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China Set to be World's Number Two Economy; President Obama Comments on Islamic Center Near Ground Zero; Struggling to Survive after Flooding; Disease Follows in Wake of Pakistan Floods; Heat in South While Midwest Sees Relief, and Tropical Depression Returns to the Gulf

Aired August 16, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": Good morning everybody. And here's what we are working on for you this morning.

A horrific car accident leaves one man dead and a woman charged with drunk driving but when she went back to partying like nothing happened, the victim's family went online to get even.

A hero's welcome for the Lockerbie Bomber after killing hundreds of people. He was set free because he was supposed to die. One year later, he is still alive and one of his doctors reportedly comes clean.

And the power of trust. A kind-hearted stranger gives her credit card to a homeless man. You won't believe what happens next.

It's 9 a.m. on the East Coast, 6 a.m. out West. I'm Kyra Phillips. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

So if you're a baby boomer, you probably remember your mom telling you to clean your plate because kids were starving in China. Well, that was then. This is now.

A new report shows China is about to pass Japan as the second largest economy in the world. The U.S. is still number one but our time could be running out, too.

Chief business correspondent Ali Velshi here to talk a little about more.

So, Ali, how do we get to this point? This sort of co-dependent relationship?

ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Well, keep in mind, China is still three times the size of the United States. So it's not -- individuals are not all getting that wealthy but this is a country that 30 years ago was an almost isolated communist country and has been slowly working its way into a market economy over the years.

And what happened is the West really embraced China's reforms because China has cheap labor. So we wanted to buy cheaper goods from China over the years. We continued to acknowledge their movement into the broader world. And China, for all intense and purposes, Kyra, has become the factory shop, the shop floor for the world. Look at all the stuff that we buy. By some estimates, 80 percent of the manufactured goods that we buy in this country were made in China. So that's what it is. China builds the stuff that we buy.

PHILLIPS: There are risks, though. There -- or a number of risks to this relationship.

VELSHI: Yes. Yes, there --

PHILLIPS: Because there could come a point where -- or could there come a point where they are more powerful than we are in areas that -- we really want to be number one in?

VELSHI: Well, I think, first of all, in 2010 economic might is bigger than military might. The fact that China is the number one source for our imported goods, the fact that it's the biggest automobile market in the world, the fact that it is the biggest exporter in the world makes them the mightiest country in the world.

And as you showed in that graph when we came in, they're not close to the U.S. yet, but estimates are that some time between 2020 and 2013 you'll -- 2035, you'll see those numbers even out. And that the -- China could be the biggest economy in the entire world. It's the fastest growing, could be the biggest.

Now the risks are what we've already seen. For the last 10 years or longer, we've seen our manufacturing industry decline in the United States, Kyra, because it's simply cheaper to make goods in China. We can't compete.

The flipside is we've enjoyed buying those cheap goods from China and as a result you've seen an increase in standard of living on one side because you pay less for those made in China goods but you've seen a de cease on the other side, Kyra, where we don't make the stuff that they make in China because they can make it cheaper than we can.

PHILLIPS: So we need to figure out what we can sell to China. What would that be?

VELSHI: That is exactly the answer. We need to figure out what -- as they get to be a bigger economy and they produce more, their citizens become a little bit wealthier and they will spend.

Will they spend on something that we make or some service that we offer? We have not gotten the answer to that, Kyra, and that may be the biggest question facing our economy now. Not just for China, what can America make and export that is actually going to make us prosperous and wealthier?

That's the big question. If we could find the answer to that we can have a more balanced relationship with China.

PHILLIPS: You and I would be kagillionaires.

VELSHI: That's absolutely right.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Ali.

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: Right.

Well, it's the start of a new week but President Obama is nursing the bruises from being a GOP punching bag over the weekend. Republicans tore into him for defending an Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

Here's what started it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Ground Zero is indeed hallowed ground, but let me be clear, as a citizen and as president, I believe the Muslims have the right to that their religion as everyone else in this country. And that includes -- that includes the right to build a place of worship and a community center on private property in Lower Manhattan in accordance with local laws and ordinances.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: So Republicans said that the president is ignoring the anguish of those who lost loved ones in the 9/11 attacks. Some even vowed that the president's controversial stance will become a political issue in the midterm elections.

So over the weekend, the president tried to clarify his position to CNN senior White House correspondent Ed Henry.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: In this country, we treat everybody equally in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion.

I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates become to our founding.

That's what our country is about. And I think it's very important that, you know, as difficult as some of these issues are, you know, we stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: All right. Let's bring in CNN White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.

Suzanne, this is one of those passionately divisive issues sure to anger a lot of people. It already has no matter what you say. So why did the president even take it on? SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, quite frankly, Kyra, there was pressure for him to take it on. You know we had been pushing Robert Gibbs for weeks to come up with a position, a White House position.

I was one of those folks who was like out there asking him. You know, George W. Bush had a position when it came to Muslims, protecting Muslims, the right of religion shortly after 9/11.

Did this president have a position on it? Now a White House aid initially said it's a local issue. Now they're saying that the president did want to weigh in weeks ago but they were looking for the right timing.

Part of that, obviously, the local ordinance issue, the zoning issue, that that had been settled and cleared. And then secondly, the fact he had this iftar dinner marking the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, a friendly audience, an appropriate venue for the president to make it known that he felt that Muslims had a right to build this mosque near Ground Zero.

Obviously, the political problems and implications are far and wide. The last 24, 48 hours it has been fodder, lots of criticism. And, Kyra, of course, a couple of Democratic lawmakers I spoke with over the weekend are saying this might not last until midterm elections.

People might get distracted, talk about something else. It's a -- wedge issue. But they are off message, they are at recess. They're talking to voters, they're talking about this. They're not talking about health care reform and the fact that the economy is getting better.

And that is frustrating some Democrats as well as some folks here at the White House -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House. Suzanne, thanks.

Questions are raised about safety after the deaths of eight spectators at an off-road truck race in Southern California.

Take a look at this video that was shot by Jonathan Davy, a witness to the incident. This is in the Mohave Desert's Lucerne Valley. It was Saturday night. Spectators actually lined the sides of this race, dangerously close to the speeding trucks.

Now you're going to see the white truck coming up in just a second. That was it right there. That's the one that crashed into the crowd right then, killing eight people and injuring four others.

Jonathan Davy talked with CNN last night about that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JONATHAN DAVY, VIDEOTAPED FATAL CRASH: About two minutes before I started filming, there was a close call with myself and some friends that were on the left side where I was filming, and I actually was a lot closer than, you know, what it shows on the video. And I got pushed back.

It was -- you know, I got shaken up. I turned to my friend and go, man, that was close. And -- and that's when I decided to film what was going on. And that's the only video I have of the whole race was just that -- the crash.

And it's very up fortunate what happened and I mean, it -- way too close, way too close for comfort.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And the pickup truck driver actually filed a message on his Facebook page saying that his thoughts and prayers go out to all the families and friends impacted by this tragedy. No charges have been filed in this incident.

In our next hour, CNN's Josh Levs will tell us about the rules governing these off-road desert races in California.

An autopsy is scheduled today on a one-time medical student accused in the so-called Craigslist Web site killing. Police in Boston say that Philip Markoff was found alone in his cell yesterday with a plastic bag on his head.

Markoff was set to go to trial next March. He was charged with the 2009 shooting death of a model and the attempted robbery of two other women. It was believed that he met his alleged victims on Craigslist.

Police say Markoff attempted suicide earlier this year and had been placed on suicide watch.

Two weeks after Pakistan's epic flooding began, the second wave from the disaster is about to hit.

We are going to take you to the front lines and tell you what you can do to help millions of people that have been impacted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Six weeks into his new job as the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus is making his first real remarks on the president's plan to withdraw U.S. troops there.

Yesterday on NBC's "Meet the Press," General Petraeus suggested it will be conditions on the ground in Afghanistan that will guide that decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, COMMANDER, U.S. FORCES AFGHANISTAN: This is a date when a process begins that is conditions-based. And as the conditions permit we transition tasks to our Afghan counterparts and the security forces in various governmental institutions and that enables a, quote, "responsible drawdown of our forces".

DAVID GREGORY, "MEET THE PRESS": Let me just stop you. (CROSSTALK)

GREGORY: Did you reach that point and say, I know that the process is supposed to begin but my assessment as the commander here is that it cannot begin now?

PETRAEUS: Certainly.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: President Obama wants U.S. troops to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in July of next year.

Epic flooding has devastated Pakistan. And right now one-fifth of that country is under water. The death toll has jumped to well over 1400 people. Some 2,000 are injured now and Pakistan's disaster authority says more than 895,000 homes have been damaged.

Touring the flood-ravaged nation yesterday, U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon says that he's never seen devastation like this kind in Pakistan. He's imploring the international community to help.

One estimated 20,000 Pakistanis are searching for food, shelter and medical attention and the floodwaters are now posing an even greater health threat, especially to children.

CNN's Sara Sidner takes us to the front lines of the unfolding medical tragedy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (VOICE-OVER): Desperation unleashed on a dusty Pakistan road -- men, women and children dart out in traffic, hoping to grab a morsel of food randomly flying off local trucks.

Nothing is wasted, even if there's a bit of earth mixed in.

In each of the affected districts, victims of Pakistan's worst flood in decades are still fighting for survival two weeks after the initial flooding.

Inside this makeshift clinic, smoldering heat punishes the senses. Lethargic babies croak out tears, their exhausted parents try to comfort them. Dozens of families are piled on top of each other with nowhere else to go.

"In the flood, everything is gone, nothing is left. We were only able to save our family,: 50-year-old Baktawer (ph) says. "Our kids are vomiting, they have diarrhea, they are in miserable conditions. We don't have any money. The doctor is giving us treatment, but it's not effective."

She is now left to comfort 25 members of her family who all live in the same home washed away by raging monsoon floodwaters.

In the next room, a painful sight, a father gently holds his stick- thin daughter.

"I am worried about her," he says. "If it's God's will nothing will happen to her. Every day I'm buying 50 to 100 rupees worth of medicine which is what I can afford because I need to feed my whole family with the money I make as a laborer."

Amir Mirani (ph) says one and a half-year-old Sabiya has been sick since birth, but since the floods, she's grown weaker by the day due to diarrhea and fever.

SIDNER (on camera): She's so skinny. This is so dangerous for her.

SIDNER (voice-over): "They advised me to given a IV drip, but I cannot afford it," he say.

SIDNER (on camera): In this high school turned clinic directly off of the floods, doctors say they are treating about 250 to 300 patients per day, they were overwhelmed. But now they say two weeks on, things are getting a little bit better. There are about 80 to 100 people who need help per day.

MOHAMMAD YASIN ARAIN, DOCTOR CARING FOR FLOOD VICTIMS: We are seeing a lot of water-borne diseases. Mostly finding the water-borne disease such as malaria, gastroenteritis, and rheumatic fever. And most normally we see skin diseases.

SIDNER (voice-over): Here had, treatment is free, but not everyone appreciates the cure at this government-run are clinic. Still, with 24-hour access to government doctors, these families have more of a chance of survival than most, as aid agencies warn of potentially deadly outbreaks of diarrhea and cholera that tend to claim the weakest of the survivors. Sarah Sidner, CNN, Sukkur, Pakistan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: To find out how you can make a difference and help the flood survivors in Pakistan, visit our Impact Your World page. Just log on to cnn.com/impact.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Checking top stories, China is poised to become the world's second biggest economy, pushing Japan to third place. Chinese economy has been fueled by exports and its massive population.

Amid increased tensions on the Korean peninsula, the US and South Korea are engaged in annual joint military exercises. North Korea is responding to the exercises with tough talk.

Astronauts taking a space walk this morning to replace a cooling pump on the space station. Today's work is the third of a three-part repair job that began more than a week ago.

Seems like we need a cooling pump like that across much of the nation today, huh? ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We're starting to squeeze some of the heat down to the south where it belongs, Kyra, but it has been a hot weekend and a hot couple of weeks. And now most of the heat is down across parts of the southern plains and through the Deep South. And actually the Pacific Northwest, too.

What's been going on is a pretty strong cool front's been pushing, especially to the north, and that brought severe weather across the western Great Lakes over the weekend. And now, bringing it to parts of New England and upstate New York.

Matter of fact, we've got a severe thunderstorm watch that's in effect here for the next few hours, and some of these cells have been pretty potent. They're rolling to the east at about 30 miles an hour or so. And as they do that, some gusty winds, maybe to 50, 60 miles per hour, that can bring down some trees and some power lines because of that. So, Schenectady up through parts of northern Vermont under the gun.

Here's where the heat is. Across parts of Texas and southern Louisiana, 100 to 100 degree -- 110 degree heat indexes here for this part of the world. 100 degrees will be the actual temperature in Dallas, Texas, 96 degrees in Houston, 89 in Kansas City, and 79 degrees in Minneapolis. That is a far cry from what they saw last week. So, in some cases, we're looking at temperatures that are a good 20 degrees cooler this week than they were last week.

And just to touch on this, we'll talk about this a little bit later in the broadcast, this is what's left over of tropical depression number five. It kind of did a loopty-loop, and now it is back into the Gulf of Mexico. So they're going to fly a hurricane hunter aircraft into that, and we'll be giving you the play by play of what that situation is throughout the morning, Kyra. It's not gone just yet, unfortunately.

PHILLIPS: All right. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: All right.

PHILLIPS: The Gulf Coast tourist industry hopes that one picture is worth thousand of visitors. President Obama taking a dip. BP is warning the locals about something on land that's not safe. Scams.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: President Obama spent the weekend in Panama City Beach, Florida, hoping to drum up business for Gulf Coast tourism hit by the oil disaster. The White House released this picture of the president swimming with his daughter Sasha to drive home the message that the water is safe.

Day 119 of the Gulf oil disaster and a month since the BP well was temporarily capped. But the job to permanently seal it is on hold while new tests are being conducted. CNN's Reynolds Wolf has more on that. He joins live from Gulf Shores, Alabama. So Reynolds, where does top kill stand at this point? REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You just mentioned the test. What you're talking about, of course, are those pressure tests they're conducting inside the well itself. And if the results come back favorable, what they plan on doing is, they'll resume the digging of the relief well.

Now, those results are going to come back some time either today or tomorrow. And then, to get everything in police and start drill could take up to, say, four days or so. So we're looking into next weekend before they can perform the bottom kill operation itself.

But you have to remember, this is really an incredible endeavor. They're digging some 17,000 feet down. Right now, they've another 50 to 30 fete to dig along a parallel trench, if you will, right along the -- where you have the original well.

And once they get to that point, they actually hit a target that's about the size of a dinner plate. When they punch through, that's when they're going inject a combination of mud and cement. And at that point, the well will be dead. But it looks like it's going to be next weekend -- this coming weekend, when they'll finally be able to get to that procedure.

PHILLIPS: All right. Now, meanwhile, we're hearing more about these scams that are happening to residents. Is this a new one from the others that we've been hearing about? People posing as BP workers or cleanup workers or charities to get donations?

WOLF: Indeed. Actually, the warning came out this weekend. There have been reports -- isolated incidents of people going door-to-door saying they work for BP asking to -- actually, offering safety training in exchange for money.

But BP is saying that if someone comes to your door, they say they're with BP and they ask for any kind of money, they ask for a social security number or bank account numbers, by all means, don't give them anything.

It's one of those situations where, unfortunately, there are people that are going to try to take advantage of a tragedy like the BP oil spill. And they're trying to take advantage of that situation. So definitely, BP is saying be on the lookout.

PHILLIPS: All right. Appreciate it. Thanks, Reynolds.

Choosing combat overseas rather than staying stateside and unemployed, a decision more of America's vets are having to make.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE SPEAKER: I opted to go back overseas because I couldn't find work. It is just -- I wanted -- I volunteered to go back to Iraq.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: A law written to protect the jobs of servicemen and women may actually be doing the opposite. We're talking to vets and the jobs and unintended consequences, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: On Wall Street, stocks really took a beating last week. It's no wonder, the Fed said that the recovery is weakening. Several big retailers warned that sales this year won't be so hot. Trish Wu, New York Stock Exchange, more for us. Hey, Patricia.

PATRICIA WU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. Though I'm not sure just how good a morning it's going to be here. We still have major concerns about the global economy, so we are expecting a lower open again today.

Now, hopefully, we won't see losses as big as the ones we saw last week, when the S&P 500 dropped nearly four percent and the NASDAQ slid five percent. You know the problem, Kyra, is that we just keep getting red flag reports on the economy. That uncertainty feeds that volatility.

So today, we learned that Japan's economic growth slowed sharply last quarter. And remember, last week there were signs that the US and Chinese economies are not growing as quickly as earlier thought. Now, these are the three largest economies in the world, so you can understand the jitters there.

Lowe's, the second largest home retailer in the US, could limit today's losses. The home improvement retailer did report a 10 percent increase in quarterly profit. It did miss estimates, but Wall Street is sending Lowe's shares up three percent in pre-market trading.

Now -- OK, bell's just about to open, the market's just about to open, you can hear some clapping there. But we say that the reason why Lowe's missed those estimates was high unemployment and sagging home values. The chairman of Lowe's has said that in order for those -- there we go with the bell, I only heard the clapping before. We got the bell now. But we need some major changes in that unemployment rate and the housing market to drive up demand for those home retail goods again.

So right now, the Dow is little changed at 10,303.15. And we have got the NASDAQ and the S&P at 2,173 and 1,079. Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: All right, Patricia, thanks.

A new battle facing America's veterans, trying to find a job after completing their enlistment. If you thought you had a hard time trying to find a job, talk to one of our war vets. CNN's Kate Bolduan reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD WILKS, UNEMPLOYED NATIONAL GUARD SOLDIER: I'm looking up security and law enforcement type jobs that they might be offering. KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 45-year-old Richard Wilks has served with the Army National Guard for five years, fighting eight months in Iraq, only to return home in 2008 to a new battle he never expected, the fight to find a job.

WILKS: I was putting out resume after resume. I'd have some interviews and you just -- I just didn't get hired.

BOLDUAN: Frustrated and running out of money, Wilks turned to the only place he knew would hire.

WILKS: I have to go back overseas because I couldn't find work. And this is -- I volunteered to go back to Iraq.

BOLDUAN: Employers are required by law to hold jobs for reservists called to duty and are banned from discriminating against a job applicant because of their military service, but soldiers like Wilks fear their guard service makes employers reluctant to take them on.

WILKS: They don't want to take the time to hire someone and then have them deployed and then have to rehire someone.

BOLDUAN (on-camera): Wilks is back home once again and again facing the same transition to civilian life without work. He's not alone. The jobless rate among veterans who have served since 9/11 rose to 11.8 percent last month, compare that to the national rate of 9.5 percent. The Army National Guard says this problem is especially troubling among their ranks.

CPT. BRIAN ZDUNOWSKI, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: They have skills and they have training that should in a good economy give them an edge over their peers.

BOLDUAN: What's the reality you're seeing?

ZDUNOWSKI: The edge is gone because they're getting lost in the volume of people.

BOLDUAN: Unemployment is such a big issue for the Army National Guard that some states are testing out programs to help their part-time soldiers. Captain Brian Zdunowski runs one program in Maryland.

ZDUNOWSKI: In the sea of employers that are out there, what I'm doing is into the sea throwing a life ring for them and pulling out life ring until one of these employer picks them up.

BOLDUAN: The help includes resume tips, interview coaching, also a database of military-friendly employers and job openings.

ZDUNOWSKI: They deserve the assistance because they have stepped forward for the country.

BOLDUAN: Richard Wilks continues his search, a tough economy, another tough battle ahead. Any regrets?

WILKS: I don't have any regrets at all. I love serving in the military and I love serving my country.

BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: Police in Buffalo, New York thought they had the right man in Saturday's shooting deaths of four people outside the downtown restaurant. They charged a 24-year-old man but later dropped the charges. Two women and two men including a Texas man who is celebrating his wedding anniversary were killed. Four others were hurt. Those shootings were proceeded by an argument inside the restaurant.

A 13-yeyear-old boy who survived the plane crash that killed former Alaska senator, Ted Stevens, has been released from a hospital. The mother of Willie Phillips, Jr. says he's headed back to Maryland. His father died in that crash. And as for Stevens, a memorial mass will be celebrated this afternoon in Anchorage.

Now this had to hurt. Ten-year-old Quentin Tokar is recovering after being wounded by a stingray barb. And oddly enough, he wasn't even in the water. Quentin was fishing at a pier in North Carolina's outer bank when another fisherman brought in a stingray. The stingray released its four-inch barb, hitting Quentin right in the liver. So, how did it feel?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUENTIN TOKAR, INQUIRED BY STINGRAY BARB: I don't really have words for what I felt like. I just pretty much started screaming "get it out of me."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: They did get it out of him, and that young man said that he would take the barb home now as a souvenir.

A new name comes out on top at the PGA championship. A young German is the big winner. As for Tiger Woods, not even on the radar screen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: The names we know and the names we've never heard of. It was the year of unknown champs at this year's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin. A 25-year-old German, Martin Kaymer beat out American Bubba Watson in the playoffs. Kaymer becomes the second European major winner of year at besting Watson in a three-hole playoff. This is Kaymer's major title, by the way.

As for tiger woods, first of another kind, he matched the longest grand slam drought of his career when he failed to win. He didn't even finish fifth or better. You watch golf, Rob?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I did and then I got board and I dvr'd it. And I went back and then I started watched again and I'm like, what is going on here? PHILLIPS: Yes, it's like I kept going back (ph). I watched it during the day and then in the evening, you know, it's always likes get your "60 minutes" on Sunday night and kept going back. I'm like they're still in a playoff. They're still in a playoff.

MARCIANO: I'm just glad he didn't make -- because he had that putt to win, virtually, I guess and he missed it. And then it would have been horrifyingly heartbreaking if he made that putt, celebrated wing the tournament and then disqualified.

PHILLIPS: A heck of a course, too.

MARCIANO: It is a gorgeous course, and they had some weather issues actually there. So, it was interesting and I regret not pitching the recording from there live Thursday and Friday last week. All right. Here's what's going on weather wise. What made things interesting across the Great Lakes over the weekend was this front that slowly moved eastward, and this time of year, the bottom parts of these fronts just -- they just don't have the jet stream to get all the way down to the south.

So, northern tier, parts of the central plains, finally cooling off after the record-breaking heat last week and that's dangerous heat wave, but the heat now is down across parts of the south. So, that's become a bit of an issue. As far as the rainfall with this system, pretty heavy duty, especially across the mid-Atlantic, South Carolina seeing over three, four, even five inches of rainfall yesterday, so pretty heavy duty rain event with this front that's pushing eastward.

We're starting to see a little bit of that energy decrease somewhat, but the northern part of it still seeing some action as far as severe weather goes, pretty good cluster of thunderstorm now rolling across upstate New York, got to get through the capital city and then to parts of Northern New England. And these have had a history of some gusty winds and even a little bit of hail in spots, but looks like it wants to weaken just a little bit as we go through the next couple of hours.

Down to the south, what weakened last week almost completely died. Now, it's kind of coming back to life a little bit is what is -- I shouldn't really draw an L, but it's somewhere down here. There's a general circulation that could become our next tropical depression. The problem is what was tropical depression number five last week and kind of did a loopty loop, and now, it circled back in through here.

What our computer models kind of wanted to do right now is just kind of scoop the coastline and then go up into here somewhere. If it stays out long enough, it may develop into a tropical depression, may get to tropical storm status. The National Hurricane Center is actually putting out a hurricane hunter aircraft into the system later on today to see what's going on, but it could mean some more in the way of rain that may drop some and cause some flooding situation across parts of southeast.

It could be 90 in Seattle today. That's the spot that saw record- breaking heat yesterday. So, excessive heat warnings out for parts of the Pacific Northwest, the place that is typically cool, and they don't really have much in the way of air conditioning there in some of the older homes. So, 90 degrees doesn't sound hot to you and me, Kyra, but for those folks who are not used to it --

PHILLIPS: That sounds odd. Not comfortable. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: OK.

PHILLIPS: Check our top stories now, President Obama enters the heated debate over the building of an Islamic center in mosque near ground zero. Now, Republicans are making it clear that they intent to make the president's apparent support for the project a ballot box issue for November.

And in Pakistan, 20 million people battling to survive after days of flooding. Close to 1500 people are dead. The U.N. says disease is now spreading.

State-run media in Iran says the country's nuclear chief plans to begin building 10 Iranian uranium enrichment centers by next year. Russia will start loading an Iranian nuclear reactor with fuel next week. The U.S. wants Russia to wait until there's more evidence that Iran doesn't plan to use the site to make weapons.

The Lockerbie bomber released from prison diagnosed with terminal cancer. He's sent home to die, but doesn't. He thought his new lease on life was grave injustice. Wait until you hear what one of his doctors is saying.

And tea partiers, the conservative fringe, makes a show of force on the U.S./Mexican border. It's not so much illegal immigrants they're rallying against.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: We're weeks away from the critical midterm elections and who would have guessed the topic of illegal immigration is front and center in Arizona. Yesterday, along the U.S./Mexican border, tea partiers rallied in defense of their governor, Jan Brewer, and the state's controversial immigration enforcement law, which has become the political football of the election season.

U.S. Senate hopeful, J.D. Hayworth, hopes to use the issue as a way to punt Arizona's long-time senator John McCain right out of office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. HAYWORTH, (R) U.S. SENATE CANDIDATE: Put an end to amnesty once and for all to secure our borders, to end any of this misguided talk about open borders. It is time to regularize the status of John McCain. Send him become here to be a citizen among us and send a consistent conservative to Washington, D.C. to represent you in the United States Senate.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PHILLIPS: McCain, meanwhile, was stumping with Governor Jan Brewer in another part of the state. Maricopa county sheriff, Joe Arpaio, was also at the tea party border rally, very poked fun at the administration's efforts to ramp up better border security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERRIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: This fence, you can have all the fences you want, and I -- I don't know, if I had all the national TV here, I probably would climb the fence and show you how easy it is. But since I -- I'm not going to do it for some local or German or English TV crew. And I am a senior citizen, so if I can do it, anybody can do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: State's pro baseball team, the Arizona Diamondbacks are increasingly finding themselves a vehicle of political discourse. Case in point, yesterday's game against the Washington Nationals. A couple of immigration law protesters rushed the field. They were promptly subdued by security, two others trying to unfurl a sign got the heave ho from security also. The protesters want major league baseball to move next year's all-star game out of Phoenix in light of the law's passage.

Up next, the family's devastating loss. How they managed to get justice, though, for their loved one from the internet.

And it's not the day the music died. That's the deadly 1959 plane crash of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper, but today is the day the king died. But before he did, Elvis Aaron Presley brought us fun in Acapulco and so many other hits as the foundation of what we know as rock 'n' roll today. And every year, Memphis and its crown jewel of Graceland mourn, it's no different in 2010 as 33 years ago today. Elvis Aaron Presley passed away at the tender age of 42.

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PHILLIPS: Well, this story just gets more infuriating. I'm talking about the man who cheated 270 people of their lives and is now cheating his own death and justice.

Remember this appalling hero's welcome home for Abdel Basset al- Megrahi, the terrorist who was convicted in the Pan Am flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland?

He was cheered on like a rock star for killing Americans. He was sent home because a slew of doctors said that he was going to die of terminal prostate cancer. As a matter of fact, they said he only had about three months to live. Compassionate release, they said.

Well, guess what various reports are now out, quoting one of those so- called experts that was on that panel that led to al-Megrahi's release. Professor Karol Sikora says he is now expressing regret.

The Dean of the School of Medicine at Buckingham University in England says, "If I could have gone back in time I would have probably been more vague and tried to emphasize the statistical chances and not hard facts," end quote.

Vague, he says, not hard fact. I'm so glad Dean Sikora helped in the release of a cold-blooded kill with such definitive medical calculation, just one more obvious flaw in an ongoing story of grave injustice.

That brings us to today's blog question. Four U.S. senators sent a letter to Scotland's First Minister asking that al-Megrahi's full medical records be disclosed. Do you think they should be?

Here's what we're following in the next hour of CNN Newsroom. Let's go ahead and start with Reza Sayah in Pakistan -- Reza.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, floodwaters have covered one-fifth of Pakistan; that's like the entire state of Florida being under water. Millions need help, but that help has been painfully slow to get here. We'll get you the latest on one of the worst natural disasters anywhere in recent memory at the top of the hour.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Reynolds Wolf coming to you from Gulf Shores, Alabama to give you the very latest on the BP oil spill and the relief well and of course, the bottom kill efforts. Plus, a word of warning over the weekend from BP involving potential scammer along the Gulf coast; we'll bring you the latest.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: And coming up in the next hour, we're also going to talk about all that labeling on food -- reduced fat, whole grain, no sugar added -- that can confuse shoppers when it comes to what's healthy and what's not.

There's a new system out there that is defying the current system. It could be a big threat to the multi-billion snack food industry. We'll have the story in the next hour.

PHILLIPS: Thanks guys.

Well, a panhandler approaches you. You want to help but you don't have any cash. What would you do? This New Yorker did something shocking. She trusted him; she whipped out her credit card and put faith in his hands.

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MERRIE HARRIS, LENT HER CREDIT CARD TO PANHANDLER: He said, do you mind if I borrow it?

I looked at him and he just -- he seemed so honest.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Well, it's a remarkable story that Merrie Harris will share with us next hour.

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PHILLIPS: Well, today is the day that a Las Vegas family has been waiting for. The woman accused of killing their loved one while driving drunk is set to be sentenced. The family says they wouldn't have been able to bring her to justice had it not been for their few thousand friends on the Internet.

Ted Rowlands explains.

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TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paul Maidman was 28, a student up pulling an all-nighter. At 3:00 a.m., on a Friday he went out to make copies and buy an energy drink. He was killed by drunk driver.

DAWN BUIST, VICTIM'S SISTER: It was by far the worst day in all of our lives.

ROWLANDS: Paul's sister Dawn says her brother was a computer genius, who served eight years in the Air Force, had a great job and was working on a degree because he wanted to run for political office.

BUIST: To get to that point that everybody wants to be at in life, to have it stolen from him in the middle of the night like that is so -- it's unbelievable. It's so unfair.

ROWLANDS: Paul Maidman left something behind. A few years ago, he created a Web site to keep up with friends. He called it TeamPaul and as a joke, he made a Team Paul t-shirt with his face on it, now his family is using Team Paul to fight for justice against the driver who killed him.

(on camera): Maidman was sitting at this intersection waiting for the light to change when he was hit from behind. You can see the yellow lines in the road here showing how his car was pushed all the way across the road into this pole. His car came to rest over here where these yellow boxes represent the placement of the tires of the vehicle.

Maidman died on the way to the hospital. Police say the person that hit him was traveling at more than 80 miles per hour.

(voice-over): The driver is 29-year-old Miranda Dalton. Police say she never used her brakes. Earlier she'd been out drinking $1 cocktails on lady's night at this Las Vegas country bar.

On the bar's Web site, they actually have video of Dalton dancing last year and she posed for this photo the night of the fatal crash.

According to the police report at the accident scene Dalton's speech was so slurred, an officer thought she had a foreign object in her mouth. Her blood alcohol level was over twice the legal limit and she had a prior DUI conviction in 2001.

On the day of Paul Maidman's wake, two things happened, Dalton was released on bail and Team Paul came back to life. The Web site and a new Facebook page became a rallying point to urge people to pressure the legal system not to go lightly on Dalton.

It also became a spontaneous surveillance network. Within weeks, people were starting to report on Dalton's whereabouts.

Then on what would have been Paul's 29th birthday, his sister got a call.

(on camera): Then a call came from this bar. The caller said that Miranda Dalton was inside partying.

(voice-over): The court had ordered her not to drink. She was wearing an alcohol device to detect alcohol.

BUIST: Something came over me that said, "Dawn, get in your car. Just go there and see for yourself if she is even actually there."

ROWLANDS (on camera): When she arrived, she found Dalton inside, got out her cell phone and started taking pictures.

(voice-over): The photos showed Dalton with her hair dyed and wearing glasses. When a judge saw the photos and learned the ankle device might have been tampered with, she raised her bail to $500,000 and Dalton was back in jail.

Dalton pled guilty and is scheduled to be sentenced this month. Maidman's family attends this hearing wearing Team Paul T-shirts.

Outside Dalton's friend defended her.

MELISSA ALDERMAN, MIRANDA DALTON'S FRIEND: There's more to her than just the accident that happened that night. There's a lot more to her. She's a mother, she's a friend, she's a daughter. I mean her choice was wrong, clearly, obviously, but to try to push for a harsher penalty, I don't think it's going to do more justice.

ROWLANDS: About 3,000 people are on the Team Paul Facebook page. They agree it is about justice.

BUIST: They can never be hard enough on her ever, because she's done it before and she would do it again. The next time it could be my child or my neighbor's child.

ROWLANDS: Paul's family is hoping to grow Team Paul even bigger. They'd like to see it push for harsher drunk driving laws around the country so other families don't have to suffer like they are.

Ted Rowlands, CNN, Las Vegas.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

PHILLIPS: A Texas man went to prison for 27 years for a rape he did not commit. Now Michael Greene is trying to deal with the anger of spending more than half his life behind bars. And he's not sure a payment of more than $2 million will ease the pain. I'll be talking with him live in just about 30 minutes.

We begin the hour with the blue collar city of Bell, California, simmering with anger towards city hall.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're taking our money and you think we're not going to be mad about it. You're out of your minds.

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PHILLIPS: That's just one of the outbursts that have become very common in Bell, California after residents learned that their ex-city manager was pulling in nearly $800,000 annually and city council members were paying themselves nearly six figures while turning out the pockets of its working class families.

They pay the highest property tax rates in all but one of L.A. County's 88 cities. Only parts of the city of industry pay more in taxes.

Here's a snapshot of the typical Bell household: 54 percent are married couples and families; 56 percent of adults never graduated high school; another third don't even have a college degree. But three biggest industries: manufacturing, retail trade and construction and the median household income about $40,000 a year.

Compare that with Beverly Hills with the income $96,000 a year. Still, Bell's property tax rate, 50 percent higher; now Bell residents could be getting some of that tax money back, about $3 million of it. And today the city council will be asked today to pass a resolution agreeing that the rate overcharge was illegal.