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Plane Splits Apart While Landing; U.S. and South Korea Start New Drills; Louisiana Seafood Back on Menus; Times Square Kiss; No More Overdraft Fees

Aired August 16, 2010 - 11:01   ET

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

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Live from Studio 7 at CNN world headquarters, the big stories for Monday, the 16th day of August.

Three and a half million Pakistani children at risk of waterborne diseases. The United Nations pleads with the world to hurry up and help flooded Pakistan.

The economy. A transplanted Liberian turns his grandmother's recipes into a multimillion-dollar business in New York. Exotic coffee, tea and spices made to order for gourmet businesses.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These 18 different flavors that are combined are combined to create that unique, rich flavor of mango.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Yum, yum. It is sugar-free, calorie-free, and beer- free, but it still tastes like beer. Or so they say. The summer cooler that is one hot seller in Japan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It tastes a little different from beer, but it's still good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. I'm Tony Harris.

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

Lightning reportedly strikes a Boeing 737 jetliner as it tries to land, splitting it in two. Take a look at these first pictures of the crash coming in to CNN right now from the Colombian island of San Andres. Authorities there report one person killed.

Let's get straight to our Karl Penhaul. He's on the phone with us from the Colombian capital of Bogota.

And Karl, we've got some conflicting reports as to whether lightning was the actual cause of this. Can you help us clear up the reporting?

KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I don't think so much at this stage, Tony, that it's conflicting reporting. I think what we're getting are partial reports given that a team of accident investigators are flying from the capital of Bogota to San Andres.

Now, we expect that they will be on the ground any time soon, and they, of course, will have access both to the pilot, the air crew, passengers, most of the flight recorders, to try to get to the bottom of this. But what we do know from civil aviation was that according to the weather station at that airport at the time, it was raining.

There were storms reported in the vicinity, but officials for civil aviation say that they cannot with any certainty say whether there was any lightning strike at that point. But what we do know is, yes, the aircraft was landing at the point of the accident, that the aircraft was split into three sections, and passengers were literally spread across parts of the runway, according to police.

Now, there were 131 people on board, 125 passengers, six crew members, and of the passengers there were international travelers there as well, including six Americans, a number of Europeans and some also from Costa Rica as well, one woman was killed -- she has been confirmed as a Colombian -- and 124 were taken to hospital. Now, according to the civil aviation authority, one of those is in critical condition, a 12-year-old with a head trauma, and he is expected to be evacuated from the island and brought back to the Colombian mainland by air ambulance in the course of the morning -- Tony.

HARRIS: Boy. Karl, as we were looking at these pictures, it's just amazing to see this plane in pieces there.

Karl Penhaul for us.

Karl, appreciate it. Thank you.

Meteorologist Rob Marciano joining us with more on lightning strikes.

And Rob, I've got to tell you, the reality is that the planes fly through weather all the time. I'm a bit surprised that we don't get more of these stories. Obviously, planes are designed to protect against the possible impacts of lightning strikes.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, they have learned a lot over the years from modern aviation, what to do to help protect the plane and basically how to avoid lightning altogether. But either way, you're going to run into it, especially as much as commercial airplanes fly. And the bigger ones, they will try to fly around bad storms, but at some point they have to fly through some of these.

And on average, each plane is struck about once per year. Now, that typically doesn't bring a plane down. Usually the aluminum skin will allow a discharge of the lightning strike if it hits, but it's grounded, and there's maintenance done, and certainly a check of the systems after it's struck by lightning.

So it goes through those tests, and a lot of times pilots, they'll put on a light in the cockpit if they think they're going to get close to a lightning strike so they don't get blinded by the lightning strike. And they put the avionics in strategic places now that are better protected so that if lightning does hit the plane, it will be conducted away from some of those sensitive instruments. But basically here -- and they have got these static discharge wicks.

If you ever look outside of a plane, they have got these rods that stick off the wing, and those are meant to help release static electricity that's built up when these planes fly into thunderstorms. They'll create their own static electric charge and attract thunder and lightning, so they try to do it that way.

HARRIS: Yes. Yes.

MARCIANO: So, you know, it's not typically going to bring a plane down. I'm sure the investigation will show whether or not that had something to do with it, but typically, you should feel OK about flying near a thunderstorm. You don't want to do it every day, but planes typically can withstand it.

HARRIS: Good stuff. All right, Rob. Thank you, sir.

MARCIANO: All right, man.

HARRIS: In California, the driver in this weekend's deadly off- road desert race will not face criminal charges. Twenty-eight-year- old Brett Sloppy's (ph) truck lurched out of control Saturday night, rolling on top of race fans. Eight people were killed.

Sloppy (ph) writes on his Facebook page that he is incredibly devastated by all of this. The desert races are largely unregulated. Spectators were standing as little as 10 feet from the speeding trucks.

New figures today show China overtook Japan as the world's second largest economy in the second quarter. And if projections hold, China should claim second place for all of 2010. You can see the projections there in the dark blue.

The International Monetary Fund values the U.S. economy at almost $15 trillion this year. China, $5.4 trillion. Japan, $5.3 trillion.

Let's go to space now. Two astronauts are outside the International Space Station right now. They've been there for the past five hours, trying to replace a cooling pump. It went kaput more than a week ago. NASA hopes this third fix-it spacewalk will actually do the trick here.

Afghan War commander General David Petraeus is strongly indicating July, 2011 is not written in stone. He says he will tell the president if the date to begin the U.S. drawdown is not workable. Petraeus says the deadline does pressure the Afghans to step up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. COMMANDER FOR AFGHANISTAN: That's what July, 2011 really connotes. It is to all the participants, those in Kabul, some of us in uniform, again, our civilian counterparts, that we have got to get on with this, that this has been going on for some nine years or so, that there is understandable concern, and in some cases frustration, and that, therefore, we have to really put our shoulder to the wheel and show during the course of this year that progress can be achieved. And again, one manifestation is out there that you have this date.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: A new round of joint military exercises between the United States and South Korea kicks off today, sparking new threats from North Korea.

Let's bring in Pentagon Correspondent Chris Lawrence.

And Chris, how is the United States military responding to this new language coming from North Korea?

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, when North Korea promises mass destruction, things like that, that's not out of line, Tony, with what they have said in the past.

I spoke with a defense official who said, "Look, the U.S. military is always on a heightened state of alert in that area, so despite these new threats in North Korea, we're not going to change what we do."

Now, I spoke with another defense official who said, despite the threats, he doesn't see a fundamental change in North Korea's military posture. In other words, he hasn't seen any movement of North Korean troops or anything like that.

He did call the threats provocative, but ultimately said they are "hollow threats." He also went on to say it would be a serious miscalculation on their part if they would ever follow through on some of these statements.

I spoke with a defense analyst about what's going on with North Korea, and he said a lot of this has to do with Kim Jong-il and his son. Just a few months ago, we had the sinking of the South Korean ship. He believes, although North Korea says they have nothing to do with it, investigators found some fairly credible evidence that they were to blame. And this analyst says a lot of this kind of blustery rhetoric and show of force has to do with Kim Jong-il trying to show that his son can be very tough and an iron will commander to the people inside his own country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN PIKE, DIRECTOR, GLOBALSECURITY.ORG: The fundamental reality with North Korea right now is that they have a succession crisis. Kim Jong-il is ill and elderly. His chosen successor, frankly, is just too young to take over the reins of power. And so I think that everybody is concerned about the North Korean regime falling apart with a failed succession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAWRENCE: And as isolated as North Korea has been and continues to be, they are now ironically on Twitter. They just set up a Twitter account. This follows about a month ago, when they set up their first YouTube account, sort of taking some very tentative steps to reach out. Although I've got to point out, it's not like the people inside North Korea have access to these technologies.

HARRIS: Yes, good point.

Hey, Chris, tell us what you just learned about Defense Secretary Gates.

LAWRENCE: Apparently, Tony, he gave an interview to foreign policy in which he said he would like, he hopes to step down next year, does not want to wait until 2012. We just confirmed with a senior defense official that those quotes to reflect what Secretary Gates is thinking.

A senior administration official says that Gates would not want to wait until 2012 because you could have some sort of really proactive political confirmation battle. Secretary Gates has said he wants to give it enough time so that you get a good candidate in there. He feel it is he waits until 2012, that you will not have a very credible candidate because obviously in November President Obama is up for re-election and may not be re-elected.

HARRIS: All right. Chris Lawrence at the Pentagon for us.

Chris, good to see you. Thank you.

So, the president spent the weekend along the Gulf Coast, but hotels and businesses need to you come on down.

And Rob Marciano is tracking some hot temperatures in the Northwest. We will check in with Rob in just a couple of minutes.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Leading by example. Nice shot, huh? President Obama taking a dip off Florida this weekend with his daughter Sasha, sending out a measure that Gulf beaches are back. But it somehow got lost in translation, overshadowed by his comments on the proposed Islamic center and mosque near New York's Ground Zero.

I will have more on that in a minute.

First, Louisiana seafood, some of the best in the world. But is it safe right now?

Reynolds Wolf joining us from Gulf Shores, Alabama, with an oil and seafood update.

If the seafood is safe, Reynolds, we need to get the word out on that.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And one of the things that's really going to help reinforce that is finishing off this well altogether. And that's what they're in. That's what they're doing. They're really (ph) in the final stages of that.

Today what we're doing is they're going to be conducting some pressure tests inside the well. The results should come in later this afternoon, possibly by tomorrow. And once those tests come in, if they're favorable, they'll proceed with the relief wells and then the bottom kill operation.

But that's something that could take some time taking up. In fact, it looks like the relief well, if they resume today or tomorrow, is going to take the rest of the week. And then at that point, they could possibly continue with the bottom kill procedure. That would be something that would be handled by this next weekend.

But no one is going to be happier to see that, obviously, than some of the people in the seafood industry. Of course, the shrimpers get under way today. The waters are now open off the Louisiana coast. And trust me, a lot of people in the seafood industry on the Gulf of Mexico are very happy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLON PEARCE, SEAFOOD BUSINESS OWNER: We're going to unload the truck.

ADMIRAL PAUL ZUKUNFT, U.S. COAST GUARD: We've already pulled a couple of that supply drum.

PEARCE: I prefer black drum to red fish. I think there's moisture. Red fish can dry out.

ZUKUNFT: Yes.

PEARCE: Now, that's Louisiana shrimp.

ZUKUNFT: Holy smokes. Look at the size of this shrimp.

PEARCE: Louisiana whites.

ZUKUNFT: Yes.

PEARCE: Our brand has been desperately challenged.

We really couldn't work on the brand until the spill was stopped. Normally, I have 30,000 pounds my cooler. If I've got 5,000, 6,000, 7,000 right now, I'm lucky and that's a lot. It's been to where I had 200 pounds in this cooler the last five or 10 days every day.

With the areas that we got closed (ph) right now and it's time of year it's just been very, very difficult.

We've probably had a hundred dozen soft crabs come in this morning and most of them are already delivered.

People don't come here to eat steak. They come here to eat seafood.

Most tested product in the world right now -- nothing tested more than what's coming out of the Gulf. So, you should feel very comfortable about Gulf seafood right now.

He's got red fish he's cutting over there. That's snapper they're cutting there. He's going to do some tuna for you in a second.

ZUKUNFT: This seafood is safe to eat and I fish these waters and I know how much getting this market re-established is to this community.

PEARCE: I walk into the office and when something is not right, I know it.

We're fine. We're looking good.

Walking to the plant, I know it. Back of the truck opens up, I know it. I don't want one piece of product getting out of here that has any problem at all.

What I love about the seafood industry in particular, if something comes in like those shrimp, I've got to eat it. It's so pretty.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: Well, certainly, Tony, the people in the Gulf seafood industry have been dealing with some very rough waters. And I'll tell you, rough waters might be one of the things that shrimpers could be dealing with off the Louisiana coast today.

We still have the remnants of Tropical Depression 5 moving out of the Gulf, could make some heavy wave action, and, of course, could also cause some delays in possibly finishing up the relief well and the bottom kill procedure.

HARRIS: Well, Reynolds, let's talk about the clean beaches and the need for tourism down there. I mean, look, if the beaches are clean, again, ,let's state it and let's see if we can get folks down there for the big Labor Day holiday weekend.

WOLF: Absolutely. You know, there's no question that when it comes to tourism, it is a multibillion-dollar industry along the Gulf Coast. We're talking in the states of Florida, of course here in Alabama, back in Louisiana, Mississippi, and, of course, Texas.

And this has really taken a toll, the entire incident with the oil spill, on so many people, so many small businesses. In fact, there's one right across the street called Alvin's Island (ph). It's lost about 70 percent of its business just this year.

I'll tell you, the final capping of the well and the bottom kill procedure is something that many people are looking forward to, especially the mayor here in town.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: What is this going to mean for your community, to finally see this thing die?

MAYOR ROBERT CRAFT, GULF SHORES, ALABAMA: It would be a wonderful feeling, and to have the relief and have the world know that it's shut off and that the problems are basically over from the standpoint of new oil coming to shore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF: Well, the mayor has got a long-term strategy of what to do as we get to the fall and the winter season. They're going to try very hard to attract more of the snowbirds, the people from Midwest and up North, to head on down -- special concerts and different events to do what they can to try and bring in more dollars.

Back to you.

HARRIS: There you go. All right, Reynolds. Good to see you, sir. Thank you.

The president wanted all eyes on the Gulf this weekend, but some of his comments shifted the focus to that proposed mosque near Ground Zero in New York.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's see. I think we can turn around some pictures here of the president arriving just moments ago in Wisconsin. There he is.

The president in just a couple of minutes will be touring ZBB Energy Corporation. Let me tell you a little bit about ZBB.

ZBB makes batteries and fuel cells that get used in renewable energy products. And then the president will make remarks scheduled for 12:10 Eastern, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. We'll take those remarks live.

(NEWSBREAK)

HARRIS: We continue to get incredible images of the devastation across Pakistan. Check out the enormity of this crisis in these photos from World Vision.

In only two weeks, floodwaters have covered a fifth of the country. Can you imagine that? That's like the entire state of Florida being under water. About 20 million Pakistanis are hurt, hungry or homeless. Our Reza Sayah is in Islamabad. Let's talk to Reza for a moment here.

You have seen some of the worst of it, and maybe you can describe it for us, Reza, and also describe what's being done and who's helping.

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, this is just an awful situation.

Usually with natural disasters, once you're two weeks into it, you start to get a grasp of what you're dealing with and maybe things start to improve. But not in this case.

These floods hit more than two weeks ago, and there's all sorts of indications that not only things are not improving, they're actually getting worse. And that is why you had the U.N. chief, Ban Ki-moon, visit Pakistan to draw the world's attention to what is just a catastrophe here in Pakistan.

Mr. Ban touring this enormous flood zone that stretches from parts of northwest Pakistan, all the way to central Pakistan. As you mentioned, a fifth of this country under water. That's the size of Florida.

Twenty million people affected. And with that number, this is going to be one of the worst natural disasters anywhere in recent memory.

We had some more grim figures by the U.N. today. The U.N. saying 3.5 million children are at risk from deadly waterborne diseases. A big concern is cholera.

This is a very infectious disease caused by bacteria in contaminated food and water. The only way to address this dangerous situation is to get these children clean water and medical attention. And the U.N. is saying that's simply not happening because of a shortage of aid.

And these numbers are going to drive home the type of shortfall we're talking about. The U.N. telling CNN they've asked for $166 million for clean water and medical aid. And Tony, all they have so far is $25 million.

HARRIS: Oh, man. A long way to go.

All right. Reza Sayah for us.

Reza, appreciate it. Thank you.

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

Ines Ferre is surfing the Web for us.

Ines, good morning. INES FERRE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Tony.

This what's really hot on CNN.com. Reality TV star Tila Tequila, over the weekend at a music festival, allegedly was attacked with rocks and bottles.

HARRIS: Wow.

FERRE: And she tweeted that she plans to sue over this.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: President Obama will be talking about the economy today, but he is likely to keep hearing questions about the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York. He walked into a bit of a hornet's nest with his comments at the White House dinner marking the start of Ramadan on Friday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Recently, attention has been focused on the construction of mosques in certain communities, particularly New York. Now, we must all recognize and respect the sensitivities surrounding the development of Lower Manhattan. The 9/11 attacks were a deeply traumatic event for our country, and the pain and the experience of suffering by those who lost loved ones is just unimaginable.

So I understand the emotions that this issue engenders. And Ground Zero is indeed hallowed ground. But let me be clear.

As a citizen and as president, I believe that Muslims have the right to practice their religion as everyone else in this country.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: And 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.

This is America, and our commitment to religious freedom must be unshakable. The principle that people of all faiths are welcome in this country and that they will not be treated differently by their government is essential to who we are. The writ of the founders must endure.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Senior White House Correspondent Ed Henry was one of the first to ask the president about that comment.

Here's how the president clarified it in a CNN exclusive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What do you think about the reaction to your speech about the mosque? What about the reaction to the speech?

OBAMA: Well, my intention was to simply let people know what I thought, which was that 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 back to our founding.

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

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Well, we just thought you might be curious about the language in the Constitution regarding freedom of religion. Here's the exact wording of the First Amendment.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."

There it is.

While politicians on all sides are weighing in on the debate, we want to hear from you, of course.

What do you think about the president's comments? Should he have weighed in on the issue at all?

You can find me on Facebook. On Twitter, I'm at TonyHarrisCNN, and, of course, our blog, CNN.com/Tony. Leave us a comment and we will share some of them later in the program.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: All right. Let's get to Rob Marciano, severe weather center. First of all, did you have a good weekend?

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I did. How about you?

HARRIS: Outstanding.

MARCIANO: Thanks for the call. I enjoyed us hanging out again.

HARRIS: Again. What are you following, sir?

MARCIANO: We got a couple of things. One, heat relief across -- that's good news. Some of the places here are going to be, you know, 10 to 20 degrees cooler than they were a week ago. So, they're enjoying that. But the heat has kind of been squeezed down and pushed down to the south you would argue where it belongs, but nonetheless, that's when where it is and that's where the advisories are.

As the northern part of this front pushes out off to the east, we've had some severe thunderstorms break out across the Great Lakes, and now we're seeing them across parts of the northeast, and then we'll see them refire, I think, throughout the day today. Right now, upstate New York is then under the gun, but these thunderstorms are beginning to weaken, and this watch box will probably expire. There, you see the back edge that now through (INAUDIBLE) and Scranton.

This is beginning to redevelop, and I think this is the line that will strengthen throughout the afternoon and that will put the Big Apple and Philadelphia in harm's way of potentially seeing some severe weather there. Heat indexes 100 to 110 here across parts of the south, and actually, we should not forget our folks who live in the northwest, record is there, 97 in Olympia yesterday, Seattle seeing 96.

They may have excessive heat warnings that are in effect for today, also. And then this last note, Hurricane Hunter Aircraft is going to fly into this glob which was tropical depression number 5 last week which died and then kind of did one of these numbers and this where it is right now. But the difference now is that the atmosphere is conducive for seeing this thing develop. Plenty of warm water there, but it's close to land, so that will limit it somewhat.

We'll have an update throughout the day today, but this is the kind of preferred track that it's going to take in one way shape or form over the next couple of days. But you see, it looks like that even your untrained eye, Tony.

HARRIS: Yes, we know that. The one good one in there, menacing. OK, Rob. Thank you, sir.

The brutal heat this summer can be felt around the world. A new drink in Japan is cooling people off, and sales, we understand are skyrocketing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYUNG LAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the last cans of all-free in Japan. So, what does sugar free, calorie free, beer free sort of beer taste like?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Calorie beer-free? It's not beer but it's kind of? What's the point? Lyung Lah is next back in a moment. More? OK.

And if you're looking for new ways to make money we got that infor for you. Josh is here.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You thought could you go to break without teasing me?

HARRIS: I nearly blew (ph) by Josh's segment. Can't do that. My apology, sir. LEVS: It's all good, Tony. Listen to title of this, top ten ways to make real money in this economy from some really smart people who know their investments. It's very interesting, and you will be surprised by what some of the top investments are that you should be looking at right now. I'll break it down for you right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Renewable energy, saving the environment, and creating jobs. That's why President Obama is travelling to Wisconsin today. He is speaking next hour, and you can watch it live right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

How is this for a new list? It's called ten ways to make real money. If that doesn't catch your eye, in this economy, you're doing pretty well. Congratulations. Josh is here with the list from money magazine. All right. Josh, what made this list?

LEVS: Yes, it's a heck of a title. It's from "Money" magazine. This is from people who track investments really carefully who have some really strong ideas about what you can look at and each of their investments involves some risk. So, I'm calling here risks that could make big money. Now, the first one on here might surprise you, health care stocks.

This might seem strange because health care stocks have actually been the worse performing group in the S&P 500,but drug makers have been diversifying products, they've been cutting costs and reaching new markets, and as the population ages, health care spending is going up. Still, you have some concerns like drug patents could expire, hurting the market. Also, the full impact of reform remains unknown. There are some risks but really could pay off.

Take a look at the next one on the list. Oil drillers. They're recommending some investments there. Shares of deepwater drillers have actually plunged along with this crisis in the Gulf, but long term, the demand is still high, and what's happening now is you could get into the market relatively cheap, and they're saying there could be some real payoff not too long. Of course, there are risks, what if a currently unknown act of negligence comes to light.

Next one, housing market, another big piece of our economic crisis. Again, really, interesting, they're recommending these rental properties because, look, the foreclosure crisis has obviously left prices down, but throughout is rents have actually held up consistently better. You won't make a killing, but you might make some steady income. And so, I'm going to mention two more of this top ten list.

Take a look what we got here. This one is a place called sound shore. It's a mutual fund which has a strong record of betting on stocks that are down on their luck, and they kind primed for a rally. I know, you're a little cautious. And Liberty Media Interactive, their big client over there is actually QVC. It's more retailer are going to media stock (ph). What they're doing is they're tracing all these, and they're saying, you know what, in this economy, these are places to look to put some money, and coming up in a few minutes, we're going to have the other five of the top ten. What do you think so far, Tony?

HARRIS: Not bad. I want to see some bond strategies.

LEVS: You will.

HARRIS: I would like to see some of those. Good to see you, Josh. See you just a little bit.

Keeping our focus on ways to make money, meet a man who is cashing in on African flavors.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: Let's get you caught up on our top stories right now. New figures today show China surpassed Japan to become the world's second largest economy last quarter behind the United States. If projections hole, China should remain second place for all 2010.

U.S. gas prices have you noticed have gone up about 4 cents a gallon over the past three weeks. That's according to a Lundberg Survey. The average price for regular is now $2.77 a gallon.

And hundreds of love birds flocked to New York's Times Square to re-enact the famous photograph and celebrate the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II. A new 26-foot statue recreates the iconic life magazine photo of a sailor kissing a nurse at the end of the war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: So, we need to hear the rest of the list now. "Money" magazine's top ten ways to make some real cash in this economy. Josh, come on, continue the run down for us.

LEVS: Yes. Hey, and speak up if you think the "Money" magazine ideas are crazy there.

HARRIS: Yes. OK. We'll do.

LEVS: I mean, a lot of what we're looking at here and this is really interesting list from "Money" magazine is this idea -- I love the money bag, by the way, is this idea that if in this economy, you're in a position to take a little bit of a risk, you might be able to take advantage of some of the sectors that have really been struggling and that primed for a rally at some point. The question is, how soon?

Let's get to a little more of the list here. I think -- this one is really interesting. Home builders. Now, again, this is surprising. Home billing stocks have actually plummeted. They fell another 25 percent since May, but analysts are saying now that the long-term outlook is actually solid, the risk being, of course, no one can be sure when construction and profits are going to start going up again.

Here's another one that's interesting. I think we have some video of European exports. Check this out. They're talking about how you should actually invest in European exports. You know, you and I have been talking about the struggles in Europe. I've reported on what's been going on in Greece, you have this debt crisis, but "Money" magazine folks who study investments?

They're saying even with the debt worries, Europe still makes up 25 percent of global stocks, and you can avoid some of these debt issues by focusing on the big exporters there that benefit from a weaker Euro. Of course, the risk there is that --

HARRIS: Look to Germany. If you want evidence of this as a strategy, look to Germany, which is getting a nice little pop in its economy because of exports.

LEVS: Yes. And so the idea is, you know, you look at what the possible opportunities are for you as one sector or one region, in that case, struggles in the economy. You're talking about bonds report. They are actually on this list. They're actually recommending two kinds of stock. Take a look here. Preferred stocks and utility stocks, and we can talk this out.

The idea here, with preferred stocks, the numbers are up. Investors are able to -- you know, even in this slow growth economy, investors have been able to profit. The risk there, of course, is that if the slump gets even worse than expected, that could actually reverse, but if you're keeping an eye out for those, you might be able to get somewhere.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: And utility stocks as well, paying a little bit better than treasuries, but you have some changes that have been going on in the country as well that are affecting utility stocks. You got stricter environmental rules that could limit the profits there, also regulators to push back against some of those increases. This is what they're saying, and Tony, ready for the last one?

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: All the top ten, this is one I wasn't familiar with. They're calling it a third avenue value.

HARRIS: What is that?

LEVS: It's actually a real estate value for those ready for some risk. This is a real estate mutual fund that also invests in developers, and that kind of goes back to what I was talking to you about here.

HARRIS: Right, right.

LEVS: It goes with home building and development. They're pretty confident. If you investment right now while the market is so struggling and so low, over time it's primed for a rally and it's going to make you some money.

HARRIS: You got to explain to me what's happening with all of the inventory that's out there on the market right now. If you can convince me that that inventory is starting to go away, then maybe that makes sense. I just don't know.

LEVS: And the risk there, and this is one we're talking about investing this kind of this. The risk here is that you don't know how long it will be.

HARRIS: Yes.

LEVS: They're saying on their list and I'll show you where I post it in the second, but what they're saying in their list is that at some point it's got to turn. This stuff has to start moving again, and the building and the developing is going to be a positive source of revenue if you invested early enough while it's so cheap. I put the whole list for you there, up at my Facebook and Twitter pages, joshlevscnn.

Let me know what you think, I'll tell you, you do at least have the benefit of a lot of smart people on "Money" magazine. They're part of CNNMoney.com. There's a lot and follow the market for years and are confident that there are ways to take advantage of the sectors that are struggling right now, get in at the basement so when as your backup (ph)--

HARRIS: I like health care. I think that's going to really pop here and soon. Josh, appreciate it. Thank you, sir.

LEVS: Thank you.

HARRIS: Taking a chance in this economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I took some classes. We went to trade shows. We learned the business. And we thought, you know, we're going to make it work.

HARRIS: We will take a look at what happened to their slice of the American dream. We're back in a moment. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARRIS: CNN, of course, is your source for financial news. Let's get you to CNNMoney.com and look at the lead story here. The wasted 4.4 percent mortgage rate. What is the story here? Another failed stimulus effort. Oh, OK. Of course, take a look at all of the top stories here at CNNMoney.com. Check in any time. Let's get you to the big board.

New York Stock Exchange now, you can see we're trading in positive territory. The Dow is up 11 points. The Nasdaq is up 12 points. We will follow these numbers, of course, throughout the day right here in the NEWSROOM. Let's talk about overdraft fees. Most people hate them, because they can turn your $4 latte into a $25 purchase if you don't have the funds available.

But now, you can kiss some of those fees goodbye. That's good news here. Patricia Wu is at the New York Stock Exchange what the details on this new bank rules. Patricia, good to see you. Walk us through some of these rules.

PATRICIA WU, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you. Absolutely. Well, these new rules from the Federal Reserve mean no more automatic overdraft fees when you're using your debit card or the ATM. Now, these rules took effect yesterday. So, if you don't have the money in your account, you will be declined. So, if you want to avoid that embarrassment at the checkout, keep track of your money, Tony.

Now, you can still opt in for overdraft protection, but you must call your bank. Though chances are they'll probably find a way to let you know that you can opt in, because overdraft fees are big money- maker. Just how big? Well, banks charge $37 billion last year with the median overdraft fee, $26. So, analysts are predicting that, you know, banks have to make up this money somewhere. Could they be coming up with new fees or could it be the end of free checking, Tony?

HARRIS: Well, Patricia, are there any other options out there to help me protect myself from myself, other than overdraft protection?

WU: Absolutely. There are some options. Some of them still have fees, but they'll cost you less than overdraft protection. One, you can link your checking account to your savings. That way, if you try to buy something and you don't have the money, the bank just taps into your savings. Now, the caveat here, though, there could be minimum requirements. Two, you could get a line of credit. The bank floats you a loan to make the purchase, but this usually only applies to people with good credit.

And finally, Tony, you know, you could just keep a little extra cash, a little cash cushion, but you got to fight the temptation to spend it. And if you want more info on these new rules, just go to federal reserve.gov/consumerinfo.

HARRIS: All right. Patricia, see you next hour. Thank you, lady.

WU: Absolutely.

HARRIS: And speaking of next hour -- OK. Take care -- they took a chance and sank all they had into a little slice of the American dream. Their hopes, their struggles, the lessons they learned in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM.

And something new at the grocery store. Food by the numbers. It is designed to help you make healthy choices. We will take you shopping.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HARRIS: You know, during these difficult economic times, we like to focus on individual success stories. Our Richard Roth introduces us to a Liberian man who has created, listen to this, a $1 million import business in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside, a nondescript warehouse in the Bronx, a fine food's laboratory with a strong African theme.

DOUGHBA H. CARANDA MARTIN, FOUNDER, CARANADA FINE FOODS: You're at the corunda artilia (ph) is what I like to call it where we sort of produce artisanal products from Africa, teas, coffees, cocoas. We do a lot of experiments in this taste as well. We keep most of our recipes and formulas and everything of that nature in this room, and I'll just give you a little view of it.

This is my favorite part. This is a plastic bag full of really amazing dry herbs from West Africa. And just to give you sort of like an inside view of what are in these bins. But this is a really beautiful, amazing experience of just dynamic, dry fruits, hibiscus flower, rosehips, blue corn flower, all these really wonderful things that are really good for you.

ROTH: Caranda says some 95 percent of their ingredients are harvested in Africa, dried and shipped to the United States.

CARANDA: My inspiration came from my upbringing, and my grandmother, for the most part. She dealt with botanicals and herbs and teas, and she was very holistic. And it was really sort of like an honoring of her after she passed away.

ROTH: As well as tea, Caranda is looking to expand its chocolate and coffee range. The son of landowners in Liberia, Martin held a meeting with a Liberian government envoy on the day we visited.

CARANDA: We have this opportunity to take over the Liberian coffee and cocoa commission because they're having issues.

ROTH: But today, it's all about tea.

CARANDA: This is a really special tea. It's Kenyan center. Now, a lot of people have this idea that, you know, senture (ph) only grows in Japan. And when I discovered the senture (ph) which is a light tea, I just fell in love with it. And what I've basically done is, we've toasted the senture (ph) with lavender and cardamom. One of the most important things though is when you become a blender, you don't blend for everyone, and not everyone is going to love what you're doing.

And so, the most important thing is that you're still true to your passion, and there's always an audience out there that's going to support it.

ROTH: One supporter is Marcus Samuelsson, a leading chef whose New York restaurants are stocking Caranda products.

MARCUS SAMUELSSON, CHEF/AUTHOR: What I love about his teas, they have different texture. So, it's changed how you think about tea.

CARANDA: We're going into the mixing room now, where I'm going to show you how aspects of our teas are blended.

We're making a tea called mango peach, which is an iced tea. And this tea will be made for a chef, Marcus Samuelsson. This is a custom blend just for him. There are 18 different flavors that are combined or combined to create that unique, rich flavor of mango. We don't use extracts, and that will be kind of sprinkled all over, and that's an amazing array of really dried peach.

What will happen with the machine is that the machine will blend this, but it will break a lot of the fragile botanicals in there, where back home in Africa, we do it by hand in these small batches, and we will repeat a process like this maybe 20 times for a client to make up a total large volume. So, what I'm going to do now is grab some of this tea that we've made, so that we can go out and test it. Perfect.

So basically now that our teas cool off, all I do is taste it. And I can immediately feel all the things I need to feel. It's an emotional thing. So, you taste the peach, you taste the hibiscus. I can drink it without sugar. I mean, it's just dynamite. So, basically, these are products that have been finalized. Mostly, they're going to be used for internet orders.

The goal usually is about 500,000 units to push about 500,000, minimum. It's the goal. The branding stems to carry the weight of identifying that it is African, but it's accessible. It's for everyone.

ROTH: It's a theme central to Caranda's future expansion plans.

CARANDA: So, you're future will probably reflect bottled beverages, retail stores, and then cold brand partnerships with African-based companies or companies that have Africa interests at heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)