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CNN Sunday Morning
Terror Plot Details; Candidate Information
Aired June 03, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CO-ANCHOR, CNN SUNDAY MORNING: Hello everybody from the CNN World Headquarters here in Atlanta, it is Sunday, June 3rd. Good morning everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SUNDAY MORNING: I'm T.J. Holmes. So glad you all could start your day off right here with us, 7:00 am here in the East where Federal authorities say they've smashed a chilling terror plan.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The devastation that would be caused, had this plot succeeded, is just unthinkable.
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HOLMES: An alleged plot to blow up fuel tanks and pipelines at New York's JFK Airport, who are the suspects and would the plan work?
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of the sudden a car just came flying by. It looked like a bolt of lightning.
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NGUYEN: A horrific accident in Washington D.C., a woman just plows her car through a crowd at a packed street festival. We are going to hear from the witnesses.
HOLMES: Also all eyes on New Hampshire. It's "D" Day for the Democrats, debate time live in prime time right here on CNN, we're on the trail with the candidates.
NGUYEN: First though a chilling plot that could have caused unthinkable destruction, that is how officials are describing an alleged terror plot to blow up fuel tanks, pipelines and buildings at New York's JFK Airport. Right now, four men are facing charges, three of them in custody. CNN's Mary Snow joins us now from New York with the latest on this plot; unthinkable is how they're describing it, Mary.
MARY SNOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Betty. The intent, say officials, was to cause massive damage by planting explosives to blow up fuel supply tanks, pipelines and buildings. Of the four suspects, only one is in custody here in the United States, he is identified as Russell Defreitas. Two of the suspects are in custody in Trinidad; another from Guyanan is being sought. Abdul Kadir a former member of the Parliament in Guyanan is being held in Trinidad. The other Russell Defreitas once worked at JFK Airport. The law enforcement source tells CNN that the idea allegedly came from Defreitas.
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MARK MERSHON, FBI: I don't think we're prepared to describe the efficacy of their attacks, other than the scope of the plans was for something spectacular, there are references it would outstrip the 9/11 event.
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SNOW: Now officials say the suspects did not have any ties to al Qaeda but they say they were united in their hatred of the United States and they say that the plotters chose JFK because of President Kennedy's popularity, among other things, saying, "That if the airport had been targeted, that it would cause much damage and mourning. "Now CNN reached the wife of suspect Abdul Kamir, he is a member of the Guyanan Parliament; she spoke to us by phone and expressed disbelief.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISHA KADIR, SUSPECT'S WIFE (via telephone): I was shocked, because I, you know, my husband, we are Muslims for 33 years, and no way, at no time we were ever involved in anything, a plot of bombing or any plot against America. We are not a part of that. We have family, both of us family in America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNOW: Now, New York City's police commissioner says the concern was not only about an attack on the fuel tanks, but the 40-mile fuel pipeline that stretches through to New Jersey. Officials say the plot was only in the planning stages and that the suspects had not obtained explosives.
Betty.
NGUYEN: So the suspects, those alleged of wanting to carry out this plot didn't even have the opportunity or the chance at this point to get those explosives, so what does this say about how long it took this investigation, how long was it in the works?
SNOW: Well, officials say that the investigation really began in January of 2006, and that they were tipped off to this plot because of an informant who had been sought out so authorities are very careful to say that, again, this was only in the planning stages, and that the suspects began being arrested on Friday.
NGUYEN: All right, CNN's Mary Snow following the story, a story that we will be following throughout the day. Thank you Mary.
SNOW: Sure.
HOLMES: The details certainly chilling, the outcome certainly sounds catastrophic, but would it have worked? Terrorism experts disagree about the feasibility of the alleged plot against JFK Airport. Here is our Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice over): This is a fuel tank fire at Denver's Airport in 1990. It is spectacular, but confined. If the plotters hoped to cause a chain reaction of massive explosions and destroy JFK's International Airport, expert opinion is split on whether the scenario would succeed. Breaching the thick steel side of the tank would take several pounds of plastic explosives experts say. According to the criminal complaint, the plotters talked about dynamite.
JAKE MAGISH, SIGAM ENGINEERING (via telephone): Even if they're successful in making a tank fail and you get 100,000 gallons of jet fuel gushing out and you're able to ignite it, it's emotional, it's dramatic, but the tank next to the tank that's gushing and spilling fuel isn't going to fail.
MESERVE: This schematic shows a system of underground pipes which carries fuel directly to gates and to aircraft like the one at JFK but much smaller. One government aviation official says at JFK those pipes sometimes contain vapor and an explosion at a fuel tank could trigger other explosions in the pipes, spreading destruction throughout the airport, perhaps even to aircraft at the gate. John Goglia disagrees.
JOHN GOGLIA, FORMER NTSB MEMBER: To have that happen would be extremely, extremely unlikely.
MESERVE: Goglia investigated the crash of TWA Flight 800, which was brought down by an explosion in its fuel tank. Investigators found it very hard to find a mix of jet fuel, heat, vapor and oxygen that would explode. So Goglia is skeptical the plot was viable.
GOGLIA: You couldn't control or count on having vapor in those pipes from the supply tanks to the gates. No way you could get that done.
MESERVE: So opinion about the feasibility of the plot could not be more split. On one hand, a government aviation official says it could have shut down JFK for some time. On the other, an expert calls it a mission impossible scenario.
Jeanne Meserve, CNN, Washington.
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NGUYEN: In the nation's capital, a car plows into a crowd of people attending a street festival, injuring children and adults. Police say 35 people were hurt, seven of them seriously. Witnesses describe a chaotic scene last night.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All of the sudden the car just came flying back. It looked like a bolt of lightning.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The driver, a Maryland woman, has been charged with aggravated assault while armed and more charges could come.
HOLMES: We turn to politics now. The Democratic presidential hopefuls getting ready for their big debate tonight in New Hampshire, of course you can see it here live on CNN.
NGUYEN: Yes, the actual debate starts at 7:00 p.m. but stay with CNN throughout the day for complete coverage, including a pre-game show at 5:00 Eastern and then coming up this hour, the best political team on television puts it into high gear, John King and senior political analyst Bill Schneider are both in Manchester, New Hampshire, and Dana Bash is on the other early state, that is Iowa.
HOLMES: And some of the top Democrats spent the day before the debate there in Iowa searching for support and yes Dana Bash there live in Cedar Rapids for us. Good morning to you, Dana.
DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J. And what they were here for was a dinner called the Hall of Fame Dinner, put on by the Iowa Democratic Party and it is to raise money for the first of the nation's caucuses they'll put on in January. It certainly made for a remarkably busy weekend. This was a big event so Democrats, who wanted to be president, made sure to get here, even though they understand it is busy and the debate tonight is going to be an important event for them as well.
The carnival-like atmosphere was a reminder that, for all the attention elsewhere, Iowa comes first. And each Democratic presidential candidate came with a goal.
Hillary Clinton's was to smooth ruffled feathers over a leaked campaign memo suggesting she abandoned the Iowa caucus.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I plan to spend so much time in Iowa I'll be caucuses for myself before it is over.
BASH: Chris Dodd appealed to keep his long shot bit alive.
SEN. CHRIS DODD, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Out here in Iowa you have an awful habit over the years of sort of doing what you think is best when caucus times arrives. I hear you have a habit of trying to prove the pundits wrong.
BASH: It was a chance for Iowa's most influential Democratic activists to size up their '08 options. They heard a new challenge for the war.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I call on the Congress before their summer vacation, their summer recess to de- authorize this war on Article 1 grounds of the War Powers Act.
BASH: A familiar dig at Democratic candidates in Congress. JOHN EDWARDS, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is a time for backbone, it is a time for courage, it is a time for bold visionary leadership in this country, and the place, and the place that that begins is on the war in Iraq.
BASH: And a rebuttal from the only Democratic Senator to vote yes to a war spending bill.
SEN. JOSEPH BIDEN, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: But we know until we get 17 Republicans to vote with us, there is nothing we can do to stop this war.
BASH: But there was also some self-deprecating humor from the Democrat who placed second in Iowa in 2004 and needs a win this time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I still believe in an America, where you can come from absolutely nothing to spending $400 on a haircut.
BASH: Now all of the candidates were well received. Democratic activists think they have a pretty good crop to pick from in 2008. Now Hillary Clinton did get the wildest applause but it should be noted that she paid the most to have her supporters come and sit in at the tables for this event. Now, all of these candidates pretty much as soon as they were done, T.J., they got back on planes to go back East to get ready for tonight's debate in New Hampshire.
HOLMES: And you know Dana, we saw all of the big players there in your piece, saw the familiar faces. Couldn't help but notice there was somebody missing in there. What's the guy's name, yeah, Obama, where is he?
BASH: Yes, the Senator from Illinois, you've heard of him. He wasn't here. He declined the invitation to come to this dinner last night, and he said that he had a scheduling conflict. It turns out he had four private fundraisers in northern California, that's pretty much why he didn't come. It certainly did disappoint a lot of the activists here who really thought this was kind of a required attendance for candidates if they want to take seriously but the Obama campaign insists that he is taking Iowa seriously. He's been here nine times; he has been to 22 counties. He unveiled his health care plan last week.
But still if they're not used to the candidates not playing to their game, if you will, they are not used to them not coming and kissing the ring when they're asked to come, so it will be interesting to see how Senator Obama plays this in the next couple of months because certainly they said there were people not very happy he didn't attend.
HOLMES: Nice way to put it Dana, kissing their ring, not kissing their butt. Dana --
BASH: You said that not me.
HOLMES: Dana Bash for us in Iowa, thank you so much. The Democratic presidential debate is on CNN tonight at 7:00 Eastern. We begin our coverage at 5:00 p.m. Eastern with the best political team you will find anywhere on that television of yours. Then Tuesday the Republicans will go head-to-head.
NGUYEN: Yes, our political coverage continues with a look at one important state, New Hampshire. Presidential hopefuls spend a lot of time courting support there, but does it really make a difference? We'll check it out.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: What's left of Barry is bringing wind and rain across the southeast. I'll have a look at your Sunday forecast coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: And it's the first time we've seen Fidel Castro on camera in awhile. We'll have that coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
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HOLMES: Tropical storm Barry brings much-needed rain to Florida and unwanted destruction to some residents. Barry did weak on it a tropical depression as it made landfall in the Tampa Bay area but the storm dumped about seven inches of rain in the region and that could help crews still trying to put out that wildfire in the Florida/Georgia border.
NGUYEN: So did all of that rain help the drought and those wildfires in Florida?
HOLMES: Well meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is standing by with some answers for us this morning. Good morning to you there Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Good morning. It did help a little bit. We had about two inches fall in the areas that were burning from the fires, so it kind of gave the firefighters a break, which is great. They've been fighting these fires for weeks now and unfortunately, we still have some smoldering going on but it's good news that the rain came in and actually gave them a little bit of a rest for one day.
Here's the way the rain looks right now, we've got some heavy rain across portions of South Carolina and into Georgia. You can see right here we have some heavy rain sweeping across the Savannah area and actually the winds have picked up as well into South Carolina and Georgia throughout the morning hours. Some heavier thunderstorms right now through the Outer Banks and here's Raleigh, not too bad, rain and mist at the airport. We can show you a live picture of the Raleigh- Durham area and check it out we are looking at mist and rain, some thunderstorms early this morning and unfortunately I think we are going to be seeing some more rain in the forecast for today.
Looking northward, we also had Virginia Beach reporting some rain at this time, want to take a look at the winds now and show you that we definitely have some windy conditions from the coastline of North Carolina down through South Carolina, and even into further inland towards Georgia. Winds are coming in about 14 miles per hour but the southerly winds right here just north of Charleston are coming in at about 31 miles per hour, gusts are higher than that. It will be a very windy and wet day along the coastline.
Well how much more rain can we expect as the remnants of Barry continue to push to the north? Check out the next 24 hours, we are looking at a lot of rain sweeping to the north, particularly in inland areas of Virginia and North Carolina. Some heavy rain towards Maryland and into Pennsylvania, so this rain will continue. It's very beneficial down to the south, to the north it will just make for a soggy Sunday.
T.J., Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Bonnie.
Well it is "T" minus what is that 11 hours and 43 minutes to go until tonight's big debate. We are watching the clock because we're going to tell you what is coming up tonight.
HOLMES: Certainly talking politics this morning, also religion in the presidential race, how much do voters care, that's in our "Faces of Faith" segment.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, DOTCOM DESK: And how much do you know about tonight's candidates? I will show you where you can get ready for the big debate online that is coming up next from the dot-com desk.
HOLMES: Plus CNN salutes extraordinary people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I first climbed Mt. Everest, it was full of garbage. Many Europeans approached me saying you Japanese had bad manners. I really felt terrible.
NGUYEN: Bringing environmental awareness to new heights, we're going to meet an unsung hero with a great attitude and even greater altitude. Stay with us.
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NGUYEN: Climbing high for a cause, we are talking about today's CNN hero and all this year we're introducing you to some incredible people, they are out to change the world and some pretty amazing ways and this morning, meet a young mountain climber from Japan he is making sure some of the world's most beautiful summits stay that way.
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KEN NOGUCHI, JAPANESE MOUNTAIN CLIMBER (via translator): Before I was known for being the youngest one to climb the highest peaks. Recently people say oh, it's the garbage guy. I started picking up trash on Everest eight years ago. When I first climbed Mt. Everest, it was full of garbage, especially Japanese garbage. Many Europeans approached me saying "you Japanese have bad manners. "I really felt terrible. It's obviously Japanese garbage. Anyone can see that. I thought f it's so obvious, we should clean it up. Cleaning Everest is so hard. If I stop, all I do loses its meaning.
First we teach the volunteers how to separate for recycling, but then we explain to them why we are picking up the garbage. When I find this dangerous garbage, I feel the sense of crises firsthand. I do this because it's my social responsibility. We've set a mission, rather than doing it quietly, it's better to advertise so if I become a hero and lots of people start coming, then being a hero is a good thing, isn't it?
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NGUYEN: If you want to learn more about helping Ken and cleaning up some of the world's most famous summits, or just want to nominate someone you think deserves special recognition for a CNN hero award, you'll find all of the details at CNN.com/heroes.
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HOLMES: Well, the best place to get yourself prepped for tonight's Democratic debate is where, Betty?
NGUYEN: CNN.com, and Veronica De La Cruz from the .comdesk. You're not seeing double. We're talking politics. Everyone is wearing red today.
DE LA CRUZ: I'm Betty. Veronica is in the red suit today.
HOLMES: This is outstanding. I have a red tie.
DE LA CRUZ: Where is it?
HOLMES: I was confused earlier and I'm kind of confused now.
DE LA CRUZ: I think the red tie is enough.
HOLMES: Good morning, Betty.
DE LA CRUZ: I'm Veronica, that is Betty and we are talking about CNN.com literally everything that you need to know about all the candidates can be found at CNN.com/election and throughout the morning I'll be showing you some highlights that you can find there. I wanted to show you this time lapse video of the debate set being built, it was shot by our New Hampshire affiliate WMUR, as you know they are the co-sponsor of tonight's debate. A link to the video is posted at CNN.com/politics. It is always really interesting to see how these projects are put together.
Also a must-see on the politics page is the political ticker, something you definitely want to sign up for it has all the latest news from the campaign trail, as well as news on everything politics. Today, there's a story about the brand new CNN election express. The vehicle is a state-of-the-art TV studio on wheels and it's going to play a pretty prominent role in tonight's debate coverage.
Now to get you prepped for tonight's debate our political editors have identified the key issues that voters are talking about the most. When you go to CNN.com/election, you can compare the candidates side by side on the Iraq war, immigration, taxes and other important issues. Just for fun in case you have extra time today, the candidates really square off here with presidential pong. Not too bad, right?
Guiliani missed it; see Obama's got the skill there. Place your favorite candidate and try to whoop your opponents. Don't forget the pipeline is free, tonight at 6:00 p.m., all the way through Tuesday. Pipe one, live at the debate, pipe 2, live with analysis, and pipe three a live meter read of audience reaction and pipe four, you can see the alternate view of the debate. Don't you hate it when you are watching debates and you want to see people's reactions on the other side? So we're going to have that on pipeline in pipe four.
NGUYEN: Don't forget to wear red today.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes and I'm Veronica and you're Betty. T.J., take note.
NGUYEN: Stop it, T.J. Can we cut the three-shot already, folks? We'll move on to more news now.
Four men accused of planning an attack on U.S. soil. Who they are and where authorities say they were planning to strike that is coming up.
HOLMES: Also, a scary story here. A driver plows through a crowd at a festival.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I dove to the window and I threw it in park. You know what she did? She pushed on the accelerator.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Dozens of people hurt and others became heroes trying to get people out of the way. That is coming up here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
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HOLMES: Hello there again everybody. Welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everyone. I'm Betty Nguyen. Excitement and anticipation in Manchester, New Hampshire, as the Democratic candidates get set to debate live on CNN. We are going to take you there.
HOLMES: First our top story this morning. Four suspects charged, three in custody this morning they are accused of a spectacular plot to attack New York's JFK Airport. One suspect allegedly said the plot would cause greater destruction than the September 11th attacks.
Details now from CNN's Jason Carroll.
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JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A chilling terror plot uncovered in New York. The target, John F. Kennedy International Airport. Four men charged with conspiring to blow up fuel tanks, buildings, and parts of a 40-mile jet fuel pipeline stretching across two states. The plot foiled with the help of an informant.
MARK MERSHON, ASST. DIR., FBI NEW YORK: It would have been a significant loss of property certainly and very likely a significant loss of life.
CARROLL: According to the FBI, the suspects have no link to al Qaeda, but describe them as Muslim extremists. Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen and Guyana native, is a former cargo handler at JFK. He was arrested in Brooklyn on Friday and arraigned in federal court today. Abdul Kadir of Guyana and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad are in custody in Trinidad. Abdel Nur, also of Guyana, is still at large.
The criminal complaint says in an audio taped conversation, Defreitas talked about why he wanted to target JFK. "Anytime you hit Kennedy, it is the most hurtful thing to the United States. To hit John F. Kennedy, wow, they loved John F. Kennedy like he's the man. If you hit that, this whole country will be in mourning. It's like you can kill the man twice."
Investigators allege the suspects began plotting in January 2006. They say the men used Internet satellite images like Google Earth, as well as photographs and video to plan their attack.
MERSHON: One clear signature of this cell was its persistence. They consistently worked to refine their plot. They took extensive measures to seek expert advice, finances, and explosives. The bottom line is that we believe that this threat has been fully contained.
CARROLL: In another taped conversation, the complaint alleges Defreitas compared the plot to the September 11th attacks, saying: "even the Twin Towers can't touch it, this can destroy the economy of America for some time."
(on camera): U.S. officials say they plan to seek extradition against the two suspects in Trinidad. Defreitas, currently the only suspect in U.S. custody, is expected to appear in court again next week for a bail hearing. So far, none of the defendants have commented on the charges against them.
Jason Carroll, CNN, New York.
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HOLMES: And CNN is committed to providing the most reliable coverage of news that affects your security. Stay tuned to CNN for the latest information, day and night.
NGUYEN: We're going to continue with politics, take a look ahead at tonight's Democratic debate, CNN of course bringing you complete coverage.
HOLMES: Yes. Wolf Blitzer going to be the host this evening. And here he is, surveying the scene in Manchester, New Hampshire. He will be better dressed when you see him for the debate this evening. Eight Democratic candidates, but only one stage.
NGUYEN: And what stage it is. As you can see, they were getting ready for the debate as well, but what you can't see is what's really going on behind the scenes there, all the style and substance that makes New Hampshire, well, New Hampshire.
We get that from CNN's John King. He is part of the best political team on television.
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JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): George Bruno is a living, breathing cliche, and proud of it.
GEORGE BRUNO, NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATIC ACTIVIST: I'm in no rush. I'm enjoying meeting the candidates. And I'm trying to be helpful to a number of the candidates. The upcoming debate I think will be extremely useful.
KING: It's all part of New Hampshire's quadrennial legend, or myth, depending on your perspective. Presidential hopefuls spend months courting local activists, looking for endorsements, and more importantly, a network of grassroots supporters.
KATHLEEN SULLIVAN, FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE DEMOCRATIC CHAIRWOMAN: I am not one who believes that endorsements matter that much in New Hampshire.
KING: Easy for her to say. Kathleen Sullivan recently stepped down as New Hampshire Democratic chairwoman. She led the party to huge gains here and is considered the most influential Democratic activist yet to pick a presidential candidate.
SULLIVAN: Big fish in a small pond. I don't know, maybe a little fish, really, in a big pond. Oh, I don't know about that, but...
(LAUGHTER)
KING: Media attention and TV ads play more of a role now. But former governor, Jeanne Shaheen, who made her name as an activist back in 1984, when she helped Gary Hart to a stunning upset of former vice president, Walter Mondale, says the old-fashioned approach can still make a difference.
JEANNE SHAHEEN (D), FORMER NEW HAMPSHIRE GOVERNOR: If you have somebody's name who has a constituency, and who's willing to go out there and get that constituency fired up about the candidate, then it does make a difference.
KING: Which is why the candidates keep courting proven activists like Kathleen Sullivan and George Bruno.
BRUNO: We were on a campaign run one day, before he was president. KING: Bruno was a big Bill Clinton guy here back in 1992. He speaks fondly of Hillary Clinton, but, insert ritual here, says he's on the fence, and listening.
BRUNO: My cell phone rang and it was Senator Obama. And so, I pulled the car off the road and we had a 10- or 12-minute chat about foreign policy. It's nice living in New Hampshire. New Hampshire is a good place to live.
KING: John King, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: The Democratic presidential debate is on CNN tonight at 7:00 Eastern and we begin our coverage at 5:00 p.m. Eastern with the best political team on television. And then on Tuesday, the Republicans go head-to-head.
HOLMES: A D.C. street festival was anything but festive, after a car plowed into a crowd of people. Police say 35 people were injured, seven injured seriously. Two of the injured were police officers.
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CHIEF CATHY L. LANIER, D.C. METRO POLICE: Once the vehicle initially went out of control and started striking people, officers jumped on scooters and motorcycles and bicycles and tried to jump -- follow the vehicle. And a couple of officers pulled in front of the vehicle to try and stop the vehicle, and that's when the officers were struck.
There were a lot of brave people here today. I've heard three or four stories already of just participants here that just reached out and grabbed people and pulled them out of the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
A Maryland woman who was driving the car has been charged with aggravated assault while armed. Police say blood tests are being conducted, more charges could come.
NGUYEN: Well, the CDC is making progress in tracking down passengers who were aboard a flight with that traveling TB patient. And federal health officials say they have contacted 160 of the 292 U.S. citizens who flew from Atlanta to Paris on that same flight with Andrew Speaker.
HOLMES: And that count includes all of those who sat near Speaker and are considered at the greatest risk. The CDC has recommended they undergo skin tests for TB and a later retest.
NGUYEN: Well, an appearance of el presidente, check it out, new video of Fidel Castro being shown on Cuban television. It is the first TV appearance by the Cuban leader in four months, wearing his now trademark track suit. Castro met with the head of Vietnam's communist party. The 80-year-old Castro has been out of the public eye since undergoing complicated abdominal surgery last July. Castro's brother, Raul, is still leading the government in his absence.
NGUYEN: Well, you saw it here yesterday, and more today, violent protests in Germany. More than 145 German police officers have been injured in clashes with bottle-throwing protesters. Those clashes touched off by this week's upcoming G-8 summit, which is hosted by Germany.
Leaders of the world's richest nations will meet on everything from global warming to trade and protests are planned all week long by various groups.
HOLMES: Faith and politics. Do voters really care that much about a presidential candidate's religion?
NGUYEN: And is it more important this election season than it has been in the past? We have a closer look at faith on the campaign trail, that is straight ahead.
Also we are live in Manchester, New Hampshire, site of tonight's CNN Democratic debate.
And be sure to stay tuned to CNN for a special episode of "LATE EDITION WITH WOLF BLITZER," live from New Hampshire, with guests Elizabeth Edwards and Tagg Romney. Wolf also previews tonight's Democratic debate with the best political team in television. All of that comes your way at 11:00 a.m. Eastern.
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MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, sir, how are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm one person who will not vote for a Mormon.
ROMNEY: Oh, is that right? Can I shake your hand anyway?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
ROMNEY: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oh yes, he's going to skip that vote, because that's one guy who is voting based on religion. For the leading presidential candidates, personal faith has become a very public part of their campaigns, whether they like it or not. CNN senior political analyst Bill Schneider is in New Hampshire getting ready for tonight's debate. He joins us now to talk religion and politics. Good morning to you, sir. I guess you just heard that sound bite there, that guy was not shy about telling Mitt Romney to his face, I am not voting for you because you are a Mormon. Now is politics and religion even meshed even more this year and getting more attention because of Romney, because he has a shot, many would say, and because he is a Mormon?
WILLIAM SCHNEIDER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that, of course, is something new, something we haven't really dealt with. His father ran for president briefly but did not last through the Republican primaries back in the 1960s.
So yes, this is a new phenomena. And a lot of Americans are simply unfamiliar with the Mormon faith. But religion has been part of politics in this country really for the last 25 years, at least, because values have become more central to our political debate. Issues like abortion, gay rights, school prayer, stem cell research, all of these have entered the political debate really since the 1980s. And so religion has a lot to do with shaping people's political views.
HOLMES: You said more so in the past 25 years, and some of these issues that people vote on, so just how crucial is it? Are there plenty of people out there who will vote strictly based on those -- the moral values and religion?
W. SCHNEIDER: Well, let's make a distinction. Values are very important to people's vote, and have become more so really since Ronald Reagan became president and invited deeply religious, observant Americans to move into the Republican Party, claiming that Republicans would protect their values from what they regard is a secular liberal threat.
But religion itself, that's something a little bit different. Religion has been part of American politics for a long time, used to be Protestants were more Republican, Catholics were more Democratic, but now it's a different debate. Because it's over how religious are you?
And what we found in the past 25 years is that religious Americans have become more Republican, less religious Americans have become more Democratic. But now, Democrats are saying hey, wait a minute, we have values, too. What about values like social justice? What about values like protecting the environment? What about values like peace? They're trying to argue, we, too, can appeal to Americans of faith.
HOLMES: Now are there some religions that Americans and voters are more skeptical of? Like with here, Romney having some issues, and like he had that run-in with that one voter. But there are some religions that just some voters just aren't that comfortable with?
W. SCHNEIDER: Well, many Americans are not familiar with the Mormon church. We find somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of Americans regularly tell pollsters that they would not vote for a Mormon for president. They don't know any Mormons in most parts of the country. It is a very small group. I think once they become familiar with the candidate, they're likely to look at that candidate and say, well, he's OK. His values are just like mine, particularly because former Governor Romney is likely to make the case that he does have mainstream political values and the church -- the Mormon church will not dictate his policies.
There is, however, a smaller group of evangelicals who regard the Mormon church as a heretical Christian sect, and those people are very hostile to the Mormon church. That is where former Governor Romney is likely to have some problems in the Republican primary.
And he's going to have to make the case to those voters that his values really don't threaten theirs, and that he shares some of the same values that they share.
HOLMES: Did George W. Bush take it to a new level in organizing and appealing to religious groups for that support? And did he -- I know you said it has been around 25 years, been a part of politics. But did he really set a new precedent and set a new bar, a new standard that some of these candidates now want to catch up to?
W. SCHNEIDER: Well, he did talk about his faith. I remember long ago when he was first running for president, someone asked him who his favorite political philosopher was, and he said Jesus Christ. And that startled a lot of people because that was a kind of new way of speaking in politics.
And of course, with his position on stem cell research, which is based in values as well as faith, that introduced an issue which has become central to the political debate. But really it goes back to Ronald Reagan, when he became president, he had a real outreach to Americans of faith, who he claimed felt threatened by secular liberal, irreligious values, people who felt no public display of religion, people who to them appeared hostile to their religious values.
So it has been going on for a long time. Did Bush raise it to a new level? Possibly. But this has been a feature of American politics for a long time.
HOLMES: And last thing quickly I want to ask you about is Barack Obama. There was a story that came out earlier, several months back now about him attending a Muslim school in his youth. The story kind of came and went. The questions about how it was reported, and it kind of went away. But is that going to come back to bite him? Is he going to have to deal with it in the primary and possibly the general election?
W. SCHNEIDER: When you're running for president they throw everything they can at you. I think there was some effort to bring that issue up, but we sent -- CNN sent our own John Vause to Indonesia. It was a Muslim school that he attended, but it was a Muslim public school.
It wasn't some sort of radical school which trained terrorists or anything like that. So I think probably that issue has come up. It has been dealt with and it's probably gone. His background is multicultural. He has been to a Muslim, not a radical school, but to a Muslim school.
Many Americans find that appealing. They say this is a man who, if he became president, would be able to deal more comfortably with the rest of the world. Some Americans may find it uncomfortable. But to a lot of Americans, Obama's multiculturalism is new and it's appealing.
HOLMES: All right. Bill Schneider, senior political analyst there in New Hampshire for the big debate tonight. Have fun this evening, sir.
W. SCHNEIDER: Thank you.
HOLMES: All right. And of course on Monday, we have got more "Faith and Politics." Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards, join Soledad O'Brien for a special edition of "THE SIT. ROOM" -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Barry turned out to be, well, kind of a small storm, but the system brought some much-needed rain to Florida, and that not only has the state singing a happy song today, but did some places get a little too much? Look at this in Oklahoma. Is anyone else getting rain? Well, Bonnie Schneider will be up next with a look at the forecast on CNN's forecast on this Sunday morning.
And talk about crying foul, look at this video. This manager, oh yes, had a meltdown on the field. We are going to the game, that's ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Yes, that breaking news that we want to tell you about involves a tornado warning in North Carolina.
HOLMES: And Bonnie Schneider keeping an eye on it for us. Tell us.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, T.J. and Betty, we have a tornado warning for two counties in North Carolina, Craven and Pamlico counties. This is in eastern North Carolina. And as I zoom into the region, we'll take a closer look at what's happening.
A tornado was detected on Doppler radar not too far from New Bern, North Carolina. That is also in the eastern part of that state. Now this is all in conjunction with the remnants of what was Tropical Storm Barry coming onshore. You can see the wind and rain across much of the region, through the Southeast.
Heavy rain to the south, particularly here in coastal Georgia and near South Carolina, up towards North Carolina, where it's not raining too bad but we do have some very strong cells.
Look at this one right here to the south of New Bern, this is the one that we're referring to now, where the tornado warning for Pamlico and Craven counties goes. That tornado warning will go until 8:15 this morning. So we don't have too far to go. An actual tornado hasn't been spotted, has been detected on Doppler radar, meaning there has been some rotation. Now typically what happens is when you have a tropical system coming onshore, even the remnants of what was a tropical system, you have a lot of friction and you have the winds coming in in different directions.
The winds have been very strong with this system, we've seen them out of the east at about 25 miles per hour, some sustained at 30 miles per hour, so unfortunately, when you have the winds coming onshore, you also have the winds on land coming in different directions.
You tend to get rotation in the atmosphere and eventually often a funnel cloud can form. And when the funnel cloud touches the ground, that's when you have the tornado warning. And that's what we have right here through Craven and Pamlico counties in North Carolina, in the eastern section of that state.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: Speaking of rain, that and so much more, that is what our I-Reporter Daisha Nance says she is seeing in her hometown of Stillwater, Oklahoma. She took these pictures near Oklahoma State University. Nance says she has never seen so much flooding in Stillwater. Are so high places, she tells CNN "seems like we're getting the last three years of rain in just the last few months."
HOLMES: Well, this is a strange story we have been hearing about this weekend, well, you have heard of smuggling drugs, but smuggling butterflies is kind of a new thing.
NGUYEN: Oh yes, people are doing it though, and we're going to take you on a butterfly bust and how it all goes down.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. You may want to put down that cereal bowl for this next story. Because it's all about eating and eating in excess.
HOLMES: Yes. Not eating cereal. This ain't pretty at all. But you're watching a guy, Joey Chestnut, set a new world record for eating hot dogs. I'm sure his mom was so proud.
NGUYEN: Look at that face.
HOLMES: He finished off 59.5 hotdogs and the buns. The old record was held by the competitive eating juggernaut Kobayashi. Chestnut now holds eight eating records, among them asparagus, chicken wings, and waffles.
NGUYEN: Why do people do that?
HOLMES: They actually make a pretty good living, some of them do. If you just stick with it and just do that, you can make some good money.
NGUYEN: And you've got to train all year long?
HOLMES: They do. They train. We worked with him out -- when I was in California, he's from that area, and he trained. He has his whole apartment. He -- yes, no kidding.
NGUYEN: And there's a special way that you have to dip the bun in the water to make sure it goes down quickly...
HOLMES: It has technique.
NGUYEN: I know, I know, this is serious stuff.
All right. We're going to move on to something else a little more serious. For a look at some of the most popular stories on CNN -- well, OK, it depends on what they are, at cnn.com, Veronica De La Cruz?
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I do have a question about the hot dog eating contest. Do you have to eat all the bread?
HOLMES: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: Why does it count?
HOLMES: You have got to eat it all, the whole thing, you've got to finish it all.
DE LA CRUZ: Really?
HOLMES: Yes.
DE LA CRUZ: It makes my stomach turn. All right. Something else...
HOLMES: Nice suit, though, nice suit, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: Thank you. Thank you.
NGUYEN: I like the red.
HOLMES: It looks familiar.
(LAUGHTER)
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Guys, something else, more video that is going to make your stomach turn. Imagine this, you jump out of a plane and your parachute gets tangled up. And you're wearing a helmet cam and you catch the entire thing on tape. This shocking video shows Michael Holmes (ph) in what appears to be a death spiral to the ground. Incredibly, he lives. And more incredibly, the guy is back to skydiving.
Also on that most popular list today, the tantrum heard around the world. If you like the ball game, you know that lots of baseball managers lose their cool, but this tirade, this tirade was a definite showstopper. You want to check it out at cnn.com. Also on the list this morning, the strange world of wildlife smuggling. Apparently you can make a pretty penny smuggling tropical butterflies, they're oh so beautiful and one man has made it his personal mission to put a stop to it all.
Rounding out the top four, the Loch Ness Monster. There it is, or is it? Lots of you have been checking out the new Nessie video to see for yourselves. Is it real or not? You can be the judge.
You can log on to cnn.com/mostpopular. And if you have snapshots or videos of the candidates, in the meantime, don't forget to check out our I-Report page. You can also upload your own at cnn.com/ireport. You can also e-mail them to us at ireport@cnn.com. And we're going to be sharing a couple of those with you coming up a little bit later in the show.
I'm going to send it back to the woman in red -- Betty.
NGUYEN: And we did get the red note today.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: I didn't. I do have a red tie. You can stick around next hour, I'll have it on.
NGUYEN: You'd better not.
HOLMES: I am.
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