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CNN Sunday Morning
Death Toll From Bangladesh Cyclone Continues to Climb; Global Warming as a Political Issue
Aired November 18, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, November the 18th now. Good morning to you all. I'm TJ. Holmes.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you, I'm Veronica De La Cruz. In this morning for Betty Nguyen. Good morning to you.
HOLMES: Nice to have you again.
DE LA CRUZ: Always nice to be here. I'm having a great time.
HOLMES: We're glad to have you. Enjoy this one last hurrah that we have you here for this morning.
DE LA CRUZ: We'll make it a good one. It is now 7:00 in the east, 6:00 in the evening in Bangladesh, the death toll continues to climb and relief agencies are scrambling to help cyclone victims. We'll have much more on this developing story, including a live report with out Cal Perry; he is standing by right now.
HOLMES: Also, we're going to be talking about uninvited speakers. They were not on the list of invited guests. Actually, they're hecklers targeting politicians. We got some video in overnight that you have got to see.
DE LA CRUZ: Speaking of video you've got to see, we've got implosions. You know how much we love them here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. T.J., did you do this for me?
HOLMES: Well, I think they did it for me. I was gone a couple of weekends ago and they did an implosion without me.
DE LA CRUZ: We have not one, but we have two implosions. We have one for each of us, I think.
HOLMES: We have one live, even. A hotel is going down in Miami.
DE LA CRUZ: We want to start with the latest out of Bangladesh; we start with the rush to help the hundreds of thousands of cyclone victims there. The search for survivors is turning up more victims. Today, the Associated Press quotes officials as saying more than 2,200 people were killed when a cyclone slammed into the country Thursday. Officials say more than 200,000 are homeless. The government is using helicopters, ships, thousands of troops and elephants to reach storm victims. We have Dan Rivers and Cal Perry covering the story for us. Let's begin with Cal Perry who is traveling with the Aid Organization, Save the Children in Bangladesh. Cal joins us now by phone. He's just south of Dhaka. Hello to you, Cal. Give us your exact location and tell us the situation there.
CAL PERRY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): I would estimate that we're about probably 200 kilometers north of the southern tip of Bangladesh. As you mentioned we're traveling with Save the Children. The further south you get here in Bangladesh, you realize the incredible effort that's going to have to be done to take care of more than 240,000 families who are left homeless by this incredible storm.
You have to keep in mind, this is the biggest delta in the world and it lies just feet above sea level. So you can imagine how difficult it is to reach these areas. As we've been saying all along, with these government figures and figures of the death toll, there are still vast areas of the country that simply haven't been reached. As you drive through southern Bangladesh, you can see why, with trees across the road, power lines down, homes destroyed. And there's islands, a whole groups of them off the coast of southern Bangladesh where the government simply has not been and where aid organizations have not been.
So we're traveling with aid organizations now south to try to get an idea of how much help is needed, how much food is needed. They said the major three things they're going to try to bring down are food, water and shelter, the basic needs for more than 200,000 people left homeless by this storm.
DE LA CRUZ: Cal, this is day three. I know you're traveling with Save the Children. Tell us about the government and aid organizations and how they're prioritizing the rescue and recovery efforts at this point. What is their priority right now?
PERRY: Well, the priority right now is first, of course, to rescue anyone that's trapped from the storm, obviously. Secondly is to recover the bodies. Now, the aid organization, because we are coming up on 72 hours after the storm, our concern are disease, of course, any place you have standing stagnant water, you can find disease days afterwards, diseases like typhoid. So they're trying to get to these areas, see how bad the situation is, bring in medicine, bring in food and try to help people. But again, it's incredibly difficult. We're talking three days after the storm and we're just getting the roads cleared here in Bangladesh.
The government has done a lot to prepare for this storm. In 1991, there was a giant cyclone that killed some 130,000 people. Since then, they've built thousands of shelters and that seems to have made a huge difference here in Bangladesh. But again, with giant sections of the country still out of touch, communications completely down, the infrastructure absolutely destroyed, the phones, the power, it's a very difficult job for these aid organizations. DE LA CRUZ: I know, Cal, you had mentioned as far as infrastructure was concerned, the country had been brought to its knees. Hopefully we see that situation improve. Cal Perry traveling with Save with Children, Cal we do appreciate the update.
I know many of you are at home watching this and I'm sure that you want to help. You can always head to our Website, CNN.com/impact. There we have a list of various aid organizations. Again that address CNN.com/impactyourworld.
Talking tough, U.S. envoy John Negroponte delivered a blunt message to Pakistan's president. The two held face to face talks yesterday. Negroponte said he told President General Pervez Musharraf to lift the state of emergency before upcoming elections and release all political detainees. Pakistan is a key U.S. ally in the war on terror and the raging political crises there has Washington on edge.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN NEGROPONTE, DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE: The United States believes that the best way for any country to counter violent extremism is to develop and nurture a moderate political center. We believe this is true for Pakistan, as well, and in my talks, I encouraged reconciliation between political moderates as the most constructive way forward.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Musharraf did not commit to lifting the emergency order, saying it is needed to ensure a fair election in January.
And today at 11:00, CNN's Wolf Blitzer talks to former Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. "Late Edition" don't miss it. That's this morning at 11:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: When you think of sexy political issues, global warming may not be the first thing to come to mind. Still, it is important, even a critical issue. So why won't this issue get that much traction in the political race? Our senior political analyst Bill Schneider reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL SCHNEIDER, CNN POLITICAL ANAYLST (voice over): Environmental activists are frustrated. They want global warming to be a big issue in the presidential campaign. So a coalition of environmental groups led by online magazine Grist.org and public radio international Living on Earth held the first ever presidential forum on global warming in Los Angeles this weekend. They invited 17 presidential candidates. Three showed up. They spoke passionately about the crisis.
HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot afford to fiddle while the world warms.
SCHNEIDER: They offered plans to fight global warming. (UNIDENTIFIED MALE): You set forth a number of initiatives.
SCHNEIDER: Do voters care about the issue? They've seen hurricane Katrina, California wildfires, the Asian tsunami, and a cyclone in Bangladesh. Many have seen Al Gore's Oscar winning movie and heard about his Nobel Peace Prize. Now they're reading front page stories about a U.N. report that calls the crisis so severe and so sweeping that urgent global action is needed.
JOHN EDWARDS (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The American people are hungry to do something as a national community.
SCHNEIDER: The candidates are pushing the issue.
CLINTON: I speak about it everywhere that I go to try to get it into the bloodstream of the presidential campaign.
SCHNEIDER: Why is it so difficult? The organizers of the forum blame the media. Oh, sure, the press covered the issue. CNN ran a week-long series "Planet in Peril," but they don't cover it as a campaign issue. Grist writer David Roberts argues that's because global warming doesn't fit the conventional model of political coverage.
DAVID ROBERTS, GRIST.ORG: And it doesn't fit very well into the horse race coverage. There is not really a hook with one candidate jabbing another or one candidate making a gaff.
SCHNEIDER: The press wants conflict. Like a protestor confronted Senator Clinton at the Global Warming. Can't resist that.
CLINTON: Were you invited to speak here this afternoon?
SCHNEIDER: What would it take to get global warming covered as a campaign issue?
ROBERTS: Perhaps if, you know, John Edwards' hair caught on fire because of global warming, then we could get it.
SCHNEIDER: Voters are concerned about global warming. The candidates here all have plans to deal with global warming. But this forum tried to deal with the most difficult issue of all. How to get global warming on to the political agenda.
Bill Schneider, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We'll have more a little later this morning. CNN's political producer Sasha Johnson joins us at 9:00 Eastern to talk about the debate and the Iowa caucus. You can watch that CNN Las Vegas debate at 6:00 and 10:00 Eastern.
We will now turn to news just happening this morning. Another -- let's listen. You see and you're not going to see a hotel in just a moment. What we are showing you here is the Sheraton Bal Harbour, this is in Miami. This is a historic hotel that is no longer a hotel. And you know we love implosions.
DE LA CRUZ: We love implosions.
HOLMES: On CNN SUNDAY MORNING. But a 645 room hotel, really a historical hotel, it's been around a long time. I believe it opened in the 50s to the public as the Americana. It's just another staple of the party scene there in Miami beach that is no longer.
DE LA CRUZ: You know, I've been there and it was time for it to come down.
HOLMES: What?
DE LA CRUZ: It's close to the fountain blue. Well, you know, it was a historic hotel, but you know they're going to tear it down and you know what they're going to build in its place, right?
HOLMES: A bigger and better hotel.
DE LA CRUZ: Right.
HOLMES: And a part of this story here, actually, the rat pack held court there, President Kennedy.
DE LA CRUZ: Just like Vegas.
HOLMES: Just like Vegas. Stayed at that hotel, President Kennedy just days before his assassination.
DE LA CRUZ: And the company that did that implosion had a pretty busy week, I'd say.
HOLMES: They've been busy in Vegas; they had a party, if you will. Check this out. Rarely do you see an implosion start with a fireworks show. At 2:30 in the morning, no less. This one rivaled any Fourth of July spectacular. Then came the real countdown, even that was done in grand Vegas style, 16 story high numbers and a giant plunger. Stand by for the boom. Wait for it. And there it is.
Reduced to rubble, making way for a new mega resort. This implosion was covered from all angles. The front view camera, destroyed. The window washer's view? That camera is gone, as well. What do you think happened to the camera inside the building? Pretty safe to say that one was destroyed, too. We have the slow motion video. The Frontier was a familiar face in the Las Vegas strip for more than 50 years, the marquis once promoted such legendary entertainers as Wayne Newton, and interestingly enough Ronald Regan. Elvis Presley also played his first Las Vegas concert at the old Frontier. One more time for you now.
DE LA CRUZ: Very nice job, T.J. That was very nice on the narration there.
HOLMES: You know how I get about implosions.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, I know how you get that way. Why do you think people enjoy watching this? I mean --
HOLMES: I don't know. It's something about bringing down -- look at that. A huge building like that. The science of it.
DE LA CRUZ: The Frontier, another staple in Las Vegas history, and there it goes. I know how much you enjoy implosions. I thank you for bringing us two today. T.J. Holmes, driving that implosion bus.
Bonnie Schneider, are you on that bus? Is this something you enjoy watching?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I don't know. I don't know. Again and again -- no, I don't know.
DE LA CRUZ: He did a great job with the narration.
SCHNEIDER: He did a great job.
HOLMES: I was into it.
SCHNEIDER: All right. Well you know, this morning, I don't know if you guys like to run, but there's a lot of people running in Philadelphia. Not like Rocky. I don't think they're running up the steps of the Museum of Fine Arts, but they certainly are running in the marathon. This race just began. It started at 7:00. You can see that they're enjoying some pretty good wet running weather. Temperature there is 42 degrees, overcast skies. The chance of rain comes in after 1:00, so most of the runners should have completed the marathon by then. Have a great run and good luck to everyone. That's quite a feat.
We're going to have more coming up, including your travel weather forecast. So stay tuned, CNN SUNDAY MORNING will be right back.
HOLMES: All right. Thank you, Bonnie, 42 degrees, that's good running weather. I need to run.
All right. Well wildlife is being ruined, beaches being affected in northern California. That's what 58,000 gallons of spilled oil will do. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well what else do hurricane victims need to worry about? Now they have something else, toxic air that they have to be worried about. Inside the FEMA issue trailers, about 48,000 Gulf Coast hurricane victims still living in those trailers and they're now asking a judge to force FEMA to test the air. FEMA was supposed to do that earlier this month. Now the agency says it needs more time.
DE LA CRUZ: And to San Francisco, some Bay area beaches closed by a large oil spill have reopened. Officials say the owner of the ship that spilled the oil will be billed for the cleanup. The oil killed more than 1,100 birds, nearly that many live ones were rescued, and that is the good news. About 500 have been cleaned up. Something interesting they are doing T.J., they had these groups and environmentalists that were cleaning up the oil spill with human hair mats, these mats made out of human hair. Because hair absorbs oil naturally, so something that they were doing going around to all the salons and collecting human hair to do this.
HOLMES: You do what you got to do; you have to be creative in some of these things sometimes. Human hair, used to clean up the oil slick there.
DE LA CRUZ: Can you imagine how long it would take, though? I don't know how effective it was. It was good that they all got out there to volunteer.
HOLMES: And check out this picture. If you want to see this, you need to grab your diving gear. The old Texas clipper. It was sunk off the coast of South Padre Island Texas and it will be a huge artificial reef. The ship served as a Pacific Ocean troop transport in World War II. Also as a classroom at sea for more than 30 years.
DE LA CRUZ: While this may be you, a lot of people have already hit the road, getting an early start on their Thanksgiving holiday. But if you are one of those waiting until Wednesday, you'll have plenty of company. AAA says nearly 30 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more between Wednesday and Sunday. Most, some 31 million will drive and almost 5 million will fly. The rest are expected to go by train or bus.
HOLMES: It doesn't matter if they take planes, trains, or automobiles. Everybody wants to know about the weather is going to be doing for us over the holiday season. Bonnie Schneider in for Reynolds Wolf, always good to have you here. Bonnie, tell us or tell the travelers what they have to look forward to out there.
DE LA CRUZ: T.J. is not going anywhere.
SCHNEIDER: I think it is going to not so bad today. We only have a few trouble spots. Into Pennsylvania, if you're driving from Pittsburgh towards New Jersey, you will have a little wintry mix to contend with in and around the Pittsburgh area. Mostly light rain is falling. Right now, the temperature there is 37 degrees in Altoona; it is about freezing just slightly above, and in Gettysburg, warmer than that that. North Buffalo is also colder. We are getting a light wintering mix that will bring about some rain, but as far as accumulations go, it won't be too much. As long as you take it slow on the road, you shouldn't have a problem with that.
As we zoom into the region I want to show you a little precipitation working its way across New Jersey into the New York City area where temperatures are chilly this morning. Right around 40 degrees in New York. Out in Long Island we've got about 42 degrees, and plenty of heavy rain along I-10 as you look from Houston towards the parishes of Louisiana, that is where we're seeing some heavy downpours. So we are going to be seeing some wet weather there.
The rain will hold off for runners in the Philadelphia marathon. We have live pictures to show you. The race began at 7:00 this morning, right in front of the Museum of Fine Art. Look at those people go. Perfect weather for it. Temperatures are in the 40s and you have overcast skies. That rain should hold off, even if it comes in during the afternoon, it will be very, very light. It's a good day to take a long run.
Also, the course is favorable for runners because it's mainly flat and that's key.
HOLMES: So I'm told by other runners. That is key.
DE LA CRUZ: I just saw the New York City marathon and it was quite impressive, all those people out there. Definitely, you know, completing a goal, a dream for a lot of people, you know?
HOLMES: I say I'm going to do it. Reynolds and I actually made a packet that we're going to try and run a marathon this year.
DE LA CRUZ: Bonnie I think we should hold them to it.
SCHNEIDER: And maybe we'll join them, Veronica.
HOLMES: Of course it's Sunday. A lot of people are going to be going to church. That means a lot of people will be praying. Certainly a lot of people pray.
DE LA CRUZ: Do your prayers get answered? We're going to be talking a little bit more about it later on this morning. And this as well. How will do you really know the presidential candidates? T.J., there's so many. I mean, it's really hard to keep up. Have you thrown your hat in the ring yet on a president?
HOLMES: No. I'm more of a governor of Arkansas kind of guy.
DE LA CRUZ: In just minutes, we'll take a look at the Democratic from New Mexico Bill Richardson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A secret audio tape is sitting on what U.S. forces sometimes face on the battlefield in Iraq.
DE LA CRUZ: It speaks to what is often called the fog of war. CNN's Brian Todd reports.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): A window into the confusion of combat. The aftermath of a marine unit's fire fight in Iraq. August 2006, after taking hostile fire on their patrol boat on the Euphrates River near Ramadi and returning fire, the unit is briefed by their commanding officer, Captain Shane Cote.
CAPT. SHANE COTE, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Up on the roof, there was like five women and a little girl, OK? We -- that area up. I think I saw one of you kill a cow. All right? I know. I understand, though. If we did any collateral damage, there will be people here asking. Your answer, for the sake of myself yourself and me, better be, you were shooting.
TODD: Cote spoke of collateral damage but never definitively said woman and children were killed. Only what the marine should say if any one asked about it. The story was first reported by the Marine Corps Times, a private newspaper not affiliated with the military. A season's military attorney says Cote's remarks might imply he was telling his marines to get their stories straight and cover something up. Which could be obstruction or they could mean something else.
BRENT HARVEY, MILITARY LAW ATTORNEY: I think it's equally able to be interpreted as him saying, I hope for your sake that you were shooting at muzzle flashes and that's what you saw, which would be the appropriate way to go about it.
TODD: A marine spokesman tells CNN an investigation found no evidence of noncombatant deaths, meaning no women and children were killed and there was no criminal misconduct. But Cote was relieved of his command last year and involuntarily transferred to an inactive section of the reserves for what marines call issues of leadership and other instances. We tried to repeatedly to reach Captain Cote for his side of the story. Through the marines his wife said he would be interested in speaking with CNN in the future, but the timing was not right to speak now.
The audio was secretly reported by a sergeant in Cote's unit. The marines say investigators verified it was Cote on the tape and it was not edited. The Sergeant Henry Butts said he gave the audio to superiors. Sergeant Butts tells CNN he never got along with Captain Cote and he had been taping his own conversations with the captain for some time.
SGT. HENRY L. BUTTS, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Like I was the worst marine on the planet in his eyes. I think he hated me. I don't know why he hated me.
TODD: But Sergeant Butts also admits he was not there during the fire fight in question, Sgt. Butts is still an active member of the Marine Corps. Marine officials tell us other administrative decisions regarding Cote's status are pending.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington. . (END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Wounded troops returning home, seeking medical help and getting caught up in the red tape. Dr. Sanjay Gupta investigates, waging war on the VA. You can see it tonight at 8:00 Eastern. Only on CNN.
HOLMES: This week Georgia's Governor Sonny Perdue led a prayer service on the capital, he was praying for rain and wouldn't you know it the next day, his prayers were answered because it rained. Does praying really help? That's our subject in today's "Faces of Faith."
DE LA CRUZ: Looking forward to that.
You know, T.J., despite all the rain in the southeast, still in a drought. Are you doing your part?
HOLMES: Shorter showers, bottled water. You might be able to scent from my scent that I didn't take a long enough shower this morning. Just kidding, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: OK.
The rain that we have right now is really to the south the area that we needed. Let's take a look at the radar picture. There's rain in Georgia, but it's mainly south. We need it in the north. It doesn't look like it's coming this way. Our forecast for the next 48 hours keeps the rain in Mississippi and a little bit into Alabama. I'll have more on the forecast for rain and your travel forecast. It's getting very busy out there. A lot of folks are heading to where they need to go for Thanksgiving. I'll have a look at that all coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Hey there. Good morning to you and welcome back.
I'm Veronica De La Cruz, in for Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes.
Good morning to you all.
DE LA CRUZ: The issues are hot, the debates even hotter. Plenty of candidates to choose from, but who fights for what you believe in?
HOLMES: You need to check this out. It's the candidate calculator at VAJoe.com. You simply express your views on up to 23 issues and the survey reveals for you your ideal candidate.
DE LA CRUZ: Now, for example, let's say you don't support the No Child Left Behind Program, but you are in favor of the Patriotic Act, you support citizenship of illegal immigrants and oppose the building of a border fence with Mexico. Finally, you do support the Iraq war.
HOLMES: Yes. If those are your choices, then according to the calculator your ideal match...
DE LA CRUZ: Who?
HOLMES: ... Democratic governor Bill Richardson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Fourteen years in Congress, U.N. ambassador, secretary of Energy, governor of New Mexico, negotiated with dictators in Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Zaire, Nigeria, Yugoslavia, Kenya. Got a cease-fire in Darfur, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize four times.
So, what makes you think you can be president?
HOLMES (voice over): That's the big question, right? And though Bill Richardson's campaign chose to poke some fun at his experience, the 60-year-old New Mexico governor really wants you to know he thinks he's the most qualified candidate of either party to seek the nomination. But in a race packed with early front-runners, it's been hard for his campaign to gain traction, and he continues to poll in the middle of the pack.
GOV. BILL RICHARDSON (D-NM), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: (SPEAKING SPANISH).
HOLMES: Born in California, Richardson was raised in Mexico City and is the first Latino to make a serious run for the White House. He moved from the U.S. in his teens to go to high school in college.
On his issues, he's repeatedly called for a full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, with the redeployment of forces to Afghanistan and other terror hotspots. He supports comprehensive immigration reform but opposes the border fence being built between the U.S. and Mexico.
On gay rights, he splits hairs, opposing gay marriage, but supporting legal rights and benefits for same-sex partners.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, Republicans will be in the spotlight next hour when we take a closer look at candidate Ron Paul.
DE LA CRUZ: Bangladesh battered by a strong cyclone, and the death toll is rising. The Associated Press now quoting Bangladeshi officials who say there are more than 2,200 dead. That number is expected to rise. There are still thousands of people missing, and thousands more have no homes to go back to.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, President Bush has promised $2.1 million of emergency relief. He's calling it just an initial contribution. Also, two U.S. Navy ships are on their way to aid in the relief efforts.
DE LA CRUZ: The devastation in southern Bangladesh is widespread. Debris is strewn everywhere and there are large areas totally cut off.
CNN's Dan Rivers is in southern Bangladesh.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this graphically illustrates the problems facing the international aid organizations and the government. This bridge has been swept away by the force of Cyclone Sidr. And that means getting aid into this devastated area is going to be very difficult, indeed.
You can see all around me is the rubble of this village that has been very badly destroyed. You can see over here people are cooking outside. They're surviving with what they can, having made sort of temporary shelters here from the remains of their homes.
We talked to one man here who says he's lost his home and his three children, who were swept away when those storm surge waters came in. And his story is repeated all the way down here. There are hundreds of families on this one riverbank alone who have been forced to camp out.
The president of Bangladesh has been here handing out a few bags of rice and some aid for the cameras, mostly, but any large-scale aid operation has yet to reach this place.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Kolapara, southern Bangladesh.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: California officials say they know what caused two of the wildfires that devastated San Diego County last month. Officials blame sparking power lines were igniting two of the fires that killed two people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, the West Coast may be getting some blustery winds this week. And on the other side of the country, some areas are getting a little snow.
HOLMES: Snow.
DE LA CRUZ: Something that I love and enjoy.
HOLMES: It's holiday time, so we might as well be talking about snow.
(WEATHER REPORT)
DE LA CRUZ: Well, the power of prayer, big question, does it work? Some of you might be surprised at the answer.
HOLMES: Also, the longest season in professional sports is wrapping up today. And it may be coming with little fanfare and little drama. Sports analyst, our pal, Rick Horrow, he's just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. And the severe drought in the South nothing short of desperate. With nowhere else to turn and nothing to lose, Georgia governor Sonny Perdue led a prayer village last week at the capitol to ask God for rain. The next day, would you believe it, it rained. Just a bit, but still, it was enough to make some people smile and say, hey, maybe the governor's plan worked, there was welcomed moisture.
Well, was it a coincidence or evidence of divine intervention?
Dr. Harold Koenig is the co-author of the book "The Healing Power of Prayer." He teaches at Duke University, where he is founder of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health.
Dr. Koenig, thank you so much for being with us this morning. Good morning, sir.
We see there that the governor prayed for rain, it rained, so that's all the evidence we need, right? Prayer works.
DR. HAROLD KOENIG, DUKE UNIVERSITY: Well, as you said it, they prayed and it rained. So what else can you say?
HOLMES: So what else can you say? Well, some people might say that the governor maybe saw the weather forecast a couple of days before and he timed it out just right. And I don't know, got a few -- a bump in his approval ratings or something.
So is it really fair of us to try to explain something like the supernatural through science? A lot of people might see this and say, yes, it worked, and some people might say, hey, it's the weather system, it was just weather.
KOENIG: Well, you know, you've got two things here. One is, are you looking at this from a purely scientific standpoint or are you looking at it from a faith standpoint?
From a scientific standpoint there's really no evidence that prayer works. Now, of course, is science the right way or the right approach to try to determine whether prayer works.
Not everything can be proven by science. And prayer is probably one of those things that you can't really study.
HOLMES: Now some people will hear that and just hate -- just cringe when they hear you say, there's no evidence that prayer works. But people pray for different reasons.
Why?
KOENIG: Well, people pray for many different reasons. One reason is to develop a closer relationship with God and to dialogue with the creator.
Prayer does a lot of things for people, both individually and as a community. As an individual, it can give a person a sense of peace, a sense of hope, a sense of control. And as a community, it can bring a community together. People can feel closer to one another when they pray together and they have a common belief system and they go before God together.
HOLMES: Now, you mentioned that peace of mind that it can bring people. And so often, people do pray for others who are sick, they pray for their own health.
Can it work in this sense, that you have that better peace of mind? You have a confidence, you have a faith, and in turn, that mindset and that comfort can help in your overall well-being and your healing? KOENIG: That's exactly where we think -- what we think science can study, and it has actually shown that, that people who pray have a better sense of peace and hope. And consequently, their body changes physiologically. The natural healing systems in the body appear to become activated when people are more peaceful and are not stressed out over things like not having rain.
HOLMES: Now, is damage being done, do you think, by some of these studies, that study of the power of prayer? And there are so many results that come out there, and it may take away a little bit, because of course you know the results are all over the place on these studies. But does it take away from some of the people who do believe and maybe give some false hope in other areas?
Do we really even need to be studying this?
KOENIG: I don't think that we should be studying prayer in trying to prove that God exists or that prayer occurs in a supernatural way, because I don't think we can study that. I think it's outside of the realm of natural science. I do think, though, that we can study what effect does praying have on a person's psychological, physiological state and their relationships with others?
HOLMES: All right. Well, pray for rain. The rain came. And a lot of people just will leave it at that.
Sir, I certainly prayed that this segment would go well and it did.
Dr. Harold Koenig, founder of the Center for Spirituality, Theology and Health.
Sir, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
KOENIG: Thank you, T.J.
DE LA CRUZ: Prayers answered. Nice job, T.J.
Iraq's first Catholic cardinal is headed to Rome to be ordained by Pope Benedict XVI. Emmanuel Delly was elevated to cardinal last month but now he's headed to the official ceremony. Delly has a big job ahead of him in a country where Christians are sometimes targeted and churches bombed. Delly must find a way to help Catholics hold on to their faith.
HOLMES: All right. Checkered flag now just hours away. Excuse me. And you know...
DE LA CRUZ: And your countdown.
HOLMES: ... I love NASCAR. So I'm choked up here over it.
DE LA CRUZ: But you've got to explain this to me, T.J. The cars, they go around the same track over and over again for hours.
HOLMES: There's a lot more to it.
DE LA CRUZ: I don't understand the appeal. Somebody explain it to me.
HOLMES: It's a team sport. There's strategy involved. We're talking pit stops, we're talking all this stuff.
DE LA CRUZ: No. You know...
HOLMES: It's crucial.
DE LA CRUZ: ... bring me in at the end, bring me in to see the crashes, to see them cross the finish line.
HOLMES: No, no, no.
Rick...
DE LA CRUZ: How can you sit in one spot and watch this...
HOLMES: Rick, do you hear this?
RICK HORROW, SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: I hear it.
DE LA CRUZ: It's the same thing.
HOLMES: Do you hear this?
HORROW: Here you go, right here.
DE LA CRUZ: It's the same thing over and over again, Rick.
HORROW: We need to teach her a little bit about what's going on.
HOLMES: We will teach her a little bit.
HORROW: Yes, please.
HOLMES: And we're going to take a quick break and we're going to have our guy, Rick Horrow, here to explain some of this to us.
HORROW: Get back quick.
HOLMES: All right. We'll see you here in a second, Rick.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. We love the boom, you know that. Out with the old, in with the new. A landmark hotel comes tumbling down, making way for a new jewel in Miami.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Three, two, one, and down it goes. An early morning implosion in Miami Beach.
It was the old Sheraton Bal Harbour hotel. Now, just a pile of rubble. We saw it a little earlier right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING. The old hotel being moved out of the way to make room for a giant new condo.
Unfortunately, we can't hear the sounds. This was taken by our affiliate helicopter, WPLG. Now just a pile of rubble, something that T.J. loves to see.
HOLMES: We love...
DE LA CRUZ: An implosion for T.J.
HOLMES: Implosions are us. That's what we're going to rename our show.
Well, NASCAR is putting the finishing touches on another season later today, and all that is left, one more race. And engraving the champion's name on that Nextel Cup. But they may have already started the process of engraving.
Sports news analyst Rick Horrow -- Pretty Ricky is what they call him -- now joining us from West Palm Beach, Florida.
Sir, always good to see you.
Is this a good season for NASCAR? It's the longest season in professional sports. We're wrapping it up and we already know who the champ is.
HORROW: Well, we don't really know yet, but we're pretty sure.
HOLMES: Oh, we know, Rick. Come on.
HORROW: No, we know. There could be a wreck. You know, it's uncertain.
It is clear that Jimmie Johnson's race to lose after 4,000 miles of racing with a chase for the championship tenure. By the way, should I put this away? Is that enough of this?
HOLMES: No. We like it. It's a nice touch.
HORROW: I'll gesture. I'll gesture.
We've still got to explain racing. You know, that's going to take a little while.
HOLMES: It's going to take a while.
HORROW: But here is the deal -- 75 million avid loyal fans, 150 corporations. A track which was purchased in New Hampshire for the same amount of money as you'd buy an NBA or NHL franchise now, a $6 billion business.
So you understand that NASCAR is growing. Ninety percent growth rate. If it were stock, you would buy it. HOLMES: OK. It's still growing? Because there was talks during the season that the season is just too long, people get burnt out and the stadiums -- or the tracks weren't as full like they had been and growing in the past couple of years. So you're telling me that NASCAR is still growing and still going the right direction?
HORROW: Yes. Now, but you've heard that in other sports, right? NBA season much too long during the playoffs.
HOLMES: Yes.
HORROW: You know, your Razorbacks ought to stop playing football right now. You know, NFL, for example. But the bottom line is that corporations are spending the money.
Television ratings have been flat. But in places like New York, where they want to build a track, it's increasing. The challenge is to expand beyond those southern roots, and NASCAR has done that.
HOLMES: They have done that. Do they need to expand and pick up a new fan base, if you will, or does it need to become more of a diverse fan base?
HORROW: Well, clearly, diverse. Forty percent are women right now, which is really key.
But, you know, kids, the next generation, the kids can't drive the family car until they're, what, 15 or 16. You could throw a football. So they've got plans to do some things.
I've got the "NASCAR Heroes" comic book right here where Shock and Diesel and Dash take over the world. And I just read this. This is pretty compelling reading, especially if you're a 7-year-old.
HOLMES: All right.
Well, today, it lacks the drama today. What do we expect as far as television ratings go? Because we're sitting here telling everybody Jimmie Johnson is going to win this thing.
HORROW: Yes, you are, but luckily people don't listen and believe everything you say.
HOLMES: We're the most trusted name in news. Yes they do believe what I say, Rick.
HORROW: Yes, yes, yes. No, I understand.
But here is the bottom line. The bottom line is, there's also diversity. It's a Super Bowl of racing.
Juan Pablo Montoya, for example, the Latin-American driver -- it's Miami. A 300 percent increase in merchandise sales.
Dario Franchitti is joining next year. So the people at NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr., still the most popular. He's not in the final chase.
So, NASCAR is the winner because it's not necessarily the home team or visiting team winning or losing, it's the drivers and the superstars. That's the way the racing industry and legacy will continue.
HOLMES: All right. We've got to let you go. We're going to let NASCAR go.
But I can't let you go without asking -- Barry Bonds indicted last week. Is this guy going to ever play baseball again in the major league?
HORROW: Probably not, but let's not convict him until a jury has a chance to hear the evidence.
HOLMES: All right then.
Rick Horrow -- Pretty Ricky is what they call him -- always good to see you, sir.
HORROW: Next week. Bye.
DE LA CRUZ: You know, you guys didn't even explain it to me. I thought that you were going to...
HOLMES: Commercial break...
DE LA CRUZ: All right.
HOLMES: ... I'll talk to you.
DE LA CRUZ: NASCAR, why people love NASCAR.
HOLMES: We'll talk about it.
DE LA CRUZ: All right.
In the meantime, what are CNN viewers checking on online? Josh Levs has that answer.
Good morning to you, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you, guys. Hey there.
You know what? A Saudi rape victim has had her punishment increased. Yes, you heard me correctly.
Also today, people taking a look at this story. Religious scholars are debating the flying spaghetti monitor.
And the Reverend Al Sharpton is carrying on a James Brown Thanksgiving tradition.
We're going to tell you all about that coming up from the .com/DESK -- T.J.
HOLMES: He said the flying spaghetti monster?
LEVS: Flying spaghetti monster. I'm telling you.
DE LA CRUZ: He did say flying spaghetti monster.
LEVS: The flying spaghetti monster.
HOLMES: And he wonders why we don't give him more air time.
LEVS: Oh, go on.
HOLMES: But moving on here, folks, how much would you pay for a UFO? It's part of a Hollywood memorabilia collection. Can you guess what movie this is from?
That's coming up at 8:00.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Wait a second. I'm confused. That was my music. Am I supposed to...
LEVS: Yes. Come on, my music today.
HOLMES: Oh. Josh taking...
DE LA CRUZ: Wow.
HOLMES: ... taking command of the .com/DESK.
DE LA CRUZ: I know. All right.
I'm out of the way now.
LEVS: I've got the reins.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Well, tell us what's going on then, Josh Levs, in the CNN.com world
LEVS: Yes. I know, we're getting close to the top of the hour. Some hot stories. I want to bang through them.
Let's get to this first one. I'm really glad this took off because it's so important about this.
A Saudi rape victim, she is 19 years old. She had been raped after she had went to meet with a male whom she knew. Some people abducted both of them and raped both of them.
Well, they got punished, but she was also punished to 90 lashes for having gone to meet with an unrelated male. Now her side pushed for stricter penalties against the rapist. They got those, but they also are sending her to jail for six months and giving her 200 lashes for having talked to the media, allegedly trying to aggravate the judiciary.
More on that at .com.
Now let's move on to what you guys were hearing me talk about, the flying spaghetti monster.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes.
LEVS: This was actually part of the debate over evolution versus creationism in a way. There's someone who was frustrated with a public school distinct that did not want to just talk about evolution, that wanted to start teaching intelligent design. So he said, well, I believe in the flying spaghetti monster. You should have to teach that too.
Now religious scholars are taking on that and they're talking about the nature of religion versus evolution, how do you decide what should be taught and not be taught.
DE LA CRUZ: All right.
LEVS: Firing up on .com, one of the biggest ones.
DE LA CRUZ: I think he just got hit us his air time back.
HOLMES: He did.
LEVS: See?
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Can we just show the video? Do we have a second? Could we look at that really quickly No? Thanksgiving video, James Brown?
All right. Cool. We got it. We get to do it.
DE LA CRUZ: OK.
LEVS: Look at this. There you go.
James Brown, as we know, used to give away Thanksgiving turkeys every year. Right? And it was a really popular tradition in Augusta, Georgia.
He, of course, has died. A lot of people miss him very much. Well, in order to carry on his memory and what they used to do, the Reverend Al Sharpton is going to carry on the James Brown tradition in the hometown of Augusta, Georgia, starting tomorrow. He's going to be giving away the turkeys.
It's a chance for everyone in town to carry on, you know, some of his memory, and also the good work that he used to do for charity in that town right there, Augusta, Georgia.
DE LA CRUZ: Right. Right.
LEVS: And we'll have video tomorrow as it happens.
DE LA CRUZ: Is he going to dance?
LEVS: You know, I was wondering about that, is he going to try to copy the thing?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes. Is he going to do the whole thing? I mean, if you're going to go out there and carry on the James Brown tradition, you've got to shake a leg, right?
LEVS: Well, maybe you guys will go over there and help him out a little bit.
DE LA CRUZ: T.J.?
HOLMES: We are not going to desecrate that man's memory by trying to dance like him.
DE LA CRUZ: Something in the Thanksgiving spirit. No? All right.
HOLMES: Josh, thank you.
DE LA CRUZ: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: You got it. Thanks.
HOLMES: Yes, from the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. November 18th, 8:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, 7:00 in the evening in Bangladesh.
Hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.
DE LA CRUZ: Nice to see you, good morning to you, I'm Veronica De La Cruz in this morning for Betty Nguyen.
Want to get you now to some of the news. Back and forth bickering between President Bush and Congress over Iraq heating up. This morning there are strong words about funding the war.
HOLMES: And say hello to Dubai another American network makes its day view.
DE LA CRUZ: But we start this hour with Bangladesh battered by a strong cyclone and the death toll rising. The Associated Press is now quoting Bangladesh officials who say there are more than 2,200 dead and that number is expected to rise. Relief efforts are in full swing and the U.S. is promising to help. President Bush has pledged more than $2 million and sending two navy ships to the area.
Tragic scenes of death and destruction, it's hard not to be affected, but if you are a Bangladesh immigrant, the news is especially difficult. CNN's Allan Chernoff visits a New York community touched by the disaster.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In the markets, stores and on every street corner, the talk in Jackson Heights is of Bangladesh.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): How is your family?
CHERNOFF: New York is home to a large population of Bangladesh immigrants.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): Brooklyn and a lot of people. A lot of people are here.
CHERNOFF: Most of them know someone affected by the cyclone.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): People are in miserable situations.
CHERNOFF: Kazi Shamsul he is working overtime covering the storm for his newspaper.
KAZI SHAMSUL, NEWSPAPER EDITOR: I'm calling Bangladesh; I'm taking the news in the computer and on the web sites from Bangladesh. I'm talking to my people in Bangladesh.
CHERNOFF: Kazi lived through a cyclone that killed a half million people.
SHAMSUL: I cannot even describe to you. It's so painful.
CHERNOFF: Images of cyclone bring back memories of past disasters.
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): My sister living in Baghdad.
CHERNOFF: In fear for families awaiting word.
MOSHIN NONI, STORE OWNER: So many customers are asking me about these things and everybody is worried about their family.
CHERNOFF: The biggest worry is families who refuse to evacuate.
SHAMSUL: Most of the people are poor. They know when they are living in a place; they are leaving all their savings.
CHERNOFF: And with phone lines down, tensions run high.
(UNIDENTIFED FEMALE): The communication is no good right now. They can't reach their relatives.
CHERNOFF: Until they get news, residents rely on each other for support.
NONI: I hope they are doing fine back home.
CHERNOFF: Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: A deadly fire to tell you about this morning at the world's largest oil producer, the blaze broke out in an oil-rich area of eastern Saudi Arabia. They tell the Associated Press that 28 people were killed. The company says maintenance workers accidentally started the fire while connecting new pipes.
A gruesome discovery in Iraq. And a reminder of sectarian tension, Iraqi officials say a mass grave with three dozen people was found in the Dorra Sunni district of southern Baghdad. The bodies were badly decomposed, police believe all were Shiites. Officials think they were killed by al Qaeda with in Iraq within the past three years.
DE LA CRUZ: Now let's talk money. The debate over funding the war in Iraq has become a battle in and of itself. The president and Congress are deadlock once again and both sides are slugging it out on the airwaves. CNN's Laura Taylor has that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURA TAYLOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With two more spending bills for the Iraq war killed in the Senate, President Bush lashed out at Democrats on Saturday.
PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: During the time of war our troops deserve full support of Congress and that means giving our troops the funding they need to successfully carry out their mission.
TAYLOR: One of the blocked proposals for troop funding came from Republicans and their measure called for $70 billion in funding without provisions on the money. Another bill from Democrats would have provided $50 billion for the conflict, but had a stipulation that troops begin being pulled out within 30 days. Their message, President Bush needs to accept limits that he is going to get the funding he is asking for.
SEN. BOB CASEY, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: Now President Bush has asked for nearly $200 billion more to continue the war indefinitely with no accountability. This request is unacceptable.
TAYLOR: It's been about a year since voters put Democrats in control of both houses of Congress mainly on pledges to get tough with President Bush over the war in Iraq. So far no significant anti war legislation has been passed with President Bush vetoing any bills that call for time tables on troop pull outs and Democrats lacking the support to override a veto.
I'm Laura Taylor reporting from Atlanta.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: Today at 1:00 Eastern "This Week at War." Join Tom Forman for a look at how Iraqi war veterans are fighting for proper health care.
HOLMES: Heavy rainfall turned Turkish streets into rivers and at least one person was killed by the rushing water. The flash floods came quickly in parts of western Turkey stranding people in their homes and their cars.
The military tried to get a jump on possible wildfires this in southern California now. No new fires to report just yet, but area forecasters are expecting another round of strong round of Santa Ana winds this week. The military has moved in four firefighting c130 airplanes just in case. The Santa Ana winds helped fan those massive fires in southern California last month.
DE LA CRUZ: A lot of people hit the road, getting an early start on their Thanksgiving holiday. But if you are waiting for Wednesday, you have plenty of company. AAA says nearly 39 million people are expected to travel 50 miles or more between Wednesday and Sunday. Most, some 31 million people will drive. Almost five million will fly. The rest are expected to go by train or bus.
Coming up in the next hour, we will have transportation secretary Mary Peters online to talk about what we can expect this holiday travel week. Bonnie Schneider on that note she is keeping an eye on the holiday weather for us.
HOLMES: She can tell us what to expect in that department. Good morning to you Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Good morning T.J. and Veronica. We are giving you the latest travel information not just here in the CNN weather reports, but also look for it on the side of your screen. That is right straight through the holiday; we will be running travel information and kind of squeezing back the picture. You can see current conditions for areas across the country as well as current airport delays. That's important to note.
Right now across the country there are no airport delays, but likely we will see them later on this afternoon. So we will keep this screen going to give you your five-day forecast just beneath me for various cities as well as the current conditions and airport delays here on CNN.
There is a winter threat, if you are traveling in northern New Jersey or even towards upstate New York or the Pocono's into Pennsylvania, look for snow. A winter weather advisory for cities like Scranton where we could see several inches of snow and we are starting to see that snow working its way across parts of Pennsylvania right now. It's very, very light. Temperatures are just above freezing and a lot of it is not hitting the ground. But some of the moisture is working its way through southern New Jersey. So if you are driving on I-95, you will deal with rain.
You will also deal with it along I-10 in Louisiana from Houston through the parishes of southwest Louisiana; we are getting a lot of rain. If you see any rain or any flooding, stay out of harm's way and we would love to get an I report from you. Just go to CNN.com and click on I-report and send us your pictures through out your journey for your holiday travel. We would love to see them. Let's take a look at what else is going on for airport delays. None right now, but we may see some through parts of Pennsylvania due to rain and snow today. None in Philadelphia which is good news for the marathon runners that many are people are coming in from all over the world to run that race today that is going on right now.
Cleveland, we are not expecting delays, but looking to the south, we may have some delays in Houston because of the rain, right into the region of areas of the south. The west coast looks great. Some exceptions, watch out for delays in San Francisco due to low clouds and also the Pacific Northwest in Seattle. We may see a delay or two towards Vancouver due to some low clouds, wind, and rain. So lots of travel information here on CNN, you can find it in many differently ways.
Veronica, T.J.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, also online on too, CNN.com the weather page. All right. Bonnie thank you very much.
Police in Glendale, Arizona arrested a suspect who tried to get away from ducking into a hospital. Authorities put the hospital on lockdown as they searched for him. Robert Walter Tally was believed to be carrying a gun when he ran into the hospital. Police say he changed some of his clothes, but they got him when he tried to walk out of the building.
HOLMES: Well if you had a reservation at the Sheraton Bal Harbour, your room will not be ready. The hotel is no longer. An early morning implosion to show you, this at Miami Beach, used to be the Sheraton Bal Harbour and before that it was the Americana Hotel. Now just a pile of rubble, gone in a matter of seconds. It was a favorite hang out for the rat pack back in the day and it will be sight now of another big condo building on the beach.
DE LA CRUZ: We had two this morning and I like the Las Vegas implosion better.
HOLMES: They put on a show with fireworks and Vegas style.
DE LA CRUZ: They a party and any reason to have a party in Vegas.
HOLMES: It is just one big party. That was a nice implosion.
DE LA CRUZ: Well our close up of the presidential candidates continues with Republican Ron Paul and a heckler gets hauled off after confronting another candidate. We have video from overnight that you have to see.
HOLMES: Also, what's wrong with this picture? A pristine white wedding dress, muddy. I like to see how that goes.
DE LA CRUZ: She has explaining to do.
HOLMES: To a lot of folks. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: So many candidates and so many issues. So how do you know which politician best represents your views.
HOLMES: This is one way you might be able to find out. Try the candidate calculator; filling out the survey will reveal your ideal candidate.
DE LA CRUZ: This thing is so cool. Let's take a look at it, for example say you oppose abortion and you also oppose No Child Left Behind, but you support drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. You oppose the Patriot Act and you favor building a border fence.
HOLMES: If those are you views, then of course with the calculator your ideal candidate would be Republican Congressman Ron Paul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. RON PAUL (R), TEXAS: I'm just trying to restore those fundamental beliefs that we used to have and a lot of people would like to see that done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: His Website proves it. Two weeks ago in just one day, Ron Paul's supporters donated more than $4 million. This follows the third quarter fund-raising of $5 million. These two events have given the Texas representative so much publicity that money remains in the bank for future advertising. Don't try to confuse Ron Paul with another Texas Republican.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: It was a mistake to go. It's a mistake to stay. We should change the treatment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Paul opposes the war in Iraq. The OBGYN doctor is against abortion rights and he supports the immigration over haul and the Bush tax cuts. Paul served in the United States air force in the 60s was first elected to Congress in the 70s and spent the 80s waive ring between a Republican and a libertarian.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: We cannot sustain this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Dubbed Dr. Know, Paul votes against bills on federal spending, expanding the government and reducing privacy protection.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL: We need an imagine that defends liberty, private property and sound money, not special interest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We will turn to the Democrats now. The Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich still talking about climate change.
DE LA CRUZ: The forum on the issue yesterday in Las Angeles all three offered plans to cut U.S. emissions in green house gasses blamed for global warming. But a heckler tried to get into the act as Clinton spoke. Take a look at the exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON, (D) PRESINDENTIAL CANDIDATE: To get what we need to get done through the Senate. Were you invited to speak here this afternoon? Anyway, as I was saying, we need to elect more Democrats because --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Security officers as you can see eventually were able to escort the heckler out of the building. We will have more from the best political team on television next hour. CNN's political producer Sasha Johnson joins us at 9:00 Eastern to talk about that Democratic debate that was pretty heated and also the Iowa caucus.
DE LA CRUZ: And just a reminder in case you missed it, you can watch the Las Vegas debate tonight at 6:00 and 10:00 Eastern.
And your quick hits now, a scary moment in Los Angeles where a big construction crane tipped over. A mother and her small son were hit, but only got a couple of scratches. Unbelievable. The crane was working on a billboard when it flopped over. There were no serious injuries.
T.J.
HOLMES: Also, they did not all fall. A world record attempt during the Netherlands nominal day missed the mark. Still looked pretty cool though. It took about 85 people two months. It didn't even work. More than 3.5 million dominos tipped over and they need more than four million for the record.
DE LA CRUZ: So close. There is two million off. I don't know how close they were.
This is Idaho now; some brides are having no trouble messing up wedding dresses. It is a new trend, mixing nature photography with wedding shots, seems silly, but brides say it gives them a one-of-a- kind look. That's right. The photos are taken after the wedding, by the way. Of course.
HOLMES: We are going to head over to the dot-com desk. Now Josh Levs keeping an eye on things for us there. Good morning to you, sir.
LEVS: Hey T.J. You know we've got a story today about something I know you will love. A huge mirror, this is a way to generate electricity without carbon dioxide and it's very interesting. It is a development in Europe and it might come over here. That's coming up.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Josh I will let you guys do that after the show. First, here's a preview of "House Call" with Sanjay Gupta.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks guys. We are looking at the issues you need to know about this election season. From health care for kids to prescription drugs and the politics of cancer research. About your vote, your money, and your health. Don't miss "House Call" coming up at 8:30 Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: When crime started getting out of hand in Augusta, Georgia, the sheriff had to get creative.
DE LA CRUZ: They set up a sting to turn gang members into marked men. They showed up in droves. CNN's Rusty Dornin has more on the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(UNIDENTIFIED MALE): We are going to get gang activity from this area east.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In this southern River Town now means more and more gang life. Sheriff Ron Strength that is his real name decided it was time to go under cover, but he didn't just plant an officer in a business. He invented a new business and it took off. Color Tyme Tattooz Palor on Tobacco Road created and staffed 100 percent by under cover agents recording every move. Lieutenant Scott Peebles made sure gang members felt welcome.
LT. SCOTT PEEBLES, RICHMIND COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE: What are we were trying to do is put the idea in their head that there was no way these guys are in any way affiliated with law enforcement. They have packaging instrument and scales and all of the things that if you are into truck use, you would need.
DORNIN: The cops even gave them markers to scroll their graffiti and in return agents they got to record their names and faces. Color Time Tattoo was so successful, four months into it, the sheriff called in the ATF for money and expertise and then ATF agents helped cover the store counters and learned local ways from the sheriff's deputies.
VANESSA MCLEMORE, ATF: We have well-train and skilled under cover agents and officers.
DORNIN: It had to be a brotherhood.
MCLEMORE: They had to relate to each other well. DORNIN: Agents discovered that often after a crime was committed, the gang members would come in and get a tattoo and smoke dope and sell the very guns that had been stolen hours before. In this under cover video, agents say suspects are selling guns stolen only hours earlier.
PEEBLES: Two guys went and robbed a convenience store and shot the clerk and the next day they sold us the gun that they shot the clerk with.
DORNIN: Agents traffic guns at the tattoo shop for 16 months and they had their own spot on Myspace as they scream tattoos and promises we buy things others don't. Then the bust, 68 arrested and dozens more illegal guns confiscated on search warrants, plus 54 pounds of marijuana and more than 1,000 grams of cocaine. Across town, Sheriffs Strength showed us one gang stronghold hit in the butt.
SHERIFF RONALD STRENGTH, RICHMOND COIUNTY, GEORGIA: This is the territory. We purchase stolen weapons and narcotics from this group.
DORNIN: One sheriff who took on the gangs and won.
Rusty Dornin, CNN, Augusta, Georgia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: It is time now for the hottest news off the Web. CNN.com always the place, our Josh Levs joins us now with that.
LEVS: He loves me like a brother. We were just playing.
DE LA CRUZ: Just checking.
HOLMES: The brother we kicked out of the house at birth.
LEVS: And then I was welcomed back soon after.
DE LA CRUZ: That's not too fun. What do you have?
LEVS: Let's go to anything but that. How about a single online? Hey, let's start with the story that people were talking about it all day yesterday and it keeps going all the way at the top. It's about a Saudi court that has increased a punishment for a victim of gang rape. Yes you did hear me correctly, she is 19 years old, and she and a young man was gang raped by a group of people. Her lawyers pushed for tougher penalties against the rapists. Along with that came a tougher penalty for her for trying to push the judiciary and she has been sentenced to lashes and six months in jail. You can learn about that at .com.
I want to show you a piece of video. This is fascinating; it is about a new way to generate some power without carbon dioxide. This thing was a huge mirror and it's taking all this light and it is bouncing over to that that reflective tower right there which holds on to the heat and goes underground and in turn, powers things all over the city. DE LA CRUZ: That was it. That was the gigantic mirror.
LEVS: Exactly.
HOLMES: They came up with something and that's all you could come up with?
LEVS: We need to remind everybody because you enjoyed this so much earlier, that there is a story about a flying spaghetti monster online. Religious debate about can you come up with anything you want to come up with. This was a concept introduced by a man who wants evolution taught in schools not creationism. So he wrote a letter to schools saying you know what I believe in a flying spaghetti monster you have to teach that too. And now religious scholars are debating the nature of religion and what it takes to establish a religion. That's going on in California.
COSTELLO: We gave him the break and he came up with flying spaghetti monster and TJs gigantic mirror.
LEVS: This is the most popular on CNN.com, if you are knocking me your everybody who is visiting.
DE LA CRUZ: Speaking of CNN.com, we have some incredible I reports now to show you out of Uganda. Torrential rains caused massive flooding. This is the president of Uganda who is caught in the flooding on the way to the airport. He blamed the high water on plastic bags clogging sewer drains. Photos were submitted by Richard Sanyonga (ph) who is also on his way to the airport with his girlfriend. As you can see many vehicles almost completely submerged by the muddy water. A big to you to our I-reporters there.
HOLMES: As always. We always get good pictures from them.
How much would you pay for a UFO?
DE LA CRUZ: How much would I pay for a UFO? Is that a trick question?
This is part of a Hollywood collection. Can you guess what movie it's from?
HOLMES: I don't know. That's an old school flying saucer. They don't make them like that anymore in the movies. Must be an old movie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Might have some kind of a first here.
DE LA CRUZ: Really?
HOLMES: Go to the video and we will explain what we are talking about. A 12-ton whale in the Amazon Rainforest.
DE LA CRUZ: Actually it's not in the forest. He got stranded on a sand bar in the Amazon River 1,000 miles from the Atlantic and people are trying to get the 18 foot whale turned around and headed back out. I hate to see that happen. I hate it when stuff like that happens.
HOLMES: How do you turn around a whale?
DE LA CRUZ: They just did it in the San Francisco Bay, it happens all the time.
HOLMES: That's a big sucker to try to move around.
All right, we got a collection here to show you, maybe one of the most eclectic collections we have ever seen. Belongs to a man in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. One of the weirdest items in his prop collection may be this prop you're seeing. It's from the movie - I couldn't come up with this one - "Mars Attacks."
DE LA CRUZ: We've been talking about - "Mars Attacks." That's what I thought it was.
HOLMES: You should have said that. We would have given you credit.
(CROSSTALK)
DE LA CRUZ: And the best part is, he's figured out how to make it appear to hover overhead. Obviously, some wires or other means, but for now, the owner is keeping the trick a secret. Get this - he paid about $10,000 for it a few years ago. I just wanted to mention, T.J. - this is actually our question of the day on "American Morning," I think it was Wednesday or Thursday of last week - we asked people, "do you believe in UFOs?" Can you guess how many people in the audience believed in UFOs?
HOLMES: What, about half of them?
DE LA CRUZ: 84 percent.
HOLMES: 84?
DE LA CRUZ: 84 percent of people believe in UFOs. Well, you know, obviously not a scientific poll or anything, but for the people that decided to weigh in and cast their votes that morning.
HOLMES: And Larry King did a special I think it was last week talking about UFOs. I wonder if he had that guy on. A lot of people may have seen his flying saucer and thought they were seeing the real deal.
DE LA CRUZ: Do you believe?
HOLMES: Sure.
DE LA CRUZ: It's unidentified flying object, so...
HOLMES: That's a lot of stuff.
DE LA CRUZ: Exactly. That's pretty vague.
HOLMES: Just a Delta jet.
OK, all right, folks, well, stay here. We're going to continue to follow the aftermath of that cyclone in Bangladesh. Just a mess going there, and the death toll continues to rise.
DE LA CRUZ: Also, a teenager commits suicide because of a MySpace page that turned out to be fake. You can't miss those stories. That's coming up at 9:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: But up first here, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
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