Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Hiker Held in Iran Nears Freedom; San Bruno Residents Return to Ruin; Boehner, Gibbs Trade Twitter Jabs; Push for School Reform in DC Could Cost Mayor Primary Election; Hurricane Igor Category 4 Hurricane; Amnesty International Claims Iraq Holding Thousands of Prisoners Without Charges; Trapped Miners Get Improved Air Circulation and Cigarettes; Bill Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden Campaigning Today; Kim Clijsters Wins U.S. Open; U.S. Army's Japanese Cartoon

Aired September 13, 2010 - 09:00   ET

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

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN ANCHOR: Good to see you Jim, Candy. Thanks.

Good morning everybody. Here's what we're working on.

Drilling down on natural gas production.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the dirty side of natural gas. It's clean to burn but it's not clean to get.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: She's talking about a drilling method called cracking. The EPA has said it's safe, but now EPA is taking another look and we're digging deeper, too.

Imagine coming home after this. It's a California neighborhood obliterated by a deadly fireball. We're getting this eyewitness view of the destruction.

And the U.S. military gets animated. Why it is transforming the Japanese/American Security Treaty into a comic book storyline.

It is 9:00 a.m. on the East Coast, 6:00 a.m. out west. I'm Drew Griffin, in for Kyra Phillips this morning, and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM.

And happening right now, an American hike jailed in Iran for more than a year is on the verge of heading home.

A lawyer for 32-year-old Sarah Shourd says she is set to be freed once her $0.5 million bond is paid. Shourd's family says she's sick and an Iranian prosecutor says that is why she is being bailed out.

But she'll have to leave behind her fiance, Shane Bauer, and her friend, Josh Fattal. The three have been jailed since July 31 of last year. Allegedly they strayed across the Iraqi border into Iran during a hike. They are accused in Iran of being U.S. spies. The family's Web site says that Sarah Shourd has been kept mostly in solitary confinement and given an hour a day to visit her fiance. Now she could be just hours from -- to freedom but we're told her bail hasn't been posted just yet.

CNN's Reza Sayah is monitoring the situation from Pakistan.

Reza, what is the latest?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the latest according to the lawyer representing Sarah Shourd is that she is still in Iranian custody because that $0.5 million in bail money is yet to be posted to the Iranian judiciary.

We've been speaking to the lawyer for Sarah Shourd several times over the past few hours. He says he's in contact with officials at Tehran's prosecutor's office as well officials at the Swiss embassy in Tehran. And that's basically what they're waiting on is this bail money to be posted.

Because Tehran and Washington do not have diplomatic relations it is the Swiss embassy that's going to play the role of mediator in this matter. Of course this has been somewhat of a fiasco over the past few days, the way Iranian officials had handled this.

Last week they came out and said Sarah Shourd would be released, then they changed their minds saying she would not be released. On Sunday once again a senior prosecutor came out and said Iranian officials would offer to have her released in exchange for the $500,000 in bail money.

The hiker's lawyer told me that he met with all three of them yesterday. He said they're in good condition and Sarah is in good spirits and looking forward to leaving the country, but her preference -- no doubt -- is for all three of them to be released together -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: Reza, where's the money coming from? It's not likely she's going to go back to Iran for trial so is this just a shakedown? And where is the money coming from?

SAYAH: Well, it's not clear where the money is coming from. Sarah Shourd's mother is a registered nurse. It doesn't look like this is a very wealthy family. We do understand that they own a couple of properties in the U.S. They could possibly sell those properties, take loans out on those properties.

Human rights groups could probably step up and help them out. But at this point they are keeping quiet on how they are going to come up with this money. And like you said, it's very likely that they are ever going to see this money again.

This is technically bail money. She's still going to face trial but the likely scenario is that she's going to come up with this money, leave Iran, never return to that country again, and never see that money again. We've seen this happen with other foreign nationals who've been arrested by Iranian officials in the past -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: All right, Reza, we'll be watching to see if you have anything to break during our next two hours and beyond here on CNN as we look for the release of this hiker.

Thank you, Reza.

Firefighters are hoping that better weather is going to give them an edge on a fast-moving wildfire. This is near Loveland, Colorado. The fire grew from 40 to 700 acres in hours. It destroyed two homes already. At least 100 threatened there. So far no injuries to report.

Forty miles to the south another wildfire nearly contained and people are going back home. That fire, as you may recall, was in Boulder, and it destroyed 166 homes.

Just outside San Francisco, people are returning to their bombed-out landscape that had been a neighborhood. A natural gas explosion sweeping wildfire killed at least four people. It destroyed more than three dozen homes and now we're learning that there were serious safety concerns before that blast.

CNN's Ted Rowlands has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WALTER MCCAFFREY, SAN BRUNO RESIDENT: What the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is that?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This incredible home video was captured moments after the explosion from a house balcony just behind the blown gas pipe.

MCCAFFREY: Is that a plane crash?

ROWLANDS: The voice you hear belongs to Walter McCaffrey. He had one hand on his video camera, the other on his phone, telling his wife not to come home with their three children.

This is the view from that deck now. Walter and his wife Cherry were allowed back Sunday afternoon to their house for the first time since the explosion.

MCCAFFREY: Just looking at all this. I mean, I -- I saw all of this from the news but being here and the first time coming up here and looking at all this, it was just -- no words. I can't really explain.

ROWLANDS: Teams are still sifting through ash, searching for remains of people still listed as missing. As investigators try to learn what caused the explosion, questions have surfaced about the section of pipe that blew.

A PG&E document outlining costs to replace the pipe says, quote, "The likelihood of a failure makes the risk of a failure at this location unacceptably high."

That doesn't mean PG&E thought there was a chance the pipe could explode but Mark Toney, executive director of the consumer watchdog group Utility Reform Network, says it's important if reports that residents smelled gas before the explosion are true.

MARK TONEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UTILITY REFORM NETWORK: Nobody, PG&E included, could have imagined something as horrible and terrible as the San Bruno blast and fire as happening.

But the fact remains that when PG&E got the reports of gas leaks from several customers over several days, they should have realized that this was an area that was old, that was at high risk, that they identified as high risk.

ROWLANDS: Federal officials leading the investigations are looking in to the reports about the smell of gas in the days before the explosion and how PG&E responded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We would ask anybody who says that they smelled gas and called it in to let us know.

ROWLANDS: The McCafferys plan to move back when they're sure it's safe to do so. While their home suffered minor damage their neighborhood will never be the same.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: Wow. What a story. We want to show you more pictures of the devastation in that neighborhood.

CNN iReporter Dina Boyeur (ph) sent us these images. You can see the barren yards. Those are where homes once stood. Trees charred. Cars reduced to twisted heaps of metal and melted rubber.

Police are still looking for several people who are reported missing in this.

In Washington, common ground could be emerging in the partisan battle over tax cuts.

President Obama has wanted to extend the Bush era tax cuts to everyone who makes less than $250,000 a year. Republicans say people making more than that should be included, too, because they help revive the economy.

Well, over the weekend the top Republican in the House says he may support tax cuts for the middle class only if that's the only option he has.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), MINORITY LEADER: If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I'll vote for them. But I've been making the point now for months that we need to extend all the current rates for all Americans if we want to get our economy going again and we want to get jobs in America.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: John Boehner says just because he's willing to compromise doesn't mean he's giving up. He vowed to continue pushing for those tax cuts for people who make more than $250,000 right up until the Bush era rules expire. And that is at the end of this year.

And Boehner definitely hasn't backed off his criticism of the White House. He and the administration's top spokesman trading barbs via Twitter.

So who do we call in for that? The Twitter expert.

(LAUGHTER)

GRIFFIN: CNN's Josh Levs.

Josh, really?

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, politicians going back and forth over Twitter. You know, this sort of straight-up "you are my enemy" kind of stuff on Twitter really is getting to a whole new level. This is beyond what I've seen before.

It's kind of like watching a tennis match. Your eyes have to go back and forth to follow what's going on, except here in partisan politics, the stakes can actually affect us.

Let me show you some of the latest back and forth in this Twitter battle between these two Twitter enemies, quickly being dubbed the Twinemies.

Here it goes. This is what we've seen the last couple of days, @presssec is obviously Robert Gibbs. Here's something he wrote. He posted a link to a "New York Times" story that explores the relationship that John Boehner has with some lobbyists. And he writes, "Headline says it all. And GOP leader tightly bound to lobbyist."

So that's one thing. He sends out that link. Then he follows up with a link to a graphic from "The New York Times" and look how he goes here. He says, "Don't forget this handy clip and save graphic of K Street Cabinet."

And then he adds, "Black and white photo doesn't do that tan justice." So he's actually going as far as making fun of John Boehner's tan.

Let me show you the picture he's talking about which has the graphic here. Let's zoom way in. This is from "The New York Times," talked about Boehner's "K Street Cabinet," some of the lobbyists and public affairs consultants with tight links to him.

That's the picture that "The New York Times" put up there.

All right, let's get back to this Twitter battle here. I want you to see a little bit more. One more from Gibbs. He says, "Story on Boehner covers some of his greatest hits, handing out checks from lobbyists on the House floor."

Now the Politico.com talks about what this tweets about. They went first all the way back to 1995 incident when the Ohio Republican at that time doled out some contributions on the House floor after that. It was then outlawed, so I don't want to leave with you the impression that it was somehow an illegal thing to do at the time he was doing it.

All right. Let's take a look here at John Boehner. What he put on his own Twitter site. First of all, he posted a re-tweet to what someone has said with him fighting back. In fighting back "The New York Times" story is a hatchet job, he said.

Now let's take a look at a link he offers you. He says, "@presssecretary forgot to tweet about Dems' meeting with lobbyists at Caribou." And he posts a link to this thing. Let's jump back over the Web.

It's another "New York Times" story from just a few months ago and it shows this. A coffee shop right near the White House where Obama officials have some meetings with lobbyists and they explored the relationship that the Obama administration has to some lobbyists right there.

And before we go, let's finish out this Twitter battle here that just keeps going and going and going. He also says, "@presssecretary also hasn't explained how raising taxes on small businesses will create jobs. We're still waiting."

Now, Drew, I've been following their Twitter sites this morning, they're still going at this thing. So are they going to give it a little bit of a Twitter rest here or someone is going to throw in the white towel? I don't know.

In the meantime, it is right out there in plain sight for you all to see how these two Twitter enemies are going at each other in front of the world -- Drew.

GRIFFIN: I don't know what to say.

LEVS: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

GRIFFIN: Actually, it's so juvenile.

LEVS: I know.

GRIFFIN: And one side saying the other has more lobbyists than the other side has lobbyists so it just drives me crazy.

LEVS: I'm glad you said that because I want to point out also that we at CNN look at the -- the relationship with lobbyists that everyone has. And you do see them across the board. And it is interesting. I encourage you to read "The New York Times" story. I mean, you might learn a lot.

You might -- there's some interesting things in there, but certainly you also see each side kind of rejecting some of the claims that are there. "The New York Times" as well. But yes, this is also another example how partisan politics becomes the show and seems to take -- somehow they have time for this. You know? Somehow they have time for partisan politics.

GRIFFIN: It just --

LEVS: You know, not enough getting done for us.

GRIFFIN: It just seems to me like we could put in two teenage girls and they could be having the same conversation on Facebook.

LEVS: Right. I hear you times infinity. Yes, I hear you.

GRIFFIN: I should be quiet. We should move on. Just about a half hour from now we're going to get the latest news from the CNN political ticker. Our own Paul Steinhauser will walk us through this hour's latest developments.

This just in. The Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the man behind the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero, is talking about negotiations. Speaking minutes ago to the Council on Foreign Relations, he didn't mention specifics but did say everything is on the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IMAM FEISAL ABDUL RAUF, FOUNDER, THE CORDOBA INITIATIVE: We are exploring all options as we speak right now. And we are working through what will be a solution, god willing, that will resolve this crisis, diffuse it and not create any of the unforeseen or untoward circumstances that we are -- do not want to see happen.

(END OF VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Interesting. The debate still heated on the streets of New York. Of course thousands of people taking part in dueling rallies Saturday. Police didn't report any major incidents but arguments of course broke out.

Donald Trump, in the meantime, has offered to buy the site of the planned Islamic center. Trump will talk about his reasons on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" tonight, 9:00 Eastern.

The mayor of D.C. tried to reform education in his district. Well, his reward might be a loss tomorrow at the polls.

We're back with that story in three minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Everyone wants better schools for their kids, but when it comes to education reform, toes can get stepped on. And in Washington, DC, the education reformer, Mayor Adrian Fenty, is battling for his job. If he loses tomorrow's primary, it could have a chilling effect on school reform nationwide.

Kate Bolduan in Washington. Kate? It seems Mayor Fenty has made a few enemies along the way, trying to upgrade DC's education system.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He has, Drew. And while there are other big local factors in DC's Democratic mayoral primary, as there are in any city, one issue playing a significant role is also -- is also carrying significant national implications. Education reform.

Let me give you a little back story. Then known as the Democratic dynamo, Mayor Adrian Fenty came into office, and he quickly took control of DC's failing public school system. He handed it over to the new chancellor and aggressive reformer, a woman named Michelle Rhee. Rhee ushered in a wave of controversial change that grabbed national attention. This change included shutting down two dozen school, firing hundreds of educators, including more than 100 teachers over the summer for poor performance.

Also, overhauling the evaluation system, linking it to student performance for the first time and doing away in large part with the idea of tenure and putting in its place teacher performance pay. But Fenty, once a rising star, as you said it, he's now in the fight for his career. We caught up with him on the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIAN FENTY, MAYOR, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA: You asked me whether we would make the decisions we made around education reform now, knowing everything we did, I'd say absolutely yes. A hundred times out of a hundred. I was elected to do what's right for the city, not what's politically popular. That's what we've done around fixing our schools. And the good -- the great thing is, our schools are better off for it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And Drew, as you can probably guess there, he -- while Fenty acknowledges he -- the aggressive reforms have cost him in the polls, he is unapologetic, saying that DC schools and DC students have suffered for too long and he doesn't care if he's stepping on toes, basically.

GRIFFIN: You mentioned in the open, Kate, a lot of cities across the nation are hoping to reform their school district. What does this mean nationally?

BOLDUAN: This is why we're really keeping an eye on this. The reforms happening in DC schools, while ruffling many feathers along the way, especially among teachers' unions, are exactly what the Obama administration is advocating and calling for nationwide.

And the administration has put up some serious cash to prove it, offering more than $3 billion in competitive grants for innovative reform efforts, like what's happening in DC. And DC won some of that money.

In the most recent polls, Fenty is neck and neck or losing to his challenger, DC City Council Chairman Vincent Gray. Voters count education as a chief concern heading into the polls. All of this added together is leaving some to wonder if the results of this race is kind of a test case and could create a chilling effect on the national dialogue going on about education reform.

Simply the fear, Drew, that politicians will see this education reform backed -- these efforts backed by the Obama administration as just too politically risky to take on.

GRIFFIN: Kate, let me ask you this. Is the guy running against Fenty saying, "Look. I'm going to reopen those schools, I'm going to hire back those loser teachers?" Has it come to that?

BOLDUAN: It sounds -- it probably doesn't surprise you, it's a little messier than being very clear-cut. Though, what the challenger really says is he supports the idea of reform, but he has played off the idea of, he is going to push for education reform for every student in DC public schools.

Many people who have spoken out against mayor Fenty have said that he's, in stepping on some of those toes, he's not helping the teachers. He's stepping on toes, he's firing a bunch of teachers, he's consolidated schools, which has angered some parents, because they say they have to move their kids to a different school.

So the challenger is playing on this idea of unifying the city. He likes reform, he says, but he wants to bring everyone in to be part of the reform and take more opinion. Mayor Adrian Fenty says the schools have been failing for too long and he needs to move fast. That's why he brought in Michelle Rhee, and she talks about barreling full speed ahead, and that's what reform is needed. They need big decisions, not taking a large amount of opinion and consensus on this.

GRIFFIN: Kate, thanks. We'll be watching tomorrow to see what happens there in DC. OK, take care.

We want to go to weather right now. We've got a couple of big storms gathering strength. Doesn't seem like they're in danger of hitting us quite yet.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Not yet. Pretty far out there. Good morning, Drew.

Yes, let's look at this storm. This thing got really exploded over the weekend. Hurricane Igor was a tropical storm around this time on Friday and just blew up, especially yesterday. Category 4 with 150-mile-an-hour winds. So we're on the verge of cranking this up to a Category 5 storm. The eye looks like it's getting even bigger. Last check, it was about 15 miles in diameter. But it looks to be larger than that.

Nonetheless, it is showing no signs of weakening whatsoever. It continues to barrel to the west. And heading to the Leeward Islands, about 900 miles from there, about 2,000 miles from any one point on the US east coast. So we still have a lot of time to watch this storm. And it very well could become a Category 5 storm before the day is done itself.

As far as the actual track of this thing, this is where we think the cone is going to bring it. Basically toward Bermuda here by Saturday and Sunday. That would allow it to get closer to the US. But at that trajectory, the odds are, if you had to roll the dice here, that it would be a fish storm and curve out to sea. We'll have to see if everything builds that way, and we get a trough to scoop it out that way, like we've had the last couple of storms. But at this point, obviously, it's too early to tell that.

A little bit closer to home, this is in the Caribbean, this has been flaring up for a couple of days now. This has got the National Hurricane Center on alert, obviously, because it's closer to home. So we'll watch that, too. That could be our next tropical system.

A couple of fronts that came through the northeast yesterday, heavy rain across the northeast, now it's just sporadic showers. I think they'll get the US Open tennis match in this afternoon. And some showers trying to sneak into the inner mountain west. But all in all, I think it will be dry.

And we have yet another fire that's burning now, north of Boulder, Colorado. This one just west of Loveland, Colorado. And that one only 10 percent contained. So, weather for that, not too bad. Not going to see any rain, but not going to be terribly windy.

We'll keep an eye on Igor. We'll have another update and forecast track later on this morning.

GRIFFIN: OK, good. Thanks, Rob.

MARCIANO: You bet.

GRIFFIN: Human rights group, an international human rights group, says Iraq is holding thousands of people without charging them and without a trial. It goes on to say what's happening to some of them is tragic. We're going to have that story in five minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Today's Morning Passport, now. An international human rights group accusing Iraq of holding thousands of people without charges or trial, and keeping them in secret prisons. A report released this morning by Amnesty International, they say that overwhelming evidence they have of torture taking place in secret prisons, and the Iraqi government failing to stop it. Amnesty says many of those behind bars are held without charges. In April, Iraqi's prime minister denied similar reports that Iraq is torturing prisoners.

On to Chile now. The miners trapped, one of their first requests after being trapped was cigarettes. Instead, they were sent nicotine patches and chewing gum. Well, now a new compressor has improved circulation down there. And so, they get their smokes.

Faucet water that lights on fire or bubbles in a bucket? Doubt you'd want to take a swig of this stuff. People who live near natural gas drilling sites say their water is toxic. Gas companies deny it. We're going to look at both sides.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Quite a month for Wall Street. The Dow risen the past two weeks, stocks ready to rally again today?

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

GRIFFIN: Hey, just a few hours from now hundreds, maybe thousands are going to pack into a public hearing on natural gas drilling in upstate New York. It is the fourth hearing held by the EPA as the federal government enters the fray whether a drilling method called hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, as it's called, is safe.

Keep in mind half of all American homes use natural gas which burns cleaner than oil or coal. It's also cheap and it is abundant in the U.S. Here's the rub. One way the tap the gas involves blasting through rock, drilling down thousands of feet and spewing chemical laced water in the ground. Back in 2004, the EPA deemed that fracking was essentially safe. A lot of people, though, don't buy it and they want to know what's in their water.

I headed to natural gas secuntry (ph) to find out more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN (voice-over): Bill Ely's pure artisan well water that he and his family have been drinking for nearly 50 years is now full of methane gas. He's sick of telling people about it, so now he just shows them.

BILL ELY, LIVE NEAR NATURAL GAS DRILLINGRIFFIN: I have it (ph) like this because (INAUDIBLE). It's going to blow it right out, but I'm going to try it.

GRIFFIN (on camera): Whoa. It looks like you scared me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You know what? You're - you're really lucky you didn't -

GRIFFIN: What just happened? I mean -

ELY: That's just the gas went down. And that's why I said, it comes back and blow it out these holes. But if I turn it up a little bit and the water flak (ph) that, and then it'll just burn a flame right off the top.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): The gas bubbles through his well.

ELY: As you can see right now, you can't see it in the hose into the bottom of that because that's all gas. GRIFFIN (on camera): And it was at one time clear?

ELY: Clear. Crystal clear.

GRIFFIN (voice-over): It steams off like Alka-Seltzer. In his chicken COOPER: , where it's dark, he can show you the flame.

What's causing this? He says like a lot of people in rural Eastern Pennsylvania, he has been fracked. This area is seeing a boom in the natural gas business because of a geological formation known as the Marcellus Shale and a drilling process called hydraulic fracturing.

Fracking, as it's known, drills down and then sideways into the massive shale rock that lies thousands of feet below, injecting mostly water and some chemicals, which cause many earthquakes. That fractures the rock, releasing clear, odorless, floating gold - natural gas trapped inside the Marcellus Shale, hundreds of trillions of cubic feet worth, enough to supply the northeast for decades to come.

Craig and Julie Sautner say they too are being fracked.

GRIFFIN (on camera): I'm going to play a little devil's advocate with you. That's a little bit why they say they're doing this, because this is clean fuel.

CRAIG SAUTNER, LIVE NEAR NATURAL GAS DRILLINGRIFFIN: Clean fuel.

JULIE SAUNTER, LIVE NEAR NATURAL GAS DRILLINGRIFFIN: It's - it's not clean to get. It's a fossil fuel. Any fossil fuel - coal, oil, gas, is - they don't see the dirty side. This is the dirty side of natural gas. It's clean to burn, but it's not clean to get.

GRIFFIN: Like Bill Ely, the Sautner's well is poisoned. Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection confirmed it, and it's now forcing the gas exploration company, Cabot Oil & Gas, to truck in clean drinking water, though Cabot denies its process of fracturing has contaminated anything.

In fact, the company's spokesman cites a 2004 EPA study which found only a minimal threat to underground drinking water, and told CNN, "We don't believe the process is contaminating the ground water. As a technology, it's proven and safe."

C. SAUTNER: We don't know -

GRIFFIN: The Sautners and other homeowners just don't buy that. They are suing. Craig wants a clean water pipeline to his home, and he wants to be paid for a house that now has a methane release stack in his front yard.

C. SAUTNER: To keep it - to keep it from blowing up, yes.

GRIFFIN: And a neighborhood, he says, that is sometimes fogged in with methane mist.

C. SAUTNER: Will this become a ghost town some day? Maybe, right? I - I sure don't want to live here anymore.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRIFFIN: What Craig and Julie Sautner want most is to warn people in other areas, specifically New York State, where this hydraulic fracture is proposed. They admit they were suckers. They were paid $2,500 an acre to lease their mineral rights to Cabot Gas. They also get royalties, which Craig says amounts dollars a week. The money they say now just wasn't worth the price they are paying.

And coming up next hour we're going to be taking you to Binghamton, New York, ahead of today's public hearing on fracking. The deputy mayor says about 2,000 people are expected to show up there. We're going to get a live preview of what's happening.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Checking our top stories. The Wall Street Journal reporting a $60 billion arms deal between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The agreement includes new F-15 fighter jets, upgrades to existing aircraft and helicopters to the Saudis. If approved, this would be the largest arms deal in American history.

Amnesty International issuing a scathing report this morning claiming Iraq is holding as many as 30,000 Iraqis without charges or trial and holding some of them in secret prisons. There are also accusations of beatings and torture. No response from the Iraqi government.

And we're watching as a trio of tropical weather systems, hurricane Igor is category four storm expected to strengthen; tropical storm Julia right behind it; and there's another disturbance in the Caribbean.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: We still have seven weeks before the midterm elections and a growing sense of voter anger is on full display. This weekend Tea Party activists held rallies across the country, including this protest at the Capitol in Washington. Folks say they're fed up with out of control spending, excessive taxes, and they're vowing to make incumbents pay on November 2nd.

Here is our political ticker from the Best Political Team on Television. We're going to tell you about Sarah Palin's robocall in the bear-knuckled Senate race in New Hampshire. Former President Bill Clinton returning to the campaign trail, along with Vice President Joe Biden. We're going to tell you where those guys are. And we've updated our list of the 100 midterm races you want to keep an eye on.

So let's check in with CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser - Paul, what's crossing right now?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, Drew, let me dig deeper on what you were just talking about. Brand new this morning on the CNN political ticker, on CNNPolitics.com. Let's start with the primaries. Tomorrow the last big round of primaries. One of the races we're keeping a close eye on is a four- way fist fight in New Hampshire for the Republican Senate nomination. Now, one of the people running, the establishment candidate, Kelly Ayotte, she's getting some help from Sarah Palin. The former Alaska governor has recorded a robocall that's going out to voters in the Granite State today and tomorrow urging them to vote for Ayotte who's facing a tough conservative competitor.

Bill Clinton, let's talk about Bill Clinton the former President. Just learned this in the last few minutes, Drew, he is going to Pennsylvania today, he's going to campaign for Joe Sestak. The two- term Congressman there is the Democrat's Senate nominee. He's facing a tough battle against Pat Toomey. They're trying to keep the seat in Democratic hands so Bill Clinton is going to be campaigning with Toomey (SIC).

Also today up there in Pennsylvania, Joe Biden, the vice president, in a previously scheduled event is going to be helping Sestak raise money. Again, that's a seat the Democrats really want to hold on to. Right now it's held by democrat Arlen Specter.

Finally, check this out, Drew. Right on the CNN Political Ticker, our CNN 100. This is our list of what we consider the 100 most competitive races in the House of Representatives. Rob Yoon (ph), our research director updated it over the weekend. Guess what? Of those 100 seats, 85 are in Democratic hands, 15 Republican seats.

Drew, remember the magic number for the Republicans to win back control of the House, they need a net gain of 39. We're going to keep a close eye on all of this. Drew.

GRIFFIN: It's very interesting. So interesting with the Sestak race since the administration was trying to get him out of the race, now they're really pumping him.

STEINHAUSER: Exactly. We go back a few months to when both Biden and the President Barack Obama, and Bill Clinton, all trying to see if they could get Sestak out of the race. But he is the nominee now. They want to keep the seat in Democratic hands. They're going to do what they can. Let bygones be bygones, Drew.

GRIFFIN: A lot of driving. Paul, thanks for that.

We'll have a political update in one hour. And a reminder for all of the latest political news you can go to our web site all the time, constantly updated, CNNPolitics.com.

Kim Clijsters took a break to become a mom, then came back to win the U.S. Open for a third time. We're going to ask the tennis star how she did it next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Well, Kim Clijsters she took a break to become a mom, then came back to win the U.S. Open for a third time. We're going to ask the tennis star how she did it next in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Kim Clijsters defends her U.S. Open title. Clijsters' dominated Vera Zvonareva: 6-2, 6-1, winning in 59 minutes. That is a record for the Open's woman's final.

The Belgian tennis star won for the second year in a row and the third time since 2005. You can forgive her for not winning in those years in between. She wasn't playing.

After a 27-month retirement Kim Clijsters returned to the tour with a new fan, her daughter Jada who is now two and a half years old.

Jada's mom joins us live from New York. I guess, that's how we'll introduce you Ms. Clijsters. Thanks for joining us.

You are there with your trophy. Congratulations, your third win of the U.S. Open --

KIM CLIJSTERS, U.S. OPEN WOMEN'S SINGLES WINNER: Thank you.

GRIFFIN: -- 59 minutes. This really seemed quite easy for you.

CLIJSTERS: I mean I played a really good match in the final. I think my opponent Vera Zvonareva was maybe a little bit overwhelmed by -- by the whole emotion of playing another Grand Slam final. But -- I was really focused and obviously the experience of playing so many Grand Slam finals and having lost a few it really helped me, you know, a couple of days ago.

GRIFFIN: Of course, you've been winning on the international stage since you were in the teen, 15 years old. But you talk about keeping your composure to get it. Do I understand correctly you could hear your daughter calling out to you during this match?

CLIJSTERS: Once in a while I do. You're yelled out mommy or you know, or you're just like yelling out, her voice obviously as a mother you know the voice of your own child very well. So I -- her voice definitely stands out when she's -- when's she's a little out of it; now she two and a half and she starts to understand that you kind of have to be quiet once in a while during a tennis match. So she's -- she's really getting the point now.

GREGORY: Well, I mean, there's a lot of people who love you for your tennis. But so many more, especially moms love you for what you've done since you've come back from having Jada. I'm wonder if you're looking forward to that time when you can sit on the couch with her and go through the scrap book and show her how she became part of your story as well. Where she can understand what's going on.

CLIJSTERS: Yes, exactly because that's something obviously now, she's so used to the traveling and -- and you know, me going to the tennis and -- and practicing and working out, and everything. But she's just too young to understand. But that's why it's nice to just have a lot of people, you know, we take a lot of pictures, and we videotape a lot of things.

And so when she's older, and once I'm retired for good, that's when we can kind of sit down and just go through everything with her and just explain to her where we've been. And not just all tennis- related but to just to see, you know to explain to her all of the beautiful things that we've been through so far.

GRIFFIN: Are you still having fun?

CLIJSTERS: Yes, I do. Obviously, it's nice to win, and, obviously, because -- you know it all becomes a lot harder if -- it the results are not there, but, of course, as a mother, I also have days where, you know, I feel guilty leaving, and that is kind of hard to just go out to the practice courts or go out to -- to work out or go have treatment and kind of take that away from my daughter when I can have some time with her. But it's -- it's all rewarded when the hard work pays off and that makes it a lot easier.

GRIFFIN: Yes, I mean, the reason I asked you, I know you have a supportive husband. You have a nice family there, but, I mean, just being a tennis star is hard. Just being a mom is hard. Just traveling all over the world is hard. You're putting all three of those together and people tell me you're one of the nicest people on the tennis tour.

CLIJSTERS: Well, I mean, I'm not doing it all by myself. Obviously when I'm out on court, I'm playing by myself but there's a lot of you know work, with the team around me. And we travel with a nanny as well, who kind of makes me feel a lot more comfortable knowing that Jada is in good hands when -- when I'm on the court whether it's practicing or training and my husband is there for support.

I mean, no matter what -- whatever it is that has to do with tennis or -- or it's just anything off-court, I mean, he's he is there for support, and that's something that just kind of keeps me, kind of yes, I'm just, I'm very happy and healthy as well. And my mind set just stays -- you know, I know what to do and I know when I'm done playing tennis, but you know I have my family and it's nice to have that combination.

GRIFFIN: Well, I hate to talk about the end of your career, but will you just keep coming back to the U.S. Open until you finally lose?

CLIJSTERS: Yes, we'll see.

So far things have been going pretty well for me here at the U.S. Open. So I would like to keep it going obviously, but maybe I should try to -- to try it and have a shot at the other grand slams, too.

GRIFFIN: All right. Well, you won the U.S. open in 59 minutes. It seemed like a breeze to me. I bet you're getting more exhausted from all of the interviews you've been doing this morning.

CLIJSTERS: It's ok. I have to say it's been a lot more busy for me as a defending champion this year, especially the week leading up to the Open when it started. But these are fun things to do and it doesn't happen all that often, so I'm trying to enjoy the moment as much as possible.

GRIFFIN: All right. Well, we're glad to have you. Kim Clijsters, winner of the U.S. Open, congratulations to you and your family and good luck in the future.

CLIJSTERS: Thank you. Goodbye.

GRIFFIN: Thanks for joining us.

And a reminder for you tennis fans, the U.S. Open men's singles set for 4:00 p.m. eastern today. That match between Raphael Nadal and Novak Djokovic was postponed because of rain.

Here's what we're working on for the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. Let's start with Reza Sayah live in Islamabad.

REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drew, half a million dollars. That's how much the family of the one of the U.S. Families have to come up with if they want to see her go free. Is it going to happen? If so, when? The latest at the top of the hour.

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Ted Rowlands in San Bruno, California. Coming up, we will have the latest on the investigation into last week's explosion plus some new home video has surfaced. It is amazing -- you have to see it. It's coming up at the top of the hour.

GRIFFIN: Thanks Ted. And take a look live. This is outside of Binghamton New York where they're going to be talking about cracking. The EPA holding an open forum on this, and those people all want to speak out about what's going on. We are going go deep on this subject in the next hour.

Also, fighting city hall and winning big for the overtaxed residents of Bell, California. Remember them? Some massive payback, $3 million worth. We are going to be live with an update on that story. That's also ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRIFFIN: Scanning today's morning passport, comic cartoons are big business in Japan, and when you think about Japanese comics, you might think of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(JAPANESE CARTOON)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRIFFIN: Don't you love those cartoons? You probably don't think of this, though? The U.S. military is now a comic in Japan, and it's no joke. The idea is better communication with the Japanese people. Those Japanese comics and cartoons have a long tradition and are known as mangas.

CNN's Kyung Lah tells us why the army is going the comic book route.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid video games, fighting robots, animal girls in leather, and whatever the heck this is, the U.S. military, getting hands on with Japanese comic book fans. Comics here are known as manga.

U.S. Army Major Randall Bellcome (ph) is learning about it because the Military has created and now is distributing its own manga.

(on camera): We have an American boy here and a Japanese girl?

MAJOR RANDALL BELLCOME, U.S. ARMY: That's correct. The American character says I'm here to help provide assistance and security. It is progressive for U.S. Military to use this type literature to get this New Jersey out.

LAH (voice-over): The information explain in comic book form, the 50-year security alliance between the U.S. and Japan, typically some very dry reading and drowned out in public debate.

Many in Japan often only hear this side, protests about noise, crime, and the geographic footprint of U.S. Military bases in Okinawa.

BELLCOME: As far as bridging gaps or trying to create a certain sense of knowledge that's not our team. We're providing information; they can read the information and make their own -- come to their own conclusions about how they feel about it.

LAH: To the rest of the world this is cartoons and comics, but here in Japan, Manga it's a part of the culture. So the U.S. military isn't just speaking in Japanese, they're communicating through a powerful media.

U.S. army sergeant Steven Freeman (ph) is fluent both in Japanese language and culture. How effective is Manga as a form of communication?

STEVEN FREEMAN, U.S. ARMY: Very effective. It's everywhere. You see it on the train all of the time, cartoons, and cartoons go from children to adult.

LAH: It caught the attention of Hakamitsu Fujishima (ph) and his son who stopped to mingle with the army. It's really surprising, he says, I kind of thought, what are they doing. He'll now take the time to learn about the two nation alliance. Getting a message through a medium this country understands.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Chiba, Japan.

(END VIDEOTAPE)