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Fierce Battle for Syria's Commercial Hub, Aleppo; Drought Driving Up Food Prices; Olympic Swimmer Preps for Games; Heat, Drought Takes Toll on Infrastructure; Jackson Family Feud.

Aired July 26, 2012 - 11:00   ET

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

KYRA PHILLIPS, ANCHOR, "CNN NEWSROOM": It's 11:00 on the East Coast, 8:00 on the West.

Crops withering as the severe drought sweeps across the country. Get ready to pay more for your food.

And one day until the opening ceremonies and we already have our first Olympic doping scandal.

And rebels ready to fight to the end to take control of Syria's largest city. We'll take you inside the exploding civil war.

Well, as grieving families and friends begin to bury their loved ones, a stunning clue out of Aurora, Colorado, a letter discovered in the mail room at the University of Colorado's medical campus sent by James Holmes.

The details inside that package apparently contain key details about Friday's theater massacre and could finally expose not only how Holmes allegedly executed his rampage, but also answer the one question no one knows or understands. Why?

Let's get straight to our Ed Lavandera who's on the ground for us in Aurora, Colorado. So, Ed, do we know who this package was actually sent to and when?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Our understanding is that it was sent to a psychology professor there at the University of Colorado where James Holmes had been studying for the past year in that Ph.D. neuroscience program.

We learned about the package at the university back on Monday when several buildings on campus had to be evacuated for several hours as bomb technicians and teams looked at it to make sure there were no explosive devices or anything. All of that was cleared.

Then yesterday we learned the package had been sent to the university, was found in the mail room, and it was addressed from James Holmes. Kyra?

PHILLIPS: OK, sorry about that, Ed. I thought we had a little sound there. Let's talk about the details.

LAVANDERA: I'm sorry. PHILLIPS: That's OK. You still with me, Ed?

LAVANDERA: Yes, I'm still with you.

PHILLIPS: Ed, you still with me.

LAVANDERA: Yes, I am. Go ahead.

PHILLIPS: OK. Great. Sorry about that. We had a little technical issue. I apologize, Ed.

From what I see, we found out more about the final days before he actually withdrew from the Ph.D. program. What is it that we know about how he performed on his exams? Did he show up to all of his exams?

LAVANDERA: Well, a source tells us that he performed poorly on one of these last exams and all of this is interesting because, if you kind of start piecing together the timeline of the last few months, it raises questions about whether or not this was some sort of trigger perhaps to kind of make James Holmes spiral out of control.

But we were told that he had done poorly on the final exam. This was all around the same time that, according to law enforcement sources, he was buying weapons at various gun stores around the Denver area and also amassing all of the ammunition, the 6,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as all the explosive materials found inside of his apartment.

So, those are big clues and, obviously, big issues that psychologists and investigators are taking a much closer look at.

PHILLIPS: All right. Ed Lavandera, we will be talking, obviously, throughout the morning as we find out more about James Holmes and the investigation taking place in particular with regard to this package that was sent to the university

OK, I want to make it very clear that James Holmes has still not given police a motive and we still do not understand his state of mind.

This story, though, undoubtedly has left so many parents wondering about their own children and what could potentially go wrong. What are the warning signs? How do you even know that your child is capable of such unspeakable violence? And what, if anything, can be done to stop them?

Well, these are all questions that Diane Singer has struggled with and dealt with. Her son, a typical young man with a brilliant future, experienced a psychotic break and it changed his life forever.

Diane Singer is here with me this morning because she saw our interview earlier this week on mental illness and desperately wanted to tell us her story. She joins me, once again, along with Chris Cline, v. p. of clinical services at Skyland Trail here in Atlanta which deals with mental health issues and also, once again, our B. J. Bernstein for some legal perspective on what rights parents have.

So, Diane, I know this has been so tough. You and I have talked daily and we're going to be very sensitive with regard to your son in this conversation. So, let me just begin with what was going through your mind when you saw what happened on Friday and then you saw James Holmes for the first time in that courtroom?

DIANE SINGER, SON BATTLING MENTAL ILLNESS: Well, a couple things went through my mind. First of all, all of the victims, the tragedy that they'll all suffer, but more importantly, there are wounds there that night that are transparent to us.

There are wounds that aren't bullet holes. They're not visible injuries. They're mental health wounds and huge cracks occurred to the group of folks that were in that theater.

And then looking at Mr. Holmes and just wondering what happened to him, what was the event that caused him to break? And then his parents and how must they feel and what kind of -- what kind of burden must they be facing?

And because they love their child and, yet, this happened. I know they feel horribly about everything that happened.

PHILLIPS: And you know that because of your personal experience and we're not going to mention your son's name. We're also not going to say where he is right now because we want to protect his privacy and also protect him. I know you're very concerned about that.

But explain to our viewers what happened to your son and explain to them how this psychotic break really impacted your family as we know it now.

SINGER: Well, my son was a good Samaritan witness to a very violent crime. He happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And as a result of him witnessing this crime, he broke. He was injured, mentally, in this -- by witnessing this. He broke. And it wasn't evident right away because these kinds of injuries are not evident. They kind of appear later on and you see changes that are out of character and you worry about, you know, what was this?

And I know in my son's case, I wish we had taken him to the emergency room that night. We didn't because we didn't see any visible injuries. My son was very, very hurt. He suffered a very great wound that night.

PHILLIPS: And you were telling me, too, when you saw James Holmes in that courtroom and you saw what he looked like at the age of 19, 20 and then you saw him in this courtroom with the red hair and the -- just the expression on his face that you -- it broke your heart because you've seen the changes in your son.

We see this picture of him, a handsome young man in his tuxedo, and you told me, Kyra, you would never even recognize my son now. What -- why are you wanting to tell this story? What is it about what you saw happen to your son that you want parents to realize it doesn't have to turn into what we saw happen on Friday and it doesn't have to turn out the way things turned out with your son, that we can be proactive as parents.

SINGER: And that's what we need to do. But it's not only as parents, but as a society, we need to re-examine how we treat victims of crime and how we treat the mentally ill.

You know, you watch the news over and over again and you see these news reports about violence and you see the changes. I think of the gentleman, the person that shot Gabby Giffords, and you see before and after.

And I've talked to many, many parents and how they have the same report. They have the same report, you know, before and after. And these are symptomatic of the wound that the child has, the adult child or the young child has.

They change. They change in ways that you wouldn't expect as a parent.

But those are -- that's symptomatic of the wound, the breakdown, the breakdown, and I think it's important to remember that the word "psychotic break," you know, the connotation is this nervous breakdown, this craziness that's going to happen.

It's can be very silent. It can be transparent. It can occur -- it can sneak up on you. And the only way that we as parents can see that is we know how we raised our children and we know when they're not themselves and we need to be aware that these changes are serious and that we need to get help for our kids.

And a lot of folks, they don't know that. They don't know that they can get help. There's a stigma. People are embarrassed to talk about it, especially now with social media. The gossip can be very hurtful. People are bullies. And families are afraid to talk about these kind of things.

And I guess it's a little bit like Betty Ford. Before Betty Ford came out, alcoholism was a secret, family secret. And I think we need to, as a society, acknowledge that these things are wounds our kids have.

They're illnesses and that it's symptomatic of a bunch of things we're seeing in the news today and, if we treated those symptoms early on and we had intervention and support programs for families, that we could avert tragedies like happened in Aurora.

PHILLIPS: And this is, B. J. and Chris, where I want to bring you in and maybe, Chris, I start with you in that families are embarrassed to talk about this and they don't want people to know that their child is struggling with mental illness.

And a lot of people can't afford treatment. You know how families struggle with this. It's very expensive to get really good help. So what do you do?

CHRIS CLINE, VICE PRESIDENT OF CLINICAL SERVICES, SKYLAND TRAIL: Well, I think that getting started with an out-patient provider is probably a great start or the ER, as Diane mentioned.

And in different areas ,there are different resources. Sometimes, there are programs that work with low-income families, especially, and a lot of programs take insurance, so there are lots of options for finding treatment.

The problem is that sometimes young adults don't want treatment and I think that that's an especially challenging situation for our family.

PHILLIPS: And that's where I want to bring you in, B. J., because Diane's son, once he was past 18, and also if you look at James Holmes, right, he's older than 18.

You're a parent, you know your kid needs help, but you can't make them do anything if they're past 18-years old, so what do you do?

B. J. BERNSTEIN, ATTORNEY, THE BERNSTEIN FIRM: Well, you know, every state is different in terms of their laws of conservatorship, in other words, that a court intervenes and appoints someone to enforce some sort of treatment. It's just that the legal standard in most states is very high.

And it makes sense because we can also see manipulation of families. We can see people taking advantage for money, for other reasons and trying to put someone away and the notorious sense.

But we can also see conservatorships work really well, even on a pop icon. Britney Spears was under a conservatorship for a period of time and seems to be doing incredibly well. We don't know what was going on with her.

So, having someone else take control, but it takes a special balance with them. You can't necessarily just force those kids into the courts. They usually end up in my office because they've been arrested. And then what is really a great thing that's starting to happen here in Georgia and other states are mental health courts.

Because you will see kids get in trouble for minor things, not anything that even indicates violence, but that can be the triggering point that I have a conversation and say, wow, I am seeing signs that clinically I know may be leading to something else and a mental health court can force it because it is part of a sentence.

So, it is re-evaluating the laws of conservatorship. It is making things more available and Diane is a hundred percent, thousand percent right about how we feel about alcoholism and, honestly, how we treat cancer, how we treat AIDS.

This is a cancer and we have ignored it for too long and, again, I want to be clear. We do not know what James Holmes' status is. He may be like the Unabomber. I mean, there are all different categories. He could be a sociopath and be criminally responsible.

It's pieces of a puzzle to put together. There's more we're going to find out about him, but the general conversation we're having, and Diane's courage to having listened to us and send an e- mail in.

PHILLIPS: Right.

BERNSTEIN: I can't thank her enough because Dianes are in my office every day, every single week and I'll see it and it's really hard as a parent. You love your child and it's easy to say, I'm going to take him to the hospital for a broken arm. It's much harder to say, I think my child is having some sort of psychosis.

PHILLIPS: B. J., Chris, thanks. And, Diane, thank you so much. I know that you mortgaged your house to pay for health for your son and that it's been real hard for you to, you know, go out in the public eye and talk about this, but you are making a difference. That is for sure.

And we just appreciate your strength coming forward and talking about this. I know it wasn't easy and I really, really appreciate you telling us your story.

SINGER: And, Kyra, can I add one thing?

PHILLIPS: Absolutely.

SINGER: I think we're headed in the right direction. The Affordable Care Act, it has a mental health provisions in that and that is very helpful to parents of adult children because they're covered now until they're 26.

We have different -- police are getting smarter. Long Beach has a mental evaluation team where a psych nurse and a specially trained police officer go out to calls that may be psych-oriented and that's reduced arrest rates and it's gotten people more treatment.

But I think, more than anything, we need to just give parents more support and we need to find ways to help them with what resources are out there and that they're not alone and that -- not to be ashamed because this is just another illness and we have to help our kids because all these tragedies can be averted with treatment.

PHILLIPS: Diane, thank you so much.

SINGER: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: According to the National Institute of Mental Health more than 26 percent of Americans, 18 years and older, suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in any given year. That's one-in-four adults.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, supporters of more restrictive gun laws have faulted President Obama for not taking up the cause even though he campaigned in 2008 for renewal of a federal ban on assault weapons.

But in a speech last night to the National Urban League in New Orleans, the president reflected on the carnage in Aurora, Colorado, in his bluntest language to date.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I believe the majority of gun owners would agree that we should do everything possible to prevent criminals and fugitives from purchasing weapons and we should check someone's criminal record before they can check out a gun seller, that a mentally unbalanced individual should not be able to get his hands on a gun so easily.

These steps shouldn't be controversial. They should be common sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: And for the record, James Eagan Holmes allegedly used a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun, and 40-caliber pistol, all of which he bought legally, and the president isn't proposing any new laws.

Mitt Romney doesn't want any new gun laws either, even though as Massachusetts governor he signed an assault weapons ban and quadrupled the gun license fee. That was a long time ago and New England is a long way away.

Today, the GOP candidate for president is in "Old England," calling on government officials ahead of tomorrow night's opening ceremonies for the London summer games.

CNN's Jim Acosta is standing by on Downing Street. So, Jim, I understand Romney caused a few ripples with his remarks on Olympic security.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra. He made some waves here in London when he gave an interview to NBC yesterday. During that interview, he talked about some of the problems that London has encountered in preparing for the Olympic games and he said that those problems were, in his words, "disconcerting" and he said it was hard to see how things would turn out here in London.

Well, the prime minister, David Cameron, who Mitt Romney just met with a short while ago took issue with those comments, talking to reporters at an Olympic venue earlier this morning.

I'll read you just a bit of what he said to reporters. He said, "I think we'll show the whole world not just that we can come together as the United Kingdom, but that we're also extremely good at welcoming people from across the world, so I'll obviously make those points to Mitt Romney."

We're not sure exactly how he made those points to Mitt Romney because much of their meeting was behind closed doors. But within the last hour, the GOP contender did come out to talk to reporters and he was asked about those comments that he made. And he certainly did walk them back somewhat and praised London for their Olympic preparations.

Here's what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY, REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: My experience as an Olympic organizer is that there are always a few very small things that end up going not quite right in the first day or so. Those get ironed out and then, when the games themselves begin and the athletes take over, all the mistakes that the organizing committee -- and I made a few -- all of those are overwhelmed by the many things that the athletes carry out that capture the spirit of the games.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Now, obviously, Mitt Romney did talk about just the Olympics in general in various meetings with British officials this morning. One of those British officials did praise the former Massachusetts governor for his handling of the Salt Lake City Olympic games. He is widely praised for rescuing those games when they hit some scandal and controversy in 2002.

And, so -- but it's safe to say, Kyra, after all of what we've heard this morning from the prime minister and what we're seeing in the British press today about this trip, that Mitt Romney's stewardship of the Olympics in Salt Lake City has sort of been overshadowed somewhat by these comments that he made yesterday and how that's all trailed into the news coverage today, Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Jim Acosta, thank you so much.

Now, I want to bring in CNN's Becky Anderson. She's also there in London. So, Becky, how is Romney's visit going over with ordinary Brits? Have they even noticed he's there?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I've just conducted my own -- and it's got to be said -- fairly unscientific straw poll on the streets of London here, right outside the houses of parliament, asking people whether they knew Mitt Romney was or whether they cared about what he says.

And it's got to be said, nobody knew who he was. Now, that doesn't mean that not everybody in Britain is interested in his comments, but he's not really making headlines in the newspapers.

For example, the only paper Mitt Romney was quoted in or, certainly, his aides, off the record, were quoted in was "The Daily Telegraph" here and he makes page 16, it's got to be said. Not even a full page.

It's a very, very small part of the newspaper here. The writer, John Swaine, picking up on these comments from an aide of Romney that he would restore Anglo-Saxon understanding to the U.K. and the U.S.'s relationship and picking up on the fact that some people might read that as racist when given that the aide was reported as also saying that is something that the White House doesn't necessarily understand.

But, as I say, what Mitt Romney does and says here in the U.K. is not being well reported at all in the press. And, yet, this afternoon's newspaper, "The Standard," London becomes the center of the world as heads-of-state fly in. There is a tiny thing here, saying Mitt Romney is also in town.

That pretty much sums it up as far as I'm concerned.

PHILLIPS: Point, well made. Becky, thanks so much.

And up next on Mitt Romney's agenda is a conversation with our own Piers Morgan. You can see that tonight, 9:00 Eastern, only on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: This just in to CNN. A Greek high jumper has failed a drug test and is out of the Olympics. This comes just one day after another Greek athlete, a triple jumper, was kicked out of the games for a racist remark.

Zain Verjee live for us out of London. So, Zain, what the heck is up with the Greek team?

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, my gosh, Kyra. Exactly right. I mean, they came up with the Olympics and they have been grabbing the headlines for all the wrong reasons this time.

One of the things so many Greeks were thinking was, finally, something positive. Something to give us hope after the awful financial crisis they've been dealing with.

But this is what's happening today. The world indoor champion high jumper, Dimitris Chondrokoukis, is out. He was kicked out. They did a surprise drug test about 10 days ago or so and they discovered that he tested positive for a drug called stanozolol.

By the way, that's the same drug that the disgraced sprinter, Ben Johnson, was found positive for using back in 1988. His dad, the coach, said his son is not going to be participating. The news has totally shocked the family and he is going to live a dream, unfulfilled.

Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Wow, that is unbelievably disappointing, obviously.

VERJEE: I know.

PHILLIPS: And I was reading about this athlete biological passport, this new testing method. Can you tell us more about that? How does that work? And how is it -- OK.

VERJEE: Yes, basically, what happens is that an athlete's blood and urine profile is tested over time, right? And so because it's a long period of time. The scientists can look at it and what they look for are any physiological indications of any changes.

And if they see something is a little weird, something is a little bit off, then they use that as an indicator to test for doping. You've got 150 scientists, 10,000 athletes here, half of those are going to be tested for drugs using this system.

PHILLIPS: Yes. A lot of random testing. All right, so apparently you've been doing some of your own Olympic training yourself? I mean, I know you're in good shape. I know you're all about being healthy. What's this about you and the London bus?

VERJEE: Me and the London bus had a showdown. OK, Kyra? Just take a look at this video. And you know, Kyra, I just can't help myself sometimes. I was walking down the streets of London and look what I found.

I found a bus, typical London double-decker, doing press-ups, push-ups. And so I went down there and I did the same thing. I held up OK, Kyra. I don't know about the artist, though. He was a Czech guy and he decided he wanted to do something cool for the Olympics. And the gurgling noises are actually coming from the bus. He says it's supposed to replicate an athlete's digestive system.

(INAUDIBLE) for a long time with dozens of people.

PHILLIPS: Well, I'm very disappointed. I thought you were going to be lifting the bus. That's why I was so impressed. OK, forget it. You were just up against a fence. (INAUDIBLE), you wimp.

We'll be talking tomorrow. See you later.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Fighting in the streets, helicopter gun ships, fighter jets, all part of the fierce battle for Syria's commercial hub of Aleppo. Rebel forces can't match the fire power of the Syrian military but they vow to fight to their deaths.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(GUNFIRE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Now the British ambassador to the U.N. says reports of Syrian war planes attacking Aleppo only proves there is no stopping President Bashar al Assad's brutality.

CNN's Ivan Watson shows us how rebels are still determined to take Assad down.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: The country side here in northern Syria is armed and mobilized. Every village we've traveled to has sent fighters to the battle in Aleppo, which has been under way since last Friday.

And while there have been some gains on the part of the rebels there have also been lost. We passed at least two funerals in two days for two separate fighters killed, locals say, by helicopter gun ships while battling for neighborhoods inside Syria's commercial capital.

In the meantime, as we move closer to Aleppo, the villagers are increasingly empty of the civilian population. If anything, we've seen cars loaded with civilians and their belongings, fleeing Aleppo. In some cases, these are residents of villages who fled their villages to Aleppo when it was considered to be a safe haven prior to last Friday's rebel offensive. And now they're fleeing the latest round of fighting there, giving a sense of how much the population has been impacted by this crisis by what is increasingly being called a civil war.

The rebels are calling this the battle for Aleppo. They see this as a critical battle, a way to cripple the regime once and for all. They also see this as an ex-tension battle. It is life or death. They have to bring down this government because there is no other option. If the government is allowed to win, that means their families, their homes, their villages will be targeted.

Throughout the countryside, the pockets of Syrian government forces appear to be hunkered down in various bases and outposts. They don't seem to be carrying out offensive attacks. Though we have been to one village, 10 kilometers west of Aleppo, that is coming under daily artillery and rocket strikes from a nearby Syrian base. We saw at least a half dozen houses that had been directly hit by this indirect fire which, of course, can be very lethal. A suggestion that those soldiers hunkered down are trying to keep the civilian population, which is broadly supportive of the rebel movement, at bay.

Ivan Watson, CNN, reporting from northern Syria.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: You get hit by it about every day, the scorching heat that is gripping just about every corner of this country right now. With it, the worst drought in nearly a half century. The heat and drought combined are burning up the crops that we depend on and driving up the prices of the food that we need to eat every day. Take a look at this map. It shows just how extensive the drought is. The government says the drought is now affecting 88 percent of the nation's corn crop alone.

Alison Kosik joining us out of New York.

We've been talking about this. Rob Marciano was out there in the corn fields --

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right.

PHILLIPS: -- within the past week. And why corn is so crucial to us for every day. KOSIK: And here's why, Kyra. Corn is so crucial because it is in everything -- wall paper paste, even Twinkies. And that includes animal feed as well. So what would happen here is that because that animal feed is more expensive that cost gets passed on.

So where should you see the biggest price hikes? In the meat you buy, in the dairy products, like milk, eggs. Those prices are going to be going up. In fact, the Agriculture Department says expect food prices to go up from 3 percent to 4 percent next year. And expect prices for poultry actually to go up first. You'll notice that first at the grocery store. That is because chickens are smaller. They grow faster. They get to your supermarket faster.

And then don't forget the middle aisles on the products on the shelves, like ketchup, Ramon Noodles. Prices for those expected to rise 4.5 percent because all of those products have ingredients that are derived from corn and soybeans -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Wow. I had no idea. Wall paper paste and Twinkies.

KOSIK: Who knew?

PHILLIPS: Got my attention on that for sure.

Alison, we'll be talking about this in the next few weeks.

Other key points to make, U.S. officials say the countries that buy American animal feed made from corn and soybeans will be actually hardest hit by the drought in this country ever.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: If you're leaving the house right now just a reminder. You can continue watching CNN from your mobile phone. You can also watch CNN live from your desk top. Just go to CNN.com/tv.

Like most Olympic athletes swimmer, Missy Franklin, will be thinking about home as she races in seven competitions in the next few days in London.

She actually caught up with our Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and you'll see why she is so unique.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MISSY FRANKLIN, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: Still, swimming on my back, the back stroke, I'm telling you.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Missy Franklin at 2 years old --

(CHEERING)

GUPTA: -- and, at 5, winning her first free style race.

(CHEERING) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's winning. She's winning. First race.

FRANKLIN: (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, Missy!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on, Missy! Go! Go! Go!

ANNOUNCER: Missy Franklin almost a body length ahead. 59. 89. She got it.

GUPTA: Now at age 17, she is the second-youngest person on the U.S. Olympic team. Her back stroke and free style are what got her there.

FRANKLIN: I've made the team, which is the most exciting thing I could ever imagine. I'm going to be an Olympian for the rest of my life.

GUPTA: Franklin is going to compete in four individual events and three relays in London. At 6'1", she towers over most of her competition. Her physique is ideal for swimming fast. She has a wing span 6'4" across, shoulders a foot and a half wide, size 13 feet, and flexible ankles that power her forward through the water.

Franklin may be on the verge of worldwide fame. Kind of like the female Michael Phelps.

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: But up to now, her family and her coach have taken pains to try and let her be a normal kid. Sometimes that means taking her shopping during a break at a meet.

TODD SCHMITZ, U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM ASSISTANT COACH: There's not a lot of coaches that would go hey, yes, let's take you prom dress shopping but then give her a night out for prom.

Temp. Tempo. Push with your feet.

(SHOUTING)

GUPTA: She's confident beyond her years.

SCHMITZ: To have an athlete like that that wants to take it all in and not get overwhelmed by it, it's pretty unbelievable.

(LAUGHTER)

GUPTA: The attention fuels Franklin. While most athletes find the ready room before a race to be stressful, Franklin enjoys it.

SCHMITZ: Sometimes she'll talk to somebody that doesn't want to talk to her and sit there and they're like just, you know, she's like, giggling and laughing and they're like, no, no. Don't take my mojo. Missy is like no, come on. Let's enjoy this. Come on. Are you kidding me? We're going to walk out in front of 10,000 people right now.

FRANKLIN: I love music. I love dancing.

SCHMITZ: There are very few athletes that are so comfortable in their own skin that'll do that in front of 70 of their peers and coaches and people that she doesn't even know. She's like, whatever. I'm going to bust a move and have fun with this.

ANNOUNCER: Here is Missy Franklin.

GUPTA: Don't mistake fun for lack of focus. In the pool, Franklin is all about doing what it takes to hit that wall first.

FRANKLIN: I want to have an absolute blast there, and I know I will. I know if I give 110 percent and leave everything I have in that pool, then I'll be proud of myself.

(SHOUTING)

GUPTA: Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Roads buckling, train tracks bending and stretching, asphalt literally melting -- the extreme heat isn't just threatening the nation's crops and food prices but also has taken a huge toll on our country's infrastructure. Things like this are happening all across the country.

Chad Myers, help.

(LAUGHTER)

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I know.

PHILLIPS: Seriously, that's what a lot of people are saying.

And all the city construction workers are called out because cracks are getting wider. It is becoming more dangerous in some neighborhoods.

MYERS: It is hotter this year than it has been, and the infrastructure is getting old. I'll be honest, it is old. Some of the roads -- think about the Eisenhower interstate system. How long ago was Eisenhower in the White House?

(LAUGHTER)

PHILLIPS: It's hard to major in urban planning, right?

MYERS: A long time ago. So, things are happening. We were talking about train tracks that are getting so hot, they weren't really melting, but when you bump into each other, there is no more room for them to expand and the train tracks bend a little bit. And the bending tracks and the train goes off of the track and that is not a good thing. Last year we talked about the drought in Texas. The drought got so bad that the dirt was moving. It was almost becoming a brick. It was like an adobe brick, baking. And water pipes were breaking underground because the dirt was moving. You don't want dirt moving when you have solid water pipes underneath. Water was breaking them. It has been a very tough summer, and I don't see any end to this.

PHILLIPS: What about the highways and the nuclear plants --

MYERS: Yes. The nuclear plants are now getting to the point where, they are cooling water has gotten to about 100 degrees, which is the cut off. After that, the EPA says you cannot dump any more hot water into this cooling water. The Mississippi River now -- a number of in-takes and out-flows of the Mississippi River is the lowest in years, since 1988, and at it's lowest point, the eighth lowest point ever. So that the water is so low that the power plants may not be able to drag water out of the Mississippi River and cool the power plants and go back in. They have to go to the stack system, the internal system.

PHILLIPS: Wow.

MYERS: It is really getting to the point where we are all saying to ourselves, when does this stop? When doesn't rain in the Corn Belt? And if it doesn't, then what? Because we like to export it, and get some import money. And if we can't export, we won't get money back into the United States. And then, suddenly, everything that we do will be in danger.

PHILLIPS: We will keep talking about it, that's for sure.

Chad, thanks so much.

MYERS: You're welcome.

PHILLIPS: And according to "The New York Times," federal authorities are re-examining and re-designing and re-working infrastructure across the country to adapt to the higher temps and the extreme weather.

Normally Elise Labott is producing for us out of the State Department and around the world when she's traveling with out diplomats and reporting for us. And she loves Jerusalem, and not just for the international stories, but for one fabulous market.

Here is Elise's "Travel Insider."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELISE LABOTT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jerusalem is famous for the history and the culture, but I love to come to this market here on Jaffa Street. This is where you will find the tastes and smells of Israel.

Outside the market, you have the freshest fruits and vegetables. The produce of this country is incredible.

Inside of the market, they have all of the breads and sweets and dried fruits and nuts, and all of the great nibbling things they call bissets (ph) here.

There is an alley of different restaurants where people can come to eat lunch.

But the thing I like the most about the market is that you can find the Israelis and Palestinians from all walks of life here. No matter what the divisions are in this country, everyone can agree on one thing, good food.

Elise Labott, CNN, Jerusalem.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PHILLIPS: Well, another twist to the by now very public Jackson family feud. Michael Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, is finally home. Daughter, Paris, tweeted, "Grandma is here, thank you, God." The 82-year-old arrived this morning. She has been gone since July 15th and has not spoken to the grandchildren since Tuesday. And it was rumored she had been kidnapped by her children, but Katherine Jackson denies that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATHERINE JACKSON, MOTHER OF MICHAEL JACKSON: There are rumors going around about me that I was kidnapped and held against my will. I am here today to let everybody know that I am fine and I'm here with my children. And my children would never do a thing like that, holding me against my will. That is stupid for people to think that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: Kareen Wynters is joining me live from L.A.

Kareen, what the heck is going on here?

KAREEN WYNTERS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, Kyra, Katherine Jackson left Los Angeles last week on doctor's orders to get away from the stress that involves her late son Michael Jackson's lucrative estate. She's a beneficiary by the way. Now she is back in California. And one can only imagine how she is dealing with this bitter feud, one that's gone public, Kyra. A source close to the Jackson family alerted me this morning that Katherine Jackson got a police escort to her home once she arrived in Calabasas after a nine-hour drive with her children, Jermaine, Janet, Rebee (ph), as well as Randy. Yu heard from Katherine in that statement she gave. My sources say she is at a loss of words over the incredible events that have unfolded in her absence and that's why she is back in L.A. to take care of business.

PHILLIPS: There is a tweet from Michael Jackson's son accusing the family of lying. What is the story behind that? WYNTERS: Well, it is scathing. And in part reads, "Although I am happy that my grandmother was returned, after speaking with her, I realized how misguided and how badly she was lied to, and I am really angry and hurt."

All I can say, Kyra, there's so many sides to the story we are hearing and allegations from those close to the family that these children, Michael's children, are being used as pawns here. And it all comes down to money. Michael Jackson's lucrative estate -- by the way, it was the Jackson children who fired off a letter that became public, asking the executors of Michael's estate to step aside, that they were mishandling the affairs. That prompted Katherine's move to Arizona. You see the drama unfolding and it is just getting nastier by the day.

PHILLIPS: Who is the legal guardian of these children?

WYNTERS: Well, Katherine was appointed the guardian on a permanent basis. And in light of all of the events, T.J., the court ruled he is the temporary legal guardian. And that prompted the move back to L.A., Katherine is flabbergasted by this. They will be reconsidering this order at a hearing next month. She has some time. It is not like she is going to step back into the picture and takeover. She is upset about that. She wants people to know that she was not sedated or she's not losing her mind. She needed a break from the chaos.

But quickly, I was told, T.J. Jackson, when Katherine arrived back home, was at her home in California, so there are perhaps intense discussions going on behind the scenes right now -- Kyra?

PHILLIPS: Got it. Kareen, thanks so much.

The judge has also ordered that the children not be removed from California without a court order by any person for their safety.

Thanks for watching, everyone. You can continue the conversation on twitter, @KyraCNN, and on Facebook.

NEWSROOM INTERNATIONAL starts right now.