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CNN Sunday Morning
8-Year-Old Shasta Groene Found; Gonzales Visits Iraq
Aired July 03, 2005 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Jenna.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Jenna, I just have something to tell you. I'm sitting down here at Denny's. And there was a little girl that just walked in that looks exactly like that Shasta girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, 911 tapes that to lead the alleged kidnapper of the eight-year old girl Shasta Groene.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, the third day of July. We've got a lot to tell you about today. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Tony Harris. Our top story in just a moment. First, hear some other news right now.
A surprise visit to Iraq by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. U.S. Embassy officials say Gonzales arrived in Baghdad this morning. He says he chose the July 4th weekend to show support for U.S. troops and Iraq's budding government. We'll have a live report from Baghdad later this hour.
South of Baghdad, there's been a double suicide bombing at a cafeteria in Hillah. Nine people are dead, including five police officers. One explosion happened inside the cafeteria last night. The other outside. 36 other people were wounded.
CNN has learned about a high profile abduction in Iraq. And Egyptian embassy source says Egypt's ambassador to Iraq was kidnapped near his Baghdad home yesterday. The ambassador hasn't been in the country long. He only arrived last month.
And a reminder this morning. You can experience CNN video right on your computer. Just log on to our Web site, cnn.com and click on the video link. You can browse the video you want to see whenever you want to see it.
NGUYEN: Well, there is much more to come on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. A dramatic scene at a Denny's in Idaho. We will hear from a waitress who helped bring its kidnapping ordeal to an end.
Also, the war on terror in Afghanistan. There are many heroes. And one of them was a Navy Seal who made the ultimate sacrifice for his country.
And the villain is a potentially deadly disease. We will introduce you to some youngsters who are fighting a different kind of war. And they are doing it in a very unique way.
HARRIS: Our top story this morning, dramatic new developments in the search for two young children in Idaho. One of them has been found. The other is feared dead. And a registered sex offender is behind bars.
For the latest, let's go to Coeur D'Alene, Idaho and CNN's Rusty Dornin.
Rusty, good morning.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Tony, bittersweet is that word that keeps being used about this case. And Shasta Groene, who was discovered, she and her brother Dylan disappeared about six weeks ago, and now the investigators are saying they fear that her brother may be dead.
But they're not saying where they got that information, whether they got that from the little girl herself or from the suspect Joseph Duncan. They say the investigators are concentrating on the little girl to find out what she does know.
She's actually at Kootenai Medical Center being treated. And apparently, she was reunited with her father Steven last night. The thing we are getting a clearer picture about is what happened the night that investigators did find her. She was at the Denny's in Coeur D'Alene with this Joseph Duncan when a customer and also a waitress at the restaurant, they both called police.
Now we're going to hear from what the customer had to say from police when they called. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Central dispatch, this is Jenna.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Jenna, I just have something to tell you. I'm sitting down here at Denny's. And there was a little girl that just walked in that looks exactly like that Shasta girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Is she still inside?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, she is. And she's with an older man.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: With an older man?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. And the thing that really triggered me the most was I was reading the Nickel (INAUDIBLE) and I'd seen a picture in the (INAUDIBLE). And I showed it to one of the waitresses here. And she said, "Oh, my God, she's in here."
(END VIDEO CLIP) DORNIN: Now the community was bound to recognize this little girl because it's been blanketed with missing posters of she and her little brother. Apparently, the waitress in this case tried to stall and make sure that they didn't leave the restaurant until the police got there, even offering a milkshake and giving her an adult size instead of a child size milkshake.
When police arrived, they were able to arrest Joseph Duncan and take him away without incident. We understand he was somewhat cooperative in the beginning. We do not know if he is still being cooperative with police.
Now there's going to be a press conference this morning. We might be hearing some more news about the investigation. Of course, we don't know whether or not Joseph Duncan is also linked to the murders that initially set off this whole incident. And that's that Shasta's mother and brother and her mother's boyfriend were brutally murdered in this little town of Coeur D'Alene. People still very traumatized by the whole incident.
Police say they are looking for still - they want people to see this 2005 red Jeep Laredo in hopes they're going to be getting that picture today, in hopes that they will connect it with the suspect Joseph Duncan, so that they can get some idea of where they were over the last six weeks. Because again, investigators were very surprised that the suspect showed up with the little girl in the very hometown from where she disappeared - Tony?
HARRIS: CNN's Rusty Dornin in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho for us this morning. Rusty, thank you.
NGUYEN: Now customers at that Denny's restaurant weren't the only ones who got suspicious when they saw Shasta Groene. CNN's Carol Lin talked to a waitress who Rusty just mentioned, who paid some extra attention to the girl and the man who was arrested for allegedly kidnapping her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMBER DEAHN, WAITRESS: Any child that comes in after 2:00, especially at Denny's or any child I see, I automatically think of the Groene children. And I went to look at her poster that we have up, and it wasn't up. So I didn't have a picture to go off of. And I mentioned it to my manager, Linda Olson, that, you know, maybe we should pay more attention to this little girl. And we -- between Linda and I both, we finally decided that we needed to call the officers and have them come down and have them verify whether or not it was her, but we were pretty sure it was her.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Were you worried at that point that she might walk out of the restaurant?
DEAHN: A little bit. When Linda went back into the office to call the officers, I needed to go back out and check on my table. I tried to think of anything that would work well, and kids love dessert, so I started suggesting shakes and the different flavors that we have, and she decided on vanilla.
LIN: And how did she seem to you? Did she seem nervous? Was she trying to signal you that she needed help?
DEAHN: Closed off. She just seemed very closed off. Most children that we get in, if they do come in to Denny's that late, they're passing through town, trying to go home or headed home, and you give them crayons and a mask and they light up and get all excited and say thank you. And she didn't. She looked at the gentleman -- I haven't even caught his name yet -- looked at him and waited for his approval to say thank you. And she just bent over the coloring thing and proceeded to color. She wasn't very enthusiastic; I guess would be the word.
LIN: Right. What about the man she was with, Duncan? Did he seem nervous that you were paying extra attention to Shasta?
DEAHN: In all honesty, I was trying to get a better look at Shasta more than I was paying attention to him. At that time of night, people are kind of -- kind of look at you funny are pretty normal. It's late at night. You get people who have been driving for hours. So he was normal but high-strung for that time of the night and only drinking water. Most people who are that high-strung have got a big old cup of coffee in front of them.
LIN: You're a mother of a 15 month old little girl.
DEAHN: Yes.
LIN: You had to have known what that would have been to Shasta's father who's on his way...
DEAHN: I...
LIN: ...to see his little girl at the hospital.
DEAHN: ...would really hope that if -- I would really hope that if my children, God forbid, ever went missing, somebody would do the same and take the time to really look at the child.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And CNN will follow this story throughout the day. So don't go away.
We have a live interview with the local sheriff at the half hour. And in our next hour, a profile of Joseph Duncan, the sex offender, arrested in the case. Plus, we will have live reports from Idaho throughout the day, which all of this leads us to our e-mail question this morning. Is the American justice system too easy on sex offenders? E-mail us your thoughts at weekends@cnn.com. We'll read those replies throughout the program.
HARRIS: Well, the ultimate success of the Live 8 concerts won't be known until we see how world leaders respond, but it was an unprecedented event. Hundreds of the world's top musicians performed in free concerts in nine cities around the world to raise awareness to African poverty.
A tenth concert gets underway Wednesday. More from CNN's Mallika Kapur.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MALLIKA KAPUR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One hundred artists playing to an audience of nearly three billion. A multi city, multi continent event kicked off in Tokyo in the East, Gordon Sound in Canada in the West.
Twenty years after Bob Geldof organized Live Aid comes Live 8. This time, with a powerful political message. Instead of asking for money, he's asking world leaders to wipe out poverty.
BOB GELDOF: I couldn't resist. I'm sorry for doing this, but I just had to play on this stage. I'm very proud.
(CHEERS)
KAPUR: Some are here for the music. Some are here for the message. Around 200,000 people are here in London's Hyde Park for one of the biggest concerts in history.
(MUSIC)
One of the biggest challenges, to make sure the message is heard over the blare of the music.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I came here because I like the music here. And I think they're making perfect history is a good thing really.
(MUSIC)
KAPUR: At the concert in Johannesburg, Nelson Mandela played to the crowds.
NELSON MANDELA, FMR. SOUTH AFRICAN PRESIDENT: Comrades, I am pleased to be here today to support Africa's (INAUDIBLE) against poverty.
KAPUR: The message in music rolled around the world. Before the lights went out, Live 8 rocked Philadelphia.
One of the city's where Live Aid was born two decades ago.
BEYONCE, DESTINY'S CHILD: We've been to Africa. And we've seen the children. And we've been to the townships. And we've touched the people and seen it with our own eyes. So anything we can do to help, we're here.
KAPUR: One message from a chorus of voices around the world.
Mallika Kapur, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NGUYEN: Time now to fast forward through some of the stories CNN will be following in the week ahead. Wednesday, leaders from the world's group of eight industrialized nations will gather in Scotland. They'll discuss ways to relieve poverty, especially in Africa and the effects of climate change all around the globe. The annual summit ends on Friday.
We will know Wednesday where the 2012 Summer Games will be held. New York, Paris, and Moscow are just some of the cities who have made a bid to the international Olympic Committee.
And on Saturday, members of the NAACP are expected to confirm Bruce Gordon as their new president. The former Verizon Communications executive will succeed Kweisi Mfume, who resigned in December. The group's annual convention is being held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
HARRIS: Well, a little girl is safe six weeks after she vanished and now reunited with her grateful father. We will talk with the sheriff who arrested this man, a registered sex offender now charged with kidnapping.
NGUYEN: And elite U.S. forces fall in Afghanistan. Peter Viles met with the family that one of them left behind, a family that understands, but still grieves.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, if you are just tuning in this morning, here are our top stories. An eight-year old Idaho girl missing more than six weeks, has been found. Shasta Groene was identified by a waitress at a restaurant in Coeur D'Alene. She was with a registered sex offender who was arrested and charged with kidnapping. Now the search goes on for the girl's nine-year old brother, Dylan.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales arrived in Iraq today on a surprise visit. Gonzales says he chose the fourth of July weekend to show support for U.S. troops and Iraq's budding government.
NASA's deep impact spacecraft is heading for its target, the Tempel 1 Comet. The space probe is set to intercept the comet, smash a hole in it...
HARRIS: Wow.
NGUYEN: ...so scientists can peek inside. Hmm, so that's how it's done.
HARRIS: Gee.
NGUYEN: Well, the CNN.com desk has all the information you need to know to follow Deep Impact. And that is coming up a little bit later right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
HARRIS: The Pentagon has identified the 16 American servicemen killed in Afghanistan Tuesday. Their helicopter was shot down in the mountains near the Pakistan border.
Eight of the dead were Navy Seals. It is the single deadliest day and death toll in the history of that elite force. Peter Viles has the story of one of those Seals and the very proud family he leaves behind.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETER VILES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About 10 days ago, Dan Healy wrote his son a letter, an e-mail from Afghanistan. And the message was simple. Always try your best. Never give up.
JAKE HEALY, SON OF DAN HEALY: My dad always tried his best like anything. If you threw anything at him, he would always do his best. And you know, just ace it.
VILES: Those who knew him, like his younger sister Jennifer, had heard that message a lot.
JENNIFER HEALY, SISTER OF DAN HEALY: That's his thing. You don't give up. You know, you find a different way around it. You find a different way to handle it. And just be true to yourself.
VILES: Dan Healy, here he is in Afghanistan, knew something about perseverance. He was a Navy Seal for 15 years. And the training to become a Seal is so punishing, that more than half of the recruits who say they want to be Seals drop out.
JENNIFER HEALY: He was a proud Seal. He was a damn good Seal. And he was a damn good man.
VILES: Dan Healy was in that helicopter shot down in Afghanistan last week. He died in those mountains, along with 15 other American servicemen.
VIANNE CENTENO, EX-WIFE OF DAN HEALY: I know every other family that lost a loved one. I know what they felt. I know they thought that that man was invincible, that that man would always be there, because they made you feel safe.
JENNIFER HEALY: But he was there because he wanted to be there. And he never complained.
JAKE HEALY: My dad went into the war knowing that there was a possibility of him dying. But I mean, that's a Seal. He wanted to be out there for sure. That's all he wanted.
VILES: Now most families in this situation want their privacy. This family wants America to know who Dan Healy was.
JENNIFER HEALY: He was just an amazing person. He made us laugh. He made us cry. He made us want to go grrr.
CHELSEA HEALY, DAUGHTER OF DAN HEALY: Just want everybody to know that he was a hero. And I don't want them to forget it.
VILES: His teenaged children are poised and brave, but they miss their father.
C. HEALY: Everything, just spending time with him.
JAKE HEALY: Every moment, you know, will always be precious. And just remember everything and appreciate it.
VILES: Yes.
In the letter he wrote just before he died, Dan Healy told his son "give it everything you've got. You may not get another chance." Peter Viles for CNN, Bonita, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, now it's time to turn to the men's tennis action at the All England Club. It'll be American Andy Roddick against the brilliant one, Roger Federer of Switzerland. It is the second straight year these two are in the Wimbledon final. Federer won last year. First serve in about two hours from now.
Just call her the comeback kid. Venus Williams arrived at Wimbledon as a lowly 14th seed. She ended up winning her first Grand Slam title in almost four years in the longest Wimbledon Women's final on record.
CNN's Don Riddell has the highlights.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON RIDDELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Venus Williams has endured a tough couple of years, both on and off the court. And there must have times where she wondered if she'd ever play on this kind of stage again.
But in beating Lindsay Davenport, she secured her third Wimbledon title, making history as the lowest seed ever to do so.
VENUS WILLIAMS, 2005 WIMBLEDON CHAMP: I always felt like a champion in my heart because every single time I walked out in the court, I always gave my best. And whatever it was at that time I gave 100 percent, but I don't know, I mean, I feel great to have accomplished this, but I feel like I want to do it a lot more. But it was a tough match for sure.
LINDSAY DAVENPORT, 1999 WIMBLEDON CHAMP: I thought I played really well. I thought I had a lot of chances. And I felt like she never allowed me to take advantage of those chances. And she played great whenever she was down.
RIDDELL: This was a heartbreaking defeat for Lindsay Davenport, but she played her part in a classic final here. And for all the talk that the Williams were a spent force with the emergence of the Russian players, they have now won two of the year's Grand Slam tournaments. I guess that means they're back. Don Riddell, CNN, Wimbledon.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: You've got that backhand.
NGUYEN: I got the backhand. The forehand...
HARRIS: Well, you do.
NGUYEN: ...need a little help with. What are you talking about?
HARRIS: Well, you do.
NGUYEN: You've got it all out there...
HARRIS: I've seen you. You can do that.
NGUYEN: We played a little tennis here. We've got Brad Huffines with us. He is with the CNN affiliate station there in Huntsville, Alabama joining us this weekend.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Well, we do want to talk about an interesting twist of events. A six week kidnapping ordeal ends, thanks to people inside a restaurant.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is Jenna.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, Jenna, I just have something to tell you. I'm sitting down here at Denny's. And there was a little girl that just walked in that looks exactly like that Shasta girl.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now police have recovered Shasta Groene, but the search goes on for her missing brother. We get more on the case as we talk to the sheriff. That's coming up next.
ANEESH RAMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Aneesh Raman in Baghdad. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales makes a surprise visit to Iraq today, as word comes that Egypt's top envoy to the country has been kidnapped. A live report coming up. CNN SUNDAY MORNING will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Here's a look at what's happening right now in the news.
Police in Idaho have charged a registered sex offender with kidnapping. He was found with 8-year-old Shasta Groene, who had been missing for more than six weeks. The girl's 9-year-old brother, Dylan, is still missing and feared dead. The two disappeared after their mother and brother were among those killed in a triple homicide May 15th.
Egypt's ambassador to Iraq has been kidnapped. Ihab al-Sherif was abducted yesterday from this Jeep Cherokee near his home. The Egyptian embassy has now sealed off or has been sealed off by security forces. Al Sherif is the first ambassador to represent an Arab country in post war Iraq.
Music with a message. More than a million fans and hundreds of performers turned out for live 8, a series of free concerts across the world yesterday. It is all aimed at pressuring the world's richest nations to boost aid for Africa at the G-8 summit, which takes place this week.
And remember, you can view more CNN reports online. All you have to do is just visit cnn.com, click on "watch" to check out some of the most popular stories. It is all free on cnn.com.
HARRIS: Now more on the Idaho girl found early yesterday, six weeks after she disappeared. As we told you, eight-year-old Shasta Groene was discovered in a restaurant with a convicted sex offender. Several people recognized her and called 911. Let's listen to one of the calls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OPERATOR: Central Dispatch, this is Jenna.
CALLER: Yeah, Jenna. I just have something to tell you. I'm sitting here down at Denny's and there's a little girl that just walked in that looks exactly like that Shasta girl.
OPERATOR: OK, is she still inside?
CALLER: Yes she is and she's with an older man.
OPERATOR: She's with an older man.
CALLER: Yeah, and the thing that really triggered me the most though is I was reading the Nicklesworth and I'd seen her picture in the Nicklesworth, and I showed it to one of the waitresses here and she said, "oh my God, she's in there."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: The discovery has to be a very emotional experience for the girl's family and for law enforcement. Let's talk now with Captain Ben Wolfinger with the Kootenai County sheriff's office. Captain, good morning. Thanks for talking to us.
CAPT. BEN WOLFINGER, KOOTENAI COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: Good morning. HARRIS: Well, let's start with what had to be the joyous part of the day, the early morning hours when the discovery was made and you were able to secure Shasta. Who got to make the call to her father, Steve, with the good news?
WOLFINGER: Well, the lead investigator from the sheriff's office, Detective Mastel (ph) made the call to Steve and was able to find him out of state at a relative's house and give him the good news that Shasta was found and she was alive and in good health and in our custody at that point.
HARRIS: Captain, where did the reunion actually take place?
WOLFINGER: At Kootenai Medical Center here in Coeur d'Alene. Steve drove back into town, went straight to the hospital and was able to be reunited with his daughter at that point.
HARRIS: What was, from the witnesses who saw it, what was that, I guess I can imagine for myself but I'll have you explain it to us. What was that moment like, that reunion?
WOLFINGER: Well, I haven't talked to the witnesses who were there. We obviously gave them a little bit of private time but you know as a parent, you can only imagine what that love between a parent and a child must be like, after your child's been missing for six weeks.
HARRIS: And Captain, what was it then like? We talk about an emotional roller coaster when you then had to inform Steve that his son, Dylan, is still missing and may be dead?
WOLFINGER: Well, you're right. It's been very bittersweet in the last 24 hours. The joy of having Shasta here back at home, and then the belief, based upon the evidence we have so far, that Dylan is deceased, it's been a tough road for all the investigators and the family to follow right now.
HARRIS: And Ben, if you would, I don't want to you compromise anything in your investigation, but what leads you to believe that Dylan may not be found alive. Is it something in Shasta's statement. Is it something in Duncan's statement?
WOLFINGER: Well, the investigators have had a lot of statements. They've had a lot of physical evidence and putting it all together is what's brought them to this belief. They're still working diligently to get all of that verified. We have to be very fact-based. We wanted to inform the family. We didn't want them to be overanxious to find Dylan as well, and we wanted to be as up front with them as possible.
HARRIS: Do you believe Duncan had Dylan as well?
WOLFINGER: Well, we don't know at this point. That's some of the questions we have to answer today. A lot of questions still out there. That's why we have all 40 investigators back on the case for this holiday weekend following the tons of new information and new leads that we've developed in the last 24 hours.
HARRIS: Have you been able to learn where Shasta and Duncan were staying?
WOLFINGER: We're working on that. We have some ideas and the investigators are working on that today. It's getting to be daylight here now in northern Idaho and the investigators are back at it and they'll be here for another 16 or 18 hours again today.
HARRIS: OK. Captain, we appreciate you taking the time to talk to us. Thank you.
WOLFINGER: Thank you.
HARRIS: And coming up next hour, Duncan has a long criminal history. His profile is ahead. Also, stay tuned throughout the day for the very latest on this case, live from Idaho.
And this leads us to our e-mail question this morning. Is the American justice system too easy on sex offenders? E-mail us your thoughts at weekends@cnn.com. We'll read your replies throughout the program.
NGUYEN: Time now to take a look at some of the major stories making headlines all around the globe this morning and Hala Gorani is at the international desk with all of that. Good morning, Hala.
HALA GORANI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Betty. Good morning Tony. We start our look around the world in Iraq, a lot to talk about today. First off, a surprise visit to Baghdad by the U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Aneesh Raman is in the Iraqi capital with the details. Hi, Aneesh.
RAMAN: Hala, good morning to you. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales arriving, as you say, in Iraq today on an unannounced visit. He will meet we're told with members of the Iraqi government, including his counterparts. He'll also meet with Department of Justice officials here on the ground. Those include FBI personnel and finally, he'll visit with U.S. soldiers on this the July 4th holiday weekend. The visit Hala clearly a continued sign from President Bush of support for the ongoing struggle in Iraq. It comes days after the president's address to the nation. But the very nature of the trip itself, that it was surprise for obvious security reasons, shows two years on, how much work is yet to be done. Hala.
GORANI: And still violence across the country, as well as word of an Egyptian ambassador being kidnapped in Iraq. You'd think an ambassador has enough security to avoid being snatched off the street like that. What happened?
RAMAN: Kidnapped, it seems Hala, near his home while driving yesterday. Ihab Sherif, Egypt's top envoy to Iraq taken into custody. He has arrived in Iraq at the beginning of June as an envoy and by the end of the month, he was on track to become Egypt's first ambassador to Iraq since 1991 when Saddam invaded Kuwait. Egypt about to become the first country to have an ambassador here among the Arab states since the war. He was kidnapped in the car that we've got video of. The embassy itself has been completely sealed off. No word of who has taken him, no claims, no demands made either, but the implications are quite serious for the other Arab nations and also for all the diplomats here. This is the highest level, highest profile kidnapping we've seen Hala in quite some time.
GORANI: All right. Aneesh Raman in the Iraqi capital, thanks so much.
In other world news this morning, Saudi authorities say they've killed a high ranking al Qaeda member. The man was identified as a Moroccan national living in the kingdom. The interior ministry in Saudi Arabia is offering rewards of up to almost $2 million to anyone who helps capture a suspected terrorist or foil an attack.
After the friendly concerts urging them to do more to end poverty, world leaders have a solid few days of protest to look forward to in Scotland. Security still high in Edinburgh after the make poverty history demonstration yesterday ahead of the G-8 summit. The protesters want rich nations to cancel more debt and help stop thousands of children from dying of hunger and disease every day.
And you mentioned it briefly a little while ago, Tony and Betty, an American trying to beat a solid defending champion at the Wimbledon men's final today. Andy Roddick goes up against Roger Federer who is trying to win his third consecutive title at the All-England Club. OK, Tony, Betty, if he does it, Roger Federer, guess who he will match? Tennis legends Pete Sampras and another big tennis star from the '80s, Bjorn Borg.
HARRIS: Yeah. I mean he's that good. He's just that good.
NGUYEN: And been that good since he was little.
HARRIS: Yeah, but Roddick's pretty good, too.
NGUYEN: It will be a good match. Thank you, Hala.
Well, most kids spend the summer at camp, the pool or just hanging around the house.
HARRIS: And coming up, these boys call themselves omega boys, telling their stories through comic books and taking their case to Capitol Hill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well, it's a summer they will probably never forget, 150 children from across the country, all suffering from type one diabetes converging on Capitol Hill. Their goal, to fight for more funding for medical research. Little did they know the alter ego of a comic book superhero was among that group of ambitious kids.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Would you like to take a free card for diabetes research?
HARRIS (voice-over): The beginning of a busy week on Capitol Hill. Nine-year-old Malcolm and 11-year-old Gamal Washington (ph) joining forces with actress Mary Tyler Moore and children from across the country.
MARY TYLER MOORE, JDRF CHAIRPERSON: We're here once again, in fact, to be honest with you, for more years than I ever hoped would be necessary to talk about the advances that have been achieved and the challenges of finding a cure for all people with diabetes.
UNIDENTIFIED GIRL: Managing our diabetes takes a lot of time away from our family.
HARRIS: Some here to testify before Congress.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You should feel comfortable. We've met before (ph) and ready (INAUDIBLE) a number of times and just speak up and tell them everything that's been going on.
HARRIS: All here to meet with lawmakers like Kansas Congressman Dennis Moore. For seven years now, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has sponsored the children's congress, giving kids a chance to tell their stories about living with juvenile diabetes. Gamal says he copes by releasing the superhero inside.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So which one is omega boy?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: That one is omega boy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Right here, with the omega on his chest, yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: And that's my brother.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's he called? Mighty boy and omega boy.
HARRIS: Gamal found out two years ago that he had diabetes. The discovery sent he and his younger brother Malcolm to the drawing board. The comic book heroes omega boy and mighty boy were born. Their nemesis, Dr. Diabetes.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: He cured diabetes but didn't get any recognition for it, so he turned back into Dr. Diabetes and tried to --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How old are you? You can't be 10.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: 11.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't be 11 talking that way. You know all about this stuff, don't you?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yeah.
HARRIS: But reading between the lines, Gamal's personal struggle becomes more clear. He tells the congressman about his new insulin pump that replaces the eight shots a day he used to take.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Keeps the insulin in here and pushes it into my body.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And does it automatically, as much as you need? You have to adjust it?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: Yes.
HARRIS: But the conversation gravitates once again to omega boy and how he has affected Gamal's life.
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: This is Miles at CNN doing my interview.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: CNN, you've been up to television. Wow! How about that?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: And pictures of me doing what normal kids do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are a pretty normal kid, even though you have juvenile diabetes.
HARRIS: From there, it was off to yet another interview with another lawmaker, the third interview of the day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you've been busy all week.
HARRIS: An easy task for any normal, everyday superhero.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HARRIS: Easy for me to say. Gamal's scheduled is still a very busy one. He is now scheduled to speak in Florida at the children with diabetes friends for life conference this week and talking about what it's like living with the disease.
NGUYEN: All right. We want to get to our top stories right now. It was a waitress at an Idaho diner who first recognized Shasta Groene. The nine-year-old was discovered around 2:00 a.m. yesterday near her home in the city of Coeur D'Alene. She was with a registered sex offender who has been charged with her kidnapping, but there's no word yet on the whereabouts of her brother, Dylan, who disappeared with the girl six weeks ago.
Egypt's ambassador to Iraq has been kidnapped in Baghdad. A source at the Egyptian embassy says the diplomat was abducted while buying a newspaper near his home.
And a double suicide attack last night at a restaurant in the Iraqi town of Hillah killed nine people. One bomber blew himself up inside the cafe, the other just outside. Five of the dead were Iraqi police officers. Some 36 people were wounded.
Ahead in the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING, the new owner of this three-bedroom bungalow calls it probably the most controversial home in the world. We'll tell you why, straight ahead. And a NASA spacecraft is barreling straight for a comet, but it's no accident. We'll tell you why the probe is on a high speed collision course and what scientists hope to learn from the fateful crash.
HARRIS: But first, a CNN extra. Do you read to your kids? Surveys from the retailer Target has found nearly 97 percent of parents with young children say they do, mostly of them two or three nights a week. But if they were given a choice, more than half would prefer flipping on the TV instead and less than a third say they'd reach for a book.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Unlocking the mysteries of outer space. Today on cnn.com, we are talking comets and collisions, breaking up those chunks of space matter to learn something new about the true origin of life right here on earth. From our web desk, here is Christina Park.
CHRISTINA PARK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're examining some heavenly bodies at cnn.com/space as a NASA probe gets close to making a hyper speed smashup with a comet. "Deep impact" is the first probe designed to do so. The size of a washing machine, it will crash into a comet about half the size of Manhattan. Another component the size of a car will help record the collision. NASA scientists hope to unlock the secrets of comets by watching what happens during and after this cosmic collision.
Comets have been called everything from divine to dirty snowballs. They're made of ice, dust and gas left over from when the sun and planets formed. Scientists believe they may hold the keys to the birth of the solar system and perhaps life itself. While you're online, meet comet temple one, a jet black pickle shaped icy dirtball. It's flying at a speed equal to traveling from New York to L.A. in about seven minutes. This crash would take place over 80 million miles away, but all you have to do is log onto cnn.com/space for your front row seats. I'm Christina Park reporting from the dot com desk.
NGUYEN: Did she call it a dirt ball?
HARRIS: It all sounds so violent, doesn't it? Smashing and crashing and tearing things up.
NGUYEN: Right into a dirt ball, of all things.
HARRIS: All right. Still ahead, there's a heat wave in your holiday forecast. Meteorologist Brad Huffines has the 411. That's up next.
NGUYEN: And coming up next hour, a disturbing rap sheet. We will take a closer look at the registered sex offender suspected of kidnapping an 8-year-old Idaho girl.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well meteorologist Brad Huffines is visiting with us this weekend. I don't know what you did to get into this mess. But you're here on a holiday weekend, boy, you lucky man.
BRAD HUFFINES, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's because I like you guys, that's why.
NGUYEN: Is that what it is?
HARRIS: We'll take it.
HUFFINES: And Tony even flossed.
HARRIS: I did. Thank you.
HUFFINES: I appreciate that.
HARRIS: Whatever I can do for you, Brad.
HUFFINES: Arlene, Bret and Chris, now what do those names bring to mind?
HARRIS: They've got to be tropical storms or hurricanes.
HUFFINES: We may be getting Chris before this next week is up, so let's enjoy the holiday first. I'm going to show you where the trouble spot is across the nation today and that's across the plains, from northwest Oklahoma through Kansas and northwestern parts of Missouri and that extends up into parts of Iowa and Minnesota today. Everywhere you see red, that does not mean that you will see severe weather, but the severe weather happens today will likely be in the red states. Meanwhile, as you're traveling around the area tomorrow, expect to see high temperatures much like today's highs. Look at the 70s today in the northeast, 80s across the great lakes and 100 degrees plus across much of the south and southwest.
And here's your holiday forecast, humid temperatures, widely scattered thundershowers in the south. Then tomorrow severe weather threat shifts just a bit farther east through the Ohio Valley and the eastern great lakes. The west still looks dry and sunny with high temperatures tomorrow. Look at how hot Phoenix is going to stay, around 109, Dallas about 100, Houston 97 degrees and across the northern plains, high temperatures in the lower 80s, much cooler and much more pleasant around the west coast.
And one more day, a very nice weather pattern continues to set up across parts of the New England states and most of your fireworks plans for the fourth of July should be OK across most of the country, save maybe this severe weather threat across portions of the Midwest. Let me show you a quick look at the tropics. See that cloud mass that's spinning through the Caribbean Sea headed toward what looks like Cancun. That is a tropical wave and that could very well become tropic storm Chris as it moves through the Yucatan straight into the Gulf of Mexico. National Hurricane Center says that all interests in the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf coast and also the Yucatan, need to pay attention to this one, because it could very well develop into Chris the next couple of days. Once that crosses into the Gulf, warm water and you know as well as I do, that means everyone from Brownsville to Ft. Myers needs to watch this storm. They can go nearly anywhere when they're there.
NGUYEN: That time of year, Brad, thank you so much.
HARRIS: Want to get to our e-mail question this morning. You were on the air yesterday when that story broke about Shasta being recovered safe and sound apparently.
NGUYEN: That's good news and we don't hear it that often.
HARRIS: We really don't, but the bad news, sad news is that her brother is still missing and presumed dead, we must say. Here is our question this morning. Is the U.S. justice system too easy on convicted sex offenders? Let me tell you something, Kristin writes she is extremely concerned in South Carolina. Here's what she says. Yes, yes, yes, I am the mother of two young daughters and I am absolutely furious that this Joseph Duncan has been roaming the streets. His rap sheet should have held him in prison for life with no chance of parole. In my opinion, just one offense on a child should put them away and throw away the key. We as a country have to help our poor children. I am actually ashamed today, this July 4th weekend, certainly not proud.
NGUYEN: M. Munsie puts it this way. Murders kill the body and are punished in kind. Sex offenders kill the spirit while injuring the body and soul. Their punishment should be no less than that of a murderer.
We invite you to continue sending in your thoughts today to weekends@cnn.com. Here is the question one more time. Is the U.S. justice system too easy on convicted sex offenders?
HARRIS: The next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING begins right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CALLER: I have got a little girl here with a tall gentleman and she looks so much like, Shasta.
OPERATOR: OK, are they still in the building?
CALLER: Yeah. They're at table 20.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: Shasta Groene missing for six weeks after her mother and two others are murdered is spotted at a restaurant with a convicted sex offender. That story is coming up. From the CNN center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is July 3rd, 8:00 a.m. at the CNN headquarters here in Atlanta, 6 a.m. in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.
Good morning everyone. I'm Tony Harris.
NGUYEN: And I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for being with us today. Shasta is safe, but her brother still missing. We're live in Idaho in just a moment but first, here's a check of the other headlines this morning. Attorney General Alberto Conzales made a surprise trip to Baghdad this morning. Gonzales says democracy is spreading in Iraq despite rising insurgent violence.
Gonzales is also being mentioned as a potential Supreme Court nominee. We'll have a live report about his visit to Iraq. That is coming up.
Also in Iraq, a high profile abduction. CNN has learned that Egypt's ambassador was kidnapped yesterday. An Egyptian embassy source says the man was taken near his home in Baghdad. He had only arrived in Iraq just last month.
Well, it looks like Israel's pullout of Gaza will go on as scheduled. This morning, the Israeli cabinet rejected a proposal from hard-liners to delay the pullout until November. The withdrawal is planned for August.
And Aruba is getting some high tech help in the search for Natalee Holloway. The Dutch, who govern Aruba, are sending three fighter jets to look for the Alabama teen. The jets are rigged with special search equipment. Holloway has been missing for more than a month now.
And you can experience the power of CNN video on your computer. Log on to CNN.com click on the video link and browse for the video you want to see whenever you want to see it.
HARRIS: And much more to come on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Long before Live 8, improving the living conditions of Africa's poorest was a mission for Pastor Rick Warren. We'll talk with the author of "A Purpose-Driven Life" in our "Faces of Faith."
Also, it's summer time and Dr. Sanjay Gupta wants to help you make the living easy. Tips for staying safe and keeping cool are coming up in our "HOUSE CALL."
NGUYEN: Our top story this morning. A major break in the case of two young children missing for six weeks in Idaho. One of them has been found, the other feared dead. And a registered sex offender is behind bars.
CNN's Rusty Dornin is live in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho with the latest on this.
Good morning, Rusty.
DORNIN: Well, Betty, another bit of good news in all of this. Shasta Groene, the little girl that was found is said to be resting comfortably in the hospital. Her father, Stephen Groene, who apparently was out of town when the investigators contacted him, told him they'd found his daughter. He spent the night in the hospital with is daughter. No word yet on when that little girl is going to be released. We're not getting a lot of new information about the possibility of what happened to her brother other than investigators are saying that they do fear that he is dead.
But we are getting a clear picture of just how it happened that investigators came to arrest Joseph Duncan, the sex offender who was found with Shasta Groene in a local Denny's here is Coeur D'Alene. What we're going to be listening to is the 911 call made by the manager at Denny's. Let's listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPERATOR: Dispatcher Jenna.
CALLER: Yeah, hi Jenna, this is Linda, the manager at Denny's.
OPERATOR: Yeah.
CALLER: I've got a little girl here with a tall gentleman, and she looks so much like that Shasta.
OPERATOR: OK. Are they still in the building?
CALLER: Yeah, they're at table 20.
OPERATOR: And can you describe the male to me?
CALLER: He is probably, how tall is he? Six, six, six, I'd say 6'3".
OPERATOR: OK.
CALLER: Really slim.
OPERATOR: OK.
CALLER: Dark hair, curly with a hat on.
OPERATOR: Yeah, I'm sorry, table 20?
CALLER: Uh huh. It's all the way in the back of the restaurant.
OPERATOR: All right.
CALLER: And we're not sure, you now, I just, I just -- she looks so much like her and I just -- I don't know.
OPERATOR: All right. We'll have someone to that way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DORNIN: But it was waitress Amber Deahn who had to do a bit of tap dancing that said indeed it probably was Shasta Groene. She apparently kept stalling until police came. She didn't want, of course, him to take the little girl out of the restaurant, offering her a milk shake and bringing her a big size one instead of a child size. It would take longer for her to drink it.
After police did arrive, Amber Deahn, the waitress, did talk to CNN's Carol Lin about what happened next.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEAHN: When the asked the gentleman if hey could talk to him for a minute they took him away and the first officer on the scene sat down with Shasta. I proceeded to continue working. I brought another table their food and about the time I got the last plate off of the tray he grabbed my arm and said stay with her, and I went and kneeled by her side of the booth and said, "Hi sweetie. How are you?" And she didn't say anything. I said, "Honey what's your name." She said, "Shasta Groene." And started crying and I couldn't help myself. I picked her straight up and just held her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DORNIN: Deahn also said that she hopes that in another situation that somebody would do that for her child if they encountered a similar situation.
Investigators do say that they are going to give a press conference 11 a.m. local time. We don't know how much more information is going to be coming out. They've been very tight lipped, of course, about the possibility of finding Dylan Groene, who is the brother that they're saying is feared dead. But perhaps we are going to be hearing more then.
They are saying that they are going to be putting out photos of the 2005 Jeep Laredo, the red Laredo that Joseph Duncan, the suspect, was driving. They think he was in the area the last six weeks. That's the amazing part. Investigators still saying they were so surprised that he was discovered with him in the very town from which she disappeared.
So they're going to be putting out that picture of that car just hoping that people will be able to say, you know, perhaps that they did see him driving. Maybe they saw him at the 7 Eleven. Maybe they saw him at the grocery store or somewhere, so they can try to figure out his whereabouts and that could also help them in terms of perhaps finding Dylan Groene as well.
Betty.
NGUYEN: A lot of pieces that still need to be put together. Rusty Dornin, thank you for that and we hope to learn more in that press conference.
Tony.
HARRIS: Suspect Joseph Duncan faces a judge Tuesday in connection with Shasta's kidnapping. But he is no stranger to the court system. CNN's Carol Lin runs down the ex-con's wrap sheet.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LIN (voice-over): Police in Fargo, North Dakota Saturday secured the last known residence of Joseph Duncan, III, the man arrested early Saturday morning with Shasta Groene. Duncan is a registered sex offender with a lengthy criminal past.
WOLFINGER: We know he has a history as far back as 1980 of rape in Pierce County, Washington. He is a registered sex offender in Minnesota. One of his outstanding warrants is failing to register as a sex offender in Washington.
LIN: In 1980 Joseph Duncan was sentenced to 20 years in prison for abducting and raping a 14 year old boy. In 2000, only a week after being released he moved to Fargo, North Dakota where he enrolled at North Dakota State University. In his resume posted on the school's Web site, Duncan says he expected two graduate in May of this year.
But just two months shy of his expected graduation more trouble. In March Duncan was arrested again. This time charged with molesting a child outside a school in Minnesota. Police say he posted $15,000 bail in April, and soon after that authorities lost contact with him.
That is until a group of observant Denny's patrons and employees in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho recognized the missing little girl and helped lead police to Duncan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And that was CNN's Carol Lin.
Now this case leads us to our e-mail question for you this morning. Is the American justice system to easy on sex offenders. E- mail us your thoughts at weekends at CNN.com we'll read those replies throughout the program.
Other news across America now. Convicted killer Scott Peterson's Modesto home has been sold. A Modesto realtor bought the home and plans to live there. Prosecutors believe Peterson killed his pregnant wife, Lacy, in the house three years ago. Peterson was sentenced to death in March.
The Kansas Supreme Court says it may keep schools closed indefinitely throughout the state. Now that is because state legislatures had not met the court's demand for more money for public schools. Lawmakers will continue a debate on how to keep their schools open. That will take place on Wednesday.
And support for women's rights is tops on the agenda at the annual convention of the national organization in Nashville. NOW is concerned with the retirement of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, but worry that it could further erode support for women's rights.
HARRIS: Well, one name being mentioned as a possible replacement to Justice O'Connor is Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. But today he is making news for another reason, a surprise visit to Iraq. For that we turn to CNN's Elaine Quijano live at the White House.
Elaine, good morning.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Tony. And of course this Bush administration is certainly one that is known for being able to keep a secret and occasionally spring a surprise or two on the media.
Now we understand, according to the Department of Justice as well as the U.S. embassy that, as you mentioned, Alberto General Alberto Gonzales is paying a surprise visit to Baghdad this fourth of July weekend. Now we don't have pictures of him but, of course, there is some file video.
In a statement the Justice Department said that Gonzales would be meeting with department staff members who are working in Iraq as well as members of the Iraqi government. And he is also scheduled to meet with U.S. soldiers on the 4th of July itself.
Now Gonzales said he is proud of the Justice Department staffers, who are helping the Iraqis and his words, "advance the rule of law." And in that same statement he said that it's important to recognize and thank the brave American men and women who are sacrificing to promote democracy in Iraq and defend our freedom.
Now of course, this visit comes at an important time on a couple of levels. First, as you mentioned with the retirement announcement of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, of course there's been much speculation that perhaps Alberto Gonzales may be on the short list of possible nominees.
Important for a second reason as well, of course. This coming on the heels of President Bush just last week delivering a prime time address to the nation talking about the way forward in Iraq coming at a time though when public polls show that support for the Iraq war is on the decline.
Tony.
HARRIS: Elaine, what can you tell us about this apparent violation of Camp David air space
QUIJANO: Well, that's right. President Bush, we should tell you, is spending part of this 4th of July weekend at Camp David. He's not due to arrive back here at the White House until this afternoon. But the Secret Service today is confirming that last night there was an apparent violation of the restricted air space in the Camp David area. Secret Service spokesman, Jonathan Cherry, saying that the pilot was apparently interviewed and released.
Now we should also tell you though while they are referring additional questions to the FAA and the Department of Homeland Security, our Kathleen Koch has been told by the FAA that there were not one but several violations of the air space around Camp David yesterday. Still trying to sort all of this out, Tony, but certainly we're working to get more clarification and if we get that we'll pass that along to you.
Tony.
HARRIS: OK. Elaine Quijano at the White House for us. Elaine we appreciate it. Thank you.
Now a programming note. Robert Bork will appear on "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer today. Bork is a former Supreme Court nominee. That airs at 12 p.m. Eastern.
NGUYEN: Fourth of July fireworks of a different sort are expected about oh, a half million miles from the U.S. We have those details just five minutes ahead.
HARRIS: And, Betty, closer to home if you want to look great and stay cool the doctor is in the house. Tips for a super safe summer soiree. Wow! I got through that. Who can believe that?
NGUYEN: You said it.
HARRIS: In our HOUSE CALL at the bottom of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The triumphant view of U.S. tanks rolling through Baghdad is one of the most lasting images of the Iraq war. The armored vehicles looked invincible, but that was not the case. The author of "Heavy Metal" tells you why live next hour in a Soldier's Story, 9 a.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well if you're just waking up with us here are some stories that top the news today. A double suicide attack last night at a restaurant in the Iraqi town of Hillah kills nine people. One bomber blew himself up inside the cafe. The other just outside. Five of the dead were Iraqi police officers and some 36 people were wounded.
A high ranking member of al Qaeda in Saudi Arabia has been killed. A senior ministry official tells CNN the suspect died in a clash in Riyadh between several militants and security forces. Younis Mohammad Ibrahim al-Hayyari was one of 36 suspected militants wanted for terrorists attacks.
And NASA has fired a high speed probe directly at a comment hurling through space. Scientist hope the probe will collide with the comment and send back information on the insides of the comment.
So I guess that's how it works. You break it all up and figure out how it was all put together.
HARRIS: Where's Miles when you need him?
NGUYEN: I know. Where's Miles O'Brien?
HARRIS: Hello, Miles. Someone get Miles on the phone.
NGUYEN: You know he's awake at this hour.
HARRIS: Until we get him we're going to go upstairs to the CNN weather center.
NGUYEN: Maybe Brad knows.
What do you know about this, Brad?
(WEATHER REPORT)
HARRIS: Well, they may use different methods, but the mission is the same. Coming up there are many paths to ending poverty in Africa. Live 8 musicians used music. But one man of faith is using a book. Pastor and author, Rick Warren's message on what we can do to help Africa up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HARRIS: Well billions of people either attended, watched or downloaded one of the Live 8 concerts staged to bring attention to poverty in Africa. Rockers and politicians took to the stages to pressure wealthy nations to cancel the debt of African nations and donate more aid money.
In London, U2 frontman Bono said, quote, "We are not looking for charity. We are looking for justice."
Among those at the Philadelphia concert was author Rick Warren. He is the man who wrote the incredibly popular book, "The Purpose Driven Life." You might recall Ashley Smith read that book to Atlanta courthouse shooting suspect, in March. She says the spiritual book helped settle that crisis peacefully.
I talked to Warren yesterday from Philadelphia about his ongoing charitable work in Africa and how his mission of faith corresponds to the mission of Live 8.
RICK WARREN, AUTHOR, "THE PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE:" This is a wind broadband coalition of a lot of different groups all over the political spectrum, all over the religious spectrum but they're basically coming together saying we've got to stamp out poverty. We've got to stamp out disease. This issues have been around for far too long and they're some things we can put aside to make the world a better place.
The real issue here is that I think that poverty is a spiritual issue. I think that we have delivered in the past billions of dollars of aid to Africa in the past and a lot of it never even got there. It never got to people on the floor. I've been there many times. I was in Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya just last month and I will be in Kenya, I mean actually back in Rwanda in 10 days meeting with the president there. That's a wonderful country. It's one of the bright spots, in my opinion. But there have been a lot of times we've sent money over and it never really got tot he people. I'm sure it's going to get there in many cases now because the president has said, we're not going to give it to corrupt leadership.
HARRIS: Practically speaking, are these countries, are these governments are they ready to receive the help? It's one thing to want help. It's another thing to be ready to receive it.
WARREN: Right. Well, you know, I have been on the ground all over Africa and what I found is the closer you get to the local level the more effective it is. That at a large national level there's just too much bureaucracy. That's why our plan, the peace plan, which is called planting churches, equipping leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick and educating the next generation, this is a plan we've been working on for two and a half years in 47 countries most of them in Africa but also around the world.
We've had about 4500 of our members from our church actually on the field testing a prototype and when we see community based and church based and congregation based compassion activities it's a lot more bang for your buck, a lot more money, a lot more -- actually gets to the people in need than a lot of the other programs.
HARRIS: I've got to ask you the stated purpose of the concert, Live 8, is to put pressure on the leaders making their way to Scotland for the G-8 summit. Do you agree with that stated goal?
WARREN: Well, you know, it would be the stated goal of Bob Geldof and a number of others, but I would say that a lot of people are here not to put pressure on anybody, but to raise awareness. This is a concert about advocacy not policy. That's why they've got a broad based coalition because in policy matters you're never going to get anybody to agree on anything politically wise or a lot of otherwise.
But when you say, can we raise the visibility of the poverty problem and the disease problem, particularly in Africa? You know we had a tsunami in southeast Asia last December and a quarter of a million people were killed in that tsunami and the world poured out generously to help it.
We have a health tsunami in Africa literally every 10 days. Every 10 days a quarter of a million people die. Not many people have been saying much about that and so I think guys like Bono and others and myself are saying, this is an issue that we can agree on. We don't agree on the policies all the way, but we do agree on helping the poor and that's why there was such a broad support for it.
"Purpose Driven Pastor," Rick Warren.
With the spotlight on poverty in Africa CNN will air a special report this morning. CNN's Christiane Amanpour goes beyond the headlines talking with Tony Blair and looking at the epidemic of global poverty.
"Can We Save Them?" is only on CNN coming up in about 90 minutes.
NGUYEN: And speaking of headlines we've been talking this morning about that missing eight year old, Shasta Groene, who was found yesterday at a Denny's restaurant in Idaho with a convicted sex offender. That leads us to our question today, Is the American justice system too easy on sex offenders?
We've gotten a lot of responses. Here's one from Matt in Georgia. He writes, "No, the justice system is not too tough on convicted sex offenders. If they have been convicted and have served their time, then there is nothing else that the justice system can do but release these individuals with the hopes that they will not offend again. Sex offenders have a mental sickness that seems to be very difficult to cure. The justice system should do more to help these individuals with therapy. Locking them up isn't going to help them in the least."
HARRIS: And this from Dorothy. "The court system is too easy on sex offenders. They should be taken off the streets with the first offense, as once a sex offender always one and there is no cure and our children deserve protection."
Thank you for the e-mails this morning. Here's the question once again. Is the U.S. Justice System too easy on convicted sex offenders. Drop us a note, weekends@cnn.com.
And new next hour, U.S. troops roll into Baghdad, but how safe were they really in their armored tanks? We'll find out.
NGUYEN: But first, on "HOUSE CALL" if your long weekend plans include afternoons at the beach you'll definitely want to stick around. Our Doctor Sanjay Gupta has strategies for you to stay cool and safe this holiday weekend.
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