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CNN Sunday Morning
Wildfires Force Thousands Out of Their Homes in Southern California; Violent Storms Damage Several Chicago Apartment Buildings
Aired April 01, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody from the CNN Center in Atlanta, it is April 1st. Don't make an April fool out of me all right.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: I was thinking about it, I totally forgot until I got here.
HOLMES: Don't do it today. I'm T.J. Holmes. Good to see you all.
NGUYEN: I'll get you before the day is over. Good morning, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. Watch out because it is April Fool's Day. We want to thank you for waking up with us, though. Let's get you up to speed on what has happened overnight.
HOLMES: Well first off it was a sleepless night for hundreds of people in Los Angeles, because of that right there. Wildfires forced hundreds of people out of their homes.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You felt, like, the pressure come, and the wind was, oh, yeah, a train was right outside our window. It was scary. It was just terrifying.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: A rough night outside of Chicago as violent storms damaged several apartment buildings.
HOLMES: And March madness ends with an April surprise from presidential hopeful John McCain. He just arrived in Baghdad. We'll hear from him live a little later this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're free. They realize that you didn't do any of those things, Ant. You're free. They made a mistake.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Outrage. There are a lot of words to describe the story. A New York man about to be set free after spending 22 years of his life in prison for a crime that he did not commit. His family is speaking out, and that is ahead right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. HOLMES: But first, we've got news just in this morning to us. Sad news that two police officers in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been killed in the line of duty. These officers both shot after responding to a disturbance call at an apartment complex late last night in the eastern part of that will city. They died overnight after being rushed to the hospital. Our affiliate station WCNC reports police are searching for two suspects in this shooting. Affiliate is also reporting that the two officers may have struggled with the suspects in the parking lot of that apartment complex before they were shot, and, also, that the officers did not get a shot off in this struggle. At least two suspects police believe are on the run. Canine units, swat teams being called in. We are keeping an eye on this story; our affiliates are working this on the ground. We'll get more from our affiliate WCNC coming up in just a few minutes.
NGUYEN: And there is some good news to report this morning for those evacuated out in California. They are being allowed to return home. A wildfire forced them from their homes early yesterday, and firefighters are still battling the 1,400-acre blaze east of Los Angeles. About 200 homes were evacuated. Just look at these pictures. Flames came within feet of several homes, but hundreds of firefighters were able to protect most of them. We're going to keep an eye on this throughout the morning and bring you the latest.
HOLMES: Also developing overnight, a violent storm in Chicago forcing dozens of people out of their apartments, several injuries were reported. But luckily none of those injuries seemed to be serious. High winds damaged the roofs of at least nine apartment buildings in Carol Stream. That's a western suburb of Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL LEWIS, STORM VICTIM: All of a sudden my whole entire room started just filling up with air, and then that's when we shut the window, and we got the huge howling sound, and we all ran to the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a train coming through the house, like locomotive just driving straight through the house.
MAURIANNE JONES, STORM VICTIM: I just hear a whirlwind, like, you know, everything stopped. It was a whirlwind. Next thing you know I hear a boom. Had to be the transformers here in the back of the church blowing up.
TAYLOR DENICOLO, STORM VICTIM: Just sounded like the "Wizard of Oz." Oh, yeah, your house getting picked up. The wind was so bad. You just felt like the walls were going to collapse right in. It was scary. It really was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Besides the apartment building, the nearby Christian Center also extensively damaged.
NGUYEN: Well we do want to get some more on the weather outside this morning. There were storms in Texas yesterday. We had that in Chicago. What is on tap today Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We'll be seeing more of this wet weather pull off to the eastern sea board, and that's not really a bad thing when you look at the big picture. Especially in the southeast where we've been suffering from so much of the pollen and what not. This will help cleanse the air. But still, a scary night last night in Chicago, and much of that rough weather is now moving into places like Detroit, Michigan. Let's zoom in on a couple of locations, 14 mile and Haggerty Road; up near Pontiac we're seeing some scattered showers. Over to Waterford and Farmington Hills the rain is going to keep coming.
However, we're seeing some dryer air now forming to the southwest near Ann Arbor out by the stadium. That's going to clear things out as we make our way into the late morning hours. Heavy rain also following near Cleveland and southward into Wheeling, West Virginia. We pull over toward Philadelphia some scattered showers in that part of the world. Back over to about Lakewood and southwest of New York you are seeing the clouds begin to billow up. You're going to be having some rain in midtown Manhattan I would say within the next 20 to 30 minutes or so and then they stick around on and off throughout much of the day into the evening as well.
Into the southeast, here comes the rain from Rocket City. That's in Huntsville southward to Cullman along I-65 over to Gadsden, Alabama, scattered showers, a few embedded thunderstorms nothing severe as of yet. And if you are in Louisiana you have been dealing all the rough weather over the last couple of day, no severe thunderstorms right now, but certainly some loud storms, possibly some damaging winds moving south of Alexandria and just north of Deridder. I would expect that moving through Baton Rouge in about an hour and a half. That's the latest we have on the forecast across the nation, let's send it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: You bet.
Well Senator John McCain in Baghdad this morning making an unannounced visit to that war zone. McCain of course, a Republican presidential hopeful. He is leading a congressional delegation to Iraq. They're getting a firsthand look at the security situation there. Just last week McCain praised President Bush's new plan to clamp down on the violence saying it is succeeding.
You can stay right here on CNN. We'll go to McCain's live press conference in Baghdad. We will carry it. It's expected to start at 9:15 Eastern.
NGUYEN: President Bush is speaking out, making his first strong comments on the ongoing diplomatic tug-of-war between Britain and Iran. CNN White House correspondent Elaine Quijano has that story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More than a week after the Iranians captured the 15 British sailors and marines, President Bush forcefully called for their release.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Iranians must give back the hostages. They're innocent, did nothing wrong, and they were summarily plucked out of the water, and it is -- as I say, it's inexcusable behavior.
QUIJANO: His harsh comments mark a shift in the White House's initial low-key reaction. A deliberate effort, U.S. officials said privately earlier this week, to limit strong comments at the request of the British. Over the last few days the U.S. has been conducting exercises with two aircraft carriers. Roughly 100 combat aircraft and more than a dozen escort ships poised within striking distance of Iran in the Persian Gulf. The White House has sought to down play the military movements, but President Bush declined to say what action might have been taken if those captured had been Americans. Instead, he reiterated the White House's support of British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
BUSH: I strongly support the Blair government's attempts to resolve this peacefully, and I support the prime minister when he made it clear there were no quid pro quos.
QUIJANO: The strong language by President Bush comes just days after a conversation with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and marks a change in the U.S.'s public pronouncements on the British-Iranian crises.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: President Bush also taking time to defend his embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: Attorney General Al Gonzales is an honorable and honest man, and he has my full confidence. He is providing documents for Congress to find the truth. He will testify in front of Congress, and he will tell the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Gonzales is scheduled to testify before Congress April 17th. Testimony by a former aide last week seemed to contradict Gonzales's portrayal of his involvement in the firings of eight federal prosecutors.
NGUYEN: In Atlanta police are trying to learn the identities of three people involved in a shooting at a South Side Mall. Police say three people were wounded. That shooting happened yesterday evening during an attempted robbery. Among those wounded a security guard, one of the victims critically injured. Police say the suspects got away in a sport utility vehicle.
HOLMES: We want to get back to that story we were telling you about a short time ago. The police officers killed in Charlotte, North Carolina. Authorities held a news conference just a bit ago and joining us now with more is Michelle Boudin of our affiliate station WCNC. Michelle, good morning, and please, give us the update.
MICHELLE BOUDIN, CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA: It was in that news conference that we learned that indeed the two police officers that were responding to a call here at this apartment complex were shot and killed. Take a look over my shoulder; you can see still a very active scene here. It is an apartment complex in east Charlotte. We understand that the officers were called to a disturbance here 10:30 last night. They argued with a suspect in the parking lot here. The shooting happened about 45 minutes later at 11:15. We don't know what happened in the 45 minutes in between. We do know that the two officers, though, were taken to CMC, that is the local hospital.
The officers, Sean Clark and Jeffrey Shelton, the first officer, we understand, he actually died there at the hospital at 12:15, the other officer at 4:00 in the morning. Both officers killed after responding to this call, so very tragic here. The officers several that are still on scene knew the officers involved.
HOLMES: Looks like we did lose that signal from Michelle Boudin. Giving you the update on the two officers killed there in Charlotte, North Carolina. We're trying to get her back, but the is certainly a story we'll be following this story this morning. Two officers killed after responding to a disturbance call there in Charlotte, North Carolina. We'll continue to update you on that story.
NGUYEN: Well, it is happening again. DNA is setting an innocent man free. This time the place is Buffalo, New York, where a man was recently exonerated of his 1987 rape conviction. CNN's Jim Acosta has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're free. They -- they realize that you didn't do any of those things, Ant. You're free.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They made a mistake.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They made a mistake.
ANTHONY CAPOZZI: All right. It sounds good to me.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The Capozzi family has been waiting 22 years to say those words.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're going to have you home pretty soon.
A. CAPOZZI: Where in Buffalo?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know it.
ACOSTA: In prison since 1985, Anthony Capozzi was convicted of raping two women in the suburbs of Buffalo. A verdict that was based mostly on the testimony of rape victims who thought they had identified the right man in a police line-up.
FRANK CLARK, DISTRICT ATTORNEY: The victims certainly believed wholeheartedly that they were identifying the right person.
ACOSTA: It was a stunning discovery of DNA evidence that will set Capozzi free. A long last genetic sample investigators say that points to a different man. The evidence had been tucked away for years and was only recently discovered among hundreds of pathology slides at the Erie County Medical Center. As it turns out, those slides contained DNA linked to Antonio Sanchez, who was arrested and charged in January with being Buffalo's alleged bike path rapist.
CLARK: I am sorry. I'm sure not nearly as sorry as the Capozzi family that the existence of these slides wasn't found earlier.
ACOSTA: Capozzi, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia, has always maintained his innocence, standing by his story during a total of five parole hearings, even when an admission of guilt could have set him free years ago.
THOMAS D'AGOSTINO, CAPOZZI'S ATTORNEY: He has known what it meant to say I didn't do it. He could have said I did it just to get out. He never did.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just kept to his story and always said I don't know why I'm here. I didn't do anything to hurt anybody. I would never hurt anybody. I have sisters of my own, and I love them.
ACOSTA: While overjoyed with the recent news about his son, Capozzi's father said the system's mistake was devastating for his family.
ALBERT CAPOZZI, ANTHONY CAPOZZI'S FATHER: The shame that we went through, the derogation of all of that. It's something you live with every day.
ACOSTA: The attorney for the now 50-year-old Capozzi is making formal arrangements to have his client officially released from prison within the next two weeks, making this family whole again.
MARY CAPOZZI, ANTHONY CAPOZZI'S MOTHER: We're a family. We waited so long for this, but Ii knew someday it would come.
ACOSTA: After spending nearly half of his life behind bars for a crime he never committed, Anthony Capozzi is almost home.
Jim Acosta, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: What a story. Can you just imagine 22 years behind bars for something you did not do?
HOLMES: How upset would you be? Ah.
NGUYEN: Not enough to do something to get you back behind bars. That's for sure.
HOLMES: Well, coming up we'll be talking about fighting crime again here, but fighting crime with a lot less pain.
NGUYEN: That looked kind of painful. Is that Rick Sanchez?
HOLMES: Oh, no. Well, police looking at ways to bring down suspected criminals without putting the hurt on them too bad, I guess. We'll show you what they're doing ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, DOTCOM DESK: Oh, boy. Good morning to you. I'm Veronica De La Cruz at the dotcom desk. In an Internet search of the term sex and god, which one do you think would get more hits? Think about that one a second, that answer might surprise you. That's coming up in our "Faces of Faith."
NGUYEN: Thank you, Veronica.
And a former lawman is looking at the other side of the law. We are talking about Bernard Carey. Why he is facing felonies. That's coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: We want to return now to that story out of Charlotte, North Carolina, where two police officers were killed in the line of duty overnight. Authorities, again, held a news conference a bit ago. We want to rejoin our Michelle Boudin of our affiliate station WCNC. Michelle we lost you a short time ago with that signal, but, by all means, continue to update us and our viewers about what happened there.
BOUDIN: The police chief confirming for us this morning about an hour and a half ago that, indeed, two officers killed in the line of duty here in east Charlotte. He was telling us this morning that they were responding to a disturbance call at an apartment complex here in east Charlotte. He told us that it was about 10:30 last night that they lost that disturbance call at this apartment complex. They struggled with a suspect there in the parking lot. You can see officers still there in that back parking lot. Shots, though, did not ring out until about 11:15. They have not told us what happened in the 45 minutes in between.
We do know that both officers were taken to CMC, that is the local hospital. Sean Clark, officer, died there at the hospital at 12:15. The other officer, Jeffrey Shelton, he died earlier this morning that was at about 4:00 this morning. We do know at this point there are no suspects in this double shooting. We know there was a perimeter set up, that several streets were closed off. We know the swat team was brought in. The swat team did leave, though, at about 5:00 this morning. They searched area apartment buildings, but at there point the police chief telling us there are no suspects.
You can see there is quite a presence, though, here. Several Charlotte police officers squad cars are in the area, in the streets leading up. There are squad cars stationed at every street searching very much for the suspects. Two officers killed after responding to a disturbance call at this apartment complex here in east Charlotte.
T.J.
HOLMES: Michelle, how much more do we know about the officers? I know you have the names there, but do we know how long they've been on the force or anything about their personal stories?
BOUDIN: We do know that one officer had been with the police force about one year, the other officer six years. We do know that one of the officers was married and actually expecting a child. So very emotional. Some of the officers on scene said they did know the officers, and as you can imagine, they're all sort of pulling together really searching for the suspects at this point who killed their colleagues here. So very emotional this morning.
HOLMES: All right, Michelle Boudin of our affiliate there. Thank you for the update this morning on really a tough time for those officers and that community. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: Well, there is no deal. The Associated Press is reporting New York's ex-police commissioner has rejected a federal plea deal claiming he did nothing wrong. You remember Bernard Kerik. He is the guy who headed the New York Police Department during 9/11 and later surfaced as a contender to head up Homeland Security. That was before allegations of tax evasion, conspiracy to eavesdrop and provide false information. Any indictments against Kerik could prove embarrassing to presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani. Giuliani had recommended Kerik for the Homeland Security post, and yesterday Giuliani said, quote, "I think I should have done a better job of investigating him, and I have learned from it.
It is Palm Sunday, and the Pope celebrating mass. We have a live report from Jerusalem. Atika Shubert.
ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Betty, hundreds are coming here to celebrate at the holy week and also retrace the last steps of Jesus' life according to the bible. I'll have more for you in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: You're waking up to one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar, Palm Sunday. While we were still sleeping, observances began in the Vatican City. Thousands gathering there at St. Peter's Square. Palm Sunday does mark the beginning of Christianity's most solemn week. This year the Catholic holy week includes the second anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death.
Well, from the Vatican to the Middle East. Pilgrims mark the beginning of holy week in the West Bank. Christians celebrated a mass in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. CNN's Atika Shubert is in Jerusalem, and she joins us with all the latest there. Hi Atika.
SHUBERT: Hi, Betty. Traditionally Christian pilgrims from all over the world flock to Jerusalem to retrace the last steps of Jesus according to the bible, and particularly today Palm Sunday is when pilgrims will progress from Bethany, which is a small town that still exists today. It's believed to be a town where Jesus stayed during his last week. They'll retrace his steps crossing over the mount of olives into Jerusalem carrying palm leaves, and these palm leaves are because, according to the gospels, Jesus was warmly welcomed by the residents here, and they laid down palm leaves along his path, and that's why you see a lot of those pilgrims carrying palm leaves today, Betty.
NGUYEN: It is such a holy week for Christians, and a lot of folks travel great distances to be there for this. Any idea how many have come out this year?
SHUBERT: We don't know precisely yet. Thousands are certainly expected every year. It is a tremendous crowd. Particularly actually later on in the week, Good Friday especially as a lot of pilgrims try and enter the old city of Jerusalem and go the way of the cross. That is the street that Jesus is believed to have walked on his way to the crucifixion, so as you can imagine, it is a very emotional and spiritual time for those pilgrims who come here.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is. CNN's Atika Shubert in Jerusalem for us this morning. Thank you Atika.
HOLMES: Some of you certainly on your way to church this morning. We appreciate you stopping and hanging out with us for a little bit. Other folks, of course, going to be watching their television to see church, and while another group of techno-savvy parishioners will attend services on their computers.
In this morning's "Faces of Faith," worshipping on the worldwide Web, and we're logging on as well. That is coming up in our next half hour.
Well, we're going to be talking about withdrawing from Iraq next.
NGUYEN: Yeah. Tons of equipment and enemies seemingly are not every turn, every corner. We're going to have a look at what it would take to actually leave Iraq.
HOLMES: And then California trying to catch a break when it comes to fires. This new video this morning of a fire in the southern part of that state. Some good news at least, though, from homeowners. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back everybody, on this Palm Sunday, and April Fool's Day, all at once.
HOLMES: Yeah, so far so good.
NGUYEN: Very interesting.
HOLMES: You're being good this morning. Appreciated you not playing any tricks so far.
NGUYEN: It's only 7:30.
HOLMES: Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. We are following a developing story this morning out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Two police officers shot and killed overnight. Our affiliates are on the ground, they are working the story. We're going to be checking in with them just ahead.
NGUYEN: Veronica De La Cruz is looking at the Web and determining if there's any more information we can get on these officers who were killed. Veronica, have you been able to find much?
DE LA CRUZ: I have Betty. Let me show you what we've looked at so far. The local affiliates; this is how they're covering the story on the Web. This is WSOCTV.com. They have the entire story right there on the Web for you to read through, but then they've got this photo gallery. We were just looking at it. If we can take that full one more time, these are the two officers that were shot. Sean Clark is to the right he is 34 years old, Jeff Shelton, 35. Again, both killed after responding to a disturbance last night. What we know about Clark is that he had been with the force a very short time only a year. He is married and expecting a child.
Same thing with Jeff Shelton. 35, he is also married. He had been with the force a little bit longer, six years. Again, we are scouring the Web to see what else we can find. I can show you this affiliate Web site. This is WCNC. That is the affiliate that we've been checking in with this morning, I believe, one of the reporters there, her name is Michelle. They have this press conference with the chief of police where he responds to the entire incident and you can run that entire press conference in full. So, again, both those local affiliates that is their Web site coverage. We're going to continue to track the story on the Web to see what more we can find. Back to you guys.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Veronica. We appreciate it.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, Senator John McCain in Baghdad this morning making an unannounced visit there. Mr. McCain will, of course is a Republican presidential hopeful. He is leading a Congressional delegation to Iraq. They're getting a look at the security situation there. Last week it was McCain praised President Bush's plan to clamp down on the violence also added that he thought the plan was succeeding. Stay right here on CNN for Senator's McCain's live press conference from Baghdad. We will that for you live it's expected to start at 9:15 Eastern.
NGUYEN: Well the killings are up in Iraq despite that crackdown on security. The Iraqi government releasing new figures on March casualties, and they show more than 1,800 Iraqi civilians were killed in sectarian and insurgent violence last month. That is 226 more civilian deaths than in February. Still, in Iraq for the first time since Nouri Al-Maliki's government was formed almost a year ago a cabinet member has quit. A spokesman tells CNN Iraq's justice minister resigned three days ago saying there was no harmony in government policy. He belonged to a secular block headed by Iraq's former interim prime minister. Well, the U.S. Congress now on record with a timetable to leave Iraq, but what would it take to get all those troops and equipment out of the country? Here is CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Meeting a deadline for withdrawing from Iraq would be a monumental task and the numbers tell the tale, 143,000 U.S. troops are there right now. Soon to be 160,000, and they don't travel light. The military has tens of thousands of airplanes, tanks, helicopters, strikers, and other vehicles. There are an estimated 14,000-armored Humvees in Iraq alone. And all these forces, all of this equipment, are spread all over the country true there are concentrations from the army in Baghdad to the marines out in Anbar Province, but American troops in some number are still everywhere, so how would the military leave all this territory? Analyst say in all likelihood, some of the troops would fly directly out of Baghdad's main airport, but most of them would come out the way they went in, traveling south to Kuwait and then getting on to ships.
The American military, working with Iraqi troops, would establish heavily guarded areas around the exit routes, but it would be perilous. Just as it happened in Vietnam, some military analysts say even if withdrawal is desired, a publicly acknowledged date would permit the enemy to dog the departure and stack up American casualties every step of the way.
MAJ. GEN. DON SHEPPERD (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: I have seen this movie before. I can't think of anything dumber than announcing ahead of time to the enemy what you are going to do. It provides them with the opportunity to basically control the situation.
FOREMAN: It is not clear what will happen to the bases or the endless tons of equipments that will certainly be left behind. Too worn out to be brought back. Even with the deadline, however, the Pentagon suggests leaving Iraq would take not days or weeks, but months.
Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: CNN correspondents discuss security in Iraq. Plus, who will bend on a troop withdrawal date? The president or Congress? Join John Roberts today at 1:00 Eastern for "This Week at War."
HOLMES: Relief for some homeowners this morning in California. They're finally being allowed back home. The wildfire burning east of Los Angeles caused the evacuation of about 200 homes. The fire has charred about 1,400 acres, but firefighters hope to have it contained later on today. So far only a couple of buildings have been damaged, and there are no reports of injuries.
And while you were sleeping, dozens of people near Chicago forced to flee their apartments. A strong storm there caused several apartment building roofs to collapse. The damage also sparked at least one small fire in Carol Stream, that is a western suburb of Chicago. Nine buildings in the large complex were damaged by high winds. There were several injuries reported, but the area police chief says none are believed to be serious.
NGUYEN: In Alabama a woman missing in Louisiana. Mary Burns- Smith is 30 years old. She was last seen March 24th at a religious conference. Investigators are simply stumped. There has been no activity on her credit card or cell phone. Smith is a wife of a Baptist preacher and teaches at an elementary school in Summerdale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TERRY WILHITE, BALDWIN CO., ALA. BOARD OF ED.: We're a family, and when something happens to one of our employees, it concerns us all, so we're very hopeful, and our thoughts go out to the family, and very hopeful that she will return one day to the classroom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Police have looked at the video from that conference that Smith attended but saw nothing unusual, and they have not ruled out foul play.
Well, a tale of crime and survival. Listen to this. A Nebraska woman says she was assaulted and then locked in the trunk of her own car where she stayed for four days. Her car was left on the side of a dirt road in a rural area, and, finally, some men heard her screams to set her free. She is in the hospital. Police are still trying to determine who attacked the woman.
HOLMES: Well, it's a challenge police face all the time. How to subdue dangerous suspects without killing them? There are troubles with Tasers, which zaps suspects with electric shock. Police are finding new alternatives. CNN's Gary Nurenberg has more in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Holding a handgun to his head in Georgia last September, the domestic abuse suspect threatens to kill Cherokee County sheriff's deputies taunting them saying kill me, kill me. Instead they fire a beanbag striking him once, and then again forcing him to drop the gun.
CHIEF WILLIAM MASON, HARWICH, MASS. POLICE: Contrary to popular belief police officers are not, do not desire to kill people.
NURENBERG: The Harwich, Massachusetts police used a beanbag to subdue a knife-wielding suspect last month.
LT. MICHAEL ANDERSON, CHATHAM, MASS. POLICE: No innocent bystanders were injured. No police officers were injured, and the subject required no medical attention.
NURENBERG: Some departments are using the beanbags as an alternative to Tasers, which hit suspects like this woman with an electrical charge. The president of the Washington D.C. Fraternal Order of Police says Tasers don't always work.
LOU CANNON, FEDERATION OF POLICE: I hit them with both cartridges zapped him, and it had absolutely no effect. Matter of fact, he bit me in the hand and took the Taser from me.
NURENBERG: An Amnesty International Study concludes that like this man, more than 100 suspects have died after being zapped by those Tasers that carry 50,000 volts. The beanbags, or impact munitions as they are called, have also killed.
CPL. THOMAS POWELL, ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, MD: It was because the chest was targeted and injuries resulted there that resulted in death. Our primary areas are the green areas, and you see it's the lower abdomen and the thighs, and, obviously, from the rear of the buttocks and backs of the legs. Those are the preferred areas to hit.
NURENBERG: Officers say beanbags beat hand-to-hand combat on the streets.
POWELL: It allows us the ability to reach out and strike someone just like we would with our baton or our stick, and, yet, give us additional distance to keep us safe.
NURENBERG: And allow suspects like this one to simply stay alive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, in other news today, it is Palm Sunday, and while the faithful flock to the sanctuary, we'll take a look at worshipers on the Web.
HOLMES: Veronica De La Cruz taking a peek at that, and they are growing in numbers.
Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: That's right, millions of people around the world attending church services without leaving their home. We're going to be taking a closer look at streaming faith.com when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
T.J. and Betty.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Veronica.
Take a look at this a marriage of grand proportion. You see what I'm talking about? You have to take a look at this. The long and short of the most unusual pairing. Of course, now they're sitting. You'll see in a minute. Coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
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HOLMES: Well, it is Sunday morning. Many of you are getting ready to go to church, but some of you are preparing to have the church come to you via the Web.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It would be really nice to still be able to get the message and still see what's going on and feel like you are still part of the church even though you're not there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: It is the worldwide Web of worship where Web sites like Streamingfaith.com bring the church to you, no matter where in the world you are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSSELL PENNEPACKER, FATHER-TO-BE: I think it would be excellent for someone like the elderly or the infirm, someone that usually can't go out to see the service, to be able to see their own service on- line. It would be a real treat for them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come now is the time to worship.
HOLMES (voice over): Daily devotionals, pod and audio cast are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to "Straight Talk."
HOLMES: Some say in today's age of convenience, Web worship makes sense.
REGINALD CROSSLEY, STUDENT, CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY: Now a days people are very lazy, especially waking up on Sundays after a long week of a 9:00 to 5:00, Monday through Friday. You most likely many people don't want to get out of bed, so by having this on-line, you know, access, I think that is probably one of the most productive, you know, movements when it comes to religion in general.
HOLMES: But on the flip side --
BRYAN HORN, FORMER, CATHOLIC PRIEST: I'm not for that. The reason I'm not for that is because it doesn't give you a chance to develop community, and that's really what church is all about.
HOLMES: Like it or not, the Internet is providing a new sanctuary for religion seekers. It's a hub of religious worship for millions around the world. And, get this; god nearly rivals sex as a topic on the Internet. A search for sex on Google returns about 412 million hits, while a search for god yields 403 million.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am a friend of god.
HOLMES: Christians, Hindus, Jews, Muslims are all turning to Web sites. Finding on-line religious life at home or in an Internet cafe is supplementing attendants at traditional churches.
REEBA AKRAM, STUDENT, GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY: My mom is like a working mom. She works, like, all week, and she has to take care of her kids and the house. She doesn't really have time to go out to classes and to have them, like, you know, at churches and stuff or at the mosque where we would do it. Instead she goes on-line, and it's just like at her house in her own in the comfort zone where she doesn't have to dress up. She gets to sit down and writes everything down, and it's like a class.
HOLMES: While some aren't singing its praises, on-line worship for many is a godsend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Veronica De La Cruz checking out Streamingfaith.com this morning. She joins us with a virtually spiritual tour of the site.
DE LA CRUZ: Hey T.J. I was intrigued with that search, the one with god and sex both getting about the same number of hits. We tried it again just a short time ago, and we got 454 million hits for sex, 447 million hits for god so once again really close.
Let's go back now to that site. Streamingfaith.com which makes it possible for someone to sample a church that they might be curious about, but wouldn't really be comfortable going to in person. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sing with me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: This is actual feed that's coming in right now. This is Cathedral International in New Jersey. They say they're a Christian church, Baptist by denomination, Pentecostal by experience and holiness by choice, and that's a look at their Web site. A little more information about them.
At Streamingfaith.com, you can search all the services that are live or archived. This is a live service we are watching right now, there are 20, 24-hour broad band TV networks to choose from. More than 2,500 live event from around the world. If you don't have the time to sit in front of your computer, you can even listen into various radio services. This really is the marriage of religion and technology. The interactive experience also allows you to send in your prayer requests, participate in the polls. You can also weigh in with your thoughts on the discussion board.
What do you think about all of this? This brings us it our email question this morning. We're asking you would you forgo attending church to worship solely on the Web? You can send us your thoughts this morning to WEEKENDS@CNN.com, and we'll be reading some of those a little later on this morning. All I have to say is I hope my mom isn't watching because just simply saying the words, she would definitely find that sac religious. Not going to church would make her very upset. HOLMES: Some people are old school like that, nothing wrong with it. A new age now, of course. It's interesting. You can see that live streaming on the Internet. Veronica, thank you so much this morning.
Of course, we are heading into holy week, the most sacred on the Christian calendar. It marks the final days of Jesus Christ, his death, resurrection, and "American Morning" will be live in a holy land all this week following those last steps. You can join "American Morning" starting 6:00 a.m. Monday and all week. "American Morning" will be live in the holy land exploring the truth about Jesus.
NGUYEN: Well, half his age and actually just two-thirds his height. Take a look.
HOLMES: Let's see this couple. That is the tallest man in the world, and that is his little bride. Well, next we'll talk about him on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Plus, we got Reynolds.
WOLF: That's a beautiful thing. I'll tell you what, the raindrops moving into parts of the southeast and the eastern seaboard. That's also a beautiful thing. Helping us get rid of some of the pollen that has been troubling us. But we do have the chance of some scattered showers, possibly severe storms in the eastern half of the Great Lakes. I'll let you know exactly what you can expect and when you can expect it coming up in a few moments right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: The first quarter fundraising deadline has come and gone. 2008 presidential hopefuls had until midnight last night to reveal the contents of their campaign piggy banks, and some of you may be wondering why they can't disclose their funds so early in the race. The answer. Campaign muscle. Cash is an important factor of a candidate's strength, and bottom line, big money attracts more money and more attention. As you know, there is a lot of buzz about something Newt Gingrich has said about the Spanish language.
HOLMES: Yes, the former house speaker and possible presidential hopeful supports making English the nation's official language, but then he went on to equate the Spanish language with a ghetto.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER: We should replace violence with education with immersion in English so people learn the common language of the country and so they learn the language of prosperity, not the language of living in a ghetto.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Gingrich was speaking to the National Federation of Republican Women in Washington. A spokesperson for the Hispanic Education Coalition called the comments very hateful and says not everyone who speaks Spanish lives in a ghetto.
Well, also continuing with this food recall story we keep following. Before you feed your cat this morning --
NGUYEN: Or your dog. You are a cat person.
HOLMES: I wasn't impartial there. It's just what the script says. What the script says. Experts now say cats may be in greater danger in the tainted pet food scare, Betty.
NGUYEN: I got you.
They believe cats are much more sensitive to toxic chemicals found in the food, and that number -- the numbers bare that out. Of the 16 reported pet deaths, all but one has been cats. The FDA says they found chemical melamine wheat glutton manufactured by Menu Foods. Melamine is used in plastics, but is also found some pesticides. Still not known why it was found in pet food.
For more on what brands are included in the recall, go to CNN.com and click on the U.S. section of our home page.
We know spring is in the air. We can feel it with all these allergens out there. Folks in Washington are actually taking advantage of the new blooms.
HOLMES: Reynolds Wolf in the Weather Center with more on this for us. Good morning, kind sir.
WOLF: Good morning. You know, we are looking at just some beautiful conditions in Washington D.C. Last couple of days, you know, let's sees yesterday we had the big kite event out there, conditions were great for that. Take a look at the video that we have of the cherry blossoms. It is a bit of a tradition and people were out there looking at these beautiful blossoming trees, full bloom. And today probably will not be quite as pretty because we are expecting some scattered showers there, but the raindrops will help those blooms stick around just a little bit longer, and if they do, I don't think you'll find anyone complaining.
Let's go back to the weather maps, as we do so, we'll show you the big system that provided rough weather in parts of Chicago last night. Some down burst winds; micro bursts causing some damage to some roofs on some apartments. That same storm now moving through portions of Detroit back over to Huron, (INAUDIBLE) getting scattered shower activity mainly north of Lake St. Claire. Back we go to Cleveland and southward into Wheeling, West Virginia scattered showers, not severe at this time, but if this were to move through, say, late afternoon hours you might have enough instability to create strong storms. In New York this morning, if you are thinking about going out for a jog, maybe in Central Park, conditions are fine now, but look what's forming back out to the west of you. We've got a line of light showers in Scranton southward to Trenton all moving to the east. By the time you are through with your jog, you are going to be dodging some raindrops. Same can be said for you in Alabama, from Gadsden right along 431 southward into Anderson this morning, cloudy skies, rain moving into the afternoon. Also for Atlanta same story. But back in Mississippi and Louisiana some stronger storms. Still not reaching the criteria for severe thunderstorms, but certainly enough to rattle the windows this morning. And southward into Houston we go, in Beaumont even into Lake Charles, it's the same song, second verse. Yesterday you had the rough weather, and today it's going to be round two for you. We'll keep an eye on that for you. Temperatures across the nation, some 50s and 70s into the Great Lakes south of New Orleans, 81. That's your forecast across the nation.
Lets send it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: Well he has searched high and low, and now and now he is looking for a bride. Now the world's tallest man has found one.
NGUYEN: So who says newlyweds have to see eye to eye? Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If a marriage milestone, OK maybe not a mile but 7'9" must seem like a mile to his new bride.
She is a 5'6" sales woman about 2/3 his height. The groom is a herd's man from Inner Mongolia that holds the Guinness Book of World Record's title for tallest person in the world. You might remember Bao Xishun. These dolphins probably remember him. After all, he put his 3.5-foot arm down their throat all the way to their stomachs to retrieve deadly plastic two dolphins had nibbled from the side of their pool. The Chinese newspaper that reported the marriage says the bride is half his age. These two now join other famous mismatched couples ranging from Mutt and Jeff to Arnold and Danny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hope nobody is looking in the window.
MOOS: No word on whether she feels like Mini Me. Already there's a Web site for taller women and shorter men. Sort of pairings that get you on the Maury Povich Show. Maybe Tom Cruise with his taller wife Katie had some inkling of what Bao's bride is experiencing. Looking up to your husband physically doesn't mean you won't end up looking done on him metaphorically. After all, Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electras split up, like Arnold and Danny.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three.
MOOS: Just imagine these two slow dancing, for richer or poorer, for taller or shorter.
Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, speaking of --
NGUYEN: T.J. really makes fun of me. Yes.
HOLMES: We are not making fun, but Betty and I are almost the same height here, but that's not exactly true.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: We need to show you what goes on.
NGUYEN: A little television magic. I'm Betty on a box. Many a times when you see us, not all of us Asians got the tall gene, apparently, so here I am.
HOLMES: Those are two-inch heels as well, and Betty just come on you got do step down.
NGUYEN: You want me to step down.
HOLMES: You got to reveal.
NGUYEN: Not bad.
HOLMES: Give us the shoe.
NGUYEN: I'm not taking my shoes off. That's enough already, folks. Can we talk about something serious?
HOLMES: Let's talk about something serious now.
NGUYEN: There is a tense standoff between Britain and Iran.
HOLMES: And we're going to be live in London with the latest on those British marines and sailors who are held captive and what President Bush is now saying about it.
NGUYEN: Also, is it art or sac religious? It is controversial, and believe it or not, edible.
HOLMES: Then at 9:000 you can stay right here on CNN for McCain's live news conference from Baghdad. We'll carry it at 9:15 a.m. Eastern. CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues right after this break,
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody from the CNN Center in Atlanta. It is April 1st, April Fools Day, it is a very holy day Palm Sunday. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. So glad you could be with us here this morning. We have a lot going on this Sunday morning. Including a developing story, sad story out of Charlotte, North Carolina. Two on-duty officers shot and killed. We are working the details on that story.
NGUYEN: We are also tracking a surprise trip to Baghdad by presidential candidate John McCain. He arrived just a short time ago. We do expect to hear from him live this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You want to bet they would never put up a naked chocolate statue of Mohammed with his genitals exposed during Ramadan?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: That is a little heavy for a Sunday morning. But this Palm Sunday, yes, the controversy over this statue. It is heating up. That's Jesus on the cross. It is made of chocolate. Lots of people outraged about this one and we are on that story for you this morning.
But first that developing story. Two police officers shot and killed in Charlotte, North Carolina. Killed in the line of duty. The officers were shot after responding to a disturbance at an apartment complex late last night. We understand that there was struggle in the apartment complex parking lot and at least one report says the officers never pulled their weapons. Police spent the night searching for two suspects in this incident and several police cars and officers still on the scene at this hour. A S.W.A.T. team and canine unites were called in to help in the search.
NGUYEN: Well Veronica De La Cruz at the CNN dotcom desk has been following the information on the Web and learning more about these officers. What have you found, Veronica?
DE LA CRUZ: Well we have been checking the affiliate's Websites and this is what we have been looking at this morning. WSOCTV with a complete story, it has a photo gallery with the two officers' pictures. Now, Sean Clark was 34 years old, he's the officer there to the right. Jeff Shelton was the other officer killed in this incident he is 35. Both of them were married. But Jeff Shelton, he was on the force for six years, the other officer, Sean Clark, only on the force for a year. The sad thing is he was married and also expecting a child.
Like I mentioned, we have been scouring the Web. Checking the affiliate Websites and also finding blogs. This is an interesting blog out of Charlotte called "Crime in Charlotte, North Carolina." It talks a little bit more about the officers that were killed, you can also respond to this person's log. Just looking at the Website, very interesting. It tracks everything coming out of that area as far as crime is concerned. Then I wanted to also show you this affiliate WCNC that's the affiliate we have been checking in with all morning. They just updated their Website at 7:47 am. Really interesting quote here from one of the officers there, the public information officer. He says this, just bring that up one more time. I'm not going to be able to read the quote. He basically says it was extremely heartbreaking what happened. He talks about what the officers thought the minimum they heard that go over the dispatch. So, again, talking about what a heartbreaking story this is. Especially for all those in Charlotte, North Carolina. I'm going to continue to take a look at the Web and tell you what I find.
Back to you guys.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is really a sad story this morning. I hate to report it, but it is what has happened. Thank you, Veronica.
HOLMES: Well Senator John McCain in Baghdad this morning making an unannounced visit there. He is a Republican presidential hopeful, of course. He is leading a congressional delegation to Iraq. They are getting a look at the security situation there. It was just last week that McCain praised President Bush's new plan to clamp down on the violence. He added that he thought that plan was succeeding. Senator McCain is expected to hold a news conference next hour from Baghdad. You can stay here on CNN for live coverage of that.
NGUYEN: Well Iran is ratcheting up the rhetoric with Britain over those 15 captured troops. Iran's president now calling the British arrogant for not apologizing. CNN's Paula Newton is live in London; I imagine you are hearing some very strong reaction to this Paula.
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It has not been unexpected. But it has been quite the opposite, British officials have chosen not to react to that. What they are trying to do here Betty is they are trying to take down the temperature of this whole crisis. I think they feel as if they have been fairly successful in the last 48 hours despite Ahmadinejad's comments. They were saying that Britain was arrogant in not apologizing. They are trying to put that aside and concentrate on some very constructive diplomatic communication. It is not much. It is an exchange of letters. We are hearing what might happen is Britain could agree that it in future would make sure not to be in Iranian waters that. Would not mean it would have to have any kind of admission of guilt and say that they had been the Iranian waters. This is at very premature stages. It is a holiday in Iran and that is posing a problem for diplomatic officials here. But what British officials want to do is just have -- give patience a chance here, give it a few days, and stay clear of reacting to anything that Ahmadinejad has said.
NGUYEN: Yes Paula you may be getting a lot from the officials but I'm sure on the streets they will have plenty to say about what Ahmadinejad has said, calling the British arrogant for not apologizing. Thanks for your time today we appreciate it.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, the White House has been quiet so far on the Britain-Iran controversy. Now President Bush has broken that silence. CNN national correspondent Bob Franken joins us now live from the White House with more. Good morning to you Bob.
BOB FRANKEN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning T.J. This is one of those glad you asked moments where the president was ready when a reporter asked a question about the Iran situation. The United States up until now has sort of had a low profile when it comes to this. But now it is becoming part of the effort to ratchet up the pressure in Iran. The president used the hostage word for the first time. When he was asked by a reporter he was ready with the new formulation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BUSH: I support the prime minister when he made it clear there were no quid pro quos. The Iranians must give back the hostages. They are innocent and they were doing nothing wrong. And they were summarily plucked out of the water and it is -- as I say, it is inexcusable behavior.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FRANKEN: And let us not forget what a loaded word "hostage" is. The United States, of course, has a very bitter history with the Iranians and the holding of the hostages in the late 1970s. It is a word that signals that the United States is ready to take a more active, aggressive role on be half of Britain.
HOLMES: We know -- we got word this morning that Senator John McCain as well has made a surprise trip over to Iraq. Switching subjects here, but still, has the White House had much of anything to say about this trip Senator McCain has made?
FRANKEN: The White House has not. But the Senator, of course, is the aspiring presidential candidate. And he is running what amounts to a counter-intuitive campaign while all the other the politicians are jumping on this administration for it's Iraq policy. McCain has been out front in supporting the war on Iraq and the troop surge. Now he's signaling it with this very, very high-profile trip to Iraq.
HOLMES: Our national correspondent Bob Franken live for us from the White House. Thank you so much, Bob.
NGUYEN: Nancy Pelosi's plans to visit Syria coming under more fire today. Right now, house speaker Pelosi is in Israel as part of a Mid East trip that will take her to several countries. What's drawing fire are her plans to stop in Syria. A country the U.S. accuses of aiding insurgents in Iraq. Among her critics, former house speaker Newt Gingrich.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GINGRICH: I think if the White House is saying publicly that this is a bad trip, it is a fundamental disservice to the United States of America for Speaker Pelosi to go to Syria and furthermore, a San Francisco liberal sitting down with a dictator strikes me as the worst possible negotiating position. [ applause ] I wanted to publicly call on her to cancel the trip, stay in the U.S., and allow the government of the United States to deal with dictatorships, not the politicians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Pelosi is scheduled to meet with Syria's president next weekend. She will be the highest-ranking American to meet with the Syrian president since 1994.
HOLMES: We have some overnight developments to get you caught up on this morning. In California, homeowners being allowed to return after a wildfire forced their evacuation. Firefighters have been battling the 1,400-acre blaze east of Los Angeles in Hesperia, about 200 homes were evacuated. Flames came within feet of several homes there but hundreds of firefighters were able to protect most of them. Firefighters hope to have the wildfire completely contained by late tonight.
NGUYEN: While you were sleeping, a violent storm near Chicago forced dozens of people out of their apartments. Several injuries are reported, but luckily none of them serious. Take a look at this high wind damaged the roofs of at least nine apartment buildings. We are showing you the area where they hit. It is in a Carol Stream, which is a western suburb of Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL LEWIS, STORM VICTIM: All of a sudden my whole entire room started just filling up with air, and then that's when we shut the window, and we got the huge howling sound, and we all ran to the bathroom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was like a train coming through the house, like locomotive just driving straight through the house.
MAURIANNE JONES, STORM VICTIM: I just hear a whirlwind, like, you know, everything stopped. It was a whirlwind. Next thing you know I hear a boom. Had to be the transformers here in the back of the church blowing up.
TAYLOR DENICOLO, STORM VICTIM: Just sounded like the "Wizard of Oz." Oh, yeah, your house getting picked up. The wind was so bad. You just felt like the walls were going to collapse right in. It was scary. It really was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Besides the apartment buildings, a nearby Christian Center was also extensively damaged.
Reynolds Wolf is in the CNN Weather Center watching all of this in Illinois Reynolds has the worst passed through?
WOLF: You know it really has. The way it will be setting up today in terms of that severe weather potential, it doesn't look quite as dynamic. We don't have the same element. We can hear a rumble of thunder in parts of the Great Lakes. We are seeing some beneficial rainfall thankfully for much of the eastern seaboard. I will let you know for the rest of the day plus the start of the workweek; it is all coming up in just a few moments.
Back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, thank you. We will see you shortly. Also keeping the nation's food supply safe. Coming up on "House Call," Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells what you changed since last year's E. Coli outbreak.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The first quarter of fundraising deadline has come and gone the 2008 presidential hopefuls had until midnight last night to review the contents of their campaign piggy banks. Why do they have to do this? They close the funds early in the race. Well campaign muscle, cash is crucial. To let you know what kind of strength that candidate may have, bottom line is you know, big money attracts more money. More money and more money and more attention.
NGUYEN: We get it.
HOLMES: It is all about the money.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is. The almighty dollar. Well everyday CNN viewers send in dozens of videos and photos from all over the world. And Veronica De La Cruz is at the dot-com desk and she is here to talk to us about those best I-reports. They don't get a dime for this.
DE LA CRUZ: Unfortunately they don't, but lots of fame. Lots of fame and gratitude from us. Like you were saying, viewers uploaded lots of great stuff in the month of March. They voted for their favor so let's take a look at the entire month stacked up.
Sergio sent in this video of a fire of a construction site in New York City. He had he was walking nearby when he heard an explosion, grabbed his camera and began taping.
Spring is in the air. Conjuring up images of warmer weather and blooming flowers. But in Brandford, New Jersey, I-reporter Renato Rayes (ph) sent us a very different image. This is a picture of his son skating on their sleet covered front lawn. Spring for these monarch butterflies in the mountains of Mexico means migration north to the United States and Canada.
Bill Tune captured this video of their amazing journey. And forget the leaves and pine straw. Eddie Haynes shot this video of a tiny bird stealing fur from this sleeping Collie. The mouse will have a comfortable nest and Apollo does not seem to mind the grooming.
Great videos sent in to us by Eddie Haynes, probably one of my favorites.
Don't forget if you see breaking news you can always go to CNN.com and click on ireport. You can also type ireport@cnn.com right into your cell phone and send us those photos and all the video immediately.
Let's get back to our e-mail question this morning. We have been asking you this morning on this Palm Sunday would you forego attending church to worship solely on the Web? You can send us your thoughts to WEEKENDS@CNN.com. We will read those later on in the 9:00 hour. Betty, T.J., we have gotten great response so far.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you. Can't wait to see that.
HOLMES: Well we got another brand of pet food being recalled. We will tell you if it will affect your dog or your cat.
NGUYEN: Also ahead, the artist as he created his image of Jesus in good taste. Yeah. It is made of chocolate. But that's leaving a bitter taste for plenty of people.
HOLMES: We will get into that. Don't want to miss that.
But first, we have a preview of today's "House Call."
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey T.J. I'm in your old stomping grounds in central California. We have been traveling the country trying to find out what happened with food safety in this country. Investigating everything from farm to pork. One family's nightmare as they experience the outbreak of last year's E. Coli outbreak. I also sat down with the head of the FDA the food safety division to find out how do we make our food any safer. All that coming up on "House Call" at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Want work out for your body and brain? It is time to hit the wall. Go vertical with indoor rock climbing. It is a playground of ropes, rocks, and high walls to strategically scale.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to figure out how your body will get from one hole to the next. It is all problem solving. This is a creative way, I guess. I hate the gym.
COSTELLO: Let's not forget the physical benefits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are using your core, your back muscles, your abdominal muscles, and your legs. It is definitely a total body workout.
COSTELLO: Don't be intimidated if have you never climbed before. Atlanta Rock's owner Greg Perry says anyone can learn to climb indoors.
GREG PERRY, ATLANTA ROCK OWNER: Not only can you do it, you can see yourself get better pretty much every time you come in.
COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Police in Atlanta trying to learn the identities of three people involved in a mall shooting. Police say the shooting happened last evening during an attempted robbery in the city's South Side. We are told at least three people were wounded and at least one of them wounded critically. Among the wounded is a security guard. Police say the suspects got away in an SUV.
NGUYEN: We have some new information this morning on that pet food scare. Veterinary experts now say cats may be at greater danger of it. They believe that cats are much more sensitive to the toxic chemical found in the food. The numbers, of the 16 reported pet deaths all but one have been cats. The FDA says they found the chemical Melamine in wheat gluten manufactured by Menu Foods. Now Melamine is used in plastics. It is also found in some pesticides.
For more on what brands are included in the recall, all you have to do is go to our Website, CNN.com/us.
We know spring is in the air. Folks in Washington taking advantage of these new cherry blossoms. They are so beautiful.
HOLMES: I haven't been up there during while it happened.
NGUYEN: I have only seen it on television.
HOLMES: Reynolds, I might have to stick with TV again this time around.
WOLF: It is a beautiful thing to see. If you have never been to Washington, D.C., during springtime, I mean, it is a sight to behold, what a treat for the eyes. Take a look at this, this is complements of WILA. The cherry blossoms are fantastic this year. Some people say they are better this year then they can ever remember. One of the great, great things about springtime is to see the flowering trees. One of the bad parts of springtime is the pollen we have been dealing with. Not necessarily if the nation's capital but farther to the southeast in Atlanta. We are just -- our eyes are falling out from the rough pollen.
We are going to show you that we may be getting some relief later today. Let's start off with the rough weather that we had in Chicago. That rough weather is now moving into portions of Michigan. Thankfully now moving north. It is going to continue to march its way to the north and northeast. Still moving across portions of Lake Erie and into Cleveland, northward into Erie itself and Buffalo, you may be dealing with some scattered showers. I told you earlier if you were in New York, you were going to have to watch out for light rainfall. Here it comes, just light to moderate activity. Nothing severe for the time being. Still Washington looks good today. They may get raindrops on this cherry blossoms.
Back in the southeast we have many of the Dogwoods in full bloom. Beautiful in Augusta National but while the rain we are seeing south of Chattanooga, back over towards Birmingham, it will help clear out the atmosphere from all the this yellowish pollen. That's great news for us. Lets talk about temperatures very quickly, highs across the nation 68 for Kansas City, 64 in Los Angeles some fog early but into the afternoon it will be beautiful, and 59 in our nation's capital. That's your forecast. Let's send it back to you, T.J.
HOLMES: Cherry blossoms, I will try to get up there.
NGUYEN: Holy week battle over a statue of Jesus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is sweet Jesus. A life-size anatomically correct sculpture of Jesus made out of 200 pounds of chocolate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Bittersweet Jesus. We will take a look at the controversy straight ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
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NGUYEN: What a beautiful sight today. You are waking up to one of the holiest days on the Christian calendar Palm Sunday. While we were sleeping, observances began in Vatican City thousands gathering there in St. Peter's Square. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Christianity most solemn week. This year the Catholic holy week includes the second anniversary of Pope John Paul II's death.
HOLMES: We have a story now for you to really sink your teeth into. The sculptor says he has a chocolate Jesus. There you see it. He says that's art.
NGUYEN: Called Sweet Jesus. Now others are just sugar shocked by the whole thing. They call it blasphemy. CNN's Gary Tuchman digs into this controversy.
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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Because of threats they say they received an artist and his wife do not want to meet at their home. Instead we get together at a New York City diner to talk about --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sweet Jesus.
TUCHMAN: This is Sweet Jesus. A life-sized anatomically correct sculpture of Jesus made out 200 pounds of chocolate. Created by New York artist Cosimo Cavallaro. An art gallery in this New York City hotel scheduled its debut for this Monday.
COSIMO CAVALLARO, ARTIST: The purpose of Sweet Jesus is for me to portray the image with a taste.
TUCHMAN: But many, including the New York Archdiocese and the Catholic league say it is scandalous.
KIERA MCCAFFREY, CATHOLIC LEAGUE: They are saying we are taking a -- devout Christian image, crucified Christ and we are making him into chocolate with genitals exposed. They are digging the knife at Christians on this. To try to pretend otherwise is absurd and doing it at our holiest time.
CAVALLARO: Here we have chocolate, which is nothing negative, no negative connotation to chocolate. And the body of Christ, the figure of Christ. How two wrongs make, two rights make one wrong that I could never imagine.
TUCHMAN: The Catholic league asked for a boycott of the hotel. And says the sculpture also known as chocolate Jesus is hate speech.
MCCAFFREY: They surely wouldn't do something similar to Muslims. You want to bet they would never put up a naked chocolate statue of Mohammed with his genitals exposed during Ramadan.
TUCHMAN: There have been many similar controversies the former mayor of New York and current presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani, threatened to withdraw funding from a Brooklyn museum after it featured the Virgin Mary with elephant dung.
Rap singer Kanye West by appearing on "Rolling Stone" magazine in this fashion in support of his song "Jesus Walks." And then there's Madonna. A few months ago NBC removed footage of Madonna suspended from a giant cross which was to be included on a prime time special. So would this artist create a sculpture called Sweet Mohammed?
CAVALLARO: No. It is not my religion. I have no need to get close to. That this is what I had to do to get closer to my religion. I'm a Christian, Catholic.
TUCHMAN: Now the controversy has taken a new twist. The gallery and hotel have backed down. On Friday the hotel released a statement saying, "We have caused the cancellation of the exhibition and wish to affirm the dignity and responsibility of the Hotel in all its affairs."
The Cavallaros are upset, but not at the gallery.
SARAH CAVALLARO, ARTIST'S WIFE: I feel that they were really scared, and they were protecting themselves.
TUCHMAN: And as for the sculpture...
Where is chocolate Jesus right now?
C. CAVALLARO: In a refrigerated truck, looking for a home.
TUCHMAN: Don't be surprised to see sweet Jesus in a different gallery sometime soon.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, New York.
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HOLMES: Well, all right. We'll stick with the sweets theme here. We're going to be talking about marketing food to kids. With all the scrutiny, a new report card says not much has changed.
NGUYEN: Oh, no. So who's really responsible for kids getting fat? Yes, fat. Dr. Sanjay Gupta tackles that, plus the week's top medical headlines on "HOUSE CALL."
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