Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

No Apologies From Andrew Breitbart; Tropical Storm Bonnie Affects Oil Cleanup; Mystery Woman in Sherrod Saga; TS Bonnie Affects Oil Cleanup

Aired July 23, 2010 - 11:00   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. Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, big stories for this Friday, July 23rd.

Bracing for Bonnie. The tropical storm appears headed for Florida right now, and the Gulf of Mexico next. The battle against the oil disaster already being impacted.

Plus, a rare moment of fun and games for U.S. troops in Iraq. Preparing to move from the war front to the home front is presenting new concerns.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometimes you'll have guys that are thinking about, hey, I'm going home to a baby I barely know, a wife I barely know, and a house I've never seen before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: And a man lies for sex and gets locked up. His crime is called rape by deception in Israel, but is it really about his act or his ethnicity?

Good morning, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield, in for Tony Harris.

Those stories and your comments right here, right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: All right. Pulling up anchor and heading ashore. Now a lot of ships involved in the oil operations are already moving to safe harbor because of that storm, in part.

CNN's David Mattingly is with us now from New Orleans -- David.

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we keep hearing about how many moving parts there are in this operation. All of those parts now moving to safety right now.

They're disconnecting the drilling operations and the collections operations. They're going to be moving out sometime later today. The last vessels to leave the scene will be some of the monitoring equipment, the ships that are operating the underwater cameras, the ships operating that are operating the seismic testing in the area of that well. Those are going to be the last to leave. They want to make sure they keep their eyes on that well until the very last minute as conditions allow.

They think they're going to be leaving that well unattended now for possibly about 48 hours as this storm passes. They finally have the confidence in it, they think, to leave it alone. They believe that it's going to be OK and it won't cause any leaks or any problems in that period.

And they're also moving a lot of the equipment that they have near shore and on shore to higher ground right now, and parish presidents are arguing that the Coast Guard is being just a little too cautious right now in the way they're trying to protect their equipment. But Admiral Thad Allen today making a point, saying his experience from Katrina is driving a lot of his decisions.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. THAD ALLEN (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: I think we all share the same goals, and that's to minimize the impact on life and property, and the ability to protect not only people, but the environment. So, it makes sense to take equipment and protect it.

Admiral Zumkompf (ph) is working with local parish presidents and local leaders to come up with the best way to do that. It's really hard to find high ground in some of these parishes, and so we know we need to put this stuff where it can be protected. Exactly where that goes and how that's done, we're happy to have that negotiation. But I think in the long run, we are all in agreement that we need to put this equipment where it can be best maintained and be safe for following use.

I'm still haunted by the specter of flying in over New Orleans on the 6th of September as a principal federal official and looking down at New Orleans to a parking lot full of buses that were flooded and not used for evacuation because they were not moved in time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: They are not going to be able to keep an eye on this well with cameras again, but they're going to leave recording devices down there at the bottom to check for anomalies while they are not able to watch it, Fredricka. They are going to be able to maintain aerial surveillance with airplanes and with satellite. So at this point they feel like they're pretty confident in that well, but they're going to watch it just as closely as they possibly can.

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

(NEWSBREAK) WHITFIELD: And one day she's being forced out of her job. Days later, she's on the phone with the president of the United States. What a week this has been for Shirley Sherrod.

She's the former USDA employee forced to resign over comments taken out of context. Sherrod says she is "very, very pleased" about her conversation with the president.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERROD: He didn't say "I'm sorry" in those words, and I really didn't want to hear the president of the United States say "I'm sorry" to Shirley Sherrod. I felt he was saying that in his talk just by simply calling me. I felt it was in a way saying, "I'm sorry," because he didn't have to do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: We've learned that Sherrod could be meeting with the conservative blogger who set off the firestorm. They have both been invited to a minority journalism conference next week.

Stay tuned.

So, what about the other woman in the Shirley Sherrod saga, the woman Sherrod says asked her for her resignation?

Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry goes in search for her.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the saga of Shirley Sherrod, there's only one mystery left to be solved: Where is Cheryl Cook?

(on camera): Cheryl Cook works here at the Agriculture Department as a top aide to Secretary Tom Vilsack. And she's in the middle of this story because Shirley Sherrod alleges that, on Monday, when the story first exploded, Cheryl Cook called her three times and demanded that she resign, and that Cheryl Cook said it was at the urging of the White House.

Now, White House officials and Secretary Vilsack have denied that, but Cheryl Cook has not come forward to answer one single question on this matter. So, we spent the day trying to track her down from here at the Agriculture Department, a few blocks away, over at White House.

(voice-over): In the afternoon, my colleague Dan Lothian pressed Robert Gibbs on whether the White House would make Cook available.

ROBERT GIBBS, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I would point you over to USDA on that. I don't know if you talked to USDA.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Right, but she's the person who supposedly said that the White House wanted her to step down...

GIBBS: Dan, if you want to reach the undersecretary or the deputy secretary, I -- again, call the Department of Agriculture.

HENRY (on camera): You can hear on the overhead intercom that Robert Gibbs is still doing his daily briefing. He just told Dan Lothian that, if you want to reach Cheryl Cook at the Agriculture Department, you should call the press office. So, we're going to try to track her down.

Hey there. It's Ed Henry at CNN.

We're working on a story about Cheryl Cook, and I just wanted to see if we can get an interview with her, because Robert Gibbs just said in the briefing, for the second day in a row, that if any reporters want to talk to her, we should call over to the press office. Can you help us?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me see. I can -- let me take your information down.

HENRY (voice-over): Later in the afternoon, I got a call back from another press person who left me a voice-mail shedding no new light on Cook's contact with the White House.

CHRIS MATHER, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS, USDA: And I think we have been pretty clear about what the involvement was and wasn't. Obviously, we informed them of what was going on, because that's what we do on a daily basis. And in terms of their request or anything else, they -- this was our decision here at USDA.

HENRY: Then, suddenly, a possible breakthrough.

(on camera): My producer, Shawna Shepherd (ph), has just gotten what we believe to be the direct line at the Agriculture Department for Cheryl Cook, as well as her cell numbers.

ROBOTIC VOICE: Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. The mailbox belonging to Cheryl Cook is full. To disconnect, press 1. To enter another number, press 2.

HENRY: She's getting a lot of calls. She's not returning calls.

(voice-over): So we headed to agriculture headquarters to see if we could find Cheryl Cook there.

(on camera): Have you seen her? Have you seen this woman anywhere?

(voice-over): We tried to talk to Secretary Vilsack, but his driver spotted our camera, and the car was brought to a different entrance and the secretary left. But just as we were about to leave, the secretary's car came back to the office, and we confronted him.

(on camera): Hey, Secretary, Ed Henry with CNN. Would Cheryl Cook be made available for any questions? There's been an allegation that, you know, she said that the White House wanted Shirley to resign. Will she be made available to answer questions? Why not?

TOM VILSACK, AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: I addressed that yesterday.

HENRY (voice-over): So, the mystery, of where is Cheryl Cook goes on.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Ed Henry joining us live now from the White House.

So, since taping all of that, any new news about the whereabouts of Cheryl Cook?

HENRY: Still not getting any information from the USDA or the White House about that contact between Agriculture officials and White House officials on Monday, when all this was going down. As you know, Shirley Sherrod still maintains that it was the White House that was behind her getting pushed out in the first place.

WHITFIELD: All right. This was a big week for the White House. They were hoping that perhaps some other matters might take front stage, but instead they were upstaged by these events.

So what will the White House -- what can the president do at this point to try to get back on track?

HENRY: You know, it reminds me a bit of what happened on health care reform. The president signed that into law after a big battle, of course, in late March. And then they were hoping to get a bounce out of it. And all of a sudden, early April, you had the oil spill, and that really diverted a lot of attention, not just in the media, but the president's own time and attention, travel, and it really took them off course for a bit. That's starting to get better now.

They passed Wall Street reform, and the Shirley Sherrod story hits. And once again, they've been sort of furious behind the scenes, inside the West Wing of the White House, that the media has just spent countless hours on this all week when the president has the Wall Street reform victory, he has a big victory in pushing back the Republicans on extending unemployment benefits.

All they can hope for at this point is time, because if you look at health care, that I mentioned, it's starting to tick up in the polls. There are still a lot of people angry about it, still a lot of Republicans who want to repeal health care reform. But as the middle of the country hears more about the benefits, not just heated rhetoric and debate, it's starting to get an uptick, and they hope the same on Wall Street reform and some of the rest of the president's agenda.

So maybe after this storm passes it will start picking up. They certainly hope it picks up before November. WHITFIELD: And of course the president is taking to the airwaves early, he's making himself available to talk about the economy. Maybe he will get a chance to expound on this Wall Street reform, and that's in the next hour. Right?

HENRY: That's right, 12:05 Eastern Time just added to the president's schedule.

I mean, if you look at that, it's virtually every day this week he has tried to get out there, talk about jobs. You'll remember at the beginning of the year, at the State of the Union, he said there would be a hard pivot basically from health care to jobs. He, again, got diverted on some other things, but has been hitting the economy, especially between now and the election. You're going to hear the president here, at the White House, and out on the road talking jobs, jobs, jobs.

WHITFIELD: All right. Of course, we're going to carry that live, 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time, the president of the United States. And we know that he's likely to be peppered with questions about Shirley Sherrod, whether he wants to talk about it or not.

So we'll all be watching, right? You'll be right there.

HENRY: We'll see if he answers. Yes, people may be able to shout, but we'll see whether he answers.

WHITFIELD: Right.

HENRY: He did tell ABC yesterday that the agriculture secretary sort of overreacted, but he feels like it's being fixed now, it's being recalibrated. But there are still questions that need to be answered. He may get a couple shouted at him. We'll see.

WHITFIELD: All right.

Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry.

Thanks so much from the White House. Appreciate that.

HENRY: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: And this Saturday, we're actually taking you for a walk in Shirley Sherrod's shoes from her early years growing up in rural Georgia, to the murder of her father, and the impact of this entire week and what it has done to her entire life. Shirley Sherrod, "The Woman Behind the Controversy," 7:00 Eastern Time and again at 10:00 Eastern Time.

All right. Preparing to come home. You'll hear the concerns from one of the longest-serving U.S. units in Iraq.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Retiring Army General Stanley McChrystal is being honored at a special ceremony this evening in Washington. You'll remember his career came to an abrupt end after he and his staff were quoted mocking the Obama administration in an embarrassing "Rolling Stone" magazine article. McChrystal apologized for his "poor judgment" and then he stepped down from his role as the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan.

Now to the Iraq War zone. The 82nd Airborne is preparing to come home. This is one of the longest-serving U.S. units in Iraq. And CNN's Arwa Damon is embedded with the troops.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CONNELLY: The music blaring, the guys are out here having fun. This is something they rarely have been able to do this deployment.

Most of these soldiers are with the 82nd Airborne, and they are on their way home. They've had multiple tours in Iraq, they've spent more time in this country than they have with their families, and they have seen things that they would rather forget. But now, with the White House deadline, there is a sense of finality to their departure.

SGT. 1ST CLASS GARY WILSON, U.S. ARMY: Sometimes you'll have guys that are thinking about, hey, I'm going home to a baby I barely know, a wife I barely know, and a house I've never have seen before. And they get to thinking about it and they need a little coddling, they need a little "Attaboys," pat on the backs, little tips here and there from guys that have been here before and done it before.

DAMON: And what's your greatest concern leaving Iraq?

WILSON: Greatest concern? Will be that we'd have to come back.

If that's not the case, the greatest concern would be that -- keeping my boys safe back at home, keeping them -- trying to make them not have to prove something when they get back home. It's not an Afghanistan fight anymore. It's not like what they're doing in Afghanistan.

These guys did a specific mission over here. Yes, it wasn't a kinetic fight that they were expecting, but it was a mission.

And I don't want them to have to go home and try to prove themselves, that they're worth their meddle. They did what they were asked to do. That's all I ask of them. And if they go home and hold their heads high and pump out their chests a little bit and say, hey, I'm proud of what I did. Even though I didn't have to shoot anybody or I didn't get in a firefight, or whatever, I still did a good thing.

DAMON: They are leaving behind an Iraq with an uncertain future. There are many challenges that still lie ahead once they arrive back in the United States. But on this night, none of that matters.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Al Asad Airbase, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE) WHITFIELD: Culture and law collide in an Israeli courtroom. We'll explain how a lie to a woman of a different religion led to a rape conviction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A Palestinian man is facing 18 months in prison for a rape conviction in Israel. His crime? He lied to a Jewish woman before having consensual sex with her. It's called rape by deception, and his lawyer is appealing the sentence.

More on the case from CNN's Ben Wedeman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): He's been under house arrest for the past two years. His name is Saber Kashour, a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem. He goes by a very Israeli nickname, Dudu, and speaks flawless Hebrew.

Kashour was recently sentenced to 18 months for rape. He didn't force himself on his alleged victim, however. Both concede that the sex was consensual.

He was charged with rape by deception because he managed to seduce the woman, who has not been identified, by claiming to be unmarried and Jewish. As it turns out, in addition to being Palestinian, he is married and has two children.

(on camera): The two met outside a shop on this street in central Jerusalem. They chatted just for fifteen minutes, then went into a nearby building and did the deed, then parted ways. A month and a half later, the woman went to the police and claimed Kashour had raped her.

(voice-over): The case has sparked accusations of racism. Civil rights lawyer, Leah Tsemel, has defended Palestinians in Israeli courts for decades. To her, Kashour was just trying to get by, and get a few sexual perks on the side, in an environment where Palestinians are viewed with suspicion.

LEAH TSEMEL, ISRAELI CIVIL RIGHTS LAWYER: Of course, it's very clear for every Palestinian that they'd better not look like Palestinian, not be accepted -- not be seen a Palestinian. Otherwise, they will be stopped in every roadblock, by every policeman in the street, by every young soldier.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Dana Pugach runs a victims' legal aid center. To her, it's a cut and dried case of deception, and the verdict is fair.

DANA PUGACH, VICTIMS' RIGHTS ADVOCATE: He did say he was single when he was married, and actually, the court decision emphasized much more the fact that he claimed to be single than the fact that he claimed to be Jewish.

WEDEMAN (voice-over): Kashour rejects the notion he raped the woman, but concedes he has done harm.

SABER KASHOUR, DEFENDANT (through translator): "The only people I hurt," he told Israeli Channel Two, "are my wife and children. I hurt them badly."

Israel does have harsh rape laws, and there are previous cases where Israeli men have been convicted of rape for misrepresenting themselves to gain sexual favors. A practice that is hardly unique to Israel, it should be added.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A woman comes up with a way to save some of the most vulnerable children in the world -- a CNN Heroes story.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Late details now on the Gulf oil disaster.

At day 95, boats operating at the site of the leak are evacuating ahead of Tropical Storm Bonnie. That will delay drilling on the relief well, but the cap holding back the oil gusher will remain in place.

And other top stories right now.

An investigation finds Northwest Airlines violated more than 1,000 FAA safety directives before merging with Delta Air Lines. The findings back up the complaints of an FAA whistleblower. The agency has set up a review team to make sure the airline is complying with safety rules.

And the turnaround at Ford picks up speed. The automakers today posted its best quarterly profits in six years. Ford said it earned $2.7 billion in the second quarter. That translates to 68 cents a share. Analysts were expecting about 40 cents a share.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Folks in the Midwest are bracing for more powerful storms after getting battered by high winds and heavy rain.

(WEATHER REPORT)

WHITFIELD: Bonnie, baby.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Chad Myers is going to have more on that. Yes. Bonnie could be a big mess for us, and we're going to keep eagle eyes on that one through the weekend for you.

WHITFIELD: OK. All right. Thanks so much.

WOLF: You bet. WHITFIELD: Too many African-American babies don't make it to their first birthdays, and this week's "CNN Hero" trains volunteer sister friends who support new moms. Thousands of children have been born into Katherine Hall-Trujillo's Sisterhood.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHYRN HALL-TRUJILLO, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: African-American babies die two to four times the rate of other babies. As a public health administrator, I used the words infant mortality every day, but until I held a dead baby in my arms, I never realized that that meant counting dead babies. My name is Katherine Hall-Trujillo, and remind women they're really sisters and can help each other have healthier babies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What we're saying is you don't have to have this by yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The birthing project takes regular women in the community like me to work closely with the little sisters throughout their pregnancy and after they have the baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wanted a big sister that has accomplished a lot in life already to teach me things I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My job is to just really help you, whether it's figuring out how to pay your rent, food in the house, making sure she is making the prenatal appointments. It's all because I'm trying to make sure that you're not stressed in order for you to have a healthy baby.

HALL-TRUJILLO: Healthy babies are born into healthy communities.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pretty special, huh? We're going our own.

HALL-TRUJILLO: We've been doing this long enough now that you can hear a child say I was born into the birthing project. That means more to me than anything that I may have given up because in return, I have received a whole community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Wow, fantastic. Katherine Hall-Trujillo's project has welcomed more than 12,000 babies in 94 communities across five countries. To watch the birth of its newest chapter in New Orleans or to nominate someone you think is changing the world, go to CNNHeroes.com.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. The Gulf Coast watches and waits as tropical storm Bonnie heads that way. It could hamper cleanup and containment efforts in the oil disaster zone for days to come. Our Rob Marciano is with us now from Gulf Shores, Alabama, where he's witnessing first hand the cleanup efforts there still under way. ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's for sure. And the beach behind me, very clean. There have been machines out here cleaning the beach, trying to keep it clean for their peak tourism season. The sun is shiny even as tropical storm Bonnie continues its march across Southern Florida and likely into the Gulf of Mexico and likely here by this time tomorrow or tomorrow night. So, evacuations have begun for most of those vessels out there in the spill. As far as skimming operations, they're probably still doing some of those today because seas are relatively calm.

Just a couple weeks ago, I got embedded with a coast guard cutter doing some of that skimming, and on deck, it is a slippery, slick, messy time.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Using the equivalent of a leaf blower to blow up these booms and get them filled up with air like balloons. How much of a mess does that look like, and it hasn't even started skimming yet. So what's the process?

C.W.O. DAVID HANSEN, U.S. COAST GUARD SUPERVISOR: First, you got to make sure that ain't tangled, lift it up off the deck and just get it down in the water.

MARCIANO: So, this is a dance between you, crewmen, hose men, crane operator and the cockpit?

HANSEN: Right, exactly.

MARCIANO (voice-over): With the boom in the Gulf, we needed to move a skimmer hose into position to go into the water as well, but trying to work on a pond of oil isn't easy.

HANSEN: Ask them if they can back down a little bit. Hook it up right to the skimmer. Be careful, it's slick. That's for sure.

MARCIANO: I'm just standing here, and I'm moving?

HANSEN: Yes, it doesn't get any better, either. All right. We want to bend that hose at 90. It's going to take all three up. That should work. All right, you all come on out of there.

MARCIANO (on-camera): You get absolutely no leverage working on this stuff and that's not light. Three guys to move it that far, sliding and slipping all over the place.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARCIANO: There are now over 700 vessels in and around the Gulf of Mexico that have been skimming and working hard and since the well has been capped, there has been some progress made in the past week and that's the good news. And we certainly hope that has helped the situation because, Fredricka, as Bonnie comes here, in one way, shape are form, that storm will push whatever oil is still out there closer to shore if not back onto these beautiful beaches. So, those skimmers certainly have been very active as you saw the past month or so and the past couple of weeks as well.

WHITFIELD: So, Rob, getting to see and participate first hand, what these men and women are up against, did you get a sense from them, did they actually express to you that they feel like they are actually making a dent, even though it's painstaking, even though it seems like it takes a long time to move a boom like you just demonstrated, just a couple of inches?

MARCIANO: You know what, I don't know if it was in that piece, but the deck chief told me every day was like Monday. They just go after it every day, and it looks like it's never going to end, but I think now, they're starting to feel like they are making some progress, and certainly, that well will continue to be capped, and they'll continue to make progress, also. But we're going to highlight their heroic efforts both out there on the water and here on land and saving the wildlife. Some of the people you'll meet this weekend are certainly extraordinary.

WHITFIELD: Good. We're going to look forward to that, in fact. Rob Marciano, right now, Gulf Shores, Alabama. Watch this rescue, "Saving the Gulf." You don't want to miss this new special. It's coming up Saturday and Sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern, and something that you will see only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A CNN oil alert on this 95th day of the disaster in the Gulf. The threat of tropical storm Bonnie puts efforts to drill a relief well on hold. Boats and personnel are evacuating. The cap placed over the ruptured well will remain in place.

And South Florida is bracing for heavy squalls today. A weather watcher said the storm is heading into the Gulf, but the latest computer model showed that it could dissipate as it moves over the Florida Keys.

And New York congressman, Charlie Rangel, faces a formal House hearing next woke on alleged ethics violations. Those charges force him to step aside as House Ways and Means chairman. The 80-year-old Democrat says he welcomes the opportunity to clear his name. He will be making a statement at 1:00 eastern time today.

And for months now, our Dr. Sanjay Gupta and six CNN viewers trained for this month's triathlon in New York City. More than 3,000 people participated, swimming, biking, running, in temperatures spiking into the mid 90s. So, how did our Fit Nation Team do? Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VOICE OF DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: All right. Good morning. Supposed to wake up at 3:15. It's 3:08. How do you sleep?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Actually, I slept really good.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think that's realistic?

GUPTA: This is our setup over here, all of our bikes. Fit Nation Team.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go for it Sanjay. Do well. Be strong, be strong, group!

(HORN BLOW) (APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You look good. (APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sanjay Gupta, no problem. He's ready to do it all over again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How was it?

GUPTA: It was well worth it. Tired.

STANLEY SABALLETT, FIT NATION TRIATHLETE: It's amazing. Almost died a few times. Ii felt like but it just so good. It feels great to finish.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Congratulations to everybody there. Of course, you can see more on the fit nation triathlon on a special Dr. Sanjay Gupta M.D. tomorrow morning, 07:30 a.m. eastern time.

All right. Sick of taking the same old road trip every summer? We got some alternative vacation deals for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK. How often do you have a chance to get out and really see the world? Well, now is the time to take advantage of your summer vacation and do something really different. Tech expert, Katie Linendoll joins me now from New York with some alternative vacation deals and ideas, all taking you off the beaten path. Just like going to a water slide unlike you've ever seen before.

KATIE LINENDOLL, TECH EXPERT: Yes. Let's talk about Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. It's home to Noah's Ark and also home to the scorpion's tale, and what that is? It's North America's first looping water slide and incredibly high-tech. It's the tallest and largest of its kind in the world, and it even uses computerized control system and sensors to make sure you come out in one piece.

It is 10-storey high (ph), Fredricka, 400 feet in length and you hit a 45 degree angle at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Remember, this is America's largest outdoor water park. So if you get bored, there are 49 other flies and tons of other amusement attraction to sort of keep you busy and cooled off this summer. WHITFIELD: Also, this is a family thing. This is not like a water park or mostly, you know, the attractions for kids, but I'm seeing a lot of adults in the pictures here.

LINENDOLL: Yes. Tons of things to go through, and I love that it's like incredibly high tech. Again, this is the largest and tallest of its kind in the world and the first looping water slide. Remarkable technology using computerized control sensors and hatches. They're going to keep you in one piece, but it's going to be incredibly fun.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Well, I say that's for the adventurous, but then you have something else that's for kind of the adventurous travelers out there who, you know, have to top their trips with every trip.

LINENDOLL: Exactly. Let's talk about earth watch. This is something a lot of people haven't heard about. This is kind of intense, choose your own adventure. If you're looking for Cancun, this isn't it. Earth Watch is all about getting into the field with researchers and scientists and you actually spend about 7 to 15 days long and hands on exploration and really make a difference in the world of scientific research.

Fifty different countries participate around the world. And, again, there are a number of expeditions to choose from. The one that we're showing you is actually one in a South African National Park where you're monitoring the population of brown hyenas. Pretty remarkable. You can also research caterpillars and climate changes in Costa Rica, discover and preserve Italy's ancient treasures. You can be anywhere from 10 to 90 years old.

These expeditions travel in teams, college classes, even teen units. And remember, some of these places that you go into are specifically just for scientists and researchers. So, if you really want to get hands-on, you want to take something away from your summer travels, it is all about Earth Watch.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. That is fascinating. But something tells me there's a big old price tag that comes with that because you may be going very far. Is there? Even though you may be, I guess, donating your time for free in a sense for the research.

LINENDOLL: Right. It is pretty expensive. It runs in the thousands of dollars. But what I found out and what I made sure to find out is, there is flushing toilets. If I'm paying a few thousand dollars for a trip, there better be a flushing toilet. That's what's important.

WHITFIELD: I guess so, but if you're out there in the bush and you really want to, you know, get in with the research there, you know, maybe the flushing toilets will have to go, you know, fall by the wayside, I don't know. But they guarantee it, you say.

LINENDOLL: Yes. And, of course, some really cool expeditions as we showed you there, the hyenas, you can track their population. Different researching with whales the in the oceans with climate changes, so something for everyone.

WHITFIELD: No port-a-potties out in the ocean. So, you know, read between the lines, right? Katie Linendoll, thanks so much. Good to see you.

LINENDOLL: Thank you.

A progress for the unemployed. We'll get an update from the New York Stock Exchange.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to the NEWSROOM. We're watching your money, and we're watching those who are spending money at CNNMoney.com. Check out the top story there, talking about how banks paid a big money to executives during the financial meltdown crisis. And, of course, we're watching the markets, as well. Nasdaq down by a point. The Dow is up 26 points at 10,348. I can barely see that screen, even though, it's right in front of me, but we're going to continue to watch the markets all day long.

Meantime, we're also keeping a close eye on how those who have been doing without, without jobs for a long time, now they're celebrating that there might be an extension come very soon. Carter Evans is at New York Stock Exchange with us. More on all that's taking place and all that isn't.

CARTER EVANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. You know, when these benefits ran out on June 2nd, since that time, about 3 million people have seen their unemployment checks stop coming. You know, the argument over this, what took so long, was the cost and how it was going to be paid for. Was it going to add to the deficit? Republicans didn't want to do that. They ended up getting what essentially was a scolding from the president on Monday. Now, this bill is passed, it is going to cost $34 billion, but those checks will start coming again -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: OK. So, how long before these benefit checks resume?

EVANS: Well, here's the problem, because even though this is federal money for federal unemployment, it's administered by individual states. So, it's going to depend on the state that you live in. By the way, CNNMoney.com is going to break it all down. It's very difficult to get this money out, and CNNMoney.com does a great job of explaining how difficult that is and why this is happening. But here's the deal. Many states have told their unemployed to keep filing.

Keep filing these forms basically saying you're looking for work, proof that you're looking for work, even though you weren't going to be getting checks because that will be proof that you were looking for work during that period when the checks weren't coming, and you can get what is essentially back pay. You can get back pay on that unemployment.

The catch is, you have to have been filling out those forms. If you haven't, you now have to fill out seven weeks worth of forms. That's going to be a paperwork nightmare, certainly, but for many states which have antiquated computer systems, it's also going to be a technological nightmare, as well. So, it could be a while, maybe up to a month before some of those checks start coming.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my. All right. It could be a tough month for a lot of people. Carter Evans, thanks so much from the New York Stock Exchange. Appreciate that.

EVANS: Sure thing.

All right. Three Oklahoma, 18-year-old, may have to register now as sex offenders. Why? All because of a cell phone picture sent to them by a friend. That's in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

Plus, if you visit this New Jersey City, you may want to bring your own toilet paper. Money is so tight that they're cutting back on a whole lot of things, including that. We will show you what else has to go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)