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Floodwaters Overtake North Dakota City; Logano's Career in High Gear
Aired June 25, 2011 - 14:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And here's what's happening at this hour. We're tracking record-breaking flooding and heat driven wildfires. Let's begin in Oklahoma where wildfires force the governor to declare emergencies in 33 counties. Thousands of acres are burning, and 70 to 80 homes were forced to evacuate in the central part of the state. Making matters worse, high winds and temperatures above 100 degrees could spread those fires.
Off to Craig, Missouri, now. A battle is being waged against the Missouri River. The bloated river is seeping into Craig, a small town in the northwest corner of the state, prompting many of the town's residents to flee. Right now more than 100,000 acres of prime farm land around Craig is under water.
On the Souris River in Minot, North Dakota, floodwater is literally swallowing up the homes there. Water has reached the rooftops in Minot's low lying neighborhoods. About a fifth of the city looks more like a lake than a community. For reporter Kim Fundingsland, Minot is his hometown. He's also covering the flood for the "Minot Daily News" and Kim joining us right now on the phone now.
Kim, you've seen what you thought was all you could see there in Minot and now this. Give me an idea of, I guess, the real complications of living it and at the same time reporting on it.
KIM FUNDINGSLAND, REPORTER, "MINOT DAILY NEWS" (via telephone): Well, a great question. It's turned out to be much worse than people would imagine. A great flood here in 1969 and a few folks still remember that one, but this one has far surpassed it by the homes that thought they would be fine today have water well up on to the curtain rods or to the gutters on the tops of the homes. Devastation is just unbelievable.
And I'm a fortunate one; there is one dike in the city that is being built to keep the main thorough fare from one side of the river valley to the other side open. My home is below that dike and as we speak now dry. My normal commute to work in this town of 40 some thousand would be six or seven minutes, it is now an hour and 15.
WHITFIELD: Oh incredible. So what about your neighbors there? Give me an idea of, you know, how people were able to collect whatever belongings they could and then get out of the way and be part of that evacuation.
FUNDINGSLAND: Well, they -- what they could is a good description. They didn't get everything. Not many did. Some did. It just has been absolutely shattering for them and now you go into the neighborhoods, into the edges of those evacuation zones and in many cases the water is beyond the evacuation zone. There are people standing with their toes of their shoes at the edge of the water with tears in their eyes pointing at their home, trying to get a glimpse of how bad the damage is an estimate how much more water is yet to come. It is a tragic scene to watch.
WHITFIELD: So, Kim, tell me the situation where many people had flood insurance because it was required because it was stated that they were in a federally declared flood zone. And then that was lifted because some lines were changed, some reinforcements were changed along the river. And so now reportedly only one in ten people has flood insurance. And that's just as of last year. Is that the case? Is that your understanding?
FUNDINGSLAND: I have heard that number. I can't verify that number for you exactly. But you're talking about a floodplain within the city that is perhaps takes a quarter of the city, a quarter to a third of the city, I would guess. So not everyone would have to have flood insurance in Minot and many in the valley were not familiar with the flood of 40 some years ago and others maybe became a little too complacent because the community following the flood of 1969 helped finance dams to be built in southern Canada, they helped defend against this. But this year, even those defenses didn't prove to be adequate enough.
WHITFIELD: Well, we wish you and all of your neighbors the best. Kim Funding land, thanks so much, reporter with "Minot Daily News" and also now trying to deal with this on a personal note. Good news that your home so far is dry. We'll continue to have good thoughts for you.
FUNDINGSLAND: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Thanks so much, Kim.
All right. Let's check in with Alexandra Steele right now in the Weather Center. Because my goodness, so many people have lost so much because of that water that keeps rising. It is not finished, right?
ALEXANDRA STEELE, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Listening to Kim, you know, of course with the dam being built, the onset of the financial crisis and with the release of not having to have flood insurance, obviously a lot of people let it lapse and now wow we're looking at centuries old eclipsing of incredible numbers of this flooding.
So let's talk about why this is happening. Of course we're watching and expecting this to crest at 1:00 tomorrow morning. But why? Why this extreme weather? It just has been rain. Here's why. Let me set it up. The summer of 2010, last summer, an incredible soaker, and a record-breaking in terms of rain some months. The fall of 2010, one of the top ten wettest that period, and that's not usually what a wet period there. Then the winter of 2010, last winter, record snow and record snow melt.
So exacerbating this, this spring, really the tipping point. We have had a very wet and we have seen the snow, this record lake snow and the snow melt, heavy spring rains and now the jet stream positioned to the north, like it normally is, along the northern tier of the country, including Minot and the area that it is. And, of course, more rain and more showers and thunderstorms only exacerbating where we stand. So really an incredibly sad situation, kind of all these ingredients coming together for a few years now to create this record- setting event.
Here is Minot. This is the current radar. We're going to expect to see some showers and storms. You can see a few of them kind of moving to the north. The balance of the heavy rain, though, staying south of Minot today. Of course, any bit going to exacerbate what we have already got. So in terms of the bigger picture today, the heat really the story.
Heat not getting as far north as Minot. But look at the swath of heat, temperatures all the way from Albuquerque to Dallas and Houston, New Orleans, all about ten to 12 degrees above average today. So the heat certainly on full court and we're going to see it for tomorrow as well. So, of course, we're going to watch Fredricka the heat continue, the showers and storms and really a scary scenario tonight overnight till 1:00 tomorrow morning we're going to watch that river crest.
WHITFIELD: Wow. A lot of just too much, right? All right. Thanks so much Alexandra. Appreciate it.
STEELE: Sure.
WHITFIELD: All right. The nation's newest thing the Same Sex Marriage Law takes effect in 30 days. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed it last night; just hours after the legislature approved it. New York will become the sixth state allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry following Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire and the District of Columbia, same sex marriage is legal there as well.
Sad news now. A Pennsylvania high school football player is dead and another wounded in a shooting in a North Carolina parking lot. The star athletes were on their way to Florida football camp. And police say it happened after an apparent altercation with strangers. The father of the teen who died says he cannot understand what went wrong.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DARRELL TURNER, SR. FATHER: For it to escalate to violence where you bring out guns, it is just senseless. It is just senseless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: A 22-year-old suspect is being held without bond, charged with murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
In Florida, an abrupt unexpected recess today in the Casey Anthony murder trial. The judge wouldn't specifically explain what happened, only saying, quote, a legal issue has arisen. Testimony resumes Monday.
And overseas, Catherine, the newlywed and newly named duchess of Cambridge performed her first military duties as a British royal today. She and her husband Prince William presented medals to about 400 soldiers of the Irish Guard who served in Afghanistan. The royal couple also met with families of British soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan.
The first lady of the United States wrapping up a six-day trip to Africa this weekend. Here are the Obama ladies, right there, all of them, Michelle, the girls, Sasha and Malia even first mother-in-law arriving in Botswana yesterday. The first lady visited an Aids clinic there and spoke to women leaders. Mrs. Obama will be back in the United States Monday.
Who doesn't dream about being a race car driver? Joey Logano definitely did and for him that dream came true. Coming up, I talked with top Nascar driver face to face about his passion for the sport.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD (voice over): So what is it like when you look at the fans here, whether it is in the stands or here at the Hall of Fame?
JOEY LOGANO, NASCAR DRIVER: It is great. I think it is awesome. We wouldn't be here without the fans. There wouldn't be a Hall of Fame. There wouldn't be a Joey Logano the race car driver. We wouldn't be doing this interview right now if it wasn't for the race fans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Dozens are dead in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. Here are a few of the international headlines right now. The target today was a hospital in eastern Afghanistan that included a maternity ward. Several women and babies are among the 35 people reported killed.
NATO officials acknowledged today its aircraft mistakenly hit Libyan opposition forces while targeting forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi. It happened Thursday in the key contested oil city of al Brega. NATO says it regrets any possible loss of life or injuries.
And Peru's government is shutting down a private silver mine that is after five protesters died yesterday in clashes between police and people who oppose mining and drilling in southern Peru.
This week, the presidents of the United States and France both announced troop numbers and timetables for their military withdrawal from Afghanistan. That makes the refugee group working there even more worried about the fate of thousands of Afghan people, too afraid to go home. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): So many Afghan children still in terrible poverty. Living conditions clearly show the despair. And as the U.S. military prepares to wind down its troop presence in Afghanistan, these are the people left behind. During a recent tour of Afghan camps, housing a growing number of displaced persons, the advocacy group Refugees International shot this video.
LYNN YOSHIKAWA, REFUGEES INTERNATIONAL: This year in first five months of 2011 we have more than 91,000 people fleeing their homes. This is in comparison to last year over the same time period where there were 42,000. So we're talking about double.
STARR: Refugees International says Afghans continue to be driven out by coalition air strikes and Special Forces raids. General David Petraeus has long said the military tries to be as careful as it can. But there are growing questions if often corrupt Afghan security forces including local police are now driving Afghans from their homes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We talked to displaced people who said that the Afghan local police, which are supported by U.S. military, through Afghan government program, are extorting money from people, demanding taxes, using their power to abuse civilians. They have also been implicated in allegations of murder and torture as well in these communities.
STARR: Providing Afghan security, village by village, has always been key to the U.S. strategy for leaving Afghanistan.
VICTORIA NULAND, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT: We have been involved very closely with the Afghans in this local neighborhood watch program, if you will. And much of the focus of our effort with the Afghans has been involved in ensuring good human rights standards, anti-corruption standards, good identification, good connections to other security elements, you know, the more formal police structures and military structures.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STARR: You know Afghan government officials have often said they are already trying to improve their security forces. But Refuges International says what they learned over there tells them that many of those critical local police units are now so corrupt, they would like to see Congress not fund them until strict recruiting and discipline standards are met.
Fred.
WHITFIELD: And Barbara, the biggest fear for these displaced families.
STARR: Well I think it is what you're talking about already, they're very fearful of going home. And in many cases they just simply can't. Whether it's conflict due to the war, the Taliban, or corrupt local police, in so many areas of Afghanistan, the situation is so unsettled with or without U.S. troops that so many people feel it is just not safe for them to go back.
WHITFIELD: So I wonder, will there be some sort of transition plan? STARR: Well, you know, there is a transition plan to Afghan security and to having the Afghans look after their country. But can they really make that transition plan part of an effort for these tens of thousands of Afghan families to go back home to their towns and villages. That certainly remains to be seen.
WHITFIELD: All right. Barbara Starr in Washington. Appreciate it.
Saving young girls and women from sex traffickers. Well, we'll introduce you to a tiny woman nicknamed the Terminator. She's a big CNN hero.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All this week, CNN has been shining a spotlight on modern day slavery. And in Nepal, one woman has fought to save sex trafficking victims for nearly two decades, helping rescue and rehabilitate more than 12,000 women and girls. That earned her the title of 2010's CNN Hero of the Year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the vast America, Europe, if someone comes and says I want to make your child a prostitute, they would give them one slap or shoot them. But here families, they are tricked all the time. Girls are brought from the villages by people who can use them and tell them that they are getting a nice job. The poverty in Nepal is a conduit point of trafficking.
Once here, there is no way to escape. I am Anuradha Koirala (ph). It is my strong hope to stop every Nepali girl from being trafficked. When we go to the border exit points, we are intercepting four girls to five girls per day. After the rescue, the girl is taken to here. We started this. Rape survivors, trafficking survivors, we take everybody.
The girls who come back from brothels, they are totally, psychologically broken. We give them what they want to do, whatever training they want to do. One day we will stop it and trafficking will end. There is always a small scar. Yes, I was trafficked. But today I am something new in my life. They are my strength.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Actress Demi Moore recently went to Nepal to work with Koirala and CNN's cameras were there. Tune in Sunday night 8:00 p.m. Eastern to see "Nepal's Stolen children," a freedom project documentary.
And of course we always want to hear from you. Tell us about the heroes in your community. Send us your nominations to CNN.com/heroes.
An abrupt and mysterious recess in the Casey Anthony trial today. We'll tell you what we know about it next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: An abrupt end to the day in the Casey Anthony murder trial. Just as people settled in, the judge said court would be in recess. CNN's David Mattingly is outside the courthouse. Any better view as to why the judge made that call today?
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: No, Fredricka. Definitely a layer of mystery on top of all of the movements that we have seen inside this courtroom. Today, everyone was in place. Before they brought the jury in, the judge and the prosecution and the defense all went behind closed doors, which is kind of unusual. They always have their conferences and a side bar out inside the courtroom where everyone can see. This time they went behind closed doors, emerged sometime later, and this is what the judge said it a very surprised courtroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE BELVIN PERRY, ORANGE COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT: Does both sides concur that a legal issue has arisen unrelated to the issue that we talked about first thing this morning dealing with Dr. Fern that would necessitate us resetting for today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MATTINGLY: Now what could this legal issue be? No one is saying at this point. It could be something minor that only affects the scheduling of this trial, pushing it perhaps a little later after the fourth of July. Or it is something serious that could actually affect the outcome of this trial, something that might be a problem with a juror, a problem with evidence that has been presented in this case, a problem with one of the witnesses. We just don't know at this point. The judge not elaborating whatsoever and calling this a very abrupt halt to today's proceedings.
Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: OK. So then they'll be back in court on Monday. What is the expectation of who, if anyone might be called as a witness?
MATTINGLY: Well, there were several people outside in the hallway, some of them looked like experts, and some of them appeared to be part of the investigations that have been going on. No star witnesses that were waiting outside in the hallway today. The defense doesn't tell us who they're going to be calling up before the people actually come up. The only clues we get are from looking out in the hallway, outside of the courtroom, during the day to see who is out there. But today no star witnesses were looming in the wings. And we're still waiting to see what the ramifications of today's delay could be when we get things going on Monday.
WHITFIELD: So even though there were -- a long line of potential witnesses, the defense said earlier in the week that it just might be close to wrapping up its case. Might it have a change of heart?
MATTINGLY: Well, they had a very long discussion with this -- about this yesterday with the judge in front of everyone. And the judge started mapping out a schedule, figuring that the jury could be getting -- start deliberating, getting the case and start deliberating possibly a week from today.
Well, he hadn't accounted for a delay today, so we could already add one more day to the schedule, which pushes the jurors into the Fourth of July weekend. So at this point, it is anyone's guess what sort of problems he might be having with the schedule or when these jurors might be able to actually begin doing what they're supposed to do.
WHITFIELD: All right. Fascinating stuff. Thanks so much, David Mattingly in Orlando.
Earlier today I discussed the Casey Anthony case with our legal guys, Avery Friedman and Richard Herman.
Avery talked about the Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy, who was testifying this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Cindy Anthony has been a very powerful witness in this case, probably up to this point the most dramatic witness for the defense. The difficulty in what happened on Thursday and Friday is that I think Cindy Anthony understands her granddaughter is gone, her daughter faces lethal injection with the conviction and she has taken off on the -- in a wild blue yonder on this issue of chloroform and chlorophyll.
WHITFIELD: She looked it up because she - at least she testified and she also said in deposition that she thought her dog was sick, maybe had eaten some bamboo, and so she went to look for a component of bamboo, chlorophyll then chloroform would pop up and you take it from there. Do you think the jury buys that?
FRIEDMAN: It is just so odd. I don't think so. Look, chloroform was deleted from the computer 84 times. And there was no inquiry about that with Cindy Anthony. It is really a preposterous part of the defense. Again, we understand Cindy. We understand the loss of her family. We understand the motive for not being forthright about that. But it just is not working.
WHITFIELD: What is interesting then, Richard, is that then the prosecutor then spent a little bit of time with Cindy trying to establish, well, here is the date you may have been at work. Might the prosecution be trying to figure out, all right, if she was at home, they have some time stamps of when, you know, the searches took place of the chloroform versus chlorophyll, if she was at work at that time and it couldn't have been her, even though she said well the computer could have been on and I'm not sure what the computer is doing when I'm at work.
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, listen, Fred, the bottom line here is, yes, there may have been a punch-in at the office when she went there. She testified the records are gone. Nobody can verify her work record whether she was there or not then. But this was devastating evidence to the prosecution. I'll tell you why.
WHITFIELD: Why? HERMAN: The entire chlorophyll theme, chlorophyll that's the murder weapon, that's what, did it and premeditation that Casey looked it up, she told them years ago in a deposition she was the one to do it. For the prosecution to get up in their opening and be so disingenuous and ignore this bombshell which Cindy gave and you can't have it both ways, Avery, you can't say she's a great prosecution witness, and we love her, but she's a horrible defense witness. You can't do that.
The prosecutor has to be very careful when they cross-examine her because she was one of their star witnesses. This was her testimony. She looked up chlorophyll. I think it is believable. They're going to take this information and run with it. It is very, very powerful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: You can catch our legal guys every Saturday at noon Eastern.
A look at our top stories now. A visit to a water park turned out to be anything but fun for six kids. They're in the hospital with severe gastrointestinal illnesses from an E. coli outbreak. Environmental officials say they will test chemical levels in the parks in door splash pool before it is reopened.
And two men accused of plotting an attack on a military processing center in Seattle are under arrest. They're facing firearm and terror-related charges. Muslim leaders there talked about the case yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AZIZ JUNEJO, SEATTLE MUSLIM COMMUNITY SPOKESMAN: If he has done something against the law, that is not peaceful, then we are against him, too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Investigators say the men intended to use machine guns and grenades in the foiled attack.
A Michigan parole board has voted to free former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick. He served about one year of a five-year sentence on state charges linked to obstruction of justice charges, stemming from his efforts to conceal an extramarital affair. He is scheduled to be released in about a month, but still faces federal charges.
Keeping watch on the rising river in Minot, North Dakota. We could see it crest in about nine hours or so from now. About a fifth of the city is underwater with the floodwaters already at record levels. Now, people in the nearby small town of Sawyer are being told to investigate -- to evacuate, rather.
All right. More than 11,000 people in Minot, North Dakota, have already been forced to grab what they could and head for higher ground.
Stuart Dull is one of them who had to make a run for it. He joins us now from Minot.
All right. Stuart, first, tell me what did you grab when you heard it is time to evacuate?
STUART DULL, LOST HOME IN MINOT FLOOD: You know, the first thing you grab is your family. I got two kids. I grabbed my youngest, she's 5, and I grabbed my son, he's 15, and he was a huge help. I tell my wife to just gather up what you need to live for that moment -- clothes, some shoes, some underwear.
Your mind just goes crazy. You don't know what to grab, what you're going to need. You're, you know -- and inevitably you end up kind of wandering around just grabbing things that other people might find silly. There is always -- you grab some comfort items and things like that -- just, I think a lot of it is you're in shock because, really, there was very little warning of what was going to happen. Like I say, it is mostly just clothes and make sure your family is safe.
WHITFIELD: Was the water already close to your house when it was time to go? Or what kind of notice were you given when it was time to round everybody up?
DULL: Well, about -- I think about two and a half weeks ago, there was a scare. We evacuated a lot of the stuff from our house. Then, nothing -- the water came up, but it didn't breach the dikes. We had kind of moved back into our house with just some necessities. And that was on Friday.
And then I believe it was Tuesday, it hit again and the reports were this is actually -- this is the big one. So I guess really the warning was, you know, maybe two days' worth of warning and the bad part about that is you think two days, that's a good chance, but to get a lot of things out, but it is not like you're moving to a different house. You're moving to somebody's garage. You've got a very limited space of where you want to put this stuff.
And so, you really just got down to bare essentials. What do I need to live right now and then you start thinking a little farther than that, what am I going to need to exist when I can move back into my house or --
WHITFIELD: And have you -- and have you seen your home or heard anything about whether you will be moving back into your home once waters recede?
DULL: Well, you're not supposed to go back into the area, but I guess, maybe in me, I snuck back in to take a look. And I -- the closest I could get was about three blocks away. I could see the house behind us --
WHITFIELD: And --
DULL: And I could see our roof. And from what I could assess I would say the water is probably about four foot into our living room.
WHITFIELD: Oh, boy. DULL: So our basement is definitely flooded.
WHITFIELD: So, what did you feel when you saw that?
DULL: You know, I guess words kind of escape me for what I felt. It's a sense of despair, you just -- it is really maybe a check on some of the things that you hold dear. I mean, I was glad my wife was with me. I was glad my kids were safe.
I'm thankful for my family. I'm thankful -- thankful we do have family here in town and they have been awesome. They have helped -- taken care of us. They take us in.
And this community that we live in is -- they're absolutely great. I mean, you ride around and there's people helping out people and strangers helping people move, and there's so many nice things to say about our community that we live in here. There's -- everyone is so helpful and the mayor seems like he's doing a good job.
I mean, the news crew here in town, they're informative, they tell you, and a lot of those guys are losing their house, too. So, you can tell they actually care. I just can't say enough about living in this town with everything that is going on. It doesn't make it any better you're losing your house, but I shouldn't say that, I guess it does. It is comforting to know that people care for you and people care about you, even strangers around here, they care.
WHITFIELD: So, suddenly, it has become an even closer knit community than you ever imagined before. Did you all have flood insurance? Is that even a thought that is crossing your mind at this point about, you know, whether you have it and looking forward to exercising that, or feeling that defeat that you don't have it?
DULL: You know, that's a great question. We had talked about flood insurance, but we don't live in a floodplain. And, you know, you ask them about it, oh, you don't need it, you don't live in a floodplain. Then you get to check in on it.
There are so many stipulations on flood insurance. It has to come in at this rate, it has to -- it only covers just almost nothing. I mean, it covers structural damage. I think that's only like a percentage of it. It doesn't cover drywall. It doesn't cover carpet.
Anything they deem that you can remove like carpet, which I don't know about anybody else, my carpet doesn't come up that easy. It's actually attached to the floor.
So, I mean, flood insurance is kind of a hot topic around here. It's -- you feel like -- I mean, if you did have it, there are so many stipulations and this and that's on it, it would be worthless if you did. You know, it doesn't cover your washer, your dryer, none of that kind of stuff. So, that's some of the first thing we got out of there, the washer and the dryer.
But, you know, and then you start hearing about FEMA and word is now they have declared this area where they're going to help us out some, but I guess I haven't seen anything yet. And, I mean, my only reference point is sort of flooding or anything is Katrina. And I guess, you know, you hear about trailers and things that were moved in for Katrina. I haven't seen any trailers here yet. I mean, yes, this community is great and there's people taking people in to live in their houses and I'm living in somebody's basement.
But I don't know how long this is going to last. We got to get the water out. We got to rebuild. We got to -- there's hotels around here. There's no nothing.
I mean, it's only a small town. It's only 40,000-some people. Sooner or later, I mean, people don't want to try to return back to some form of the life they had before. I mean, if the government did help and (INAUDIBLE) some trailers or something up here and build some little community kind of thing where -- I mean, you could get out and try to get back to some privacy and things like and some semblance of normalcy.
WHITFIELD: Stuart Dull, I know, you're staring at a very long road ahead and that is what's going through the minds of many people who are in very situation, what you're dealing with right now and what's going to happen in the immediate and then long term. We wish you all the best. Thanks so much for your time.
DULL: Well, thank you.
WHITFIELD: Stuart Dull there in Minot, North Dakota.
Well, this man is real pro at the starting line. Face to face with 21-year-old NASCAR phenom Joey Logano.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Top NASCAR racer Joey Logano, number 20 on the track, has loved cars and racing since he was 6. Now, at age 21, he's smoking up the stock car circuit, face to face, at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. He told me how much he both admires and is inspired by the NASCAR greats of yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: You know who he is?
JOE LOGANO, NASCAR DRIVER: How are you? Good, good, good. What's up?
So, yes, it is cool. We walk through here and a lot of fans here obviously. I think the cool part about this part of the hall of fame is you see all the race cars, how they changed from the beginning. And walk up the hill here and see, you know, how the race cars have changed.
You got Earnhardt's car and Gordon's car, all champions and stuff in here. It's cool. You have modifieds down there, a neat race car. It is just -- they look pretty much the same as they did back then.
WHITFIELD: How would that change your driving experience, you think?
LOGANO: As far as being able -- being in a different race car?
WHITFIELD: Yes. If you were in any one of these different cars?
LOGANO: I think you always got to be able to adapt, you know? And I think I was able to do growing up, drive a lot of different race cars and being able to adapt to certain race cars. So, every one of these cars up this hill are driving completely different than the next.
WHITFIELD: Are you ever interested in Indy or are you ever interested in trucks or are you ever interested in Formula?
LOGANO: You know, racing is racing. You know, I would want it drive anything.
WHITFIELD: Really?
LOGANO: I love NASCAR, though. And stock car racing is where I want to be. I feel like that's where the best racing is.
WHITFIELD: So, what's it like when you look at the fans here, whether it's in the stands or here at the hall of fame.
LOGANO: It's great. No, I think it's awesome. We wouldn't be here without the fans. There wouldn't be a hall of fame. There wouldn't be a Joey Logano the race car driver. We wouldn't be doing this interview right now if it wasn't for the race fans.
WHITFIELD: If something happens, though, as soon as you, you know, get into an arena and you see thousands, 170,000 people in the stands -- does that kind of give you an added adrenaline rush, does it make you nervous, do you think to yourself, oh, my gosh?
LOGANO: You don't realize -- when you're in the car, you don't realize there's a lot of people watching you. You just -- you go out there and race.
WHITFIELD: You kind of turning on your gig.
LOGANO: But when you get out of the car, (INAUDIBLE), for one thing, you know, I think it's really cool, the night race. It's always something neat about it. There are so many fans there. That's one place I feel like a stadium, you know? I mean, that place is full and they do the National Anthem and fly over and all that. You're out of the car, you see it all and experience it and hear the fans, that's so cool.
WHITFIELD: As you walk down here and look at the vehicles, you got a favorite or a fantasy ride that you see here?
LOGANO: Obviously, the Richard Petty car here. Bobby Isaac's car. I think really cool, Richie Evans car up there, and the modified.
You know, for me growing up north, modified racing is huge. And, you know, to this day, I got to drive one before. And it's the most fun race car I've ever driven.
WHITFIELD: Really? What makes that experience so special?
LOGANO: The fact that it is just, you know, they're pretty light. They got a lot of rubber, and they have big fun persona.
And you ever get to watch a modified race at your local short track, it is the most entertaining race you ever go to. It's just crazy. You can beat and bang, cars are tough. And they're fun to drive. They're really fast. I think it's best short track car you can possibly have like that.
WHITFIELD: Is that probably because it is complete opposite with the stock car racing where, you know, you don't want to bump? I mean, that's not the objective when you're going 200 miles per hour. That's going to be a wipeout.
LOGANO: We fight aero every weekend when we go to the fast race tracks. And, you know, you get behind someone and make them lose, you can get on their door and make them really lose. These people taking the air off to you and really adjusting what your car is doing while you're in there.
So, it's a different way. But the same thing is still happening.
WHITFIELD: Joey Logano, thanks so much.
LOGANO: All right. Thank you. I have fun. I appreciate it.
WHITFIELD: All the best. I'm sure one day you and your car will be right in here.
LOGANO: I hope so.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: In our next hour, face to face, I talk with both Joey Logano and NASCAR driver Jason Leffler about going so far in a sport that goes so fast.
All right, the price at the pump could detour your summer plans. But our Joe Carter has some travel tips that can make the gas last when you're on the go.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE CARTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The summer road trip is here. And getting most miles out of a tank of gas is key to saving money. Just how you fill up is important.
MARK ORWOLL, TRAVEL AND LEISURE: Don't top off the tank. What can often happen is you can spill some, of course, but gas can get trapped in the hose. So when that gas pump clicks off, stop fueling.
CARTER: And when you're done, make sure the cap is tight.
ORWOLL: That will stop the loss of fuel through vaporization. So click that gas cap.
CARTER: How you drive also affects your mileage.
ORWOLL: When you're driving in the city, avoid jag rabbit starts.
By flooring that gas, you are just wasting fuel. Slow down before you get to the intersection. And then gradually speed up. You're going to save a lot of money on gas that way.
CARTER: Cruise control efficiently keeps a steady speed. And you can save more if you slow down.
ORWOLL: Drive 55, instead of 65 on the highway. That can save you about 5 percent in terms of your fuel efficiency.
CARTER: Getting your car tuned up can also help make every drop count -- for your next trip "On the Go."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: Officials in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, were definitely not assumed when some self-styled artists took liberty with an iconic monument.
Take a look at this picture. It's a communist era statue, a tribute to the Soviet soldiers who invaded Bulgaria in the 40s. Well, someone made them look like comic book characters, you see the Joker in there? Call it art, call it vandalism, the color job did not go over well with everyone.
So, we've got update today from Ralitsa Vassileva.
This is actually her hometown. So, she's got the inside scoop on how this all unfolded.
Is there now an answer to who did this? Who done it?
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: There's no answer to who did this, the still unknown artist, just like it appeared of all of sudden, in the middle of the night. It was painted. It was also done in the middle of the night and the Sofia authorities finished up in the morning.
But again someone cleaned it up and there's speculation, some say it was the artists themselves possibly because they couldn't bear to see somebody else doing it for them. But that's all speculation.
WHITFIELD: Washable paint. Or how they were able to do that and no one saw them.
VASSILEVA: Well, that's what they say, nobody saw them.
But, Fred, this is really also a very serious debate and issue that has been going on for more than 20 years since -- WHITFIELD: Should it stay, should it go?
VASSILEVA: Exactly -- since communism fell. Those who wanted to stay say it's part of Bulgaria's history, whether we like it or not. And it's also tribute to the sacrifices, real sacrifices that the Russian soldiers, they gave their lives to liberate Europe from the Nazis.
But those who want the monument gone say, you know, we have to look at history objectively. Basically these troops invaded Bulgaria and imposed a communist system and dictator ship for 45 years.
So, the debate has been energized. One architect says he's never seen a work of art stir up such debate in the country. So, we'll see where it goes, but it hasn't been resolved.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: Not resolved. But it seems like it's taking years in which it became an issue of debate. Now, there may be, I guess, a quicker resolution to addressing everyone's concerns?
VASSILEVA: Well, I was listening to Bulgarian TV and there was an architect who said that they should have left it for a few weeks until people could actually evaluate this, debate it. A lot of people were appalled on both sides of the debate. They said this is not the way to do it, this was an act of vandalism. However, it's a legitimate point, and we need to discuss it as a society, we need to come to terms with it.
WHITFIELD: Fascinating stuff, Ralitsa Vassileva -- thanks so much, from CNN International. Appreciate that.
VASSILEVA: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: I bet you remember -- who doesn't remember Al Yankovic? He's back with his latest parody, taking on Lady Gaga this time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. It's back in a modified version kind of way, a viral video, Alexandra Steele with me to have a little fun with some things that have gone viral.
Last hour, we talked about something very interesting and now this, too. It's going to appeal to a lot of folks, especially those who love "Weird Al" Yankovic.
STEELE: Yes, there's someone to spoof.
WHITFIELD: For sure.
STEELE: There's no one bigger than Lady Gaga to spoof, right?
So, here, take a look at his new take on Lady Gaga's "Born this Way."
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
STEELE: It's good.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
STEELE: This is a great scene.
WHITFIELD: Wait a minute, they superimposed him, right?
STEELE: No, that's him, he's in drag.
WHITFIELD: No.
STEELE: He kind of claims it's a costume parade and actually she was thrilled by it. She said, you know what? It's a rite of passage for a big artist so, she's all onboard.
WHITFIELD: Oh my -- and, you know, we haven't seen Weird Al in a while. 1996 was his last production, and now, this one -- a comeback with a big bang.
STEELE: Yes, 13th album. So, what a person to spoof at this point, right, Madonna or Lady Gaga. It doesn't get any bigger.
WHITFIELD: Or Michael Jackson, right?
STEELE: That's right.
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Alexandra. Thanks. A little fun, a little viral video.
We'll be right back.
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