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Rick's List
Is President Obama Tone-Deaf?; Devastation in Pakistan; U.S. Troops Home From Iraq; Top Stressful Cities
Aired August 20, 2010 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: As we begin this hour, I want to welcome the men and women watching us on Armed Forces Network around the world. Thank you for your service. Now here's our national conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON (voice-over): Here's what's making the LIST today. The president jets off to the well-heeled conclave of Martha's Vineyard. Must be nice. Meantime, back in the real world, many can't even pay the rent or mortgage.
And in this tough job market, construction workers refuse to build that controversial center and mosque.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This hurts everybody.
LEMON: If perception is everything, many wonder if this president is tone-deaf.
The last time we saw flooding like this was never. And the same can be said for the death and devastation of the people of Pakistan. CNN takes you closer to the impact zone than anyone else.
This is not your run-of-the-mill car chase -- a truck, some police, a fence, and a busy airport runway just part of the bizarre hot pursuit, and now new information.
What do port-a-potties, a skidding plane, and high-rise acrobatics have in common? "Fotos Del Dia," of course.
The lists you need to know about. Who is today's most intriguing? Who is making news on Twitter? It's why we keep a list, pioneering tomorrow's news right now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right. Second hour. Time to pick up the pace a little bit.
But first right here on the LIST: the president's weeklong family vacation in Martha's Vineyard. After a grueling week of fund-raising and speechmaking, the first family heads to the coast of Massachusetts for a secluded -- a scheduled, I should say, 10-day vacation. And they're actually there right now. The president got -- we were watching in the newsroom -- got an applause when he entered I think it was a bookstore or a candy shop there.
This has really brought up the question of, why this island? Why vacation in a location to many that seems like a posh location, when so many Americans are struggling to pay their bills, let alone even take a vacation this year?
Now, granted, he did visit Panama City, Florida, for two days, but now this vacation, this trip to Martha's Vineyard is happening right now.
Jessica Yellin has been digging down on this story today. She joins us here from Atlanta.
So, Jessica, why Martha's Vineyard? I have been to Martha's Vineyard. And, as they say, it ain't cheap, right?
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: No, it ain't cheap.
LEMON: Yes. And then we have the first lady taking a group of women and people to Spain, not really your average vacation. It seems like the first family is on a lot of vacations. Is that a perception? Is that an accurate perception?
YELLIN: First of all, this is always an issue. No matter which president it is, no matter which party, when he takes a vacation, they get dinged for where they go, how long they go. It just seems to be something that fascinates the American public and the media.
But there is a person, Mark Knoller at CBS News -- we have to credit the rivals when they do great work -- and Mark Knoller is the person who keeps details on every single president.
LEMON: Colleagues. They're colleagues, yes.
YELLIN: Colleagues, colleagues. And he is the historian, unofficial historian of the White House.
So, President Obama has not taken nearly as many vacation days at this point in his presidency as President Bush did. This is his ninth vacation so far. He has spent all or part of 38 days on vacation, 32 of them at Camp David, all told, President Obama, 70 days on vacation at this point, at this point, President Bush 225 days on vacation. Big difference.
LEMON: And I have heard this, that 225 vacation -- and that's a lot. It's more than double, right?
YELLIN: Yes.
LEMON: He did go to his own place at Crawford most of the time on vacations.
YELLIN: Right.
LEMON: And it just seems like, you know, Martha's Vineyard.
YELLIN: There is a difference.
LEMON: Yes. But is the president -- are presidents ever really on vacation?
YELLIN: Exactly. That's a good point. Two things here. One, no, the president is never really on vacation. There are still secure briefings. They get that presidential daily brief every day. They are completely in contact on all the big issues. Obviously, you can't check out when you're commander in chief.
So, never a full vacation. And then there's the pushback. You will remember President Clinton used to go to Martha's Vineyard often. Security concerns are very tight when you are president, obviously, and there is often a desire to go to a place that's easy -- you said secluded -- easy to protect. An island like Martha's Vineyard is that.
And also if the businesses have to shut down for a little security, maybe better there at some hoity-toity island than in a struggling community where the president's presence means shut businesses, mean lost business.
LEMON: OK. And all of this obviously is going to be -- the reason we're watching, because it's all going to be strategy for the fall, right?
YELLIN: Right.
LEMON: It's all going to be strategy for the fall, right?
And I think because of the economy and because of the unemployment number, people are paying much closer attention to this president's movements, as they were with President Bush during the war.
YELLIN: Yes. Yes, right.
LEMON: So every picture meant something. Every move meant something. Right?
YELLIN: Absolutely.
LEMON: There's optics -- the optics of it all as we call it.
YELLIN: Mm-hmm.
LEMON: So, listen. I want you to listen to this. For the fall elections, the DNC strategy seems to be, reelect us or go back to the bad old days under President Bush.
I want to play this ad and then we will talk about it.
YELLIN: Yes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE AD)
NARRATOR: Do we put Main Street ahead of Wall Street. Do we hold big business accountable when they have gone too far? Or do we go back to the same Republican policies that got us into this mess?
GEORGE W. BUSH, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Fool me. We can't get fooled again.
NARRATOR: This fall, our choice is clear.
The Democratic National Committee is responsible for the content of this advertising.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Fool me. Can't get fooled again. That was -- that was --
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: You will remember that. You can't --
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Right.
YELLIN: You remember the saying, fool me once, shame on -- yes.
LEMON: Fool me twice, shame on me, right?
YELLIN: Right. He bungled it.
LEMON: OK. Is this going to work?
YELLIN: This is the strategy. The President Bush strategy is part of this --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: I should say, I should say, why -- instead of is this going to work -- who knows if it's going to work -- why this particular strategy?
(CROSSTALK)
YELLIN: Great -- great question.
LEMON: Yes.
YELLIN: OK.
It's because Democrats want to define the difference between them and Republicans as Republicans -- this is what the Democrats say -- Republicans represent the past. Republicans they will say represent Bush policies, which was a lot of spending and got us into this ditch as the president keeps saying.
And the Democratic message is we're part of the future. Now, the problem with this, Don, is that it's hard to remember, remind people how they felt two years ago.
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
YELLIN: And it's hard to prove a negative. I heard you talking to Poppy a minute ago about the stimulus and what it did or didn't do.
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
YELLIN: You know -- in part. It's hard to say we saved jobs and make people feel that when what they notice are the lost jobs.
So, how do Democrats define it? They try to use President Bush. Will it work?
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Oh, they're saying 9.5 percent unemployment, nearly 10 percent unemployment.
YELLIN: Right. Right.
LEMON: That's all -- that's all they're really saying.
OK. The Republicans really have their own strategy. They're going to really hit the president and hit the Democrats on health care.
YELLIN: Yes.
LEMON: Right? But how much -- how much is this mosque debate going to play out in November? Because that's all we are talking about. And it seems to be all -- it's the watercooler talk --
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: -- isn't it?
YELLIN: Right. It is. It's also August.
And do you remember in August, wasn't it -- isn't Shark Week in August?
(LAUGHTER)
YELLIN: You know, sometimes there is not an equivalence between the two issues, but we do all in the media get very focused on one issue that raps everyone's attention, grabs everyone's attention.
Pew did a poll recently that showed what Americans are paying attention to. Most was the oil spill, then the economy, and then Iraq, and way down the list was the mosque. So, while people do have an opinion, how intense do they feel about it? How important is it to them? Not as important as the economy.
LEMON: Well, for something that hasn't happened yet --
YELLIN: Right.
LEMON: -- there hasn't been a tragedy of sorts when you talk about the Gulf and you talk about the bad news with the economy, this is sort of something that is in the making, people are really emotionally attached to the story.
As a matter of fact, let's go to the Twitter board.
YELLIN: Yes.
LEMON: And then I will -- we can talk a little bit more about it. This is from Fred Thompson, you know, the actor and then he also ran -- I think he has run for president, right?
YELLIN: Mm-hmm.
LEMON: He has run for president.
It says, "Ground Zero mosque head refuses to consider new location. Must be confused. Outreach normally done with whole hand, not just one finger."
YELLIN: Whew.
LEMON: Whoa.
YELLIN: Whoa.
LEMON: Yes.
And this is from Al Franken. Al says: "Conservative criticism to mosque is disgraceful and offensive."
Now, I have to say on that, because it's not just conservative criticism to the mosque.
YELLIN: Right.
LEMON: There are some very liberal Democrats who are against it. And we saw Howard Dean voice that opinion earlier right here on CNN. You know, the sound bite was from MSNBC. We played it here, but there are some very liberal Democrats who are also against this.
YELLIN: Right. It is clearly a deeply emotional issue, but there's also -- and that's why there is a divide on how much it should be used politically.
I mean, there's warnings from both sides. Some consultants are saying that conservatives, Republicans should run on the issue, other -- run with it. Others say it's touchy. It could backfire. Better to maybe leave it alone and focus on what people care about most, where their paycheck is coming from.
LEMON: We only have what, 50 minutes left, and I want to talk more about this, because there are some people who say --
YELLIN: Right.
LEMON: Right. Now, this is just some people. I have read this. It's a better way of putting it -- that the president may need a new PR team around him, maybe more Washington insiders, that the Chicagoans he brought with him aren't doing the job.
But that's a fallacy as well, because --
YELLIN: Because --
LEMON: -- Washington --
YELLIN: Yes.
LEMON: Rahm Emanuel, Washington insider.
YELLIN: A lot of the folks on the president's staff, even though they worked in Chicago during the campaign, lived in Washington, D.C., and worked in Washington, D.C., before they went to Chicago.
LEMON: Yes.
YELLIN: They're already insiders.
LEMON: Jessica Yellin, thank you. Good to see you.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Jessica, do me a favor.
YELLIN: Yes?
LEMON: Can you step off that box --
(CROSSTALK)
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: We had a little fun in the newsroom. And it's on Twitter now.
YELLIN: It's the big secret. I'm not very tall.
LEMON: Come on. Step off that box. She is like 6'4''. No.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: She's little, but she's a powerhouse. When it comes to politics, she knows everything.
(CROSSTALK)
YELLIN: Thank you.
LEMON: Thanks, Jessica Yellin. Have a great --
(CROSSTALK)
YELLIN: Have a good weekend.
LEMON: We appreciate you being here in Atlanta.
YELLIN: Thanks.
LEMON: You know, you watched it unfold live right here during this show yesterday. A threatening phone call forced authorities to ground an American Airlines flight, and one passenger gave us the play by play on Twitter from inside the plane. She is joining us live to talk about her experience and why she did it straight ahead.
And where is all the oil in the Gulf? Where is it? It's a question many people have been asking for weeks. Well, now a report that scientists discovered something pretty big below the surface. What is it? Next on the LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Now for our roundup list.
And here is number one on that list. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announcing Israel and the Palestinians have been invited to Washington. It would be the first time the two sides will have -- will talk directly since negotiations broke down back in 2008.
The meeting set for early next month would also involve other regional and international parties.
Number two now, scientists are now revealing that they have discovered a plume of oily residue below the Gulf's surface, and they found it back in June. We're told it's fanned some 22 miles. Did you hear that, 22 miles? It was more than 3,000 feet under the water.
They say it was found near the BP wellhead, but has now likely moved elsewhere. The discovery could be one answer as to why we're not seeing a lot of oil from the spill.
And now number three: Five days after police found the bodies of two young brothers at the bottom of a river in South Carolina, shocked family members are saying goodbye at their funeral today. Their mother is accused of smothering them, strapping their bodies into car seats, and sending the car into the water. Police say she told them that she just wanted to be free. Boy.
You know, it's now being called a slow tsunami, a slow-motion tsunami. More people are dying and more are struggling to survive as massive floods devastate Pakistan. Millions need food and medical help, but are they getting it? Are they getting it? That is ahead.
And, wow, what a story out of Los Angeles to tell you about. A family of five pulled over on the freeway, surrounded by a swarm of cops. So, what did they do? Wait until you hear this. That's next on the LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You're not going to believe this story, and it just might, you know, outrage you. It's certainly going to raise your ire here.
So, let me set the scene for you. A family of five was driving down a Los Angeles freeway for a weekend camping trip this morning, right? Suddenly, a swarm of police cars pulls them over. The family's white van was listed as stolen. That might explain some of it. One by one, family members got out of the car with their hands in the air. They even sprawled out in the middle of a busy freeway.
Officers frisked them, slapped them with handcuffs, then took everyone, everyone in for questioning. So, what happened? What happened? Their license plate had been replaced with the plate of a stolen vehicle. An unfortunate case of mistaken identity? You better believe that. The good news here? Chevy Chase now has a great plot for the next chapter of his family vacation movies.
I'm sorry for that family, by the way, and sorry for that last comment.
OK. On our security list today, the fallout from the slow-speed police chase that ended up on the tarmac at Love Field in Dallas. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's going to ram that gate. He is on the runway. As I look up here, there are -- there are four jets that are waiting on 13 left to depart and he at this point is headed towards those jets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right, there's always context. Here is the backstory.
It turns out the man in that truck is suspected of almost a dozen crimes over the past few weeks, including snatching a 77-year-old woman's purse. Nice fellow, huh? That truck was taken into -- in a carjacking in Fort -- in Fort Worth before it was driven through the airport fence.
Now, here's a better look at the truck driver. His name is Michael Laurence Brown, and he is 46 years old, Michael Laurence Brown, 46 years old. So far, he is charged with evading arrest, criminal mischief, aggravated robbery, and using the truck without permission. Brown could be hit with federal charges, too. You can also expect an investigation into how he was able to crash through that fence and on to the airport tarmac without being stopped by any security measures.
That's exactly what I want to know and I'm sure you at home want to know that as well.
An airline pilot makes a gutsy emergency landing. You will see it play out right here.
And you saw an airline threat play out on this very show yesterday. There is the video from that. One of the passengers tweeted us as it all unfolded, live tweeting here on CNN. There she is right there. Today, that passenger joins us. And you will hear what happened on board. Wave, but hold that thought until after the break. That's next on the LIST.
How you doing?
CAMPBELL MCKELLAR, TWEETED WHILE ON AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 24: Hi, Don.
LEMON: Hi.
We will see you after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: You are going to enjoy meeting this -- this next young lady. But hold that thought. I'm going to tell you about what's going on here. It's our follow-up list today, the latest on the hijack threat of an American Airlines Flight in San Francisco.
Two passengers from Flight 24 are undergoing more scrutiny today. The New York-bound jet was left sitting on the tarmac for hours yesterday while passengers were bussed back to the terminal for questioning and then rescreening. Imagine that.
And we're learning more about how police found out about that threat. A clerk at a local business alerted police about a call from a so-called suspicious male. The caller had claimed that Flight 24 would be hijacked. Of course, that flight wasn't hijacked.
But during those uncertain moments, Rick Sanchez was right here, and he was getting tweets from Campbell McKellar from aboard Flight 24. I want you to take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: And we have got some tweets that are coming in now, folks tweeting me, or tweets that we're intercepting.
Californiabeat CNN: "I am on the American Airlines plane in San Francisco. There is no hostage situation. Security threat, but inside the plane, it is calm." That is Campbell McKellar. And Campbell appears to be answering the question that I just had just moments ago for Jeanne Meserve.
She says now, "We are de-boarding the plane two by two in 15 minutes when they bring some police in board. No other word. This is actually a bit scary," she says from inside the plane.
Any other news? We'll be communicating with her as she communicates with us.
Here is the last of the four tweets she has sent us. Here we go. "Lots of police guys outside now. You all can probably see better from TV. Hopefully, it's a hoax. No update from captain."
So, there you go, Campbell McKellar bringing us the information, as we often do here on RICK'S LIST, using social media to bring you news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: It is a new day and age when it comes to social media. And today in our new segment called "140+" -- as most of you know, tweets are limited to 140 characters. And on RICK'S LIST we find those relevant tweets, right, and we show them on air. That's just what we do here.
So, the plus part is finding the tweeps, Twitter people, tweeps with a P, and going behind the scenes with them and then bringing them on television, like we right there, passenger Campbell McKellar, who is joining us now from New York.
Campbell, how you doing today? Everything calmed down and you're back to normal?
MCKELLAR: I'm doing a lot better. I'm happy to be in New York, Don. Thanks.
LEMON: OK. Well, we're happy to have you.
So, you took us right to the scene yesterday. Looking back now, what do you think?
MCKELLAR: You know, I'm really glad that we had Twitter, actually, during that experience, because I was able to get information from the outside world that wasn't being provided to us by American Airlines.
I'm just really thankful that we didn't take off with hijackers on board. If those guys were bad guys, who knows, but I'm really thankful to Homeland Security and American Airlines that we didn't end up staying on the ground. The delay feels a lot less bad when you start thinking about the alternative.
LEMON: Hey, Campbell, you bring up a good point. Do you feel safer and more empowered now with these tools?
MCKELLAR: I do.
You know, I feel able to get news more quickly than prior to Twitter. I mean, I think, you know, I live in New York, and like many New Yorkers, there's scares here and there. And, you know, my first instinct is always to search Twitter and see if there's other people in the neighborhood who heard the blast in the subway. Maybe it's actually turn -- it was a Con Edison blast, not a terrorist blast.
But I'm always sort of looking to social media to provide me with the fastest news possible.
LEMON: Right.
So, Campbell, we are going to bring up some of the pictures now. And I find it fascinating. As a matter of fact, yesterday, I was just meeting with the Red Cross and they were talking about the one, two, and three -- number one, two, and three for people in emergencies, number one, broadcast, number two, they get it through 911, and number three would be social networking. Social networking, that's how people are getting information.
OK.
MCKELLAR: That's amazing.
LEMON: Yes.
So, let's talk at these pictures. We're looking. You're on the plane here. And we're seeing it. Describe -- I don't know if you can see air, but tell us what -- what -- about these pictures.
MCKELLAR: So, this was the moment. You know, the flight attendants actually kept everybody incredibly calm, and we didn't have a lot of information, but all of a sudden, there were swarms of policemen and police cars outside.
And so everybody had gone from a sort of calm, this is a standard procedure, to, wow, there's now a bunch of policemen outside. So, I think what I was trying to capture with that picture -- and I didn't do the greatest job -- was showing everybody looking at the policemen.
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
MCKELLAR: I can't tell what that one was. I think that was maybe the first police car.
LEMON: Yes. You're on the plane and that's --
MCKELLAR: Because there was a long time when they said --
LEMON: You're on the plane.
MCKELLAR: Yes. We --
LEMON: And that's the tarmac there in the far left-hand corner.
Go ahead.
MCKELLAR: OK. Yes.
So, we -- you know, what I was curious in the beginning was, we had been sitting on the ground for a long time. They said there was a security threat and then they said that police were coming. But before the police arrived, there was really one police car. And so I kept thinking, are we in enough danger that there should be more police guys here?
LEMON: Yes.
MCKELLAR: What -- you know, if you need one, don't you need a couple more?
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Yes, absolutely.
MCKELLAR: So, you know, I think that picture, I was trying to sort of capture the absence maybe of people.
LEMON: Yes.
MCKELLAR: That's the press scene after the -- after we got off the buses back at baggage claim.
LEMON: Yes, this is -- that's a bus and that's passengers and the press. When you got off, there were -- there were press people there, right?
MCKELLAR: There were.
LEMON: And then, finally --
MCKELLAR: And there -- there weren't any --
LEMON: Go ahead. There weren't --
MCKELLAR: Go ahead.
LEMON: There weren't any what?
MCKELLAR: There weren't any American Airlines agents there. It was all press and no agents, which I thought was interesting.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: OK.
MCKELLAR: But I just wanted to capture that moment.
LEMON: Maybe we will talk to American Airlines about that.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: Finally, seated on the bus, you -- is that you or is that just someone across from you?
MCKELLAR: That was a woman who was sitting across from me on the plane.
LEMON: Very frustrating and very frightening.
And, listen, you mentioned American Airlines. And I want to put it up for you guys to see. Let's see. American Airlines is saying -- and I will just say it -- we don't have to show it -- "Hang in there. The authorities are taking care of things."
And they were actually tweeting to you, I think.
MCKELLAR: Yes.
LEMON: Yes.
MCKELLAR: They were.
LEMON: Yes, tweeting to you, and @Californiabeat. It was two of you. And they said: "Hang in there. The authorities are taking care of things."
So, maybe they knew by the time that you got off the plane and off the bus that everything was going to be fine.
So, and full transparency here, it did help out. I know that you're Facebook friends our very own Brooke Baldwin.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: And you are also?
MCKELLAR: High school friends. We were cheerleaders together, and back in the day in Atlanta, Georgia. So, I'm an Atlanta native. I have a fond place in my heart for CNN, which was one reason why I tweeted you guys to figure out what was going on from the very beginning.
LEMON: I think that's the biggest news we got out of this.
MCKELLAR: And thanks to Rick Sanchez and everybody else.
LEMON: Oh, let's -- say again? I'm sorry. Say again?
(LAUGHTER)
MCKELLAR: And I said thanks to Rick Sanchez and everybody else who started feeding news back to us. You know, Twitter is a two-way street. And it was incredible to be able to have access to a global world news network instantly from inside what was potentially a crisis situation.
LEMON: You have now officially probably become part of a promo. Just being honest.
(LAUGHTER)
LEMON: So, listen, I think the biggest news we got out of it is -- this is that Brooke was a cheerleader, and she's never going to live it down, at least in this building.
(LAUGHTER)
MCKELLAR: Sorry, Brooke.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: Campbell McKellar, appreciate it. We're glad you're safe. Thank you. OK?
MCKELLAR: Thanks so much, Don.
LEMON: All righty.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: Look at that. Soldiers return home to their families after a mission accomplished in Iraq. We will show you how it played out in Fort Benning, Georgia. That's ahead on the LIST.
And a plane makes a gutsy emergency landing. You will see it for yourself next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
***30
LEMON: This is no secret. Of course some guys eat, drink, and sleep football. But the Kansas City Chiefs, well, they take their practice to really a whole new level.
Let's do "Fotos."
Do I really need to say anything with this video? You could just play this and come to your own conclusions about what's going on.
Hey, I'm right here. I'm over here. Throw it to me.
Check out this unorthodox drill at the Kansas City Chiefs training camp. Essentially, a Chiefs receiver sits in a Porta-Potty and is thrown passes as the teammate opens and closes the door. Looks like these guys aren't taking any breaks, not even bathroom breaks, in their training for next season.
And a plane lands safely on its belly at an airport in New Hampshire. The pilot made the decision to land that way after his landing gear would not fully extend. He shut the engines down and came on in. The pilot was the only one on board, and he was not injured, luckily.
Suspended by wires. An acrobatic troop of dancers performed on the side of a 50-story Thanksgiving tower in Dallas. The group, who call themselves Project Bandaloop, has also danced on the Eiffel Tower, on the side of a bridge, and off a cliff in Yosemite National Park.
Can't say that I'd do it myself.
That's "Fotos," and you can see all of them for yourself on CNN.com/ricksanchez.
To a very serious story now.
The head of the United Nations calls the flooding in Pakistan a global disaster. Millions are homeless and hungry, and they're all struggling just to survive, just to stay alive.
We're going to take you straight to the ground for an inside look at how aid is getting to the people. That's ahead.
And home sweet home. U.S. troops return from Iraq to reunite with their families. We'll show you the emotional reunions, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: I have some alarming images to show you out of China, and this was yesterday. Two cars on this derailed passenger train tumbled into a river during a massive flood that washed out this bridge in China's Sichuan Province. Part of the crossing collapsed, leaving two train cars dangling over that river.
Here's what authorities are saying. They're saying that, fortunately, the conductor was able to evacuate the more than 1,300 passengers before the cars went into the water.
The following cars were reportedly swept more than 600 feet down river by the surging currents. This region of China has been hampered by severe weather all summer, resulting in widespread flooding and landslides.
Well, back here on the home front, reunions are taking place across the U.S. as more American combat troops arrive home from Iraq. There are about 52,000 U.S. forces left in Iraq right now, though, and that number is supposed to steadily decrease by another 2,000 by September 1st, the deadline when combat missions are supposed to be over.
Our Brooke Baldwin caught up with one big reunion in Fort Benning, Georgia, last night.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We are here at Freedom Hall at Fort Benning in Georgia, and this may be empty right now, but last night it was full of families who had been waiting 11 months for their soldiers -- they're moms, dads, husbands, wives to finally come home from Iraq.
We were here for the magical moment. Here it is.
These were men and women from the 3rd Infantry Division 3d Brigade. They have been deployed to Delta Base in eastern Iraq since last October, functioning essentially, as I'm told, in an advise and assist capacity, helping bolster Iraqi security forces, partnering with police, and helping the provincial reconstruction process.
I want to introduce you to Sergeant Jason Sunday.
Sir, a pleasure. Thank you for serving our country.
And the lovely Emily Sunday, who I see your eyes are still kind of glistening.
Just a minute, sweetie. Your eyes are glistening. You're standing next to your husband. It's been 11 months. What's going through your head?
EMILY SUNDAY, SERGEANT'S WIFE: I just feel really blessed. You know, God has blessed us with an amazing marriage and family, and I'm just really thankful to have him home.
BALDWIN: How was the trip home?
SGT. JASON SUNDAY, U.S. ARMY 3rd INFANTRY: It was long, but well worth it. Just glad to be back in Georgia and next to my wife and kids, and hopefully I don't have to go back over there again anytime soon.
BALDWIN: Show me your poster. Tell me your name. And how old are you?
THATCHER (ph) SUNDAY, SON: My name is Thatcher (ph) Sunday. I am 9 years old. And my poster says, "Welcome home, dad." And it has my dad's name, Jason.
And on the back it says, "Sunday," because that's our last name. And it has an American -- it has the American flag on it.
BALDWIN: Now, these 200 soldiers may be home, but not far from mind, 3,000 other comrades, 3,000 other 3rd Infantry 3rd Brigade soldiers who are still in Iraq. But I'm told they are all coming home by the end of the month. So that is 17 flights, 17 more ceremonies just like this one.
Brooke Baldwin, CNN, Fort Benning, Georgia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right, Brooke. Thanks very much. The flooding in Pakistan is being called a global disaster, a slow-motion tsunami. So are millions of people who need help, are they getting it? And is it coming fast enough?
We'll take you to the ground next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: This is a story you definitely need to pay attention to, because the head of the U.N. is ramping up concern about Pakistan. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calls it a global disaster. The death toll has now reached nearly 1,500, and at least 20 million people need food and shelter.
We're getting new tweets about pledges of support, and we want to read them to you right now.
Here's one from U.S. Ambassador Dr. Susan Rice. She tweets that, "With a new pledge of $60 million form Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the U.S. will be contributing more than $150 million to flood relief in Pakistan."
It is certainly needed.
And this tweet is from the U.N. Refugee Agency saying, "Where there is a will there is a way. We're using rafts to carry supplies to those impacted by the floods." And then there is this link of this picture right there, and it shows two U.N. workers ferrying emergency supplies across the Swat River on a small raft. There you see it there.
Let's go to the ground now, because our Sara Sidner takes us to one of the refugee camps in Karachi.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They come in droves, survivors of Pakistan's deadly floods. For some, this is their final stop, the largest relief camp outside the city of Karachi.
Three generations of Mohammed Ayoob's family are here. All 35 of them scrambled from their submerged homes in Jacobabad nearly 200 miles away.
MOHAMMED AYOOB, PAKISTAN: I have nothing. You can check my whole tent (ph). I have nothing.
SIDNER: What the family does have is a myriad of medical problems, a grandfather partially paralyzed from a stroke. The mother has diabetes. And some of the children have diarrhea from drinking contaminated water.
And then there is 25-year-old Aisha Begom (ph). She can barely walk due to terrible burns she suffered months before the floods.
"I feel a lot of pain and burning and cry throughout the day," she says.
Life here is hard for the 7,000 people in this temporary shelter, but there is more help here than they could find close to home. (on camera): Here in the largest camp outside Karachi, the government is doing everything it can to try and prevent disease. It's providing water daily for people to drink and another truck comes in filled with water that people can wash with.
(voice-over): Authorities have also put powdered bug killer outside the tents to ward off disease-carrying mosquitoes. So many people have shown up desperate for help, the camp is at capacity.
SYED MEHDI SHAH, SINDH REVENUE DEPARTMENT: We're not going to increase the number of people. We are afraid that if the number will be increased, then any epidemic will break through or such type of problems will come.
SIDNER: The U.N. now estimates more than four million people are without any shelter. For those fortunate enough to have it, they are making do and trying to adjust to the new normal.
Sara Sidner, CNN, Karachi, Pakistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: All right.
Coming up on THE LIST, the president and his message. He's supposed to be the great communicator. So why isn't his message being communicated?
We'll talk about that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: Well, you know, stress really is a killer. It can cause heart disease. It can also make you depressed or even forgetful. Stress can keep women from getting pregnant and make men need those little blue pills.
Heaven knows there is plenty of stress to go around these days, especially if you live in one of these places. Take a deep breath and listen to my list of the five most stressful cities in America. And this is according to Forbes.com.
OK. Combine a long commute and high unemployment, and you've got Riverside, California. It's number five on the list.
Tampa, Florida, has a lot of workaholics and people who say they're not in good health. It's number four.
And people work long hours. You know, they tend to go without health insurance and aren't in very good health. That's number three, Houston, Texas.
Angelinos aren't very healthy. Many of them don't have health insurance, and they spend a lot of time in their cars. That makes Los Angeles, L.A., the City of Angels, the second most stressful city in the country.
And topping the list is guess what? This is the odds on favorite, right? Las Vegas, where unemployment is approaching 15 percent, and almost a third of the population hasn't exercised in the last month.
Wow. You can exhale now.
OK. I wonder where Washington is, because the president is on vacation. Obviously, Washington, D.C., is a very stressful city.
Back in 2008, however, President Obama and his inner circle ran a campaign that focused on timing and communication. But now that he is in the White House, critics say he is having trouble staying on message and even getting his message out there.
We're going to break it all down for you next on THE LIST.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
LEMON: The political list, of course, with none other than Wolf Blitzer today in Washington.
Hello, Wolf Blitzer. You doing OK?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Don. Thanks very much. Looking forward to a nice weekend. How about you?
LEMON: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I can't wait for it. We'll talk more off line about that.
BLITZER: You need to work, unfortunately.
LEMON: Yes.
So, listen, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a pretty big announcement today about Middle East peace talks.
BLITZER: I think it's very significant, and she put a deadline. She said a year. They hope to have an Israeli/Palestinian peace agreement negotiated within one year.
It's interesting, because that one-year time frame is what U.S. officials now say, they think they have about a year before the Iranians are in a position to develop some sort of nuclear weapon capability. This one-year deadline, I don't think it's coincidental that they want to try to get this Israeli/Palestinian deal done within a year. And this one-year timeline that they think they have, they have some breathing space before the Iranians go nuclear, if you will.
So, it's a very significant development, having covered all the Israeli/Palestinian negotiations over many years. In the end, it's going to take President Obama personally to do what Jimmy Carter did in '78, '79 with the Israeli/Egyptian peace treaty. It's going to take what President Clinton did with the Israeli/Jordanian peace agreement back in 1994. If there is going to be a deal this time, President Obama is going to have to personally get involved.
LEMON: Hey, Wolf, listen, let's talk about this, because I remember last year -- and this just sort of came to mind -- the president's vacation overshadowed last year by the death of Ted Kennedy. Do you remember that?
BLITZER: Of course.
LEMON: It was over the long holiday weekend. It was one or two weeks from now.
He took it a bit early this year, but much has been made about the president taking a vacation in these economic times. We're going to talk a little bit after I finish with you about this, but what do you make of that? You know, presidents are always criticized for taking a vacation, but it's the economy, and I think that's where the criticism is coming from.
BLITZER: Look, President Bush was always criticized for going to Texas for his vacations. Ronald Reagan was criticized for going to Santa Barbara in California for his vacations. It comes with the territory.
But you know what? The president of the United States deserves some vacation time with his family, needs to get away from time to time.
Even when they're away, whether in Martha's Vineyard, or Crawford, Texas, or in Santa Barbara, California, they have all their security people, their national security advisers. They get their daily national security briefings. They're working even though they can go out and play some golf and have some fun with their families as well. It's very important, and you can't begrudge anyone for taking some vacation time.
LEMON: Hey, Wolf, in your time of doing politics -- which you are a seasoned pro -- have you -- are you surprised at all by what's happened with this, with the proposed mosque and Islamic community center near Ground Zero? Is it escalating to a level that even you expected?
BLITZER: I'm not all that surprised about that. What is very surprising to me, Don, is shocking to me, is how many people, how many Americans believe President Obama is a Muslim and how many Americans believe he wasn't born in the United States and shouldn't even be president of the United States.
When you get to those numbers, 20 percent or so, that's one-fifth of the American population. People believe this kind of stuff which we know is ridiculous, but still, they believe it. That's pretty shocking to me, and I don't know what the answer is, but it's pretty shocking.
LEMON: Yes. The longer he's president, it seems like the more people don't know about him, or at least tell pollsters that they don't know about him.
BLITZER: The longer he's president, these numbers go up. It was about 12 percent who thought he was a Muslim a year ago. Now it's, what, 19 percent or 20 percent in our latest -- in the latest Pew survey that just came out this week? It's pretty shocking when you think about it, but people are willing to believe that kind of stuff.
LEMON: Hey, Wolf, you're just a few minutes away. What are you going to be covering?
BLITZER: We've got Thad Allen, the national incident commander in the Gulf. He's going to be here in "THE SITUATION ROOM."
I'm going to press him, because the government says most of the oil has gone away, maybe 25 percent is sort of still in the Gulf of Mexico. But all these scientists, these academics, these other experts, are saying about 75 percent is still there, there are still huge plumes of oil the size of Manhattan.
We're going to go through this. This is very significant stuff, and I want to press him to see if we can get some answers.
LEMON: Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM" at the top of the hour.
Thanks, Wolf. Have a great weekend. OK?
BLITZER: All right, my friend.
LEMON: So listen, Wolf and I were just talking about this just a couple minutes ago. We have seen the first family starting their vacation in Martha's Vineyard, and we are using this as a jumping off point for a larger discussion here.
For a man known as a great speaker, has he been able to use this skill to be a great communicator, or is this just a case of Republicans being disagreeable?
I want to go back to the comments that the president said this weekend to CNN's Ed Henry. Ed asked him about comments from his -- from the night before, which was Friday night of last week, on the potential building of an Islamic cultural center and mosque near Ground Zero. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: What do you think about the reaction to your speech about the mosque? What about the reaction to your speech?
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, you know, my intention was to simply let people know what I thought, which was that in this country, we treat everybody equally in accordance with the law, regardless of race, regardless of religion. I was not commenting and I will not comment on the wisdom of making a decision to put a mosque there. I was commenting very specifically on the right that people have that dates back to our founding. That's what our country is about. And I think it's very important that, you know, as difficult as some of these issues are, you know, we should stay focused on who we are as a people and what our values are all about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: OK. So, on the surface, everything the president said is true, and it's something that most Americans believe if you pay attention to the polls.
But I want you to listen to New York Representative Peter King.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. PETER KING (R), NEW YORK: Muslims have, as everyone else does, the right to practice their religion, and they have the right to construct a mosque at Ground Zero if they wish. What I'm saying, though, is that they should listen to public opinion, they should listen to the deep wounds and anguish that this is causing to so many good people.
And if the imam and the Muslim leadership in that community is so intent on building bridges, then they should voluntarily move the mosque away from Ground Zero and move it, whether it's up town or somewhere else, but move it away from that area, the same as the pope directed the Carmelite nuns to move a convent away from Auschwitz.
This is such a raw wound, and they are just pouring salt into it. And that's my point.
I think the president, by the way, is trying to have it both ways, because I don't know of anyone who is saying that Muslims should not have the right to practice their religions, but with rights go responsibilities. And that's the part of it the president didn't comment on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEMON: All right. So Peter King says that we all agree with the president, that what the president says is technically correct. But in the end, he says that the president is wrong.
Patricia Murphy is here now. She's a columnist for PoliticsDaily.com. She joins us from Washington.
So, Patricia, is this another example of the president not being able to get his message across?
PATRICIA MURPHY, COLUMNIST, POLITICSDAILY.COM: Well, it depends on what his message is. And I think the debate within journalism circles is, what is his message? I think even the American people are confused about what the president's message is.
We know that jobs and economy are the biggest issue in America, but the president has a habit -- and this is an example of it -- of wading into territory that is very, very dicey politically, politically explosive. And then the White House seems to be surprised when it blows up into a major national discussion. And so if his message is jobs and the economy, this is way, way off message.
LEMON: OK. So, listen, I just got a tweet from someone and I'm just going to read it here off my iPad.
It says -- it's from LiberalGranny50. She says, "Why isn't the president's message not being communicated? That's your job, CNN and mainstream media. Stop giving opinions and just give facts."
It's the one there at the top. I don't know if you can get that close.
But that's not our job, is to just reiterate what the president says.
MURPHY: No.
LEMON: He has to get his message across to the people. It's not up to us to parrot what he believes his message should be.
MURPHY: That's right. I mean, the president has a Web site for getting his own message across. He also has the bully pulpit. He has the Oval Office, where he can deliver a major national speech. And again, what we are seeing from the president is a whole bunch of different competing messages.
It's education. It's health care. It's immigration. It's the economy. It's the mosque. It's his religion.
The American people are too busy to follow the minutia of all of that. So when the president goes out and makes a statement about something very controversial, it just distracts from what is I think his number one priority, is growing the economy and jump-starting the job situation. That's what most people's own number one issue is as well.
LEMON: OK.
MURPHY: So, the president I think would do himself more favors to align with people's concerns and less with issues like the mosque.
LEMON: Let me ask you this real quickly, because the president is vacationing in Martha's Vineyard, and a lot of Americans can't afford to vacation right now, can't even afford to pay the rent or the mortgage. There are always optics when you are president and when you're in politics.
Is this a problem for the president to be on vacation in Martha's Vineyard right now?
MURPHY: I think the vacation is fine. I think Martha's Vineyard is not fine. I think it is the best example of kind of a liberal, elite destination in the summer. And there are so many beaches in America he could go to.
Nobody begrudges him a vacation, but I think surrounding himself with a very elite destination tells again the wrong message. In the campaign we heard about how he was paying off his student loans and how Mrs. Obama shops at Target and they are so much like we are. And going to Martha's Vineyard is the end of that story. He's not one of us anymore.
LEMON: And Patricia Murphy, yes. And when people e-mail or tweet me, don't forget what she said. She said no one begrudges the president of a vacation. It's just the optics of it. It's just where he chooses to vacation.
Patricia, thank you. Have a great weekend.
I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining us. You have a great weekend, too.
Time now for Wolf Blitzer and "THE SITUATION ROOM."
Take it away, Wolf.
