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Earl Blows by U.S. East Coast; Parents' Worst Nightmare; A Mother's Touch; Tracking Tropical Storm Earl; Economy a Top Concern for Voters; Science Fiction Enthusiasts Gather in Atlanta

Aired September 04, 2010 - 11:00   ET

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

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T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, everybody. Top of the hour here now, I'm T.J. Holmes. We look at some of the stories we're keeping a close eye on today.

Earl, not a hurricane anymore, but still causing a few fits, causing some power outages, dangerous surf, as well, on the East Coast. Tropical storm now is bearing on -- is bearing down on Nova Scotia; we'll have a live report in a moment.

Also in New Zealand, they are taking stock after a powerful earthquake, seeing damage to roads and buildings on the south island and also a couple of injuries to tell you about.

And an amazing story that really had so many people intrigued right now. A baby was born premature. The doctor said the baby wasn't going to make it, essentially declared the baby dead, but a mother's touch brings the baby around. We'll hear from the parents and also from the stunned doctor, that's coming up.

Well, maybe a sigh of relief after Earl has kind of high-tailed it out of here. The New England coast breathing a big sigh of relief as the weakened tropical storm now blew by leaving much of the area unscathed. People trying to salvage their Labor Day weekend plans now in the storm's wake.

Earl brushed the shore and never making landfall in the U.S., still caused a few problems, also some rip currents we need to be keeping an eye out for along the East Coast. Power outages from the storm have been relatively few. And the apparent impact on air travel seems minimal, as well, with major northeast airports reporting few delays.

The same could be said for passenger train service in the northeast. Amtrak resuming normal schedules early this morning. Our team is covering the storm.

That team includes our Susan Candiotti who is at Cape Cod for us this morning. But first let's touch base with our Reynolds Wolf who is in the Severe Weather Center. You know, I mean, nobody said it was going to be devastating. The potential was there, but we cover it like we have to cover it and thank goodness it was a dud. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes absolutely. We're going to go from dark to light and show you what's been happening over here. We've gone from the dark situation where this was a powerhouse T.J., this was the biggest storm on the planet. We're talking a Category 4. It was just a really huge sawblade spinning through the atmosphere right along the Outer Banks.

Now it has weakened it is only a tropical storm at this point and you see the winds there at 70 miles per hour, some gusts have been a bit stronger up to 85, but the big danger of this thing poses is really not the winds at this point but rather the strong waves that emanate from the center of circulation.

That massive amount of water that's going to be pushed towards the coastline is one of the things that can create rip currents up and down the sea -- the sea from -- the coastline from, say, all the way in Maine clear south to Florida.

So that's really going to be an issue for a lot of people -- not just today but possibly through the rest of the weekend.

Now as this storm continues to march it's way to the Northeast, it should continue that pattern. The latest path we have from the National Hurricane Center shows it moving right past the bay of Fundy, right past Nova Scotia with maximum sustained winds of 70 miles per hour.

But as it hopscotches over some of these land masses and then moves over some water that will be cold, we're expecting this thing just to continue to weaken and I would say by tomorrow perhaps even by earlier than that, this thing may die out all together.

So that is the good news. The bad news again, rip currents, that's going to be a huge issue for a lot of people up and down in the Eastern Seaboard. We're going to talk more about that, plus your holiday forecast and what you can expect. Let me just tell you it's going to look good, but there will still be some of those hidden dangers in the water.

Let's send it right back to you -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, we appreciate you, as always, buddy. Thanks so much.

And the storm not expected to cause a great deal of damage as it blows past the Canadian Maritime provinces. But it still packing high winds, heavy rains, rough surf, thousands of people are without power right now in Nova Scotia. Among the areas feeling the impact: Halifax, air travel has pretty much slowed to a standstill at the city's international airport.

Airport in Saint John New Brunswick also close for now ahead head of the storm, Camp Grounds and beaches across Nova Scotia closed. Resorts also reported cancellations.

But at the same time, on Cape Cod maybe Labor Day can be spared.

Our Susan Candiotti is there for us. Susan, they were hunkering down preparing for a storm. Now are they preparing for the holiday weekend?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh you better believe they are. In fact, the National Hurricane Center forecasters were right on the money. Tropical storm Earl skirted the coastline of Cape Cod, stayed away from Nantucket. Yes, there were some high winds and rain, up to -- what six inches, four inches on Nantucket Island.

And wind gusts here in Yarmouth, Massachusetts of 58 miles per hour, but look at it now, it's a beautiful day at the beach. Yes, it's windy, yes you have to watch out for those rip currents, but the governor has lifted the state of emergency here. Governor Deval Patrick, in fact, congratulating the citizens and the visitors here who took to heart his request for them to -- if they were able to stay inside their homes and not evacuate to shelters unless they were vulnerable, unless they really felt the need to do so.

And in fact that's what people did and so he said that helped clear the roads and keep them open in case emergency vehicles needed to use them.

But now of course you have the sunny weather as you said to try to salvage that Labor Day weekend. That's what this Sorollo (ph) family did. They're from north of Boston. This is Sam and Sam Jr. The thing about them T.J., is that they came right before the storm. They arrived at the hotel yesterday. How come you didn't wait until the storm was over?

SAM: We were just watching the weather forecast and it looks like it was going to miss this part of the Cape, so we decided to come on down. If we'd lost one Friday night, at least we had Saturday morning right when the sun came up.

So that's what we've been doing.

CANDIOTTI: Very good. And Sam Jr., what do you plan to do with the rest of the day?

SAM JR.: Have fun.

CANDIOTTI: I think you'll do that. Hey, what did you think of the wind and the rain last night?

SAM JR.: It was pretty cool.

CANDIOTTI: It was pretty cool. And thankfully it didn't do any damage. They looked -- they didn't even have to send damage assessment teams out throughout the state as they originally thought they would have to do. And so now it's just a matter of trying to recover what they can, hotel owners trying to get people back in here to -- to stay today, tomorrow and at least enjoy Labor Day -- what's left of it.

Back to you, T.J.

HOLMES: And it appears there's plenty still left after the storm got out of there. Susan Candiotti, we appreciate you as always.

And stay right here with CNN as we continue to cover what's left of this tropical storm. Live reports and of course our Reynolds Wolf and our team of meteorologists is keeping a eye on the storm and all things weather related for you on your holiday weekend.

Let's turn now to New Zealand. New Zealand's South Island, under a state of emergency right now following a powerful earthquake. It was a magnitude 7.0 quake. It hit before dawn. It was about 35 miles from Christchurch. A lot of damage there, this is the second most populated city in New Zealand; some injuries to report, but no deaths.

Earlier I talked to Melissa Stokes from our affiliate, TVNZ.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELISSA STOKES, TVNZ: Certainly some extremely close calls around the city. We've heard from people where they just managed to leap out of buildings and get under a doorway before a whole pile of brick (INAUDIBLE) out from the pillars.

So there were some extremely close calls in real clusters of the city, but you -- only I think two people with serious injuries in the hospital. So there are people around here that are just so surprised that this has happened.

HOLMES: Melissa, what are some of the immediate needs right now? Are a lot of people frankly out of their homes or out in the streets? I guess, what's the response now from the government?

STOKES: I think a lot of people will be at home. They've been told tonight that they need to check out the structural damage of their house and if they think that it -- that it has been damaged, they need to get into a welfare center where I understand around 200 people maybe gathering in those places at the moment.

The government has announced a state of emergency. The big problems are the water lines, they have boost in areas and they aren't able to get any water and the houses. People have been told that they can get water they need to boil it or to conserve the water.

So you can see a lot of the damage on the outside; about only 120 buildings so far have been confirmed as damaged. But that number is expected to rise considerably. And there's also the damage under the city with the sewage systems and the water lines.

So there will be a lot of work and a lot of clean up to come. But the weather which is due to turn tomorrow is a gale-force wind, really won't help the problem. It could push over already fragile buildings. And if any of the rainwater where they could get into the water lines and they could pull those things so things could be quite dicey there.

HOLMES: All right, last thing here Melissa, still dealing with aftershocks?

STOKES: The last aftershock was about 7:30, the city where I am at the moment is completely locked down so nobody's allowed in. I got dropped down outside the cordon, just about 300 meters away, got told by the police officer to walk down the middle of the road just in case there was another quake. It's a very eerie feeling to be here.

This is a Saturday night. The streets outside us would normally be heavy with traffic, from places that they are going out in places like this. But things are very quiet and as people have been warned, there could be aftershocks for some time yet, so there are still some very anxious people here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: New Zealand's Prime Minister headed to Christchurch to assess the damage for himself.

Well a story we're going to be bringing you here in a moment about a tiny new born that didn't seem to have a chance of surviving until something happened. The mother treated the baby in a way that doctors couldn't really. And it worked.

It's nine past the hour. Stay here.

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KATE OGG, MOTHER: Have you chosen a name for your son -- and we said his name was going to be Jamie and he turned around with him already wrapped up and said he'd lost him. I said Jamie didn't like it, we've lost him and I just -- my mouth fell open

DAVID OGG, FATHER: I was just devastated, it was probably the way to describe it. It was quite a shock for both of us.

K. OGG: It's the worst feeling that I've ever felt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Well, doctors in Australia say they are just dumbfounded right now, but still they're celebrating a medical abnormality; a newborn practically given up for dead until he touched his mother for the first time.

Adene Cassidy from our affiliate Seven Network in Sydney with the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATE OGG, MOTHER: I just call him a miracle all the time. And also -- they never heard of anything like that happening before.

DAVID OGG, FATHER: The other half of your mind is saying, you know, this is -- this possible. What if he survives through this? Miracles do happen.

ADENE CASSIDY, SEVEN NETWORK (voice-over): This is Jamie Ogg (ph), a tiny little boy born at just 27 weeks, weighing just one kilo; a little boy who has defied all medical odds, whose survival can only be described as miracle. He should be dead. In fact, the doctor who delivered him pronounced him dead.

K. OGG: Maybe he knew how much we wanted him for a long time.

CASSIDY (on camera): How lucky do you feel now that you have him?

K. OGG: Very lucky, very lucky, that we have both of them.

CASSIDY: The 25th of March this year was both the best and worst day of Kate and David Ogg's life, the day they eagerly awaited twins Jamie and his baby sister Emily were born.

K. OGG: We've been three days of labor, and then all of a sudden I was there and I was just waiting to be -- and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold them because they were so small.

DIANA OXLEY, KATE OGG'S MOTHER: And the joy that we all held when they told us it was a little boy. Oh, I wanted to turn cartwheels.

CASSIDY: But within minutes, the family's joy turned to sorrow when they learned Baby Jamie was struggling to breathe. For 20 minutes, a team of doctors tried desperately to resuscitate him, but Jamie just didn't respond.

K. OGG: He turned to look at me while his hands were still on the bed, and he said, have you chosen a name for your son. And we said his name is going to be Jamie, and he turned around, he was already wrapped up and he said he lost him. He said Jamie didn't make it. We've lost him. And I just -- my mouth fell open.

D. OGG: I was just devastated. That's probably the best way to describe it. It was quite a shock for both of us.

K. OGG: it was the worst feeling I've ever felt.

CASSIDY: Overwhelmed with grief, Kate and David were given Jamie for a cuddle; to hold and say good-bye to the son they believed was dead. It's normal practice, but what happened was far, far from normal.

K. OGG: I unwrapped him from his blanket and he was very limp. It feels like he's going to drop, his little arms and legs were falling down away from his body and I arranged him on my chest with his head over my heart.

CASSIDY: Although Jamie had no visible signs of life, he was occasionally gasping for air, a reflex the doctor had told the new parents to suspect. So with the support of a midwife and Kate's mother Diana Oxley (ph), the couple did everything they could to soothe Jamie in his last minutes.

K. OGG: And almost as soon as the last person left the room, he startled which was the first move when I folded his arms and legs. He started gasping normal, regularly; I'm like, oh, my God, what's going on. And then a short time later, he opened his eyes.

OXLEY: when I came back in, she said, mom, something's not right. He's still alive. And he put his little finger out and grabbed a hand.

CASSIDY (on camera): It's hard to imagine the sort of turmoil David and Kate must have been feeling. Were Jamie's actions real or were they just struggling to let go?

Unbelievably, this went on for two hours. They did call for their doctor twice. Both times he sent the midwife back telling them Jamie's actions were just natural reflexes. There was no possible way he could still be alive.

K. OGG: I remember looking at you at one stage and saying, what if he lives, and we were both giggling like kids. He might live; like we could be the luckiest people ever.

CASSIDY (voice-over): This video taken by a midwife clearly shows Jamie's movements, but, still, there were doubts. So in one last ditch attempt, Kate gave Baby Jamie some breast milk on her finger. To her amazement, he took it. The doctor returned.

K. OGG: He took him and laid him down on the bed and he told the nurse to get him a stethoscope and put it in and he listened and he just kept shaking his head and moving it around, "I don't believe it. I don't believe it."

OXLEY: I saw the look on Katie's face and it was -- you could not get the smile off her face. It was just incredible. She looked beautiful. She looked absolutely beautiful.

DR. JOHN DARCY, MEDICAL EXPERT: In this little person's body, this little person's capacity to survive those two hours was amazing. It was and could seem to be a miracle. We must wait now, though, and see what happens as the months pass.

CASSIDY: Studies have shown the incredible benefits of skin to skin contact or kangaroo care as it's known, even proving a simple cuddle may act as a natural painkiller. But medical expert, Dr. John Darcy, says most premature babies need immediate medical intervention, so this is a highly unusual case.

DARCY: Isn't it interesting that the body, the mother's warmth, the effort that she had up to that period of time was passing through to the child? That's pretty amazing. I can't explain it. But maybe it's part and parcel of how that child survived the two hours.

CASSIDY: It is hard to explain how this medical miracle happened and we did try to talk to the doctors involved, but they ignored our repeated attempts. Just the same way they ignored Kate and her pleas that little Jamie had come back to life.

D. OGG: Luckily, I have a very smart, very strong wife, who instinctively did what she did. If she hadn't done that, I believe that Jamie probably wouldn't be here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, let's give you now the official statement from the doctors in Sydney. I'm quoting here, "The staff at the Liverpool Hospital is very hasn't for the Ogg family. Premature babies are extremely vulnerable and it's not always known why some babies survive in difficult circumstances while others do not. It is important for parents to understand that while there are other cases such as this one, they are rare."

Well, all of us are trying to understand exactly what happened. And after the break, we'll talk to a specialist -- a neonatal specialist -- who shares his insights and possibly tries to help us understand this kangaroo care.

Nineteen minutes past the hour.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

K. Ogg: I remember looking at you once and going what if he lives? And we were both giggling like kids; like he might live, like we could be the luckiest people ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: We were just talking about a short time ago before the break a baby born prematurely in Australia who died and seemingly came back to life when he felt his mother's skin. That skin to skin contact between babies and mothers is called kangaroo care.

And earlier today, I spoke by phone with Dr. Edmund La Gamma, he specializes in neonatal medicine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Can you tell us, first of all, just what you know of this case? Is there a good chance the doctors just made a mistake, the child was never really dead, or is it possible the child was actually dead and came back to life, if you will?

DR. EDMUND LA GAMMA, PERINATOLOGIST & NEONATOLOGIST (via telephone): T.J., I think it's an interesting sort of dance on the semantics of the definition. Basically when one is pronounced dead, it's an absence of a heart rate and no response to stimulation. And in the immediate newborn period, the resilience of the human body is extraordinary and has a tremendous capacity to literally bounce back from the dead. In a sense, the heart will come back, in most cases just start beating again. HOLMES: Now, would that have happened, sir, without this so- called kangaroo care? This child would have just been set aside and placed somewhere on its own, was there less of a chance that the child and the heart rate and things you just names would have bounced back like that?

LA GAMMA: Well, you see, the 27th -- 28th week gestation, that's around -- 40 weeks is term, so it's 13 weeks premature. So that's quite a premature baby. But what really kangaroo care does is it provides warmth. One of the most important stimulus to breathe after birth is actually just having warmth and the second stimulus would be having handling.

So touching the child, holding the child, the gentle breathing of the mother's inhalation - exhalation -- moving of her chest -- would cause this baby to get stimulated, warmth, and the handling and drying would actually release ketacolamine, epinephrine (INAUDIBLE) and ephedrine too help start breathing clear the lungs and sustain life.

HOLMES: Well, sir, how much do we know? I mean you mentioned kangaroo care has been around. People know about it but how helpful can it be? I know this was extreme and a rare case, but how helpful can it be for a child who is struggling?

LA GAMMA: Well, actually it's something that has been recognized perhaps over the last 20 years where the energy requirements for the baby and the nutrient requirements and use of calories for growth have actually been improved by this method.

It has two basic achievements. One has to do as we say for the baby's ability to grow and the second is the bonding between that child and it mother. Historically babies born so premature would have been kept in incubators and not handled and not touched. With the introduction of kangaroo care, the holding, the bonding, the warmth of the mother's body or the father because it could be done by the father; the warmth of their body even if the child's on a ventilator can be adapted allow them to develop that relationship even when they're in intensive care on a ventilator.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: And again, the baby now is five months old and doing just fine.

We want to give you a look now at some of the stories that are making headlines.

Of course, Canada's Atlantic Provinces are now hunkering down for Tropical Storm Earl blew much of the New England coast earlier this morning with little fanfare, little damage. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently cancelled the state of emergency declaration. Tropical Storm Earl is expected to continue weakening as it treks closer to the Arctic Circle.

And in the South Pacific, New Zealand under a state of emergency after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake rattled the east coast of the nation's southern island earlier today. No deaths reported, but we're told two people are being treated for very serious injuries. Another 100 suffered what's described as bumps and bruises

Turning now to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where federal investigators have determined that last weekend's fire at a mosque construction site was arson. The builders have hired a private security firm to protect the site. Authorities say right now they don't have any suspects.

President Obama has vowed to reveal new plans to boost the economy, but a new poll shows Americans are becoming increasingly skeptical about his ability to do that.

That is after the break.

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HOLMES: OK. We'll take the name change, Tropical Storm Earl.

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Tropical Storm.

HOLMES: Are we done with it completely here in the U.S.?

WOLF: In the U.S., well, yes, in some ways. We still have the rip currents to deal with.

HOLMES: Got that problem.

WOLF: OK, we've got that problem. But in terms of what we would normally expect with a tropical system, yes, those symptoms are going to be gone for the most part. But then we've got, you know, some beautiful beach conditions other than the rough stuff in the water, but everything should be looking good.

HOLMES: Gorgeous now. It's gorgeous now.

WOLF: And across the Southeast things are going to be nice. The humidity is very low. It feels like college football weather. But we still have this storm to deal with. And we're going to hop over here and show you the latest. OK?

Let's hop over here, and you can just barely see this thing just really begin to fizzle out as it makes its way over Nova Scotia. This was a powerhouse, but now it's still bringing in some heavy rainfall to parts of Nova Scotia, right back to the Bay of Fundy. Eventually, it's going to be moving out.

Its wind speeds currently at 70 miles per hour, maximum sustained. Some stronger gusts though up to 85. But within the next several hours this storm will continue to weaken, and I would say by tomorrow morning, if not by tomorrow, say even sooner, this storm may die out, become a depression, and then off of history it will go.

We do have some video that was taken earlier that shows you what they've been dealing with. We had some video that shows some of the waves. You see the wind flapping around the flags, the Canadian flags here and there, some white caps out there on the water.

It was certainly very rough off the Carolina coast. Ocean City, Maryland, had some rough stuff just over the past day or so. But all of that coming to a halt.

Now the big problem is going to be, as we mentioned, the rip currents. Let's go right to the national maps.

As we do so, you can see the storm system lifting out, but you've got a great deal of those waves that are just going to be pounding on the Eastern Seaboard from Maine, southward to Florida. Conditions are going to be kind of strange in the water, where it's going to look great, but you're going to have the threat of those rip currents, where the water is pushed greatly towards the coast. And what happens when you have these tropical systems, it brings up a big wall of water.

The water, of course, has to recede back in the ocean. Sometimes it does so at a very quick pace, makes almost like a channel, so to speak, and that's where you get your rip currents.

But weather-wise, in terms of your sky conditions, it will be absolutely beautiful out there. No question about that.

The reason why is because this big area of high pressure which has a compressing effect on the atmosphere, it's almost like a dome, if you will. And the result is going to be really, well, beautiful. A lot of sunshine, very low humidity.

Not muggy at all until you get down to parts of south and central Florida where you have the stationary front. You've got some moisture coming in, the colliding sea breeze. That, with your daytime heating, might give you a fee stray showers and storms, perhaps some even in south Texas, but for the most part, things should just be picture perfect.

Now, temperatures, how are those going to be? Is it going to be stifling out there? No, not so much.

In fact, in Atlanta, high of 82 degrees can be expected. Boston, same deal, 82; 93 in Denver; 69 in San Francisco; 88 in Los Angeles; 109 in Phoenix; 90 in Dallas; Houston with 91; and Minneapolis into the upper 60s.

That's a quick snapshot of your forecast. We have so much more ahead.

T.J., let's kick it back over to you.

HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you, as always, buddy.

We're going to turn now to the economy.

President Obama plans to unveil new proposals to boost the economy next week. The midterm elections just two months away. The president is under increasing political pressure to speed up the economic recovery. The latest jobs report released yesterday shows businesses, that hiring picked up a bit in August, but a slightly higher unemployment rate, as well. 9.6 percent, up from 9.5 in July.

So, what impact will the jobless rate have on the elections?

Here now, CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, good morning, T.J.

It's arguably the most important number in politics right now. And the unemployment rate hovering just under 10 percent could spell trouble for the Democrats come November, when they tried to hold on to their majorities in Congress. Here's why.

The economy remains, hey, by far issue number one with American voters, and jobs remains the top economic issue. And it appears Americans don't think Barack Obama is doing all that great of a job on jobs.

Forty percent of people we questioned in our new CNN/Opinion Research Corporation national poll say they approve of how the president is handling the economy, but nearly six in 10 saying they disapprove. That 40 percent is a new low for Mr. Obama in our surveys.

And what about those crucial Independent voters? Two-thirds disapprove, with just 32 percent giving the president a thumbs up.

Mr. Obama is not on the ballot in the November midterm elections, so why should this matter? Well, here's why. The president and his party run the White House and Congress, so the buck stops with them. And the Republicans are trying to frame the midterms as a referendum on the job the president and the Democrats have done on jobs -- T.J.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: All right. Thirty-five past the hour.

I've been trying to figure this out for years, Klingons, Ewoks, Darth Vader just rolling around downtown Atlanta. Why have we been invaded here this Labor Day weekend? We'll explain coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. Let me give you a look at some of the stories that are making headlines right now.

A special U.N. envoy to Pakistan sending out an urgent plea for more aid for flood victims there. You see our Sanjay Gupta doing some reporting there for us. A billion dollars in relief has been donated, but the U.N. envoy insists that that's not nearly enough to care for hundreds of thousands of people in need. More than 1,700 people have died in the flooding and about a million more are suffering with flood-related illnesses.

Also, authorities say a fire at a construction site of a planned mosque in Tennessee was deliberately set. Lab results indicate accelerants were used to start and spread that fire. It destroyed an earthmover and three other vehicles, so some of the construction equipment. A $20,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest.

Also, NFL superstar quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, he was suspended for six games. Well, now it's going to be four. The quarterback was investigated earlier this year for allegations of sexual assault. He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing, he was never charged, but the NFL slapped him with a six-game suspension for what it called "detrimental conduct." The league reduced the suspension by two games yesterday, saying Roethlisberger is keeping his commitment to make better decisions.

I don't know if I have decided yet if I'm going to hang out in downtown Atlanta this weekend. You've got aliens, all kinds of weird things running around in downtown Atlanta.

Why? It's called the world's largest gathering of science fiction enthusiasts. It's attracting creatures from all corners of the galaxy.

Our executive producer --

SUZANNE KELLY, CNN EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: You called me a creature. I'm just warning you.

HOLMES: OK. But you didn't dress like a creature. You were over there the other day.

This is our producer, Suzanne Kelly, here.

But you're kind of into this stuff. Did you dress up when you went yesterday?

KELLY: You know, when I said to people at the network that I think we should cover this, this weekend, I really think we need a presence, that was -- all they wanted to know is, "Are you going to dress up? Are you crazy?" Right? "This a nerd convention, freaks."

HOLMES: Now, do they get offended -- this is Dragon Con we're talking about, if you don't know here.

But do they get offended by that or do they embrace it?

KELLY: You know what? I think some of them don't really care. It's such a great escape.

I mean, if you think for two seconds, you know, we've got flooding in Pakistan, we've got the end of combat operations in Iraq, we've got a war in Afghanistan. This is a chance where none of that matters for three days.

You don't care, you go into your fantasy world. The pictures -- I'm glad we found some we could actually show, because some of the costumes do get a little bit risque. But, yes, they get into it, they have a good time doing it.

Did you ever want to be a movie star?

HOLMES: Still do.

KELLY: You still do. OK. See? That's what these people are doing, they're living out their dreams for three days.

Now, how can that be bad?

HOLMES: But who are these folks? I mean, are these professional people? Are there people walking around this building in CNN right now I have no idea is dressed up?

KELLY: So funny. They're doctors, they're police officers, they're lawyers. I met a coroner the other day, which is a little crazy.

But, yes, they're people who have, you know, in a lot of cases 9:00 to 5:00 jobs, but they're looking for an escape. And a lot of people go to television dramas or sitcoms and now Sci-Fi for that chance to escape, and that's what these guys are doing.

Now, before you start to laugh and blow it off -- right?

HOLMES: I'm not doing that. I'm learning. You're educating me today.

KELLY: I know what you're saying. I know.

All right. So, one actress alone who started her own webisode -- her name is Felicia Day -- not the most stunningly beautiful, according to her agent. I didn't say that. I think she's very pretty.

But was having a hard time getting herself cast in Hollywood. So she just started doing her own webisode, her own little science fiction world. And 1.7 million people follow her on Twitter -- 1.7 million. So I think at some point you have to turn away from the fact that these are all nerds, let's forget about them, and say, hey, they might be on to something there.

HOLMES: So what is the draw? OK, the event is one thing, but what kind of just gets people into this world, those Trekkies? What is it about science fiction that just gets people going?

KELLY: You know, that's such a great question. It's just the world of escape.

Like I say, it's the world of escape. It's the chance that you don't have to worry about the mortgage this weekend and how much milk has gone up, and whether or not the kids have what they need. You just forget about all of that.

And the kids, there are a lot of kids out there, too. I don't know that this is the most appropriate for kids underage, but --

HOLMES: Because it can be a little risque, like you said.

KELLY: It can be. It can be. But the kids come with their parents.

They were trekking into the hotel. We were over there the other day, and a 10-year-old girl, and I thought, OK, that's different.

HOLMES: What do they do exactly? Is it just a big party, are you going to panels? What are you doing over there?

KELLY: It's a big party. You go to panels.

It all depends on how much you want to get into it. I just like it sit in the lobby and people-watch. It's so much fun.

There are people who go to panel discussions, they meet up with their favorite -- I had dinner with Lou Ferrigno the other night and Gil Gerard, who plays "Buck Rogers." You can either go and get their autographs, or you can just kind of mingle. You know, this is very fan-friendly.

HOLMES: How did you get to that dinner? How did you hook that up?

KELLY: We'll have to have that off line.

HOLMES: Oh, wow.

KELLY: And you just start talking to people.

HOLMES: OK. Before I let you go, what did you dress up as, or what will you dress up as?

KELLY: I didn't dress up as.

HOLMES: Oh, you know, you shouldn't believe her.

KELLY: Other people are going to have to, like, throw suggestions, because I'm a little shy about it. I'm still a closet Con person. I enjoy watching, but I'm just not brave enough.

HOLMES: All right. Suzanne, I'm glad you're here. And again, I'm learning. You guys are educating me more and more every year.

KELLY: I'm going to get you over there.

HOLMES: Dragon Con. I want to go just to check it out. If you ever get me in an outfit, you have done something serious.

KELLY: All right. You've thrown it down.

HOLMES: I'll turn to something I'm a little more familiar with now, a record-breaking event in Iowa. Look at this.

See, that's more my speed, the Hokey Pokey. This a Hokey Pokey of historic proportions though.

We'll explain coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC)

HOLMES: Yes, that's what it's all about. And a whole lot more for these folks, though. They take this pretty seriously.

These 7,300 folks in Iowa, they broke the world record yesterday for the largest Hokey Pokey dance. Who knew there was a record to be broken in the first place?

Guinness officials -- yes, those folks at Guinness -- they were on hand to make this official. The dance was held at the annual FRY Fest. That's a celebration that kicks off the Hawkeye football season named after the former Iowa coach.

Fry, who is 81 years old now, sat out the Hokey Pokey, saying he could get his left foot in, but struggled to get the left foot out.

(LAUGHTER)

Fredricka is here with both feet in.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Oh, everybody loves the Hokey Pokey. It's so fun.

HOLMES: Do people still do it? They do it at games or something, don't they, like sporting events?

WHITFIELD: I haven't done it in a while, but I'm sure somewhere it is still being done.

HOLMES: Well, hey, good to see you.

WHITFIELD: Especially classrooms.

HOLMES: Yes, kids still do it.

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Well, good to see you again.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you too.

HOLMES: It's been a while. It seems like we don't work together enough frequently enough.

WHITFIELD: I know. We've all been all over the place.

HOLMES: All over the place, but the summer is wrapping up now.

WHITFIELD: It is. I know, it's kind of sad. I'm wearing the white. You know, bye-bye summer.

HOLMES: Last chance.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

HOLMES: Is that right?

WHITFIELD: I think that's the way it goes.

HOLMES: You made a conscious decision about that.

WHITFIELD: I don't know if that is still kind of, you know, adhered to, but I heard it again recently, and I thought, oh, darn, is that still going? So I wore the white today. Bye-bye summer.

HOLMES: You poor women, because if you wear it again after --

WHITFIELD: So many rules.

HOLMES: -- they will jump all over you.

WHITFIELD: I know.

HOLMES: "Can you believe Fredricka wore that?"

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: I know.

HOLMES: You poor thing. All right.

WHITFIELD: Too many rules. It's not fair.

We're going to try to break some of the rules today beginning in the noon Eastern hour.

We've got our legal guys who are going to be with us. And did you know that there is a so-called "kill list?" Well, that's the allegation of one father who says the CIA has a kill list. His son was on it, and now he is launching a federal lawsuit.

And then on Facebook, there's a class action suit that are legal guys are going to delve into. And this involves the privacy that is either protected or perhaps not by Facebook, especially as it pertains to young kids. So our legal guys are going to delve into that.

And then, of course, you were just recently in Las Vegas.

HOLMES: Maybe.

WHITFIELD: That's right. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. HOLMES: Maybe.

WHITFIELD: Well, it wasn't the case for poor Paris Hilton, right?

HOLMES: Yes.

WHITFIELD: She got herself into a little trouble. I was just going to ask if maybe you were in the crowd there, a witness, too?

HOLMES: I was not partying with her that night, no.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, our legal guys are going to talk about what is next for her, what kind of charges and potential sentence is she facing. Is there such a thing as being banned from Vegas? What will happen as it pertains to Paris Hilton? How does she find herself in the spotlight all the time?

HOLMES: It will be a good thing for a lot of us.

WHITFIELD: And what is she famous for anyway, by the way? Can we remember?

HOLMES: Yes. Her last name is Hilton.

WHITFIELD: I know. She's an heiress.

HOLMES: She did a great line of films.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: I don't know.

WHITFIELD: OK. Oh, yes, and then there is that, too.

HOLMES: Yes.

WHITFIELD: And then, of course, at noon Eastern hour, one of our favorite guests. This is her good-bye year, 20 years as the artistic director of Alvin Ailey. Judith Jamison will be joining us, this time to talk about an incredible honor coming her way Tuesday.

Michelle Obama has invited her to the White House, where her works will be honored. Along with Judith Jamison being there, there are a number of other performing artists who will be there as well.

And Martina Navratilova, we've got a special later on today. I got a chance to talk with her about her battle with breast cancer. And along the way during this battle, still playing tennis, triathlon.

HOLMES: Wow.

WHITFIELD: She is extraordinary.

HOLMES: I used to love watching her play.

WHITFIELD: She is just nonstop. She talks about that road, that long road against breast cancer and how she is continuing to kind of pump up awareness.

HOLMES: I didn't know she was still in action, but she's still doing it, huh?

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. She's a doubles champion.

HOLMES: Oh wow. OK.

WHITFIELD: Yes, girlfriend is rocking.

HOLMES: Fredricka --

WHITFIELD: She's amazing.

HOLMES: -- this girlfriend is going to be rocking here in just a few minutes.

WHITFIELD: And she's 53 and still kicking on the court.

HOLMES: All right.

WHITFIELD: And everywhere else. Kilamanjaro, that's also in her future. Can you believe it?

All that, yes, throughout the day. Just tune in, OK? Won't you?

(CROSSTALK)

HOLMES: Fredricka is your way in eight minutes. She'll be right here.

WHITFIELD: OK.

HOLMES: But coming up, got a secret to share with you. And the secret is getting out about Oberlin College. You can go for free. We're talking about $180,000 education.

One little catch though. You need to live in town. We'll explain.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, paying for college of course can be extremely difficult. But in this economy it seems like it's almost impossible.

I want to tell you about a college that's helping students get a first-class education for free.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES (voice-over): At a time when economic hardship is taking a toll on families everywhere, putting money aside for college almost seems like an American dream itself.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nigel McMillion, congratulations.

(APPLAUSE)

HOLMES: Universities and colleges are also feeling the financial strain. Many schools are raising tuition and cutting back on scholarships and school programs to trim costs. But that's not the case with Oberlin College, a liberal arts school in Oberlin, Ohio, just outside of Cleveland.

In the past academic year Oberlin has awarded more than $48 million in scholarships which comes from endowments, gifts and other sources.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't have to wait to see the great things that will come out of this class. In truth, we are already doing big things.

HOLMES: In 2001, Oberlin College developed a special scholarship just for students at the local high school. So any Oberlin High School graduating senior who is accepted gets to go for free.

(on camera): Tell me, how much money are you saving by going to school right here in your hometown?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With federal financial aid, it comes out to about $45,000 a year. So, yes.

HOLMES: That's what you are saving?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-huh.

HOLMES: So over four years, do the math.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's $180,000.

HOLMES: That's $180,000 --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

HOLMES: -- that you will not have to deal with when you graduate.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

HOLMES (voice-over): For some families, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity means their children receive a college education that they otherwise couldn't afford, especially for families like the Gilfethers, who have two sons attending Oberlin College.

CASEY GILFETHER, SONS ATTEND OBERLIN COLLEGE: I've been a successful homebuilder, developer, and the homebuilding crisis devastated my business and I went bankrupt. So it couldn't have come at a better time for our family. When you see it all slip away and you don't know if it could ever happen, and then it's made possible, it's a gift.

SUZANNE MILLETTE-GEORGE, MELISSA'S MOTHER: It's huge. She couldn't get that anywhere else. So we're grateful for the scholarship. At least I am.

MELISSA GEORGE, STUDENT: Me, too, because I'm pretty sure I would have had to pay a lot of loans.

HOLMES: During the past academic year, Oberlin College has awarded more than $3 million to qualifying Oberlin High School students. Recipients of the scholarship say it's a life-changing opportunity.

KEVIN GILFETHER, OBERLIN COLLEGE STUDENT: The financial component isn't necessarily there. My parents don't make a tremendous amount of money and things like that. I feel like for me, this is an opportunity that I have to take and I have to do well with, because I don't have a mulligan, I can't do it over.

HOLMES: With a great free opportunity right in their own back yard, why are some Oberlin High School students opting to pay for college elsewhere?

NIGEL MCMILLION, STUDENT: You know that it's going to be difficult, you know that you're not going to be far away from home. And I would say, yes, that's true, but you're going to be maybe $100,000 in debt at the end of this and I'll only have whatever room and board costs there were.

DEBRA CHERMONTE, OBERLIN COLLEGE DEAN OF ADMISSIONS: I think like any student, the concern of coming to college in your neighborhood is the familiarity. And you may think that there's something better out there.

HOLMES: Oberlin College hopes to continue finding ways for students and families to attain the American dream of a college education without the financial burden.

MARVIN KRISLOV, PRESIDENT, OBERLIN COLLEGE: Tremendous effect in terms of helping improve the schools, in terms of sending a message to the kids, it's important to go in school, stay in school, and if you excel, you have this opportunity to a free ride to one of the best colleges in America.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, Oberlin, yes, rich in resources, but rich in history there as well. The city and the school have ties dating back to the underground railroad. And it's the first college to have a policy to admit students of color and the first to grant bachelors' degrees to women.

About 2,900 students attend Oberlin College. And just last month "U.S. News & World Report" listed the school as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country. And Fredricka, it is great to hear you go to school, high school, you graduate, you can go free to this college. But it's tough to get into.

WHITFIELD: Yes.