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CNN Sunday Morning
200 Tourists Stuck in St. Louis Gateway Arch; Flooding in Texas
Aired July 22, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING on July 22, good morning; I'm Susan Roesgen again filling in for Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all I'm T.J. Holmes, 7:00 am here in the East, 4:00 am out West. Got a lot to bring you this morning. Including some folks that are stranded and desperate.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am glad to be back down. I was sitting four hours up there, not fun at all.
HOLMES: Yes stuck in the Saint Lewis Arch.
Plus we will have this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were in the dark for most of the time.
ROESGEN: More people trapped with no way out. Flooding makes their travel plans all mixed up.
HOLMES: And flooding troubles -- yeah. Can you make that out? Monkeys running around. We'll explain what's going on here and how that relates to all the flooding. Stick around for that.
ROESGEN: We're going to start with all of those people who are really relieved in St. Louis this morning.
HOLMES: Yeah, about 200 people. Most of them tourist, stuck in the famous Gateway Arch. A power outage stranding them about two hours late last night. About 80 stuck in the trams that take the tours up and down the arch. Another 100 people stuck at the very top of the 630-foot landmark.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were impatient and we really wanted to go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all happy to get out. Because they're all sweating and falling asleep.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Dozens of people had to use the stairs to get down before the power was finally restored. We checked, that is 1,076 stairs in all. But, hey, if the tourists want to brave it again, the arch will reopen in two hours.
HOLMES: We actually did count all those steps. We sent a reporter to do just that, count the steps.
Meanwhile, we are going to take you down to Texas now. Waterlogged once again. Heavy rains causing flooding across large parts of that state. Rescue crews were needed to help many central Texas residents escape the rising waters. Homes and business near San Antonia were filled with as much as four feet of water. The amount of rain seems staggering, some areas saw as many as 17 inches of rain in less than 24 hours, swelling rivers causing dozens of roads to close.
Flooding also forced the closing of one set of railroad tracks stranding passengers aboard an Amtrak train for about eight hours. It happened 50 miles west of San Antonia and officials had to wait for floodwaters to go down before they could get to more than 170 passengers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Been here about nine hours, I think.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I thought I'd never get off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sitting in one spot for eight hours is not fun. Plus, my brother was waiting for me in Fullerton, California. Don't look like I'm ever going to get there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well the buses took passengers on to El Paso where they are expected to catch another train headed west this morning. Coming up in about 25 minutes a look at some dares rescues from these floodwaters.
ROESGEN: And some other creatures had to be rescued from floodwaters. Monkeys from a primate research search.
HOLMES: Yes this is some strange video we can take a peek at this morning. This is yesterday afternoon, near San Antonio, where floodwaters reached the South West Primate Research Center that is a medical research facility, where the animals are not completely roaming free. Just running amok, if you will, they are still within the confines of their facility. Some folks were concerned about that. So indeed they're okay. As you can see, plenty of water they can play in.
ROESGEN: Like Curious George. Lets talk to Reynolds Wolf and find out what's happening with all this flooding?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Curious George indeed. Curious George gone horribly wrong. No one likes flooding, but those guys are going bananas. HOLMES: Come on, Reynolds, too early for that!
WOLF: One thing that is pretty interesting in the video that we showed you earlier with all the people getting off the train, notice how it was sunny. Talking about a flash flood situation, got sunshine. The storms fire quickly, they drop the rainfall and then they pretty much dissipate leaving quite a bit of rain in parts of south and central Texas. We are going to see more rain today in the lone star state. The good part of that is we're going to have quite a bit of time for the rivers to recover. A lot of those floodwaters to recede. When we see more showers this afternoon around 1:00 or 2:00 a 30 percent possibility, which means there is a 70 percent chance it won't occur at all. Good news for parts of Texas.
Meanwhile we are going to see a chance of storms in parts of the twin cities, some of these could be severe especially into the late afternoon hours between 3:00 and 6:00, especially when we have that daytime heating. And as we make our way over to the Great Lakes, beautiful conditions even in Chicago. We have this live image for you in Chicago. Looks fantastic, great shot of the city, plenty of blue skies due to all that high pressure.
As we go back the weather computer says high pressure building in to parts the eastern seaboard. A beautiful day in New York as well as Boston. Check out these high temperatures, 81 degrees, anytime you have a day in July in New York where the high is only 81, that's good day in Central Park. Lets send it back to you.
HOLMES: Sounds like a good day.
WOLF: Yeah, fantastic. You have to worry about wild monkeys drinking water.
ROESGEN: Get an ice cream cone in Central Park.
WOLF: That's what I'm talking about.
ROESGEN: But it is not so nice out west. Firefighters in Utah are still trying to get a break from the weather as they are fighting now ten wildfires across that state. The crews are using helicopters to fight this huge brush fire that is about 85 miles south of Salt Lake City, it has already burned more than 14,000 acres. High temperatures, low humidity, these things are fueling the fire and so far it's only about 15 percent contained.
And then this is what's left in Uxbridge, Massachusetts after this big fire there yesterday. Seven firefighters were hurt in this massive fire that raced through an old mill complex downtown. About 65 businesses were inside this 400,000 square foot mill and they were damaged or destroyed. The state fire marshal says investigators still don't know what caused the fire.
HOLMES: She was one of the most colorful characters ever to mix religion and television. Tammy Faye Bakker Messner now dead at the age of 65. She died Friday after a long battle with cancer. The family withheld news of her death until after she was cremated. Deborah Feyerick has this look now at the life of a woman widely known at Tammy Faye.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): If nothing else, Tammy Faye Bakker was an American original, she was born Tamara Faye LaValley in International Falls, Minnesota and as a young woman met and married a televangelist named Jim Bakker while both were at a bible college. Soon they were an American success story. Together they formed the Christian Media Network called PTL, an acronym for Praise the Lord, also building the popular Christian theme park Heritage, USA.
It was a hugely successful run. After several years in the limelight came a very public scandal. Jim Bakker was convicted of defrauding followers out of millions, which he and Tammy Faye spent on a lavish lifestyle. He also he admitted to an extramarital affair with his former secretary. The ministry collapsed, and while he went to prison Tammy Faye was lampooned nationwide from her tears to her false eyelashes, she took it.
TAMMY FAYE: Jokes kept me alive.
FEYERICK: She believed eyes were the window to the soul, and collected eyeglasses of dead relatives. And enviably there was a documentary about her life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You never done pictures with out those eyelashes.
TAMMY FAYE: No and I never will. That's my trademark. If I take my trademark away, then it's not me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twelve years ago with the PTL scandal we watched the spectacle of Tammy Faye's amazing fall from graze.
FEYERICK: She went on to record nearly two dozen Christian albums, she divorced Jim Bakker and married a church builder named Roe Messner. But he was sentenced to two years in prison on bankruptcy fraud. Tammy Faye battled colon cancer and lung cancer but was well enough to appear on a reality television show called "The Surreal life." A title with which she said she had no problem identifying.
Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Well the top man is back in the driver's seat. President Bush returns from Camp David today after undergoing a routine colonoscopy yesterday. The president temporarily transferred power to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure but everything went fine and the doctors removed five small polyps, those polyps will be examined for any signs of cancer but the White House says there's doesn't seem to be any cause for concern. The results of the tests are expected within a day or so.
HOLMES: We are just a day away from the CNN/Youtube debate among the Democratic presidential candidates. Right now lets take a look at where they stand on issues according to gays and lesbians. CNN senior political correspondent Candy Crowley.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Jason Knight was 18 when he joined the Navy, 24 when he was thrown out. He said it was like losing a family.
JASON KNIGHT, SERVICE MEMBERS LEGAL DEFENSE NETWORK: While I was in Kuwait yes I was openly gay and I had full support of my co-workers and my superiors and it wasn't until I made my, when I went completely public that I was discharged.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If an American serviceman or servicewoman is willing to die for our country, I would not give them -- I would not give them a lecture on sexual orientation.
CROWLEY: Every Democratic presidential candidate wants to repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," even senator whose husband instituted the policy as president in 1993.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have thousands of loyal, patriotic Americans who have been discharged from the military at a time of war. That, to me, does not make sense.
CROWLEY: The candidates are on solid political ground here, 79 percent of Americans told a CNN opinion research poll that openly gay and lesbian people should be allowed to serve in the military. The political turf is less certain on the subject of same-sex marriage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't personally (INAUDIBLE).
CROWLEY: Just 24 percent of Americans support same-sex marriage, 27 percent said civil unions were OK, 43 percent said neither was acceptable. Only two Democratic presidential candidates support gay marriage, Mike Gravel and Dennis Kuchinich.
REP. DENNIS KUCINICH, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We will make sure our brothers and sisters who are gay or lesbian, transgendered, bisexual has true marriage equality.
CROWLEY: Everyone else in the field supports civil unions, not as acceptable to gays and lesbians who want the broader rights of civil marriage; most of the Democrats would make up the difference.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think all of us can agree that if you've got a same-sex couple and one gets sick in the hospital that the partner should be able to go visit them in the hospital, that they should be able to transfer property. That they should be able to make sure that their Social Security benefits --
CROWLEY: The Democratic presidential candidates are in fact pretty united in their approach to gay and lesbian issues. For Jason Knight, that holds a possibility that one day he could undo what was done.
KNIGHT: I had a sense of pride about being in the military. It's an incredible institution. I love serving my country. I'd do it again.
CROWLEY: Candy Crowley, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And it is a political debate like you've never seen before. The CNN/Youtube kicks off tomorrow at 7:00 pm Eastern from Charleston, South Carolina and CNN's Anderson Cooper will host this first of its kind of debate with candidates respond to questions submitted directly by you, and she is part of the best political team on television. Our senior political correspondent Candy Crowley will join us live from Charleston this morning, 9:00 Eastern and she will have a debate preview.
ROESGEN: Well here's a preview before you head to the grocery store today. We will tell you about some dangerous food on the shelves. Some chili and other canned products are being recalled.
And could you last a year without buying any food from China? It's harder than you might think. We'll go shopping, ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They honk and yell. They do everything you can imagine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: They do get some attention there. Mowing the lawn in their bikinis. Making a living while working on a tan. We'll tell where you it is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, we've got a can food recall that is expanding this morning that we need to tell you about. Check the covers for canned goods processed by Castleberry's Food Company the recall now involving 80 brands of can of chili, beef stew, corned beef hash, pet foods and other products. Some brand names besides Castleberry to watch for Kroger, Food Lion and Austex, also Natural Balance dog food varieties. This is in addition to the ten brands Castleberry recalled Thursday; the recall comes after recent cases of botulism poisoning in Indiana and Texas.
ROESGEN: Well you heard about tainted food from China, but if you wanted to avoid all products made in China, could you do it? CNN medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen went shopping with a woman who wrote a book on how she tried to go a whole year without buying something made in China.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): For one year, Sarah Bongiorni tried to avoid everything made in China. You didn't buy shoes made China.
SARA BONGIORNI, "A YEAR WITHOUT MADE IN CHINA:" Right.
COHEN: You didn't buy toys made in China, but when it came to food, different story?
BONGIORNI: Well I also tried to avoid it, but as I said I had no idea, because the labels don't tell you much at all, as much label reading as I did, no way to know whether or not I was buying something with ingredients from China.
COHEN: Even with all the safety concerns about foods from China, most of the time there's no way of knowing if a product contains Chinese ingredients. For the most part, food companies aren't required to label where their ingredients come from, so they don't. This was evident as we shopped with Bongiorni.
BONGIORNI: This one told me is was a product of China right there.
COHEN: But this was really to see, "Made in China" on the label was the exception?
BONGIORNI: Absolutely. That's right.
COHEN: Consumer groups are outraged that shoppers have no way of knowing where their food comes from.
CAROLINE SMITH DEWAAL, CTR. FOR SCIENCE IN PUBLIC INTEREST: It's almost impossible to completely avoid foods made in China, because they become ingredients in so many other products.
COHEN: Like what? Here's a small sampling, and some you might not expect. Apple juice, freeze-dried berries like the ones in this cereal and instant coffee. Other examples, tea and pine nuts. Another big concern, although it is labeled, seafood like Tilapia and shrimp. Safety concerns prompted the FDA this month to ban the import of Chinese seafood until it is proven to be safe. One part of the supermarket Sara feels confident about is the produce section.
BONGIORNI: Very often I'm on a little sticker it will says product of Guatemala or product of Chile, you can be pretty safe there, I think.
COHEN: Sara's yearlong experiment is over. Her lesson learned, you can avoid many Chinese products, but when it comes to food, most of the time you have no idea where it comes from.
BONGIORNI: It is interesting you know the source of your tennis shoes but you don't know the source of your packaged foods.
COHEN: Elizabeth Cohen, CNN, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We're going to have a peak inside a new book that pays tributes to fallen heroes coming up.
ROESGEN: And one ever those was hero's was a soldier who was so close to becoming a U.S. citizen that his mother says that's what got him killed. Also --
HOLMES: They are jumping for Jesus, young Christians becoming more politically savvy and switching parties.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A hostage standoff unfolding right now in Afghanistan. A South Korean government delegation arrived in Cobble hoping to free at least 18 South Korean taken capture by the Taliban. Meanwhile, Afghan soldiers have surrounded the area where Taliban militants are believed to be holding the hostages. The militants are threatening to begin killing those hostages in just over three hours unless South Korea agrees to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan.
Well triumph and tragedy in Baghdad. Celebration over the Iraqi national soccer team's victory well it ended up turning deadly. Jubilance, Iraqi poured in to the streets, many fired guns in to the air in celebration. As a result of that, three people killed, at least 25 wounded by stray bullets.
ROESGEN: Now we have some of the names and the faces behind the numbers. U.S. servicemen and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
HOLMES: Now their personal stories are part of a fund-raising project to help veterans of those conflicts. Details now from CNN's Gary Nurenberg.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GARY NURENBERG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): "Faces of Freedom" tells the story of men and women from each of the 50 states who died in Iraq or Afghanistan.
REBECCA PEPIN, "FACES OF FREEDOM" AUTHOR: This book is a tribute to all those who paid the ultimate price.
NURENBERG: The little boy is Kendal Frederic born in Trinidad, he grew up in Maryland.
MICHELLE MURPHY, MOTHER: He enjoyed being here; he had a lot of friends, loved being in America.
NURENBERG: So much he enlisted at 17 and struggled with the bureaucracy that stalled his application for former U.S. citizenship stationed in Iraq he needed to submit additional fingerprints for that citizenship paperwork.
MURPHY: He was on that particular convoy that day just to get his fingerprints. That's the only reason he was there. On his way back to camp, that's when an IED hit the convoy.
NURENBERG: In an American uniform he died trying to become an American.
PEPIN: I know that when I took that oath in October of 2006 I was taking it for two people.
NURENBERG: Rebecca Pepin is a new citizen who compiled "Faces of Freedom" to raise money for Fisher House and the wounded warrior project which helped veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan but she said there is another purpose.
PEPIN: We want people to know exactly who they were.
MAX VOELZ, HUSBAND: It will just let more people know who she was.
NURENBERG: Max Voelz and his wife Kimberly in training, they both led bomb squads in Iraq. In the United States she helped the Secret Service prepare for trips by Presidents Bush and Clinton, for the Pope in Iraq, improvised explosive device detonated as he say approached to disarm it.
VOLEZ: About the time she came out of surgery is when I was finally able to get to the hospital.
NURENBERG: She died in his arms.
VOELZ: Obviously that is the worst thing that happened to me. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.
NURENBERG: They were married only four years. And Kendall Frederic the man who died trying to become an American, he was granted that citizenship on the day he was buried.
Kendeall Frederic, Kimberly Voelz just two "Faces of Freedom."
Gary Nurenberg, CNN, Baltimore.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Well a 5-month-old girl has been kidnapped at gunpoint. Where the suspects could be head, and is this girl in danger?
HOLMES: Also, just how is CNN choosing the questions for tomorrow night's CNN/Youtube Democratic candidate debate? We'll take you behind the closed doors. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning again. Welcome back everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ROESGEN: And I'm Susan Roesgen filling in for Betty Nguyen.
The CNN/Youtube debate is less than 36 hours away now, it is going to be really exciting different thing for us, we are going to tell you how we chose some of the questions, like this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Periodically I get these in the mail, my Social Security statement. Seeing that Social Security is going to be extinct in the near future, why am I still getting these? What will do you to restore Social Security for our upcoming generation?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Also, this may sound and looks like a rock concert. This festival is about the next presidential election. Young evangelical in our "Faces of Faith" this morning.
ROESGEN: And now to the flooding in Texas and some places the water is already starting to going down, but the damage is devastating.
HOLMES: Dozens of people had to be rescued from their homes when the water got too high. Some homes and businesses near San Antonio had about four feet of water in them. A staggering amount of rain across central and southern Texas, San Antonio and Houston. A couple of counties saw more than a foot of rain in about 12 hours.
ROESGEN: Now as the water starts to recede this morning people will be able they hope to return to their homes and check out the damage.
HOLMES: And like we said that dozens of people had to be rescued from the flooding and some learned and important lesson about trying to drive across flooded roads. Don't do it. Sometimes by penalty of law. More now from Jessica Silva of our affiliate KENS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA SILVA, KENS (voice over): San Antonio rescue crews stayed busy all day long Saturday plucking drivers and passengers from their cars like this incident on Ingram Road, where three Hispanic males in an SUV decided to take a chance on three feet of water.
SGT. MARK HUBBARD, SAN ANTONIO POLICE: Water like this, you're not going to make it in your vehicles. The barricades are up for your safety.
SILVA: All day long firefighters pulled drivers young and old to safety. At Split Creek four teens were hanging on to trees after they tried to pull their truck out of the mud. They got stuck Friday night.
CHIEF KEITH CRUSIUS, SAN ANTONIO FIRE DEPT.: Obviously, to look back it wasn't smart, but, you know, we don't always realize what we're doing when we do it.
SILVA: Officials say the teens will not likely face charges because they did not drive around barricades.
As for the driver of the SUV, well, it's a different story.
HUBBARD: People may know (INAUDIBLE). So the driver, not only is the vehicle damaged, but he's also going to jail.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And not all of the rescues were as easy as just getting someone off of flooded roads. South of San Antonio, helicopters had to be called in to help with some of the evacuations there.
ROESGEN: And we have this new video just in. Some similar rescue scenes, but this is in England.
You can see how bad the flooding is there in Britain's West Midlands. This video just taken recently shows how bad the flooding has been there. The worst flooding there, they say, in 100 years. The desperate struggle for a lot people against the rain and the flooding.
We get more from ITN's Rohit Kochroo.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROHIT KOCHROO, REPORTER, ITN (voice over): With swollen rivers to one side and flooded streets to the other, residents trapped in their homes sought help from the skies. One by one, they were hoisted to safety in an extraordinary riverside rescue. And there were dozens more just like this across Worcester.
On the ground, rescue boats helped the most vulnerable from the sort of flooding not seen by their grandparents. Worcester is under water, and this town has been particularly hard hit.
(on camera): When the floodwater came pouring through the streets, it not only damaged property, but split the town in two. On either side of the river are hundreds of people trying to get to the other, to their stranded businesses and homes. The problem is, the only way through is this bridge, and police say it is in danger of collapsing.
(voice over): Two mobile homes came loose and battered the bridge, then came eight gas cylinders which could still explode.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Apparently, four feet of water in the lounge last night, and a nice two-inch layer of sludge all over the place this morning. So, just dealing with that at the moment.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's gone through the house. It's gone up at least five-foot higher than it did last time. And it's completely devastated everything inside.
KOCHROO: But there is more water and more dangers, too. The river levels here have yet to peak.
Rohit Kochroo, ITV News, Evesham, Worcester.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: Just unbelievable.
HOLMES: Some unbelievable pictures there. Folks being plucked out.
We've got some more, I guess, strange pictures, if you will, to show you now. This is back in Texas, and the flooding there, some monkey business going on.
These monkeys are from the primate center in San Antonio, on the loose, kind of sort of, but they're not necessarily outside of the facility grounds. So you're not going to find them in your neighborhood running around down there, folks, in San Antonio.
(WEATHER REPORT)
(NEWSBREAK)
ROESGEN: In presidential politics, it's your questions and their answers. The Democratic presidential candidates tackle some questions submitted by ordinary folks in an extraordinary groundbreaking CNN/YouTube debate here tomorrow night.
CNN's Tom Foreman takes you behind the scene force a look how the questions were submitted and chosen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is your opinion of America's image abroad?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After attending various campaign events...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What will you do to counteract...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is this...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If elected...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How would you use your power...
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hundreds of questions from all over to be seen...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I sort of like that.
FOREMAN: ... and sorted...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's certainly different.
FOREMAN: ... and selected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like this one, right?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like this one a lot, absolutely. FOREMAN: High inside our New York offices, locked away in this private room, this small group is taking on that task. Led by senior vice president David Bohrman.
DAVID BOHRMAN, SR. VICE PRESIDENT, CNN: I just think it's a little touchy-feely.
FOREMAN: And Sam Feist (ph), our political director, both delighted at the quantity and quality of questions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, my question is what are you going...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (SINGING): Are you going to help to stop...
FOREMAN: A small number of submissions involve special production.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want to be sure that your health care plans are...
FOREMAN: Most are simply people talking to a camera.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Women are not included in the United States constitution...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How often are your religious beliefs...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's bring this question out in the open...
BOHRMAN: We're finding these questions to camera from senior citizens and middle-aged people and young people from all around the country so the -- because it's so simple and easy to do we're getting a real broad spectrum.
FOREMAN: They are all graded, some for cleverness and some for earnestness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, I really like that?
FOREMAN: Some because they think it ought to be asked.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My fear is it leads to a stump speech.
FOREMAN: Some because it hasn't been asked before.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It put candidates behind on no child best behind.
BOHRMAN: There clearly are questions that we, the journalists of mainstream media, would never think to ask in a presidential debate.
FOREMAN (on camera): Like what?
BOHRMAN: I'm not going to tell you.
FOREMAN (voice-over): He's smiling. BOHRMAN: Really, I'm not.
FOREMAN: But not kidding.
(on camera): Only 50 videos will make it into the debate and exactly how they are being chosen is a secret. Even around here.
BOHRMAN: The focus is with some context, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a vein of questions in a lot of these.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And the questions we're getting on healthcare.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He asks it and then they are going to...
FOREMAN (voice-over): And when the selection is done, only these folks, host Anderson Cooper and a handful of others will know which of your questions will be heard by someone who might become president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is a really good question.
FOREMAN: Tom Foreman, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: So how do you submit a question for the candidates? It's simple. All you have to do is log on to cnn.com/americavotes. And then be sure to watch as Anderson Cooper hosts tomorrow's first- of-its-kind debate.
Live, interactive, on television and online, it's the CNN/YouTube Democratic debate.
CNN is your political headquarters.
HOLMES: Well, what about the candidates' spouses? We're telling you all about the candidates' mates in our special series at 8:00 Eastern.
We'll be talking about Hillary Clinton's spouse, poor guy, living in his wife's shadow. Poor Bill Clinton. Can't get any attention. He's just overlooked -- of course not.
We're going to be talking about Bill Clinton and the long road he and his wife Hillary have traveled.
Plus this...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These young Christians also believe that a great cultural change is coming to America, and they intend to drive it with their prayer and their votes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. Praying for change. That's ahead here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A different vibe coming from young Christians. Thousands of young evangelicals recently gathered in Nashville. They're sending a strong message to politicians -- ethics, not party affiliation, will draw their vote.
CNN's David Mattingly has our "Faces of Faith" report.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATTINGLY (voice-over): Silently, they marched through the streets of Nashville. Thousands of young, evangelical Christians, gathering to pray for a country in crisis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've come here with a faith that God that can turn a nation.
MATTINGLY: This is the call, a massive, day-long revival of fasting and prayer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's only about 100 people when we first got here. So, it's good.
MATTINGLY: Sarah Morris and her church group drove here all the way from Michigan, looking for something big.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm expecting God to rock my world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Awakening. Awakening. Awakening.
MATTINGLY: The sound is as loud as a rock concert. And the message, clear as a bell. Christians need to hold their politicians accountable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And Lord, now we bless President Bush.
MATTINGLY: But the question rising from the sea of people is, what do they want? Young evangelicals once George W. Bush's most fervent supporters, are increasingly disenchanted.
In 2002, 87 percent thought he was doing a good job. That number's plunged to 45 percent, according to the Pew forum. And evangelicals under 30 are deserting the Republican Party in droves. Two years ago, 55 percent called themselves Republicans, now, just 37 percent do. An incredible 18-point drop.
BYRON RADU, WORSHIPER: You need to tell us the truth when you speak. You know what I mean? When you get up and say things, in order for me to vote, to go home and share with my family and say, this is who we're going to vote for, this is who we're going to back up forever. MATTINGLY: You sound disillusioned.
RADU: Beyond disillusioned. Misled. Misguided. Lied to.
MATTINGLY: Like most Americans, these young evangelicals are wrestling with the war. They find themselves parting with Republicans on other issues, too. Immigration, poverty, the environment.
BRANDON DUCK, WORSHIPER: There's a lot of issues today that the Christian ethic easily bleeds into and can make a difference in society. And it's just not the big three.
MATTINGLY: The big three, same-sex marriage, public prayer, and above all, abortion. Issues that set many Republicans into office.
And these young people remain some of the most intensely anti- abortion Americans around. Even more conservative than their parents.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... God, that you will You give them the right baby, Lord Jesus.
MATTINGLY: Remember Sarah Morris who came here looking for God to rock her world? After a day in the sun and hours of inspiration, she's motivated to rock the ballot.
SARAH MORRIS, WORSHIPER: Our vote is not due to our economy and war. Our vote is on one thing, and that is pro-life.
MATTINGLY: It's no coincidence that "The Call" took place 40 years after the summer of love. Organizers want young Christians to lead with a shared sense of purpose.
(on camera): And like the flower children of '67, these young Christians also believe that a great cultural change is coming to America. And they intend to drive it, with their prayer and their votes.
(voice-over): Young evangelicals, like most Americans under 30, don't vote much at all. Madison Adams wants to turn that around.
MADISON ADAMS, WORSHIPER: Actually, I'm kind of scared for this future election because I think the church is kind of set back. But, you know, we need to wake the church up again.
MATTINGLY: And on this hot summer day, the church is wide awake.
David Mattingly, CNN, Nashville.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: Well, there are some hot summer jobs that are just too hot to handle. So why not strip down and do those jobs in a bikini?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You get the attention, but it's also good for a tan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: The hard part about mowing lawns in a two-piece? Well, it turns out it's dealing with the audience.
HOLMES: Man, my lawn guy just got fired.
Also, talk about a whopper of a burger, this one is certainly not for the feint of heart.
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, you see them every single day, armies of lawn care professionals trimming and cutting in neighborhoods all across the country.
ROESGEN: But now a company in Memphis has decided to give its customers a little show with the mow.
We get more from reporter Andrew Douglas of our affiliate WMC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANDREW DOUGLAS, REPORTER, WMC (voice over): You might say they're loosening the Bible Belt in this Mid-South neighborhood. Ladies cutting lawns -- wearing bikinis -- showing their bodies, offering more attention to your lawn than it's ever seen.
BLAIR BECKMAN, TIGER TIME EMPLOYEE: They honk and yell. They do everything you can imagine.
DOUGLAS: Twenty-one-year-old Blair Beckman says cutting grass in her bikini beats her former jobs as a waitress and a clerk at Family Dollar.
BECKMAN: You get the attention, but it's also good for a tan. Which I need.
DOUGLAS: They call themselves Tiger Time Lawn Care, and they'll send these shapely tigers in bikinis for a slightly higher fee than a normal grass cut.
LEE CATHEY, OWNER: We had a couple customers sitting in lawn chairs drinking a beer and just enjoying the -- enjoying the bikini cut.
DOUGLAS: Lee Cathey is retired Air Force, a native Memphian, and the boss behind the bodies.
CATHEY: The yards are definitely -- getting more attention when there's bikinis on the lawn.
DOUGLAS (on camera): When I agreed to cover the story I knew was going to be a tough assignment and challenge me, so I knew I had to ask the tough questions.
What's the best way to attack a lawn that's been overgrown, say, 10 to 14 days?
BECKMAN: Oh, lord. We get on the riding mother, push the mower behind it and go at it.
DOUGLAS: What's the most difficult aspect of this job?
BECKMAN: The hills.
DOUGLAS: What's the best cut for a lawn?
DOUGLAS: Whatever he tells me to do.
DOUGLAS (voice over): The concept seems to be successful. They're looking at more business opportunities post-summer.
CATHEY: In the fall, we'll go out and pick up leaves in the bikinis, if need be.
DOUGLAS: A service specializing in lawn care, using its sex appeal to market to the Mid-South.
Andrew Douglas, Action News 5.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You know, my lawn guy...
ROESGEN: You know what? That's like back to the Stone Age. That's what I say.
HOLMES: Well, no. It's a business move.
ROESGEN: Oh, yes, it's a business move. It's like Hooters.
HOLMES: No.
ROESGEN: Yes. I have a load of money (ph). I'll just go to Hooters. Right.
HOLMES: Well, Hooters does well.
And I'd like to thank my sister for that story. For whatever reason, my sister knew about this and told me about it. And there it is.
ROESGEN: Oh, OK. I'll thank your sister, too. I'll call her right after the news.
HOLMES: Thanks.
Thanks, sis.
(NEWSBREAK) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: The death of the woman with the gigantic eyelashes, Tammy Faye Messner. Her death has generated a lot of Internet traffic. And Veronica De La Cruz is here following that story.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: A lot. And you know the woman once known at Tammy Faye Bakker, a lot of people want to read more about her life. And it's all over the Web this morning. Web traffic is really phenomenal.
Just to give you some idea of how high the interest is, of the top five most popular videos on CNN.com this morning, the top four are about Tammy Faye.
CNN's Deborah Feyerick profiles her as an American original. And that is the number one video right now.
Also, clips of Tammy Faye's appearance last Thursday on CNN's "LARRY KING LIVE" continue to draw a lot of Web users.
We've also been looking at her official Web site this morning. It's tammyfaye.com, and traffic there has been really heavy. In fact, it took me several attempts to even be able to load the page, but once you are able to get on to the site, this is what you see. It's a remembrance that's been posted for her.
There are also other sections on this site, including her appearance on the reality show "Surreal Life". I don't know if you guys remember that.
But mostly it's the condolences that caught our attention this morning. And I wanted to share a couple of them for you.
This is from Nancy Buckley in Louisville, Kentucky, who says, "My heart goes out to yore loved ones. An inspiration to all women who stood by their husbands even when every fiber of their being wanted to leave. Tammy you showed grace and class especially in your most daunting hour. From Paul in Florida who says I am not religious. I was never a fan until the surreal life. Then I saw what a gem of a person Tammy Faye was. I just heard the news and I am truly sad. She will be missed."
And from Joe in Albany, New York, who writes, "I've always admired your spunk. Such sweetness and humor always erupted from your soul. You would always find goodness in everyone, everything. My prayers are with you and your family. You are now singing with the angels in heaven. God bless."
Just a small sample of the thoughts and prayers that are pouring in this morning at tammyfaye.com.
And in the next hour we're going to go ahead and take a look at a couple of other things on CNN.com, including our CNN political blog, "The Ticker".
CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues right now.
HOLMES: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING on this Sunday, July the 22nd. 8:00 a.m. how here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia; 7:00 a.m. in the heartland. I'm T.J. Holmes.
ROESGEN: And good morning, I'm Susan Roesgen, filling in again for Betty Nguyen.
Here's a question for you: Are tattoos at work still taboo?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If that image doesn't include tattoos, those individuals with tattoos are just out of luck.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: How the tattoo industry is trying to change the way some businesses hire.
HOLMES: Plus, do you recognize this guy? Well, of course you do. We're looking this hour at the presidential candidates' running mates. Yes, their spouses.
ROESGEN: Then at the half hour, politicians always promise better health insurance but in the real world we'll show you how you can get the most from your insurance company. That's on "House Call" coming up.
HOLMES: Well if you are making minimum wage get ready for a pay hike this week, on Tuesday the minimum wage increases by 70 cents an hour from $5.15 to $5.85. This is the first raise in minimum wage workers have gotten in the past ten years.
ROESGEN: A money raising effort in Virginia is making some drivers there made. Don't get caught if you're driving to Virginia. Because earlier this month Virginia started imposing huge new speeding fines, some as high as $2,500, but the new fines are only for Virginia drivers. Out of state drivers get a pass and that doesn't sit so well with Virginia voters. Some lawmakers are promising to change the law to include visiting speeding drivers.
HOLMES: A sigh of relief for people in St. Louis, they are back on the ground after several hours stuck in the Gateway Arch. A power outage left people stranded in trams and at the top of the 630-foot landmark. Many others were stuck at the bottom waiting for friends and family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We weren't in the arch but we were in the building. We were very impatient. We wanted to go. It was a chance to get to know our friends more and a learning experience clearly.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Well still not knowing what caused the power outage at the arch but tourists will be allowed back in if they dare in about an hour.
ROESGEN: In Texas many people are still out of their homes this morning forced out by flash floods. Rescue crews even had to pluck some people out of the water because it was just rising to fast, areas around San Antonio and Houston got more than a foot of rain in just about 12 hours. And as you can see it wasn't just people who were stuck. Some of the monkeys at a San Antonio Primate Reserve also had to scramble for whatever high ground they could find. No serious injuries there in that flooding.
HOLMES: Well those fast rising waters also stopped some California bound travelers stopped on an Amtrak train about 50 miles outside San Antonio, more than a 170 people stranded for at least eight hours. Now with more from Selena Hernandez of affiliate KENS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We've been here about nine hours I think.
SELENA HERNANDEZ, KENS: Stranded and seething.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sitting in one spot for eight hours is not fun. My brother was waiting for me in Fullerton, California.
HERNANDEZ: The Amtrak passengers travel plans derailed by Mother Nature. Their train stopped in its tracks as it headed from Louisiana to California.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They said that the train tracks had washed out.
HERNANDEZ: Leaving all aboard to sit, wait, and wonder for hours. For some it was almost enough to induce a conniption.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were in the dark for most of the time. We kept asking and asking.
HERNANDEZ: Finally helped rolled in. Weary passengers traded rails for roads and loaded up into chartered buses taking with them their uncharted experience on Amtrak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was really something else. It's really hard on you if you don't know what is going on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're Amtrak. We're survivors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: And more flooding. We have some new video in today, dramatic new pictures. This is in Britain where as you can see they're using helicopters as well as boats to get hundreds of people out of their homes. Many people had to be rescued here. This has been such a terrible year for flooding in Great Britain. In some areas they have received more than a month's worth of rain in just a few hours.
HOLMES: Our Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on things for us here. We have some flooding issues here in the U.S.
WOLF: Yes, we certainly do. We'll have a better day in parts of Texas. Yesterday Texas just got rocked by heavy rainfall. Today we are expecting some scattered showers there but only about a 30 percent chance, and that should come later in day so they will get a welcome break during the morning hours. Could see some rough weather in the northern half of the country right into the twin cities. This area of low pressure will mix in with some moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico and that could give us a good chance of thunderstorms especially between the hours of 3:00 and 6:00.
For the rest of the Great Lakes it's going to be just fantastic, high pressure building in from Chicago back to Detroit, even into Boston, New York, it's going to be just lovely for you. High temperatures mainly into the 70s, into the 80s, New York City going up to 81 degrees, 84 in Washington, 91 in Dallas, 102 in Los Vegas but really it's going to be fantastic in New York. Enjoy it while you can because tomorrow we're going to see those temperatures cool down a little bit more, which is not bad, but some rain will be moving into the forecast. Then for Tuesday through Thursday a mix of sunshine and clouds with highs back into the mid 80s. That is a look at your forecast across the nation. Let's send it back to the news desk.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, thank you, kind sir.
ROMANS: Well the one place where they could use a lot of rain is out west in Utah trying to get a break from the weather, the hot weather, as they fight ten wildfires all across the state. They're using helicopters to try to dump some water on it. It's a huge brushfire about 85 miles south of Salt Lake City. It has already burned more than 14,000 acres. High temperatures and low humidity is just making it hard to beat. And then in Kern County, California, firefighters are fighting this wildfire near Bakersfield. This one has burned about 150 acres and forced the evacuation of about 50 homes.
HOLMES: She was one of the most colorful characters ever to mix religion and television. Tammy Faye Bakker Messner dead now. She died Friday after a long battle with cancer. The family withheld news of her death until after she was cremated. Tammy Faye rose to prominence when she and her husband Jim Bakker operated the Christian television network PTL. She later divorced Bakker and married church builder Roe Messner. Tammy Faye was 65 years old.
ROESGEN: And there is a food recall that has been expanding this morning that we are letting people know about. You should check your cupboard for any canned goods processed by Castleberry Food Companies. This recall now involves more than 80 brands of canned chili, beef stew, corned beef hash, pet foods, and other meat products. Some of the brand names besides Castleberry that you'd like to look for are Kroeger, Food Lion, and Austex and then also Natural Balance Dog Food varieties. That's in addition to the ten brands Castleberry recalled on Thursday. It all comes after recent cases of botulism poisoning in Indiana and Texas. News affecting the work place this morning. We've already told you that the minimum wage goes up on Tuesday. Now a story about what a number of workers keep under wraps. Tattoos. CNN Stephanie Elam who has a number of tattoos reports now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Nearly 25 percent of Americans between 18 and 50 have tattoos according to a 2006 survey. In the 18 through 29-year-old demo, more than 35 percent of those surveyed had at least one tattoo. Tattoos are big business and big business doesn't seem to mind. At least when it comes to the office. Maybe it's because people tend to keep them under wraps from 9:00 to 5:00.
DARREN ROSA, TATTOO SHOP OWNER: And in general a lot of people say, you know, I deal with the public or there's a dress code. I can't have my tattoos show and if, say, they get a tattoo like this, a sleeve, it will stop here which is called three-quarters sleeve.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice resume.
ELAM: Fewer than 10 percent of companies have established guidelines on tattoos according to the Career Counseling and Research Firm Vault. Maybe more companies would if a majority of employees didn't cover up.
MARK OLDMAN, CO-PRESIDENT, VAULT INC: There's a big difference between the angry tattoo, you know, the large skull and crossbones tattoo and the more discreet heart or butterfly or anchor on your ankle. Still, some employers might be against that.
ELAM: Tattoos have definitely gone mainstream. For one thing people like him, they're known as artists and they rarely work in parlors anymore, they work in studios instead. Rosa says he feels a sense of responsibility.
ROSA: We have people come in and they want something on their hand. You don't look like you're past 21. You want your hands?
ELAM: So you actually say something to somebody?
ROSA: Oh, yes.
ELAM: And have them think about it?
ROSA: And we turn them away.
ELAM: But an artist's compassion can only do so much.
ROBERT LIPMAN, EMPLOYMENT LAWYER: Employers can hire individuals to portray the image they want and if that image doesn't include tattoos, those individuals with tattoos are just out of luck.
ELAM: No wonder tattoos have spawned another industry. Tattoo removal. Stephanie Elam, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And we have some new video coming in to CNN this morning, a deadly bus crash site. The vehicle was full of tourists, just some horrible pictures. We are gathering details and will bring you the story real soon.
ROESGEN: Also ahead, back on the presidential campaign trail but this time it's this guy who is in the back seat for his presidential hopeful wife Hillary. Hear how he's handling that role; our running mate series is coming up after the break.
HOLMES: Also, a horse is not a horse, of course. This is a huge horse and the perfect example of the new Webster word, ginormous. You will meet her later, CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL CLINTON, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: You meet someone who will not be carried away just because they play hale to the chief every time you walk in a room, just because Air Force One is a nice airplane, just because Camp David is a good place to spend the weekend, you need somebody who will remember you as vividly on the day they leave the White House as they do on the day of the New Hampshire primary and that is my wife. I hope our next president Senator Hillary Clinton.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROESGEN: Former President Bill Clinton introducing his wife, the Democratic presidential candidate earlier this month in New Hampshire. You know, as presidential running mates go, he is a heavyweight but the big question is whether his White House legacy will hurt or help his wife's campaign.
HOLMES: And this morning CNN's Gary Tuchman takes a closer look at the man who hopes to become the first first husband.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
B. CLINTON: We met and had our first ate 36 years ago --
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (Voice over): Whoa. How about we speed this up a little. Bill Clinton, ex-president, his wife, wannabe next president. Their marriage complicated but you knew that, right?
B. CLINTON: Buy one, get one free.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had tea.
B. CLINTON: I know I've caused pain in my marriage. H. CLINTON: I'm not sitting here some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette.
B. CLINTON: I, William Jefferson Clinton, do solemnly swear. This task force will be chaired by the first lady. I did not have sexual relations with that woman.
H. CLINTON: This vast right-wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband.
B. CLINTON: I did have a relationship with Miss Lewinsky that was not appropriate.
H. CLINTON: Bill and I are closing one chapter of our lives and soon will be starting a new one.
TUCHMAN: A long, strange trip, and here we are.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If you were president, Senator Clinton, what would your husband do?
H. CLINTON: This is a fascinating question.
TUCHMAN: She says Bill Clinton would be her goodwill ambassador to the world. Hey, he's already started.
B. CLINTON: Together we can save millions of lives.
TUCHMAN: He's raised millions of dollars to fight Aids and millions more to help elect his wife, rallying Democrats, reminding them of a time they still believed in a place called hope.
AMY WALTER, "HOTLINE:" In contrast to where we are now, it seems much rosier.
TUCHMAN: Amy Walter edits the "Hotline," online political digest. Hillary Clinton, she says, has no greater campaign asset than her husband.
WALTER: African-American voters, Latino voters, these ties that he has built over the years of his presidency certainly are still there for his wife.
TUCHMAN: But so is all the Clinton baggage, images burned into the national consciousness, that hug with the girl in the beret, that long, sad walk across the White House lawn, a cottage industry built around deconstructing their marriage.
WALTER: Bill and Hillary Clinton have been part of the American political landscape for so long now that most people in this country have already -- already have their own story in their head about who they are.
TUCHMAN: In a recent CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll, more than 50 percent of Americans say they miss Bill Clinton, 41 percent say they don't. H. CLINTON: How fortunate we are indeed.
TUCHMAN: So Hillary Clinton walks a line hoping voters will remember the good old days more than the bad ones. Her husband is, after all, larger than life. But it's her time now.
Gary Tuchman, CNN, Chicago.
H. CLINTON: Thank you so much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And next week our running mate series continues when we introduce to you Ann Romney, wife of Mitt Romney.
ROESGEN: And coming up in the next hour right here, CNN political analyst Mark Preston will weigh in on tomorrow's Democratic presidential debate in South Carolina and this week's political headlines.
HOLMES: Well, new stock on Wal-Mart shelves soon. Faith-based action figures. Why the top retailer is taking a chance coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
ROESGEN: Plus, this huge hamburger with a pretty big price tag, too. What does it take to put it together? How many people could eat it?
And ahead on "House Call."
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks. Coming up on "House Call" this morning, we're helping you cut through the red tape of health insurance claims. An expert answers your questions plus we have a 1- 800-number where caseworkers are standing by ready to answer your questions.
Also, get an exclusive look inside the OR. as TV patient Andrew Speaker has part of his lung removed.
And learn why some experts are saying some video games can be healthy. That's coming up at 8:30 Eastern on "House Call."
HOLMES: And we have no doubt had our share of flooding problems here in the U.S. But they are having issues as well in Great Britain. These are live pictures out of Great Britain right now. Flooding happening there. Several rescues, just a mess in some parts. We will have a full report coming up for you at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A salad bar is a great place to get a balanced meal. Be careful. There are hidden calories and fat among all these healthful choices. Here are tips for navigating a salad bar with healthful eating in mind. Tip number one: UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch out for creamy dressings. I'd watch out for fried or bread type products that are cooked in oil and then I would additionally watch out for whole dairy.
COSTELLO: Tip number two --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is definitely more beneficial to load up on the raw veggie component. That's a great filler.
COSTELLO: And finally --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Another tip is maybe don't arrive to a salad bar or food bar like this starving. Have an apple on the way over or banana on the way over so you have a little bit of fullness coming into a situation like this.
COSTELLO: There's a lot of temptation at a salad bar. Keep these tips in mind the next time you make your salad bar selections.
Carol Costello, CNN.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: All right. What do you think of this, Dave Chappelle from White House press secretary? Our White House correspondent tells us about his run-in with a comedian up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROESGEN: We are just getting this new video and some new information about a fatal bus crash in France near Grenoble. The French police say at least 20 people were killed. They were polish religion pilgrims coming back from a trip in the Alps. The bus apparently had some sort of brake problem, took a 90-degree curve and plunged about 65 feet down the side of the river. Again, we believe two dozen people killed, another 20 injured and several others missing.
HOLMES: And now Veronica De La Cruz at the dot-com desk has been tacking things online for us. This time all things political.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, things are going well, for me at least.
HOLMES: But for others --
DE LA CRUZ: Not for a certain congressman who has issued a public apology. I'm sure you've heard this story and the ticker at CNN.com always popping with the latest campaign news. Let's start with this story on Congressman Christopher Shays. Apparently there was some sort of a loud altercation on Friday between Shays and Capitol Hill police. Now the Republican from Connecticut became upset when an officer stopped him from bringing a group of constituents into the capitol during a rainstorm, T.J. That entrance is supposed to be off limits to tourists. So Shays got into an argument with the officer and the word is that Shays apparently grabbed him by the lapel --
HOLMES: What?
DE LA CRUZ: Yeah. Well, that's the word on the street, but it must be true because Shays has since issued an apology. And that was a public apology.
Also this morning, supporters of the former Senator say they're ready for their man to throw his hat into the ring as an official candidate. Thompson has been flirting with a run for the White House, but that's it. As one supporter put it, what's the holdup, man? Come on. Thompson supporters have been voicing their thoughts online.
The most outstanding story of the past several days was a chance encounter outside the White House. Check this out, with comedian Dave Chappelle and our own Ed Henry ran into him. He's blogged about it on the ticker, talked about meeting Chappelle and it has generated more than 200 comments on the political blog. We will bring in Ed in now to talk to us about it this morning. Good morning, Ed.
ED HENRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: So what exactly happened here?
HENRY: I was just showing up for work. I wasn't looking for Dave Chappelle. He found me. Who would have thunk it? That's why I blogged about it. Some of the comments online are funny because people are thinking that as a White House correspondent I've lost my sense of breaking news. I was only writing it as a slice of life because one of the funniest parts of the beat is you never know who is going to show up. The U.N. Secretary-general is there or the prime minister of Israel, the next day it's Dave Chappelle. And I -- the only news part of it to me was that it was more fun but from a news part last weekend, you'll remember, Dave Chappelle was in the hospital because of exhaustion. This comes after apparently he sort of disappeared a couple of years ago mysteriously because he walked out of a comedy central contract. I literally had seen in the newspapers that people didn't know where he was and the fact he was at the White House made me think what in the world is he doing? Is he meeting with the president or what?
DE LA CRUZ: Come on, Ed. You didn't lose your sense of breaking news. You started writing about it immediately. I understand that you guys had a pretty interesting exchange.
HENRY: Yeah, the bottom line is he told me he wasn't meeting with the president; he was outside the White House gates because he was taking a long stroll from Georgetown to Capitol Hill. Viewers who have been there will realize that's a long stroll. I asked him what are you going to do next? Everyone wants to know. He said, I think maybe I want your job. He talked about how sometimes he watches the White House briefings. He probably sees the comedy in that sometimes, in some of our exchanges.
And finally he said I think I might want Tony Snow's job. I haven't had a chance to talk to Tony about it. Meeting Tony Snow is what Dave Chappelle walked away from. I think he should stick to comedy and not get into journalism or politics. DE LA CRUZ: Ed, we do appreciate you sharing that and blogging all about it and, like I said, over 200 comments on the ticker so definitely a really interesting story and, Ed, I'm sure it was a nice change of pace for you.
HENRY: It really was, thanks.
DE LA CRUZ: Thanks for waking up this morning with us, Ed.
And don't forget that you can read that at the ticker. It is CNN.com/ticker. He also told me -- he didn't tell me but he blogged that he also met Bo Derek, which is still a perfect ten.
HOLMES: What is Ed doing out there? He should be covering the White House. What are you doing?
DE LA CRUZ: He's blogging about everything that's taking place.
HOLMES: Rubbing elbows.
DE LA CRUZ: Exactly. Not just the politicians. He is covering the White House and he's doing a good job, thanks, Ed.
HOLMES: Thank you, Veronica and thank you Ed, really, for staying -- or getting up with us.
Still to come on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING, faux paw. Lost his paw to a tumor. Thanks to a new fake foot his future is looking a whole lot brighter.
ROESGEN: And only 3 years old and still growing. Sure to make horse history. We'll have the story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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