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Cap May Stay Until Relief Well Ready; Williams and Tea Party Express Expelled; Alvin Greene Talks; How the Financial Regulatory Reform Bill will Affect You; Wall Street Reform; Vacation Photo Advice; The Web's Most Watched Videos

Aired July 18, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Wall Street reform is a done deal, but what does it mean for you? Coming up this hour, we'll talk to Daria Dolan, financial expert, about the impact on consumers.

And South Carolina's surprise senatorial candidate is finally hitting the campaign trail. We'll hear from Democrat Alvin Greene at 4:00 Eastern time.

Plus, medical tests at no cost to you. It's part of the health care bill and we'll dig deeper in our 5:00 Eastern hour.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM and I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin in the gulf where BP officials are now telling us the newly capped oil well may remain capped until a relief well is drilled. Whether that happens or not depends on results of crucial integrity tests and a key assessment of those results is just two hours away.

CNN's David Mattingly is live in New Orleans. High expectations, David?

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you could say that and high expectations all across the gulf as people are continuing to watch these tests go along. BP today sounding very confident so far in our third day of testing. No leaks, no problems, no surprises, the pressure's rising just like they thought it would.

And today BP spokesman Doug Suttles was telling us that there's now that possibility that they just might keep this well shut in all the way up until the time - and keep testing it and keep monitoring it all the way up until the time that they drill that relief well and kill this well. So it's possible we may have seen the last of the oil from that well leaking into the Gulf of Mexico.

And here's a statement that he released about that. He said. "No one associated with this whole activity, whether you're with BP or any of the government groups or anyone who lives along the Gulf Coast wants to see any more oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico, and we're hopeful that if the encouraging signs continue, we'll be able to continue the integrity tests all the way to the point that we get this well killed."

Now, just a short time ago, we also received a statement from Incident Commander Thad Allen. His tone was much more cautious, and listening to his wording here, he says, "While we are pleased that no oil is currently being released into the Gulf of Mexico and want to take all the appropriate action to keep it that way, it is important that all decisions are driven by the science. Ultimately, we must ensure no irreversible damage is done, which could cause uncontrollable leakage from numerous points on the sea floor."

So Admiral Thad Allen continuing his very cautious posture with these tests, saying now that they're going to take it a day at a time, with each 24-hour test, they're going to stop, re-evaluate and see what step to take - Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. David Mattingly, thanks so much. Appreciate that.

All right, on to politics now. A split within the Tea Party Movement today and an expulsion. At issue, a controversial blog post by one of the group's figureheads, Mark Williams.

Well, in the blog post, Williams pretends to be the NAACP president, Benjamin Jealous, writing to Abraham Lincoln, saying this, "Dear Mr. Lincoln, we, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, have taken a vote and decided that we don't cotton to that whole emancipation thing. Freedom means having to work for real, think for ourselves and take consequences along with the rewards. That is just too much to ask of us." These words from Mark Williams.

He's apparently also the national spokesperson for the Tea Party Express, which is a part of the Tea Party Movement.

Well, this is how the National Tea Party Federation had responded to that today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID WEBB, NATIONAL TEA PARTY FEDERATION: We, in the last 24 hours, have expelled Tea Party Express and Mark Williams from the National Tea Party Federation because of the letter that he wrote, which he, I guess, may have considered satire but which was clearly offensive. And that is what we do. Self-policing is the right and the responsibility of any movement or organization.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: OK. So let's get the reaction now from the NAACP Party - NAACP President Ben Jealous, who's with us now, joining us from Washington, D.C.

OK, so you hear that now he has been expelled from the Tea Party Express and that the Tea Party Movement is separating itself from Mr. Mark Williams. What's your reaction to this?

BENJAMIN TODD JEALOUS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NAACP: This - this is a very good start. On Friday, Mark Williams doubled down on dumbness, and on Saturday and Sunday, now, they've begun to show some signs of common sense. We need them to go further and to keep this up. David Webb, who's in New York, has a small group. They've put him out front on this. He is very coherent. He's very clear. We - we appreciate him very much. But we hope that the - that the household names, Dick Armey, Sarah Palin and so - you know, and so forth, will come forward, say the same thing and push on with the folks who - who are still out there.

WHITFIELD: OK, so when you - when you say, you know, David Webb, he's been the one who's been put out there. They put him out there. Why do you suppose that he is the face that is now representing the Tea Party Movement to respond to the actions of Mr. Mark Williams?

JEALOUS: You know, I - I don't know. You know, the - we would like to see Tea Party reps of all colors out there. We've heard from one of their black leaders. You know, until now he was identified with a very small group - group that "The New Yorker" had called threadbare and said, could - you know, could only turn out five people to a rally. Now he's on national TV for them. The -

But, you know, look. It is getting moved up the - the ranks. That's great. We would just hope to see Tea Party leaders of all colors come out, because so far, you know, we've - we've seen them, you know, say lies about us, claimed that we're calling them racist when we haven't. You know, we - we would like, you know, to see them actually point to - to their own folks who are acting in a racist way, speak up and say that there's no room for you.

WHITFIELD: Well, see, then I wonder, though, you know, with Mark Williams being expelled, is it your feeling that his expulsion means that also being removed are the things that you and - and the organization of the NAACP have described as being those behaviors and words with racial undertones, hateful messages, that those things have now been removed from association with the Tea Party Movement as a result of Mark Williams being expelled?

JEALOUS: Mark is a good start. They need to go further. This is a - you know, they have groups all over the country in - down in the Show- Me State where we just had our convention, they have the Council of Conservative Citizens who are out there actively recruiting. This is a white sub - you know, this is a group that says black people are not equipped for democracy.

You know, they need to break from them, have that be clear. You know, at the same time, you have David Duke who's thoroughly excited about the Tea Party. He's - he's been blogging about how he thinks that - that this is going to revive him in politics. They need to say, look, there's no space for David Duke's - for David Duke in the Tea Party.

You know, they just got to go further. They have somebody running down south for governor as a write-in candidate, claiming broad Tea Party support, saying that there's no place for people of color in his country. And then there's all these horrible signs that you can see at NAACP.org, and they need to push those out of the event. So this is a very good start -

WHITFIELD: So what in - JEALOUS: -- but it's got to go further.

WHITFIELD: What in your view does the Tea Party Movement represent?

JEALOUS: Well, you know, you would hope that the Tea Party would simply represent what's at its core, people who are concerned about tax policy, have, you know, a conservative set of values. Unfortunately, the signs and the speeches and the statements like that made by Mark Williams in which, you know, had me calling President Lincoln the biggest racist ever and thinks slavery was a good gig, you know, divert people.

So as a movement grows up, you've got to act responsibly and they - they've got to keep doing what they just did to Mark Williams and make it clear there's no space for bigots here, period.

WHITFIELD: So is it those sentiments, those behaviors that you believe are representative of - of bigotry, is that an anomaly within the group or do you believe that that is fairly pervasive within the Tea Party Movement?

JEALOUS: You know, again, when David Duke thinks the Tea Party will revive him in politics, when the Council of Conservative Citizens, literally the descendant of the old White Citizen's Council, is saying, look, we're having great success and this is how we can go further inside the Tea Party.

When Stormfront.org, big, white supremacist website, started by former KKK leader Don Black, is - is bragging about their reach and influence into the Tea Party, then it isn't just Mark Williams, and you got to go further and you got to make it clear. So this can be a group of folks, you know, who might don the old revolutionary cap and talk about tax issues. I mean, that's - that's great. And we, you know, welcome the Tea Party. We don't think the Tea Party is racist, but - but we don't think that they've gone enough just yet, that they've gone far enough just yet either.

WHITFIELD: Ben Jealous, president of the NAACP, joining us from Washington. Thanks so much for your time. Appreciate that. I know we're -

JEALOUS: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I know we'll be hearing more on this matter in the coming days.

All right. Well, let's talk more about the Tea Party Movement as a whole. What does it mean when you hear that there's a Tea Party Express and the spokesperson for the Tea Party Express, Mark Williams, has now stepped down. What does that mean for the entire movement as a whole?

On the phone with us right now is Jordan Lieberman. He is the former publisher of the "Campaigns and Elections Politics" magazine. He's joining us right now on the phone. So, Jordan, what does this mean that Mark Williams would be expelled from the Tea Party Express? How separate or how linked are the Tea Party Express and the Tea Party Movement?

JORDAN LIEBERMAN, VICE PRESIDENT, CAMPAIGNGRID: Well, that's a great question. The Tea Party Express has been important or had been an important member of the Tea Party Federation. I think the most important part of this, Fredricka, is that it gives people like Benjamin Jealous a great platform to go on and on about how the Tea Party is arguably racist.

WHITFIELD: Well, what do you - what do you mean by that?

LIEBERMAN: Well, listen, I mean, the Tea Party is not racist. As a matter of fact, there really isn't such a thing as a Tea Party. It's a group of loosely affiliated organizations who came together under a federation, which of course had some members that are, you know, somewhat racist. However, the reality is that most members -

WHITFIELD: But if the argument is - Jordan, if the argument is whether it's the entire group or whether there are members who are carrying the message of this movement, and if their behavior is such or it's been classified as such as being that of bigotry or hateful or racist, those are the charges, I mean that - that the part - that the party or the movement as a whole, as Ben Jealous was saying, is not condemning the actions of this one person who has quite a platform, then what does that say? Does that say the movement is embracing the behavior of someone who has insulted people in large part?

LIEBERMAN: No. They've kicked - they have kicked him out and they've done -- actually, most members - most Tea Party leaders have done a pretty good job of trying to excise members who are racist or otherwise kind of off the mainstream.

But the fact is now we're entering August pretty soon and we're still talking about whether the Tea Party Federation is racist, and that's exactly what Ben Jealous wants.

WHITFIELD: So now what? Where does the Tea Party Movement as a whole go from here to excise itself from any association with Mark Williams, if what you're saying is correct, that Mark Williams would be an anomaly, and that his sentiment or his behavior is not representative of the group as a whole?

LIEBERMAN: Well, it's a tough - it's a tough - they keep - they obviously keep having to - they will need to continue kicking out members who are off the mainstream and the NAACP and other groups are going to jump all over it. But, really, what the Tea Party needs to do overall as a - as a - kind of as a movement is talk about issues that are important to them -- the constitution, national debt, things that are, you know, a lot less sexy but are important to the membership.

WHITFIELD: So if he is the first, Mark Williams is the first to be kicked off, are you saying that there are many others to follow? LIEBERMAN: I - I don't think there are many others. I would be surprised if Mark Williams is the last person kicked out of the Tea Party Federation. They - they are very proactive in trying to maintain their brand. They have some smart people at the top. So I would - I would be surprised if this is the last time you're going to hear about something like this.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jordan Lieberman, thanks so much. I appreciate that.

And, you know, if you look at some of the images, file tape of really what is at the core, if we can recall some of these images one more time, Jordan, you know, some of the images that we just saw right there, you know, women saying, you know, Obama back to Kenya, you see Obama as a face that of - representative of the joker, and you see him in this picture right here, nobody would consider that to be mild or non-offensive, so if we're seeing these images right here are being paraded around in many Tea Party Movement gatherings, why is it that what Mark Williams has done would be an anomaly?

I think it's very difficult to kind of understand this.

LIEBERMAN: Of course, and, you know, it - it makes - it makes great headlines, but - but the reality is that there are - there are aberrations from the mainstream on both sides. I mean, we see all kinds of things happen on - on the Democrat - on kind of the left attacking -

WHITFIELD: Like what? What would be tantamount to this?

LIEBERMAN: Well, we saw - I think we saw Andrew Breitbart egged in Nevada. We see all kinds of things where liberals are - are kind of using the mainstream and doing things that are really inappropriate for public discourse.

WHITFIELD: Like what?

LIEBERMAN: Well, like I said, like throwing eggs at leaders.

WHITFIELD: Throwing eggs versus seeing a joker face? I mean, we're talking about the president - the elected president of the United States, and - and saying things like Obama back to Kenya? I don't know. Throwing eggs? That's a little different.

LIEBERMAN: Well, listen, none - none of that is appropriate, but the reality is it's going on on both sides.

WHITFIELD: OK. Jordan Lieberman, thanks so much. (INAUDIBLE) to ban Jealous, president of the NAACP in there. We're going to be talking about this a bit more as we still wait to hear official word from the Tea Party Movement or any leading member of that movement to speak about Mark Williams now being expelled.

Meantime, Mark Williams, the man at issue here, who was expelled as the spokesperson or leader of the Tea Party Express, well, he was supposed to appear on Don Lemon's newscast this evening at 7:00 P.M. Eastern tonight, that was scheduled prior to this announced expulsion.

But now we have just learned that because, he says, of his travel plans, he has canceled that appearance at 7:00 this evening and he will not be able to join Don this evening at 7:00. Of course, we'll continue to try to pursue and try and reschedule based on his travel availability.

All right. Meantime, he is a political man of mystery. Just who is U.S. Senate candidate Alvin Greene? We hope to know a little bit more after he makes his first campaign speech today in South Carolina.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. South Carolina's surprising U.S. Senate candidate is finally campaigning for the first time out openly. Alvin Greene is his name and he's to speak this afternoon at the local NAACP branch in his hometown of Manning, South Carolina.

And in a June 8th primary, the unemployed Army veteran beat a long- time politician to win the Democratic nomination. CNN's national political correspondent Jessica Yellin is in Manning with the man who, at this point, is a political enigma - Jessica.

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hi, Fredricka.

We just went by Alvin Greene's house to see if we could ask him a few questions, and he talked to us, showed us his speech which he is preparing. He says he wrote it himself. It's handwritten, double- spaced on a spiral bound notebook. He said he was too busy preparing to answer our questions, but we're going to hear all about his ideas when he speaks here shortly.

He did tell us the speech will focus on jobs and education. And in the past he told CNN that he wants to improve education in the state by encouraging parents to be more involved in - with their kids, and he wants to bring some jobs to the state, he told a local paper, by in part making Alvin Greene action figures of himself. He says that could bring some jobs here.

So we'll hear if he repeats that at the speech. They do expect a big turnout. We're told by local organizers here that local folks don't know him. As you say he's an enigma, so they're coming from far and wide, a few people driving a couple of hours just to hear him to see who is this man Alvin Greene. We'll all find out shortly, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, once again, he's going to make his public statements outside the local branch of the NAACP. A, why did he choose that location, and B, what does that organization think about him using their organization as a backdrop?

YELLIN: Actually, the NAACP invited him to speak at their regularly scheduled meeting. So this is a meeting that was happening anyway and they have a whole series of speakers, and he is the featured guest of this event. And they said they invited him because they wanted to hear who he is. He is a nominee in the state that's not well known, and this is his chance to get his views out.

And while Greene has insists that he has had other campaign events, he wouldn't be specific about where they are and no one can point to any, so clearly, this was an organized venue where he could reach a lot of people, so it sort of seems to work out for him quite well too.

So he seems nervous about making his debut, but is glad to be making it today and the NAACP is happy to have - give people a chance to hear who he is.

WHITFIELD: All right. Jessica Yellin, thanks so much. I know you'll be covering that while there in Manning, South Carolina, and we'll be following it as well by way of you. Jessica, thank you.

All right. Tragedy in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. Flash floods have killed at least two people. And we'll get the latest on what's happening as the floodwaters recede.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Police are investigating a deadly shooting at a state park in Washington State. Two people are dead. Four others are hospitalized. State troopers took a pair of potential suspects into custody. The shooting took place during a party, but police still don't have a motive for the attacks.

Ten people were injured in a series of shootings in downtown Indianapolis last night. They were in the area for part of the Annual Indiana Black Expo. All the victims are between the ages of 10 and 18. None of the injuries are believed to be serious. As many as 400 police officers hit the streets after the shootings and there have been no arrest in connection with the attacks.

At least two people swept to their death. Homes, roads and bridges simply washed away. People plucked from their rooftops also as a result of this flash flooding that took place in Pike County, Kentucky. They're now dealing with the after effects of that. And as many as 5,000 people are feeling the impact, and a lot of them wouldn't have water for perhaps even a week until after the assessments are done there. Apparently the water plant was damaged considerably during all of this.

Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center. Flash floods can be just so incredibly dangerous -

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's right.

WHITFIELD: -- and frightening.

SCHNEIDER: And the water rises so quickly, that sometimes you may hear of a warning and just when you're figuring out what to do, the water is already up high.

WHITFIELD: Just there. SCHNEIDER: So, you know, it's interesting, I'm looking at NEXRAD radar to show you Pike County particularly, and what we're seeing right here is a lot less rain than areas, let's say, in Southern Indiana where there was three inches of rain in some spots near Leavenworth and that was over the past 24 hours.

So sometimes it doesn't take a lot of rain to cause flash flooding. In this particular case, there was a creek that overflowed and that's what brought all the water up so high. And unfortunately, two people died in - in this flooding situation.

So that's what we're looking at right now. What's good to note, though, is that we are seeing some improvements out there. Looking at the rainfall right now, what we're seeing is a lot of scattered showers and thunderstorms along the Gulf Coast.

There's actually been some flash flooding reported in Southern Louisiana, particularly in the Lake Charles area, but you can see some of the heavier thunderstorms are rolling into areas of North Carolina right now and that's where we're watching first some of the heavier rain as we go through much of the day today. We'll be looking for isolate, heavy thunderstorms.

And one more thing to note, as we take a look at the heat index, it's still a very hot Sunday out there and dangerously so. It feels like it's 102 in Nashville, Tennessee and 97 in Richmond, Virginia. So stay inside if you can you have cool air. If not, find a place that's air conditioned because it is still dangerous out there, heat advisories across the country. I'll have more coming up.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right. This week, the president signs the Wall Street Reform Bill into law. But how exactly is that going to affect you? We'll get some answers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, President Obama is expected to sign the financial regulatory reform bill into law on Wednesday. It's the biggest overhaul since the great depression, but how is it going to affect you?

Financial expert Daria Dolan joins us on the phone. Solo, no Ken. He's doing something else, but Daria has worked us into her very busy schedule. So, Daria, good to hear your voice. We miss you.

DARIA DOLAN, PERSONAL FINANCIAL EXPERT (via telephone): I miss you, too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Give me an idea. From where you are, your vantage point, how do you see Wall Street reform affecting American consumers?

DOLAN: Well, a couple quick thoughts and then I'll talk about the consumers, but let me go on the record as saying nothing good ever comes out of 2300 pages of a bill.

WHITFIELD: It's hard to find a short bill though, by the way.

DOLAN: Yes, it's getting tougher all the time. Number two, the only thing I take comfort from is the idea of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd trying to write anything to do with derivatives since half of Wall Street sells them and doesn't know what they are.

With that said, let's take a look at banking, which is one of the big prime things that they're trying to address changes in, and maybe if they had more time instead of trying to rush this through like everything else, they might have done some good for us.

But there are going to be no new fees for consumers. There's no way around it. If you're going to cut back on what the banks can earn, you're going to end up having to hit the consumer with new fees.

There will be no free checking accounts with fees now or, as I think Bank of America has already begun, they're going to have a no fee, but you have to do all your transactions through their ATM machines, their ATM machine and accept your statements online, not through the mail.

There is going to be lost revenues for banks, and they're estimating that could be at an 11 percent cut the first year this is out, which means if you invest in bank stocks, you're going to get hurt, more than likely.

And there are going to be fees even for the most basic accounts, and as I said, checking accounts, you're going to have to really search to find some deals.

WHITFIELD: So you've list a lot of things that you don't like about this. Is there anything that you like or that perhaps consumers should like?

DOLAN: Well, yes, let's look at some mortgages for a second. The one good thing coming out of the mortgage reform that's part of this bill is that the banks are only going to be able to lend to people who are actually able to pay the money back.

So, I mean, that's a good thing. But because of that little feature and the fact that they can't use all sorts of various mortgages or it's going to be more difficult to do that, it's going to be more expensive for us to get loans. Because they are going to be safer loans, fewer people are going to qualify --

WHITFIELD: But isn't that the idea? I mean, it's supposed to be more - I should say it's supposed to be, but it's going to be a lot more different, much more difficult to get a loan because the fact that it was so easy to get a loan is how this nation got into big troubles.

DOLAN: Well, and that's what I said, that is the good feature about this, but look at the poor self-employed. It's going to be really tough to get a loan if you're self-employed because you're going to have to have lots of documentation, W-2s, tax filings, pay stubs, on and on and on. You have dental records. So it will be -- it's going to be tough for a lot of people to qualify.

WHITFIELD: So who do you see - making actually will be the big winner here?

DOLAN: The big winner on this -- the banks will be the big winners on this because they've been working for over a year in anticipation of how they can get around these laws.

WHITFIELD: Again?

DOLAN: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Again, meaning they're the big winners when, you know, for so long people have been very angry universally at big banks?

DOLAN: Well, and then all the consumers should be the big winner because they're instituting a consumer financial protection bureau, which unlike all the other entities that are out there, the federal reserve, the controller of the currency and on and on and on, is supposed to take the part of the consumer.

You're supposed to be able to make a phone call to these people in D.C. about problems that you're having financially as a consumer, you know, with potential fraud, et cetera.

But go visit your DMV for a license, and imagine how this is going to work when you're going to have a whole new rash of bureaucrats and you still have those other bureaucracies out there.

WHITFIELD: Yikes. Daria Dolan not holding back at all, but, hey, you never do. That's why we call upon you to hear your honesty.

DOLAN: I call it the Dodd-Frank bill.

WHITFIELD: My goodness, all right, well, Grazie for that. Enjoy your time in Italia and (inaudible).

DOLAN: (INAUDIBLE).

WHITFIELD: All right, Daria Dolan there, joining us from Italy, Lake Cuomo there and hopefully we'll see you when you come back stateside along with your partner, Ken Dolan.

All right, perhaps you're going on vacation. Well, you get out your camera that's very exciting, but then you don't really know what to do with it. How do you get your best shots? We've got advice coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Let's look at our top stories right now. Two people are dead following flash flooding in eastern Kentucky. Others were rescued after being swept away from cars and off their roofs. The search crews are looking for other possible victims.

And in less than two hours, the integrity tests of that damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico are believed to be ending. So far the new cap is holding. A BP executive said the cap could possibly stay in place until the relief wells are finished. And when the test period ends at 4:00 p.m. Eastern, officials could decide to extend it in 24- hour increments.

Nelson Mandela is celebrating his 92nd birthday today at home with his family in South Africa. People around the world are being encouraged to perform public service in his honor. It's all part of the United Nations Nelson Mandela International Day.

By the way, it is vacation season for just about everybody out there. You know when you go on vacation you're planning to take a camera, but do you know how to use it?

It is tech time right now and "Syndicated Technology" writer, Mark Saltzman is joining us right now from Toronto with five very easy tips on maximizing your camera, getting the best picture.

So Mark, I know you just went on vacation because you were going on vacation just before or just after we finished talking last Sunday. How was your vacation? How were your pictures?

MARK SALTZMAN, SYNDICATED TECHNOLOGY WRITER: Thank you for asking. It was a mini vacation and my pictures look pretty good. I brought along a waterproof camera and a regular sort of higher end SLR or single lens reflex camera for out of the water and they look great. Thanks for asking.

WHITFIELD: OK, good so you know your stuff. So help us all be a better photographer. You say first off, you need to shoot at eye level, nothing worse than getting that picture back and the heads are cut off.

SALTZMAN: Absolutely. So these are beginner tips, by the way. If you're a more advanced camera user or shutter bug, sorry for the air quotes, this might be, you know, old hat for you, but it's a great refresher.

So you're right, let's start off with shoot at eye level. This is a common mistake for amateur photographers to simply point the camera down when you're photographing kids. Instead, if you have toddlers, go down on one knee, go at their level and you'll get much, much better shots and it won't look awkward.

And the angles will look weird if you're pointing the camera down. Similarly, if you've got babies, some of the best pictures of my kids when they were crawling, when my twins were infants, is to put the camera on the ground and lie on the ground behind it, and it also steadies the shot and it looks great. So, you know, make sure that you try to keep it at eye level whenever possible.

WHITFIELD: OK, and then you say, use your shutter finger. What do you mean by that or is that just the index finger?

SALTZMAN: Sure. This is a really simple tip that is very, very useful and not a lot of people know about this. So when you use those little point and shoot cameras, which have a little bit of a lag when you press the shutter button down, you don't always capture that shot.

You know, we all know kids are active. You see their foot out of the shot. So instead, if you want to capture that Kodak moment, what you want to do is press down on the shutter button halfway.

What that does, it tells your camera that it's going to auto focus mode, that you're getting ready. Then when you see that moment, that subtle smile, or with that -- any moment you want to grab, then you press down on the shutter button the completely way, the whole way and it will take the picture much, much faster.

In other words, going from 5 to 10 is faster than going from 0 to 10 if you're finger was off the shutter button altogether.

WHITFIELD: And then you say, shooting continuous mode. Something tells me I need a new camera because I don't know what the continuous mode feature is on my camera.

SALTZMAN: You'd be surprised. It's estimated that we only use about 10 percent of what our cameras can do and any technology, for that matter. Kind of like our brains if you will, but a lot beginner cameras now are point and shoot cameras have what's called continuous mode.

This is when you press down on the shutter button all the way and it takes a number of shots in versed mode or succession, so that you're getting four or five shots in a row.

And because it's digital, it doesn't matter. You're not going to waste it. It's not like film and then later when you copy those images to your computer, you can pick which one of those four or five shots look the best.

So look for continuous mode in your next camera, if it doesn't already have it, and chances are it does.

WHITFIELD: All right, cool and then light is your friend because we know too much or not enough can certainly be your enemy.

SALTZMAN: Point and shoot cameras usually have poor light performance, low light performance so the shots look grainy like as if there are little dots on them. So remember that light is important.

I'm not going to get complicated with ISO settings or anything like that. If you're taking shots outside, a quick tip is to remember to put the sun behind you.

Even though the subject might squint a little bit, if you try to take a picture of a subject where the sun is behind them, it's going look too dark. So make sure your back is to the sun and you'll get much, much better images.

WHITFIELD: All right, fifth and final tip, just simply have fun with it, just be creative, too.

SALTZMAN: Yes, absolutely. Have fun with your pictures because your subjects will have fun, they'll look better in the pictures and it really does come across when you look at those digital images afterwards.

Get creative. Try funky different camera angles. Don't always ask your subjects to pose. Some of my favorite pictures of my kids are when they're not paying attention. It's a candid shot when doing something else.

You can play around with special effects in the camera or on your computer. You know, turning them into black and white or sepia tone. Just have a lot of fun and remember, it's digital. You're not wasting any film, you can just delete the ones you don't like and start again.

WHITFIELD: Very good and it doesn't have to be perfect, right, you know?

SALTZMAN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Just fun.

SALTZMAN: Exactly. Some of those are the best shots that are imperfect.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's true. All right, Mark Saltzman, thanks so much. Good to see you joining us from Toronto. Appreciate that.

SALTZMAN: Likewise. Talk to you soon.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right, Josh Levs, he's coming up next with look at the webs of most watched videos. Josh, what do you have? We're talking videos not the still images that Mark and I were just talking about.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right although I learned some things from that. Maybe I'll start taking some better pictures myself. See we're spoiled here we have all these great photographers from CNN.

Check this out. One of the hot (inaudible) video today this new parody that is taking on the "old spice" guy in hopes of getting people to do something, but I'm not going to tell you what. You're going to have to stick us and see it. Just trust me, it's brilliant.

Plus, we've got Dart Vader arresting Princess Leia on a New York subway and we have the happiest DJ of all times. All of that and most adorable and relaxing videos of the week just seconds away via video rewind.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this is when we get to loosen up a little bit, we start jiggling a little bit because we hear the music. OK, here's Josh Levs.

LEVS: I got so many good (videos) today.

WHITFIELD: Yes, OK, good.

LEVS: All right, we're starting off with Princess Leia on the subway.

WHITFIELD: And it's not Halloween.

LEVS: And it's not Halloween. If it were Halloween, it would have been a waste, right? Because this is sort -- take a look. Here's the video.

You can actually see that she's waiting for the subway and then she gets on and you know, what guys, go ahead and skip to the second section.

WHITFIELD: It really looks like her, too.

LEVS: Yes, she is so here you are. So this is what this is. It's impromptu everywhere. There are these people who - they stage these scenes. So another storm trooper's come on.

WHITFIELD: And this is New York.

LEVS: This is New York.

WHITFIELD: Where? You see the looks of all the people because you know it anything can happen in real life.

LEVS: But they love it. That's something - brought their little cameras. I love is watch what happens. When the doors stop, they knew exactly where to have her stand. Darth Vader is there and listen to this sound, guys. Watch what happens here. Now they have dialogue straight out of the actual "Star Wars."

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Only you could be so bold. The imperial senate will not stand for this when they know you have attacked --

LEVS: So they goes on and arrest her. They walk off and everyone -- is loving it. I mean, this is, you know what? You're not going to find this everywhere. You can find this in New York.

WHITFIELD: Yes, life is a theater in New York.

LEVS: It is.

WHITFIELD: And that's just the way it is.

LEVS: Where else do you see stuff like that?

WHITFIELD: Nowhere else.

LEVS: Speaking of life being theater, the next video for you, viral videos today, happiest DJ of all time. Look at this guy. He's now taken over the web. Watch him.

WHITFIELD: He's happy.

LEVS: It gets even better. Watch this. WHITFIELD: He's got a little Einstein look about him.

LEVS: He does. He's got his hands moving. He might be a little older than your average DJ, but he sure knows how to rock. This is a German disc jockey, more than 800,000 views.

Isn't that wild? So everyone keeps sending videos of the old spice guy. I'm kind of getting tired of him -- what I'm saying is he's everywhere.

But take a look at this. There is a brand new parody. It's kind of like the wa-wa of 2010. Here's the original. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now, back to me. Sadly, he isn't me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: And I will say, it's brilliant, it's been brilliant from the beginning. The whole way they created this character, amazing. Now there are some parodies out there and the best one is this new one from a university. Watch this ad. Watch what happens.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at your grades, now look at mine. Look at yours and now back to mine. Sadly, they're not like mine. But if you stopped studying in a cave and started studying like me, they could be like mine. Now look at your shirt and now back at mine. Look down, back up, where are you? In the library.

LEVS (voice-over): This is at Brigham Young University. They put together this whole thing in nine hours. It was the Multimedia Department at this library inside BYU there. It's called the Harold B. Lee Library. They thought of it and shot it. It's got about a million views right now.

WHITFIELD: I want to see more.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now this sandwich here in the snack bar. Anything is possible when you're in the library.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: I like it!

LEVS: Isn't that awesome?

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: It also is a sign of success of the character they created, that everyone wants to copy that now. It's like a new cultural staple.

WHITFIELD: I like that. LEVS: OK, now back to these adorable videos of the week. We'll take a look. There is always an adorable animal. This is a marmot eating a cracker.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's very cute.

LEVS: And now we owe, Fred, because we didn't get to it yesterday, the relaxation the other week. Just get the next video, guys and go to the one after that, which is (inaudible) video of the week.

This is from Paul Collier. He has this new video called "Self- Esteem." The words don't excite me that much, but the music is beautiful. Let's pump up that music. Let's take a deep breath. It's a great video.

WHITFIELD: I was waiting for the whisper. When Josh starts whispering, I'm feeling better.

LEVS: And taking a deep breath, and this guy, by the way, is really cool. He's got his own web site paulfromstokeuk.com. He kept turning out these relaxation videos. One of them got millions. This is his newest one. This one will be out there soon too.

WHITFIELD: It's good, just green grass. Imagine yourself just laying on it under the sky, watching the clouds.

LEVS: See?

WHITFIELD: Yes, I'm feeling better.

LEVS: As always, all our videos posted for you on facebook/joshlevscnn, which is, of course, the best place (inaudible) you can link them all. You know, go check them out and tell us your favorites as well. We'll have more next week.

WHITFIELD: Those videos are kind of all (inaudible) on us now.

LEVS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: Look at the camera. Going to break, back to Josh, going to break, we'll be right back. Bye-bye. Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Have you ever thought of doing a triathlon? Here's some added inspiration. Our Chief Medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and six viewers from CNN's Fit Nation Tour participated in today's Nautica New York City triathlon. They all finished the course.

Checking overall results now, Rebecca Wazner (ph) of New York defended her title in the women's division and Flip Ospeley (ph) of the Czech Republic captured his first lifetime series victory in the men's division.

Sanjay will be live on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" tomorrow morning with the insider's view of the race. That was something else. Bonnie Schneider in the Weather Center. Yes, you know, it's nice to do that in the summer when the water was somewhat warm there.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's true, when the air temperature is so hot, Fredricka. The thermometer is on the rise once again. It's another scorcher for Sunday in July. In fact, we have heat advisories in and around all five boroughs of New York City that goes straight until Monday.

And it's not just in New York, we're also tracking the heat across the entire country. The heat index will feel like 115 degrees right in the center of the country in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We're also looking at a lot of heat through Arkansas, Dallas, Texas, which saw record highs yesterday, and incidentally, this has been the warmest - we had the warmest June ever on record worldwide and now July is heating up as well.

At least the heat advisory subsided for Phoenix, Arizona. It's still 101 degrees there. It's not cool by any means. Las Vegas at 106 and you have a heat advisory straight through tonight and excessive heat warning.

Normally you have that nice, dry heat where it's bearable out in the desert southwest, but today, just like yesterday, the humidity is a little above normal. It makes a difference because normally it can be 106 and feel like 90, but today it probably feels like it's about - I don't know maybe 103 out there, so very, very hot indeed.

Just to show you what's ahead since this is Sunday and you're planning for the rest of the week, you thought relief is coming. It's not. We've got a big heat wave ahead for the country especially the great lakes like Chicago will be sizzling.

Heat index will in the triple digits across the board from north to south and even hot across the south and into the great lakes in the northeast. It's really hard to find a cool spot this week. It's going to be a scorcher out there as we go into Monday.

WHITFIELD: OK. Thanks so much, Bonnie.

SCHNEIDER: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right, I'm Fredricka Whitfield at the CNN Center in Atlanta. The surprise winner of South Carolina's Democratic Senate primary, Alvin Greene will give his first speech later on this afternoon.

We'll have live coverage from South Carolina during our 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour, and we'll also introduce you to a 10-year-old chef. He showed his support for healthy eating by cooking meals for his entire family.

Right now time for "YOUR MONEY."