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Man on Personal Hunt for Obama; Oil Execs Face Questions on the Hill as Obama Issues Stern Warning; Oklahoma's State of Emergency; Colorado Couple's Personal Journey to Help the Gulf

Aired June 15, 2010 - 10:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Let's get you caught up with some of the day's top stories including a 52-year-old California man, he's in custody in Pakistan. Police there say that Gary Faulkner was picked up near the Afghan border. Apparently, Faulkner was armed in a personal hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

And in Tampa, Florida, a man and woman are in custody this morning at MacDill Air Force Base. They were stopped last night trying to enter a gate late yesterday without proper I.D., and the Air Force says their vehicles contained weapons and military style uniforms. There will be a press conference this morning in about half an hour on the situation there at MacDill Air Force Base. We'll bring it to you live as soon as we've seen that.

Also, a growing humanitarian bottle neck on the border here between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. This is following deadly clashes between the two nationalities in the former Soviet Republic. Thousands upon thousands of refugee Uzbeks have fled Kyrgyzstan to some of these refugee camps. The Uzbek government has since closed that border. We will take to you a refugee encampment for a live report in just a couple of minutes.

Meantime, we want to begin this hour with day 57 of this ongoing oil crisis in the Gulf. The president, he is there on the coast. This is day two of his fourth visit down there, and oil executives are on Capitol Hill, and the White House here is on the offensive.

Now, earlier this morning, it issued a stern warning to BP. Here's what they said. Take better care of the people teetering on financial ruin or the White House will take over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The best way to prevail on BP is to take the claims process away from BP. The president possesses the legal authority and will use it to make this claims process independent, to take it away from BP and to ensure that those who have been harmed economically have their claims processed quickly, efficiently, transparently and that they are made whole again for the disaster caused by BP.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: It would be certainly be a bold move by a White House that faces growing anger all along the Gulf coast, and it will be a topic certainly when the president delivers that primetime address to the nation, tonight, from the Oval Office but before he's there, the president is in Florida as is our own CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry, joining me, Ed from, I imagine, a packed house there. Ed, good morning.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Good morning, Brooke. This is the Pensacola Naval Air Station, a lot of young Marine and Navy personnel behind me waiting to hear from the president.

But first, he's going to be walking Pensacola Beach. And I can tell you I walked that beach yesterday, and there's a lot of frustration, not just with BP but also the federal government.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY (on camera): Take me to -

(voice-over): Take a tour with Buck Lee, who runs Pensacola Beach, and you'll see a picture perfect summer scene, but Lee knows big gobs are oil are likely to wash up here soon, and he's furious that a month ago he requested four tractors from the federal government to help sift the sand and only one finally arrived Monday afternoon, just hours before President Obama came to town.

WILLIAM "BUCK" LEE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, SANTA ROSA ISLAND AUTHORITY: Just sitting over there, and so finally the word got through. We raised enough heck that they said, "OK, if it will shut you up, we'll get these things for you."

HENRY: Locals are so desperate, they're demanding that FEMA, which was once reviled, get involved so that equipment can arrive quicker and they're demanding more accountability from BP.

LEE: It's a disaster. OK. And so we need to have BP set up some kind of funding, whether it's $5 billion or $10 billion a year, that everybody whether you are a government that needs equipment or you're a business person suffering that can go to this account and present legitimate claims and get their money back.

HENRY: White House advisers say such a fund will be announced by the president Tuesday night, but that may not be enough for some here on the beach.

(on camera): You voted for President Obama. What's your trust level on him right now?

BRUCE PARRIS, GENERAL MANAGER, THE DECK RESTAURANT: Well, you know, I'm starting to think I wish I would have voted for Hillary. I think she may have more nerve, might have not put up with this for as long.

HENRY (voice-over): Bruce Parris says business is down 40 percent at his restaurant from last year, and he's worried it will only get worse when the oil arrives.

PARRIS: We pretty much know it's going to be here. It's inevitable.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HENRY: Now, this will be the president's first time that he's using the Oval Office for a primetime address like that. Aides say that's because of the gravity of the situation they want to underline that but they also want to have two big brush themes. One being that the president is going to layout sort of a game plan moving forward.

They know there's a lot of frustration with both the government and BP. But also other big theme, the president trying to hold BP accountable by setting up that escrow fund but also, you'll remember, that after this Oval Office address, tomorrow the president will be meeting for the first time with top BP officials to try to hold their feet to the fire. Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. Ed Henry for us in Pensacola, Florida. Ed, thank you.

By the way, we want to remind you we will have live coverage of the president's address to the nation, as Ed mentioned, from the Oval Office. That is 8:00 tonight. That is Eastern time, 5:00 p.m. Pacific. And of course, you can see it right here on CNN along with the best political team on TV.

And we're talking about President Obama's speech on our blog this morning. We want to hear from you. Here's the question. It's real simple, what do you want to hear from the president tonight? We hope you go to our blog. Go to cnn.com/Kyra and post your comments. We will be sorting through some of those comments. I'll read some of them live on the air a little later this hour. I always look forward to hearing from you.

Also, when it comes to oil, right now, I want to take you to Capitol Hill. Lawmakers are blistering. Top executives not only from BP here. I want to be clear, four other oil companies in the hot seat as well. Members of the congressional subcommittee want to know if BP's mistakes, their lack of a contingency plan is isolated or perhaps if the other companies are also making risky decisions as well.

CNN congressional correspondent Brianna Keilar is joining me now from Capitol Hill. Brianna, I know you've been listening to this thing. We listened in about 10 minutes in and already we heard some very tough talk from Congressman Ed Marquee about big oil.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. He and other Democrats, Brooke, are the ones delivering the blistering criticism of these five oil companies, including BP, saying that when you look at their oil spill response plans, they are cookie cutter plans. Listen to what Congressman Markey said just a short time ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. ED MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: We found that all of these companies, not just BP, made the exact same assurances. The covers of the five response plans are different colors but the content is 90 percent identical. Like BP, three other companies include references to protecting walruses, which have not called the Gulf of Mexico home for three million years.

Two other plans are such dead ringers for BP's that they list a phone number for the same long-dead expert.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: So the point here, Brooke, that you see Congressman Markey and other Democrats making is that these four other oil companies are as unprepared to deal with the disaster as BP is. Now, that is coming from the point of view, of course, of these democrats, who are critics of Deepwater drilling. Big critics of BP.

We've also seen some Republicans especially from the Gulf Coast coming to, I guess, to rescue in a way of these oil company executives. We heard from Joe Barton, the top Republican on this committee. He said look no doubt, these companies are part of the problem but they are also part of the solution, and that the U.S. needs to rely on its domestic oil production, and without that there's a demand, an even more of a demand on foreign oil production and really relying on countries that are not friends of the United States, and he says that is not the way to go here. Brooke.

BALDWIN: And also, possibly limiting those liability caps, right? I think it's sitting at $75 million. He's saying enough with that.

KEILAR: Right.

And BP has said all right, no, we're ignoring the $75 million liability cap but what you're seeing Democrats do here is pressure - they're going to be pressuring all of these companies to get behind a push to dramatically increase that liability cap.

BALDWIN: Fascinating conversations there in that room on Capitol Hill, Brianna, let us know if anything else comes out of it. I'm sure there will. I'm sure we'll be seeing you all day here on CNN. Brianna Keilar for us here on Capitol Hill.

Meantime, let's talk about all that rain in the Midwest. It might have eased back in Oklahoma this morning but the damage is definitely done. You've seen the pictures. Monday's punishing rain has left most of the state under a state of emergency, and you can bet there are some very tired rescuers this morning.

I want to take you to CNN's Sandra Endo. She is in Edmund, Oklahoma. That is just north of Oklahoma City. And Sandra, wow, what a story there and from the guy you were talking to last hour, it's unbelievable that these people - a lot of them didn't have flood insurance. SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Brooke. It's really heart-breaking to see so many residents come back to their homes, to this. Waterlogged areas. And now the big cleanup is underway. You can see where the water level was on this house. Just right here, about waist level to me.

And so many people now have the big job of pulling things out of their homes, soaked blankets, furniture, damaged insulation and drywall here. Also perfectly good furniture now completely destroyed by the floodwater. And this is really unprecedented for this area, Brooke. Because they are not used to this type of rain especially floods, as you were mentioning.

So for many residents here, they were caught off guard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ENDO (voice-over): Roads and cars, and even entire neighborhoods submerged in water. This teenage girl was clinging to trees as the fast moving water surrounded here.

RAQUEL DAWSON, RESCUED FROM FLOOD: The current just got stronger and the water got deeper.

ENDO: Rescue workers pulled Raquel Dawson to safety after what she says was a two-hour struggle to survive.

DAWSON: I started shaking really bad while I was swimming and I thought I was going to pass out, and I thought I was going to die.

ENDO: The severe thunderstorms ripped through parts of central Oklahoma, causing flash floods, leaving thousands without power and many injured. A state of emergency has been declared in 59 of Oklahoma's 77 counties. Authorities are urging people not to drive through water covered roads.

VOICE OF FRANK BARNES, OKLAHOMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: At one point in time we had almost two dozen calls of people that were trapped in vehicles due to high water, and at least half of those were considered high priority requiring immediate rescue.

ENDO: Some residents said they didn't think they would ever need flood insurance.

JARET JONES, FLOOD VICTIM: This area hasn't flooded in about 20 years or more, and with our retaining wall we had up, we thought we were safe, but it was a big mistake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENDO: And it may be sunny now, but Oklahoma residents aren't yet in the clear completely because more severe thunderstorms are forecast for later today. Brooke.

BALDWIN: Gosh, Sandra, I just can't get past the picture behind you. Sandra Endo for us in Oklahoma. Sandra, thank you. We can't talk about Oklahoma without talking about what happened in Arkansas, a couple of days ago.

I want to give you a quick update on that flash flooding. Remember that campground from early Friday morning. Here's what we know, search crews think they have found the body of the 20th and hopefully this is the final victim. We're told this is a young girl. Fewer searchers are out looking right now. Several funerals though are set for today. Remember, the flooding hit this remote Albert Pike Campground area early, early Friday morning when a lot of those victims were just fast asleep.

There are 50 million reasons to find Osama Bin Laden. We will tell you about the latest wannabe bounty hunter captured overseas. Who stopped him and why?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Well, it turns out the hunt for Osama Bin Laden might have gotten a little too personal for a 52-year-old American. Pakistani police say Gary Faulkner was detained for allegedly trying to cross the border into Afghanistan to find Bin Laden. Police say Faulkner was armed with a pistol, a sword, night vision glasses and Christian religious books. He told police he was looking for Bin Laden. In fact, since 9/11, we're told there is a $50 million reward, of course, for Bin Laden's capture.

And also happening right now on Capitol Hill, we're not just talking oil, we're talking Senate Armed Services Committee. They're holding this hearing on the progress in Afghanistan. General David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central command is testifying this morning. These are live pictures, by the way.

Also appearing before the panel this morning is Undersecretary of Defense, Michele Flournoy. In this opening statement, Petraeus spoke about plans to secure Kandahar City from the Taliban. He suggested the campaign will not be easy but goes on to say that Afghan troop commitment in the war is moving toward levels set for yearly goals.

And intense calm is holding, at least, for now, in southern Kyrgyzstan but ethnic discord and all of that violence still very much so simmering in two main cities, Osh and Jalabad. Take a look at the pictures here. Really, this has been the scene the last couple of days. Thick black smoke hovering over the streets, over these homes. Sporadic gunshots. Some 170 people have reportedly been killed and that is sparking a refugee exodus. Tens of thousands of people, the Uzbeks, they're overwhelming camps and neighboring Uzbekistan, which just re-opened its border just recently - of its border crossings.

I want to talk now to senior international correspondent Matthew Chance who broke that news to us last hour. He's amazingly joining us from one of these refugee camp. And Matthew if you can, just re-set for us, explain when the border crossing reopened and then paint the picture, if you will, of just how bad is it there.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, here in the camps, it's pretty good actually for the tens of thousands of people who have managed to get here. It's a relative term. They're deeply concerned about what's going on in southern Kyrgyzstan. Still there are still reports of sporadic violence and of course, these people, these refugees, the hundreds, thousands or more that have now been permitted into Uzbekistan are mainly women and children.

They've left their men folk, their husbands, their brothers, their sons back in southern Kyrgyzstan to defend what's left of their property in cities like Osh and Jalabad that have been the focus of ethnic violence between Uzbeks and ethnic Kyrgyz over the last several days.

And so they're still very grateful (INAUDIBLE) that they got to these refugee camps. They are grateful for the beds, the blankets, the shelter, the security. But they are still deeply concerned about what's happening to their loved ones back across the border. Brooke.

BALDWIN: You mentioned the beds, the blankets, security, Matthew. But you know, that brings me to ask you about supply levels. Are they getting any kind of aid into those refugee camps, and from whom?

CHANCE: Yes. I mean, here in Uzbekistan, the Uzbeki authorities are looking after these refugees as well as they can. They got all those things I mentioned and they got food as well.

But the big concern at the moment is to the thousands of people that are still stranded across the other side of the barbed wire fences in southern Kyrgyzstan, who are not being permitted in the most part by the Uzbekis to come across into these refugee camps because the Uzbekis say they haven't got enough room anymore. They haven't gotten resources. There's a lot of concern amongst human rights organizations, amongst air workers, what will become of them because they're largely without shelter. They don't have water. They don't have food.

I have to say, I've seen some Uzbek officials and Uzbeki aid workers delivering some water and some bread to them over the course of the past several hours but it is only temporary. It can't be enough. It can't be sustainable. And so there is a lot of pressure on both the international community to deliver aid to those areas and to get it to the people who need it most and pressure on the Uzbekis as well, the Uzbekis here in Uzbekistan to lift their border restrictions completely to allow more people to flood in. Brooke.

BALDWIN: It's amazing the juxtaposition between those pictures and the calm there, the Uzbek refugee camps and of course, the violence in neighboring Kyrgyzstan.

Matthew Chance for us this morning. Matthew, thank you.

The main suspect in the Natalie Holloway way case, and that is Joran van der Sloot. Guess what? He has to find a new attorney.

We will tell you a man who has been representing him in the murder case in Peru quit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: Great numbers. Some of the numbers there on Wall Street. It looks like the Dow is just about 79 points this morning. Sitting at 10,269. Remember, you can always get those numbers, just go to CNN.com. Meantime, let's get a check of some of the days' top stories and of course, got to talk about the Gulf.

It is day 57 now of the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The president today will be visiting the Florida panhandle. In fact, he'll be speaking right around 11:40 Eastern time. The beaches, Pensacola. They have already been muddied by that oil. The president also tonight, back in Washington, addressing the nation prime time. 8:00 from the Oval Office.

Executives of BP and four other oil companies - they are there on Capitol Hill this morning. In fact, these are live pictures from that subcommittee. The lawmakers essentially want to know if BP's response plan is isolated or perhaps if this is an industry standard.

And in Peru, Joran van der Sloot's Peruvian attorney has totally quit the job. He says the job has cost him a lot of problems. Joran van der Sloot is accused of killing a 21-year-old woman in Lima last month.

Here's the question for you, how much would you really give up to help fix the oil spill or help the people along the Gulf? Would you perhaps slap a for sale sign on your front loan and travel literally 1,500 miles of Gulf coast. That is precisely what one Colorado couple plans to do. You will meet them in just a couple of minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: So much oil and you know, a lot of frustration but one (INAUDIBLE) couple is taking drastic action to try to help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're selling everything we have and we're going down to help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's one thing to voice your opinion on Facebook and Twitter and everything else. It's quite another to go down and physically take action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: And Thomas Scholten and his wife, Sherry, are good enough to get up this morning and talk to me about this major decision. They're joining me from Denver via Skype. And both of you, good morning. And I got to be honest, I saw the story at 10:00 last night. I got to my Blackberry, I e-mailed my producers and I couldn't believe it. Let me just start with the easy question, how did you come up with the idea?

TOM SCHOLTEN, DENVER RESIDENT: Well, Brooke, it was time to do something, and we just looked at each other and said, let's go.

BALDWIN: And you said let's go, and why, though? Why physically move down there and what do you plan to do to help once you're there?

SCHOLTEN: Well, we've contacted our senator and our congresswoman, and also the National Resources Defense Council of which Robert Redford is a trustee, and we just felt the time was right to go help. We're chefs by trade and we were horrified by the wildlife and the fishing industry that's taking a huge hit and we just wanted to go down and be effective. I know we're just two people, but hopefully it's going to work out.

BALDWIN: Thomas, let me pose a question to you, though. I understand you've seen the pictures of the oiled pelicans, and it's sort of - you know, it's tough for all of us to see, but what specifically do you plan to do once you get down there?

SCHOLTEN: Anything we can. I think that, you know, obviously, we've been restaurateurs and we run a chefs' company here in Denver, but cooking isn't the only option. As a food and wine fanatic myself, I'm horrified to see that this is becoming one of the greatest eco- disasters of our entire life and we've been very blessed over the years to have had 20 years of corporate experience, a wine spectator award-winning restaurant at Keystone and you know, I think it's time to give back. And I really do mean that we would like to help set an example, if I may, to take physical action versus just rendering an opinion.

BALDWIN: And Shari, is this right, your mother-in-law said you guys were nuts initially for doing this?

SHARI FRITZ-SCHOLTEN: Yes, she absolutely said we were nuts for doing this.

BALDWIN: And you said.

FRITZ-SCHOLTEN: And the next breath, she said, how can she help?

SCHOLTEN: And so, when are you leaving?

FRITZ-SCHOLTEN: We close on our house in early July, and, like I said, we want to go down and be the most effective that we can. So, like I said, we've contacted various organizations, nonprofits, and our senator and our congresswoman, so we wanted to have a plan in place, which we think will occur in the next 30 days, by the time we close on our house, and hopefully we'll be down there by the end of July or early August.

LEMON: And let's not forget our friend Ken Salazar.

BALDWIN: And what about him?

SCHOLTEN: Well, we contacted him as well.

BALDWIN: OK, you contacted him. Got it Thomas and Sheri Scholten, I understand once you get down there, give us a call and let us know what you specifically end up doing. Fascinating though. I wish you the best of luck.

FRITZ-SCHOLTEN: Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

BALDWIN: Well, we want to take a look at the fix-it ideas. Here on CNN all week long. Of course, five a day, every day, ways to scoop up the oil, thoughts on plugging the leak and even ways to lend a helping hand like the Scholtens. We're looking at all of them. Make sure you stay tuned to CNN all week long for that.

Also happening, just moments ago, General Petraeus falls ill during a hearing on Capitol Hill. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I told you a couple minutes ago about a hearing that had just started on Capitol Hill. It was this hearing about Afghanistan. That was the Senate Armed Services committee, and we were hearing from David Petraeus.

We just turned around some video. Apparently, he was choking and convulsing. We've turned this video around for you. A bunch of people had run around him. It was when Senator McCain was speaking, and he's in the center of this. General David Petraeus is in the center of the table. People coming to his aid. I'm told he has since been escorted out of the room.

Was he eating? Did he choke? These are all questions we are working on getting answered. We are trying to get ahold of some of our folks on Capitol Hill. Perhaps they've heard. At least he looks like he's able to get up and walk away. But frightening, frightening for the people there on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Unbelievable.

Switching gears here. Democrats in South Carolina have a problem, and his name is Alvin Greene. How did the guy who didn't even want the campaign actually win the Senate primary? The theories have definitely begun. Here now is CNN national political correspondent Jessica Yellin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Recognize this man? South Carolina's senior Democrats don't know him either, but Alvin Greene just won the state's Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. Senate. On CNN's "State of the Union", a top Democrat says Greene must be a plant.

REP. JAMES CLYBURN, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA: I saw in the Democratic primary elephant dung all over the place. And so, I knew something was wrong in that primary.

YELLIN: On NBC's "Meet the Press," the president's top strategist sounded mystified.

DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER TO THE PRESIDENT: How he won the primary is a big mystery though, and until you resolve that, I don't think he can claim to be a strong, credible candidate. YELLIN: Some background? Greene is unemployed, faces felony pornography charges. He claims to be destitute and yet he came up with a $10,000 filing fee. Oh, and he won without ever campaigning. CNN's Don Lemon just got word, he's not your typical interview either.

ALVIN GREENE, (D) SOUTH CAROLINA SENATE CANDIDATE: The election was certified as of 3:00 p.m. eastern standard time yesterday. So, I'm on the ballot here on out. I'm, you know, all the way. I'm the best candidate for the United States Senate in this race, in South Carolina.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: OK. OK. Are you always this soft spoken? Are you okay right now?

GREENE: I'm fine.

LEMON: You're fine. And you're -

GREENE: I'm OK.

LEMON: You're mentally sound, physically sound, you're not impaired by anything at this moment?

GREENE: No. Just -- I'm okay.

YELLIN: Greene won't comment on his felony charges but where did he get the money to run?

GREENE: My personal money. From the army.

YELLIN: The other Democratic candidate is contesting the election though he was barely visible either. His only ads were these web videos.

VIC RAWL, SENATE CANDIDATE: I am Vic Rawl. I am a South Carolinian.

YELLIN: Theories abound.

GREENE: I've always been a Democrat, and I am the best candidate for United States Senate in South Carolina.

YELLIN (voice-over): Some say voters just picked the candidate with the name they liked best.

(on camera): The state Democratic party asked Greene to step aside. He declined. There could be an official inquiry into the source of his filing fees, and there's even talk of lawsuits. but for now, this has embarrassed the state Democratic party and given Republican incumbent Senator Jim DeMint a virtual walk to re-election.

Jessica Yellin, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: I want to give you a quick update. When we saw General David Petraeus, he appeared obviously not well in the middle of that Senate Armed Forces (sic) hearing. Want to let you know we're hearing from Senator Levin announcing that General Petraeus appears to be doing very well, though they will decide whether to continue with the hearing. Remember, they were talking about the progress in Afghanistan. Again, it was a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. Of course, we will keep you posted. Scary, scary moment for a few minutes there on Capitol Hill this morning.

High school champions. They are not celebrating football victories or academic achievements. Instead, it is about living right. We will take you to the healthiest school in America.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Are you looking to eat a little bit more healthier? Who isn't, really, these days, it seems? Federal guidelines about how much salt and fat is healthy in your diet could again be changing. Health officials are amping up their goal to reduce obesity in America.

Senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen is here with me. And Elizabeth, here we go again.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. Here we go.

As Americans are getting fatter and in many less healthy, the federal government says we're going to be more strict to try to get people to lose weight and to try to end diseases or at least lessen diseases like diabetes and hypertension.

So, this panel of federal experts has sat down and said people need to eat even less saturated fat and even less salt. Let's take a look at what these means to you when you sit down to eat.

Here's a great example. This is a pizza at a very popular restaurant, a sit-down restaurant. If you eat half of this pizza, you have eaten all of your saturated fat for the day. That's it. You're done. So, as you can see, most Americans are probably not living up to this right now.

Now, let's take a look at sodium, which is the second thing they're trying to fix. If you sat down and ate half of this crab-and- shrimp quesadilla, just half of it, you have gone over the amount of sodium you're supposed to eat, according to these recommended new guidelines. So, as you can see, Americans have a long way to go to meet these goals that are being laid out for them. Brooke.

BALDWIN: OK. It's kind of bad that my stomach growling now, looking at that quesadilla. But anyway, as a country, right, we've been trying to lose weight for years. How are we doing?

COHEN: You know what, Brooke, we are not doing very well. As a matter of fact, take a look at this map. One of the goals here basically is to get the amount of obesity in this country to under 20 percent. So, to have fewer than 20 percent of the country obese. One state has met that goal, Colorado, right there in blue. And that is it. One state, so not doing very well.

BALDWIN: OK. A lot of people eat out because it's easier sometimes, and it's hard to monitor your sodium intake and fat intake when you're sitting at a restaurant. So, what can people do?

COHEN: Right. It's a tough situation. You are not cooking for yourself. How do you know what's in your dish? Go to CNN.com/empoweredpatient, where we like to give you solutions. If you look under "News and Trends," you will see a wonderful blog by my colleague Sabria Rice (ph). And she's got with to some specific advice about what to do when you eat out.

And you know what? Not as hard as it used to be. Go on the Internet, and you can see all the fat and calories in your favorite restaurant foods.

BALDWIN: All right. Elizabeth, thank you for that.

Want to go back to two top stories here we've been keeping our eye one. One on Capitol Hill. The other in Florida.

First, let's take a look at a live press conference at MacDill Air Force base. This is Tampa, Florida. That base, we're told doors are back open and back to business as usual this morning after a man and woman tried to get in there last night without authorization, without proper I.D.

Now, the Air Force says at no point was security breached. The system worked just as was supposed to. The couple was stopped at the gate, couldn't show proper ID. We're also told there is no indication that the incident was a terrorist attack. A search of their SUV found military-style uniforms and several rifle-type weapons. MacDill Air Force Base serves as the headquarters for the U.S. Central Command for both Iraq and Afghanistan military operations.

We also told you a couple of minutes ago and showed you some frightening video of General David Petraeus in the middle of this Senate Armed Services Committee hearing sort of keeling over at this table.

I have senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash - these are the pictures, this is what happened. Dana Bash on the phone with me. Dana what in the world happened. Do we know?

DANA BASH, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via phone): We're not entirely sure yet. The chairman of the committee, Senator Carl Levin, says he thinks that perhaps the General was dehydrated, perhaps he hadn't eaten enough.

But I'll tell you where I am right now. I am just outside that hearing room, in fact, outside the Ante Room, which is the room that's right next to that committee room, which is where the general is right now. He is inside there, I'm told, with some doctors and there are EMT officials. There is an ambulance and fire trucks that were called. Regular D.C. EMT called. They are standing outside the door waiting to see if they need to go in to assist him. But senators are milling around, saying they think everything will be fine.

BALDWIN: OK, certainly, Dana this is not something we see often, thank goodness, on Capitol Hill. What kind of reaction have you seen from congressmen around you?

BASH: The senators who in the hearing, which, of course, is delayed right now look a little bit stunned. They certainly think the same thing. They don't see this very often, especially from somebody as, frankly, physically fit as General Petraeus is known to be.

He was testifying on Afghanistan and then -- I'm not sure if you have the pictures up. I can't see our air right now. He simply slumped over. They believe he passed out or fainted. Again, it is really unclear right now why, but the chairman of the committee thinks he was possibly dehydrated.

I want to paint the scene where I am for you now. I'm literally standing outside of the Ante Room where the general is, and I'm seeing five members of the D.C. fire department -- effectively, EMT response officials waiting to see if they need to go inside. But one of them told me there is a doctor inside with him now.

BALDWIN: Frightening moments. Dana Bash, please keep us posted. As soon as you hear anything more about General Petraeus, please, please, call us and pass it along.

Also, when we come back, we will talk to a teacher, as I promised, from the healthiest school in America. Stay there.

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BALDWIN: All right. Let's all be honest here. Bad eating habits kind of hard to break sometimes, especially if you grow up with them. There are 25 million overweight or obese children in the United States, and only 3 in 10 high school seniors actually admit to eating green vegetables every day. Unhealthy kids turn into unhealthy adults.

That can cost a lot both personally and to your pocketbook. The Department of Health and Human Services says the U.S. spends a trillion dollars a year -- a trillion dollars -- a year on chronic diseases. So, how do we as a nation and as our schools combat this?

John Fraraccio has some ideas. He is the physical education director of Memorial High School in West New York, New Jersey. It was recently named the healthiest school in America.

Of course, John, that is a huge, hug deal for you and your school. So, personally, just congratulate you on that honor. And second, let me ask the obvious question. Which is, what are you doing right? And don't tell me it's not just giving your students more broccoli for lunch. I know it's more than that.

JOHN FRARACCIO, P.E. DIRECTOR, MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL: No, you know, it's really been more about a change in the culture in West New York. Our food service director came up with the slogan "Culture, Not Cookies." We don't -- it's more about getting the kids to make the right decisions when they leave school.

We feed them breakfast and lunch and we do a good job of taking care of those aspects, but it's about the decisions that make when they leave school. And also with increased physical activity, and what we do in phys ed class and health. It's kind of just taking the whole thing and putting it into one thing that they can take with them.

BALDWIN: Now, John, did you get resistance from the students who say, hey, I don't know about eating this way or working out this much or taking these kind of P.E. classes. I mean, how tough was it to make these culture changes?

FRARACCIO: You know, the funny thing is, we say if you build it, they will come. If you put the programs out there, kids will jump on board. I think one of the biggest things we have done at Memorial High School too is we've taken care of the kids, but we've also focused on adults as well. We're pretty intense with our staff wellness program that the teachers and staff and administration and everybody is jumping on board. The kids are important, but the staff is just as important to us as well.

BALDWIN: John, I'm glad you brought that up. Because I was reading your bio and a bunch of articles about you, and I loved how you talk about the parents and faculty members as well. They are walking the walk. They're not just talking the talk. In fact, I read you're having salsa dancing and fitness boot camps for the teachers, too?

FRARACCIO: Yes. We actually have -- one of our teachers is a personal trainer who we give the facility to after school free of charge. He has his insurance and he runs three sessions of boot camps for our teachers. And we have 50 or 60 people who attend those three sessions. We have made significant changes in the lives of those people that have attended boot camp. We also have faculty and student yoga --

BALDWIN: How do you pay for this? John, how do you pay for this, though?

FRARACCIO: You know, the teachers -- the board of education has been gracious enough to give us the facilities. And the physical trainer and the company uses the facilities and provides the service, and the teachers pay for it. It's not that expensive, and it makes it convenient to come down right out of work and come and work out.

We have faculty and student yoga, and we also brought Weight Watchers into the building. So, the teachers have their Weight Watchers meetings as soon as the school day ends.

So, it's been a total transformation. Although I'm the one up here giving the interview, I have a tremendous team I work with from the superintendent to my assistant superintendent, food service director, district wellness committee chairperson. It's a total team effort. And Memorial High School is getting the recognition now, but it's really the town of West New York that is really benefiting and is involved in the whole thing. BALDWIN: That is awesome. Congratulations, John Fraraccio. Thank you.

Got to move on. Speaking of health, it appears General David Petraeus, as you can see there on the right, talking to Senator Levin and McCain, Senator Lieberman, he is okay. He - perhaps he was drinking a little water and obviously feeling better. There was a round of applause in the room when he re-entered. So, perhaps that meeting will continue as scheduled. Talking about the progress in Afghanistan.

Hey, CNN NEWSROOM will be right back.

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BALDWIN: Every day at this time, we like to honor service members, men and women who have given their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. We call it "Home and Away."

Today, we want to tell you about Sergeant Joe Dahl. He died after his unit came under enemy fire in Iraq back on June 23, 2007. He was wife tells us Joel was due to come home days after the birth of his son. She says the only thing Joel loved more than being a soldier was the idea of being a dad. She says Joel lives on in his son, who acts in many ways like the man he never met.

If you would like -- if know someone like Joel, we, of course, would love to here from you here at CNN. It's real easy. Just go to CNN.com/homeandaway. You can click on a hometown and pull up the service member's bio here, both by going either to Iraq or Afghanistan or to the United States. You and also add thoughts and picks and video. We love to keep those memories alive.

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BALDWIN: Want to get you one more update on the situation on Capitol Hill inside that Senate Armed Forces (sic) Committee hearing. Remember, General Petraeus was in there, sort of keeled over at that table.

We're now officially hearing -- there he is as he walked back in that room. We're hearing he announced to everyone that he was dehydrated, but it was one of the senators who then said, look, with all due respect, general, we're going to be postponing the hearing.

For a little bit more on what happened, of course, senior congressional correspondent Dana Bash talked to General Petraeus. She joins me now back on the phone. And Dana, what did he say?

BASH: Brooke, I talked to him on the way out. He said he was doing fine. He told me he was dehydrated, he said he went into the back room, had a couple of bananas, drank some water and that made him feel better. He also told me he didn't have breakfast this morning, so he said that might be part of the reason why he did pass out. When he was talking to me, he was holding a cup of water. And with that, he walked out of the Senate office building where this hearing was occurring and got in a car and left, and we won't see him until tomorrow morning.

So, as you said, this hearing is adjourned. And General Petraeus said it was simply a case of dehydration.

BALDWIN: Dehydration. We're glad that's all it was. Dana Bash, we thank you for grabbing him and I think you said getting him on the phone and finding out what happened. And again, we are hearing that the hearing was postponed.

Dana Bash, thank you. Thank you , Dana.

I'm going to send it over to my colleague, Tony Harris. We all know, Tony, you don't eat breakfast, not a good idea.