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Huge Counterfeit Goods Bust; Saving Wounded Troops; Rock Star's Mission to Save Trees; Mexico's Drug War; Sam Bracken: Helping Kids in Crisis; Solar Tsunami; Wordplay: Mud; XYZ: Dealing With Disaster

Aired August 03, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good afternoon.

I'm Drew Griffin, sitting in for Ali Velshi, even though Ali apparently never sits on this show.

Here's what's on our "Rundown" this hour.

A New York City commission says a building near Ground Zero can be demolished. That clears the way for a controversial mosque.

BP crews could begin their static kill operation in the Gulf of Mexico today now that they've fixed a hydraulic leak.

And there's been no letup in this monsoon that has caused huge floods in Pakistan. As many as 1,500 people are dead.

We begin though with taking out counterfeiters. The feds have just made a huge bust in a counterfeit ring. Peddling fake goods, it's all happening at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf. It was a huge undertaking, it took years to bring down.

CNN's Homeland Security Correspondent Jeanne Meserve was right at the meat of this operation.

Jeanne, tell us what happened.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Drew, it's being announced at this hour in San Francisco, federal authorities saying this is the largest law enforcement action ever taken against retailers on the West Coast suspected of trafficking in counterfeit goods.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE (voice-over): San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, a tourist Mecca with plenty of shopping. But now 11 owners and employees of eight small stores there are charged with smuggling and selling counterfeit goods. In the course of a two-year investigation, more than $100 million worth of merchandise was seized with 70 different trademarks.

JOHN MORTON, IMMIGRATION & CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT: Rolex watches, Coach handbags, Armani, Disney products, perfume, jewelry, scarves. You name it, they were selling it. MESERVE: The 11 people charged are all of Chinese origin, and the goods they sold came from China. No surprise. Seventy-nine percent of the counterfeit goods seized entering the U.S. do.

The vast Chinese counterfeiting industry is fueled by consumers here and elsewhere hungry for a bargain. Some know they're buying bogus designer labels, others do not. But the ultimate price is high -- hundreds of thousands of American jobs, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

MORTON: Do you think the counterfeiters pay legitimate wages or taxes? Do they invest in factories or American jobs? No.

They're all about stealing. They're all about promoting organized crime. They're all about getting rich at America's expense.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MESERVE: This year, Immigration and Customs Enforcement expects to bring 40 percent more enforcement actions than they did two years ago. But some experts say it really isn't putting a dent in the problem, in part because of the economy. They say pinched consumers are looking even harder for a way to stretch a dollar.

Drew, back to you.

GRIFFIN: Jeanne, how did the feds find out about this? How did they know it was going on?

MESERVE: Well, it started back in 2007. A shipping container came from China into the Port of Oakland. According to the federal government, it contained more than 50,000 counterfeit items. It had fraudulent documents.

They traced that to two of the people who were arrested yesterday. They kept pulling the strings and following where they led. It culminated in the arrests made yesterday of 10 of the 11 people who have been charged in this case -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: So, 11 people. Ongoing, more people coming in?

MESERVE: In this particular case, I don't believe there are more arrests going to be made. But clearly, this has become a higher priority, intellectual property theft, for the federal government. They're looking to build more cases other places. They're hoping by underlying this, they're sending a message to the people out there who are trafficking in these goods, hey, there's a risk you're going to be caught and the penalties are high -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: All right. Jeanne Meserve, thanks for bringing that story. Interesting.

Well, in New York, a controversial mosque gets basically the green light to go ahead. A unanimous nod making it today's "Sound Effect."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT TIERNEY, CHAIRMAN, LANDMARKS PRESERVATION COMMISSION: The building at 4547 Park Place in the borough of Manhattan lacks a special character or special historical or aesthetic interest or value as part of the development heritage or cultural characteristics of the city, state or nation, and that the building in Manhattan, tax map block 126, lot 9, in part, be removed from the Landmarks Preservations Commissions' calendar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is not so much a house of worship, as a house of, we are going to do you in. We are going to introduce our view of Sharia and we're going to destroy the democratic way of life that New York represents.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAAC LURIA, J STREET: It is a question of religious freedom in this country. We need to continue to follow the letter of law, stand up for the values that make us strong, and that means allowing a group of moderate Muslims to do what they see fit in a building they purchased of their own accord.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Well, opponents vow this just ain't over.

Coming up next, wounded soldiers now surviving injuries that years ago may have killed them. It's an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at how U.S. service members are making the journey home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: You know, during past wars, World War II, certainly, but even in Vietnam, it could take weeks before a soldier wound on the battlefield would be brought back stateside to continue treatment there. But now, because of extraordinary advances in medical care, airborne hospitals can get the wounded back home often within two or three days.

Our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr had a very, very exclusive look at just what is going on in the air with these soldiers coming home.

And it's really miraculous, Barbara.

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: It is unbelievable, Drew. You know, we don't often get to see the wounded right off the battlefield, but I want to introduce you to some young troops and the medical teams that are bringing them home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STARR (voice-over): It's before dawn in the trauma bay at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan. Another shoulder wounded in the fighting down south, surgeons, nurses doing everything they can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One, two, three.

STARR: The journey home starts here.

In Vietnam, it could take weeks, but now wounded can be home in days.

CNN was granted exclusive access to see the medical care that makes it possible and, to injured troops, some hours off the front line. In the hospital hallway, Army Specialist James Dennis is being shipped home after being in three attacks in three weeks. He had already been here before. He survived two roadside bomb attacks in the same day, and then, a couple of days ago...

SPC. JAMES DENNIS, U.S. ARMY: It was indirect fire. I was hit by a mortar.

STARR: But still smiling.

DENNIS: I'm good right now. They gave me some medicine.

STARR: In the latest attack, Dennis ordered junior troops under fire to run for safety. He couldn't get away in time.

DENNIS: I didn't even get to start running. And I guess it knocked me out, because I remember pushing myself up off the ground and had all this blood all over me. And then they MedEvaced me.

STARR: Dennis praises the doctors and nurses.

DENNIS: These people here are awesome. I mean, they do their job. I respect these guys a lot.

STARR: Before Dennis is moved to a plane, a last emotional hug from the trauma doc, Captain Joshua Miller (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You take care of yourself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I saw him over there in that wheelchair, and I just took another look at him and I said, man, what are you doing here again? I'm not supposed to see you again. And, sure enough, he had suffered enough explosion injury.

STARR (on camera): The doors have just shut on this air medical evacuation flight here in Bagram, Afghanistan. The wounded have already been loaded. You can see that medical staff is already taking care of them, even before we take off. We are about to go on an eight-hour flight back to Germany. These troops are going to the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center for further treatment.

STARR (voice-over): Matthew Came, a medic, was on patrol helping other wounded when he was hit.

(on camera): And your Kevlar didn't protect you, your vest?

SPC. MATTHEW CAME, U.S. ARMY: It was about one inch right under it. It was right in the bladder.

STARR (voice-over): Badly wounded, he told his buddies what to do.

CAME: Right away, I just went on to, just, you know, talk them through what we needed to do. And it all went really, really smoothly. And then a medic from the copper we were going to go help out came and he helped out in the end too.

STARR: Now others are tending to him. He gets relief for his pain, Specialist Came finally under the watchful eye of his nurse.

For air evacuation teams, easing the pain and devastation can be tough.

CAPT. KATHERINE GARTNER, U.S. AIR FORCE: I have had a couple patients who were sleeping and just woke up in a fright, just couldn't remember what was going on, where they were. And, for me, that was the best moment to be there for that patient, to hold their hand and calm them down and let them know, I'm here. You're OK. You're going home -- and just seeing them relax and say, OK, I'm good. It's all good.

STARR: For three-time Purple Heart specialist Dennis, now on the plane to Germany, it is all good.

(on camera): You're going from bleeding to hugging your wife and daughters. There's a smile.

DENNIS: It's going to be awesome, you know? When you're near death that close, I mean, I thought -- I literally thought I was dead when that impact happened. I thought I was dead. But you really don't know what you have got until it's almost gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lift. Lift.

STARR (voice-over): Tomorrow, the next stop, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

STARR: Drew, a lot of very young faces out there on the front lines. Five hundred and seventy-two troops wounded in action in Afghanistan in the month of July. It's now beginning to look like it's double what it was just a few months ago.

We'll have part two on "THE SITUATION ROOM" tonight. Germany: what happens once they're out of the war zone, once they're told they're safe?

Drew.

GRIFFIN: All right.

Barbara Starr joining us from the Pentagon.

Really a heartwarming story, Barbara. Thanks for brining that to us.

STARR: Sure.

GRIFFIN: Well, this guy, he plays with the Stones and other big names in music. But his passion is saving trees. We're going to tell you about a rock star's plan to help save the planet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Chuck Leavell is a world famous piano player and keyboardist. He's played with the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, George Harrison and the Allman Brothers, just to name a few. But he's also well known for something else -- how he wants to save the planet.

Here's Martin Savidge.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is Chuck Leavell.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SAVIDGE: When he's not pounding out "Honky Tonk Woman" with Mick Jagger and the rest of the Rolling Stones, you'll find him here in the forest he planted on his farm in central Georgia.

CHUCK LEAVELL, MUSICIAN: It puts you back in tune with the Earth, which I think is very important.

SAVIDGE: Leavell's been with the Rolling Stones for over a quarter of a century, but his love for the environment predates even that.

(on camera): How did all this begin for you?

LEAVELL: All my wife's fault.

(LAUGHTER)

SAVIDGE (voice-over): His passion for trees and the land springs from the love of his life for 37 years, Rose Lane. This land has been in their family for generations.

ROSE LANE WHITE LEAVELL, CHARLENE PLANTATION: I brought check out to visit my trees when we were dating. And he said, "Yes, I like that."

SAVIDGE: Today, Charlene Plantation is one of the most influential tree farms in the country. And Leavell is as sought after for his expertise on sustainable forestry as his piano playing, which is a good thing, because last year alone, the world lost 32 million acres of forestland to farming and other uses.

Leavell is trying to reverse that trend.

(on camera): How many trees do you think you've planted?

LEAVELL: Well, I think probably about 726 per acre, and there's about 30 acres. So you'll have to do the math on that.

SAVIDGE (voice-over): And that's just a small section of the farm. Leavell estimates he's planted nearly a million trees on some 23 acres.

But this Rolling Stone is no tree-hugger. He believes that trees can be cut down or responsibly harvested to build homes, schools, churches, even reduce our dependence on fossil fuels.

LEAVELL: And when we're talking about renewable energy source, these trees can help provide biomass energy in the future to get us away from that foreign oil that we all want to get away from.

SAVIDGE: The key, Leavell says, is to replant whatever we harvest, because for him it comes down to one simple thing -- forests are a legacy to be passed on.

LEAVELL: I'm a grandfather now. I have two grandsons. And the thought of them walking this forest, and hopefully them bringing their grandchildren here to walk around, that's a pretty neat thing to consider.

SAVIDGE: And consider it, he does, seated at his piano made of wood in a recording studio surrounded by trees.

LEAVELL: To see the sun coming up over here and over the pines, as you say, can be very inspirational to play.

SAVIDGE: Well, play a little more.

(LAUGHTER)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SAVIDGE: Chuck Leavell, an expert on trees and stones.

Martin Savidge, CNN, Dry Branch, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Well, test it, plug it, kill it -- that is still the plan for the BP well, now blamed for the worst accidental oil spill ever. Almost five million barrels, we're told. One last test planned before the so-called static kill begins to pump mud from the top down, ideally forcing oil back into the reservoir.

We're going to keep you posted on that.

The Obama administration extremely concerned about a deadly clash on the Israeli-Lebanese border. The two sides differ on the detail, but our best information indicating that an Israeli commander and at least two Lebanese soldiers are dead. U.N. peacekeepers are trying to keep the peace.

And two Republican senators are calling out 100 stimulus projects that they consider -- and I quote -- "stupid" or "inappropriate." They include $500,000 for new windows at Mount St. Helens Visitor Center. The center closed in 2007.

And then there's $71,000 to study how monkeys react to cocaine. The White House says it will investigate all the complaints, but stands by the benefits of the overall package.

Well, when we come back, Ed Henry next is with "The Stakeout."

There you are, Ed. Let's see if I can get you in trouble today. I'm going to ask you about those cocaine-snorting monkeys.

Stick around.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: All right. It's time for our "Stakeout" with our senior White House correspondent, Ed Henry, who is at the -- well, the White House.

Ed, I'm not going to ask you about those cocaine-sniffing monkeys.

ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, we should point out, that's about a stimulus project, that now Senator McCain and Senator Coburn are attacking the White House over. Robert Gibbs just talked about that a few minutes ago in general, not about the cocaine monkey, but basically said that he thinks the report is taking all kinds of projects out of context.

But I think the battle for this White House, obviously, is they continue to face this Republican criticism that the stimulus has not quite worked and that there's been some waste in there.

GRIFFIN: Ed, I said I wasn't going to ask you about those monkeys, and then you're all prepared for anything I can throw at you. I don't believe it.

HENRY: Well, you kind of just asked me.

GRIFFIN: All right. All right. I'm not going to ask you about the monkeys, but thanks for the answer anyway.

What I want to ask you about is the president back on the campaign trail. And, you know, for the life of me, it looks like he's running against George Bush again.

HENRY: Yes, it's interesting, because yesterday, when I was in Atlanta, he was in Atlanta. And I saw you there. We talked a lot about Iraq because that was the key point in the president's remarks. But he later did a fund-raiser that didn't get as much attention, where he didn't just rip Republican policies. You're right, he basically said, look, these Republicans running for office now don't have a single, solitary idea that's different than George W. Bush.

Significant is that while he's been talking a lot about a choice between the Democrats and Republicans going forward, or going back, as he puts it, this is really the first time we can remember him attacking George W. Bush in a way, even indirectly. He hasn't really mentioned his predecessor like that.

And we should note, George W. Bush hasn't said a word of criticism about this president. That may change, however, because NBC just announced yesterday Matt Lauer's going to get the first TV with the former president right after the midterm elections promoting his new book that will be coming out. But before those elections, you're going to hear the president attacking the Republicans, maybe mentioning Mr. Bush a bit more, because, in fact, over the next two weeks, there's a lot of fund-raising on this president's plate.

GRIFFIN: You know, when the White House brings somebody else to talk to us about people on the economy, how things are going, they oftentimes mention that one bullet point, "Oh, well, we inherited this mess," they're implying that George Bush got us into all this trouble.

Is there a fear among the politicos there that this could backfire, that, you know, quit blaming the past, let's move on?

HENRY: Good point, because they hear that inside this White House, that maybe some people around the country are a little bit tired of sort of the White House itself looking backward. They've been saying to the voters, don't look backward and vote for Republicans. That maybe the White House looks backwards too much and blames everything on the previous administration.

That is a criticism they're going to have to face heading into the elections. Their answer to it, though, is that, look, they did inherit this. And when you go across -- and we were talking about Iraq yesterday, talking about Afghanistan, switched to the financial crisis -- they feel like they did inherit this and it's just a fact. And so it may anger some people, but they're going to keep doing it.

GRIFFIN: Well, speaking of getting angry, this mosque decision in New York I want to ask you about, because, boy, ,it's got some people really riled up, that it's a slap in the face to the United States to have a mosque two blocks from Ground Zero.

Is there reaction coming out of that door behind you.

HENRY: There's no reaction, and I think it underlines your point, which is how explosive this issue is.

Robert Gibbs was asked about it by reporters a couple of weeks ago, and that time basically said, I don't have anything on it. And it was a pretty -- the story was still new, the facts were still being developed. So he was able to push it away. Today, my colleague Suzanne Malveaux asked him a series of follow-ups about that, and Robert Gibbs still said, "I don't have anything on that." And I think it shows that this White House realizes how explosive the issue is. They want to stay far from it.

But given the fact that the president himself gave this speech to the Muslim world last year, has talked so much about religious tolerance, and has injected himself into this broader debate about not vilifying Muslims, not saying all Muslims are tied in to some of the negative aspects we've seen on terrorism, why he will not jump into this debate now is obviously something that raises a question mark. And you can bet the White House is still going to get questions. But for now, they are trying to stay far, far from it.

GRIFFIN: Yes. It does seem that the initiative that the president launched, his own initiative to kind of reach out to the Muslim community in the U.S., and certainly the Muslim world, has kind of run out of gas.

HENRY: Well, yes. I mean, he gave the speech in Cairo last year. I was there. There was some momentum coming out of it.

But you're right. I mean, he's had so much else on his plate -- getting back to maybe what we were just talking about in terms of inheritance -- that they realize inside the White House there's only so much outreach they can do without it looking like that's his number one priority.

And so, in some ways it's fallen by the wayside. They would argue inside the White House that they continue to push it. But when they don't weigh in on an issue like this, it's undoubtedly going to raise questions about how much energy they're putting through some of these initiatives.

GRIFFIN: All right. Ed, your cameraman's done a good job trying to keep that construction out of the background. But I can hear the beeping noises.

Pan over. Tell us what's going on. That's one of the longest- running construction projects in the world.

HENRY: Well, yes.

They want to get a look here, Jeff (ph).

The old Executive Office Building there they're working on. And then over here, there's huge dirt piles where our north lawn camera position is. And basically, they're doing a big underground construction project.

It's going to last for about two years. We're told that some of the telecommunications and whatnot here around the White House hasn't been dealt with in decades. And as you can imagine, a lot has changed.

There's all kinds of conspiracy theories that maybe they're building some sort of underground tunnel, something else. We haven't been able to confirm that. That's just speculation.

They're probably just doing telecommunications, probably just doing plumbing, the usual stuff. But, you know, whenever there's a big government construction project somewhere near the White House, there's always eyebrows being raised, as you know.

GRIFFIN: Wow, good stuff there. We're looking for the Clancy novel coming out.

HENRY: Yes.

GRIFFIN: Thanks, Ed. Appreciate it.

HENRY: Good seeing you.

GRIFFIN: Ed Henry live at the White House.

Good stuff.

Well, this is bad stuff: Mexico's drug war, threats against an Arizona sheriff, an FBI agent who says the cartels are worse than al Qaeda. We're checking it all out when we go "Globe Trekking" right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Time for "Globe Trekking" now.

First to Pakistan and that country's deadly and devastating floods, getting worse there really. More than 1,500 people have been killed so far in the flooding. This was triggered by monsoon rains. There are 2.5 million people affected, other reports say as many as 3 million people now. Thousands stranded in desperate need of water and food that is just not coming.

There is a huge government relief operation underway. But as we reported, the 36 helicopters Pakistan has are all grounded because of more rain. Getting to survivors is impossible to some areas because of washed-out roads and bridges. Those lucky enough to be rescued are jammed in public buildings and schools.

Floodwaters are receding in the hard-hit northwest, but flooding is now pushing into the country's heartland. On top of all this, the government is concerned that the Pakistani Taliban will move into flood-ravaged areas, areas they had previously been driven out of by the army.

Let's talk about Mexico now and the drug wars and what that all means for us and for an apparent sheriff in Arizona. And Rafael Romo joins us, senior Latin affairs editor.

We have got death threats. We've got FBI agents linking -- not linking but calling the drug cartel even worse than al Qaeda. Is this -- this has been simmering for a long time. There have been explosions going on, but this really seems like it's blowing up. RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Exactly, Drew. And this is really an escalation of a war between the Mexican government and the drug cartels that are terrorizing the country.

Let's take a look at this.

(VIDEO CLIP FROM XHIJ, SUNDAY)

ROMO: There was an attack against federal police forces in Ciudad Juarez, the city across the border from El Paso, Texas. On -- this is yet another development. Police officers were shot at by heavily armed men believed to belong to a drug cartel who also threw a grenade at them.

On yet another development, Drew, an Arizona sheriff is the target of a death threat from Mexico. It came in the form of a text message offering $1 million to anyone who could kill Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

This is how he reacted to the threat earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA (via telephone): This is part of my job. They keep coming after me because of my fight against illegal immigration, drugs, high-profile -- I can go on and on. But they're not going to deter me. In fact, I'm going to do more work against these criminals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: We must remember, Arpaio calls himself "The Toughest Sheriff in America" and has put behind bars many operatives of the Mexican drug cartels captured in Arizona.

The violent situation in Mexico prompted a senior FBI agent to compare Mexican drug cartels with al Qaeda. The agent, based in El Paso, Texas, who was not identified said, quote, "We think al Qaeda is bad but they've got nothing on the cartels," end quote.

But an FBI spokesman in Washington said, "The quote is the opinion of one FBI agent who lives and works on border violence every day." He went on to say that, "The FBI does not believe the cartels are any more dangerous than al Qaeda."

But in any case, a very worrisome situation.

GRIFFIN: Yes, whether they're worse than al Qaeda or the same as al Qaeda, they're still bad.

The sheriff, you know, it seemed like he was going to slough this off. But the drug cartels have killed so many police chiefs and federal officials in Mexico. Is there real concern that this is not a prank, this is a real deal? ROMO: Not at this point. It's really difficult to tell because it came in a text message in one of those throwaway phones that you can basically get anywhere in Mexico. It's very difficult to really say if this is coming straight from the cartels, if this is a prank, if it's serious or not.

But what he was telling us this morning is that he worked with the DEA in Mexico City. He's seen that kind of a threat before. So he's not concerned. He just says, I'm going to keep on doing my job the way I've always done it.

GRIFFIN: Rafael, you said in the beginning this is basically -- the violence in Mexico is basically brought on because the government is actually trying to do the right thing, to break the back of the drug cartels and to take back the country, certainly the border country along the north where the drugs are being moved.

What I'm not seeing is any evidence that the war is moving either way. It's kind of like status quo, like they're just fighting each other and fighting each other through a war of attrition. Is there any evidence that the federal government is winning this war?

ROMO: It all backs to December of 2006 when Mexican President Felipe Calderon took office. He said, we are not going to look the other way anymore. We are going to do something about the problems created by drug cartels. There's been a war ever since and if you ask the Mexican government, they'll tell you, the cartels are getting more violent because they are reacting like they're wounded. They're wounded, they're being weakened and they're desperate.

But if you ask some other people in Mexico, many Mexicans indeed, they say, we're getting tired of this, the situation seems to be getting out of control and it's just very dangerous, especially in cities like Ciudad Juarez where in the last 18 months more than 4,000 people have died.

GRIFFIN: Calderon 2006 came in office, right? So he's out in 2012?

ROMO: Exactly, 2012.

GRIFFIN: Does he have enough time to win this war or is it just going to be -- and I guess is there somebody in back of Calderon who's going to have the political will to do what he is doing?

ROMO: It all depends on who you ask. By law, Mexican presidents can only serve a one six-year term and so it all depends if somebody from the same party comes along and serves the next term with the same kind of policy, the war will continue. Otherwise, it's really up for grabs what's going to happen.

GRIFFIN: Boy, there's a lot at stake on this side of the border with what happens there politically.

ROMO: That's true.

GRIFFIN: Rafael, thanks.

ROMO: Thank you.

GRIFFIN: OK, appreciate it.

Well he had the kind of childhood that would have destroyed a lot of kids, but it made him stronger and he committed to making sure other kids in crisis will get help. His story next in our "Mission Possible" segment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: This guy grew up in Las Vegas. You know who his role models were? Motorcycle gang members and mobsters. He lived with an abusive stepfather, a mother who threw him out at the age of 15, a stepmother he'd -- I guess you'd rather forget. But sports proved to be his one way out and he took it. He got so good he earned a football scholarship to Georgia Tech a something more, a new life.

Sam Bracken, an author and successful businessman devotes his time, energy, life, really to helping kids who were a lot like you, right, Sam?

SAM BRACKEN, FOUNDER, ORANGE DUFFLE BAG FOUNDATION: Absolutely. We try to help as many kids as we can.

GRIFFIN: How do you do it?

BRACKEN: Well, it's interesting. We all have our own story. I have my story of being raised like a whacked-out version of "The Brady Bunch." I was trying to get out of a bad environment, everything I owned fit in this little orange duffel bag and it became a metaphor for me for hope and packing my bags with my hopes and dreams.

And when we talk to kids and work with them, we try to, first of all, understand their story. A lot of our kids that are homeless or in foster care, they become forgotten, they live in the shadows. And when you listen to them and you really find out their stories, they're unbelievable.

GRIFFIN: You did write a book and started a foundation, as you said, called the Orange Duffel Bag Foundation. And you've got this pilot project going in Atlanta. I understand there's been a graduation. Tell us -- just give us one example of a kid who's gone through this and what the outcome has been.

BRACKEN: Yes, we did write a book, it's called "The Orange Duffle Bag: A Journey to Radical Change." This book was sort of the content for this leadership program in Atlanta. We work with some foster kids there over a couple of month period where we sort of taught them to have bold vision, have meaning, figure out values they wanted to live their life by and then create a goal-setting process to accomplish your objectives.

We had amazing contributions from a lot of different kids. Recently, on Monday, we had our graduation of that experience. And one young man, Sebastian, who was born in Ghana, has been in several foster families, his dream is to be a physician and to eventually return to Ghana and be the president of that country. And I just -- we really want to help him make that happen.

It's fabulous when you hear -- when these kids get -- when they lock on to a powerful vision and a long view with really good meaning in their lives and they choose to take those unfortunate experiences that have happened to them in their lives and leverage that for their good and use it to ignite doing things on a daily basis that make life better, it's amazing what you learn from these kids. And we've learned a tremendous amount from them and I think we've helped them change the trajectory of their lives and they're going to end up in a very different place because we've spent some time with them.

GRIFFIN: None of this is simple, I'm sure. And I would imagine the biggest hurdle is to get kids who are going the wrong way to actually buy in to going the right way.

As a person who's been there, how have you used your experience to try to reach them, turn the tiller the other way and send them in the right path?

BRACKEN: That's a good question. You know, helping kids that have had less fortunate upbringings is messy.

When I look back on my life, I was helped by very key people in very specific situations one at a time. They just helped me, one kid. And when you look at these kids' situations and when you look at their circumstance, we like to say, be that one to help just one kid, because you never know what you're going to be able to do to someone. And part of it is mentoring, coaching, teaching kids when you can.

But everyone in the audience knows at least one kid that's at risk. Everyone can reach out to that kid and be a mentor, be a coach, connect with them on a personal basis. Be uncomfortable, see things in them that they don't see in themselves, love them, extend yourself to them and get involved in their life. It's going to be uncomfortable, it might be a little messy, but it can change so many people's lives and can help them become self-reliant and truly reach their potential in life, whereas there's so many kids that don't have that opportunity. If we could just reach out and help those kids and do what we can, it can make a tremendous difference.

GRIFFIN: You held up the book. It looks pretty thin. Is that book written for kids or is it written for us that want to reach out to kids or is it written for everybody?

BRACKEN: It's written really for everybody. It's a short read, it's very unique in its approach. It was fitting to have it be in a zipper, be in its own duffel bag. And as you look at it, there's wonderful graphics in it.

We tried to write the book that would impact all learning styles. We want to impact kids, of course, but I think everybody is really enjoying the book. It has beautiful artwork in it and photography. My co-author, Echo Garrett, did some amazing things. Kevin Garrett has amazing photography in it. It starts out with poetry, moves to a narrative and then eventually has seven rules of the road for helping people on their journey, sort of where we try to coach people along.

So we found that it resonates with kids, but it also resonates with everybody. Anyone that's trying to make change in their life and wants to be exposed to a process of change to improve, learn and grow, I think it resonates with everyone.

GRIFFIN: All right, Sam Bracken, grew up in Las Vegas, came to Georgia and now we're talking to you via Salt Lake City. Thanks for joining us, Sam.

BRACKEN: Appreciate it, Drew. Have a great one.

GRIFFIN: If you'd like to know more about Sam Bracken and the work he's doing with kids in crisis, go to www.myorangeduffelbag.com -- just like the book.

A tsunami on the sun is being felt all the way here on Earth. We have pictures on this one you just got to see. It's "Off the Radar."

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CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Hey, guess what we're doing now?

GRIFFIN: "Off the Radar." Let's go off the radar. Oh, we've got music for it?

MYERS: Yes.

GRIFFIN: This is actually beyond the radar, isn't it?

MYERS: This is way off.

GRIFFIN: There's no radar up there.

MYERS: There's not a radar.

This is what the sun looked like August 1st. This is from NASA. You can go on to NASA's website, nasa.gov, and you can take a look at what happened. On August 1st, there was a large Earth-facing ejection, coronal mass ejection or CME. That means a bunch of energy from the sun started running to the world -- toward the U.S. and the rest of the world.

Here's what it looked like. You can go ahead and play this animation. There was a tsunami even on the surface of the sun.

GRIFFIN: This is real?

MYERS: This is the real image of what happened on August 1st, which was Sunday. So it's taken this long for this energy, this magnetic energy to get to the world. It could do a lot of things. This is a sea. This is kind of a smaller of all of the particles coming in. You can have an M or an X. An X is really bad which means that all of a sudden, hey look out, here it comes.

But even with this ejection, we could lose some satellites. The biggest thing, I think, and you said it because you were just in Alaska, you missed what's probably going to happen tonight, which would be this. Make that bigger, because that's amazing. This is from an iReport. This is good stuff. This is what the Northern Lights can look up there.

And this is the typical event when you get a CME or that ejection from the sun. You get big-time solar lights, the Northern Lights or the Southern Lights hitting the ionosphere. And you can even get them all the way down to Michigan. I'm not saying we're going to get them down here to Georgia, but sometimes when you get a big event like this -- the thing is, you have to think of the world as this sphere and also the sun as a sphere, and these ejections can happen in any direction.

In 360 degrees, they can go -- and they don't have to go toward the world. If they're not going toward the world, then you would never know it happened. You would never know that anything significant is happening here. The big thing is when they do shoot toward the earth, then all of a sudden all that energy comes to you, hits the ionosphere and we get good stuff. The bad stuff is if you can't see CNN because your satellite goes pshht for a while. We don't think that's going to happen. We don't think that was a big enough ejection for stuff like that that's going happen. But that's always possible.

GRIFFIN: Well, that's really cool. You know, I was just thinking, I was just up in Alaska. It was very light the whole time. Does this happen whether it's light out or not?

MYERS: No, no, it doesn't matter whether it's light or dark. Obviously in the wintertime you would see it more in the winter because the sky is darker, of course. But when the -- in Fairbanks and I think even maybe in Anchorage, they have a 24-hour golf marathon because it's light enough to play the whole time for 24 hours on the longest day of the year.

GRIFFIN: And you know what? They do it. People are crazy up there, in a fun way. All right, thanks, buddy.

Politicians sling it, kids make pies of it. Now it's the best hope of killing the leak in the Gulf. A down and dirty "Wordplay," that's up next.

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GRIFFIN: Time for today's "Wordplay" where we take a term in the headlines that might be unfamiliar to a lot of people and explain it. Today, we've got "mud," which doesn't mean what you think it means, at least in the context of the Gulf oil disaster. Your average mud is wet, soft earth, right? Well, the mud everyone's focused on today is drilling mud, a manufactured fluid, usually a bentonite clay base with other thickeners added. It's normally used as an oil drilling lubricant, but right now, it is the main ingredient in BP's Static Kill plan. They've got more than a million gallons of this mud standing by. The plan is to start pumping it right down into that ruptured wellhead today. It is the first concrete step to plugging it permanently.

Static Kill may plug BP's well, but it's not going to end the crisis for the people living along the Gulf coast and living with disaster after disaster. We'll talk about that next.

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GRIFFIN: Time for the "XYZ" segment today.

You know, we're told the oil that caused so much trepidation along the Gulf coast is finally going to face the Static Kill, as they say, that could permanently begin putting a cap on this nightmare.

There's a lot of politics involved here as well. The problem for the people along the Gulf coast is the fear that once this Static Kill is in place, all the other help and money that has been flowing their way will stop or trickle down. All of this taking place, of course, while local politicians try to prove there is oil out there and still causing problems. Federal officials tell us it's getting harder and harder to find any oil to clean up.

So which is it? Is there or is there not any oil? Are the beaches clean or dirty? Do we need to keep spending huge amounts of money on response because the response is actually needed or is this now just all about politics?

Well at the heart of all this from the politicians along the Gulf coast is the fear they have lived with, the fear that the rest of the U.S. will forget about the Gulf coast and there's good reason for that. Five years ago this month, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans. Most of us have forgot.

People along the Gulf coast are tired of these disasters and tired of being forgotten after the disasters. They have seen disaster time and time again and seen the U.S. forget time and time again that they are still suffering from the last disaster while dealing with the current crisis. That's why they fear this disaster will soon end, that we will forget and move on and leave them once again dealing with their disaster alone.

That's my "XYZ" time. Now for Rick Sanchez and "RICK'S LIST."