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Charges of Rape Directed at WikiLeaks Founder Dropped; U.S. Troops Leave Iraq in Preparation for Change of Mission; Financial Planner Gives Advice; British Government Asked for Suggestions from Population on How to Save Money; American Man Lives on a Dollar a Day; New Fish Robot May Be Able to Lead Fish Away From Danger; Dispute Rages On Amount of Oil Left in Gulf of Mexico

Aired August 21, 2010 - 14:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, eating well on a dollar a day. It could happen. A California man actually did that. We'll tell you how he did it this hour.

And at 3:00 eastern time, seafood from the Gulf, is it safe to eat? We'll talk to environmental experts who are not so convinced.

And then at 4:00, bedbugs, they are not a problem in New York. Infestations have recently tripled across the U.S. Find out how to avoid getting bitten.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM, where the news unfolds live Saturday August 21st. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

A symbolic end to Operation Iraqi Freedom -- the last combat brigade to leave Iraq held a ceremony in Kuwait last night marking their pullout. They had a tradition known as casing of the colors, and they will be heading back to the U.S. over the next several days.

However, 52,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, 2,000 of them will leave between now and September 1st.

And that's when Operation Iraqi Freedom officially ends and Operation New Dawn begins. CNN's Arwa Damon is covering this historic tradition. She joins us live from Baghdad. So Arwa, what role will the remaining 50,000 or so troops have?

ARWA DAMON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these troops are going to be in an advise and assist role, but that does not mean they won't be in danger. It's not as if the war is coming to an end and peace will break out and the U.S. military can move around the street without flak jackets and weapons.

This still very much remains a dangerous and unpredictable environment. The transition we are going to see, though, is going to be one where the U.S. military's main goal, its main focus, is going to be training of the Iraqi security forces. They are going to be partnered at the senior levels. They will be pouring over intelligence together. The U.S. will help Iraqis plan their missions.

And they'll also be providing them with air assets and support where the Iraqis don't necessarily have it.

The U.S. military does believe with this residual force of 50,000 troops and given the current Iraqi security forces capabilities, they can maintain the current levels of violence, which for the U.S. military is acceptable, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: What about Iraqis, what do they think about this?

DAMON: Well, Iraqis still remain very fearful and very anxious. Their barometer for what is OK differs significantly from the U.S. military's. When we're talking about current levels of violence, we're still talking about an average of 300 to 400 Iraqis being killed a month.

And so Iraqis realize that the situation here could potentially possibly get worse. That is what their main concern is.

They are also concerned about the fact there is a political vacuum here. We had elections in March. They were largely inconclusive. A new government has yet to be seated. And Iraqis are very aware this is a country where politics and violence remain heavily intertwined.

That's not to say Iraqis want Americans to stick around forever. But they are still very worried about their future because it is so uncertain. We've been seeing amongst our Iraqi staff, for example. They have been coming over the last few weeks, over the last few days especially, increasingly anxious and distraught, saying, you have to believe us, the streets of Baghdad are not safe. There are people, gangs running around with silencers, assassinations taking place, still an unpredictable environment, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Arwa Damon, thanks so much from Baghdad, appreciate that.

Meantime, those U.S. troops heading back to the U.S., it means there's a hero's welcoming that's about to happen. And then at least for one couple a wedding and a new baby. That's a lot of good news all at once. Coming up we'll talk to a woman who is about to experience all of that and more.

All right, let's talk about some health matters. Right now over half a billion dollar eggs have now been recalled because of a salmonella outbreak. Contaminated eggs have made hundreds of people ill, and health officials expect more cases. How can you avoid getting sick?

Earlier I asked Dr. Carlos del Rio from the Emory University School of Medicine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. CARLOS DEL RIO, EMORY UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Number one, if you have any of these eggs that have been recalled, discard them or return them. Any time you buy eggs, it's better to keep them in the refrigerator. When you are eating eggs, it's better to cook them as opposed to eating them raw.

And it's very important that if you make an omelet or make eggs, then afterwards you put them rapidly in the refrigerator and leftovers, not left on the counter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Bottom line, cook them very thoroughly. For more information on the egg recall including the package numbers, go to CNN.com/health.

All right, couple of strange twists and turns today in a curious story that first surfaced overnight. It centers on the WikiLeaks website founder Julian Assange. He's best known for posting thousands of classified reports from the Afghan War.

Last night Assange was arrested in absentia by Sweden on two separate allegations of rape and molestation. Then just hours ago a huge about-face -- Sweden's chief prosecutor says Assange is no longer wanted. So what's all this about?

CNN's correspondent Atika Shubert has been following this for us and she joins us by phone from Italy. Atika?

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No one really knows what it's all about. The Swedish prosecutor's office has basically made a complete about-face, saying they have no reason to suspect Julian Assange of rape and he's no longer arrested in absentia.

There is absolutely no explanation for why he was apparently charged in the first place and why now those charges have been revoked. The prosecutor is refusing to speak further on the issue until Monday morning.

So really there are a lot of questions and no answers. In the meantime, earlier in the day, Julian Assange had responded to the allegations in a twitter posting saying he denied the allegations, that they were baseless, and he was very concerned about the timing of these allegations.

Earlier he had put out the twitter posting saying that these allegations were part of a dirty trick. And certainly WikiLeaks had been fearful they would be the target of a smear campaign. And it seems WikiLeaks is now afraid recent allegations and charges may be a part of that smear campaign they have been warned about.

WHITFIELD: So Atika, no explanation for the about-face as of yet. What about a better explanation or more details about the allegations. What was at the root of these allegations of rape and molestation in the first place?

SHUBERT: Well, we really don't know because the prosecutor's office has refused to give any details about who brought those charges or what the exact incident was. Local media were reporting two women were involved in this incident that happened this week. But again, we haven't been able to independently confirm this, and the prosecutor's office won't answer any questions.

WHITFIELD: All so confusing. Atika Shubert, thank you so much. More will surface as it pertains to that case or now a non-case, perhaps.

All right, well, how about this, can money buy you happiness? New research is in, and the findings might surprise you. That's coming up. Plus, tips to get the most enjoyment out of the money that you do have.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: OK, Americans are managing to put away more money despite the weak economy. That's the great news of all this. The Commerce Department says in June personal savings climbed to 6.4 percent, after tax income we're talking about. That's the highest savings rate in the last year and the third straight month of growth.

So more money means happier people, right? Maybe not. A new study finds that wealthy people don't savor positive experiences as well as people with a little less money.

Joining us now, financial adviser Karen Lee. So Karen, this is really kind of confusing. So the wealthier folks have this money, may not be really happy. But if you don't have a whole lot of money you are happier. I don't get it. What's the measurement of happiness and the whole money equation?

KAREN LEE, FINANCIAL ADVISER: What studies have shown is that true happiness is about your experiences in life and the quality of your relationships.

But I'd like to go to a graphic we prepared that has to do with the savings rates currently. And let's talk a little more about that. The savings rate actually dipped to one percent back in 2004. But if you go back several decades, and that's what this slide shows in the '60s, '70s and '80s, Americans safe more like eight, 10, 12, percent. As we talked about before, we must save 10 percent of our income.

WHITFIELD: We have to save more, especially if something terrible happens, six, eight months savings.

LEE: What's good, what's going on now, and it's a by-product of the recession, we've had a huge generational shift from adults raised by parents who lived in the Depression, and they lived with scarcity and lack, and so they saved, saved, saved because they were worried, and it's swung forward to the least couple decades where there's abundance and good times where they haven't saved as much.

Now, they are getting scared again, so the pendulum is swinging back. So we've actually got a little more to go. We'd like to get that savings rate up to about 10 percent.

WHITFIELD: So how do you do that? How do you approach the savings idea? How do you get people to save? If they are saving now, you want to save more. LEE: I think one of the hardest things to talk about is how do you -- when times are good, you don't worry about it. When times are bad you worry about it. Some of the tips we're going to talk about I think will address some of the questions you've got.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about one, saving can really affect a sense of security. That in part is where the happiness comes in.

LEE: Exactly. Security is an element of happiness. If you go back to Maslov's theory of basic human needs, safety and security are right down at the bottom of the pyramid. People who save money by nature, they know this. They save because they makes them --

WHITFIELD: They feel confident, walk tall.

LEE: They have got something to fall back on. So the question is, and I ask the question, how can we get people who aren't used to saving to taste how good it feels to get that monkey off your shoulder and have money to fall back on?

WHITFIELD: How do you do that? Folks say, I'm seeing this, I'm seeing that. I want to buy that because it makes me feel good. You say some more simple things might make you happy.

LEE: One of the things I want to talk about is when we buy something, we have a moment, all humans have a moment when we feel so excited.

WHITFIELD: Euphoria.

LEE: It's kind of intoxicating, right? It's fleeting. It doesn't last very long.

Remember if you have an iPhone. You buy an iPhone, you loved it. Then it got old. Then the iPad came out and you had to have an iPad. Really, the key is when you buy stuff, you're getting a fleeting moment of happiness and it will shift away.

So one of the things we've learned is if you focus on simple things in life. So take walks in nature, even if you're doing well. Take time to smell the roses. Enjoy those simple things.

And studies are showing people who have more money actually have a hard time enjoying those simple things. Think about it. You tasted that $200 bottle of wine. How good does the $10 one taste?

WHITFIELD: Forget it. Your taste buds are spoiled.

LEE: If you're driving a Mercedes, do you want to go back to a Honda? Force yourself to enjoy simple things.

WHITFIELD: OK, so it's not a thing to get that exhilaration on spending that, maybe you can spend on an experience. But now again it's all relative to how much, you don't want to break the bank. But an experience might take you further than the thing? LEE: The point is that, again, going back to the study, that experiences actually bring you more happiness. So within the level of what you can afford, if you're going to spend, spend on an experience.

WHITFIELD: A trip?

LEE: Vacation are the best examples, because in a vacation you're going to create memories and experiences that last a lifetime. You come home and you can dwell --

WHITFIELD: Try not to shop on the trip. Then you're double spending. Isn't that the temptation when you go somewhere?

LEE: Shop on sale, one of the last things we'll talk about.

WHITFIELD: Very good. Then you want to, I guess, try to evaluate what you're purchasing.

LEE: One of the tips is to make yourself wait for some of these purchases.

WHITFIELD: Walk away.

LEE: This is psychology. It's called delayed gratification. Actually the anticipation of buying something is as good as the purchase itself. So yes, make yourself save up. Make yourself wait. Delay that time to the ultimate purchase.

And if you're booking a vacation, book that trip pretty far in advance, because you get that much more time to get psyched for your trip.

WHITFIELD: Sometimes I'm guilty of that. Walk away. I don't need this, don't want to buy it. But then if you forget about it, you're like, you know what, didn't need it. But then there's the hanging, with you, I've been thinking about that, I've got to have it.

LEE: We all suffer from impulsiveness when it comes to money. Big challenges.

WHITFIELD: I like the experience part.

All right, so we have some questions coming up.

LEE: We do?

WHITFIELD: People that want free advice, they will get it from you -- savings, spending, all that. And if you have a question, there's a little more time, send it my way here. Go to my blog, CNN.com/Fredricka or Facebook page. We'll get answers from Karen Lee right after this.

All right, in Britain, the government is cutting costs and is asking the public for suggestions. You won't believe the ideas pouring in. Can you believe, sell the queen's swans for meat? Our Josh Levs takes a closer look at some of the other ideas folks have on saving the government money.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories. The death toll in Pakistan's flooding catastrophe has topped 1,500. At least 4 million people are homeless now and millions of survivors who now live in filthy conditions are threatened by diseases. U.N. officials are appealing for millions of dollars in aid.

And in Brazil, one person was killed and four police officers wounded during a shootout. Police say the gunman ran into a luxury hotel in Rio de Janeiro and took dozens of people hostage. They were released after negotiations, but police believe the gunmen have drug- dealing connections. And ten people in all so far have been arrested.

And a step forward for U.S. efforts to get the stalled Middle East peace process moving again. Israeli and Palestinian leaders have agreed to resume direct talks next month in Washington. The negotiations stalled nearly two years ago shortly before Israel launched its offensive against Hamas in Gaza. We'll have more top stories in 20 minutes.

All right, we were talking about whether, I guess, buying or money can buy you happiness. We're back now with financial planner Karen Lee, who says it's the small things in life. And if you are going to spend your money, perhaps you need to, you know, go for the little things. Those were a couple more tips you had before the break.

LEE: If there's something you absolutely need, that's a different conversation. But if we're talking about the kind of purchasing a lot of Americans do just to make themselves feel a little better, try small things, like I love fresh flowers -- $10, $15 every couple of weeks. My husband's thing when he's had a hard day, get a milkshake on the way home. It doesn't cost a lot.

WHITFIELD: Very good.

All right, so we've got e-mail questions coming your way. We have people who sent questions via Facebook, and even my blog. Let's get started with this from Todd, who says "One year ago I was making six figures living in Dallas. Since then I have had to downsize my home, my lifestyle, my car, but I can honestly say I've never been happier."

LEE: I'm loving hearing this. As bad as this recession is, it's very good that people are reevaluating their actual needs.

WHITFIELD: Talking about simplifying your life.

LEE: An article in the "New York Times" last week, a couple actually downsized to a 400 --

WHITFIELD: I saw it.

LEE: No television. They are doing great. That's a little drastic, but --

WHITFIELD: I thought, is there a happy medium? That is what crossed my mind when I saw that article, too.

And then Blanche asked, "How do you get to discuss money and personal finances with your adult children? The answer is, mom, don't worry. It isn't happening right now. We'll cross that bridge when the time comes. I have tried" -- this is Blanche -- "I've tried to make them pay attention to the idea of planning ahead." That's hard.

LEE: This is hard. I've got two main things to say on this. Number one, the thing you need to impress on your children, adult children, financial planning is all about planning for the future and for bad things that could happen. Because once they happen --

WHITFIELD: Young people don't see bad things happening.

LEE: Once it happens, it's too late.

The other thing I would tell Blanche, if she has her own financial adviser, I'd ask that adviser to do some pro bono work and have a consultation with adult children. I'd send them in and say this is a gift I've gotten for you at no cost.

WHITFIELD: How much do you use your life experience to your adult children to say, I was there -- it's a turnoff for that.

LEE: I think it's ideal. If you've had hard times, share those with them. If you have scrimped and saved and are in a good place, again, if they are adult children I think that's a fabulous thing to do.

WHITFIELD: OK. This follow-up from Bill. He says, "I recently received a large sum of money. I put it into an IRA rollover account. What type of safe investments could I enter into now?"

LEE: I'm assuming he inherited this, because to do an IRA rollover typically you have to earn and deposit the money on your own. I always talk about, how old are you? That time horizon, remember, you can't tap into the mope until you're 60.

If we have 20 year time horizon, I'm not sure you want to go so conservative. But if you're scared, maybe when you combine a stock and bond portfolio, go a little heavier on the bonds than the stocks for the time being. You could get a five year fixed annuity paying 3.25 percent, nothing great but it's safe.

You can look at variable annuities out with guaranteed growth rates. But remember, they are a bit expensive. You can look at tips, inflation protected, but you're not going to earn too much on them.

WHITFIELD: Thank you very much, a nice menu there. I'm full.

(LAUGHTER)

Karen Lee, thanks so much. Good to see you. LEE: Always good to be here.

WHITFIELD: And thanks again at home for sending those great comments and questions.

Meantime, the United Kingdom, it, too, is having money problems. The conservative-led government asked the public for help. And it asked ordinary citizens for suggestions on ways the government could actually save money.

And the answers simply came pouring in. Some were clever and some were a little ridiculous. You never know. The U.S. might learn something here. Our Josh Levs has been trolling through these ideas, good, bad, otherwise.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a great list, Fred. They have had about 100,000 they have put up online and asking people to rate. Tens of billions of pounds, which is more in dollars every year, massive sums of money Britain needs to hold onto. They have massive, massive debt.

They opened up basically. The treasury said, go ahead and send any ideas you have got. Some would make you and Karen happy. Some are pretty practical.

Let's take a look at the first one here. Some people are saying, you know what, government is using too many buildings right now. They could combine offices into fewer buildings and then start using fewer of them and sell off the extra buildings. That's something right there. That's a start.

Here is the next one -- police BMWs. Apparently police in general use these BMWs. I will say usually when you have police with BMWs, there's a reason. Maybe they got a deal, maybe cheaper ones, cheaper travel.

They pulled out some interesting ones. Some people in the government say, you know what, when we travel for work, we are required to use certain companies that are actually more expensive. And we could save money if you let us book cheaper travel or do things on the cheap.

Here's another one, streetlights. Someone saying how about you turn off every other streetlight, you still have light to drive. Practical, right?

WHITFIELD: I think so.

LEVS: Look at the next one -- fewer managers.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Fewer managers of anything and everything?

LEVS: I love the picture they chose, by the way. Here is the idea. Some employees have written in saying we have so many managerial levels right now that there aren't that many people doing the groundwork and too many people telling us what to do all day.

Now let's get to some of the less likely ideas. Here is your favorite. Sell the queen's swans for meat.

WHITFIELD: For meat? Oh, my gosh.

LEVS: I know. It's a very disturbing suggestion.

WHITFIELD: That's nasty, come on.

LEVS: And it's so not going to happen, especially with the beautiful picture making the heart.

Prison treadmills, a little disturbing, but also more than one person suggesting you take the treadmills in prison and hook them up to the power grid to provide electricity. I don't know.

Last one I'm going to tell you, my favorite one, cheap alcohol. I have to read the quote that goes along with this, Fred. This is from a member of the British public. "Make booze cheaper, then everyone will be drunk all the time and no one will notice or care how the country is doing."

WHITFIELD: I'm sure they like the public servant in uniform with a martini glass.

LEVS: I'm sure they are having a field day with the pictures.

We thought we should ask our how the U.S. should save money.

WHITFIELD: That's a great idea.

LEVS: From the serious to the ridiculous to the sublime. You know where to get me at Josh Levs, CNN. Send us your thoughts on the list and your thoughts how the U.S. should save money, because, you know what, not only does Britain got debt, the U.S. has debt, too, Fred.

WHITFIELD: I like that. I can't wait to hear what people are suggesting for America.

LEVS: I'm a little scared but looking forward to it.

WHITFIELD: Me, too. Josh, thank you very much.

Well, still on the subject of penny pinching, how about eating for just $1 a day? It sounds impossible. A California man actually did it. He didn't lose weight either. It wasn't a diet plan. He'll explain how it happened.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Lots of people like to save a few bucks by clipping coupons, right? Well, a California blogger used coupons to accomplish a seemingly impossible challenge, eating well on just a dollar a day for 100 days, no less. Jeffrey joins us from Mountain View, California. Good to see you.

JEFFREY STRAIN, AT ON $1 A DAY: Thank you. Welcome -- pleasure to be here.

WHITFIELD: Wonderful. I'm a real foodie. I love food. It's hard to imagine I could sustain myself on just $1 a day. Why was this an experiment that you wanted to take advantage of for 100 days, no less?

STRAIN: It was actually a bet with my sister to start off with. I had been getting food for local food banks and doing pretty well with it with coupons. And so my sister decided to have a bet with me whether I could live on $1 a day, and that's how it all started.

WHITFIELD: The bottom line, 100 days of food. You actually spent $76.11. The value of all those purchases, however, was $1,400, over $1,400. Let's break down how you were able to do this. Coupons almost full throttle here?

STRAIN: It's a matter of finding the deals that match up with the coupons. It's called "spacking." You try to find deals out there, sales, and then add coupons onto that. And by being able to do that type of thing, you are able to come away with food for practically free.

WHITFIELD: OK, so then you also set some rules in place for yourself in the first month. Let's go through some of those rules that you abided by -- $31 to spend for that month, which broke down to $1 a day. You wanted to use two computers in order to print coupons. Why did you do that?

STRAIN: What happens with computers, you have the limit of the number of coupons you're allowed to print off each computers. And so the more computers you have, the more coupons you can actually print. When we made the rules, my sister decided that two computers, most people would have access to two computers, and so that was what we decided was the way to go.

WHITFIELD: OK, and you could only use two inserts from the Sunday paper each week. No limits on the coupons found inside the grocery stores, so you took advantage of those. No free food from trees, dumpster diving, friends, food banks, donations, none of that. You really couldn't accept any charity from anyone.

But let's go back to the two inserts from the Sunday newspapers, why just two inserts?

STRAIN: It's the same thing. If you have multiple inserts, when the good deals come around, you can just keep rolling them over and over and over again. And you can get quite a bit of food that way. For example, this past week I ended up getting about $700 worth of food for a local food bank that actually cost me nothing.

WHITFIELD: Wow. Cool. Then you had another set of rules you imposed on yourself for days 31 through 100. A little bit different. Why did you come up with different rules, by the way? So you wouldn't get bored?

STRAIN: So I wouldn't get bored. And those initial rules were pretty strict. When I started, I started with absolutely nothing. And it is not something I would recommend anybody else do. It was a good challenge and stuff, but I wanted to make it a little bit more liberal, look at some other things that people would possibly do to get food. And that's why I made it a little more liberal.

STRAIN: OK, so getting the food from trees, that's OK. But really, the exchange, you got food from your garden. You're a gardener, too. You put no limit on the number of coupons.

STRAIN: Right.

WHITFIELD: You were only allowed to pay for one Sunday paper now.

STRAIN: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: Like you said, the food out of your own garden. And you were allowed to buy tea at the local coffee shops. You found ways to reward yourself and did allow some foraging of food, meaning friends and stuff? You could beg?

STRAIN: I didn't do a lot of it. I got most of the food I foraged actually from public lands. It was kind of fun. It ended up being my morning meal, with a fruit smoothie of some type.

WHITFIELD: So in the end there were some great lessons learned that perhaps you found out you could survive on more or less than you ever expected. And you said, you know what, we all tend to buy too many things that we don't want.

STRAIN: Yes. What happens is that to make this work, you kind of have to change the way you think about shopping. And one of the big things is in order to get the things you want, you end up having to buy things you don't really need.

And most people don't do that, but if you start to think about it in the way, OK, I don't need this but somebody will, local food banks, local charities and stuff like that, all of a sudden you're able to give and also help yourself at the same time.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh, so you may have given as much as you actually purchased for that dollar for yourself and turned this into a great charitable effort.

STRAIN: I probably gave more than I actually kept for myself. I probably gave about $1,000 worth of food and other products to local charities during this whole thing.

WHITFIELD: Wow, fantastic. All right, blogger Jeffrey Strain, thanks so much. We learned a lot here. You're making us rethink how we eat, how we diet, how we buy food and give, of course. That's the best part. Jeffrey, appreciate it. Thank you so much.

STRAIN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: OK, they were among the first to go into Iraq and part of the last brigade to actually leave, combat brigade that is. We'll talk to someone who cannot wait for them to come home.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: It's hard to believe after more than seven years the U.S. military celebrating a symbolic end to the war in Iraq. The final combat brigade has left and troops are on their way home.

Families, of course, are planning huge homecomings. Among them, Sarah-Jeanne Dosland in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She's very pregnant. What, seven and a half months pregnant?

SARAH-JEANNE DOSLAND, FIANCEE RETURNING FROM IRAQ: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, and your fiancee is well on his way home. How much have you known about the end of this combat duty and when he was to return?

DOSLAND: Originally we were told the latest would be September 13th, then with Obama pulling them out sooner, he's coming two weeks earlier than we had planned.

WHITFIELD: So how did you get the news? Did you learn like everybody else or did you have any special direct contact with your fiancee?

DOSLAND: I had kind of heard through some other army wives, and then I actually found out the exact news from my ex-husband.

WHITFIELD: OK. So your fiancee is specialist Andrew Lander. How long has he been in Iraq?

DOSLAND: He's been there since September 11th of last year.

WHITFIELD: OK. And have you been able to talk with him along the way, especially talking about your pregnancy and how you've been feeling and the excitement that you all are enjoying?

DOSLAND: We used Skype for most of it. So we were able to see each other and he's able to see my baby belly and everything. It makes it a lot easier with him being gone.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. What is this homecoming like? What is planned in what can you tell us?

DOSLAND: Right after I get done here, I'm driving back to Washington from Michigan so I'll be there in time. And I'm not really sure what we're planning. I just know we're going to be spending a lot of time together.

WHITFIELD: OK. You're driving to Washington state or Washington, D.C.?

DOSLAND: Washington State, Fort Lewis in Tacoma.

WHITFIELD: OK, does he know that you're going to be there?

DOSLAND: Yes. I was able to talk to him for 15 minutes yesterday, and I told him that I was leaving earlier just in case he came home earlier.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. That's going to be quite the journey, quite the drive. You're seven and a half months pregnant. How have you been feeling?

DOSLAND: I had some problems a month and a half ago, they thought I had appendicitis. So that still hurt a lot, but other than that, it's fine.

WHITFIELD: So what do you suppose that moment is going to be like when specials Andrew Landers and you lock eyes and that moment happens in Washington State that you're reunited after this long tour of duty.

DOSLAND: I know I'm going to be bawling. I'm already tearing up now thinking about it.

WHITFIELD: How wonderful to get this early return home. What a great gift. Has this been a tough time, particularly, his deployment for you?

DOSLAND: Yes, it's been pretty hard. I miscarried two days before he deployed. That was really, really hard. Then him leaving right after, that's usually when you're with your significant other. So that's pretty hard. And then we were able to conceive again. So everything is going well so far. So it's making it a lot easier now.

WHITFIELD: Well, fantastic. Baby is due October 28th. Do I have that right?

DOSLAND: Yes.

WHITFIELD: This is going to be really fantastic. Were you expecting that perhaps baby might arrive before your fiancee would return?

DOSLAND: A few months ago, like a month and a half ago when that started happening, they thought I was going into preterm labor. And that really worried me, like, if Andrew is going to be here, if he's going to be home in time. I didn't really think I'd be able to do it all at once without him. I'm glad he'll be home now.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. You've got two blessings ahead just days if not weeks away. Congratulations on both front, the return of specialist Andrew Lander. All the best on your journey to Washington, and of course all the best for the birth of your baby.

DOSLAND: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, thanks so much, Sarah-Jeanne Dosland, for your time, Grand Rapids, Michigan, all the best to you.

The U.S. and rest of the world are keeping a close eye on Iran today. Why? Because nuclear fuel is being transferred into what will be the country's first atomic energy plant. Tehran says the power station will be used for civilian purposes only to produce electricity.

But outside of Iran, the west is concerned that it could be used to create a nuclear bomb. Iran state media has reported that it will take at least two months for the reactor to begin generating power. Much more after this.

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WHITFIELD: The oil disaster in the Gulf left millions of fish in harm's way. But now researchers are working on a robot that could lure them away from danger. CNN's Gary Tuchman takes us to the "Edge of Discovery."

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There are plenty of fish in the sea. But this one can help us understand how they communicate. What makes this fish so special? It's a robot.

MAURIZIO PORFIRI, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, NYU-POLY: We can control the speed as he moves and then make it go in circles.

TUCHMAN: It's powered by batteries and a motor. While it might lack intricate details of shiny scales, researchers focused on one special feature -- the tail.

PORFIRI: The main thing we try to do is get the same type of flow between the robot and animals.

TUCHMAN: Researchers say the fish they studied didn't mind the robot wasn't the same size of shape. They determined it was safe based on the way it moves. So by programming the robot to accurately mimic swimming motion, real fish will follow.

PORFIRI: My specific goals as a scientist are to understand more how the fish swim together.

TUCHMAN: In the future, robot fish could be used to help lead schools away from danger, like pollution or underwater turbines.

Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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WHITFIELD: Swarming bees and a couple of weird options, all the buzz around the water cooler this week.

Take this one -- a life-sized Elvis statue, a neon governor Blagojevich, the sign and boxes of the former governor's documents, all items up for bid. There's Elvis, all this taking place in Illinois.

So they were in a suburban Chicago storage facility. The company actually auctioned them off for $30,000 since Blagojevich apparently didn't apparently pay his storage bill. All the money, by the way, raised is going to charity.

And then there's this. How would you like to own the throne of J.D. Salinger? I'm talking about a toilet reportedly owned and used by the reclusive author. It's now for sale on eBay. The starting bid is, get this, $1 million. Sales copy for the porcelain potty suggest that Salinger may have gotten his inspiration while doing business on that potty.

(LAUGHTER)

Too much information. Salinger of course is best known for writing, "The Catcher in the Rye." The toilet by the way was removed from his Cornish, New Hampshire home when it was sold and renovated. We know that Salinger died just this past January, but potty is all the rage.

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WHITFIELD: OK, to the ocean -- it's always been a source of mystery. But one of the biggest ones right now is this -- what happened to all that oil in the Gulf? The government says most of it is gone. But experts don't agree. We'll look at that debate.

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WHITFIELD: Call it another step in the recovery process for the Gulf. A section of Louisiana's waterways near the Mississippi River has been reopened for commercial crabbing. The move that the approval of the FDA. Their test shows the crabs are safe to eat. But not everyone agrees. Next hour we'll hear from one scientist with a watchdog group that wants seafood to face tougher testing.

All right, the government says most of the oil from the BP oil disaster has been collected, dispersed, or accounted for in some way. Buy many people are confused about exactly what happened to it, especially with new revelations this week about a 22-mile long plume floating somewhere below the surface.

CNN's Kate Bolduan looks at that debate.

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How much oil is still out there? It seems that depends on who is talking. According to the government, about three-quarters of the oil is effectively gone.

ADMIRAL THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: What is left is 26 percent of the 4.9 million barrels. Now, is that completely accurate? No, it's based on the estimates as defined in the oil budget as a purpose to establish a baseline to try and get a better estimate moving forward.

BOLDUAN: But some scientists have reached far different conclusions. Is the Obama administration painting too rosy a picture? Researchers from the University of Georgia released a report estimating up to 79 percent of the oil, quote, "has not been recovered and remains a threat to the ecosystem."

Then there's the team from the University of South Florida who concluded dispersants have pushed oil to the ocean floor, reaching further east than previously suspected.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is where we found the sedimentary oil.

BOLDUAN: And just Thursday scientists at the Wood Hole Oceanographic Institution said back in June they detected a plume at least 22 miles long, more than 3,000 feet below the surface.

BOLDUAN (on camera): What is the most important aspect of this report?

CHRIS REDDY, WOOD HOLE OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE: I was surprised to see not only the extent of it, the width of it, the thickness of it.

BOLDUAN (voice-over): The government's point man for the oil disaster, retired Admiral Thad Allen, defends the government's findings, but acknowledged it's data may not be the only accurate estimate out there.

ADM. THAD ALLEN, NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: If you create a different set of assumptions, that gives you a different body of oil that was released, the denominator changes and the results are different, but it's all important.

BOLDUAN: Congressman Ed Markey, a leading critic, says the government hasn't shown proof to back up its claims or let outside experts in to check the science.

REP. EDWARD MARKEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: Here is the thing, doctor, you shouldn't have released it until you knew what was right, because so much is going to depend upon that release. And if you are not confident that it is right, it should not have been released.

BOLDUAN (on camera): In search of some final answers, Admiral Allen says he's now trying to put together a metaphorical MRI of the Gulf, unify monitoring efforts down there. Pulling together data gathered by the various federal, academic and private scientific institutions all in the hope they can finally get a full picture of how much oil is still out there and where it is.

Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, checking the headlines. The last U.S. combat brigade has left Iraq and crossed into Kuwait. Next stop, home. For the U.S. military a symbolic end to seven years of war.

And a word of caution, if you're in the market for eggs today, two large-scale Iowa egg producers are recalling more than a half billion eggs because of potential contamination. Hundreds of people have already gotten sick.

And from Hurricane Katrina to the oil spill catastrophe, people along the Gulf Coast know of disaster firsthand. They also know the only way to come through it is to forge ahead. Keep it here as Tom Foreman takes us on a trip with the CNN Express around Mississippi and the Gulf Coast to see how folks are finding their way.