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Obama Holding Ohio Town Hall; Two Cousins Missing In Iowa; Heaviest Fighting Yet In Damascus; Traffickers Exploit Energy Boom; ; Air Force Court Martial; Florida Gets Access To DHS Database; Ford Recalls 8,000 Escapes; Deadly Flooding In Japan; Egyptian Captors Free Americans; Surviving Flesh Eating Bacteria; Olympic Security Shortfall; Hotel Adult Movies Under Attack

Aired July 16, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Suzanne, thanks very much.

I'm Martin Savidge, in for Brooke Baldwin.

Twenty minutes from now, President Obama is holding a town hall meeting in Cincinnati, Ohio. This is the president's eighth trip to that battleground state, if you're keeping tabs. He's there more often than the Cubs are to play the Reds. And he does, after all, have a lead to maintain over Mitt Romney. Recent polling shows that President Obama is leading Romney in Ohio by nine points. Dan Lothian is tracking things for us from the White House.

And, Dan, what's the president expected to say as he speaks soon? I think I have an idea. It's probably got a lot to do with Bain.

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And we expect the president to touch on corporate taxes and specifically how Mitt Romney's support for eliminating the taxes on the foreign income of American companies will lead to jobs being created overseas. We expect, at least according to the campaign, what they have told us, that the president will cite a report that puts that number of some 800,000 jobs that could be created overseas, 73,000 of those in China.

And what the president will try to do is make the connection between these jobs being created overseas at the expense of jobs in places like Ohio. And, of course, that is something that people in that state will be paying very close attention to. They've been hit over the last decade or so with job loss, especially in the manufacturing sector. The president has been touting how his bailout of the auto industry has helped to turn things around. But this is an issue that voters there are paying very close attention to.

But I should point out that the same thing that the president will be pointing finger at Mitt Romney for supporting, some of his own economic advisors have supported in the past, including some members of his export council.

SAVIDGE: We're looking at some live images as they come of the president down there in Cincinnati.

Let me ask you this. Mitt Romney's demanding an apology after Obama's deputy campaign manager suggested that he may have committed a felony over at Bain Capital. Is he ever going to get it?

LOTHIAN: Well, you know, the president said that he will not apologize for the questions that are being raised about Mitt Romney's time at Bain Capital. And the reason for that, and we've been talking about this now for several days, is that this SEC filing that shows that Mitt Romney was still listed in 2002 as the president, the chairman, the CEO of Bain Capital. This was long after Mitt Romney says he left that company. He puts that number -- that year, rather, at 1999.

And so the president says, you know, these are legitimate questions to ask because Mitt Romney has been touting his past experience, his resume, as a reason for him to be qualified to run this country. And he's saying that this is something that voters need to pay very close attention to. And a top campaign spokesperson today was saying, this is something that's resonating with the voters. The polling showing that they pay attention to this. And so we expect him to continue to hammer away at Mitt Romney on the issue of Bain.

SAVIDGE: And I expect he will. Dan Lothian at the White House, thanks very much.

A reminder, we'll continue to follow the president's remarks and bring you some of them a little later in the broadcast.

Mitt Romney, meanwhile, is spending his day fund-raising in the south. He's in Louisiana right now. And later he'll travel to Mississippi. The Republican is rejecting calls for him to release more tax returns. You are looking at his returns from 2010. And he promises to release 2011 as well, but that's it. Romney tells Fox News that he doesn't feel compelled to go any further than that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, this wasn't an issue. The Obama people keep on wanting more and more and more. More things to pick through. More things for their opposition research to try and make a mountain out of and to distort and to be dishonest about. We're going to put out two years of tax returns. We put out one already. As soon as the most recent year is complete, we'll put that out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Romney is also sharpening a new line of attack this week, hammering the president harder with accusations of political cronyism. The Romney team claims that President Obama has shown favoritism to his top donors at the expense of the middle class.

Now let's get you up on everything that's making news this hour. "Rapid Fire." Let's go.

A U.S. Navy ship fired at a small boat in the Persian Gulf today after it moved to close. The USNS Rappahannock, which is a fuel resupply ship, took aim at what officials describe as a pleasure boat 10 miles outside of Dubai in the port of Jebel Ali. Officials say the Rappahannock issued a verbal warning and then a warning shot before firing. One person on the smaller boat was apparently killed. He helped millions of people get their lives and their careers right on track. Author and motivational speaker Stephen Covey died in Idaho at the age of 79. Covey wrote the self-help classic, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."

A brief tornado in Poland caught on camera. This powerful tornado was captured as it ripped through a town in northwestern Poland. One person is dead, 10 others injured after a freak wave of storms battered that country. A witness reported seeing the tornado sucked up everything in its path -- birds, debris, even water from a lake.

Admit it, this looks kind of fun. The world's longest human domino chain made the Guinness Book of World Records in Shanghai over the weekend. One thousand and one people on mattresses toppled each other over.

We've got a lot more to cover in the next two hours. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And we just pray, Lord, that they are found and they are brought back to their families.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Few leads, but lots of questions today over the disappearance of two Iowa girls. They went for a bike ride then simply vanished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY MORRISSEY, LYRIC COOK'S MOTHER: So I'm really trying to stay positive and, you know, pray and hope that God just returns them to us safely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Now the search for clues. Anything to help find them.

Plus, the oil and gas boom in Texas, it may be good for the U.S. economy, but not for the drug war. Wait until you hear how smugglers are taking advantage of the easy access being carved out along our border.

And those two Americans taken hostage in Egypt. They have been freed just hours ago. Find out how it all went down.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Now to the story that is sending chills through parents across the nation. Two girls on a summer bike ride in Evansdale, Iowa, have disappeared. Eight-year-old Elizabeth Collins and 10-year-old Lyric Cook Morrisey. She's the one with her hair pulled back. They are cousins. Four days have now passed. About 900 volunteers have searched. And their bikes have been found near Meyers Lake. But investigators are no closer to knowing if foul play is involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MISTY MORRISSEY, LYRIC COOK'S MOTHER: Trying not to think anything negative, you know, until something negative shows up. So I'm really trying to stay positive and, you know, and pray and hope that God just returns them to us safely.

JODY MEHMEN, VOLUNTEER: I have grand kids. And it's sad, you know, that they're not found yet.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas Metz joins us now on the telephone from Omaha, Nebraska.

Agent Metz, thanks for being with us.

And let me ask you, first off, why is the FBI involved?

THOMAS METZ, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE (via telephone): The FBI, ever since 1932 with the kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's baby, we've had jurisdiction in (ph) investigations such as this.

SAVIDGE: So today the Evansdale Police chief announced that he and his investigators, quote, "are not asking for any additional assistance from the public." And he explained that further. Here's what he meant.

METZ: I have not heard that. I know that we are still -- the FBI is still taking telephone calls at the Omaha office. Telephone number 402-493-8688. I know that them the Evansdale Police Department, the Black Hawk County Sheriff Department and all the other agencies that are out there have been swamped with leads, which we are currently covering.

SAVIDGE: That's good to know. Well, let me just stop you from the minute. We'll play the sound bite from the sheriff so we can hear what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF DEP. RICK ABBEN, BLACK HAWK CO. SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Right now we just don't feel that putting more civilians out there on the street looking for us is going to be of any benefit. However, that's not -- we're not discounting anything. If, you know, if we get some information that comes in that looks like it's pretty good that we need to check further, we can always call those folks back out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Agent Metz, were you able to determine anything after the searches that took place this weekend?

METZ: No. We have -- I think what the officer is referring to is the fact this weekend members of the public joined law enforcement in searching an area around the lake. As I said earlier, we have received leads, which we're still covering. In addition to that, we have put Elizabeth Collin and Lyric Cook's faces on the billboards in three states in Iowa, Nebraska, and Illinois. We've also deployed our child abduction rapid response team and are in the process of calling out our human cent evidence team as well.

SAVIDGE: Give us the circumstances, as you know them, of where the girl were or when they were last seen. And their grandmother, I heard, was the last person to speak to them?

METZ: Yes. We -- around the afternoon of Friday, July 13th, they were last seen riding their bicycles near Meyers Lake in Evansdale, Iowa. Lyric was last seen wearing a light green shirt and shorts. And that is about all the evidence we -- information we have concerning her disappearance.

SAVIDGE: Right. The girls' bikes were located, I'm told. Anything else?

METZ: No, that's it. The bikes. And I believe one of the girl's purses.

SAVIDGE: And the significance of the purse? Is it valuable?

METZ: That's something I can't comment on at the moment.

SAVIDGE: All right. Well, let me ask you this. Is this a missing persons case or do you believe in some way, or do you have knowledge, that a crime may have been committed?

METZ: We're treating it as both. Both as a missing children's case and also looking at the fact, you know, possibly maybe something happened in the lake itself. So we're continuing to search the lake. But we're -- so we're pursuing two courses of actions in this investigation.

SAVIDGE: All right, Agent Thomas Metz of the FBI, thanks for joining us. And, above all, we wish you good luck in finding those two little girls. Thank you.

METZ: All right, thank you.

SAVIDGE: President Obama in the battleground state of Ohio, as we mentioned today. His eighth trip there this year. He's speaking now in Cincinnati at the music hall. Let's listen.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, I've got a different idea. So, for example, Governor Romney said he would extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans indefinitely. He says that until he puts tax plan in place. But his tax plan is not just to keep all the Bush tax cuts. As I said, he wants to put another $5 trillion -- it's estimated that it's almost impossible for you to bring down the deficit and deal with the debt with that kind of tax plan. Nearly 40 percent of these new taxes would go to the top 1 percent of all households.

We have not found any serious, economic study that says Governor Romney's economic plan would actually create jobs, until today. I've got to be honest. Today we found out there's a new study out by non- partisan economists that says Governor Romney's economic plan would, in fact, create 800,000 jobs.

There's only one problem. The jobs wouldn't be in America. They would not be in America. They'd be in other countries. By eliminating taxes on corporation's foreign income, Governor Romney's plan would actually encourage companies to shift more of their operations to foreign tax havens, creating 800,000 jobs in those other countries.

Now, this shouldn't be a surprise because Governor's Romney's experience has been investing in what were called pioneers of the business of outsourcing. Now he wants to give more tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas.

So I want everybody to understand, Ohio, I've got a different theory. We don't need a president who plans to ship more jobs overseas or wants to give more tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas. I want to give tax breaks to companies that are investigating right here in Ohio. That are investing in Cincinnati. That are investing in Hamilton County. I want to give incentives to companies that are investing in you, the American people, to create American jobs, making American goods that we're selling around the world, stamped with three proud word, made in America. That's why I'm running for president of the United States.

Now, the difference extends not just to the difference in corporate taxes, it's also individual taxes.

SAVIDGE: President Obama as he speaks to a supported crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio. His eighth visit so far this year. We'll continue to listen. You can continue to listen, actually, by going to cnn.com/live to continue to hear the president.

Meanwhile, moving on. A Syrian ambassador leaves his high-ranking post in the regime. He says he can't stand by and watch all the massacres. Could there be more high-profile defections to come?

And just a quick note for those of you heading out the door. You can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone or, if you're heading to work, you can also watch CNN live from your desktop. Just go to cnn.com/tv.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Reports out of Damascus call it the heaviest fighting yet in the Syrian capital. Smoke rose today above a city of close to 2 million people. It is a potentially ominous sign for the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. Reports out of Damascus site clashes in several areas south of the city center, including the large neighborhoods of Medan and Tedamon (ph). In Medan, rebels blasted a car that was believed to be carrying members of government aligned (ph) militia. State television spoke with some residents who were leaving the area and their claims that all was calm seemed at odds with the clear sound of gunfire. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): The military, thank God, came this morning and nothing is going on right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): But the media channels are saying that there is shelling in Medan?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, nothing is happening. Thank God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: CNN's Ivan Watson continues to follow the fighting in Syria from his temporary post in Syria's northern neighbor, Turkey.

Ivan, let me ask you this. How noteworthy is it that the fighting has suddenly spiked inside Syria's capital city?

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the fighting has been creeping closer and closer to Damascus over the course of the past four to five months. It's been mostly in the suburbs around it. But for the last two days, we've been hearing these reports of pitched battle skirmishes taking place in this neighborhood of Medan, particularly in the center of the city, and reports that the Syrian security forces have been rushing, scrambling to face the rebels riding in the back of pickup trucks, in some cases in buses, or moving armored personnel carriers. And a definite sign that the authority, the control that the Syrian regime enjoyed for quite some time, is really being challenged now.

And we've been seeing remarkable videos filmed by opposition activists and by rebel cameramen showing these pitched battles in the back alleys and back streets of Damascus, where you've got guys firing away, blasting away with machine guns and semiautomatic rifles at tanks. And, in some cases, we see a very brave fighter whose rocket propel grenade launcher actually jams and it doesn't pop off at the tank that he's facing. In another case, which was remarkable, activist setting fire to roadblocks on a major highway running through Damascus, blocking traffic in what a rebel spokesman later said to CNN was an attempt to basically cut off supply lines to the security forces to ease the pressure on the rebels in these battles.

One rebel spokesman I've spoken to has said that the battle for Damascus is coming. We may be seeing the first shots in that battle right now, Martin.

SAVIDGE: Yes, we may indeed. Well, you spoke over the weekend with the highest level defector to criticize the regime and did he give you any insight into Assad's state of mind or what the regime's thinking?

WATSON: I asked Fares -- Nawaf al-Fares. He was Syria's ambassador to Baghdad -- it was a key diplomatic post -- up until just a few days ago when he defected. I asked him many times, what is Bashar al-Assad thinking? What are the people around him thinking. He says he defected because the Syrian president had made a personal pledge that he would impose reforms about a year ago and he saw no hope of those reforms actually being followed through. He basically accused his former boss of lying. Here's an excerpt from that lengthy interview with the highest ranking Syrian official to defect in this 16 month uprising.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Who is making the decisions in Damascus right now? Who is directing the Syrian government policy at facing this uprising?

NAWAF AL-FARES, DEFECTING SYRIAN DIPLOMAT (through translator): The regime in Syria is a totalitarian regime and a dictatorship. There is only one person who gives the orders. One person who is the president. The rest of the regime personnel are people who only obey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Fares -- Nawaf al-Fares, Martin, he went onto say that the regime are basically trapped. He claims that they've started a war of blood and they really have no way out right now.

Martin.

SAVIDGE: Well, Ivan Watson, good reporting. Thank you very much.

Oil and gas companies building new roads through Texas ranches. Now drug traffickers are using those same roads to avoid border patrols. Hear about some of their creative tactics, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: The push for oil and gas beneath the remote regions of south Texas has opened the doors to a different kind of discovery, drug traffickers. "The Houston Chronicle" reports new illegal smuggling pipelines are following the path of recently built heavy duty roads designed to transport drilling equipment into an area known as the Eagle Ford Shale formation. It stretches from Mexico, all the way to east Texas. Special Agent Javier Pena of the DEA's Houston division joins me now.

And, Agent Pena, good to see you. Thanks for being with us.

How are the smugglers getting onto these roads and aren't there enough agents to sort of patrol the area?

JAVIER PENA, DEA SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: Well, Martin, you know, the smugglers will use anything to avoid our checkpoints. And with this oil and gas boom right now, we've seen them camouflage their drugs inside this oil and gas industry vehicles, trucks. We've had corrupt farmers, ranchers, who they'll pay them money to open gates. And with all those new roads coming into play with this expansion, it is difficult. However, we are addressing the problem. We're working with the oil and gas industry people. We're working with Homeland Security. And it is a problem. We've seen some seizures where they're camouflaged it in oil and gas vehicles.

SAVIDGE: Well, let me ask you about that in a minute. But I just what to ask what sort of things are being smuggled? Is it people? Is it drugs? Is it weapons? What of that?

PENA: Well, we've seen, you know, smuggling we've seen the marijuana. We've seen the cocaine. They can smuggle anything from human beings to animal. We've had seizures of narcotics right now.

SAVIDGE: And you were mentioning, you know, the -- I guess creative is the word to use -- the tactics of trying to disguise their vehicles as belonging to the oil and gas industry. I mean to what extreme do they do that?

PENA: Money drives all extremes. They will camouflage it. We've seen it in this big tanker tractors, tanker trailers, we've seen them camouflage. We've seen them clone (ph) them, where they'll put the energy -- the oil and gas company out there. We've seen them inside where they haul out the sand, the water, we've seen them hidden in this compartments. So like you said, with all the trucks out there that -- with this new explosion in this industry, we're seeing -- we're seeing any methods they can to use this, to smuggle the dope inside those vehicles.

SAVIDGE: Yes. I've done a number of stories down there on the issue of corruption. And, let's face it, there is a lot of money that the drug industry produces. So I presume that you're finding that people are being bribed.

PENA: Yes, Martin, of course. We've seen -- we've seen some corrupt employees. We've seen some corrupt ranchers, farmers where they'll pay them some money, give them an envelope to open a certain gate. The farmer, the rancher, they know they're doing something wrong, but they don't know what's in there.

But they will take the cash. Everything is being done to avoid the check points and with this new industry we're getting a lot of solid roads out there that, you know, for the industry. They're taking advantage of this.

SAVIDGE: What are the energy companies saying or doing about this? Are they cooperating, helping you?

PENA: Yes. We're working with them hand in hand. We're working with them. We're working with all our federal and state partners. So they are being very cooperative and they understand the problem.

SAVIDGE: Right. I mean, it's an interesting problem because, of course, the state, the country benefits from the oil and gas development. But the side effect is, of course, that you have these roads with the drug smugglers.

PENA: It is. It's creating a lot of great jobs out there. It's a boom for our economy. However, we know these traffickers will use whatever they can to move their dope, corrupting people, using the tractor trailer industry, taking advantage of these roads and all being done to avoid our check points.

SAVIDGE: Javier Pena, thank you very much for the work you do. We wish you good luck in keeping the drug smugglers out.

Two Americans kidnapped in Egypt over the weekend. They have been released. It happened just hours ago. We'll tell you how they're doing and we'll also tell you how they got free. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Now a look at the other stories we're following today. The court-martial of a former Air Force instructor gets under way today at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Staff Sergeant Louis Walker faces 28 charges including rape, adultery and aggravated sexual assault. The case is part of a wider investigation that identified at least 31 women in Lackland who said they were victims of sexual misconduct. Twelve Air Force instructors are under investigation.

The Department of Homeland Security is going to let Florida use a federal database in the states' effort to purge noncitizens from its voter rolls.

Critics say the move could lead to abuse and keep legal citizens eligible from exercising their right to vote. But Florida Governor Rick Scott tells CNN that the process will ensure that election laws are upheld.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOVERNOR RICK SCOTT (R), FLORIDA: The right to vote is a sacred right. We cannot -- we've got to make sure that U.S. citizens' right to vote is not diluted.

As the judge said it would cause irreparable harm if that happened. So we're going to go through a very responsible, logical process with good due process to make sure the non-U.S. citizens do not vote, but U.S. citizens, absolutely we want them to vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: A recall at Ford Motor Company. The automaker says the carpet pattern could interfere with a brake pedal on more than 8,000 Escapes compact SUVs. The recall only applies though to 2013 models.

It has been raining so hard in Southern Japan that people are being swept away by overflowing rivers or buried in their homes by landslide. So far 28 people are confirmed dead.

Four are still missing and thousands have been evacuated. There is not a whole lot of relief in sight with more downpours predicted today.

Two Americans kidnapped in Egypt are now free. We'll go live to Cairo in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAVIDGE: Good news, two Americans are out of captivity in Egypt. Security officials say that they did not give in to the kidnappers to make it happen.

This is Pastor Michel Louis from Boston. On Friday, an Egyptian named (inaudible) kidnapped Louis, another American, Lisa Alphonse and their translator demanding the release of his uncle from jail in exchange for the Americans' freedom.

Authorities say the uncle had been arrested with a half ton of drugs in another city. The Americans were traveling on the Sinai Peninsula to Israel for a church mission when gunmen apparently attacked their tour bus.

The pastor's children explained how he intervened when the kidnappers tried to take Alphonse.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REVEREND JEAN LOUIS, SON OF KIDNAPPED AMERICAN: Being the leader not only been the leader of the missionary group. My mom said that, you know, stood up and he just asked that they leave the lady and take him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Joining me now on the phone is reporter Mohamed Fadel Fahmy. So Egyptian security leaders say they did not free the kidnapper's uncle, which begs the question how did the Americans become free?

MOHAMED FADEL FAHMY, REPORTER (via telephone): That is correct. I spoke to the authorities as soon as the hostages were released and they informed me about they did not give into their demands because that would have encouraged other Bedouin to kidnap tourists.

It's unclear at the moment how this resolution was reached. But we know the kidnapper is free. He's out there. I spoke to the hostages as soon as they were released and arrived at the police station.

The message from Mr. Michel Louis was, all I can say, is thank God and our governors for securing our release. We are heading directly to Israel to join the members of our church as soon as we get our passport.

Tell my family I'm in good health and not taking my medicine since Friday so I'm a little tired. Indeed, they are on the way to Israel.

SAVIDGE: You just mentioned that there, but I know the pastor suffers from diabetes. Are they both physically all right? I don't know how you measure their mental suffering, but are they physically fine?

FAHMY: They seem in good spirits. I spoke to Lisa who was abducted with him. They seem happy and relieved. He is a little tired. We knew he got an attack, a diabetic attack during his situation.

We were not clear if he got his medicine or not, but he's clarified that he's not received medicine since Friday. The weather in Sinai is really hot at the moment it's the peak of the summer and they were being moved around by the kidnappers. It must have been a tough ordeal for them.

SAVIDGE: And their loved ones, I imagine they've been notified already. How were they notified?

FAHMY: They made a call from the police station as soon as they arrived to their families as I understand. We also have obtained videos from the police station that we will be putting up on CNN where he is talking to his family.

We are following up on the story. They are indeed on the way to Israel to join the members of the church that came to Sinai with them on a missionary church trip.

SAVIDGE: And you know, I understand that Egyptian security authorities are placing some of the blame on the travel agents that handled the bus tour for essentially letting the bus travel through the Sinai area in Egypt. What is the security concern? Why are there problems?

FAHMY: Well, there have been at least half a dozen kidnaps since the uprising that toppled Mubarak and the revolution. There has been a security vacuum in Sinai region.

Police have not been doing enough patrolling, not securing the area. The head of security told me that he partially blames the travel agency for not informing them about this bus tour.

Because that have -- could have provided a police security escort of some sort, but definitely the area has become infested with terrorist groups, smugglers, weapon dealers.

Now with the new president in the country, he is definitely going to try to improve the situation in Sinai. That's one of the main goals he has on his list.

SAVIDGE: Right, there's no question it's been a lot of instability in Egypt. Do you know more about the alleged kidnapper?

FAHMY: Yes, he's well known in the community for being a criminal. He's actually wanted for a 100-year sentence that he has been on the road. He's been hiding. He's been doing a lot of criminal activities -- the release of his uncle who was detained on drug charges in another city.

He is now still free and he is very connected from one of the largest tribes in Sinai. During the ordeal, he was moving around the Egyptian-Israeli border, which made it harder for the security forces because of the Camp David agreement that limits the amount of soldiers to be deployed on that border.

SAVIDGE: Interesting. Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, thank you very much for the good news that two Americans have now been freed from captivity in Egypt.

A new mother of twins comes home with something else, flesh eating bacteria. Forces her back in the hospital for weeks, she is telling us all about her ordeal, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SAVIDGE: A South Carolina mother is going to celebrate a homecoming unlike any other, going from the maternity ward to the ICU in just days.

Lana Kuykendall just gave birth to twins when her body had to take only a challenge that nearly killed her, flesh eating bacteria. But now after two months and 20 surgeries, she is expected to go home this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SPENCE TAYLOR, GREENVILLE HOSPITAL SYSTEM: Lana had a type of necrotizing fascia that's type 2 necrotizing fasciitis that involved a Group A Strep sometimes called flesh eating bacteria, which is a really, really very serious type of necrotizing fasciitis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen is live in Greenville, South Carolina where Kuykendall's recovering. How is she doing, Elizabeth?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Martin, I got to tell you she just looks great. She was at the press conference joking with her friends.

She seemed to really be enjoying herself. But as you can imagine after having more than 20 surgeries and after nearly losing her life there were some tough moments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LANA KUYKENDALL, RECOVERING FROM FLESH EATING BACTERIA: Sometimes I cry over, you know, the fact that I'm sick. Sometimes I cry over missing the babies. Sometimes I've cried over knowing that life will never be like, I guess, I always thought it would be, but it will still be a good life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: Remind us --

COHEN: Martin after -- sorry, Martin, go ahead.

SAVIDGE: No, I was going to ask you to remind us of how this all began. I know, of course, she had the twins, but then what happened?

COHEN: What happened was four days later, she's lying on the couch and she notices this strange thing that looked like a bruise. It kind of went in a strip down her leg. She's an EMT. She knew it was not normal. She showed it to her husband, Darren, who's also an EMT and this is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARREN KUYKENDALL, WIFE IS RECOVERING FROM FLESH EATING BACTERIA: I was like -- that was my first expression. She said we need to go to the hospital. They literally took an ink pen and traced the outer edges of her discoloration and you could just about watch it move with your own eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: You know what, Darren, told me, Martin, that in just 20 minutes, you could watch the bruise grow about a quarter of an inch. So a quarter of an inch in 20 minutes and that was the bacteria killing tissue.

SAVIDGE: Wow. You know, she's very lucky, of course, that the two of them had the expertise to recognize what was happening with the speed of which that seemed to be infecting her.

COHEN: That's right and her doctors were very clear that she and her husband is the reason why she's still alive today. If they had wasted any time in getting to the doctor, she might not be with us.

Martin, I think this is a great empower patient message for all of us. If something odd has happened to you, act on it. If a doctor tells you, don't worry it's nothing. Say, no, this is something. You really have to take control of these situations.

SAVIDGE: Yes, I agree. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you very much for bringing her very good story, thanks.

COHEN: Thanks.

SAVIDGE: And the good news continues this time for the Georgia woman who lost parts of all of her limbs to flesh eating bacteria. Amy Copeland became infected after she fell from a homemade zip line.

She'll return home from rehab next month to a nearly 2,000 square foot addition to the family's home. Amy's been meeting with the interior designers to personalize the new space, which is expected to be done in about 40 days. That's very good news for her.

A Syrian ambassador defects and calls for military intervention. We'll tell you why next hour.

More than 200,000 people are arriving in London just today. They are gearing up for the Olympics and the security headaches are happening now.

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SAVIDGE: Gunmen have abducted the president of the Libyan's Olympic Committee. The brother of (inaudible) says that the Olympic chief from his car. Bundled in the waiting vehicle in Tripoli. The motives of his kidnappers are not yet known.

While in London, there is a scramble to provide enough security. Remember, we're just ten days out from the start of the Olympics.

The British government has been forced to call in backup after private security company falls short on its promise to provide enough security workers.

In what's now the largest domestic security mobilization since World War II, 3,500 troops have been called in at the last minute. The press conference was held a short time ago with the top brass were quick to put on a brave face.

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MAYOR BORIS JOHNSON, LONDON: London is as well prepared, if not better prepared, than any previous Olympic City at this stage in proceedings 12 days out.

ASST. COMMISSIONER CHRIS ALLISON, LONDON POLICE: I have confidence that the right levels of safety and security will be here during games time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAVIDGE: But there are concerns, and they are growing about just how prepared they are as thousands of athletes and visitors begin to arrive at Heathrow.

CNN's senior international correspondent, Dan Rivers, is in London.

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DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The British Home secretary has been called to parliament to answer urgent questions about the failings of this private security firm G4S, which was supposed to provide some 10,000 guards at various Olympic sight around Britain.

Now we know the firm says it cannot provide those guards because of a software malfunction in its computer systems, which means it doesn't know how many guards have been accredited. Who will turn up where at the right time?

Therefore, the government has had to step in at the very last minute to provide 3,500 soldiers and some police as well to bridge the gap. Of course, everyone is asking why on earth it's taken until now, less than two weeks before the opening ceremony for these failings to come to light.

She was only made aware of these failings last Wednesday under severe questioning from the opposition Labor Party who thinks she may have had an inkling early on, but she insists she only knew abou this last week.

Meanwhile, the chief executive of this firm G4S, will be called before a powerful committee of politicians on Tuesday to explain why the failing has happened and why now only 10 days before the opening ceremony are we scrambling to mobilize troops.

Some of which have come back from Afghanistan having to cancel their summer holidays in order to step in and fill the gap. Dan Rivers, CNN, London. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SAVIDGE: Thank you, Dan, very much. Now for something you find on just about every hotel television set, porn. Some people want hotels to remove that temptation. Here is CNN's Susan Candiotti.

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SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In many hotel rooms finding adult entertainment is as simple as a click of the remote, but that may change.

PROFESSOR ROBERT GEORGE, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: We're reaching out to people who are profiting from pornography and pointing out it's bad thing to do.

CANDIOTTI: Professor Robert George, a Christian scholar from Princeton and (inaudible) a Muslim scholar co-wrote a letter to CEOs from the top five U.S. hotel groups asking them to remove adult movies.

GEORGE: We believe that despite the lucrative nature of the pornography of business that hotel executives, people of goodwill, shareholders can act on the basis of conscience here. And lay profitability aside for the sake of human dignity.

CANDIOTTI: George calls the letter a small step and acknowledges that porn will still exist. He just hopes to limit access to it.

GEORGE: The society pays heavy costs in terms of damage relationships, wounded people, addiction.

CANDIOTTI: Craig Gross agrees, but feels going after hotels is the wrong approach.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's an empty gesture.

CANDIOTTI: Gross from XXXchurch.com ministers to those addicted to porn. He prefers to target the demand for adult movies, not the supplier.

CRAIG GROSS, FOUNDER, XXXCHURCH.COM: This is about money and dollars. That's why it's sold in hotel. Removing it from hotels to me isn't the issue. The issue is that people are consuming pornography.

CANDIOTTI: After all, pornography would still be available on the internet and mobile devices even if hotels pull the plug.

GROSS: Are we going to ask them to stop stocking the mini bar?

CANDIOTTI: Porn star Ron Jeremy says there are many normal adults who watch adult movies and wants religion to butt out. He says you will always have the option not to watch.

RON JEREMY, ADULT ENTERTAINMENT ACTOR: If you don't want to watch adult movies, watch Gilligan's Island reruns. I do. It's fine. CANDIOTTI: The American Hotel and Lodging Association defends the right of hotels to choose. But Professor George hopes hotel CEOs see it differently.

GEORGE: There are some things that are so contrary to our humanity that they shouldn't be for sale either.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): The Omni Hotel dropped adult movies in 1999. Marriott says its new hotels won't have adult entertainment and hopes to phase out all together by 2013. Choice Hotel leaves it up to its franchisees and others haven't responded to the letter. Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

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