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Team USA Vs. Portugal; ISIS Gaining Ground in Iraq; Team USA's Chances in the World Cup; Kerry In Middle East For Talks On Iraq; Amelia Earhart's New Flight; Congressman Fights To Keep Seat; Laughter Really Is The Best Medicine

Aired June 22, 2014 - 16:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: That's pretty incredible. Hopefully hunters won't take advantage of the information we're learning about Betsy and Katharine. Alina Machado, thanks so much.

Hello again, everyone. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Our top story this hour. We're now just two hours away from one of the most anticipated games ever for Team USA at the World Cup as they take on Portugal, and if Team USA wins they're guaranteed a spot in the next round. We got great coverage for you.

Lara Baldesarra is at the fan fest in Copacobana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Shasta Darlington is in Manaus, Brazil where today's game is being held and Richard Roth is with a group of fans in New York. And George Howell is in Chicago. Let's get straight out to Brazil and Lara Baldesarra . So, Lara, let's talk about how injuries are playing a role in these games, not just for Team USA but also for the Portugal team.

LARA BALDESARRA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Cristiano Ronaldo, he had been struggling with his left leg and most recently is actually a left knee injury that he has. Now all of his teammates and he said that he is 100 percent fine. However earlier this week he was seen leaving the training pitch with his knee wrapped up in ice. He had a brace on there when he was out there practicing. So it was not thought to be 100 percent but in my mind, Cristiano Ronaldo would not be playing unless it wasn't 100 percent.

Now there are some stories coming out of Spain, reports saying that doctors have warned him that if he does play in this game said he'll be risking his career. When I hear something like that all I think about is what a great headline that is, Cristiano Ronaldo risking his career for his country. So I wouldn't think anything of it. This is probably a fully fit Cristiano Ronaldo that this American team has had to deal with, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Interesting stuff. Shasta, to you, in Manaus, where this game is about to be played, in your backyard there. Fans have been commenting about the humidity factor, wonder if the players are going to be able to endure that. You know, you give us an idea, just how hot and humid is it there. What are players up against? SHASTA DARLINGTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 90 degrees in the shade, Fredricka, and 90 percent humidity. So you can imagine they are up against a big barrier there. But we - they have got some interesting things to say about that. You know, on the one hand they play games in Houston in the summer, in South Florida. So they say, in some ways they're more prepared for the heat than some of these European teams.

At the same time, they say the heat is going to be affecting them both, it's not like it's just going to be one team. So they say, they're prepared. And it's been great. We've been following around a bunch of fans. We've also seen them out playing soccer on the beaches of the Amazon River. So people are getting used to it. Let's just say there, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK. Well, Shasta, we saw fans were with you there. Guess what? There are big fans in New York and Chicago, as well. Let's check in with Richard where something tells me I need a bullhorn, Richard. What are the fans doing?

RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're here at Jack Dempsey's bar, a big hangout for U.S. men's team supporters. Of course, they're revved up for a lot of reasons. They've been here for hours. It's hot, it's sweaty. They're waiting for this match.

Earlier as I toured the bars of Manhattan, I got some comment on the Portuguese match and along with the Portuguese star player, Cristiano Ronaldo.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, I know Portugal's really great. Hopefully we got some injuries but go USA.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I honestly hate Ronaldo. He's not one of my favorite players. I mean he's a great player I just don't like him. I think he's really overrated. But I think USA has a great chance especially like it's been the first team to score within 30 seconds of the opening match. I think USA has a great chance to win.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROTH: Ronaldo may surprise her. Let's talk briefly to a fan or two here. What do you about the U.S.-Portuguese match. What are your hopes, dreams or fears.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We're going to win.

ROTH: How do you know? Ronaldo is one of the top players in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the U.S., we came here to play, we're going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Ronaldo's knee's going to swell up a bit in that Amazonian heat and we're not going to have problems.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The yanks will sweep them. We're going to sweep them.

ROTH: OK. That's some comment here. No surprise, really. I don't see many Portuguese fans here. Back to you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: It's so quiet there. Hey, George, how can you top that? What are fans thinking and feeling there?

GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fredricka, a lot of support for Portugal out here. Not really. I mean, you look around, it's all about USA. These guys, USA, right? What do you think about the game tonight?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: USA all the way. Portugal absolutely has no chance. I'm estimating 5-0 win for USA, easy.

HOWELL: What we're doing here right now, 10,000 people expected to be here in this Grant Park area. You got a little, you know, soccer in the round here, passing it around. Want to put this guy on the spot. Let's see what you got.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See what you got.

HOWELL: Nice, nice, nice!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep going. Keep going.

HOWELL: Nice. But you know, like I said, 10,000 people expected out here tonight. Jake, if you can pan out there the big screen. That's what we're watching, the game here within the next hour, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Fun stuff. Very exciting, all the way around, all the way around the world, Chicago, New York, Manaus and of course, Rio. Thanks so much. Keep us posted everybody.

Kick off just two hours away.

All right. Also, straight ahead, Islamic militants in Iraq storm more towns including one near Baghdad. The growing threat, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL BERNSTEIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: ... false pretenses, President Bush took us there, he and Cheney, conservatives. AND we hadn't done our homework about the realities of what was going on in Iraq, about the weapons of mass destruction and this is one of the great disasters on going through two administrations, through two terms, of two administrations each, a great disaster for this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. That's CNN political commentator Carl Bernstein on "State of the Union" with his take on what is happening in Iraq.

There have been significant developments today on the ground in Iraq. Nic Robertson joins us live now from Baghdad. So, Nic, ISIS is gaining ground in western Iraq. Just how much territory are we talking about being under the control of that militant group?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, it's growing. Al Anbar province in the west of Iraq, they have over 70 percent control. They've just, we're told, taken control of a tribe supporting ISIS, of taking control of the tiny little border outpost right next to the Jordanian border. Talking about the Syrian border now, we're talking about the Jordanian border.

They've taken a town, a large town, about 70 miles from the Jordanian border and the Saudi border, a town I've passed through many times. They are now able to link up by a highway their strong holds inside Syria with the outskirts of Baghdad.

So this is an important, strategic gain for them. This has really happened in the last 24 hours. The Army has essentially put down its weapons and run away, although the government says the army is merely making a tactical withdrawal so that they can be redeployed and refocus on other parts of the country. What this results in, ISIS is just much stronger and embedding itself much more firmly into this country, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And in the northern town of Mosul, explain what's been happening there.

ROBERTSON: This is something that potentially could herald a split between ISIS and its other rebel allies here. ISIS radical islamists, the tribes and other groups just want the prime minister out and a better government. Different aim for different things. ISIS is so radical, it's been enforcing a really hard, a hard enforcement, strict Sharia law.

They've even cut people's hands off as a punishment for thieving. Now what have they done? Not just banned alcohol, not just banned cigarettes, not just told women that they have to cover up before they go out on streets, they've smashed down statues in the city, a poet, a statue of a poet, a statue of a musician, the statue of the Virgin Mary at a church. This for the people of Mosul is something that absolutely not used to.

And it is, as I say, something that can potentially, potentially, drive ISIS from all of these tribal fighters that have helped it win these big gains in the country, maybe not just yet, but something that we're probably going to see again and again in other parts of the country that they now control. Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

Iraq and the rest of the world are intensely focused on the current crisis. But there's an underlying question. What's the country's future with Nuri al Malaki as prime minister? Does it have one as a unified democratic state or even a chance for such a thing, or will the sectarian violence, Sunni against Shiite, disintegrate into all- out civil war?

Joining us from Washington is Vali Nasser, dean of the school of advanced international studies at Johns Hopkins University and a former senior adviser to the U.S. State Department. Good to see you.

So what is your assessment. Is this the start of a new country building or simply chaos in the making?

VALI NASR, SCHOOL OF ADVANCES INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIV.: Well, a new country is long way off. But what we're seeing essentially is Iraq coming into - coming apart along sort of (INAUDIBLE) the Shia area, a Kurdish area, which is almost independent and now a Sunni area that's being defined by ISIS. The boundaries are fluid, and there's going to be a lot of fighting, but if it continues, obviously, the future of Iraq will be in question.

WHITFIELD: Is this something any other country, U.S. included or even the neighboring countries of Iraq can get really involved in in a positive way?

NASR: Well, it's going to be difficult for us resolve this completely. But we could help the worst from happening. First of all, we want to prevent extremists and terrorists from gaining ground over there. We want to also create circumstances that would encourage at least moderates on both sides, to able to come to some kind of political agreement that would - could avoid all-out war between the Shiites and Sunni. That would require a Shia politician other than Prime Minister Malaki but also requires us to identify some Sunni leaders that could be a partner in some kind of a discussion with the future Shia prime minister.

WHITFIELD: Are we at a point of no return when you hear the northern city of Mosul, for example, being taken over by ISIS and already the start of imposing Sharia law is under way? People are being punished in a very brutal way, restrictions are being imposed on families there?

NASR: Well, actually, we've seen this scenario play out before. We saw it in Iraq, during U.S. occupation, that initially Al Qaeda was welcomed into western Iraq and then they imposed Draconian Islamic laws and the tribes turned against them and subscribed to the sons of Iraq and to the awakening movement that pushed them out and allowed for a coming together of Iraqis that allowed the United States to ultimately withdraw.

I think the longer that this goes on, the more the Sunnis of Iraq are going to tire of ISIS and as angry as they are at Prime Minister Malaki, they're going to find ISIS much more difficult to live under.

WHITFIELD: Vali Nasr, thank you so much, appreciate it from Washington.

NASR: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. When we come back, more World Cup fever. A lot of people in U.S. are caught up in it. Enthusiasm aside, how good is Team USA? We got a reality check, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. You can compare it to March madness, college basketball fever. The World Cup has suddenly ignited a soccer frenzy among many Americans, Team USA takes on Portugal in just a couple of hours. Their win over Ghana only fueled the frenzy last week.

Ironically, Wall Street doesn't have that same drive, according to data from last World Cup. "Business Week" reports a significant drop in trading volume whenever a game is on TV.

All right. So now let's consider the team itself. Generation of children growing up, playing the game, but does Team USA have what it takes to go all the way? Matt Futterman is a sportswriter for the "Wall Street Journal." He's outside the stadium in Manaus where Team USA will play in about 90 minutes against Portugal. OK.

So, well, Matt, obviously Team USA has what it takes to get this far. But do you see it going all the way? How much it take on Portugal tonight? What are the chances?

MATT FUTTERMAN, "WALL STREET JOURNAL" SPORTSWRITER: Well, going all the way, that's going to be a tall order for the quarter finals to lock up. This is a golden opportunity for them against Portugal. Portugal's one of best in the world usually. But they're kind of banged up at this point. And they're missing one of their main defenders, got a red card in the first game and is suspended for this game.

WHITFIELD: Oh my goodness. So, you know, the U.S., while it is an underdog, I think some people were - a lot of people were very surprised in its victory over Ghana. So, with the main player for the Portugal team, Ronaldo, being injured, does this assist the U.S. in proving its chances of a win?

FUTTERMAN: Well, I mean, I think about Cristiano Ronaldo is Cristiano Ronaldo at 80 percent is probably still one of the best players in the world, if not the best player in the world. That's - having said you take an injured Cristiano Ronaldo over a fully fit Cristiano Ronaldo any day of the week, so sure it helps.

At the same time, Portugal's a very talented team. A lot of dangerous players and they are desperate for a win here. If they don't get some kind of result, at least a draw, really a win, they're the ones that are going to be packing their suitcases, and they don't want that at all.

WHITFIELD: Will it be the U.S., you know, strategy to try to further weaken Ronaldo, you know, without being too nasty or crass about it but because he is injured, targeting him so perhaps he's not able to play his best, so to speak?

FUTTERMAN: Well, I mean, I think they're going to give him a tremendous amount of attention. Any time he gets the ball, he's going to have two, or even three players around him. You have to believe that's going to happen. Having said that, you know, you've got to be really careful when going up against a great player wit a great reputation like that. He knows how to draw fouls, just about as well as anyone. Like Michael Jordan in his day. And the last thing you want to do is be fouling him and giving up free hits.

WHITFIELD: Of course, his own teammates are going to be protecting him. To a point of distraction, potentially?

FUTTERMAN: (INAUDIBLE) Not quite like American football where they have things like that but it's going to be a very tough game. If somebody sees on Portugal sees that Ronaldo's getting banged around a bit, there will undoubtedly be some retribution.

WHITFIELD: All right. And then of course, we're looking at pictures of Jozy Altidore, who will not be there for Team USA. You want to give me a prediction, Matt? How do you see it ending tonight?

FUTTERMAN: Low-scoring affair because it's scorching hot here in Manaus, that's going to prevent both teams from attacking, I think. I'll go 1-0, U.S..

WHITFIELD: OK. Very good. All right. I know the fans are thinking the same, hoping the same back in the US of A. Matt Futterman, thanks so much. Have fun at the game. Hey, just an hour and a half away now. So you better get to your seat.

FUTTERMAN: Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Matt, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Have fun.

All right. Let's talk again about Iraq right around the bend. U.S. aggressively pursuing a diplomatic solution to the Iraqi crisis. Secretary of State John Kerry is in the Middle East and he's delivering a warning about the ISIS threat.

But first, the music, the lights, and all of the noise at a baseball game can sometimes be way too much, especially for a child with autism. This week CNN hero is doing everything she can to help families with autistic children get past sensory overload and enjoy a night out at the game.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Going to new experiences with my son is a gamble. You are on edge all the time.

Help.

Just breathe.

When he's having a meltdown on the floor and the whole entire store is looking at you like you're a bad mom, you just want to crawl and go under a rock. It's challenging.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I stay in sometimes because it's easier for him to, around all of his toys. I'm afraid. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As a developmental pediatrician I do a lot of diagnosing of autism. When I heard that my families were afraid to go out, I felt like I needed to find a way to help them.

Every day experiences like going to a baseball game can be a challenge for kids with autism. The music, lights, the noise. There's a lot of unexpected sensory things happening.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you ready to go?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I worked with the Phillys to train all 3,000 people that work at the ballpark. Autism is a social disability. It needs to be addressed in the community. We prepare the families with a storybook of experiences that may happen at the park and we provide supported game experiences sort of like a safety net. If you start taking steps outside of your door, your world gets bigger and bigger.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's having fun. One success means more success.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's about more than a game. It's about opportunity.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hopefully there will be zoos in our future and aquariums, the world is our oyster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Bottom of the hour now. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

Here are the top stories crossing the CNN news desk right now.

Australian officials will announce a new search area Wednesday for missing Flight 370. The Transport Safety Bureau says it's been re- evaluating data that could move the search area hundreds of miles south. Australia will hire a private company for the new search which could start as early as August.

And Washington authorities have called off the search for missing Mt. Rainier hiker Karen Sykes, the 70-year-old travel writer was last seen Wednesday after separating from her hiking partner. Officials say they found a body during the search but have not yet identified it.

And U.S. women's national soccer team goalie Hope Solo is still in jail. She is being held without bail on domestic violence charges. Solo was arrested in Seattle after allegedly assaulting her sister and 17-year-old nephew. Her lawyer says she's not guilty. Police says Solo was "intoxicated and upset." She is due to appear in court tomorrow. And in his strongest language yet, Pope Francis is telling members of the Italian mafia, they're ex-communicated from the Catholic Church. He warns them, quote, "Hell awaits you if you continue on this road." This is the first time any pope has threatened ex-communication for mafia members. Some prosecutors are worried the mafia might target the pope.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. is not responsible for the current conflict in Iraq. He discussed the crisis today with leaders of Egypt and Jordan. Our Jim Sciutto is traveling with the secretary. So Jim, what is Kerry saying about the severity of this threat?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, a great deal. He's very concerned and the point he keeps hammering home, as he jumps around the region, first to Egypt, and now here in Jordan, is that this is not just Iraq's problem, Syria's problem, but the region's problem and it is, frankly a European and American problem as well because it's the judgment of the U.S. administration that foreign fighters emanating from Syria and Iraq threaten the U.S. and threaten the American homeland and Europe as well.

We are all in this together, as in effect part of his message so that the response has to be a regional one and international one. And a big focus of this administration is not just the 300 military advisers they're sending in, consideration of air strikes, but also reaching a political settlement quickly so that it gets all of the sides in this Iraq conflict.

The Kurds, the Shias, and the Sunnis together fighting ISIS as one and developing a government that represents all of those groups equally, and in that process, he is saying, we're not going to pick and choose sides or future leaders of Iraq. We're going to let Iraqis decide. Listen to how Secretary Kerry drove that point home earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN KERRY, SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States is not engaged in picking or choosing or advocating for any one individual or series of individuals to assume leadership of Iraq. That is up to the Iraqi people. We have made that clear since day one. It is up to the people of Iraq to choose their future leadership.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: There have been a lot of speculation in advance of this trip part of secretary's intention was to go to Iraq and tell Prime Minister Maliki it's time to go, we need another leader to develop this more inclusive, representative government. He's pushing back against that.

But I'll tell you, Fred, listening to his other public statements, and not just from Secretary Kerry, but even from Ayatollah Sistani, the most revered Shia cleric in Iraq and from Iranian officials as well, no one is expressing public support for Maliki saying explicitly that he is the man for the job. No one is saying time to move on, no one is endorsing him either.

I think that in the background, when you speak to officials privately, they don't have much confidence in him that he's the man to do it. But they are not going to come out and certainly Secretary Kerry, President Obama is not going to say we're going to make the choice for the Iraqi people. The Iraqi parties involved in this have to make the choice themselves.

WHITFIELD: But at the same time, you know, Iran's supreme leader also coming out today, saying to the U.S. or in response to the U.S. potential intervention, that Iraq can take care of itself, but it's Iraq who actually asked for this kind of assistance. Is it going to follow through by giving permission to allow these advisers to actually come into Iraq?

SCIUTTO: Well, I think you know, certainly the U.S. is not waiting for Iranian permission. You know, it's interesting speaking to U.S. officials, because we asked them, you've had other Iranians on the same page as the Americans in effect saying that they want an inclusive government for Iraq, a representative government.

I've been asking U.S. officials, do you think you can work with Iran on the way forward or do you have shared interest? Is there overlap in your interest, in your priorities here so that, you know, you're not going to be allies, but at least have the same goal in mind?

The impression I get, they will say we're not sure really what Iran wants here and their position is, if Iran is in support of a more inclusive government, follows through on that, doesn't back the Shiite alone, then they're willing to work together to some degree. But at this point, they just don't know where Iran is going to fall down.

Remember Iran is a Shiite country, Maliki, a Shiite leader. In the past, Iran has given its support to the Shiites and the U.S. wants to see, you know, Iran pushing like the U.S. for a unified Iraq that represents all of the parties and they haven't seen that yet, at least evidence of that yet.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jim Sciutto, thanks so much.

A young flyer gets ready for the trip of a lifetime. You will certainly recognize the name. Amelia Earhart number two, talking to her next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: When Amelia Earhart made her famous flight back in 1937, she was on her own, and she was sure that nobody would be following her on social media. A new Amelia Earhart is about to take to the skies, and this 21st century pilot is paying tribute to the past while doing her thing in the digital age.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AMELIA ROSE EARHART, PILOT (voice-over): The Amelia Project is the actual flight around the world. Taking the first life of Amelia Mary Earhart back in 1937 and Amelia Rose Earhart, myself.

(on camera): As pilots we want to close our flight plans and Amelia never got a chance to do that. She left that plan open, I'm not her relative. I'm truly inspired. We've been doing info graphics. A flight around the world has never been socially documented. We can stay socially engaged around the equator, #flyamelia.

(voice-over): It's not just learning how to flight. Part of the training was the ocean survival course. Boy, that training was unlike anything I'd ever gone through before. I had a bit of fear of the ocean my entire life. Being in the water makes me nervous. My yoga training has been a huge part of my preparations for the flight. I get one hour to myself thinking about why am I doing this? The passion behind it.

(on camera): The flight with Amelia Foundation the charity I started to put young women through flight school. The board of directors here decided the girl whose get the scholarship.

DESTINEY KRELL: Amelia one of the role models will get out and like, let's do this, let's get you your pilot's license. What better role model than a woman?

EARHART: I'm Pilot Amelia Earhart, about to fly this plane around the world. Only 24,000 nautical miles to go. I'll see you in Oakland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: OK. Very exciting trip she's about to embark on. Amelia Ross Earhart joining me now from Denver, Colorado. Amelia, good to see you.

EARHART: Good to see you, too. Thanks for having me on.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic. Certainly appears your life plan was etched as soon as named Amelia Earhart. Really, when did this passion to fly, when was it ignited?

EARHART: You know, it was ignited ten years ago when I took my first discovery flight in Boulder, Colorado. From that point on, a lot of people were saying you should be a pilot, but that was the first time I felt I was meant to be a pilot. Ten years later, a year and a half of solid training of the around the world flight, now it's time to go.

WHITFIELD: And you feel really ready?

EARHART: I do. I have a lost nervous energy right now. We're about three days out. You should see my house is a total wreck, packing, supplies, nutritional products, cameras, it's all a blur.

WHITFIELD: My gosh, well, very exciting. So how will you socially engage people while you're flying and doing it safely?

EARHART: So we've got a unique opportunity here. In the age 2014, we can live tweet from the cockpit. We're going to have photos, cameras on board this plane, documenting all of beauty that we're seeing from the cockpit. We'll see the sunrise around the globe because we're taking off at sunrise every morning. We're encouraging everyone to use #flywithamelia to tract the flight.

So you'll know our altitude, heading, our air speed, where we're going next, where we came from, and it's our first opportunity to do this. I feel like I go take everybody along with me on the flight.

WHITFIELD: Tell me about the plane. It sounds like you have really rigged this flight you know so everybody can be there with you.

EARHART: You know, we really have. We are flying the PC-12NG, it's a single engine turbo. It's a beautiful aircraft. It's got a really strong engine, just one engine, by the way. We're making our way 24,300 nautical miles around the globe. We are going through 14 countries, 17 stops and head back to Oakland. One of the special things about the flight is we're leaving from the exact same hangar space where Amelia did 77 years ago in 1937.

WHITFIELD: Exciting. This foundation that you started to help inspire other young girls to follow in your footsteps and be pilots, how's that coming along?

EARHART: Really is my passion. I love to fly myself, but more than anything I like to get other young girls out to the airport. The Fly with Amelia Foundation is accepting applicants right now, girls at high school level who want to learn how to fly. I mentor them through the process, take them out to the airport, take their first discovery flight and hopefully feel what I did.

Really trying to do the flight around the world, trying to lead by example, and show girls that I'm not saying they should go be pilots, but you know, look, you can actually accomplish this if you take the hard work and right steps to do it, anything's possible. You can truly go all the way around.

WHITFIELD: Fantastic, as you're about to do. We wish you the best, Amelia Rose Earhart. We'll be watching you, you've invited us, everybody, to be with you. We'll be socially engaged in your flight.

EARHART: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Good luck to you. Fantastic. All the best.

The countdown is on for Team USA taking on Portugal at the World Cup in just over an hour from now. They may be the underdogs in this tournament, but they say they've got the heart to win.

Ahead of today's game, the team took that idea to heart. They sewed an inspirational saying inside their jerseys. It reads, quote, "The Americans will -- wait a minute. The American will to win is stronger than any opponent in your way. OK. Go, USA. We will see indeed later on tonight if that line helps them to victory.

All right, will they have been in Congress as long as anyone can remember. Some senior members are now facing the fight of their political lives, as voters head to the polls this Tuesday. But first, an update now on the flooding in Minnesota. The "Minneapolis Star Tribune" says rivers are expected to crest in the coming days. But crews believe they can handle the flooding. It's been raining there today. Forecasters say another inch or two could fall. If you want to help victims head to cnn.com/impact and we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Tuesday could be another day of upsets in American politics. Two senior members in Congress are in the fights of their political lives. One, a Republican, the other a Democrat. Six-term Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran is trying to win over a strong Tea Party challenger in a run off.

State Senator Chris McDaniel was just a few votes shy of deceiving Cochran outright in the Republican primary. Also Tuesday, House Democrat Charles Rangel of New York is trying to hang on to his job. He was first elected back in 1970 and is facing a stiff challenge in his Harlem District.

Alexandria Field is live for us now in New York with more on this. What's go on here normally candidates are elected with overwhelming majorities, but something's different this time.

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and really, Fred, in this case, it's the district itself. The lines were actually redrawn before the 2012 election, and during the 2012 election, Congressman Rangel just narrowly won his 22nd term. He beat out his primary competitor by just 1,100 votes.

Now he is facing the same opponent for a second time. State Senator Adriano Espaillat believes that in the last two years he's gained some ground. He is more well-known in the area and he says after 43 years in office, he thinks that voters will think that Rangel's time is simply up. Here what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADRIANO ESPAILLAT (D), NEW YORK STATE SENATE: I feel that we're going to win, we're going to win big. I feel very strong we've got the wind behind us, people have finally said enough is enough and when the community, a country, a neighborhood says it's time for change, it's very difficult to stop that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FIELD: Congressman Rangel is taking this race very seriously. He is out there. He is fighting hard. In fact, he tells me that he believes he's more fit for this campaign than he was two years ago when he had been having some health problems and he had also come off a House censure back in 2010 over some ethics violations. He feels that his district, which includes Harlem and part of the Bronx, is firmly behind him and hope that voters will recognize his experience and support him for it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SENATOR CHARLES RANGEL (D), NEW YORK: I don't want to say anything negative about anybody else except they don't know anything about the job. Just saying that I've been around and I should leave, if you've got to -- by any interpretation I'm a winner.

FIELD: You're campaigning hard though. Are you feeling the heat a little bit?

RANGEL: How can you feel the heat when everything's going your way? I'm not taking anything for granted. Of course not. The people have said they're going to vote for me, I appreciate that. I have to get them out to vote. So, as a matter of fact, I'm not even tired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Not even tired. Both candidates say that they are fighting hard just to get voters out to the polls on Tuesday. Of course, that's the most important thing for them. What's interesting about this district, Fred, the demographics have change so much. Historically a district that had a majority black population. That majority has shifted and we see a Hispanic majority. We'll take a closer look how the demographics can affect this election coming up on Tuesday at 4:00 on "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, Alexandra Field, thanks so much in New York.

Straight ahead, is laughter really the best medicine? Why one expert says yes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Now an uplifting story. A Colorado woman took her first steps this week, a month and a half after a car accident took her feet. Here are those steps. Kristin Hopkins, waited eight week for her specially made prosthetic legs to be finished. She says she's happy to be vertical again. Finally, to go home.

You may remember this woman. We reported on her crash back in May. She was found at bottom of an embankment five days after the crash. She survived with no food, no water and was badly injured. Firefighters thought that they were just recovering her body when they located that vehicle until she raised her hand to let them know she was alive. And very happy update indeed. We wish her well.

Some experts say, laughter is really the best medicine of all and one guy figured it all out and why. Scott Weems wrote a book called "Ha! What Makes Us Laugh and Why" and he says women are actually the ones doing more of the giggling. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta talked with him and together they chuckled.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SCOTT WEEMS, AUTHOR: This is always tricky because it's so hard to interpret some of the data. But there's some findings that you can't argue. One is that women laugh more than men. We know because Scientist Robert Provine, a psychologist from Baltimore, went out and just basically eavesdropped on people for a year in coffee shops and Subways.

And found women that laugh -- two women in a room will laugh twice as much as two men. Women are outnumbered in professional comedy by quite a bit. Great examples of professional female comedians, Amy Schumer, Tina Fey. They're still the minority. What's the disparity?

One evolutionary theory, no way to know, you know, where this comes from, but it could be that women are just kind of raised or encouraged to be the audience and men are encouraged to be the joke tellers from an early age.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: For me and everyone else out there, can you become funnier? Can you become more humorous? I want to be funnier guy, can I do that?

WEEMS: You can. Not only -- that's good news -- but I think the even better news is, so many of the benefits from humor come from not being funny but exposed to humor. Watching a comedy can make you perform better on things like intelligence tests and insight tests. Watching a comedy can improve your blood pressure, it can improve your immune system response.

So I think that it's good to be funny, but it's better to surround yourself with humor because you get a lot benefits from that, which is good for people, not professional comedians, you don't have to be one to get the benefit.

GUPTA: That's good news. I'll surround myself with some humor. Not hard to do in my household sometimes. Fascinating book, Scott Weems. Good luck with it. Thanks for joining us.

WEEMS: Yes, thank you very much.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: I don't think anyone has to be sold on that. It would seem that laughter would benefit all of us. All right, thanks so much for being with us.

The next hour of the NEWSROOM is coming up with Deborah Feyerick. You like to laugh, don't you?

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN ANCHOR: I love to laugh. As a matter of fact, there is nothing that a good joke can't cure, if nothing else takes you out of your head and puts you into an interesting funny situation.

WHITFIELD: I so much agree and I think. you know, what you give is what you get. You give a lot of laughter, you'll have so much more joy in your life.

FEYERICK: Exactly and that's the way it should be. Fred, thank you so much. Great to see you.

WHITFIELD: Good to see you too. FEYERICK: All right, everyone, well, you are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Deborah Feyerick. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Deborah Feyerick in today for Don Lemon.