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Pakistani Group Helps Flood Victims; San Bruno Fire Victims Visit Homes; Hurricane Igor Strengthens; Iran to Release Hiker for Bail; Tea Party Activists Rally; Viral Video Rewind; Three-Way Florida Senate Race Big One to Watch in Midterm Elections; Modern-Day Slavery Alive in the US

Aired September 12, 2010 - 17:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Going back home. A short time ago, the first residents of a badly-damaged neighborhood in San Bruno, California, were actually allowed to return to their homes. The neighborhood was devastated by a natural gas explosion and fire. Thirty-seven homes were destroyed.

CNN's Ted Rowlands is live in San Bruno today. So give us an idea of what these residents were able to see.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, we're talking about the people that were just outside that perimeter of the blast zone. The homes that were completely demolished, that's still a crime scene and investigators are still literally sifting through the dirt there, looking for any potential evidence or potential human remains.

But it's those people that live in the surrounding homes, the ones that are still standing, that have been out of their homes since this Thursday explosion -- they were allowed back today within the last just hour-and-a-half. They've been going back into their homes, and what they're seeing is, yes, their home is intact, but they're seeing their neighborhood completely destroyed. It's a pretty emotional scene, as you can imagine, up there on the hill.

Meanwhile, the questions continue as to how this happened, and the investigation is moving too slowly for a lot of people here. Politicians have urged the investigators to pick up the pace, or at least deliver information. One thing that has surfaced is a history to this pipeline, this area that did explode. PG&E, the gas company, had identified this line years ago as being potentially dangerous. And when they were petitioning to replace it, they said it was a threat. Now, that was -- the threat wasn't that it would explode, the threat was that it might leak and needed repair.

We talked to some folks from a consumer advocacy group here in the Bay area. They said that the fact that this was already a piece of pipe that had been looked at by PG&E as potentially dangerous should have gone into the thinking when there were these reports that people smelled gas. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK TONEY, EXEC. DIR., THE UTILITY REFORM NETWORK: The company should take a look at their maps and say, Oh, this is old. We've identified it as high risk, and pay extra attention.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROWLANDS: And the idea that this area was high risk, a lot of people think, you know, the alarms should have gone off, if, indeed, these residents did smell gas in the days preceding this explosion. Of course, it's all armchair quarterbacking, Monday morning quarterbacking, to some extent, and people really do want to wait to see what this investigation yields.

But Fredricka, as you can imagine, the people going back into their homes today -- it's pretty emotional scene up there on the hill. And for those that are out of their homes still, it may be a long time before they'll be able to go get a least a look at what is left.

WHITFIELD: And so, Ted, do we have a number? Do we have an idea of how many people, approximately, have kind of showed up today to go check out their homes that weren't, you know, gutted by this fire?

ROWLANDS: They're doing it in a piecemeal fashion. So basically, they're allowing it by street and the residents from each street are being informed to come at a certain time. So we're only a few hours into the process, so there are a few dozen people that have been allowed in so far. And in the coming hours throughout the day today, all of the residents that have been deemed to be in this area that's safe will be allowed in. But it's sort of the beginning of what will be a day-long process.

WHITFIELD: OK. And behind you, the American Red Cross very busy there. Oftentimes, devastating scenes like this, they're handing out food or beverages. Is there another kind of service that they're offering?

ROWLANDS: Yes. Well, they're taking donations in, not only cash donations, but people are bringing clothes, et cetera, for those affected. The families that have lost their homes are being taken care of quite well. PG&E has offered them assistance for living and the Red Cross has been here from the very beginning, helping to shepherd the community support, which is, as it always is in these cases, it seems, overwhelming. People that have seen this have come out and donated. So the people are being taken care of in the short term here.

WHITFIELD: Ted Rowlands, thanks so much, from San Bruno.

Well, another fire causing more worries in Colorado. Evacuations are being ordered because of a fast-moving wildfire north of Boulder. That's where firefighters have been working to contain a massive blaze for almost a week now. Fire officials there tell CNN that as many as 100 homes could be threatened in Loveland. One structure has already been damaged.

And then just south of Boulder, firefighters there are hoping to have a destructive wildfire under control in the next few days. The four-mile Canyon Fire ripped through several subdivisions. At least 160 homes have been destroyed. The fire started on Monday, and evacuees still have not been allowed back in that area.

And then there's a big concern out in the Atlantic. Jacqui Jeras is here to give us an idea of how nervous we ought to be about Igor.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, a little bit. You know, any time you see a major hurricane out over open water, you're going to be concerned about it, and this is a really strong one that intensified very rapidly today. Igor has been a hurricane for a while, but now it's a major hurricane. And we're talking category 4 status. It just got even stronger winds with the latest update, which just came in at the top of the hour. So we're now at 140-mile-per- hour winds.

It's moving westward, and there you can see how just symmetrical the storm is, just how big and well-defined that eye is. It's 20 nautical miles across. And it's heading to the west. So it's headed towards the Leeward and Windward Islands. But right now, our best thinking is it's going to start to curve to the north.

And before I show you the track for that one, I just also want to mention, way over here, over towards the Cape Verde Islands, we have tropical depression number 12, which is very close to tropical storm strength already, and we may see this be our next named storm. Julia is the next name on the list. So we'll also be keeping an eye on that one.

All right, where is Igor headed? Let's look at the official forecast track from the National Hurricane Center, that westerly movement, as I mentioned, and then expected to kind of curve on up towards the north and the west. A little bit of a weakness in our subtropical ridge, as we call it, will start to drive this a little further north, and it's expected to stay to the north of the islands there in the northern Caribbean. So that's some good news.

But keep in mind, it's a pretty big storm. And we're talking about Category 4 status. We could still have some wind and wave impacts here, as well as maybe some showers and thundershowers. So we'll continue to monitor that and keep you up to date.

Now, let's take a look at what else is going on in the Atlantic. This is number three. And I'm not even going to show you number four because I don't think it's going to develop into anything, but just to let you know how busy things are, you know, in the peak of hurricane season.

So here's the Caribbean Sea. Here's an area of just thunderstorm activity. It's clusters of showers and thundershowers. And yes, they've been getting it here across the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well as Puerto Rico, and getting some pretty good downpours. In fact, they could see a couple of inches of rainfall with these. Now, there is a pretty high potential here that this is going to get a little bit more organized and become a tropical depression. That could happen in the next day or two.

Now, do we need to be worried about that in the U.S.? Let's show you what the computer models have been doing. They're moving this system westward. Now, there's a pretty good consensus that they're all moving this way. But when we start to see little ziggy-zags like that, it makes you a little bit more concerned about it. So we just want to say heads up to people for the Gulf of Mexico, though, right now, the best feeling is it stay on this westerly track. So a lot of things going out there...

WHITFIELD: Lots.

JERAS: ... nothing too get too worked up about at this point, Fredricka, but of course, we'll continue to watch it all for you in the week ahead.

WHITFIELD: Just to be aware. Thanks, Jacqui.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: All right, Iran is now telling the family of a jailed American hiker that she can go free, but it will cost them half a million dollars in bail. Our Susan Candiotti is following all the developments for us. So Susan, are the families, including Sarah's mother, saying anything tonight?

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, Fred, not a word. Tonight, the families are keeping their thoughts to themselves as they watch the developments very closely. So the big question is, is this bail offer the real deal? And can it be worked out?

Well, here's what we know. Iran's judiciary today said that a half million dollar bail for Sarah Shourd was set. At the same time, we learned that the hikers' lawyer finally got in to see them for the first time since he was hired by the families last year. That lawyer confirmed the bail demand and said the three are doing well.

But since the U.S. has no diplomatic ties to Iran, the Swiss ambassador is acting as an intermediary. She tells CNN that technicalities are being reviewed. And the State Department is also monitoring the situation. All along, they and the White House have said that all three hikers should be freed. But exactly where the money would come from is unclear, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Now, what about the other Americans, Shane Bauer, Josh Fattal?

CANDIOTTI: Well, things could be getting more grim for them. Today Iran's prosecutor said a judge has just indicted Bauer and Fattal on spying charges after completing an investigation. Now, Iran's news agency says they found unspecified documents and equipment that they claim indicates that the group had special training, but there was no further explanation. Now, as you know, the family has flatly denied the hikers are spies and said they might have crossed the border by accident.

WHITFIELD: OK, so you know, if there are sanctions against Iran and there is this $500,000 figure being dangled, what -- what can this family do? What kind of options do they have? CANDIOTTI: Well, you know, if the bail is paid, well, there could be a waiver, in all likelihood. And it could also be done with intermediaries somehow. Sarah's mother has said that her -- you know, she -- the families are very worried, Fred, obviously, and in particular, Sarah's mother because she said her daughter found a lump in one of her breasts and that her daughter also has other issues, including depression.

The only bright note here is that she got engaged to fellow hiker Shane Bauer. And here's what her mother said about that last May.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NORA SHOURD, MOTHER: They've been in love for a long time now. Shane made a little ring for Sarah out of, I guess, his shirt. He unraveled string and thread and wove it and made a little ring for her. And of course, they asked us both if it was OK. So we said absolutely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: So one bright spot, but certainly a bittersweet moment. And this has really been tough on all of the families as they watch to see what's going to happen next. Clearly, you hate to say this time and again, but it is an emotional roller-coaster.

WHITFIELD: All right. Susan Candiotti in New York, appreciate that.

All right, it still may be September, but the tea party smells November in the air.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tea party activists have been rallying in Washington and other big cities today, hoping to gain momentum ahead of the fall elections. And Shannon Travis is at what was once the place of the Washington rally. Shannon, so everyone has cleared out, it's almost over, but a lot of the tea party members feel pretty fired up about what took place. What are some issues that they are pushing?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Yes, I mean, as you can see behind me, the crowd is disbursing. But let's go through some of those issues. Tea party activists pretty much feel that elected leaders or elected officials are not adhering to the Constitution. They feel that the country has run amok in terms of government spending. They also want to see less taxes.

They're also pretty critical of a lot of entitlement programs, but I'll tell you this much, Fred. A lot of tea party critics, a lot of people that criticize the movement, say that tea party activists are hypocrites. They say that a lot of activists freely take advantage of Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, huge entitlement programs. And if you want to adhere to the Constitution or if you want to do away with or receive (SIC) some of those entitlement programs, then you should not take advantage of them. So tea party activists say that they want -- that they stress fiscal responsibility, lower taxes and less spending. But their critics say, Hey, you're hypocrites because you're taking advantage of some of the biggest government spending programs out there.

WHITFIELD: So what's been the response from some of those tea party advocates on that criticism, that they might be taking advantage of programs that at the same time they're saying they want to do away with?

TRAVIS: Well, and a lot of the tea party activists that I speak with as I've been traveling with them, a lot of them say, Hey, some things are necessary. Others say, Hey, yes, we shouldn't do -- we should do away with federal -- some of those federal programs in favor of perhaps having some of the states actually take over some of those programs. So there's a mixed reaction. There isn't really a monolithic response to that question. But it's a fair criticism from some of their critics.

WHITFIELD: So most of the issues that the tea party wants to attach itself to are economic issues, less so social issues or social debates.

TRAVIS: That's a really good point and a really important point. All of -- virtually all of the tea party activists that I speak with say, We do not want to touch social issues -- gay marriage, abortion. They feel that that would just put a huge rift, a huge split right down the middle of the movement. You have a lot of conservatives who I personally have spoke with who are for gay marriage, maybe even for abortion rights, some others who are not. So they don't want to touch social issues at all. They feel that they want to keep it on economic issues.

Another important point that in some of my interviews -- you've seen in the past, in past political uprisings or protests, as we say now with the tea party movement, a lot of social conservatives come out and protest things, again, like gay marriage or abortion. But you rarely see it with economic conservative, and that's what you're seeing right now. So that's a point of difference with these protests from other protests in the past from conservative activists.

WHITFIELD: So Shannon, you have reported on so many tea party gatherings, rallies, et cetera. How was this one different or similar to what you've seen in the past? Any change in tone?

TRAVIS: Not a change in tone, definitely a very anti-Democratic message, very much -- very little love for President Obama. But I'll tell you, the crowd seemed to be a little bit smaller than I've seen at some of these Washington rallies in the past. That could be because Glenn Beck, a popular cable TV show host, held a huge rally here on ML -- on Martin Luther King, Jr.'s, anniversary of his "I have a dream" speech right here in Washington. That was pretty huge. So it could be that some of those very same people that attended that might have wanted to attend this, but because it was so -- so close. So the crowd was a little smaller.

WHITFIELD: All right, Shannon Travis, thanks so much, with CNN's political team, joining us from Washington. Appreciate that.

And in just a few minutes, we'll take a look at the big Florida race that will be a major test for the tea party movement's power. Also coming up next, "Viral Video Rewind." We love when Josh comes along with some hot video.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we've got some hot for you today. Imagine that you're walking along the street and there's a money tree.

WHITFIELD: People go crazy.

LEVS: An actual money tree right there. Real money. I'm going to show you what happened. Plus, I got a teenager's ode to someone that you've probably never heard an ode to. And Fred, of course, your ultimate relaxation video of the week...

WHITFIELD: Ommmm!

LEVS: It's all next...

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A look now at our top stories. The U.S. special envoy on North Korea is now in South Korea to discuss the resumption of talks on the North's nuclear program. Stephen Bosworth (ph) arrived in Seoul today. The American delegation will also have talks in Tokyo and Beijing.

American Sarah Shourd is expected to be released by Iran once her family comes up with a half million dollars in bail money. A lawyer representing Shourd says her release could come as early as today. Shourd and two other American hikers accused of spying have been detained in Iran for more than a year. Iran says they crossed the border from Iraq illegally.

And voters in Turkey have approved a wide-ranging package of constitutional amendments. Included in the 26 amendments, collective bargaining for public workers, affirmative action measures for women and judicial reforms. Turkey's prime minister calls the passage a milestone for democracy.

All right, I know earlier, we got you moving, at least Josh did, with those, you know, moves that dudes need to make. Well, now we got some catchy tunes and a sneaky cat creep into this week's viral videos.

LEVS: Oh, man!

WHITFIELD: I still can't get over the whole...

LEVS: The robots we were watching before? WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: Yes, no, they're crazy. So now, everyone is always trying to become famous on YouTube. But once in a while, someone comes along with a song that is so clever and so different that it actually works.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: All right. It's time for me to introduce you to (INAUDIBLE) a little piece of my idol -- the young man who loves chicken.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I (INAUDIBLE) chicken so much I decided to write a song about it, so listen. I bust the windows out your car. I thought I saw (ph) myself a church's (ph) box (ph). I smelled that chicken from afar...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) I've been e-mailing (INAUDIBLE) bust your windows...

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) performer.

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) performer. This song...

WHITFIELD: The guy's got (INAUDIBLE)

LEVS: He now has a FaceBook page. People are all over (ph). He's had millions of hits (INAUDIBLE) I want you to hear another little piece of it. (INAUDIBLE) listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess it's not sweet aroma I'm (INAUDIBLE) check out (INAUDIBLE) Love my chicken. Cluck, cluck, Cluck. You touch my chicken, I beat you up. Going to fry my chicken. You got to go.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) amazing!

WHITFIELD: Oh, no!

LEVS: So he's now -- no one knows what his real name is.

WHITFIELD: He's a comedian!

LEVS: He's hilarious! He is now the kid who loves chicken, or chicken guy (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: Wait a minute. OK, the guy skipping in the back -- that was a little funny, too. (CROSSTALK)

LEVS: He's making up a dance to go with this. He does a little clucking action at the end. I think he's my new favorite (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE)

LEVS: All right, so this is hot now.

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: ... incredibly impressive? You're an athlete, you're going to like this next one.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE)

LEVS: The best and hottest theme song for an NCAA women's volleyball team ever. Take a look.

WHITFIELD: OK.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) always be spiking (INAUDIBLE) and you know that you're in trouble (INAUDIBLE) but this is how we always do. Welcome to the volley (INAUDIBLE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) volleyball...

WHITFIELD: All right!

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: ... rapping! And they're good.

WHITFIELD: Wow! Oh, my goodness! And they're getting down there!

LEVS: And just like always (INAUDIBLE) you'll see. I post all the links for you FaceBook. You've got to hear this. (INAUDIBLE) are really impressive. (INAUDIBLE) actual games. They actually rap about each player on the whole team.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

LEVS: Make them all feel good.

WHITFIELD: A little campus celebrity.

LEVS: I think this thing might go viral enough, people are going to know...

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: That's fun!

LEVS: I know. It's awesome.

WHITFIELD: Oh, going to college is fun.

LEVS: Yes. I know. I miss those days.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: We both do. Moving on (INAUDIBLE) nostalgia...

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: So I showed you before the break the money tree.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: All right, let me show you...

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: ... the set-up for it.

WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE) clamoring, going crazy.

LEVS: They're clamoring, except...

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: ... which is what's also surprising. Here, take a look at this. This is...

(CROSSTALK)

LEVS: We have the set-up video for you here. This is from Amy Cross Rosenthal (ph), who runs a Web site called Whoisamy.com. She's an author. She makes some videos. We're hearing "Sweet Disposition" by the Tender Trap (ph) in the background here. And she created an actual money tree, like -- she says she checked, and it's legal -- put dollar bills on this tree with some notes that are supposed to, like, help inspire you. And she was curious what would happen. Would people stop? Would they pick it up? And you know what? For a long time, people just walked right by it. They even brushed this against their heads, and they don't even take anything. They don't even notice it.

(INAUDIBLE) skip the next section of the video. I'm bringing you to the part where people kind of finally start to notice it. But it's all done high-speed like this. And you see all these people kind of walk by.

WHITFIELD: Interesting. I saw a note on one of them that said, Don't ask, just take, or just enjoy, that's what it was, Don't ask, just enough.

LEVS: Well, what would you do if you saw that? WHITFIELD: Oh, I'm pretty sure I would not grab because I would be skeptical. I'm skeptical of everything.

LEVS: I'd be, like...

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: ... what's the trick?

LEVS: Like, someone's watching, or there's some sort of, like...

WHITFIELD: Yes, you're going to pull...

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: You're going to pull the dollar and some, like, hand comes out of nowhere and slaps you or something?

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: No, I wouldn't trust it. No. I would be standing back looking, OK, interesting, and watch others, but not doing it.

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) you know, because you think, like (INAUDIBLE) cool money grew on trees, and (INAUDIBLE) actually really wouldn't.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

LEVS: And we're hearing (INAUDIBLE) "Mango Tree" by Angus (ph) and (INAUDIBLE)

LEVS: All right.

WHITFIELD: Oh!

LEVS: Now (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: I wonder how much of that 100 bucks was snatched.

LEVS: I think, in the end, after a while, not all of it because at the end of the video, it's not all been taken. And all these people are watching the video now.

WHITFIELD: Yes, they're skeptical, too.

LEVS: OK, time to meet "sneaky cat." Take a look at...

WHITFIELD: Sneaky cat?

LEVS: ... sneaky cat, which is here for you. And basically, you're just looking at the shot of the bathroom. And you're, like, what's the deal? It's like, after, like, 25 seconds, and then watch...

WHITFIELD: Look at the kitty (INAUDIBLE) Oh! Oh! LEVS: He just comes up incredibly slowly and really slowly goes back down. That's all that happens in the whole -- we talked about this. Animals don't have to do much to go viral.

WHITFIELD: No.

LEVS: Millions of people watched this.

WHITFIELD: They're just cute.

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) that's the whole video.

WHITFIELD: Oh!

LEVS: Millions of people.

WHITFIELD: Sneaky cat. That's cute.

LEVS: So you've had your adorable. And now you're ready for your relaxation?

WHITFIELD: Yes, I'm ready.

LEVS: Getting into the mode?

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: All right.

WHITFIELD: OK, here comes the voice (ph).

LEVS: There (INAUDIBLE)

WHITFIELD: There we go. Josh it down.

WHITFIELD: Yes. I go back to my NPR days (INAUDIBLE)

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: I like it!

LEVS: This is a YouTube channel called "super giant bubble."

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: Take a look here.

WHITFIELD: I like bubbles. Oh, let's float away.

LEVS: (INAUDIBLE) YouTube channel.

WHITFIELD: Oh, my son...

LEVS: ... that goes by that name.

WHITFIELD: ... would go crazy over that. He loves bubbles. LEVS: He would! So would mine!

WHITFIELD: Yes. What is it about bubbles? It fascinates me all the time when I see how fascinated he is with bubbles.

LEVS: I know. Kids can play with bubbles for hours.

WHITFIELD: Yes, forever.

LEVS: But have you seen them that big?

WHITFIELD: Huge.

LEVS: I would want to go chasing that thing.

WHITFIELD: Yes, me, too. I want to jump in that bubble.

LEVS: These are made at Nye Beach is in Newport, Oregon, the music by Lanterna. See, every week you can go to Viral Video Rewind, we bring Fred a nice, easy one.

WHITFIELD: Ah, a little moment to relax. It's all right.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: It's all going to be OK.

LEVS: Our producers are saying, "And it's time to wrap."

WHITFIELD: Oh, is that what he said.

LEVS: As always.

WHITFIELD: A wrap.

LEVS: A wrap.

WHITFIELD: OK.

LEVS: As always, the videos --

WHITFIELD: Ah, like.

LEVS: Are all posted at my Facebook page. Let's show everyone that. Facebook.com/joshlevscnn. It's at Facebook because that makes it easiest to give you lots of links at once, and because you can then send me on Facebook or Twitter your favorite virals, which we will have in the future.

WHITFIELD: Nice, I like that. That was a nice way to end it.

LEVS: Yes, it was.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Now I'm feeling good. LEVS: But if you want a pick-me-up, I'll give you the chicken guy's video again.

WHITFIELD: Oh, yes. Now, that was very comical, and very funny.

LEVS: I liked it. Love that chicken.

WHITFIELD: Yes, that was the comic relief in all of us.

LEVS: In my file.

WHITFIELD: OK, very good.

From that very soothing bubble to now the political bubble. Big Tea Party rallies taking place today, trying to build momentum for their candidates come November. We'll take a look at one of the biggest races of al down in Florida. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: A bit more politics now. Tea Party activists rallied at the US capital today, and speakers included former congressman Dick Armey, who argued that big government is the only power on Earth that's big enough to wreck America. Today's theme was Remember in November, a reference to the upcoming midterm elections.

One of the big races to watch come November is the US Senate race in Florida. Can Tea Party favorite Marco Rubio win in the ultimate swing state? Here's CNN's Jim Acosta

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: My friends, every generation of America has had a great challenge to face.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESOPNDENT (voice-over): For Marco Rubio, times were simpler, when it was tea time all the time.

RUBIO: This reckless, out of control expansion of government? It simply goes too far.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Earlier this year, there were cups of tea at his side.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The next United States senator, Marco Rubio

(CHEERING)

ACOSTA (voice-over): And conservative Tea Party activists at his feet.

RUBIO: I've been hearing about these Tea parties for a while, I've been reading about you guys.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Rubio's run to the right forced the more moderate Republican governor of Florida, Charlie Crist, out of the race for the GOP nomination for US Senate. But with this contest now a three-way battle royale featuring Crist running as an independent and Democratic congressman Kendrick Meek, the former state House speaker is taking his tea differently these days.

RUBIO: The reason why Iran wants anti-aircraft missiles is for one simple reason, to shoot down Israeli and American planes.

ACOSTA (voice-over): He's hired a team of high-powered Washington-based GOP consultants, who allowed us to watch Rubio run through some debate preps on President Obama's foreign policy.

RUBIO: I think it's failed miserably.

ACOSTA (voice-over): And this son of Cuban exiles is even distancing himself from Tea Partiers on one of the movement's key issues, Arizona's tough immigration law.

RUBIO: The original law allowed for racial profiling. I don't know if they intended that. I don't believe they did, but the language in the original law allowed for racial and ethnic profiling. They changed that. To their credit, a week later, they passed a bill that changed that.

ACOSTA (on camera): And you're comfortable with it now?

RUBIO: For Arizona I am. Now, I don't think the Arizona bill should serve as a model for the rest of the country.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Most Florida Tea Partiers say they still like Rubio, but they wonder.

ACOSTA (on camera): Do you worry that Marco Rubio might change a little bit if he gets to Washington?

EVERETT WILKINSON, CHAIRMAN, SOUTH FLORIDA TEA PARTY: Oh, definitely. When you send a politician or a candidate to DC, you wonder if you're going to get the same guy back.

ACOSTA (on camera): There's a difference with you and them?

RUBIO: I represent the things I stand for.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Rubio has good reason to be his own man. He's watched Crist surge in the polls as a self-styled centrist.

CHARLIE CRIST (I), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: Because at the end of the day, there's only one party I work for.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Although the governor recently stumbled on the issue of President Obama's health care law, saying he was for it.

CRIST: I would have voted for it.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Before saying he was against it.

CRIST: There are parts of it I do support, and there are parts of it that I take issue with. That's the beauty of being an independent candidate. Had I been there, I would have voted against it.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Crist declined to talk to us for this story.

KENDRICK MEEK (D), FLORIDA SENATE CANDIDATE: With three of us running, you should know what makes me different.

ACOSTA (voice-over): Then there's Kendrick Meek, who is trying to fend off Crist's recent appeals to Democrats.

MEEK: Charlie Crist is trying to be undefinable (SIC) in this race. That has an expiration date on it. And that date has come and passed.

ACOSTA (voice-over): And that leads to perhaps the most fascinating side show in this three-ring political circus, the Tea Party and the Democrats have a common mission, to beat Charlie Crist.

RUBIO: America doesn't need to be changed, America needs to be fixed. And we think both political parties are to blame for the things that are going wrong. And that sentiment has found its expression through the Tea Party movement. And yes, I'm proud that people that feel that way are supporting our candidacy. I am.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was Jim Acosta reporting.

How do you get humanitarian aid to some of the most dangerous places on Earth? Send in combat veterans. We'll introduce you to Team Rubicon.

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WHITFIELD: Some combat veterans are on a new mission. They're using lessons they learned on active duty to get aid to the world's most dangerous areas. CNN's Kaj Larsen, a former Navy SEAL, takes us with him on a mission to flood-ravaged Pakistan

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAJ LARSEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): All right, I'm packing for Pakistan

LARSEN (voice-over): I'm a member of the charity group Team Rubicon. A group made up of veterans of some of the most elite fighting forces in the world. No longer working for the military, we're now doing something different. Using military training and logistics and technical skills to conduct humanitarian missions in some of the most remote and dangerous countries.

LARSEN (on camera): Five days ago, I got a call from them, they're sending a team to deploy to Pakistan to assist with the victims of the flooding disaster there. LARSEN (voice-over): I headed to the airport to meet up with other Team Rubicon members who had volunteered for the Pakistan operation. At the airport, were three other teammates, including former Marine, William McNulty.

WILLIAM MCNULTY, TEAM RUBICON: I spent eight years in the Marine Corps Reserve. I became an intelligence specialist. It's been our experience that we can respond to natural disasters faster than larger NGOs. So, basically, we bring these skills that were developed on the battlefield.

LARSEN (voice-over): Former Iraq vet, Matt Pelak, told me how this mission differs from what he used to do for the military.

MATT PELAK, TEAM RUBICON: It's good to come to an area like this and not have a gun in my hand and be able to actually just get down and help people and not have people looking at you with fear, but with hope.

LARSEN (voice-over): With the team assembled, first stop, Dubai.

LARSEN (on camera): This is, I think, hour 23 of our journey to Pakistan. In the meantime, some of us are resting.

Just arrived at Islamabad airport, loaded all our gear into the team van, and we'll be heading down south to get closer to the affected areas where the aid work is going to begin.

LARSEN (voice-over): We began the long drive to southern Punjab, a place where international aid is desperately needed for hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis. But the problem is, many western doctors are wary of coming here, because of the precarious security situation.

MCNULTY: We assess the risk involved, we mitigate what risks we can, we accept a certain level of risk in line with the mission, and then we act.

LARSEN (voice-over): Concerns about security are constant here. Upon our arrival, there had been three bombings in three days, with more than 100 people killed.

LARSEN (on camera): As we're driving to the areas in the southern Punjab region that are most affected by the floods, there's this long continuous line, it's practically a mile long, of trucks that are delivering aid to the region. I mean, just the sheer volume is incredible. There must have been 100 trucks, just waiting to try to get supplies into the affected areas.

LARSEN (voice-over): After 8,000 miles and three straight days of traveling, Rubicon finally arrives to a remote village that even a month into the floods is yet to receive medical aid. Undaunted by State Department and military warnings about security, the team begins saving lives. Dr. Eduardo Dolhun is a member of the team.

EDUARDO DOLHUN, DOCTOR, TEAM RUBICON: What we're going to do is, this is going to be our de facto triage area right here. We'll write -- diagnose, write the prescriptions.

LARSEN (voice-over): As the team begins to set up a clinic in an abandoned building, the victims start arriving.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's the issue with this guy?

MCNULTY: The baby appears totally floppy, totally unresponsive.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to bring the baby to see Dr. Dolhun right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clear it over here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's not able to stand any.

DOLHUN: The baby is not able to stop.

So, we have a baby that is 10, 11 months old and having diarrhea for four to five days with vomiting. We now have a situation in which she is probably bordering on severe dehydration to the point where the baby is listless.

LARSEN (voice-over): It is here, despite all the concerns about safety, the Taliban threat, militants and sectarian violence, the real threat Team Rubicon finds is that of children and the elderly dying of dehydration. It's simple logistics. Lives can be saved if aid can get through.

For all their skills, it's risking the journey to the victims that may be the team's greatest act on this mission. As baby Ali, just one of 2,000 villagers Team Rubicon will treat this day, fights for survival.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: That was CNN's Kaj Larsen reporting. To find out how you can help make a difference and help provide relief for the flood victims in Pakistan, visit our Impact Your World page, cnn.com/impact.

Meantime, a really powerful storm out there right now. It's got a name, Igor, and it is rapidly growing. Our Jacqui Jeras is watching its growth.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: Its girth is widening.

JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It is, and it's really been getting stronger throughout the day today. A little bit surprising, quite honestly, to see it get so strong so fast throughout the day today. We're talking about a Category 4 storm now. It's in the middle of the Atlantic, so it's still almost 1,000 miles away from the Lesser Antilles, and that's as close as it -- the closest land mass anywhere from there.

So, 140 miles per hour, the maximum sustained wind. A big hurricane, you can see that it's very symmetrical. It's got a huge eye, about 20 nautical miles across. A very impressive-looking storm, so to speak, on satellite. And it's moving off to the west.

Why did it get so strong so fast? One of the things, this is one of the factors, that helps hurricanes intensify, is warm waters. The warmer the water, the more potential for a stronger hurricane.

Let's take a look here. There you can see, that's the Lesser Antilles. Here's the coast of Africa. And this storm has been moving this way. Well just today, it starts getting into these warmer water temperatures, well into the middle to upper 80s and yes, boom, go the dynamite, so they say, right?

The forecast track here on Igor is that it's expected to stay a very intense hurricane, it's expected to slowly start to curve up to the north and to the west in about three days' time. So that's when it gets its closest approach to the island.

Right now, it looks like it's going to be taking a similar path, if you remember Earl, that's the one that got close to the US and brushed the outer banks almost, and then headed up to the Canadian Maritimes. We think this could be a similar track storm, maybe a little further off to the east, which would be better news for us.

So, we'll watch this storm. It certainly bears watching, because things change, especially when we're talking that far out in time, right Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: Gosh, on a dime sometimes. Jacqui, appreciate it, thanks.

JERAS: Sure.

WHITFIELD: We typically think of slavery as an ugly memory of the past. Well, we'll tell you about charges of 21st-century slavery right here in the US of A.

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WHITFIELD: Brazil's labor ministry says 95 foreign agricultural workers have been rescued from slave-like conditions. Two separate raids involved strawberry pickers and sugar cane harvesters. Officials say the sugar cane workers were denied basic sanitation, and many of the strawberry pickers were adolescents. They say workers at both locations were denied breaks and exposed to high levels of pesticide. The employers face fines, but there's no word on any criminal charges.

And we normally think of modern-day slavery as something that happens somewhere else. But after a seven-year investigation, the FBI says hundreds of farm workers from Thailand were held as slaves right here in the United States. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez has details.

THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): We're in Los Angeles, and we're driving to an undisclosed location to meet a Thai worker who says that he was enslaved by an international corporation. GUTIERREZ (voice-over): It's called Global Horizons. The company president, Mordechai Orian, an Israeli citizen, was recently indicted on federal charges of forcing hundreds of Thai men to work on US farms.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): Hundreds of workers escaped their captors, and one of those men agreed to meet with us here to talk to us about what it means to be a modern-day slave.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): We'll call him Lee. He's a 42-year-old farmer who fears retaliation against his family back home when he told us the story, through Chancee Martorell, a human rights activist in Los Angeles.

GUITIERREZ (on camera): How did this job come about for you?

GUITIERREZ (voice-over): Back in 2004, Thai recruiters, working for Global Horizons, came to northern Thailand with promises of well- paid American jobs.

CHANCEE MARTORELL, THAI COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CENTER: At that point, he was really desperate.

GUITIERREZ (voice-over): Lee supported a family of six on less than $7 a day. He says the recruiters told him he would be paid nearly $9 an hour as a farm laborer. About $56,000 over three years as part of the US guest worker program. In exchange, Lee would have to pay the recruiter $15,000 plus interest. Still, he figured he'd finish better off.

So Lee said good-bye to his family, and he and about 50 other workers were flown to Washington State by Global Horizons. According to the federal indictment, the company confiscated some of the workers' passports and confined them to their compound.

Lee says his passport was taken when they were sent to Hawaii, to the island of Maui.

MARTORELL: He was taken, along with his fellow workers, to an abandoned barrack. He was in a state of shock when he walked in. The first thing he saw was just full of cobwebs everywhere. And it was just filthy and dirty and deplorable.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Far away from the grand hotels and sandy beaches tourists know, Lee and others were confined to an isolated pineapple farm. Martorell, who some of the conditions firsthand, says some men were living in freight containers with no electricity, running water, or toilets.

MARTORELL: There's no door to close themselves off, and there'll be rats running through their living quarters. Workers had told us that they'd be starving, and they went with very little food, and they had to go and scrounge around picking leaves off of plants to eat.

GUTIERREZ: Lee told me that the workers were under 24-hour surveillance. According to the indictment, one guard even threatened to shoot anyone who tried to escape.

Then, there was the issue of payment.

MARTORELL: We look at several months worth of check stubs. Each and every time it says zero, zero.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Lee says he was paid $14,000 in total, about $1000 a month. Despite working overtime, it was far less than what he was promised.

Unable to pay the recruiter's fee, he lost his house and ancestral land in Thailand. A spokeswoman for Global Horizons told CNN those fees were charged by rogue recruiters, not by Mordechai Orian, who's plead not guilty in federal court.

She said the allegations about the dismal living conditions were complete fabrications made by the workers to federal investigators in exchange for special visas to remain in the United States beyond their three-year stay. She says Orian was only trying to help Thai workers.

MARTORELL: Modern-day slavery is alive and well here in America.

GUTIERREZ (on camera): And you're saying that our laws actually make it possible?

MARTORELL: Yes. This is the changing face of trafficking and slavery in America. Unfortunately, we are beginning to see more and more slavery through contract labor, like the guest workers program.

GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Lee says he was never treated like a guest in this country. Not until he finally escaped his employer's grip. Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: I'm Fredricka Whitfield, I'll see you back here again next weekend. Don Lemon is coming up next with an interesting project within the NFL, trying to keep the players' heads screwed on right in a world full of money and fame. That's coming up.

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