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Outrage Over Murdered Aid Workers; BP Close to Sealing Well; GOP Weighs Citizenship Rollback

Aired August 09, 2010 - 10:59   ET

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

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody.

Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for Monday, August 9th, or, if you like, 8/9/10.

Let's get to it.

International outrage builds after 10 aid workers are killed execution style in Afghanistan. Fresh information today about the victims. Most were Americans.

And world famous chefs gather in New Orleans to convince you it's OK to eat Gulf shrimp, fish, oysters and crabs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know of anything that I wouldn't try to serve myself, my family or my customers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And emergency crews battling spilled oil off the coast of India today. Two cargo ships collide, sending tons of fuel into the sea.

Good morning, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan, in for Tony Harris this morning.

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

We are learning more about the six American medical aid workers gunned down by the Taliban. Their bodies today being handed over to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. They were among 10 multinationals killed last week in a remote region in Afghanistan.

We just heard from one of the aid organizations involved in the mission to help the Afghan people. Listen here.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON FLAMING, INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS DIR., MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE: -- last Friday from IAM that the team was missing. We had known earlier that Glen was traveling with him. IAM lost touch with the team on Thursday evening. Three vehicles fitting the description of the team's vehicles were then discovered a day later, as well as the 10 bodies.

We don't know why the team was attacked or by whom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN Foreign Affairs Correspondent Jill Dougherty has been covering it from the beginning in Kabul.

Jill, what's the latest you're hearing now about the attack?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN FOREIGN AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: You know, Kate, that last point about why it happened and who attacked them, that's really one of the outstanding problems in the midst of this extremely sad moment.

You know, today, we were at a news conference by the International Assistance Mission. That is the NGO, the Christian NGO for whom these aid workers volunteered. And they described the people who went into the forest, trekking 100 miles into the forest in a remote part of Afghanistan, described their dedication, et cetera, and also answered some of the questions that have been raided and the charges raised by the Taliban, who ultimately claimed responsibility for this attack. The Taliban said that these people were spies for NATO, and then other militants said they were Christians trying to proselytize and convert people.

Here's what the director, Dirk Frans, told us, CNN, right after their news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DIRK FRANS, DIRECTOR, IAM: As far as I was concerned, nobody was (INAUDIBLE). I've only been in this country and in this position for two and a half years. He had been here 35 years. I was officially in charge, but there were few decision that I would make that I wouldn't consult Tom on, because he just had all the history, all the background. He had the insights that nobody else had here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGHERTY: And he's referring to Tom Little, Dr. Tom Little, who was the team head and a person who had worked, as you heard, for many, many years.

The organization says that it is not planning on pulling out, but it has been hurt, mainly because these people were very experienced. They had the local languages and were really necessary for carrying out the mission.

And then, Kate, also, we should say there's an investigation that's going on led by the Ministry of the Interior of the Afghan government.

And then, finally, the sad news on the bodies. They have been brought back. They're here in Kabul. And they now will be, we believe, accordingly to the U.S. Embassy, plans are still being put together, but it looks as if they will be taken back the to the United States.

And in some cases, some of the people's bodies will be brought back here to Afghanistan to be buried, because that is what they wanted and that's what their families wanted.

BOLDUAN: And Jill, real quick, you said that this organization, that they're going to be pulling out, but that they will and are being affected.

How is this going to affect their missions, did they say? Are they not going to go into unknown areas anymore? How is it going to be affected?

DOUGHERTY: Well, I think you'd have to say they feel that they have done what they could to be as careful about going into these areas as possible, but how it will affect the mission is, you have -- some of them were doctors, Tom Little was a doctor. The British doctor, a woman who was also a really good specialist in women and child care, these people are not replaceable very quickly.

Again, Tom had been there for 36 years, I believe. How do you replace somebody that quickly?

That's how the mission will be affected. But IAM has been here for 44 years, and so they say that this is not going to stop them. And ultimately, it's the question of why they were killed.

If it were a direct attack by the Taliban that targeted them, that would be very bad news. If it's a robbery that happened, and then the Taliban were connected, or take responsibility, it's a slightly different scenario. So, they're going to have to wait for that investigation to see how ultimately it could affect this organization and others who are here in Afghanistan.

BOLDUAN: All right. Thanks so much.

Jill Dougherty in Kabul for us.

Thanks, Jill.

So, authorities, they have identified most of those aid workers. And let's bring in our Josh Levs for that side of the story.

We're learning a lot more about who these people are, right, Josh?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we are. The group that was behind this whole organization came out today and has been telling us more and more about these people.

It's an opportunity to stop and really appreciate. These people were with the Medical Eye Camp team. It's the International Assistance Mission that has identified the 10 from the Nuristan Medical Eye Camp team.

So, they went into this tough area to try to help people see. And in this case, they paid with their lives.

We have a screen here that shows you the Americans. Among them, there were six Americans among them. And that's Cheryl Beckett, Glen Lapp, Thomas Grams, Tom Little. Also, Dan Terry and Brian Carderelli.

Let me do this -- I'm going to talk to you a little bit more about some of them and tell you about their history. We'll start off with Tom Little.

From New York, the team leader there, he was an optometrist. As we were just hearing from Jill, he had worked in Afghanistan for decades. He was 61 years old.

Also, Cheryl Beckett, who you were just seeing there, 32 years old, from Ohio. She was a pastoral speaker and assisted the medical in translating, especially for women patients. It was a specific concern of hers.

Glen Lapp, 40 years old, from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, worked with this group as a partner of the Mennonite Central Committee, and today he was remembered by colleagues at a news conference.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN WILLIAMSON, MENNONITE CENTRAL COMMITTEE: I spent a week with Glen, and he -- I felt I was on holy ground because of his commitment to God and to the people there. I remember him as being such a loving person.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: It is a tragic loss.

Also, we're hearing more and more heroic stories of what these people are doing, including the one here, Thomas Grams of Durango, Colorado. He was a dentist and a friend of Tom Little. He helped with that team.

Now, there were also four others who were not American I'll tell you about -- Danielle Abaya (ph) of Germany; Jao Wed (ph), of Afghanistan; Mahram Ali (ph), of Afghanistan; and one more we actually do have a picture of here. This is Karen Woo (ph) of Britain, 36 years old, a general surgeon who joined to help promote specifically maternal health care in Nuristan communities. That was a real concern of hers.

And I will tell you, Kate, the more we learn about these people, the more you see the sacrifices that they and so many others around the world make all the time to go into difficult areas, put their lives on the line, put their families on hold, put so much, into so much in order to reach those who need the help the most.

And next hour, I will be talking to you about that -- big picture, these NGOs, how many people are over there, the kinds of risks they take every day, what they face to try to help people in need. BOLDUAN: And they know the risk that they're taking, but such courage that they have to do it, still.

LEVS: And the whole families are part of that rescue.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely. Thanks so much, Josh. We'll check back with you.

LEVS: You got it.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: A collision between two ships has forced officials to suspend operations at India's busiest container port. It's still not quite clear how the two ships collided Saturday off the Mumbai Harbor. One of the ships is listing dangerously, and fuel drums have been sliding off the deck, actually. Emergency crews are spraying chemicals to break up the oil.

This week, it could spell the end for that oil that we've been talking so much about, the ruptured BP oil well in the Gulf. But it's far from the end of the overall disaster.

CNN's Reynolds Wolf is in Pensacola Beach, Florida.

Reynolds, we have been talking about this a lot. We talked about it over the weekend.

So where are things today? What is the latest on this relief well?

REYNOLDS Wolf, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, believe it or not, after digging some 17,000 feet down, they are roughly 30 to 40 feet away from completion of the relief well. But it's a process, Kate, that can't be done very quickly.

They do a little bit at a time, they stop, they re-evaluate, they reassess, and they continue again. They have to be very, very careful. It has to be almost like surgery for the relief well to intersect with the damaged well.

And when that occurs, then they will proceed with what they refer to as the bottom kill, where they're going to inject into the old well a combination of both mud and cement. And that should kill off the well all together.

Although, I have to tell you, Admiral Thad Allen said that even when the well is dead, the crisis is far from over.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADM. THAD ALLEN (RET.), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: If you're sitting in Barataria Bay, it's still an environmental disaster. And if the folks haven't come back to the panhandle of Florida, it's still a disaster.

I think what we need to understand is there's a lot of oil that's been taken care of, there's a lot of oil that's still out there. There's a lot of shoreline that needs to be cleaned. We need to keep a steady hand at the tiller here, keep this cleanup going. It is a catastrophe. It's a catastrophe for the people of the Gulf, and it requires our attention that we get the job done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: I can tell you that in terms of the effect of the oil spill here in places like Pensacola, things have gotten considerably better. They have not seen oil on these beaches for a very long time, several weeks. In some cases, up to a month.

That's great news. And since the oil is gone, a lot of the customers, a lot of the tourists have come back, which is certainly great news. But, again, jus like Admiral Thad Allen said, there are many places in southeastern Louisiana where, still, those pristine marshlands are inundated with very heavy oil, and that is going to take some time to clean up -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A lot of this killing of the well this whole time has had to do with having at least decent weather to get some of this stuff done. What is the weather looking like later in the week? Is it all going to be working in our favor?

WOLF: Well, it's going to be kind of interesting. Right now, obviously, the weather is picture perfect along the Gulf Coast. We are watching that disturbance in the Atlantic. There's a chance it could cross over parts of the Florida peninsula and then back out into the Gulf again.

Right now, the chance of it developing into something stronger could be anywhere from, say, 10 to even 20 percent. Very unlikely, but there is still always that chance. I mean, you have to remember, this is really a very active time in the tropics in terms of storm development, so you always have keep your eyes on the horizon to try to avoid any delay possible trying to get this job out with the well completed as soon as possible.

Back to you.

BOLDUAN: The deeper we get into hurricane season, the more this is going to be a concern.

All right. Thanks so much, Reynolds. We'll talk to you soon.

So, the government is also reopening some of the waters in the Gulf to commercial fishing. Good news for people there. But how safe is the catch?

Well, here's one vote of confidence. President Obama served Gulf seafood at his birthday barbecue yesterday. And master chefs were not hesitant about using it at the Great American Seafood Cook-Off over the weekend in New Orleans. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL PRUDHOMME, CHEF: I don't know of anything that I wouldn't try to serve myself, my family or my customers.

DR. JIMMY GUIDRY, LOUISIANA DEPT. OF HEALTH & HOSPITALS: What we're seeing is that the seafood that's on the market has been really safe, that the bad image is from daily messaging from the media of the oiled bird who is it covered in oil. That is not the image of the seafood, and that's not what's showing up in our testing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And at the moment, regional, state and industry officials say seafood from the Gulf is the most tested in the world.

Illegal immigration, been talking about that a lot. Well, some Republicans think a change to the U.S. Constitution could help fix the problem.

We'll be back right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Another busy day for President Obama. Right now the president is on his way to Texas. He'll attend fund-raisers later today. But first, the president will push his goal to increase college graduation rates.

Earlier today on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING," Education Secretary Arne Duncan, he outlined the president's plan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARNE DUNCAN, EDUCATION SECRETARY: We did lead the world a generation ago with college graduates. We have grown complacent. We've flat-lined, we've stagnated, and other countries have passed us by. And I think, frankly, we're paying a price for that economically.

I'm convinced we have to educate our way to a better economy. So, what the president has drawn, he's drawn a line in the sand. He said by 2020, we have to again lead the world in the percent of college graduates. That means over the next decade, we'll need about an additional eight million more college graduates, and everything we're doing in terms of driving our form (ph) agenda K-12, making college much more accessible and affordable, over $60 billion in increased Pell grants, simplifying the financial aid forms, so the form itself is not a barrier to college, everything we're doing is towards that goal, that north star of again leading the world in college graduates by the year 2020.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: We'll be hearing more about that in the president's speech, which is coming up now in less than two hours. You're going to want to hear that. Well, the Republican leader in the House, he says changing the Constitution's 14th Amendment is worth considering. Congressman John Boehner says the amendment, which he says gives illegal immigrants incentives to come to the U.S. and have children.

Former Republican congressman Tom Tancredo, he agrees the 14th Amendment should be changed. He recently joined the race for Colorado governor as a third party candidate, and he talked with CNN's Jim Acosta.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: This is how it reads: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside."

Congressman Tancredo, that sounds pretty cut and dry. Isn't it?

TOM TANCREDO, COLORADO GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: Well, of course, there's the clause that you mentioned, that is very important in this discussion. "Under the jurisdiction thereof."

We recognize that people who come here, let's say as ambassadors, foreign diplomats, whatever, they have children here, no one considers them to be citizens of the United States. We don't claim it, they don't claim it. There are certainly exceptions to this idea that anybody born here is, is automatically a citizen of the United States regardless of the citizenship status of their parents and status in the country.

(CROSSTALK)

ACOSTA: Yes, let me ask you this but how serious a problem, because, you know, NPR reported earlier this year citing data from the National Center for Health Statistics, that of the four million live births in the United States in 2006, only 7,670 were children born to mothers who said they do not live here.

So is this really a drop in the bucket?

TANCREDO: Well, of course, what you've just described is not a person necessarily who is an illegal alien. They're just a person who says they don't live here. They could be here on a tourist visa. But what you have, of course, I'm trying to think now whether it was fair, it might have been friends of immigration, American immigration reform, who have identified at least 220,000 people born here last year, to parents who were not legally present in the United States.

So there's a wide, wide disparity I guess when you get the reports from different organizations. But please understand this - that from my point of view, calling for a constitutional amendment is not necessary. It should not be done. And I'll tell you why.

It is something that should be adjudicated at the Supreme Court. It has never happened. We have never had a Supreme Court ruling on this particular concept of --

ACOSTA: Well, let me get to Michelle Waslin on that. Because I mean, do you think that the congressman is correct, that this is ripe for a constitutional challenge? And can you imagine the Supreme Court citing against the 14th amendment?

MICHELLE WASLIN, IMMIGRATION POLICY RESEARCH: No, I can't. In fact, the Supreme Court has decided in favor of birthright citizenship several times. Look, this is nothing more than an attack on the Constitution.

TANCREDO: Not for illegals.

WASLIN: On fundamental American values. And it's a distraction from the very real immigration problems that we have. Furthermore, denying birthright citizenship would be expensive, impractical. It would affect every single American, not just illegal immigrants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Other Republicans, including Senators John McCain and Mitch McConnell, also want to consider changes to that amendment, the 14th Amendment. Immigration, as you know, is a huge issue and an issue candidates from both parties are addressing as they head to the polls tomorrow.

So, while we're bringing you the news from around the world, we're also watching what's hot online.

Ines Ferre is surfing the Web.

What do you have, Ines? What are you tracking?

INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kate, this is what's hot online right now. Actress Mia Farrow contradicting supermodel Naomi Campbell over an alleged diamond gift.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: An emergency in Moscow. The air is so thick, you can barely see your hand in front of your face. The video is really amazing.

Just look at that. Smoke from hundreds of wildfires is combining with the smog there. At least 52 people have died, dozens more are hospitalized, and hundreds of passengers remain stranded at airports. Planes grounded until the air clears.

I cannot wait to learn more about this. I'm not the person that can do it, though. Rob Marciano is the man.

This area must be huge.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. And it's been a horrible summer for them in many ways, Kate -- a heat wave that goes beyond historical proportions, and then these fires. There are still over 500 fires that are burning throughout Russia.

Here's Moscow right there. But you can see this high-resolution satellite imagery shows the smoke plume all around western parts of the country of Russia.

To put things in perspective, just how large this is, we'll take that same outline and superimpose it over something that you may be more familiar with, which is the map of the United States. Pretty much from coast to coast is what they're seeing as far as smoke goes in western Russia.

Obviously, the core of the most nasty stuff is near Moscow because they've got that coupled in with fog as well. So, it's pretty much doubled the natural fatality rate in that city because of the unhealthy air. And that has not been good.

(WEATHER REPORT)

BOLDUAN: Fifty eight degrees?

MARCIANO: That's how it gets in the summertime in San Francisco, September and October --

BOLDUAN: And I've been debating this with this people. They're like, it's summer, Kate. It's going to be hot. It's unusually hot for extended periods of time right now.

MARCIANO: Very much so in many cities. So this has been an unusual, yes, warm summer, but it was quite a winter if you remember that as well?

BOLDUAN: I do. I do. My snow gear is still getting dry, yes, from all of the days out in the snow. All right, thanks so much.

So here is one of those better late than never moments, I guess. The New Orleans Saints finally getting their audience with President Obama.

The NFL champions were at the White House this morning where the president congratulated them at a ceremony in the east room. It's one of the perks that goes with winning a championship.

It's taken a bit longer for these - the Super Bowl champs to make the trip because of scheduling conflicts.

Now, I don't know if this my idea of a perfect birthday, but what's the president to do on his birthday when the wife and girls are out of town?

Well, how about invite the boys down for an all-star basketball party. An all-star we mean it. Here the president is with Joe Kimnela and Derek Road (ph), they play for his hometown Chicago Bulls.

The president put together his own dream team. It was quite a team for the benefit of wounded warriors. They played for them. Other guys who played with the president, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and retired legends Magic Johnson and Bill Russell.

The U.S. drawdown in Iraq, it kicks into high gear. We're going to talk about it with the top American commander in Bahgdad. We'll be back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: America's combat role in Iraq ends in 22 days. The top American commander there says Iraqis are ready to take over. CNN's Arwa Damon talked with him in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After seven years of war, American combat colors are marched off for the final time as for to the last combat brigade hands over to Iraqi troops. And General Raymond Odierno who has given five years of his life to the war reflects.

GENERAL RAY ODIERNO, COMMANDER, MULTI-NATIONAL FORCE-IRAQ: I think about how far we've come. I remember back in 2003 and 2004 there were no security forces at all because we disbanded the Army.

I remember back in 2006 and '07, when people questioned whether the Iraqi security forces would fight. The big deal was would they even fight. Well, they are fighting every single day now. So we have made really steady, steady progress. So I'm proud of that.

DAMON: As the Iraqi military exhibits its newfound skills, many Iraqi politicians as well as civilians worry about the country returning to violence as the U.S. troops decreased to 50,000.

General Odierno claims the Iraqis just need to build confidence in their own forces. The real issue, he says, is America's financial commitment.

Key congressional leaders want to slash in half the $2 billion General Odierno says are needed to support the Iraqi armed forces in 2011.

ODIERNO: In order to give - to make sure that the Iraqi security forces have the capacity to provide foundational external security to protect their sovereignty, as well as build their logistical infrastructure to sustain themselves for the internal fight as well.

That's what we've determined is what they need. So if it's cut, what it will do is it will delay them reaching where we think they need to be. So it won't by the end of '11.

DAMON: The end of 2011 is when the security agreement between both nations specifies that all American forces have to be out of Iraq. ODIERNO: It's risk. See, it's about mitigating risk. I believe that extra billion dollars helps to mitigate the risk of this getting turned around.

It's impossible to predict the exact outcome that it could cause, but I argue that if we reduce it by a billion it does significantly increase the risk. I don't think it's worth it.

DAMON: The general has seen many people make a lot of the sacrifices over the years.

ODIERNO: We can't forget about the people of Iraq through all of this. They were under this tyranny for a very, very long time. I believe they want to move forward. They want to have a new life.

They've suffered an awful lot over those last seven years for a lot of different reasons, and we have to remember, I think, we owe them to try to give them a way forward for what they endured.

We also have to remember the sacrifice obviously that our young men and women have made and our country has made both from a human perspective and a monetary perspective here.

DAMON: It's that perspective and his belief that it's not yet mission accomplished here that will keep General Odierno watching the developments in Iraq even after he leaves.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Let's get a check of our top stories.

Law enforcement officers are combing Yellowstone National Park for John McCluskey. He's one of two Arizona escapees. U.S. marshals say they believe the other one, Tracy Province is now on his way to Indiana where he has family. A $40,000 reward is being offered for information leading to their arrest.

And 10 members of an international medical aid group are being remembered as selfless professionals. They were ambushed and killed in Northeast Afghanistan Thursday. Six of them were American. The head of the international assistance mission, the NGO there, says he does not think his group will pull out of the country.

And the trial is under way for the youngest of the terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay. Omar Cutter, now 23 was 15 when he was captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan.

And in China, heavy rains triggered massive mud slides that have killed at least 137 people, more than 1,300 people are still missing in northwest China. Senior International correspondent, John Vause is in Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Emergency crews in the northwest of China are still searching for survivors after a landslide over the weekend swept away houses, bridges and cars.

A wall of mud flattened three villages in (Zhouqu) County. At one point more than 2,000 residents were believed to be missing, but slowly survivors are being pulled from the sludge, including an elderly woman, 74 years old. She was trapped for 34 hours and reportedly in stable condition, but many others remain unaccounted for.

The mud is two meters deep according to state media, making it impossible for vehicles and heavy machinery to get in. So the government has ordered in thousands of troops using shovels and bare hands to search for the missing.

China's Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in the region on Sunday. He toured the area by air and is being personally directing rescue operations. Rock and debris from the landslide also blocked a nearby river that caused extensive flooding as well.

On Monday, army engineers used explosives to blast away that blockage. State media now reports, water levels has started to recede, but the area remains without power.

Clean drinking water and food are in short supply and officials worry there may be more rain in the coming days.

John Vause, CNN, Beijing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Doctors sometimes make mistakes, we all know that, but most of us are too intimidated to second guess them. Our Elizabeth Cohen learned that the hard way after a doctor misdiagnosed her own mother.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Every week CNN's patient advocate Elizabeth Cohen brings you the tools you need to be an empowered patient. Now, she's sharing the inspiration behind that series.

They misdiagnosed, in her own family, that led to a complicated and life-changing surgery. Here's what happened to Elizabeth's mother, Sheila.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELIZABETH COHEH, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): My mother, Sheila Swartz is a firecracker, mother of four, grandmother of 11, wife, lawyer and social worker. She's been active and healthy her whole life.

But around the time she turned 60, something changed. She began feeling achy and dizzy. Her blood pressure went up and she was so tired.

My mother says her family doctor told her don't worry about it.

(on camera): They told you, look lady, if you stop working so hard, your blood pressure will come down?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don't be quite so busy.

COHEN: So kind of patted you on the head and said --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go home. Calm down.

COHEN (voice-over): My mother didn't question her doctor.

(on camera): Were you an empowered patient?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I was unempowered in this process. I was an empowered mother. I was an empowered social worker. I was an empowered teacher. I was not an empowered patient.

COHEN: Did you just trust the doctors?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's what I was brought up to do.

COHEN: A good girl from the '50s?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: From the '40s.

COHEN (voice-over): Then one day my mother flew in to visit me in Atlanta. I could tell she felt awful.

(on camera): Remember what we did while you were there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You called your physician, who came in on a Saturday and saw me.

COHEN: That he had a theory that you had what going on in your adrenal glands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Adrenal adenomas.

COHEN: And that was growths on the adrenal glands.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And that that was affecting my kidney function.

COHEN: It was like an ah-ha moment?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's right.

COHEN: Like now it makes sense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now it make sense.

COHEN (voice-over): It turns out, my mother all this time had been seriously ill. If it had been caught earlier, a pretty simple treatment would have fixed the problem.

But instead it's come to this, she needed a kidney transplant. My mom's life depended on the success of this surgery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By, darling, thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: That's such an amazingly powerful story. I was getting goosebumps in the middle of it. First off, how is your mom?

COHEN: She is doing great. After all this, the kidney transplant, which I wish she had never needed.

BOLDUAN: Right.

COHEN: But she had it in December, due to the wonderfulness of our cousin David, who gave one of his kidneys and it's now August and she's doing great. She's totally back to - not just normal but better than she was.

BOLDUAN: Fighting spirit. So quickly if we could, what are the lessons that you learned from this, you and your family?

COHEN: Right, some of the lessons that we learned is that -- you can trust your doctor too much. You can trust what they say too much. I talk about my mom's story in my book "Empowered Patient," which is on sale tomorrow in stores near you.

BOLDUAN: -- for a copy myself.

COHEN: Absolutely, I will give you one. That's one of the lessons that I learned from my experience with my mother is that sometimes when someone pats you on the head and say you're working too hard, just take it easy, don't always accept that.

If you really think that something is wrong, pursue it, go talk to somebody else. A doctor who blames you for your symptoms, there's something sketchy about that. You should always keep pushing forward.

BOLDUAN: That is amazing and something everyone can learn. We'll talk to you again in the next hour.

COHEN: That's right, about being a bad patient.

BOLDUAN: About being a bad patient, which is a good thing.

COHEN: Right, exactly.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, Elizabeth. So we're going to talk more to Elizabeth about that in the coming hour and she's going to be giving you tips on why, as she said, it is good to be a bad patient.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BOLDUAN: Let's talk about the economy, cnnmoney.com. That's the place where you want to go. I go for all of your money stories on finance and everything beyond.

On the headlines now, Uncle Sam's $2.5 trillion slush fund, talking about social security surpluses, something we all need to know more about.

And let's take a look at the big board. What we're looking at now, trading up 47 points. We'll stay in the positive. Let's stay positive. I like that. Stay in the positive all day.

Also, a new report shows that fewer Americans were under water on their mortgages in the second quarter than they were in the first three months of the year.

I know, you think I'm not telling you truth right now, but that's true. Felicia Taylor is at the New York Stock Exchange with the details. So, Felicia, do we take this as some good news here?

FELICIA TAYLOR, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this is better news, Kate, absolutely, but there are many reasons to take it with a little bit of a grain of salt. More than 21 percent of Americans are under water on their mortgages meaning that they owe more than their homes are actually worth.

That's down from just over 23 percent. That's according to real estate web site zilo.com. Yes, there are fewer Americans under water, but that's because much of the improvement is due to people losing their homes to foreclosure.

That is not a reason to be happy about it and it's still high. Zilo's chief economist says the rate should be well below 5 percent in what would be a normal housing market. In a boom, it would be under 1 percent, and it could go up again.

Many believe second quarter numbers are propped up by the home buyer tax credits that expired at the end of April. This indicates more foreclosures could be on the way if things don't improve markedly - Kate.

BOLDUAN: So Felicia, you say take this news with a grain of salt, but what is going to happen or be done for these numbers to show real improvement?

TAYLOR: Well, the one thing we really need to see is rising home prices. In other words, rising home values. That is beginning to happen in some areas.

As home prices rise, that gap narrows between what the homeowners owe and what they can actually sell their property for. People are able to hold on to the mortgage long enough for the market to come back. Those are the ones that are going to be OK.

For instance, home prices in California. One of the state's hardest hit by the crisis, rose dramatically last quarter. Thanks to state credits, state tax credits, I should say, on top of federal credits.

Home prices in Florida, though, and Arizona, still haven't bottomed out. It will take a while for this to all sort out. So under water mortgages and therefore extension foreclosures are going to be a problem going forward.

You can see it already in the four hardest hit cities, Las Vegas, nearly three of every homeowners owe more than their house is worth. In Phoenix, Orlando and Reno, the rate is like 60 percent. A lot of people still feeling the pain of this housing crisis, and it is going to continue for a while - Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right. Felicia Taylor at the New York Stock Exchange for us. Thanks so much, Felicia.

TAYLOR: Sure.

BOLDUAN: A pair of escaped killers and an accomplice on the run. Federal agents believe one of them may be hiding in Yellowstone National Park. A manhunt update coming up in next hour of CNN "Newsroom."

And the world's biggest river? Someone had to walk the full length of it, more than 4,000 miles and today thousands of bug bites later, a very tired man reached the end of his amazing Amazon adventure.

The descendants of slaves of the nation's first president, George Washington, returned to his landmark estate at Mt. Vernon. CNN journalist Doug Shonts brings us the reunion.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA WOOD, MOUNT VERNON ESTATE AND GARDENS: Washington lived here for about 40 years, he called Mt. Vernon home, but during the 40 years he was away fighting the revolutionary war. He was up in Philadelphia, in New York for the presidency. The slaves were really running this plantation.

ROHULAMIN QUANDER, FAMILY MEMBER: Even though it was George Washington's home, it was our home too. The Quander family is now celebrating its 85th reunion, and Quander ancestors were in service here to George Washington from the 18th Century.

While he was off at Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill, our ancestors were here in the fields, tending the animals. So this is very much a part of our legacy as it was of his.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The memory of those who have gone before us, we will always remember to honor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Slavery is over and we have moved on. And it's time to be about the business of making America all that it can be.

GUY LARRY MITCHELL, FAMILY MEMBER: This is the greatest nation in the world that you can go from slavery to president of the United States. That is huge.

QUANDER: So we need to take the strengths, the significance of what George Washington stood for, what the founding fathers stood for.

We need to turn it to our own advantage and see how we could use that. We need to see what all of the ancestor ancestors, what was so special and strong about them, that can be to the benefit of us.

(END VIDEOTAPE)