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Smart Cameras, Smart Pictures; Former IMF Chief Released; Duke and Duchess go to Montreal; Yemen's Economy Crippled; "Kids Off the Block"; Current U.S. Threat Picture; Thais Picking a Prime Minister; NFL Owners, Players Can't Agree
Aired July 02, 2011 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: So before the break I asked if you knew when Kodak released its first camera. This number may blow your mind -- it was in 1888. The 1800s, do you believe it? Technology has certainly advance since then, and the changes, well, they keep on coming.
Here's our Dan Simon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN SIMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The point and shoot camera as we know it is becoming less important. Many of us now are content with the pictures we take from our cell phones. But a new Silicon Valley start-up called Lytro is poised to shake things up with what it says is a revolutionary new camera.
Right now, it's just a tease. All you can do is check out some pictures on the company's website.
Not impressed yet? Well, watch this. You can change the focus of the picture after it's taken.
See this mom in the background? Baby is slightly out of focus. Click on him, and he becomes crystal clear.
Check out this cafe. The sandwich looks very good, but you want to see the man in the window? Just click on him and he becomes sharp.
Ren Ng developed the technology while working on his Ph.D. at Stanford. The breakthrough, he says, is the camera is able to capture more light than others.
REN NG, CEO, LYTRO: The key to this - at its core is such a powerful technology breakthrough that this will forever change how we all take and experience pictures.
SIMON: Just how much of a game changer is it? We spoke with Richard Koci Hernandez, a professional photographer now teaching at UC Berkeley. Lytro gave him a camera to test, but because the company is still in stealth mode, it put the device in a protective case so Hernandez hasn't actually seen it.
RICHARD KOCI HERNANDEZ, UC BERKELEY SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: It's masked. It's like a - it's like a - a brick of plastic. I don't know what - what it is. I really can't tell you what is inside there.
SIMON: But Hernandez says he was instantly sold after taking his first picture.
HERNANDEZ: You know, my jaw pretty much dropped on the floor. There's no question about that. I knew immediately when I saw what it could do that we - it was - it was just going to be a whole new ballgame for photography.
To be able to now shoot a picture and be able to refocus it later, all right? And not have to worry about, I think is a - is a big deal.
SIMON: Lytro has set up shop in this nondescript office building in Mountain View, California, near Google. It's so secretive still, it wouldn't even let us shoot inside.
(on camera): Lytro hasn't said what the camera will cost, but they say it will be competitively priced so they get widespread adoption.
It's worth noting that the company could have sold their license to this technology to one of the big time camera makers like Nikon or Canon, but it opted to hold on to the technology itself and build what it says is a revolutionary new product.
Dan Simon, CNN, San Francisco.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Revolutionary indeed. So be sure to watch more on technology developments every Sunday, 2:00 Eastern time right here in the CNN newsroom.
All right, here's what's happening this hour.
Americans planning to travel to the Mexican border city of Nuevo Laredo are being urged to cancel those plans this weekend. Texas authorities warn they have information that a Mexican drug cartel plans to target U.S. citizens in Nuevo Laredo for robbery, extortion or car jacking.
And wildfires in Texas are cutting into Fourth of July fun. The Texas Forest Service is reporting a record-setting 235 counties under burn bans prior to this holiday weekend. In many areas, that translates into a ban on fireworks.
Attorneys for Tucson shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner are appealing a judge's decision to forcibly medicate him. Prison doctors say Loughner needs to be on anti-psychotic drugs to control his schizophrenia.
Loughner is accused of shooting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others back in January.
In Florida, the murder trial that has captured headlines is now nearing an end. Closing arguments in the Casey Anthony murder trial are expected to begin tomorrow. Anthony is accused of killing her young daughter three years ago. She is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and misleading police.
A 71-year-old Seattle grandfather has been arrested for child murder that happened more than five decades ago. Police say Jack Daniel McCullough was living under an assumed named in a retirement community.
He's accused of kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old girl in 1957 outside Chicago. Here's the photo of the child from the cover of today's "Chicago Sun Times," including the child and the headline.
All right, here is one way to boost business - sell beer? That's exactly what two Sonic restaurants in South Florida will be doing soon. The move follows Burger King Whopper Bars that recently opened in Miami, Las Vegas and Kansas City that actually sell beer.
And there's a new women's champ at Wimbledon. Petra Kvitova sealed the deal with that ace, upsetting Maria Sharapova in straight sets.
On the men's side, defending champ Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will play for the big prize tomorrow.
Former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn is out on house arrest and this is new video of him walking out of his apartment building this afternoon. His attorneys said prosecutors did the right thing by acknowledging his sexual assault accuser told, quote, "Substantial lies about her own background and the facts of this case."
Earlier I spoke to our legal guys Richard Herman and Avery Friedman about the Strauss-Kahn case, and they were fired up.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I think this is the most electrifying legal development of the year. And I'm not going to be critical, by the way, of the prosecution. They had forensics. They really didn't have a choice. This guy was gone, and the fact is that the opportunity for prosecution to develop the case, to get it to the grand jury, was a - a relatively short window.
But the - to its credit, Cyrus Vance went public yesterday and said, look, there are such severe credibility issues that if we're going to do justice, at least in terms of meeting its burden of beyond a reasonable doubt, the case has to end.
WHITFIELD: So -
FRIEDMAN: It just must end, and Cyrus Vance did the right thing.
WHITFIELD: OK. So what's -
FRIEDMAN: Absolutely.
WHITFIELD: -- going on here, then, you know, Richard? You - yes, Avery underscored there is forensic evidence substantiating that something - there was some sort of contact between these two, or at least that's the allegation, and, you know, investigators want to stand by that. But they have a problem with the story of the alleged victim.
How is it -
RICHARD HERMAN, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Right.
WHITFIELD: -- that perhaps this - I guess the story really needs to supersede that forensic evidence or at least match it, and that's the problem here. It just doesn't match?
HERMAN: Fred, the great Yogi Berra coined the phrase, it's not over 'til it's over. This case is over. This week, it will be dismissed. There is no way they can prosecute him for this, and there is way a New York jury will -
WHITFIELD: There is no way -
HERMAN: -- convict based on these facts.
WHITFIELD: -- even if there is forensic evidence -
HERMAN: Impossible. He can -
(CROSSTALK)
WHITFIELD: You're saying there is no way they're going to go forward?
HERMAN: The defense says it was consensual, number one. Number two, this alleged victim is now proven to be a liar on many issues, including claiming she was gang-raped - raped back in her own country. That was a lie.
You cannot have a rape victim on the stand, with her credibility on the line, who previously claimed to have been raped and was not. That's just starters.
Twenty-four hours after the arrest, there's a jailhouse telephone conversation with her and her boyfriend -
FRIEDMAN: Right.
HERMAN: -- who's in prison in Arizona, and during the conversation, she is telling him, don't worry, this guy has a lot of money and I know what I'm doing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, Avery and Richard, always on point with their legal arguments there.
So Britain's new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are on their first official foreign trip together. The first stop, Canada.
So we have a question for you. How many time has Queen Elizabeth visited Canada? We'll have an answer for you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right, Prince William and Kate are visiting Canada this weekend for their first official foreign tour.
Before the break, we asked how many times has Queen Elizabeth visited Canada. The Queen of England has traveled to Canada 23 times between 1957 and 2010.
Britain's royal newlyweds are expected to arrive in Montreal, Canada this hour. Prince William and his wife Catherine have been visiting Ottawa since Thursday and their busy schedule is getting even busier.
Our Max Foster is in Montreal. What's planned for them?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. They're really upping the pace today. They're going to two cities in one day, would you believe?
The first thing they did today was planted a - a tree at the (INAUDIBLE) they've been staying in in Ottawa, Rideau Hall, and they met some invited guests there, lots of people celebrating their wedding anniversaries. They then went on to the Canadian War Museum and met some war veterans, past wars but also the current conflicts in Afghanistan, and Catherine also met some military wives. She is one herself now, so she had lots to talk about with them.
Currently, they're in the air, heading towards Montreal, where they'll first visit a children's hospital. I think that's going to be quite an emotional visit, specifically for Catherine. She gets on very well with children.
And then they're going to be coming to this culinary institute where they're going to speak to students and cook food with them. And William is a very good cook indeed. He cooks at home, we're told. And Catherine, we're not so sure about, so we're going to get a sense of whether she can cook, too.
WHITFIELD: OK. And then what about the crowds? How have they been?
FOSTER: Well, the crowds are - are gathering here. You may or may not know, but Quebec isn't a - isn't a monarchy stronghold. It's actually quite anti-monarchy. They'd rather get rid of the monarchy.
But the polls are really interesting here, and they've been backed up with conversations I've had with Quebecans, and they're saying that they disapprove of the monarchy but actually they're huge fans of William and Kate. So William and Kate are doing great things for the monarchy here, it seems, a lot of people turning out to try to catch a glimpse of them.
It would be incredible if they managed to crack Quebec, because Charles and the Queen aren't that popular here.
WHITFIELD: Wow, so interesting. Some of the antis then might have a, you know, change of heart once they see the Duke and Duchess in person. FOSTER: Yes, it could be. And we were told there would be some protesters here and there's extra police actually gathered. No protesters at all.
And the other remarkable spooky thing about this couple is, every time they go outside, it's sunny.
WHITFIELD: Oh, wow! They have that Midas touch, I guess.
OK, so where next for them?
FOSTER: OK, so they come here and then they go to Quebec City. More protests expected there. If there are going to be any anti-monarchy protests, they will be in Quebec City.
Then, straight over to Prince Edward Island. They're going to be involved in some helicopter demonstrations. They're going to row against each other in a race. They're both very competitive, so that's going to be quite interesting.
Up to the Northwest Territories, to sit around a camp fire, speaking to local people there.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
FOSTER: Getting involved in local crafts. She's going to be beating moose leather, so that's going to be interesting.
And the - and the final stop before L.A. is Calgary, where they're going to get involved in the Calgary Stampede, which is a big - a big rodeo. They're going to be wearing cowboy gear.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness.
FOSTER: That's going to be incredible.
WHITFIELD: This really is a royal visit unlike any other, and I mean a plethora of picture opportunities. This is going to be interesting.
Max Foster, thanks so much. And you're there to witness it all, firsthand. Appreciate it.
OK, royal romantics, brace yourself. Here comes another bride and groom.
This, too, was very elegant and beautiful. And did anyone shed a tear?
Prince Albert, the ruler of Monaco, off the market now, ladies. He and now Princess Charlene Wittstock exchanged vows and rings today in Monte Carlo, reaffirming their vows after they were officially married in a civil ceremony yesterday.
And then onto other international news, Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, told his countrymen the rumors are true. He does have cancer. Chavez spoke from Havana, Cuba where he will reportedly stay for treatment for several months.
And there is not much ebb in the fighting in Syria this weekend. This video posted online allegedly shows a member of Syria's security forces shooting and taking cover in the city of Homs.
CNN cannot confirm this tape is authentic. It was reportedly recorded yesterday.
And what happens in Yemen is being closely watched. One reason for the scrutiny, al Qaeda is active there, and right now, months of political turmoil and attacks have crippled the country's economy.
CNN's Nic Robertson reports from Yemen where there are plenty of signs the economy may be on the verge of collapse there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A few minutes in Yemen's capital is all it takes to realize the economy is tanking. Shuttered stores line the roads.
(on camera): The Toyota showroom all but closed up, no cars left on the showroom floor. As you walk down the street here, more stores closed, this one, a transport company.
The next one, as you come down the street - and this is typical of what we're seeing around the capital, Sanaa, many stores closed up. This one here, a tourism facility, get tourist trips booked through here.
The only store that's opened is this corner shop here, selling just fruit and nuts, that kind of thing.
And this bathroom appliance store, this tells you everything you need to know about what's happening here. It says, for rent. They can't afford to run the showroom at the moment.
(voice-over): Inside the corner store, Ahmed tells me everyone's buying on credit. They barely have enough money for essentials. Ten people, he tells me, rely on his dwindling income.
Next door, at the bathroom appliance showroom, the owner's son shows up.
AMR HAKAMI, BUSINESSMAN: Due to the situation now since, as you can see, last February, 2011, everything stopped. No - no people are buying. No people are buying - like we cannot get raw materials for this, our factory.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Are you out of business now, effectively?
HAKAMI: Yes. No business.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Everyone is being hit in the pocket. Essentials like rice, wheat, sugar have all gone up, some more than doubling in price.
Yemen was never rich, the poorest Arab nation, average annual income less than $1,000. No margin to tackle rising costs.
Tensions are rising, none more so than in the lines for fuel snaking out of empty gas stations, snarling the city.
(on camera): This one stretches all the way up the road, as far as you can see, the situation here really getting a little bit volatile. Some people have closed the road up here. There's bricks in the road. They've closed the road. We just heard at least one gunshot fire.
That's the line for a gas station on that side of the road. If you look across the other side of the highway here, another line of cars.
The only way to see it properly is by car. We're going to drive down the line this way now.
It's just car after car after car. Some of them have been lining up for days.
And here's the checkpoint here. This is - people tell us this is an impromptu checkpoint. They're protesting, they say, that there's no fuel, and they're closing the road. But it's situations like this that have led to recent gun battles breaking out.
The front of the gas line is about a couple of hundred yards just down the road there. So how long have people been waiting here to buy gas?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We we've been here for 10 - 10 days.
ROBERTSON: Ten days to get gas?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ten days or more than 10 days.
ROBERTSON: And - and how are people beginning to feel about that? Is this making them angry?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, all people are very angry for these things.
ROBERTSON (voice-over): And if they do get to the front line, they're in for another shock, he tells me. The cost of fuel is rocketing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Four hundred percent.
ROBERTSON (on camera): Four hundred percent? It's gone up four times the normal amount?
(voice-over): Yemen's decaying economy, not its stagnating politics, could be the spark that ignites its already combustible streets.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Sanaa, Yemen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And making her neighborhood street safe one child at a time. Meet our CNN Hero, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: In recent years, Chicago streets have become increasingly dangerous. One mother opened her home to area youths and started a program called Kids Off the Block. That's why she's our CNN Hero of the Week.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIANE LATIKER, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: Guns, guns and more guns. These are our young people. These stones represent them. We're losing a generation to violence.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everybody's scared to come out, they get shot at.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they start shooting, you got to grab the kids and run in the house.
LATIKER: People run in the house and close their doors. They don't even talk about it.
But there's some people who are not scared to go outside, and I'm one of them.
My name is Diane Latiker. We opened a community center called Kids Off the Block. We're known as K.O.B.
They're kids that are in gangs. They're homeless. Some of them are drug dealers. So they got a lot of issues.
Who signed up for Youth Ready Chicago?
I tell kids this is a peace place. This is a safe place.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm really (INAUDIBLE).
LATIKER: We have leadership workshops, (INAUDIBLE) preparation, music. There's a range of things that goes on in here.
We started out with 10 young people, and the next thing I knew I had 15, then I had 25. At one point, I had 75 young people in three rooms of my house. And that's how Kids Off the Block started, in my living room.
We open the doors for the new K.O.B. center in July. Last year, we served 301 young people. When they knock on that door, they can come in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was 12 when I got in a gang. Robbing people, stealing. Miss Diane, she done changed my life. I love her for that.
LATIKER: I'm no different from nobody else. I just opened up my door. Why can't we all come outside and see what's going on in our neighborhood? There are people here who care, and I'm one of them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Incredible.
Well, we always want to hear from you. Tell us about the heroes in your community. Send your nominations to CNN.com/Heroes.
All right, he's not a hero, but his job is to keep America safe. An exclusive chat with the anti-terror chief.
And later, I want to go 170 miles an hour. Legally, of course. Double thumbs up on that. I'll take you to the Charlotte Motor Speedway with one of NASCAR's best who showed me the ropes around the track.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: A look at our top stories right now.
A cold case solved in Chicago. A 71-year-old grandfather was arrested in Seattle for a child murder that happened more than 50 years ago. Police say he was living under a false name in a retirement community. He's accused of kidnapping and killing a seven-year-old girl outside Chicago back in 1957.
And closing arguments in the Florida murder trial of Casey Anthony start tomorrow. The prosecution wrapped up the rebuttal phase of the trial yesterday.
Anthony is accused of killing her two-year-old daughter. She decided not to testify. After closing arguments finish up, tomorrow possibly, her fate will be in the hands of the jury.
Rhode Island just legalized civil unions. They'll give same-sex couples new state tax breaks, health care benefits and other legal perks. The bill sailed through the state Senate earlier this week despite some strong opposition.
And Minnesota's government is now shut down except for central services. That means all state parks, the zoo, even rest areas are closed, forcing a lot of people to change their holiday plans. At issue, a battle over a budget deficit and whether taxes can be raised to offset it, a battle that pits a new Democratic governor against a new Republican majority.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. KURT ZELLERS (R), MINNESOTA: We have a brand new legislature that's all Republican controlled, first time in - in decades. But, for us, it was about the spending, and what we're spending in this year's budget, the one that we passed through the legislature, is the largest budget in our state's history, over $34 billion in state funding.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: After a rash of incidents with air traffic controllers falling asleep on the job, the FAA is making changes. According to new rules, air traffic controllers will be allowed to listen to the radio and read printed material while on duty after 10:00 P.M. The changes are expected to help them deal with fatigue and to try to keep them alert.
President Barack Obama nominates a new anti-terror chief. He wants Matthew Olsen to take over as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center. Olsen's main job will be to keep America safe.
In an exclusive interview with CNN's Jeanne Meserve, the current counterterrorism chief gives us an inside view of the threats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL LEITER, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL COUNTERTERRORISM CENTER: This is where 24 hours a day, seven days a week, information from every element of the U.S. government and from around the world come together in one place.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The National Counterterrorism Center was created after 9/11 to better integrate and analyze intelligence and mitigate the possibility of again failing to connect the dots.
(on camera): So these are your foot soldiers, as it were?
LEITER: These are. These are the - the sergeants and the noncommissioned officers who are working every day, finding those nuggets and making sure that we can detect threats before they materialize.
MESERVE (voice-over): It is a big job.
LEITER: We are awash in threats all the time, so it is filtering through those. And, right now, we don't see anything of particular concern.
MESERVE (on camera): Awash in threats all the time. What do you see here? And what do you see in terms of trends?
LEITER: Well, we see over 6,000 to 10,000 pieces of intelligence related to terrorism here every day; 40, 50 threats a day that are of particular concern to us. And the threats are, especially over the past two years, far more diverse than they used to be.
MESERVE (voice-over): Leiter's greatest concern right now, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is exploiting the current unrest in Yemen.
(on camera): Do you see the safe haven there expanding?
LEITER: I think al Qaeda has taken advantage of some of the disruption, especially in the south of the country, and that's a real concern for us.
MESERVE: Does it present an opportunity for the United States, in some way? Is this the moment perhaps to take action?
LEITER: We look at this as an excellent time to take the fight to the enemy.
MESERVE (voice-over): That includes al Qaeda central, which Leiter believes is vulnerable after the death of Osama bin Laden. Though Leiter he says bin Laden's successor Ayman al-Zawahiri is among those who may try to exact revenge.
LEITER: I think certainly the desire is there. The question is, do they have the capability? That's why, again, we're trying to hit them during a period of real vulnerability.
MESERVE: Leiter says the raid on the Lin laden compound was one of the high points of his tenure. He says relief was the dominant emotion in the White House Situation Room when bin Laden was killed.
LEITER: I wouldn't say rejoicing. We really didn't rejoice. For me, knowing that we had closed a bit of the story, turned to a new chapter for the families in their memory, I think that was the most rewarding thing. I know after the event, I called one of the families of the victims of 9/11. And to speak to them and know that we could show that we had been working this for so long and so hard, and have some success -- that was incredibly gratifying.
MESERVE: The low point, he said, was Christmas Day 2009, when a Nigerian named Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to light a bomb concealed in his underwear and bring down a jetliner over Detroit.
LEITER: I think we thought we were doing everything we could and we thought we were doing everything well, and it turned out we missed one. And us missing one almost led to a tragic death of many, many people. So, that was a tough moment, and tough months after it.
MESERVE: Was it a wake-up call?
LEITER: I think it was a wake-up call. And I think the organization at that point, and I at that point had an opportunity to make a choice. Did we kind of curl up and die? Did we not accept legitimate criticism? Or did we take the legitimate criticism and prove the center?
And I think we chose the latter. And I'm quite proud of that.
MESERVE (voice-over): When the Christmas Day plot unfolded, Leiter went on a previously scheduled ski vacation with his young son. The White House officials said they approved it, Leiter was criticized.
LEITER: I'm not sure that people understand in reality, you're not really on vacation. And the constant communications you're in in these jobs. But I have regrets because it left an image of NCTC and it left an image of the counterterrorism community as not being 100 percent focused on these issues all the time.
And I was extremely regretful and continue to be that my choices ended up reflecting badly on the organization and the administration. I'm very sorry about that.
LEITER: Mike Leiter is stepping down because, he says, it's good for the agency to have new leadership with new perspective. And after four and a half years running at 100 percent capacity 24 hours a day, he is ready to slow down a bit.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This holiday, weather means different thing to different parts of the country. In fact, it's quite alarming if you're in the Los Alamos area, how dry it is, and the winds have really kicked up.
KAREN MAGINNIS, AMS METEOROLOGOIST: Yes. And they are breezing. They're not as high as they were, but we still got that terrible fire danger across much of New Mexico. This is the number one priority fire in the country.
Now, in west Texas and north central Texas, they've had over 3 million acres that have burned due to fires this season. But we're only seeing some spotty shower activity well to the north of Albuquerque and right along the Arizona/New Mexico In border. But these are barely enough to do much in the way of a dent as far as fires are concerned.
Take a look at what's happening as far as our temperatures go. And for Chicago, you are looking at a temperature in the low 90s. Now, typical for you for Chicago would be around 82 degrees. And do you know what? Here's what's going to be happening over the next 24 hours. These temperatures are going to be cooling down. Frontal system is going to be sweeping across this region, and as it does, behind that, some cooler air blows in so no 90s. We're looking at temperature in the 80s. So, that would be some good news.
But west Texas, well, it has been 35 years since no fireworks around the Austin, Texas area. But it looks like no fireworks there this year because it is so tinder dry. As a matter fact, almost all counties in Texas are having a fire burn. So, fire works.
Let me show this. Fredricka, I've told you about this. This was around Gulf Shores, Alabama. Here's a fireman carrying a hose and look what he's hosing off. Yep, the gators.
Do you know why? They made it through 1,000-acre fire, just kind of skipped over them. But they found a mud hole. An d so, they found the right place to be during a fire. And it's kind of funny to see them hosing them off.
WHITFIELD: That's why those prehistoric animal have been around so long. They're rather smart. They're survivors. They figure it out. Wow, that's extraordinary.
MAGINNIS: That's kind of interesting.
WHITFIELD: Great to get those pictures. Look at that.
MAGINNIS: All right. We'll tell you about the hot weather. Some showers right across the lower great lakes region. But for the Fourth of July, it looks like, generally, it's going to be hot. A few scattered showers here and there.
WHITFIELD: OK. Kind of the way it is all the time on the Fourth of July. Hot.
MAGINNIS: Every July Fourth.
WHITFIELD: Yes. All right. Thanks a lot, Karen. Appreciate it.
OK. So, who doesn't dream about being a race car driver? Well, I headed out to the Charlotte Motor Speedway recently with a couple of NASCAR's best, who showed me the ropes face-to-face.
This is what happens after 170 miles per hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Oh, I'm hooked. I want to be a race car driver.
JASON LEFFLER, NASCAR DRIVER: That was just a warm-up.
WHITFIELD: That's so awesome.
LEFFLER: That was just a warm-up.
WHITFIELD: That is so awesome. I thought maybe I was going to close my eyes. But then, I didn't want to miss anything.
LEFFLER: Oh, yes.
WHITFIELD: That's so wonderful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: That was a super ride with Jason Leffler there behind the wheel, face to face with Jason Leffler and Joey Logano after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: It's July Fourth weekend and that means NASCAR drivers are burning up the track. Fighting to cross the finish line first, 20- year-old Joey Logano and 35-year-old Jason Leffler. And guess what? It already happened. Logano scored a huge win this weekend, finishing first at last night's nationwide series race at Daytona. Right ahead of Leffler who came in second.
The Daytona Coke Zero 400 is tonight. I sat down face to face with both Logano and Leffler to talk about their fashion for stock car racing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So take me back, where this passion came from. You and your family are living in Connecticut. And somewhere this spark of go-kart racing and dream of something bigger come along. How does that -- what was the evolution of that?
JOEY LOGANO, NASCAR DRIVER: It's crazy. I mean, my family wasn't into racing. You know, my father played baseball and basketball through high school. Those are the things I tried first.
But I think the fact that I was not good at any of them. I found something I was pretty good at. I mean, that was the fact that I enjoy winning. I mean, no matter what it is, if it's not racing, it's, you know, playing a board game. Whatever it is, I want to win.
So, I think there was something I found that I was good at and I was able to win at. And I just liked it. You know, I was the kid with the race car bed and all the little Matchbox cars and all that. That was this kid here.
And, you know, with all the racing gear, all the NASCAR stuff, and I was just, you know, fortunate enough that I was able to follow my dream. And I mean, I never ever thought I would be racing, you know, in the Sprint Cup series like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart and all these guys that I watched on TV. You know, Mark Martin, I watched him on TV. I had his gear. You know, I wore Mark Martin stuff around and her I am racing door to door with him. I remember the first time it happened it was like, it's crazy. I was right next to the guy.
WHITFIELD: Wow!
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: Jason Leffler knows exactly how he feels.
Before sitting down with Leffler face to face, he took me for a spin around the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Before he put the pedal to the metal, so to speak, I asked him how he prepares for the major races.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: So when you're practicing, what are you working on? Are you working on speed? Are you working on the banks? What are you trying to focus on?
LEFFLER: You're working on speed. You're working a little bit of your technique behind the wheel of the car, because the track conditions change every day every time you come to the race track. But then the main thing you're working is your race truck, trying to set it up, communicating with your crew chief.
And we're not on the edge with this car. I mean, when you're on the edge, you know, you're not looking for seconds. You're looking for tenths of a second.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh! That is so awesome. I love it. I so love it. Man! Why a night start out earlier? I could be a race car driver.
Danica Patrick, look out because I am so hooked. You can have some competition one of these days soon.
I loved that. That was great. So, how fast did we go? Not that it matters because, you know, I can feel it on these turns.
LEFFLER: We're probably going 170 for sure.
WHITFIELD: Wow. That is fierce.
LEFFLER: We were going faster than the car wanted to go.
WHITFIELD: It felt good. Yes, I like it.
LEFFLER: You like it. I wanted to give you, you know, a real idea of what goes on out there.
WHITFIELD: Oh, you totally did. And I just tried to imagine all these other cars on the track and how close you like to be to that wall.
LEFFLER: Yes. Yes. We were not even that close to it. I took it out there one time just to give you a feel for it. But sometimes, you're inches off that wall. You go wherever your car handles the best.
WHITFIELD: Wow! That is fantastic.
LEFFLER: Pretty wild.
WHITFIELD: I loved that. I am really admiring your job.
LEFFLER: OK. Yes.
WHITFIELD: You've got a cool gig.
LEFFLER: It beats working for a living.
WHITFIELD: I'd say so. Okay. Oh, my gosh, I love that. That was so fun. I don't know how many times we went over.
That was another thing I noticed. You lose track of where you are. You probably don't. I noticed the threes and the fours for the turns maybe but --
LEFFLER: Yes, you can.
WHITFIELD: Yes.
LEFFLER: Yes. If you're not used to it, it is easy to get lost. Who would think it is easy to get lost when you're going in a circle. WHITFIELD: Yes. Thank you so much, Jason. I love that. Appreciate it. That was fun.
LEFFLER: I'm glad you enjoyed it.
WHITFIELD: Yes. So, what's with the steaming there? Do we --
LEFFLER: I think we ran the car a little too fast.
WHITFIELD: We did. That's all right. I got the full experience, the full effect.
LEFFLER: Yes, we wanted to give you the full deal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WHITFIELD: And you can catch the rest of my face to face conversation with Jason Leffler and Joey Logano in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.
All right. Let's talk weddings now. Royal wedding bells are again ringing. This time in Monaco. Full details from Monaco, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Wedding time -- royal wedding time in Monaco with this ring, a 33-year-old Olympic singer from South Africa becomes Princess Charlene, the wife of Monaco's ruler now, Prince Albert. Their marriage was made official yesterday with a civil ceremony and then today, they had a religious ceremony.
There were about 3,500 people, close friends who were in the audience. CNN's Richard Quest talk to a royal watcher who says the new princess should take quite easily to the palace life.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JULIET HEARD, MANAGING DIR., HELLO MAGAZINE: I think she's transformed over a number of years. I mean, you have to remember she's been with Albert now nearly five years. She's also used to being in the spotlight as an athlete. So that sort of side of it is not new. She's mixed with all sorts of high ranking dignitaries over the years in that capacity. I mean, she is famous in South Africa in her own right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Prince Albert and now Princess Charlene announced their engagement just last summer.
All right. Other news overseas now.
Take a look at this crowd. It is eastern Thailand. And these people turned out to support the woman they hope will be their next prime minister. Tomorrow is election day. Down to two main candidates now -- one of them is the current prime minister. He wants to keep the job. The other, if she wins, will make history.
Ralitsa Vassileva with CNN International here to break it all down for us and give us a clear understanding of the politics in Thailand and what that this means for people in the U.S., for example.
RALITSA VASSILEVA, ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT CNNI: Let's start first with the two candidates. It's fascinating, as you mentioned, if she wins -- her party has a slight read right now. If she wins, she will be the first female prime minister. She's 44 years old.
She's become very popular. She's been running just for the last month. But she is connected to the ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. He was ousted by the military in 2006 and now lives in self-imposed exile. And he himself has said that she is his clone.
So, the people who hate him and he is very much loved by the poor and very much hated by the elite, those people who hate him might not want her to win because she could give him amnesty possibly and he could come back. And then the military could step, which has been stepping in to oust him since 2006. So, that could create more instability.
On the other hand, we have the incumbent prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, who wants to keep his job. He is supported by the urban elite. He is also supported by military, has a lot of support in the south.
So, they're running neck in neck. If he wins, there could be turmoil again, because those who support Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted prime minister, who is living exile, could come out in the streets to protest.
WHITFIELD: So, already, how vocal are supporters for either one of those candidates?
VASSILEVA: Well, so far so good. The election has been preceding but the potential is there, because of what we have seen since Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted. He has been convicted of corruption charges. Those who hate him say he's been corrupt and authoritarian, a very divisive figure.
But it's interesting that his sister, Yingluck, has said if she wins, she will not necessarily try to help her brother. She wants to be her own person and that she will try to reconcile Thailand.
WHITFIELD: Does it appear there is a leader between the two, thus far?
VASSILEVA: Yes, she has the slight lead. Her party has a slight lead. But again, it's not clear if she'll be able to form the government because she will need a majority of the seats. If she doesn't get that, and also, the polls are notoriously unreliable in Thailand. So, we don't know one or the other will win.
Whoever wins has the potential --
WHITFIELD: And I wonder if people are worried about the validity of the voting process, the counting of the votes, you know, do people fear that they may not necessarily believe the outcome right away?
VASSILEVA: Well, there hasn't been a big issue with the credibility of the elections, however, there could be and the military steps in. The election commission is said to be closer to the establishment and the current prime minister. So, if they step in to disqualify some candidates and hand the win over to the establishment, then there could be a serious issue.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
VASSILEVA: This is a very interesting country. One of the oldest allies of Washington, a piece of trivia that I read, that Thailand offered Lincoln elephants during the Civil War to fight. So, that's how far into history their relations go.
WHITFIELD: Wow, fascinating stuff. All right. We will be watching. Thanks so much.
We will be watching with a keener interest and eye now that you have given us the lay of the land.
Ralitsa Vassileva, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
VASSILEVA: My pleasure.
WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, we're going to introduce you to a little dog that really knows how to move. You've got to see this video.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right, another piece of viral video that all animal lovers are going to love, Karen Maginnis, that would include us.
OK, what do we have here? This is a little poochy.
MAGINNIS: So cut.
WHITFIELD: A really little poochy.
MAGINNIS: You haven't seen this one yet.
WHITFIELD: Oh, look at this. This guy's good.
El Wily is his name.
(LAUGHTER)
WHITFIELD: This is not real. It cannot be real. Should we believe this?
MAGINNIS: He's got some moves going. WHITFIELD: This is hilarious, this little, you know, cha cha and Chihuahua.
Maybe a little flamingo style. Little chacha. He's cute, 400,000 views hit on YouTube.
MAGINNIS: He's looking for a treat, that's what he's doing.
WHITFIELD: That's it. And they put it to music. I like it. That's cute. My dog does not do that.
MAGINNIS: A little too heavy.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Karen. Appreciate that. Lots of fun.
All right. Let's talk sports now, the National Football League and its players still in a lockout. Do you know when the lockout actually began? The answer after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
WHITFIELD: All right. Before the break, we were asking about the National Football League and when they locked out players. Well, he's the answer, March 12th. That was 112 days ago.
So, NFL training camp usually starts in July, but as the lockout continues, many are wondering why the two sides simply can't agree.
Here's CNN's Joe Johns.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, we're nearly four months into the NFL lockout and still no deal in plies, as owners and players argue over how to split up over $9 billion in annual revenue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pathetic.
JOHNS (voice-over): To say fans are getting testy would be putting it mildly. James Brown, a nationally known NFL sportscaster offers his take.
JAMES BROWN, CBS SPORTS: I would like to think that prudent heads will prevail in coming up with something that effectively is a win-win situation and doesn't alienate your fan base.
When you look at folks who are dealing with day to day issues, being cut back to 80 percent and 90 percent of their workweek, and 90 percent and 80 percent of their pay and more, or others losing their jobs, home foreclosures, one has to be very sensitive to that.
JOHNS: President Obama is already on the record saying, work it out, and he did it with a little tone in his rhetoric.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: For an industry that's making $9 billion a year in revenue, they can figure out a way to divide it up in a sensible way, and be true to their fans who are the ones who obviously allow for all the money that they're making. So, my expectation is, is that they will resolve without me intervening because it turns out I've got a lot of other stuff to do.
JOHNS: Owners say the economic model has changed and that there's a need to restructure. But with the average career span of a player at about six years, players are reluctant.
Fans we talk to tend to side with the players, but they also say, get a deal done already.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a business, so they can come to a win-win situation. I don't think it has to be a win-lose. I really don't.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think actually both sides should just end it and get back to what they do.
JOHNS: As for the product on the field --
BROWN: I think absolutely the product will suffer if, in fact, training camps are delayed in a very significant fashion. And certainly one of the biggest concerns are injuries.
JOHNS (voice-over): If a deal isn't reached soon, training camps, preseason games and the regular season would be in jeopardy and stadiums like this one would go empty, meaning less revenue, which is something nobody wants -- Fredricka.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
