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Girl Scouts Take no Prisoners in Cookie Debts
Aired July 12, 2004 - 14:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well some people are making promises. Promises to donate money to their favorite charity and then trying to get away with not paying up. CNN's Ceci Rodgers with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CECI RODGERS, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who would order Girl Scout cookies and then not pay for them? Turns out plenty of people. But they are not getting away with it. In a Girl Scout versions of Powerpuff Girls, some local scout councils are going after the cookie deadbeats through agencies like OldDebts.com.
JEFF CRONROD, CEO, OLDDEBTS.COM: Non-profit companies need cash flow. They have obligations just like for-profit companies do. There's an increased need now for them to pursue pledges or back dues or tuition.
RODGERS: But they would rather the public didn't know. The Girl Scouts national office had little to say on the subject. Except that, quote, "It is critical that everyone who supports the Girl Scout Cookie Program set a good example and take their fiduciary responsibilities seriously."
It's not a new problem. Think Ted Turner who had to delay payments on his billion dollar United Nation's pledge after his stock holdings tanked.
(on camera): Many charities, in fact, assume a certain percentage of pledge donations will not be honored. The rule of thumb is 6 to 7 percent. The question is, what to do about it?
(voice-over): Charitable pledges are legally binding agreements. Still, experts in the field cringe at the mention of debt collectors.
DR. EUGENE TEMPEL, IND. U. CTR. ON PHILANTHROPY: That's probably not a very wise thing. Organizations probably want to maintain a relationship with a donor and be able to relate to the donor through the bad times and be able to collect the pledge as times get better.
RODGERS: In spite of that, OldDebts.com says a wide range of non-profit organizations rely on its service.
CRONROD: We just eventually renegotiated on a building fund pledge where the person wasn't able to come up with the money. We were able to intervene and make a deal that worked out for both sides.
RODGERS: Maybe next year's Girl Scouts will ask for their money before they order their cookies.
Ceci Rodgers for CNN Financial News, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A champ doesn't make the cut. A driver sets off a brawl. And cyclist are yanked from the Tour de France. What the heck is going on? Get caught up on sports, next.
A mystery in the Old Dominion. Yard gnomes go missing in the night. The canine culprit still on the loose. We're on it, we're investigating. LIVE FROM...'s got security video you crave for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Come on, you probably read the book. Once its waters may have nourished the Garden of Eden. Now the Tigris River is choked with sewage and filth. But help is on the way. Environmentalists are taking the first steps in that plan that could salvage this ancient source of life. Our Michael Holmes reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the Tigris River, brothers Ali and Mohammed (ph) ply an ancient trade, ignoring the sounds of their country's unfinished war, seeking the local shabut other species of fish. As locals swim nearby, another cast, another empty net.
"The river is not clean because there is sewage in it. So it is 100 percent dirty," says Mohammed. "There is even kerosene and oil and sewage smell in the fish."
ANNA BACHMAN, ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCHER: You know the river is treated like an open sewer. And everything that goes on in the city, this is where they put all the waste.
HOLMES: And it's there for all to see. Sewage pouring into the river. Plenty of trash, as well. And it's suspected chemicals and factory waste. The image of Ali and Mohammed fishing in the shadow of a power plant is symbolic of what lurks in the Tigris. Their customers aren't happy.
"Some people cannot bear it," says Mohammed, "because when you cut the fish to grill it, when you eat it, it tastes of kerosene."
(on camera): The Tigris River is like the backbone of Baghdad. One of the biblical rivers of Eden. It flows for a thousand miles from Turkey in that direction to the Persian Gulf. On its journey coursing through this capital and sustaining fishermen and those who consume their catch. But this is now a river far from the days of Eden.
BACHMAN: This is the primary source of drinking water for the population of Iraq. And it's a huge public health nightmare, really. HOLMES (voice-over): Water treatment plants in Baghdad are being rehabilitated but still many are not operating effectively due to years of neglect, power cuts and post-war looting. Two of the city's three sewage treatment plants are being rebuilt and don't operate at all. The third is running at 30 percent capacity. American engineers hope to have all three operating again by October. Not long ago a U.N. agency reported 70 percent of all children's sicknesses in Iraq are linked to contaminated water.
BACHMANN: We tend to ignore the environmental hazards because people do not die spectacularly. They don't -- there are no bombs and bullets. They die quietly in their homes and hospital beds.
HOLMES: Today in Baghdad, the start of a long voyage to at least get an idea of how bad things are, the first environmental survey of the Tigris since the war, carried out by the ministry of the environment with the help of outside NGOs. Samples taken will be analyzed, the first step in finding out how bad things have become.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Collecting books for Baghdad. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, looters sacked Baghdad University, especially its library. But an enterprising Iraqi-born professor who is working in Alabama has a plan to help. He's going to be our guest live tomorrow on LIVE FROM... It's a wonderful story. You don't want to miss it.
Well some missteps on the track. Some records in the pool (ph). Some rests, well, for Lance Armstrong. Matt Morrison here with free samples of all the supporting events going on.
Let's start with the Olympic trials. Boy, a few surprises over the weekend.
MATT MORRISON, CNN SPORTS: Swimming, and track and field. And the biggest surprise, of course, on the fast track, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, they have got even more in common now. They are training partners and they are the parents of a young son, and they have both been caught up in one of the most compelling controversies in sports history. And now neither will be competing in the specialty, the 100 meters at the Athens Olympics.
Montgomery in the 100 yesterday -- at the Olympic trials in Sacramento, was absolutely outgunned by the entire field; so much so that he didn't even make the Olympic team. This is the world record holder in the 100 meters. And we can show you the video. He is at the top of the track, and -- excuse me, the bottom of the track here in lane 7. Tim Montgomery, the world record holder, just outclassed by the field.
Maurice Greene coming on strong in the third lane. And Greene is going to win the Olympic trials. As I said, Montgomery finishing seventh. That is a distance out of the shot for even the Olympic team. So Maurice Greene, the Olympic trials 100-meter champ, and Tim Montgomery out of it.
And that means Marion Jones as well will be struggling to see what her place will be in the Olympics, because so far she hasn't made the Olympic team. This was her earlier in the trials. She is at the bottom of your screen, third from the left. This is the woman to beat in the world in 100 meters and she finished fifth. She did not even meet the Olympic team on that.
She will have another couple of opportunities, Kyra, because she will be competing in the long jump which she also Gold medalled in earlier. And she will also have an opportunity in the 200-meter. But really shocking news. And of course...
PHILLIPS: It surprised for all of us.
MORRISON: It's not over for these guys, either. It's going to be a long summer because of course...
PHILLIPS: You've got the anti-doping controversy.
MORRISON: Exactly. Now you talk about that, and Tim Montgomery has actually been accused by the U.S. anti-doping agency of using performance enhancing drugs. And he's going to be fighting off that for the reset of his career, however long that may be. We may have seen the last of Tim Montgomery.
Marion Jones has not been officially accused of anything. And she has demanded that she get tested and cleared. But they haven't done that either. They are investigating her.
PHILLIPS: She held her news conference and said, I have never not passed a test.
MORRISON: Exactly, and that is true of a lot of the principal athletes involved in this. But because of other evidence, the U.S. anti-doping agency is continuing with their investigation. And that just hangs a big cloud. And both Montgomery and Marion Jones vehemently, after the trials failures this weekend, were upset with the media, they were saying this is what brought us down.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about swimming. Talk about bringing us up. Brendan Hansen, that was a surprise.
MORRISON: Yes, Michael Phelps has been the breakout swimmer over the last couple of years, a guy that could challenge Mark Spitz record of seven Olympic Gold Medals, coming up in the Athens games. And he has already qualified in three individual events.
But the story so far over the weekend, the emerging star Brendan Hansen in the breast stroke, Brendan Hansen from Texas. And watch the lead in this. This is four laps in the pool, 50 meters each. And Brendan Hansen is way out front. In a sport, Kyra, where 0.01 of a second, if you shave a little bit off of a record by 0.01 of a second, this guy set the new world record in the 200-meter by over a second. That's a gigantic edge. And that was after already setting the world record in the 100 breast stroke earlier in the day. So Brendan Hansen along with Michael Phelps starring at the U.S. Olympic swim trials doing a good job.
PHILLIPS: Brendan comes up to the end, turns around, oh, wow, I really beat everybody. He kind of had that...
MORRISON: By a lot.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. All right. Let's talk about the all- stars, baseball, of course.
MORRISON: Yes, baseball all-star break going on right now. The home run derby later tonight. The game itself on Tuesday night. The starting pitcher's name is Roger Clemens, the Houston Astros star getting the nod for the National League, and it's going to be Mark Mulder for the A's. No surprise that Clemens would get that nod in his hometown park.
Ken Griffey Jr., however, is out of the all-star activity, and that puts a damper on things. Over the weekend, Griffey Jr. playing centerfield for the Reds in Milwaukee going after this fly ball. You see him start to hobble. Yes, another hamstring tear. He's been placed on the 15-day disabled list. That's going to keep him out of the game as well as out of the home run derby where they were billing this one as the only active 500 home run hitters going at it, Bonds and Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro. But now he is out of it.
Lance Burkman of the Astros will take over Griffey's starting spot in the National League outfield. And Carlos Beltran, also of the Astros, was added, which was interesting because here is a guy who was terrific for the Kansas City Royals, would have been an American League all-star, but he got traded about two weeks ago. And so he wasn't an all-star even though he deserved to be in. Now he is on the team because Griffey can't play.
PHILLIPS: All right. I want to get to NASCAR, Tony Stewart. I mean, what is his problem? When -- you're supposed to be a gentleman so you don't lose your sponsors. And he is just revving it up.
MORRISON: He's a good ole boy, he's a good ole boy. Yesterday he won at Chicagoland Speedway, his first victory of 2004. And the 2002 NASCAR champ didn't do it without controversy. And that has become expected. Here are the pit crews of Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne. The two drivers were involved in a mishap on the track that cost Kahne the lead and put him out of the race. And that brought his crew chief over, Tommy Baldwin, who jumped into the fray, and Greg Zipadelli is Tony Stewart's crew chief. And you know, that's why they call them good ole boys, they settle things with a little bit of dirt and fisticuffs and...
PHILLIPS: You don't always see that, though, because seriously the sponsorship is important. And usually they are very well-behaved and nice to the fans and not beating up on each other.
MORRISON: You know, Kyra, I think this is -- a little bit of that is good for the sport. It keeps...
PHILLIPS: Really?
MORRISON: Yes, it keeps the core fan base...
PHILLIPS: The fans are looking for the cars to crash, they don't necessarily want to see them duke it out.
MORRISON: Well, they got both. They got a car crash and they got a little fight in the pits. So it was pretty amusing.
PHILLIPS: All right. Lance Armstrong not having to fight.
MORRISON: No, Tour De France has a day off. And you would need a day off too if you had to ride a like thousand miles a week, which these guys do. Not without its controversy, though, because on Monday the tour officials asked that two riders, one Slovenian, and one from Italy, be withdrawn from the race. They have notified those teams that they officially want those riders out because of doping insinuations or accusations.
So again, no proof in the situation but the tour doesn't want any scent of a controversy in terms of doping. There are two riders that are under investigation. And the tour guys just want them out.
PHILLIPS: All right, Matt Morrison, thanks a lot. Come back a little more often.
MORRISON: OK, Kyra, I'm here.
PHILLIPS: OK. Good deal.
All right. Caught on tape, a stealthy canine robbing one woman's garden of its animal charm. You won't believe what this pup has been collecting with LIVE FROM... continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was kind of hanging out, walking around in the yard. And we were keeping an eye on her. And just like a little kid, you turn around two seconds, next thing you know she's 40 some-feet up in the tree. So no more free roaming in the backyard, that's for sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: She is "Money." The pet iguana cost his owner a chunk of change by "scaling" a backyard tree. Well it took a bucket truck to get her back down. The owner and his pet live in Montgomery, Alabama. And the owner is now considering getting Money fit for a leash.
On the topic of delinquents in the animal world. You may recall the squirrel that we introduced you to. It was caught on camera, absconding with yellow ribbons under cover of darkness. Now comes the story of the canine klepto. Beth Parker has that from affiliate WTTG in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETH PARKER, WTTG CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 75-year-old grandmother targeted by a cagey criminal. She leaned on police for help.
SOPHIA GRINNAN, FAIRFAX CO. POLICE: We were concerned for her safety, for her health.
PARKER: So investigators turned to the watchful eye of a surveillance camera.
GRINNAN: And we're waiting to catch some human miscreant in the act of, you know, a larceny, a crime.
PARKER: Crime, yes. Miscreant, maybe. Human, no.
GRINNAN: Much to our surprise he had four legs.
PARKER: Take a look at the video. The black lab trots up to Ruth Breiner's lawn ornaments, looks around and nails his prey. Apparently he's been casing the place. Over the past few months, seven of Ruth's lawn animals have disappeared.
RUTH BREINER, VICTIM: One baby raccoon, two fawns, two squirrels, chipmunk and a fox.
PARKER: By now, the critters are feeling uneasy. Some even have that deer in the headline looks. Only the rabbit seem unconcerned. Not one of them has been touched.
BREINER: Maybe they taste different. I don't know.
PARKER: Over at the Fairfax Police Department, where even the picnic tables are now locked up, they are hunting down all leads wondering where the suspect is now and how he picks his prey.
GRINNAN: I don't know if it's love, I don't know if it's a control issue.
PARKER (on camera): Now naturally police have already searched the places they think this suspect might hang out.
Do you think the dog knows you are on to him?
GRINNAN: No. I don't think they're that smart.
PARKER (voice-over): One neighbor has even put out a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. She says she has seen a few black labs in the area.
(on camera): Either one of the look suspicious?
(LAUGHTER)
(voice-over): Police say if he's caught, the dog will face no jail time.
GRINNAN: We just want to bring this case to a resolution.
PARKER: They also want to get back the goods and send a message to animals and people. Keep your paws to yourself.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Thank you very much, Beth Parker of a CNN affiliate WTTG.
(MARKET UPDATE)
PHILLIPS: Oscar winning actor Matt Damon has a new assignment here on CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT DAMON, ACTOR: I thought they were going to give me breaking news.
PHILLIPS: Oh no. I mean if you have breaking news, I'm going to tell you and you're just going to go with it Is that OK?
(CROSSTALK)
DAMON: Fill in for Miles here.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: There's an idea. Find out what Matt is really up to in the LIVE FROM... interview of the century, moments away. Matt call us if you are watching. We miss you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 12, 2004 - 14:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Well some people are making promises. Promises to donate money to their favorite charity and then trying to get away with not paying up. CNN's Ceci Rodgers with that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CECI RODGERS, CNNfn CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Who would order Girl Scout cookies and then not pay for them? Turns out plenty of people. But they are not getting away with it. In a Girl Scout versions of Powerpuff Girls, some local scout councils are going after the cookie deadbeats through agencies like OldDebts.com.
JEFF CRONROD, CEO, OLDDEBTS.COM: Non-profit companies need cash flow. They have obligations just like for-profit companies do. There's an increased need now for them to pursue pledges or back dues or tuition.
RODGERS: But they would rather the public didn't know. The Girl Scouts national office had little to say on the subject. Except that, quote, "It is critical that everyone who supports the Girl Scout Cookie Program set a good example and take their fiduciary responsibilities seriously."
It's not a new problem. Think Ted Turner who had to delay payments on his billion dollar United Nation's pledge after his stock holdings tanked.
(on camera): Many charities, in fact, assume a certain percentage of pledge donations will not be honored. The rule of thumb is 6 to 7 percent. The question is, what to do about it?
(voice-over): Charitable pledges are legally binding agreements. Still, experts in the field cringe at the mention of debt collectors.
DR. EUGENE TEMPEL, IND. U. CTR. ON PHILANTHROPY: That's probably not a very wise thing. Organizations probably want to maintain a relationship with a donor and be able to relate to the donor through the bad times and be able to collect the pledge as times get better.
RODGERS: In spite of that, OldDebts.com says a wide range of non-profit organizations rely on its service.
CRONROD: We just eventually renegotiated on a building fund pledge where the person wasn't able to come up with the money. We were able to intervene and make a deal that worked out for both sides.
RODGERS: Maybe next year's Girl Scouts will ask for their money before they order their cookies.
Ceci Rodgers for CNN Financial News, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: A champ doesn't make the cut. A driver sets off a brawl. And cyclist are yanked from the Tour de France. What the heck is going on? Get caught up on sports, next.
A mystery in the Old Dominion. Yard gnomes go missing in the night. The canine culprit still on the loose. We're on it, we're investigating. LIVE FROM...'s got security video you crave for.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Come on, you probably read the book. Once its waters may have nourished the Garden of Eden. Now the Tigris River is choked with sewage and filth. But help is on the way. Environmentalists are taking the first steps in that plan that could salvage this ancient source of life. Our Michael Holmes reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the Tigris River, brothers Ali and Mohammed (ph) ply an ancient trade, ignoring the sounds of their country's unfinished war, seeking the local shabut other species of fish. As locals swim nearby, another cast, another empty net.
"The river is not clean because there is sewage in it. So it is 100 percent dirty," says Mohammed. "There is even kerosene and oil and sewage smell in the fish."
ANNA BACHMAN, ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCHER: You know the river is treated like an open sewer. And everything that goes on in the city, this is where they put all the waste.
HOLMES: And it's there for all to see. Sewage pouring into the river. Plenty of trash, as well. And it's suspected chemicals and factory waste. The image of Ali and Mohammed fishing in the shadow of a power plant is symbolic of what lurks in the Tigris. Their customers aren't happy.
"Some people cannot bear it," says Mohammed, "because when you cut the fish to grill it, when you eat it, it tastes of kerosene."
(on camera): The Tigris River is like the backbone of Baghdad. One of the biblical rivers of Eden. It flows for a thousand miles from Turkey in that direction to the Persian Gulf. On its journey coursing through this capital and sustaining fishermen and those who consume their catch. But this is now a river far from the days of Eden.
BACHMAN: This is the primary source of drinking water for the population of Iraq. And it's a huge public health nightmare, really. HOLMES (voice-over): Water treatment plants in Baghdad are being rehabilitated but still many are not operating effectively due to years of neglect, power cuts and post-war looting. Two of the city's three sewage treatment plants are being rebuilt and don't operate at all. The third is running at 30 percent capacity. American engineers hope to have all three operating again by October. Not long ago a U.N. agency reported 70 percent of all children's sicknesses in Iraq are linked to contaminated water.
BACHMANN: We tend to ignore the environmental hazards because people do not die spectacularly. They don't -- there are no bombs and bullets. They die quietly in their homes and hospital beds.
HOLMES: Today in Baghdad, the start of a long voyage to at least get an idea of how bad things are, the first environmental survey of the Tigris since the war, carried out by the ministry of the environment with the help of outside NGOs. Samples taken will be analyzed, the first step in finding out how bad things have become.
Michael Holmes, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Collecting books for Baghdad. After the fall of Saddam Hussein, looters sacked Baghdad University, especially its library. But an enterprising Iraqi-born professor who is working in Alabama has a plan to help. He's going to be our guest live tomorrow on LIVE FROM... It's a wonderful story. You don't want to miss it.
Well some missteps on the track. Some records in the pool (ph). Some rests, well, for Lance Armstrong. Matt Morrison here with free samples of all the supporting events going on.
Let's start with the Olympic trials. Boy, a few surprises over the weekend.
MATT MORRISON, CNN SPORTS: Swimming, and track and field. And the biggest surprise, of course, on the fast track, Marion Jones and Tim Montgomery, they have got even more in common now. They are training partners and they are the parents of a young son, and they have both been caught up in one of the most compelling controversies in sports history. And now neither will be competing in the specialty, the 100 meters at the Athens Olympics.
Montgomery in the 100 yesterday -- at the Olympic trials in Sacramento, was absolutely outgunned by the entire field; so much so that he didn't even make the Olympic team. This is the world record holder in the 100 meters. And we can show you the video. He is at the top of the track, and -- excuse me, the bottom of the track here in lane 7. Tim Montgomery, the world record holder, just outclassed by the field.
Maurice Greene coming on strong in the third lane. And Greene is going to win the Olympic trials. As I said, Montgomery finishing seventh. That is a distance out of the shot for even the Olympic team. So Maurice Greene, the Olympic trials 100-meter champ, and Tim Montgomery out of it.
And that means Marion Jones as well will be struggling to see what her place will be in the Olympics, because so far she hasn't made the Olympic team. This was her earlier in the trials. She is at the bottom of your screen, third from the left. This is the woman to beat in the world in 100 meters and she finished fifth. She did not even meet the Olympic team on that.
She will have another couple of opportunities, Kyra, because she will be competing in the long jump which she also Gold medalled in earlier. And she will also have an opportunity in the 200-meter. But really shocking news. And of course...
PHILLIPS: It surprised for all of us.
MORRISON: It's not over for these guys, either. It's going to be a long summer because of course...
PHILLIPS: You've got the anti-doping controversy.
MORRISON: Exactly. Now you talk about that, and Tim Montgomery has actually been accused by the U.S. anti-doping agency of using performance enhancing drugs. And he's going to be fighting off that for the reset of his career, however long that may be. We may have seen the last of Tim Montgomery.
Marion Jones has not been officially accused of anything. And she has demanded that she get tested and cleared. But they haven't done that either. They are investigating her.
PHILLIPS: She held her news conference and said, I have never not passed a test.
MORRISON: Exactly, and that is true of a lot of the principal athletes involved in this. But because of other evidence, the U.S. anti-doping agency is continuing with their investigation. And that just hangs a big cloud. And both Montgomery and Marion Jones vehemently, after the trials failures this weekend, were upset with the media, they were saying this is what brought us down.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk about swimming. Talk about bringing us up. Brendan Hansen, that was a surprise.
MORRISON: Yes, Michael Phelps has been the breakout swimmer over the last couple of years, a guy that could challenge Mark Spitz record of seven Olympic Gold Medals, coming up in the Athens games. And he has already qualified in three individual events.
But the story so far over the weekend, the emerging star Brendan Hansen in the breast stroke, Brendan Hansen from Texas. And watch the lead in this. This is four laps in the pool, 50 meters each. And Brendan Hansen is way out front. In a sport, Kyra, where 0.01 of a second, if you shave a little bit off of a record by 0.01 of a second, this guy set the new world record in the 200-meter by over a second. That's a gigantic edge. And that was after already setting the world record in the 100 breast stroke earlier in the day. So Brendan Hansen along with Michael Phelps starring at the U.S. Olympic swim trials doing a good job.
PHILLIPS: Brendan comes up to the end, turns around, oh, wow, I really beat everybody. He kind of had that...
MORRISON: By a lot.
PHILLIPS: Yes, exactly. All right. Let's talk about the all- stars, baseball, of course.
MORRISON: Yes, baseball all-star break going on right now. The home run derby later tonight. The game itself on Tuesday night. The starting pitcher's name is Roger Clemens, the Houston Astros star getting the nod for the National League, and it's going to be Mark Mulder for the A's. No surprise that Clemens would get that nod in his hometown park.
Ken Griffey Jr., however, is out of the all-star activity, and that puts a damper on things. Over the weekend, Griffey Jr. playing centerfield for the Reds in Milwaukee going after this fly ball. You see him start to hobble. Yes, another hamstring tear. He's been placed on the 15-day disabled list. That's going to keep him out of the game as well as out of the home run derby where they were billing this one as the only active 500 home run hitters going at it, Bonds and Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro. But now he is out of it.
Lance Burkman of the Astros will take over Griffey's starting spot in the National League outfield. And Carlos Beltran, also of the Astros, was added, which was interesting because here is a guy who was terrific for the Kansas City Royals, would have been an American League all-star, but he got traded about two weeks ago. And so he wasn't an all-star even though he deserved to be in. Now he is on the team because Griffey can't play.
PHILLIPS: All right. I want to get to NASCAR, Tony Stewart. I mean, what is his problem? When -- you're supposed to be a gentleman so you don't lose your sponsors. And he is just revving it up.
MORRISON: He's a good ole boy, he's a good ole boy. Yesterday he won at Chicagoland Speedway, his first victory of 2004. And the 2002 NASCAR champ didn't do it without controversy. And that has become expected. Here are the pit crews of Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne. The two drivers were involved in a mishap on the track that cost Kahne the lead and put him out of the race. And that brought his crew chief over, Tommy Baldwin, who jumped into the fray, and Greg Zipadelli is Tony Stewart's crew chief. And you know, that's why they call them good ole boys, they settle things with a little bit of dirt and fisticuffs and...
PHILLIPS: You don't always see that, though, because seriously the sponsorship is important. And usually they are very well-behaved and nice to the fans and not beating up on each other.
MORRISON: You know, Kyra, I think this is -- a little bit of that is good for the sport. It keeps...
PHILLIPS: Really?
MORRISON: Yes, it keeps the core fan base...
PHILLIPS: The fans are looking for the cars to crash, they don't necessarily want to see them duke it out.
MORRISON: Well, they got both. They got a car crash and they got a little fight in the pits. So it was pretty amusing.
PHILLIPS: All right. Lance Armstrong not having to fight.
MORRISON: No, Tour De France has a day off. And you would need a day off too if you had to ride a like thousand miles a week, which these guys do. Not without its controversy, though, because on Monday the tour officials asked that two riders, one Slovenian, and one from Italy, be withdrawn from the race. They have notified those teams that they officially want those riders out because of doping insinuations or accusations.
So again, no proof in the situation but the tour doesn't want any scent of a controversy in terms of doping. There are two riders that are under investigation. And the tour guys just want them out.
PHILLIPS: All right, Matt Morrison, thanks a lot. Come back a little more often.
MORRISON: OK, Kyra, I'm here.
PHILLIPS: OK. Good deal.
All right. Caught on tape, a stealthy canine robbing one woman's garden of its animal charm. You won't believe what this pup has been collecting with LIVE FROM... continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was kind of hanging out, walking around in the yard. And we were keeping an eye on her. And just like a little kid, you turn around two seconds, next thing you know she's 40 some-feet up in the tree. So no more free roaming in the backyard, that's for sure.
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PHILLIPS: She is "Money." The pet iguana cost his owner a chunk of change by "scaling" a backyard tree. Well it took a bucket truck to get her back down. The owner and his pet live in Montgomery, Alabama. And the owner is now considering getting Money fit for a leash.
On the topic of delinquents in the animal world. You may recall the squirrel that we introduced you to. It was caught on camera, absconding with yellow ribbons under cover of darkness. Now comes the story of the canine klepto. Beth Parker has that from affiliate WTTG in Washington.
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BETH PARKER, WTTG CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A 75-year-old grandmother targeted by a cagey criminal. She leaned on police for help.
SOPHIA GRINNAN, FAIRFAX CO. POLICE: We were concerned for her safety, for her health.
PARKER: So investigators turned to the watchful eye of a surveillance camera.
GRINNAN: And we're waiting to catch some human miscreant in the act of, you know, a larceny, a crime.
PARKER: Crime, yes. Miscreant, maybe. Human, no.
GRINNAN: Much to our surprise he had four legs.
PARKER: Take a look at the video. The black lab trots up to Ruth Breiner's lawn ornaments, looks around and nails his prey. Apparently he's been casing the place. Over the past few months, seven of Ruth's lawn animals have disappeared.
RUTH BREINER, VICTIM: One baby raccoon, two fawns, two squirrels, chipmunk and a fox.
PARKER: By now, the critters are feeling uneasy. Some even have that deer in the headline looks. Only the rabbit seem unconcerned. Not one of them has been touched.
BREINER: Maybe they taste different. I don't know.
PARKER: Over at the Fairfax Police Department, where even the picnic tables are now locked up, they are hunting down all leads wondering where the suspect is now and how he picks his prey.
GRINNAN: I don't know if it's love, I don't know if it's a control issue.
PARKER (on camera): Now naturally police have already searched the places they think this suspect might hang out.
Do you think the dog knows you are on to him?
GRINNAN: No. I don't think they're that smart.
PARKER (voice-over): One neighbor has even put out a statue of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals. She says she has seen a few black labs in the area.
(on camera): Either one of the look suspicious?
(LAUGHTER)
(voice-over): Police say if he's caught, the dog will face no jail time.
GRINNAN: We just want to bring this case to a resolution.
PARKER: They also want to get back the goods and send a message to animals and people. Keep your paws to yourself.
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PHILLIPS: Thank you very much, Beth Parker of a CNN affiliate WTTG.
(MARKET UPDATE)
PHILLIPS: Oscar winning actor Matt Damon has a new assignment here on CNN.
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MATT DAMON, ACTOR: I thought they were going to give me breaking news.
PHILLIPS: Oh no. I mean if you have breaking news, I'm going to tell you and you're just going to go with it Is that OK?
(CROSSTALK)
DAMON: Fill in for Miles here.
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PHILLIPS: There's an idea. Find out what Matt is really up to in the LIVE FROM... interview of the century, moments away. Matt call us if you are watching. We miss you.
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