuberant fans. The U.S. team plays England this afternoon.

That game comes after the two countries are at odds over that BP, British Petroleum, oil spill. And the Brits, believe it or not, looking for revenge from an upset they're still smarting from 60 years ago.

More riots happened in Kyrgyzstan, armed men roaming the street in the country's second largest city. The violence broke out in April, when the government was toppled. Russian State TV now reporting 62 people have been killed there.

And if you fly low-cost Spirit Airlines you're going to need to rebook with another carrier. The pilots went on strike this morning. Negotiations, which have been going on for four years, hit a stalemate last night, according to the pilots association.

Spirit canceled some weekend flights, anticipating this would happen - Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: And now, for other top stories.

A search for flooding victims happening right now at a campsite in Western Arkansas. Flash flooding killed at least 16 people there early yesterday and relatives say that at least 73 people are still missing.

Our CNN's Catherine Callaway, she's joining us from the command center for this search in Glenwood. And Catherine, do the searchers have any idea how many people they may be looking for?

CATHERIN CALLAWAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They have no idea. We've had estimates as many as three - as 300 people were in this camping area, but they - but they really don't know. A lot of the registration papers were washed away. They were just estimating how many are usually in the area this time of year.

I should tell you, we're just a little ways down the road from that command center. I did go to the Red Cross center a little while ago and spoke with some of the family members, some of the victims there, heartbreaking stories as they have been waiting all night long for these search efforts to continue. They have.

They are well underway now. They are in the air, they are on all- terrain vehicles. A lot of local residents have brought in ATVs, and they're searching, as well as on horseback. They're even in canoes, trying to find more survivors and possible victims in this case. But as you say, the trouble, they still have no idea just how many people they're searching for.

Pardon me?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY (voice-over): Desperate families best to cope (ph) as officials search for the missing from Friday's horrific flash flooding at a campground in Western Arkansas.

Ginger Autry awoke to a phone call informing her that her teenage son was among those unaccounted for. He'd been camping with other relatives.

GINGER AUTRY, MOTHER: I just want my baby. That's all I want is I just want to see his little face.

CALLAWAY: Although officials say a flash flood warning was issued for the area at 2:00 A.M. most here were sleeping and were caught unaware.

Listen to one witness describe what it was like when the Little Missouri River began to swell, filling the lower-lying campground like a bowl.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Around here, the pavilion, this place over here, the kitchen was destroyed. The bar's on the ground. The giant refrigerator's knocked over. In the office, the refrigerator they had in there was floating.

CALLAWAY: While he got out safely, for others still waiting for news, they will never be able to look at the area in the same way again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the most horrific thing I've ever been through in my life.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CALLAWAY: We have spoken with a couple of the family members up at the Red Cross center down the street, and it was a very long night as they were waiting, again, for those efforts to continue - the search efforts to continue.

We have heard some heartbreaking stories, one, a man told as that when he arrived on the scene yesterday, the first thing he saw was a young 2-year-old who had been fished from the river. And I spoke with another woman who said she's - has several family members missing.

It is going to be a very long day, but we're trying to remember that 30 people were found yesterday, were rescued yesterday, and we're hoping to get that same type of news today.

MALVEAUX: We certainly hope so. Thank you so much, Catherine.

Earlier this morning we spoke with a Red Cross worker about the survivors and she tells us people woke up to an awful scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGETTE WILLIAMS, SPOKESWOMAN, AMERICAN RED CROSS: We heard numerous stories of mothers that were holding tight to babies. Unfortunately, some were swept away. So, as you can imagine, these families are in shock. They're stunned. They're not eating, and so that is one of our most -

Our biggest focus is right now is to get people to eat and drink and keep their energy up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: We want to bring in Jacqui Jeras, meteorologist, here to explain exactly what happened, because this caught so many people by surprise. I was asking you, was there a forecasted warning? We know there was a warning at 2:00 A.M. -

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Right.

GRIFFIN: -- but was there a forecast for this?

JERAS: There was a flood watch, which means conditions are favorable for flooding, and we did know that heavy rain was going to be coming into the area, but I don't think anything expected this much rain in such a short period of time. And the ground was already really, really saturated. There you see on Doppler radar, the pink area that we're looking at, that's estimating between 6 and 7 inches of rain that fell on a 24- hour period, and much of this actually really fell in about a three- hour period.

And part of the problem is, you know, a lot of places in the U.S. can absorb and handle that much rain, but this area can't, and here's why. Take a look at this Google Earth. And you can see the terrain in the area - look at all the hills, and then down here, the campground is into the valley, and there you can see the river, which runs through - is in the area. So all of the rain that's collected on the mountainsides and the hillsides, this all runs down into the valley, fills up all the rivers and creeks, and just elevates them really, really quickly.

Now, the - the creek in this area, by the way, rose 20 feet - 20 feet, and that's 10 feet above the record, to just help put it into perspective. And atmospherically, what happened is we had an area of high pressure down here into the Gulf of Mexico, and what that does is that brings winds in from the gulf up towards Arkansas, so that brings in all kinds of moisture and things were very, very ripe for showers and thunderstorms to develop.

A little area of low pressure came through here, rode very slowly around that high and brought that heavy rainfall, and it was a cluster of thunderstorms. It's what we call an MCS, or a mesoscale convective system, and they then to bring a lot of heavy rain and sometimes severe weather along with it.

And here's an example of what we would call an MCS. It's moving across the upper Midwest right now. This is producing some very heavy rainfall, and there are flood watches in effect here across parts of Nebraska and Iowa.

So this is the time of the year that we see systems like that, but certainly very unusual to get that much rain in such a short period of time, and such a devastating outcome.

GRIFFIN: It sure is, Jacqui. Thanks. Thanks for that.

MALVEAUX: Well, they are walking instead of flying. Pilots for Spirit Airlines are on strike as of 5:00 this morning. Now, that means that all scheduled flights today for this low-cost carrier have been canceled.

Our CNN's Josh Levs, he's got more with all of this. And Josh, this is not really an airline that a lot of people have heard of, but obviously it is going to be impacting a number of travelers today. And this has happened after nearly, what, four years of contract negotiations?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what they're saying. They're saying that the conversations that have led up to this point have actually gone back four years. And I'll talk you through that.

It is affecting traffic at some major airports, including - we've got a couple of cams to take a look at. Let's go to Chicago and Atlanta. These are just two of the major airports that actually - this is the one in Atlanta right here, hooked to WSB. We're looking at the tower cam. One - both of the major airports in America, the busiest ones, Chicago and Atlanta, are two of the airports that have Spirit Airlines fly through them.

Now, this is, as Suzanne was saying, a relatively small airline. But, as we know, traffic impacting one airline, even a small group of people, can quickly have a ripple effects across the country. So something we're watching out for today.

Let me give you some facts on Spirit Airlines. They only have - they have 40 destinations. They're primarily in the southeast. They have about 2,300 employees, and they have 150 daily flights, and what they are all about is being ultra-low cost carriers. They say that on average their prices are $100 less per ticket than other airlines overall.

So they do have a market, especially in the southeast. A map on their website shows where a lot of their flights go. A lot of it is centered in the southeast.

I have some statements for you on all sides, including some more that have been coming in this morning. Let's start off with this one. They're from the Air Line Pilots Association. They have a statement about this. This is the union that represents pilots who are now striking. We can go to that.

They are saying, "The strike comes after nearly four years of contract negotiations and numerous attempts by the pilots to find a middle ground with management and avoid a strike. All Spirit pilots, especially first officers, have been working at below market rates for years and under substandard work rules."

Now let's go to the president of Spirit Airlines. He has now put out a statement. I have this from him, Ben Baldanza, "We are frustrated and disappointed that our pilots have turned down an over 30 percent increase at a cost of over $70 million over five years while disrupting thousands of our customers and jeopardizing the livelihoods of our over 2,000 employees."

Finally, I want those of you who have tickets on Spirit Airlines to know what you can do about it. It's interesting what they're offering, and I'm breaking it down for you on this last screen here.

There's basically two possibilities. If you have a ticket, that's now cancelled. You can either get a credit from the company plus an additional credit for $100, or if you want the cash, they say you can contact them for a full refund of your ticket price. So, basically, it's $100 incentive to not get the refund but to instead go for a credit to the company.

We're going to be following this throughout the day. We also want your iReports, your stories. You can go ahead and - you know my Facebook page. And if you have any video stories, anything today, let us know how this is impacting you. Send it to me at ireport.com. And we'll be sharing some of those stories throughout the day.

And Suzanne and Drew, I - and also Jacqui, We're going to be taking a look at the airports across the country today to see if there are real ripple effects for travelers everywhere.

MALVEAUX: All right. Very important for those who are on the road today. Thanks so much, Josh.

GRIFFIN: A 16-year-old girl who got stranded after she set off on a solo trip sailing around the world has been found. A French fishing vessel picked up Abby Sunderland in a remote area in the Indian Ocean.

The girl was trying to set a record as the youngest person to sail around the world solo. She got into trouble, though, when apparently a rogue wave may have hit her boat.

Here's what her father says about letting her go on this quest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURENCE SUNDERLAND, ABBY SUNDERLAND'S FATHER: No, I never questioned my decision in letting her go. You know, I think in this day and age we get overprotective with our children. If you want to look at statistics, look at how many teenagers die in cars every year, and should we let teenagers drive cars? I think it would be silly if we didn't. It's a learning curve.

Abigail, she made a few mistakes out there, and I also make mistakes out there, and I've sailed for many, many, many years. But she's learned from those mistakes and she's - she's a well-seasoned sailor and I'm very proud of her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: She's 16.

Her family says she's fine and they are planning to make a - some kind of a reunion, but they still don't know when the boat's going in.

MALVEAUX: Well, the other top story, the oil spill fallout rages on this morning. The British prime minister is awaiting President Obama's phone call later today. It's going to happen around 11:00.

There is lots of controversy across the pond about recent comments made by President Obama.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: It has been 54 days since the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 people, and Plaquemines Parish president Billy Nungesser is criticizing the deputy British prime minister following comments that he made about the oil disaster in the gulf. President Obama is expected to discuss the disaster with Prime Minister David Cameron during a phone call this morning, in the next hour.

Now, according to BP, almost 42,000 claims have been submitted. About half those claims have been settled, totaling more than $53 million. BP could decide to suspend dividends to shareholders by July 27.

The company hopes to use a secondary containment cap as early as Monday, potentially capturing an additional 5,000 to 10,000 barrels a day.

Well, the latest, rising temperatures are now complicating the cleanup efforts. Heat-related illnesses are now the major concern.

GRIFFIN: President Obama is going to call British Prime Minister David Cameron less than an hour from now. They're going to discuss this British Petroleum oil spill, among other things.

The Brits are calling some of the president's comments this week "Brit-bashing". They're concerned that the spill is going to affect pension funds in Britain, that's because so many of those pension funds are tied to BP stock and BP stock dividends.

Earlier this week, President Obama said he was talking with experts about the oil disaster, so, quote, "I know whose ass to kick," unquote.

MALVEAUX: Well, some call them the forgotten victims of the gulf oil disaster, the11 workers who died when the Deepwater Horizon went down nearly two months ago off the Louisiana coast.

Well, Thursday, President Obama welcomed the families of those killed to the White House, and I had a chance to talk to one of those families, the Joneses, that the president tried to console.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Twenty-eight-year-old Gordon Jones was a mud engineer on the Deepwater Horizon rig when it exploded and sank.

His father, Keith, and brother, Chris.

KEITH JONES, FATHER OF GORDON JONES: We don't know exactly what happened to Gordon. We're not certain exactly where Gordon was. There was mud that began shooting out of the well, which means that a blowout was about to happen.

MALVEAUX: Chris got a call shortly after the rig went down.

MALVEAUX (on camera): When you found out what happened, that your brother was one of those who was killed on the rig, what's going on through your head - through your head, through your heart?

CHRIS JONES, BROTHER OF GORDON JONES: Disbelief. After a while, I got into the car and drove down to Port Fourchon because I wasn't satisfied, number one, with what everybody was telling me.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): Gordon's family has been fighting for answers ever since, visiting Washington to testify on Capitol Hill to get better benefits for the families of those who perished in the rig explosion. And now, an invitation from President Obama to the White House. MALVEAUX (on camera): Do you think the president has been doing enough?

KEITH JONES: I do. I - I don't know what people expect him to do, if they expect him to go down and clean pelicans. But - but I think that the criticism of the president that I've seen is from the public relations standpoint.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): The last memories of Gordon, with his wife, Michelle, and son, Stafford, are still fresh for the family.

KEITH JONES: We were at the golf course. Michelle had just taken a picture of Gordon giving Stafford his first golf lesson, and I was standing right behind Michelle when she took that picture. And I remember driving away, thinking they're so happy.

Everything I remember about my last times with Gordon was good.

MALVEAUX: Gordon had just a couple of days left on the rig before he was scheduled to take seven weeks off for the birth of his second son.

MALVEAUX (on camera): What was that like, that day where his wife delivered his son, a son that he never even saw born?

KEITH JONES: It was the ultimate bittersweet experience. You know, it was the joy of delivering a healthy baby boy who from the start looked like Gordon, and there was the sorrow, with the realization that he would never meet his dad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: And Gordon's dad, who I spoke with there, wanted President Obama to know just what his son was like, that he was - had an open heart, that he used to love to make people laugh, and that they're a family. I mean, they're really a courageous family, but they're trying to do everything they can to help with the widow, Michelle, and those two young boys.

And that's one of the reasons why they've been in Washington is to try to fight to push and change a law - it's called the Death on the High Seas Act -- so that they can have the kinds of benefits that other families have had in times of tragedy.

GRIFFIN: They got a long road ahead of them, too. A lot of litigation ahead.

MALVEAUX: Oh, absolutely. It's going to take a long time. But the one thing they really wanted from the president is just to feel like they had not been forgotten in this very big story that we've been talking about now for months.

GRIFFIN: Nice story.

We'll be right back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) MALVEAUX: The biggest single sporting contest in the world is underway. It is a big day for the United States, a showdown with a major rival. Drew, you know what I'm talking about here?

GRIFFIN: Yes. Boy, still -

MALVEAUX: I'm betting you -

GRIFFIN: -- 60 years ago.

MALVEAUX: -- steak dinner. I'm betting you a steak dinner -

GRIFFIN: Steak dinner?

MALVEAUX: -- that U.S. is going to win.

GRIFFIN: So you want me to take England?

MALVEAUX: Yes, I do. I want you to --

GRIFFIN: Give me a break.

MALVEAUX: Come on.

GRIFFIN: I'm of Irish ancestry.

MALVEAUX: You're not even watching this.

GRIFFIN: Will you understand what's going on if you watch this spectacle? Josh Levs - is Ireland in this?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, not - not like that. I don't believe so.

MALVEAUX: No.

LEVS: Four hours and counting, right, till the great game?

MALVEAUX: Everybody's going to - you know, a lot of people are watching.

GRIFFIN: Hey, can we put that clock on everything else through (ph) the primary slot?

LEVS: You have to (ph) sit there in the corner. Oh, man, no, no, no, no. But we will be bringing you play by play on cnn.com. We'll tell you about it.

So, here's the thing, it is true that Americans outside of South Africa are the ones who bought up the most tickets. Still, the fact is most Americans don't know much about the game. We're all getting schooled on the basics. Here's a couple of basics for you with the World Cup now underway.

First of all, schedule-wise, it happens like the Olympics, every four years. It's one month long, going from June 11th to July 11th this year. Now, this is how it works. There - there are basically a series of steps that it takes for a country to be able to be in the World Cup, and 32 countries get to participate and they're drawn into eight groups - eight groups of four, and then, within that, the top two gets to advance to the top 16. Makes basic sense.

Now, there's a bunch of phrases that you're going to hear if you hear coverage of it anywhere, and there's a really good list at cnn.com. We pulled up a couple of examples here.

This is the first one. "He missed a sitter!"

Now, I wanted to know what this meant, so I was joined in the NEWSROOM yesterday by the General Manager of the Atlanta Silverbacks, but in exchange for her giving me information, I had to dress the part. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA FEDRIGO, GENERAL MANAGER, ALTANTA SILVERBACKS: It basically means - it means you missed a freebie goal, meaning it was sitting on your foot. All you had to do was pass it in and you missed it. You missed it.

LEVS: It was sitting right there. You could just kick it in.

FEDRIGO: It's sitting right there.

LEVS: It's sitting right there.

All right. We got one more for you here. "It was a blatant dive." And it's not what it sounds like. It's not like diving. So what does that mean?

FEDRIGO: Well, it kind of is and it isn't. Essentially, a player can take a dive, meaning they can over exaggerate a trip or a bump in order to get a foul, a call or a card. And so, when they dive, sometimes they scream, sometimes they yell, sometimes they grab their ankle and go down, anything to exaggerate the injury.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LEVS: It was a great day for me yesterday. I love this. It's up on my Facebook page. Thanks to the Silverbacks for joining us.

By the way, I have never seen such extensive coverage, I don't think, of any single event in the world that we have on cnn.com. This is cnn.com/worldcup, which has all sorts of information for you. This is the fan zone, cnn.com/superfan and it's just packed with anything for fans. You can interact with each other. You can find each other. Plus play by play that I mentioned earlier. All of that here, cnn.com/sports, which is from "Sports Illustrated".

They have so much coverage going on around the clock, including literally play by play. You can actually watch and, say, the ball is now here. Here's who has it, all that going on. Now, if all of that doesn't make you feel like you still know enough, you can at least look like a soccer expert through this - JibJab. And the good folks of JibJab let's you put your face up there now as you're soccer playing.

So, look what they did for us guys. There's Jacqui. There's Drew and Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Oh -

LEVS: You look pretty good.

MALVEAUX: You with the dreads.

LEVS: Hey, Jacqs, what do you think? Do you like that look for you? Jacqui looks great - a great soccer player.

MALVEAUX: Oh.

LEVS: Anybody can do this at jibjab.com. And thanks to them for hooking us up this morning. I think you got some moves.

MALVEAUX: Oh, there you go.

LEVS: Do you see my header (ph)? Such happy people.

MALVEAUX: I think I'm going to score a goal. Oh, there I go. Oh.

LEVS: We rock.

MALVEAUX: Josh, where do you get that - that shirt you were wearing? Where do you get one of those?

LEVS: I don't know. They - they brought it and informed me I was going to be wearing it for the live shot. I think we get it from the Silverbacks. I'll find out and I'll post about it on Facebook.

MALVEAUX: Yes. We all want one of those shirts.

LEVS: Really?

MALVEAUX: It's pretty cool looking shirt there, yes.

LEVS: I'll get you one, promise.

MALVEAUX: OK.

LEVS: All right.

MALVEAUX: You got a soccer bowl too, right?

LEVS: Yes, actually.

MALVEAUX: Do you have one of those?

LEVS: Yes, actually and the thunder sticks too. It's all over there. I'll bring them in next hour.

MALVEAUX: OK.

LEVS: All right.

MALVEAUX: Are you going to watch -

LEVS: Anything else you want?

MALVEAUX: Are you going to watch, Drew?

LEVS: Yes, really. I'm just taking notes here, what (INAUDIBLE).

GRIFFIN: Let's go ahead and -

MALVEAUX: You're making a list.

GRIFFIN: -- move ahead here. Let's check our top stories.

LEVS: Do we have to? All right.

MALVEAUX: Hundreds of pilots at Spirit Airlines are on strike this morning after negotiations with the airline hit a stalemate. All Saturday flights now canceled.

A 55-hour standoff in Sacramento, California ended violently, but a 16-month-old baby boy is safe. Last night, police broke into an apartment where Anthony Alvarez had held his cousin's two children hostage for about two days. They shot and killed the 26-year-old man.

A French fishing vessel has reached a remote part of the Indian Ocean to save a stranded California teenager. Abby Sunderland's brother says that rescue workers found her and that she is in good health. It was a rogue wave that ended her efforts to set the record as the youngest person to sail around the world solo.

GRIFFIN: It's an ugly statistic. Nearly 60 percent of California inmates released early wind up behind bars again within three years.

This week's CNN hero is trying to break that revolving door cycle. Once a crack addict and six-time inmate herself, Susan Burton is helping keep female offenders from returning to prison.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN BURTON, CNN HERO: I'm writing in regards to my parole plan. I'm 21 years old with two (INAUDIBLE). I'm scared to relapse again. I want to be a successful -

Please hold a bed for me.

We all leave prison saying, I'm going to get my life on track, and you end up getting off a bus downtown Los Angeles, Skid Row. People know who you are when you come off that bus, and you're targeted. Many times you don't even make it out of the Skid Row area before you're caught up into that cycle again. My name is Susan Burton. After my son died, I used drugs. I just spiraled into a pit of darkness. I went to prison six times. Finally, I found rehab. And I thought I could help women come home from prison.

I picked them up; bring them back into the house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She's really like a mother to all of us. She offers you a warm bed, food, like a real family.

BURTON: I want to see you shower.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She made me want to change my life --

BURTON: You came a long way.

I want the women to realize that they have something to contribute. This has given me life. That's what it's all about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Since 1998, Susan Burton has helped more than 400 women get their lives back on track. To see the story of one of her more challenging cases, and to nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to cnnheroes.com.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Police say he confessed to killing a young Peruvian woman. Now two other countries want a crack at Joran van der Sloot. Straight ahead, a former FBI expert breaks down what is at stake, and what is next, in this murder mystery.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Joran van der Sloot is awaiting trial in a Peruvian prison after authorities filed murder charges Friday against the 22-year-old Dutchman in the beating death of a 21-year-old woman. Police say the body of Stephanie Flores was found in a hotel room in Lima that was registered to Van der Sloot.

Now a homicide detective in Peru says van der Sloot has agreed to explain everything to police in Aruba in the Natalee Holloway case. U.S. officials filed extortion and wire fraud charges against van der Sloot earlier this week.

Now, he was long suspected in the 2005 disappearance of the Alabama teen but was never charged.

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: He is charged with murder now in Peru. The United States charged him in a case this week with extortion in Aruba -- may have interest in an ongoing murder investigation, or at least disappearance there.

So how is this all going to work? Tom Fuentes, former FBI Assistant Deputy Director knows how it works from experience working all across the globe. Tom, you're joining us on the phone from San Francisco. Will the Peruvian authorities basically dictate how the other jurisdictions take part in this?

TOM FUENTES, FBI: Yes. Good morning, Drew and Suzanne. Yes, they have the main case here They have the murder case, claim to have an adequate confession and other evidence in which to convict him; so that is going to be the primary case, because they have him in custody in Peru.

So they'll proceed first. The other cases will be held until the disposition of the Peruvian case.

GRIFFIN: And of course, in Aruba, they really don't have a case yet. Take getting away from the kind of logistical conversation of this, Tom, what does this van der Sloot character have to gain from giving Aruban authorities any evidence that he may have been involved in Natalee Holloway's disappearance?

FUENTES: First of all, he's trying to create a media circus, which may taint evidence gathered in Peru, against him in Peru.

And secondly, he may be trying to play the angle that he knows what happened to Natalee Holloway. He knows the international pressure to have closure and resolution from the family and the authorities in the U.S., and in Aruba.

So he's playing the game that he knows what everybody else wants to know of what happened to Natalee Holloway.

So I think that he may be trying to find some way that, if you take me to Aruba, then I'll tell you what you want to know. And then, of course, it would be very difficult, or start up a lengthy process to get him back in Peru, if they, in fact, do that.

So I don't think the authorities will go along with what he's trying to do in that regard.

GRIFFIN: You answered my question there, that whether or not the Peruvian authorities would go along with that. And one reason he would want to leave Peru is because, from what I understand, the jails are pretty rough there.

FUENTES: Of course, that may be, but again if he gets out of Peru, he may hope he never goes back to Peru to face the charges and may find some other legal maneuver to do that.

And at this point, you don't know really how strong the Peruvian case is. There is so much circumstantial evidence.

There is no question he was with Flores, no question she went to his room, and that he left the room and her body was found there later.

Now, is he the actual killer? Was somebody else in the room? Did he have help? Did he leave and someone else come in later and kill her? These are the type of things that he is going to try to claim now.

And of course, the defense attorneys there are going to do the same thing as defense attorneys do in the U.S.; and that is to suppress the evidence obtained by the police, make it so that that confession that he gave them is not able to be used in court.

GRIFFIN: All right, Tom Fuentes joining us from San Francisco.

Tom, thanks for getting up with us this morning.

FUENTES: You're welcome, Drew.

MALVEAUX: A heat wave across most of the United States. Jacqui Jeras is up in just a moment with a look at those scorching temperatures.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And welcome back to the newsroom. I'm CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras, tracking some thunderstorms across the upper Midwest at this hour, some of them on the strong side here; moving across eastern Iowa.

And check out this mess just to the west of Chicago. You've got a ground stop in effect at O'Hare. It's taking people about two hours extra to arrive into the city because of these thunderstorms. You're going to have to fly around with them; some heavy rainfall with these, too. You could see a good inch per hour at times.

A severe weather threat really stretches from west Texas through the Midwest; and then on into the Ohio River valley. We think that cluster of thunderstorms will continue to push eastward.

On the south side of this system, it is really hot today; talk about some good beach weather. Heat index is up there about 105 degrees plus; with advisories from Memphis, down through Jackson, Mississippi, and into New Orleans as well.

If you're thinking about heading to the beach, we do have a forecast for that oil spill and where some potential tar balls could be making landfall for today. And there you can see right across some of the Alabama beaches, right near the Florida state line, we could see some scattered stuff making its way toward the shore; but again, it's not solid.

And here's a quick look at the beach cams just to the east of the area. Things are still looking good in Destin, Florida, with those white sugar beaches, and you can see those people getting in the water.

Drew and Susan, back to you. Suzanne --

MALVEAUX: OK, thanks, Jacqui.

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Jacqui.

MALVEAUX: And we are getting some new video in of President Obama back in Washington. That is where he went to the soccer game of one of his daughters, his older daughter, Malia.

You can see him there walking her up to the field, and that is where we are told a pool of reporters who follow the president very closely tell us that he had a chance to watch the game for a little bit; that the first lady arrived separately than the president.

His motorcade pulled up. He had some time to spend with Malia, and that he shook some hands with the opposing players and teammates before he took off. And the pool is also telling us that Malia scored a goal in the second half; so not so bad there for the first daughter.

GRIFFIN: Did he leave before she scored?

MALVEAUX: I think that might have happened, yes. At least according to the pool reporters, his motorcade took off, but the first lady was still there, and the pool of reporters, they say that she scored. So that was a big victory for the first family - the little small victories, sure, absolutely; your daughter scores, yes, absolutely.

GRIFFIN: That's what the president does on a Saturday morning, what everybody else does; take your children to a soccer game.

MALVEAUX: Nice to see.

Traveling to a new city can sometimes leave you lost, but you could have a guide right in the palm of year hands. Ishid Heshbar (ph) has the details this weekend, "On the Go".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE, CNN: Technology can be your travel guide when you're on the go, with free applications on smartphones. Trip organizers can keep track of flights, hotels, car rentals and more.

GABE SAGLIE, TRAVELZOO.COM: With the touch of a button, you've got this master plan in front of you that really organizes your trips effectively instead of having multiple sites to visit or multiple pieces of paper to go through.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're hungry, you can find out what is close and what is tasty.

SAGLIE: Eating is a huge part of people's vacations. It allows you to, in essence, save money; but at the same time, make informed dining decisions.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With apps for locating taxis, to exchanging currency, you can find almost anything, including the nearest bathroom.

SAGLIE: And it gives you pictures, so you know exactly what the toilets are going to look like before you get there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you don't have a smartphone, don't worry; you can text Google and get help from any cell phone.

SAGLIE: But it's basically using a 411 operator without the operator.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even with all this, new apps are being added all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Tough times, but there is help and hope coming to struggling homeowners in a bunch of cities.

MALVEAUX: The Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America is making stops in various cities, and they are offering some pointers on loan modifications, mortgage restructuring; and they are doing it 24 hours a day.

We talked with one man who told us what this nonprofit did for him and how it works.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good morning.

CROWD: Good morning.

PHIL OWENS, NACA PARTICIPANT: I got here at 11:00 last night. I was just having problems.

I've been trying to go through the lender to modify the loan, just going back and forth for over a year now; and I was also given a foreclosure date for next month.

And I just felt like these guys were maybe my last hope.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is a three-step process. Step one, orientation to learn about the overall process. Step two, you sit down with a counselor, and you determine an affordable mortgage payment based on your income and your expenses. Step three, you go to the lender to get your solution.

OWENS: Part of it started last year when the economy was at its worse. I fell behind for a month. I set up a repayment agreement, and then my employer went out of business.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are here until 3:00 a.m., 4:00 a.m.; 24 hours, and our service is free.

OWENS: I lowered my adjustable rate mortgage from -- which had been as high as 11.5 percent, currently 9.75. I lowered it to 5.75 today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Well, the NACA Mortgage Marathon continues here in Atlanta until Wednesday. After that, its summer tour is heading to Florida, and then Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and then wraps up in Sacramento in September.

Now, joining us now is mortgage expert Clyde Anderson. Clyde, give us a sense, when you go to one of these mortgage aid summits, or if you're meeting one-on-one with a counselor, what is the best strategy here?

CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCIAL EXPERT: The best strategy is to be prepared. I think that's the biggest thing you have to do. Some of the things that they're asking for, you need to verify your income, so you're going to need about 30 days worth of your pay stubs to verify your income.

But if you're self-employed, you're going to want to provide six months' worth of income, and a lot of times, that is going to be a profit and loss statement, to show that. But you also want to bring that mortgage statement so they can see who your servicer is, how much you owe, and what the monthly payment is, and that is going to help them work those things out.

But you're also going to want to make sure they have information about your property, they know exactly what the property taxes are, and they can get all these things together to help you out, to modify that loan.

MALVEAUX: Tell us a little bit about that guy in the piece, and how that worked out for him.

ANDERSON: It's amazing, you know. They're really restructuring these loans for people. And that's the key, to be able to restructure the loan and get them a new loan that's actually affordable.

And so a lot of times, when you're going into this, people are skeptical. But it's lot of people that need help, and they are there, and they have the counselors on spot.

You heard the lady there, right there on the piece. They're there 24 hours, so I think that's a great thing for them to be there, to be on the scene to help these people; and a lot of times they don't have any way out.

And I think one of the benefits is, there is no real criteria or qualification for it. They're going to look at everybody to see who can qualify for this.

MALVEAUX: Is it worth it, Clyde, do you think, for people to wait in that kind of line, and get through? Are people being processed fairly quickly?

ANDERSON: I think it's definitely worth it. Processed quickly? I would say no.

You think about the masses of people that are out there doing this. A lot of people need help. The foreclosure epidemic is a big crisis. And so now we're talking about this; we're really trying to stop the bleeding. I really applaud them for taking this effort to stop the bleeding.

But, yes, quick? It's not going to happen quickly. You have to have a lot of patience when you're dealing with something like this. We're talking about restructuring a loan. A lot of times they're going to take the amount that you're behind, put it on the back end of the loan; then you take your rate from 8 percent, 9 percent, take you down to 5, percent, 4 percent, or 3 percent in some cases. So you're saving a lot of money. People are able to stay in their home.

You heard the guy there on the tape said he had lost his job, he just didn't have that income. So they're really going to look at everybody on a case by case basis and see what they can do for these people to help them out.

MALVEAUX: What other cities are actually holding these events? I know we've got -- we're watching closely what's happening here in Atlanta, but this is something that's spreading. It's catching on.

ANDERSON: Right, it definitely is. The tour is going to several places. It's going to Sacramento. It's going to Washington, D.C. It's going to L.A. It's going down to South Florida.

So you really have to be prepared. Take a look at it, follow them, go to their Website at naca.com. You can find out the cities that they're going to.

Now, another benefit here is that maybe you're not in one of those cities. You can actually do this online. You can apply online. They'll provide you with a PIN number that will actually allow you to go in, have your own account and upload this information.

So they can get the information right there online. You can even call the 1-800 number, so I think that's a benefit.

So don't feel like just because it's not coming to your city, that you can't take advantage of this option. Definitely take a look at it and see how it could benefit you.

MALVEAUX: All right, Clyde, as always, very useful tips. We really appreciate it.

And of course, you can catch Clyde here every Saturday. You can shoot him a question and follow him on Twitter as well.

Thanks, Clyde.

ANDERSON: Thank you very much, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: Millions of pounds of sand are being flown to Louisiana to shore up the state's barrier islands against that big Gulf oil spill

GRIFFIN: Now Reporter Brian Todd is going to give us a first-hand look at the sandbagging of one of those islands.

BRIAN TODD, CNN REPORTER: You can see the Chinook picking up a couple of bags of sand. Each of those bags weighs about 1,500 pounds, and they're dropping them into the Scofield and Pelican Island area, right in the little slits of water within those islands, because apparently the oil is kind of moving between those little slits and getting through and getting toward the coastline. So they're trying to patch that up.

That's what these bags are for. They bring these bags in stages overnight, so that they can fly continuous operations during the day, and we really mean continuous. This Chinook just took off. We have another one over here on the way in to pick some more up.

This is Scofield Island, dropping 15 million some pounds of sand on here. That's how much has been dropped so far. Here comes a Chinook dropping more. We've got 14 of these gaps to fill on this island.

I'm literally standing on one of the gaps that they're trying to fill here on Scofield Island. You can see massive bags here. These are all the way between 1,500 and 2,000 pounds. This is one of the 40 gaps along the Louisiana coastline that they're trying to fill with these sandbags. 15 million pounds of this stuff has already been dropped. You can just see along the coastline here.

You can see how long this gap is. You can film up along there and just see what these guys are up against as they drop this stuff and have to get it into place. Dozens of these gaps have to be filled. So you really get a sense of the task at hand here.

Environmentalists have raised concern about these operations and the berming that is going to be going on. They say that it could speed up erosion; that it could destroy oil and gas pipelines; that it could even change the salinity of the water by changing the flow of the water.

Governor Jindal says he understands all that. They're addressing those concerns as they go, and they're not going to do some of these operations in some very sensitive areas, but he says, still, it's better to do this, than to have to fight the oil inland, or even let it get past these gaps.

Brian Todd, CNN, just off Scofield Island, Louisiana.