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Not Another Fukushima; Whitey Bulger Says He's Broke; Blagojevich Stunned at Verdict; Race For 2012 Nomination; Greece Protests Turn Violent; 'Game' Simulates Cyber Attack; The $300 House Challenge

Aired June 28, 2011 - 13:00   ET

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

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there, Suzanne, thank you.

Well, the water is still rising in Nebraska and not one, but two nuclear power plants are still under threat. But the man in charge at Fort Calhoun on the left side of the screen there, and now an island unto itself, is promising his neighbors quote, "This is not another Fukushima." The Calhoun and Cooper plants sit on either side of Omaha on the banks of the Missouri River, a river engorged by almost a year's worth of rain and a rapid snow melt.

The Cooper plant is online and, for the moment, on dry ground. Fort Calhoun has been shut down for maintenance since April but it is surrounded by water and protected by berms. The fear, of course, as we all learned from Japan, is knocked-out cooling systems. But operators in Nebraska insist there is no possibility of a meltdown. My colleague Brian Todd is there, and Brian, why are folks so confident that these plants are protected?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they make a distinction between Fukushima and this and one key distinction is that Fukushima was a sudden event and a catastrophic flood that came just all of a sudden on March 11th and swept away everything in its path. This was a predicted event, it came very slowly, they had time to get ready for it. They constructed berms on the outside, small levees and sand wedges to try to protect the buildings. And they say they've been very successful.

They let us inside, we got an inside look at some of the control rooms and some of the facilities, and one very crucial room where we saw video, real time video, of the reactor core through closed circuit TV, I think we have some of that we can show you here, it did not appear that the reactor core was damaged. They say it is not.

We also saw video of the room where the spent fuel rods are kept and that did not appear damaged, and they said it was not. Now, those two are very, very crucial and what they're trying to do is prevent those two from overheating. If the spent fuel rods or reactor core overheat, then you could have a meltdown similar to Fukushima but the officials here insist that's not going to happen, despite the fact that flood waters have basically engulfed this facility.

They -- but they say they've done a good job of keeping the waters at bay in those crucial buildings and not letting flood waters seep in -- Randi.

KAYE: And Brian, that was certainly an interesting look inside the plant there but are people who live near the plants still worried? I understand there is, what, a rumor control Web site?

TODD: There is, because officials here say they've gotten a lot of innuendo through social media and other things -- a lot of false reporting about a possible meltdown. They've heard reports through the blogosphere (ph) and elsewhere that they've lost power here which they say they've never have. They've gone to backup power in some cases, but they've never completely lost power and they say they have enough redundancy here to keep the generators -- to keep the power going which, of course, is crucial because the power has to operate here in order for the cooling system to operate to keep these -- the reactor and the spent fuel rods from overheating.

But people in this area by and large are pretty confident that they're going to be able to do that, and that they have done a very good job here, they say of kind of community outreach, letting people know what they're doing and the steps they're taking to prevent this place from, I guess, having a repeat of Fukushima.

KAYE: Brian Todd for us there. Brian, thank you.

And now to New Mexico, where nukes of a different kind face a different kind of danger. An out of control wildfire is burning much too close to the -- to the Los Alamos National Laboratory which is closed for a second straight day. Officials there say no fires are burning on lab property, no facilities face immediate threat, and all nuclear and hazardous materials are protected. A spot fire did break out on the lab's southern fringes but was quickly doused. More than 10,000 people who live nearby have fled their homes since Sunday.

In Orlando today, Casey Anthony's family, her dad, mom and brother, all returned to the stand as the defense team began to wrap up its case. The search for little Caylee Anthony's body and key players involved in finding her have been the focus of today's testimony and we heard from the meter reader who first found Caylee's remains.

So, I want to bring in Holly Hughes who is a former prosecutor and now a criminal defense attorney. You've been following this case very closely, along with us. One of the things that came up early on, they had George Anthony, Casey's father, on the stand, and they were suggesting that he had an affair with one of the searchers who was looking for little Caylee and that he had told her, they said, that Caylee's death was, quote, "an accident that snowballed out of control." Now, he did admit sending her a text message that he needed her in his life but he still claims that he never said that. How significant was that testimony?

HOLLY HUGHES, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That's huge for the state, because as you know, Randi, from day one, from the minute that Jose Baez, lead counsel for Casey, stood up in his opening, he has blamed everything in the world on George Anthony. The accidental drowning, the cover-up of the body, the fact that Casey is a big liar, OK, and admitted that Casey's a big liar. They have blamed everything on George.

So, what they're trying to do to the jury is continue to make him the bad guy, impugn his reputation. If you're having an extramarital affair, you are deceptive by nature, you hide it.

So, they want him to get on the stand and deny it and they want him to deny making that statement about an accident that snowballed out of control because now what they're going to do, they're going to bring Crystal Holloway to the stand, the alleged mistress, and she's going to testify to something different, but what will be interesting to see is how she explains the fact that she's got an alias, an aka of River Cruz, and we'll be able to see if they can impeach her because the state will be able to cross examine her.

She's been convicted of fraud, now typically, in our legal system, you can't bring up people's prior bad acts, but if it is a felony or if it is an act of deception, a crime of deception, which fraud is, then it can be brought in. So, I'll be interested to see if the state goes that route, if the judge allows it, and once again, you're looking at credibility of witnesses. Is George Anthony a monster or is this woman lying to get her 15 minutes of fame?

KAYE: I want to ask you about Roy Kronk. He's the meter reader, he was also brought back to court today and put on the stand. The defense has always suggested that he had intentionally taken Caylee's body and hid it. What did you make of his testimony today?

HUGHES: OK. We talked about this a little bit in the break. This whole theory of the defense to me is kind of like a Scooby-Doo moment, you know, when they say something to Scooby and he goes, Arr (ph)? Are you kidding, seriously?

KAYE: So, you don't buy that?

HUGHES: No. Does Roy Kronk strike you as a criminal mastermind, Randi? He's a very simple, hard-working American. He's like Joe the plumber from the Obama campaign.

KAYE: But he did say that he saw a skull, and that he also saw a rattlesnake.

HUGHES: Right. He sees what he thinks is a human skull but then somebody goes, but hey, look, there's a dead rattlesnake, and he gets all distracted. They picked the rattlesnake up. They take it back to their office and everybody comes out and takes pictures of it.

KAYE: We just have a few seconds left, but they are also trying to make it out that he might have been the one to put the duct tape around little Caylee's jaw, correct?

HUGHES: Yes. They're saying he found the remains, he reported it, nobody collected them, so he holds on to them, goes back and gets them, keeps them for four months, because you know, who wants to be caught with a child's skeleton? Apparently Roy Kronk, the meter reader. And then when he gets ready to go deposit them in the woods so he can collect the reward, he somehow comes up with the knowledge to reattach that mandible in the anatomically correct position, that lower jaw with the mandible, with duct tape that's found in the Anthony home and not sold in Florida, so somehow he comes up with that knowledge and then deposits it so he can call in and get the money.

KAYE: You might be able to see through it and I give you that, and that's why we have you on here to help us make sense of it, but the jury listening, you know, all they are trying to do is confuse the jury, and so this may very well be enough to do so.

We are going to talk with you more about this in the next hour. You're going to get back to watching the trial and we'll talk with you more on the latest.

When the law caught up with James Whitey Bulger last week in California, the alleged Irish mob boss had more than $800,000 walled up in his apartment. Next hour, he'll go before a federal judge in Boston to claim he can't afford a lawyer.

These are live pictures of him driving to court or being driven to court, very likely. In court papers filed ahead of that hearing, prosecutors say Bulger lived a relatively comfortable lifestyle during his 16 years on the lam. They say he bragged about his frequent travels to Vegas, to Boston, even and Mexico. Supposedly he told the feds he was armed to the teeth on the Boston trips because he had to take care of unfinished business, those were his words. He hasn't said what that unfinished business was.

His nest egg consisted of bundles of $100 bills, $822,000 worth. That's evidence now, of course. Bulger also claims to have left money with people he trusted and whom he's declining to name. As for the poverty claim, the government argues Bulger cannot be trusted to tell the truth about his finances. Cameras are not allowed in federal courtrooms but we'll tell you what happens in next hour's hearing, as soon as we learn that information ourselves.

Former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich says he is stunned by his conviction yesterday on 17 of 20 corruption charges. No sentencing date is set yet, but one expert predicts he could face six to 11 years in prison. After ten days of deliberations, a Chicago jury found Blagojevich guilty of wire fraud, extortion and bribery. The charges included allegations that Blagojevich tried to sell an appointment to President Obama's old Senate seat. One juror said she found the ex- governor genuinely likeable but she couldn't ignore the evidence against him.

Police clashed with protesters in Greece just one day ahead of a crucial vote on austerity measures. There were clouds of tear gas and plumes of black smoke from small fires. Officials say one demonstrator and three police officers suffered minor injuries. The Greek parliament is expected to vote tomorrow on a five-year program of tax increases and spending cuts so that Greece can win more European union financial assistance and avoid bankruptcy. Greek union leaders say a two-day strike that began today closed government offices, schools and courts and disrupted transportation. Herman Cain is mixing things up on the campaign trail. The former CEO is surprising some with strong showings in places like Iowa in the polls. He's here and we'll ask him about it coming up in just two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: It is a busy day in Iowa in terms of politics. President Obama is there to tour a plant and speak about the economy. Sarah Palin is there for the premiere of a movie all about Sarah Palin. And all this comes on the heels of Michele Bachmann using the state as the background for her presidential campaign kickoff. Iowa, of course, is the first caucus state in next year's election so that explains the interest.

Joining me now from New York is Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain.

Welcome, Mr. Cain, to the program.

I want to ask you about this. The Des Moines Iowa Register did their first Republican poll over the weekend. Mitt Romney and Michele Bachmann topped the poll and you finished a very strong third there, with 10 percent.

To what to you owe your success in the Iowa poll, do you think, and other recent polls like it?

HERMAN CAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, I think it's because I've been to Iowa now 21 times since the beginning of the year. Secondly, my common sense message about common sense solutions to America's problems is resonating with people.

And the second thing that I think is resonating is the fact that I've never held public office but they are-- people are being drawn to my problem solving experience from over 42 years in business. Because any successful business person will tell you that it starts with working on the right problems, surrounding yourself with good people, and also then putting together the right plans in order to execute.

And if you look at my track record, at Pillsbury, Burger King, Godfather's and the National Restaurant Association, I've had a diversity of problem solving experiences and I believe that's what's resonating with a lot of the people in Iowa, as well as in other states.

KAYE: Now to another one of the early voting states. New Hampshire, where your campaign is making some news today.

CAIN: Yes.

KAYE: Your state campaign director just quit there, questioning your commitment in the state. What do you say to his assessment?

CAIN: Well, I'd say that that assessment is incorrect. I am very heavily committed to New Hampshire. I have also been to -- I have been to New Hampshire about 14 times since the beginning of the year. And it's unfortunate that Matt did leave. I hated to lose him in all honesty, but he left for personal reasons. But we already have someone else that we will be announcing in the next couple days, along with some other people to round out our staff. So there's no question we are as committed to New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Tennessee and Louisiana because they're all a part of that big early voting primary season.

KAYE: From what I understand, he wanted more money to hire more staff. How many staffers do you plan to hire there?

CAIN: No, I don't think that was the reason what he was looking for. I think that is a mischaracterization. We haven't determined the exact number that we need there, but it will be enough for us to be competitive. And we are already working on putting those plans into place.

KAYE: Let me ask you about the support that you've been receiving from Tea Party folks.

CAIN: Yes.

KAYE: What do you say to people who say that Michele Bachmann is going to cut into that support?

CAIN: Well, I happen to think that the Tea Party has several candidates, Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain, and there might even be another one that they have, because the Tea Party movement and the people in the Tea Party, they are not all necessarily behind one candidate. So there's no one Tea Party candidate. And, yes, she will attract many of the Tea Party people. I will attract many of the Tea Party people over time. And that's because I have been involved in the Tea Party before it was cool. I gave my first Tea Party speech back in April of 2009 and I have been a Tea Party favorite and I have been proud to be affiliated with the Tea Party. So, yes, we will probably split that as time goes on. But keep in mind, Bobby (ph), it's still real early to see how things shape (ph) out.

KAYE: And besides jobs and the economy, what else do you think should be a priority for the next president?

CAIN: Jobs, the economy, jobs, the economy and entitlement restructuring. We can't continue to try and trim around the edges if we're really going to do something about this national debt. We must restructure Social Security. We must restructure Medicare, as well as restructure how we basically use the Medicaid funds.

And then another big one for me, Bobby (ph), is energy independence. I am already working on an energy independence plan so we can take advantage of all of the energy resources we have right here in the United States of America. I happen to believe that America has the ability and should be its own best customer for energy and not be so dependent upon foreign oil or other foreign sources.

KAYE: All right, Herman Cain, we wish you luck. We'll continue to watch your campaign. And thank you for coming on the program today. CAIN: My pleasure, Randi. Thank you.

KAYE: Thank you.

Greece is about to hold one giant yard sale. Jets, casinos and even roads could all be up for grabs. We tell you just what's going on and who's buying all this stuff in two minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Protests in Greece turned violent today. Take a look at this video with me. Police firing tear gas in Athens to disperse stone- throwing demonstrators who took to the streets to fight an austerity package that would secure financial aid for the struggling country. The package, a five-year deal of tax increases and spending cuts, is necessary for the debt-laden country to secure its latest bailout worth $17 billion.

For more on Greece's problems, the one and only Richard Quest joins me now from Athens. You can always catch him anchoring "Quest Means Business" on CNN International.

Richard, glad you're with us.

First, I want to ask you, why are thousands in Athens so opposed to this austerity package?

RICHARD QUEST, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For one very simple reason. They've already had several years of austerity, of recession, and the proposals being imposed on the country by the European Union and the IMF will create even more austerity, more hardship, and more recession.

And what the people here are saying is, there's no hope. It's time to start thinking about growth, but the country is being forced to have even more cuts, more spending cuts, higher taxes, worse pensions and working longer hours. And, Randi, what they say here is, that all the proposals will just make the situation worse. Unfortunately, when seen from the other European point of view, Greece is a bloated, overpaid and uncompetitive country and the necessary measures have to be taken. And that really is where we are tonight, with the parliament due to vote tomorrow on the next tranche of cuts.

KAYE: So will this package pass, do you think, Richard?

QUEST: Look, if I was a betting man, the money probably says just about, but it's a very finely tuned thing. And not only because the prime minister has a slim majority, some of the opposition may vote with him, some of his own party may vote against him. It's going to be a nail-biter.

And to add to this confusion, what everybody says here is, what's plan b. If it doesn't pass, what happens after that. And here the Europeans say, frankly, Greece, if you don't pass this measure, you're on your own. Now, that's when all bets are off, Randi. That's when we start talking about the Lehman situation. International ramifications. Yes, Greece's economy is a small economy, but the ripple starts here. And to use that famous phrase so familiar in the United States, what happens here could be the shot heard around the world.

KAYE: Yes, and you mentioned Lehman. I mean we're already seeing comments from Deutsch Bank, the CEO there saying that the situation in Greece could spread, causing a bigger fallout than what we saw with Lehman. What does it mean for us, do you think, and the world economies? What could the impact be?

QUEST: Greece on its own does not have the power to have anything like the effect of Lehman Brothers. We know where the debt is. We know who's got it. Some banks may get a nasty haircut. But, frankly, it will be a bad wound. It won't be a killer.

What's worrying is contagion. If Greece goes, does Portugal? If Portugal, what about Ireland? Then Italy and Spain. And before long, that's what the Deutsch Bank chief was talking about. It's the contagion effect. The fear that one goes, then the next one. And that's why they are so desperate to basically stop the rot here.

But you can only stop the rot if the people here are prepared, to mix my metaphors, to take the medicine on what's happening tonight. You can hear the demonstrations. They are loud. They are noisy. They are angry. They've been violent. And the politicians are starting to say, maybe enough's enough.

KAYE: In Athens, the one and only Richard Quest. Richard, thank you, as always.

It's just about 25 minutes past the hour and it's time to check in on some top stories that we're following.

Officials say floodwaters lapping at Nebraska's two nuclear plants are more of an annoyance than a safety concern. Even if water gets into the plants, operators say it will not set off a disaster like the one at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN HASSELBRING, NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DISTRICT: I'm 100 percent confident that we're not going to have an issue here. It continues -- if river level continues to rise, we'll follow our procedures, we'll shut down the plant, we'll do whatever is required to maintain our safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: A 44,000 acre wildfire in New Mexico has forced officials to close the Los Alamos National Laboratory for a second straight day. The lab is one of the nation's top national security research facilities. Flames were reported within a mile of the laboratory's property, but officials say all nuclear and hazardous materials are protected. At last, a little good news for homeowners. After eight months of declines, home prices rose slightly in April. According to a 20-city survey, prices were up 0.7 percent. Despite that, home prices were still down from previous year prices.

So what if your smartphone gets hacked? It's just one possible cybercrime that could put your privacy in danger. We'll go in depth on how security experts are devising a defense strategy. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: CNN "In Depth" today and we're looking at your privacy under attack. Imagine if your smartphone was hacked. Not just yours, but almost everyone's. It's a fictional scenario called "Cyber Shock Wave" and it's being used as a way to gauge how the government would or should react to a cyber-attack on a massive scale. CNN Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Up to 20 million and counting of the nation's cell phones have stopped working so far today in what officials claim is the largest communications crisis in the cell phone era.

JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: The reason? A cyber-attack. As government officials convene, there is one overarching question.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this an act of war, not a criminal act?

MESERVE: The infected smartphones show a video of the red army, raising speculation the Russians are behind the attack. Meanwhile, the crisis expands.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Incidents (ph) of identity theft and online financial fraud have increased dramatically.

MESERVE: Officials discuss the possibility of shutting down the infected smartphones, but government can't do it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm actually shocked to hear that we don't have this authority. If this was someone with smallpox wandering through the Super Bowl, we have would the authority to quarantine them.

MESERVE: Can the military assist? What powers does the president have?

JAMIE GORELICK, ROLE: ATTORNEY GENERAL: We are operating in a bit of a -- a bit of uncharted territory, as you know.

MESERVE: The attack is traced to a server in Russia. If the U.S. shuts it down, will the Russians see it as an act of war. And is Russia really behind the attack? Then more grim news. The internet is infected, the power grid impacted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are also now receiving alarming reports of significant and growing power outages in major metropolitan areas in the eastern half of the United States.

MESERVE: There is discussion of nationalizing the power grid or mobilizing the National Guard to protect it.

BENNETT JOHNSTON, ROLE: ENERGY SECRETARY: But keep in mind there are over 160,000 miles of transmission lines. You cannot guard every mile of that.

MESERVE: And the cyber-attack goes on.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And in corporate boardrooms and IT centers across the country, our nation's leaders are wondering if their networks are really secure and if this crisis might, indeed, spread into their systems.

MESERVE (on camera): This game and others like it have raised a lot of questions about roles and responsibilities, legal authorities, private sector cooperation and more. Government and industry are working through those issues and trying to find solutions but they are also working to improve defenses to thwart any massive cyber-attack.

Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Sarah Palin is in Iowa today for a big movie premiere. We'll tell you all about it right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Thirty-two minutes past the hour. Let's check the headlines in other news that you may have missed.

Nebraska's Fort Calhoun nuclear plant is surrounded by flood waters but the manager of the plant insists there is no likelihood of a disaster like the Fukushima meltdown in Japan. Officials say the flood waters have not breached the walls of the plant and that the necessary actions have been taken to ensure the safety of the material inside. The head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission toured the Fort Calhoun plant as well as Nebraska's Cooper Nuclear Station yesterday and says both plants are taking all the needed precautions.

President Obama is looking to rally support for his policies today as he visits Iowa, a state he knows is crucial to his reelection campaign. These are live pictures as we wait for the president to appear there. He is visiting the Alcoa Davinport works plant and will deliver a speech on manufacturing and the economy just about a half hour from now. You can see it right here on CNN.

After being hammered on the economy by Republican candidate Newt Gingrich in Iowa over the weekend, President Obama will point to the Iowa plant that employs more than 2,000 workers as a success story.

The presidential visit to Bettendorf is not the only show in Iowa today. It may not even be the headliner, actually. President Obama is going to have to share the spotlight with Sarah Palin, who is in Pella, Iowa, to attend the premiere of a new documentary about her political past. But it is her political future that has observers scratching their heads, like her bus tour around Memorial Day. Her decision to attend the premiere is raising more speculation that she will jump into the Republican presidential race, eventually.

U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords made a public appearance last night in Houston, only two weeks after being released from the hospital where she was being treated for a gunshot wound to the head. She appeared alongside her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, at a NASA awards ceremony where Kelly received a space flight medal. Giffords was shot in January, when a gunman opened fire in front of a grocery store in Arizona, killing six people and wounding 13 others.

In a time of violent protest, playing host to the Special Olympics has served as one of a few recent bright spots for the nation of Greece. An enthusiastic crowd gathered at the Olympic Stadium over the weekend to welcome 7,000 athletes from over 180 countries. They have come to Athens to realize their athletic dreams. Competition kicked off on Saturday with an opening ceremony that featured a performance by musician and songwriter Stevie Wonder, who you saw right there. The games will last until July 4th.

Coming up, we go inside one of America's poorest neighborhoods along the border and see why it's so important to make sure the people living here count.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: So when it comes to your state and your home, you want to make sure you count, that your tax dollars are making their way through federal and state funds back to you. But that's become a problem for census workers when it comes to counting the thousands living in makeshift neighborhoods called colonias, near the U.S./Mexican border.

Ed Lavandera takes us inside one colonia to understand why.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): I'm going to take you on an eye-opening journey into one of the poorest neighborhoods in America. This is the San Carlos colonia, along the Texas-Mexico border.

Walk through here and you'll feel like you're stepping into another world.

(voice-over): A colonia is a cluster of homes carved out of the most undesirable property along the southern U.S. border. In Texas, it's estimated some 400,000 people live like 14-year-old Anabeli Rendon.

(on camera): Who do you live here with?\

ANABELI RENDON, COLONIA RESIDENT: With my mom and my little sister.

LAVANDERA: The three of you live in here?

RENDON: Yes.

LAVANDERA: Wow.

RENDON: We have a one-bed. I used to sleep on the floor.

LAVANDERA: You slept on the floor?

RENDON: Yes.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Anabeli and her family are moving into a new house. For $200 a month, it's not much better.

(on camera): This is the house they're moving into. It's 264 square feet, there's going to be five people living in here. Three brothers and sister, two small children.

And they're still working on the house as speak here. They've been painting and this is the area that's of most concern. The big hole in the ceiling and it's been leaking water since we've been here.

Follow me inside here, and you can see this is what passes as a bathroom in colonias, and the owners aren't even sure that the septic tank or the sewage system here even works.

(voice-over): The roads aren't paved, there is no air- conditioning or heat, and finding water is a daily quest.

(on camera): So, this is life in a colonia. We've jumped in the back of this pickup truck and the man driving the truck is going to take us to the waterfront so he can fill up this tank and then he's going to start driving the neighborhood streets here in the colonia and fill up barrels of water for people.

(voice-over): Most of the people who live here make under $10,000 a year, finding work whenever they can. So, you'd think it the farthest thing from their minds would be the 2010 Census count. But Anabeli says the census sparks fear.

RENDON: I just think they're scared, like going out.

LAVANDERA (on camera): You think they're scared.

RENDON: I think so. Yes.

LAVANDERA: And why do you think they're scared?

RENDON: I don't know because -- I don't know, because most people (INAUDIBLE).

LAVANDERA: So they don't trust them?

RENDON: I don't think they do.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The census director traveled here himself to try to build some trust. Many in this group have relatives living here illegally, to try to assure them that the Census is not about deporting immigrants.

ROBERT GROVES, U.S. CENSUS DIRECTOR: The benefits of participating in the census are quite large. We return as a country over $400 billion a year to local areas, neighborhoods like this, cities and states dependent on census counts.

If you get counted, you get your fair share of that money.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: Ed Lavandera joins us now from Harlingen, Texas.

Ed, you visited a colonia near Laredo before the census was done last year. What was the result? Did more residents living in the colonias participate in the census?

LAVANDERA: Well, the census that -- the work and the focus that they had on a lot of those areas like the colonias paid off. The census records show that the Hispanic population in Texas grew to 37 percent of the state's population. Many people think that's directly attributable to these efforts, these outreach efforts to get more people involved and more people participating in the process. So they do think that it paid off.

They do still feel in many circles that there is still an undercount of the Latino population in the state for these very reasons. That a lot of these people, some of them might be legal citizens here in the U.S., but they have family members that aren't and so there's always the hesitation to participate in something that has to do with a government process like the census.

KAYE: All right. Ed Lavandera for us. Ed, thank you, as always.

And we have some breaking news just in to CNN. The International Monetary Fund bored just elected French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as the new managing director of the global lender. She was selected today. She will succeed Mr. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and she is the first woman named to the top position at the IMF since the inception of the institution in 1944. You may recall Strauss-Kahn is caught up in a sex scandal. He had to resign. He's facing charges of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York City.

So that is the breaking news. Christine Lagarde will now head the IMF, the new IMF chief.

Anger swells as the Greek parliament gets closer to passing painful austerity measures. We'll show you what's going on in the streets of Athens. That is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Today's Globe Trekking begins in Greece, where lawmakers are getting ready to vote on a package of tough new austerity measures. Unions opposed to the package of tax increases and spending cuts began a two-day strike today, closing offices, schools and disrupting transportation services. And thousands took to the streets.

(VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Police fired tear gas to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators. Authorities say three police officers and one demonstrator suffered minor injuries.

The Greek parliament is scheduled to vote on the austerity measures tomorrow. The European Union is demanding them in return for financial aid that will help Greece avoid bankruptcy. The president of the European Council says the coming hours will be decisive and crucial not only for Greece but for Europe and for the world economy.

Next, to Yemen, where people are waiting for the first public glimpse of their president in three and a half weeks. President Ali Abdullah Saleh was injured in a June 3rd attack on his compound and he's been recovering ever since at a hospital in Saudi Arabia. There is still no word on exactly when he might return home, but officials say he will make a television appearance from Saudi Arabia this week, possibly tomorrow.

Protesters have been demanding Saleh's ouster since January. He has ruled Yemen for more than 32 years.

An Iranian military display today included a threat against the United States. Iran says that it successfully test-fired 14 missiles and it boasted that Iranian missiles are capable of hitting both Israeli and U.S. targets. An Iranian commander declared that America has, quote, "made things easier for us," unquote, by putting garrisons in camps in nearby countries.

Iran also showed off what it said were its first ballistic missile silos. A military statement declared that the silos will allow commanders to fire missiles more quickly and says they are capable of handling long-range weapons.

Forty-six minutes past the hour, time to take a look at our top stories.

This just in to CNN, breaking news: the International Monetary Fund has just chosen a new chief. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde won the election and will start her five-year term next week. She replaces Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who was forced to step down after being accused of sexually assaulting a hotel maid in New York City.

Officials say flood waters lapping at Nebraska's two nuclear plants are more of an annoyance than a safety concern, even if water gets inside, operators say it will not set off a disaster like the one in Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRIAN HASSELBRING, NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER DICTRICT: I'm 100 percent confident we're not going to have an issue here. If it continues to -- if river level continues to rise, we will follow our procedures. We'll shut down the plant. We'll do whatever is required to maintain our safety.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: In Orlando today, the defense called Casey Anthony's father, George, to the stand in Casey's murder trial. Anthony's brother Lee is also testifying. Earlier, the volunteer Roy Kronk who found Casey's remains and testified according to the defense, he actually discovered the remains months before reporting them, an accusation Kronk denies.

NASA ordered the six crew members of the International Space Station to, quote, "shelter in place" yesterday when space debris came tumbling towards the station's orbit. Thankfully, an all-clear announcement followed 41 minutes later. NASA says an investigation is now under way to find out how close the debris came and where it was from.

All right. Well, I hope that you are sitting down because architects have designed a $300 home. That's right, a home that costs just $300 to build. We'll tell you about it right after the break.

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KAYE: Every day on this show, we do a segment called the "Big I." It's about big ideas, innovations and solutions to problems.

Well, today's "Big I" caught our eye because it's about keeping families safe, by creating homes for the world's poorest. It's called a $300 house challenge -- a challenge to architects, students and professionals to submit designs for, yes, a home that costs $300.

Why is this so important? Well, the United Nations Habitat estimates that roughly 1 billion people or 33 percent of the world's urban population live in slums, a figure that will only grow over the next decade.

You may be saying it's impossible to build a home this cheap, right? But experts across the globe beg to differ.

Eric Ho is one of them. He's the principal at Architecture Commons and one of the $300 house design winners.

Eric, thanks for coming on the show today.

First, tell us about your proposal and how in the world you can create a home for just $300.

ERIC HO, PRINCIPAL, ARCHITECTURE COMMONS: Well, I think we're interested in this problem because it's a tough challenge. I think $300 really, you know, a very ambitious target.

So, what we are trying to do is a couple things. One is addressing the infrastructure problem of sanitation -- basically, how do you provide a house that has sewage and drainage away from the house so that the people can live in a clean and sort of sanitary condition.

And the second approach is actual crucial, it's the creation of two micro enterprises that are construction-oriented. One is compressed earth blocks sort of industry. And the other is a micro concrete roof tile industry. So, the two together basically would be an investment for families together.

So, these families share this industry and the profits from it. But at the same time, this industry would create the materials, the tiles, the roof tiles for the house. So, those are free of charge to the communities.

And so, basically, the idea is sort of a positive cycle of improvements so that the people can live out of poverty.

And the third and, you know, one of the most important parts of this is the creation of village cooperative, basically, the community gets together and decides, you know, how do you take the money and improve upon, you know, the neighborhood they have lived in for, you know, years. So, that's the idea.

KAYE: And when do we see this submission of yours becoming a reality? Because it certainly sounds like there's a great need for it.

HO: Yes. We are working to see how we can work with the local community. I think that would be the next step to understand exactly what their needs are. And what their cultural sort of backgrounds are, because that's I think is the most crucial step to, you know, really take it to the people and, you know, ask them, you know, what do you need.

KAYE: And just really quickly, anyway that our viewers can help get involved? Maybe they're moved by what they see today?

HO: Sure, go to 300house.com and I think you will see a lot of posts of how you may be able to participate or, you know, donate. So, go to 300house.com.

KAYE: All right, 300house.com. Eric Ho, appreciate it, pretty cool stuff. Thank you so much and good luck with it.

HO: Great. Thank you.

KAYE: And for more on the $300 house project, you can check out my Facebook page at Facebook.com/RandikayeCNN. And don't forget to tune in tomorrow., same "Big I" time, same "Big I" channel.

All right. Get over the gas, that's the message from Michele Bachmann who says she is very serious. Your CNN political update is next.

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KAYE: Time now for a CNN political update and some foreign policy advice from one of the Republican presidential candidates.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer, anchor of "THE SITUATION ROOM," joins me now from Washington.

Wolf, what a treat having you on the show today. Who are we hearing from today?

WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR, "THE SITUATION ROOM": Tim Pawlenty, Randi, the two-term ex-governor of Minnesota. He's running for the Republican presidential nomination. And he's sort of low on the polls right now.

But he's delivered what his aides are describing as a major foreign policy national security speech today at the Council on Foreign Relations. No great surprise, he really went after the president on many of these national security issues, dithering on all sorts of things like Iran, the Arab Spring.

But he also specifically went after the president on the president's strategy in dealing with Moammar Gadhafi in Libya. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TIM PAWLENTY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In Libya, once the president of the United States says "Gadhafi must go" and he has, you can't let a third rate dictator thumb his nose at the president of the United States and the free world. Leaving him there indefinitely is not an option.

And now, whether some would argue whether we had a vital interest initially, we have one now, and which is you can't leave Gadhafi sit there because if he were to survive and re-establish any capability at all, I would guess one of his main motivations is going to be retaliation -- and guess who is it's going to be against.

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BLITZER: An ominous warning from Tim Pawlenty clearly making the case, not only regime change, but either the capture or the killing of Gadhafi, absolutely essential for U.S. vital interests right now.

So, it's a tough speech for Pawlenty, and it's one of the stops that many of these candidates are probably going to make on the Council on Foreign Relations, which is obviously the premiere sort of establishment foreign policy organization in the U.S.

KAYE: And, Wolf, let's talk about Michele Bachmann. She's getting some heat for comments during her Iowa stop yesterday. What's she saying about those today?

BLITZER: She's acknowledging she's made some statements not only yesterday, but over the course of these many months, indeed over the past few years. And she points out, you know what, most politicians make some misstatements.

She was on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" this morning, and she was asked the specific question about whether she was deliberately making these misstatements, false statements or whether there were just mistakes. Listen to what she said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People can make mistakes, and I wish I could be perfect every time I say something, but I can't. But one thing people know about me is that I'm a substantive serious. I have a very strong background.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And she's going around. She's giving interviews to all the television networks. She was not only in Iowa yesterday, New Hampshire today, she's on her way to South Carolina. She obviously is a very serious candidate. In the polls, the most recent polls in Iowa shows she's neck and neck with Mitt Romney in that state. So she's going to be a force to be reckoned with in this Republican presidential race.

Let me just add one other unrelated matter. Our own Jessica Yellin, I just want to alert all of our viewers out there right now. She is going to be our chief White House correspondent. That's good news for all of us. More importantly, it's good news for all of our viewers. She's a really terrific reporter. She combines knowledge, not only on the politics, but on the policy on this substance. She's going to be terrific at the White House going into this election year and beyond. So we're really happy that Jessica's going to be our chief White House correspondent.

KAYE: That is exciting news, Wolf. I know she's excited and we're excited, as well.

Wolf, we'll check you out in "THE SITUATION ROOM" at about 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Thank you.

BLITZER: See you then.