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CNN Sunday Morning
Severe Flooding Coninutes in Midwest; Afghanistan Jailbreak
Aired June 16, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN ABBOTT, WATERTOWN RESIDENT: This is my 2001 Chevy Malibu, and this is what's left of it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: Misery in the Midwest. At least 24,000 people are forced to leave their homes as the historic flooding continues. In Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 1,300 city blocks are under water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And yet, I did not feel too emotional until we got into the nursery. Look at this room.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: Yes, overcome by emotion. Water filled the church but the services will go on this morning. And that pastor you saw, Jeff Gilmore (ph), will join us live this hour.
NGUYEN: Adding to the pain, more rain is expected to fall today. And our Sean Callebs is on the story in Cedar Rapids. Reynolds Wolf is watching the situation here in our weather center. And we will get to both of them very shortly.
In the meantime though, good morning, everybody, from the CNN Center. It is June 15th. Happy Father's Day out there to all of you. I know for some folks it's going to be a trying day.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: But we'll get you the latest on the information you need to know this morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're glad you could be here with us this morning. Seven a.m. here in the east, 6:00 a.m. in Iowa and that's where we will start this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes, more cities and towns are in the path of rising water this morning. Massive Midwest flooding is causing new problems especially in Iowa.
HOLMES: And authorities said the flooding has killed at least one person there, a woman who was found dead in her home in Cedar Rapids. More than 200 homes have been evacuated in Iowa City. Evacuations are also in effect in the towns of Columbus Junction and Fredonia. And while in Des Moines, a neighborhood is under water after a levee breach there.
In Cedar Rapids, the floodwater is receding, that is good news, after forcing more than 24,000 people out of their homes. But now, the city faces a shortage of clean drinking water.
NGUYEN: OK. Here's the reason this is happening. These three swollen rivers - take a look - among nine rivers in Iowa that are at or above flood levels that they have never seen before. The Iowa River is not expected to crest until Monday or Tuesday. And Iowa's governor has declared disaster areas in 83 of the state's 99 counties.
HOLMES: And it's hard to imagine all this water and there's a lack of water. We're talking about too much flood water but too little clean drinking water. That's the situation in Cedar Rapids, Iowa happening this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes, the floodwater is starting to recede -- that's a good news -- but now, officials warn the city could soon run out of drinking water.
CNN's Sean Callebs joins us now from Cedar Rapids.
Sean, set the scene for us, help us understand why this is such a problem.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's pretty easy. Look over this way, here's a graphic reason this is such a problem. This is where we were yesterday, Betty and T.J., look, this parking lot, a lot of water has receded. If you look out there, those parking spots, yesterday, it looked like rapids as water poured through there. And in the distance against the building, you can see a water line. So, it has come down significantly in this area.
However, you talk about the drinking water, Betty, this is the problem. Because there is so much water, because it has swamped such a large area, about half of the areas that supply drinking water to the city simply aren't operating right now. So, they have issued a very serious warning to citizens, businesses, hotels, everybody out there, asking people to only use water for drinking purposes. Not to wash clothes, anything of that nature. And they're being pretty adamant about it. They have been on the TV, the emergency official for hours and hours and hours, telling people this throughout the day.
I want to show you what happened this morning when we got here. It just stopped raining about 45 minutes ago, absolutely pouring. A lightning storm here in the distance. Boy, just another dose of bad news for folks here in Cedar Rapids. It's going to be even tougher for people who are downstream from all of this, because it rained (ph) here, significantly for a couple of hours.
And what's it like in suburban areas here in Cedar Rapids? Well, you have to see these pictures. Look at these homes in the southwestern parts of the city all the way up to the eves in some places, swamping the roofs. You can barely see street signs, poking out just a little bit. The conditions are very serious here.
You talked about the one person they found dead in her home, that was a huge concern as emergency crews went out yesterday. They were worried about finding just that and they are still going out. And this water is not expected to pull back for several more days. And they say it will be about three or four days, Betty, before they will be able to pump water out of this area and then perhaps as many as 10 days to two weeks before the water goes back to its regular flowing area.
This is the Cedar River over here to my left. You can see how fast it is. We want to stay tuned next hour, Betty, as it comes down, we're able to see more bridges in the area. And the amount of debris that is piled up there is staggering. We're going to go out and get some pictures of that and bring that to you next hour. It is hard to believe.
NGUYEN: It really is. I know that when I was in a neighborhood on Friday, Sean, and I saw -- this is the craziest thing I've ever seen -- it was a front porch. The wooden deck there on a front porch is just floating down in neighborhood street. It was just wild to see that happening. As far as the water, though, the reason why they're seeing this shortage, is it because pump stations are out due to the flooding?
CALLEBS: Yes, exactly. The number of wells that they used to provide drinking water to the city, about some 120,000, they've lost more than half of them. And they are still worried about more problems.
So, what they're trying to do is get people to conserve water as much as possible. There are written warnings on hotel doors as you go in, saying, don't expect your towels or linens to be washed because we simply can't do that, we are lucky to have drinking water. That's a direct quote that we saw on our hotel this morning.
NGUYEN: My goodness. All right. They have a lot on their hands there. And, Sean, you've been dealing with it yourself out in it and we do appreciate it. We'll turn to you a little bit later during the show. Thank you.
HOLMES: And we've been getting help telling this story from our i-Reporters like this i-Reporter, showing the flooding. This is Jen Reese that sent this in to us, pictures by her. They show the flooding in the small town of Shell Rock, Iowa, taking there in the first round of flooding, it was last Monday and Tuesday.
We absolutely appreciate you all helping us tell these stories. We encourage you to share those photos with us. You can do that at iReport.com.
NGUYEN: Well, here's the problem and meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is going to be talking to us about it now.
And it's a fact that Iowa, Reynolds, I understand, is going to get more rain today. It's something they absolutely do not need. REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, you're absolutely right about that. You know, Sean Callebs, was talking about where he was, the location in Iowa, they got rocked with some strong storms this morning. That was certainly the case and right now, much of that activity is pushing off into parts of Illinois where we currently have some severe thunderstorm watches right now.
Heaviest rain is moving just to the west of Chicago at this time, leaving places like Davenport. Back over to Cedar Rapids, they're going to be in the clear for now. But there is certainly a possibility they could get some stronger storms later on today. And as Sean mentioned, the big problem that we're going to be having with these storms and all this water is not just who is being affected right now in Cedar Rapids and other parts of Iowa, but all this water that is going to be flowing into the Mississippi River and will be effecting people downstream in places like Keokuk.
Now, we were talking about Keokuk yesterday. That is a little town that is right here on the corner of Iowa, Missouri, and Illinois. And that is an area where we could be dealing with, again, quite a bit of flooding. In fact, they have been flooding as we speak.
Let's show you the river gauge that we have. We're going to pop that up for you, to give you some of the information. And that river gauge is going to show the current location. Current location of the water is at 23.92. Still, it hasn't crested; it still has a way to go.
If you'll notice, it is well above flood stage, modern stage, and even major flood stage of 19 feet, with the level of 23. Expect as we get into Wednesday and Thursday, top that range 28.6. This is nearly two feet higher than the forecast called for just yesterday. This water is not going to stay in this location. It's going to continue to move its way down to Mississippi, possibly affecting places like St. Louis.
We have a live image for you in St. Louis, compliments of KSDK. You see the old courthouse right there on the bottom of the screen. Of course you see the arch. And we're going to let you know what they can anticipate in St. Louis, the flood forecast, coming up in mere moments.
Back to you.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. You want to stay tuned for that. OK, Reynolds, we do appreciate it.
In the meantime, neighbors are helping neighbors, firefighters are going door to door, just trying to get people out of harm's way and when they're dealing with these floods.
HOLMES: And reporter Chris Williams now with affiliate WQAD has more on the evacuation effort in one Illinois neighborhood. He's reporting from the Watertown area of East Moline, Illinois.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) KEVIN ABBOTT, WATERTOWN RESIDENT: This is my 2001 Chevy Malibu, and this is what's left of it.
CHRIS WILLIAMS, WQAD CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Despite losing many of his own belongings, Kevin Abbott and neighbors like him did their duty. Armed with an air mattress, they began shuttling people to dry land.
ABBOTT: At 6:30, we got it up, aired it up, and we were helping people get their stuff to the shore, helping people. We took people to the alley so they'd get out of the water.
WILLIAMS: By 9:00, East Moline firefighters were on scene, too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you have a place to go?
WILLIAMS: They boated (ph) from house to house, recommending people to leave. Many heeded the warning, but others...
ABBOTT: Hey, John. John.
WILLIAMS: ... vowed to stay.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My dog and my cat. They're too old to bring out, they're arthritic. And I'm not having anybody come in here to try to carry them out.
WILLIAMS: Firefighters noted who was left and told them not to hesitate calling 911 if they changed their minds. Residents of this water-logged Watertown looked at this mess and wondered if this was a historic event by which they would judge future floods.
JANET WASHINGTON, WATERTOWN RESIDENT: I have never ever seen nothing like this, this reminds of the flood of '65.
STEVE ROHR, WATERTOWN RESIDENT: '65. I'd never thought it ever happen again.
WASHINGTON: It's just heartbreaking. It really is, very heartbreaking. So, I don't know what we're going to do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, looking at the damage, you know, it's really hard not to be affected.
And now, the presidential candidates, they are reaching out.
HOLMES: Senator Barack Obama in particular here, he picked up shovel in Quincy, Illinois, helped fill sandbags yesterday. He is calling on federal officials to provide aid to flooded areas. Officials there in Quincy fear the water could rise even higher than the record level set back in 1993. Flooding there is expected to peak later this week.
Meanwhile, John McCain issued this statement, saying, "Our thoughts and prayers to out to all those impacted by the flooding throughout the Midwest. Cindy and I would like to extend our sympathies to all those who have lost loved ones, and stand ready to help those in the Midwest to recover and rebuild."
NGUYEN: Well, the Republican senator is in Arlington, Virginia today and he's meeting with Iraq's foreign minister this morning.
Obama and his family - well - they are attending a new church in Chicago. It's the first time since he left Trinity United Church of Christ. Obama is expected to speak to this new congregation about what it means to be a father, indeed, it's Father's Day. The senator and his wife have two girls.
For McCain, this will be a relatively quiet Father's Day. He's already received a big gift from his daughter, Megan. She announced earlier this week that she is changing affiliation from an independent to, of course, the Republican Party, because she believes so strongly in her dad.
HOLMES: Well, it's about time, isn't it?
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: He's been running for a little while, hasn't he?
HOLMES: Well, that's nice to know that he has the support of his daughter.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people, we know, kids just don't like school.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: For the most part. That's not the case in Tanzania. Yes, this east African country where I was for the past couple of weeks, when I wasn't here, education there is a luxury to a lot of kids. You're seeing there my visit to a school there, really will open your eyes to just how precious knowledge is to children who have so little. You don't want to miss this.
NGUYEN: That's the truth.
Also ahead: A prison of rubble. It once held hundreds of Taliban fighters until an attack freed them. The question today: where have they gone?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, how we invest our money doesn't always reflect who we are. But there is an investing strategy that can get your portfolio to reflect your personality and still be Right on Your Money. Christine Romans explains.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If saving the environment is your passion, or if you simply want your money to match your morals, "Money" magazine's Jason Zweig says, look into socially responsible investing or SRI funds.
JASON ZWEIG, SR. WRITER, MONEY MAGAZINE: An SRI fund invests according to ethical principles, not just trying to do well, but also trying to do good. And the objective is not purely to earn the highest return on your money, but also to return on your morals as well.
ROMANS: But investing with a clear conscience does not necessarily mean taking a big hit to your bottom line.
ZWEIG: You compare SRI funds to conventional mutual funds or the market as a whole, you'll find that they perform just slightly under the average.
ROMANS: Historically, SRI funds have been associated more with Silicon Valley than traditional big money stocks like oil and energy. But Zweig says regardless of your political or social beliefs, there are some SRI options for you. Just remember to do your homework.
ZWEIG: It's a great Web site called Socialinvest.org, where you will be able to learn about all the funds that are available.
ROMANS: Christine Romans, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Jail break in Afghanistan. This morning the hunt is on for more than 400 Taliban members who escaped from a prison in Kandahar.
HOLMES: Now, U.S. officials say, so far, the search has resulted in 15 insurgents being killed, five others captured, but it's not yet clear if those insurgents are connected with the daring prison break.
Our Owen Thomas has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OWEN THOMAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The attack on Sarposa Prison, both brazen and bloody. The Taliban say a suicide truck bomber with about two tons of explosives was used to blow holes in the roof and walls of the jail. Reports speak of sustained rocket and machine gunfire.
A spokesman for the group says dozens of militants rushed inside on motorcycles to help free the prisoners. There's some confusion as to how many got out -- certainly hundreds, maybe more than a thousand, according to NATO. Hundreds of Taliban militants are now on the run.
MOHAMMAD QASIM, HASMIMZAI, AFGHAN DEPUTY JUSTICE MINISTER: It was a (INAUDIBLE) loaded with explosion and, of course, a suicide bomber. They managed to break the door and enter. And then, of course, they fired some rockets inside the prison courtyard. And as a result, one of the floors was demolished. And at that time, of course, there was, of course, the arrangement program. And I should say, you know, that a large number of prisoners managed to escape.
THOMAS: Such a major security breach is a worry for NATO forces, who are now helping to round up the escapees. Checkpoints have been set up around Kandahar. And NATO spokesman calls the militants' operation a success but says they will have no long-term strategic impact.
Local residents aren't so sure.
This man says the jail break shows the weakness, recklessness and helplessness of the Afghan government.
The Taliban are getting stronger day by day, says this man. And the international community must look again at the security situation in Afghanistan.
Hours after the prison attack, four Americans were killed when their military vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the west of Afghanistan. It's described as the deadliest single attack against U.S. troops in the country this year. The casualties are the latest in an upsurge of violence in the country.
The American defense secretary this week called for more international involvement in the battle to beat the Taliban insurgency. While politicians claim that military action is showing real signs of success, casualty figures continue to rise.
Owen Thomas, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, you know, it is Father's Day. And a beloved dad who is also named Father of the Year.
HOLMES: Yes. Tim Russert also happened to be one of the towering figures of broadcast journalism. New details about his death, that's ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN: The news channel watched by more Americans. Now: back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: Well, we don't know how much you know about Tanzania. This is a southeastern African nation. It's home to Mt. Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, the (INAUDIBLE) crater, a place for many people think that maybe the Garden of Eden was and really one of the most beautiful places on the planet, but it's also one of the poorest countries in the world.
Well, I haven't been here with my good partner, Betty Nguyen, for the past couple of weekends because I was there in Tanzania, and specifically in Arusha. This is in the northern part of the country and this is a place where education really is a luxury. And I found students there who were high in spirits, they were eager to learn, there was no shortage of talent, no shortage of ability, just a shortage of opportunity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice-over): While American students compete for limited space in colleges and universities, these students are competing to move on from elementary school. This is the Menyatta Primary School in a village near Arusha, Tanzania.
AMANIEL MOSHI, TEACHER MENYATTA PRIMARY SCHOOL: (INAUDIBLE), we teach them how to cope with the situation.
HOLMES: Their school has no windows, no doors, no plumbing, no textbooks. There aren't not enough teachers, not enough classrooms, and not enough desks.
Despite the circumstances, enthusiasm and desire to learn are still evident. But here, desire and good grades are not enough.
MOSHI: Some of them, they will be selected for secondary school. And the some of them, if they fail, they'll just to remain at their homes helping their parents.
HOLMES: Failure here does not always come as a result of bad grades, rather, there's limited space in secondary school. So, only the very top students here get to continue their education. For many of the others, formal education ends here.
MOSHI: Their life is not too good (ph), because their situation is not good. Their environment is not too good. The people in this area, they are poor.
HOLMES: But even for the students who make it to secondary school, the outlook isn't often rosy.
MATIKO MASATE, STUDENT: Nobody would recognize somebody in Tanzania. There are some youths who are very talented. I have some friends of mine, when they touch a computer, you'll be amazed. They do some amazing things. But nobody will recognize them.
HOLMES: The story was the same as one by one, students lined up at a youth forum in Arusha to express their hopes and concerns about the future. They are bright, eager to learn, eager to work, but in one of the poorest countries in the world, there is a lack of opportunity, even for the best and brightest.
MOSATE: I like drawing. I have some pictures at home, fashions, design. I have searched through the Web sites and see how can I help myself in raising my talent (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: And failure to many of these students is the only option they have.
(END VIDEOTAPE) HOLMES: All right. Listen to this, the ministry of education has set a goal that by 2010, they want 50 percent of the students to go from, essentially, elementary school to secondary school.
NGUYEN: Not 100 percent, it's 50 percent.
HOLMES: The goal is 50 percent, just to let you know how tough it is right now. And it's just a matter, there aren't enough schools there to go around, not enough space, and the parents can't afford private schools for their kids. So, essentially, life, education ends for these kids, 12, 13, 14 years old, they go home.
NGUYEN: Is that devastating for them to go back home and to realize -- this is really all that you have, this is your lot in life?
HOLMES: That is almost the norm. They accept it and they know it and then the students you saw at that forum, these are the ones that made it through. They're going to school, (INAUDIBLE) just mentioning, everybody is bilingual, everybody speaks English there. Bright kids, but then, what do you to look forward to? There's no prosperity, there's no development, there's no economy really to go to. There's nothing to do with that talent.
So, essentially, you have talent in Africa, in Tanzania, sitting there and being wasted. So, it was really eye-opening to see that. And could you imagine the outrage in this country if parents were told only half of the students are going to be able to go (INAUDIBLE) school.
NGUYEN: Not because your kid is not smart, we just don't have enough room for them.
HOLMES: Yes, that is exactly what's happening. Again, those parts of the Leon Sullivan Foundation Summit, some of the world leaders to come together to talk about issues in Tanzania specifically, but we did outreaches in schools and orphanages, and things like that, but it was really eye-opening.
NGUYEN: Is that hard for you? How do that feel?
HOLMES: You kind of get it. You know, it's something, this is my first trip to Africa, as you know, you've been to Sierra Leone. You've seen something. But you know what I'm talking about. You can talk about it, you can report about it here, from sitting here in the U.S., until you get there, and see it, and you touch it, and you taste it. You just don't get it until you get there and you touch those people and see what's going on there.
NGUYEN: And start to really feel it and start to understand.
HOLMES: You do. Just unbelievably sad that, again, these kids right here, not good grades, smart kids, no opportunity.
NGUYEN: Yes, absolutely.
HOLMES: So, they're trying to encourage prosperity and investment, between America and places like that.
NGUYEN: And we're going to hear more of your reports in the coming weeks.
HOLMES: I got some more. Yes.
NGUYEN: Definitely stay tuned to that.
In the meantime, we want to talk about what's going on the Midwest. Flooding there has been sending CNN and really, a lot of, not only what we're reporting, but you're reporting it as well through i-Reports.
Josh Levs has been looking through some of the pictures that we've been getting in. And I know that you've got some really amazing stories.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We do, Betty. In fact, coming up, I'm going to show you this aerial photo which shows water everywhere near Des Moines. Now, how much of this do you think is supposed to actually be water? I'm going to need (ph) a microscope to answer that one. It's coming up. T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. We'll look forward to that answer. Also, another big question is, when will the flooding be over? Reynolds Wolf has some important information about that.
Good morning to you, again, sir.
WOLF: Good morning. I wish I had great news for you but we do have a chance of severe storms once again for parts of the flood- ravaged Midwest, including from much of Iowa. We're going to have the complete story for you coming up in a few moments right here. You're watching CNN SUNDAY.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back, everybody. And happy Father's Day. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello there, I'm T.J. Holmes, glad you could be with us here this morning. We have more rain to talk about that could fall today in parts of Iowa, which is of course already swamped by the massive Midwest flooding.
In Cedar Rapids, officials report at least one is dead from the flooding, that was a woman who was found dead in her home. Floodwater is starting to recede there, however, but the city now faces a shortage of clean drinking water.
In Des Moines, meanwhile, the National Guard and volunteers shored up levees with sandbags, but rising water did breach one levee and flooded a neighborhood. Meanwhile, Iowa City, one of the latest areas in the path of the rising water, it's also one of several places in the state where a curfew now in effect.
NGUYEN: Yes. Reporter Christian Farr (ph) joins us now live from Iowa City.
Christian, give us the latest on not only that curfew there but the flood threat that's still going on.
CHRISTIAN FARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the curfew started at 8:30 last night, it should have lifted about a half hour ago, just trying to keep people out of here so they can try to control these flood waters.
Want to tell you where we are right now, we are in Coralville, and this is right next door to Iowa City. We are next to a condo complex and a hotel that sit just about 100 yards from the Iowa River. And that river has engulfed a pond that is behind this hotel as well as some homes. If you look out the windows, you can just see the roofs.
We are going to walk over here so we can show you the sandbagging effort that is going on. They have sandbagged this entire facility. And you can see that it's dry behind here, keeping the water out. The only area that's open here right now is the front door to the hotel so that guests can get in and out.
The hotel only has about 10 percent capacity right now. Now, in terms of Iowa City, 600 homes have been evacuated, people trying to find temporary shelter. The Iowa River normally crests at around 25 feet. We are hearing that it could crest between 33 and 34 feet late Monday night. But that timeline could be pushed up somewhere around Monday afternoon and possibly today.
The one fear today that we do have are those chance of thunderstorms that you talked about. But once those pass, we should have clear weather so people can start cleaning up and trying to get back to their regular lives.
NGUYEN: All right. Christian. So as they're waiting for the river to crest there, any chance those sandbags are going to be enough?
FARR: Well, they have tried to put enough sandbags here to prevent the water, in case this crests maybe two or three feet higher. So hopefully they are going to be able to keep the water out. There is a little bit of water in a parking complex right next door and a little bit in this condo complex, which is only about nine months old. But they say they have got minimal damage here. Hopefully that rain that is supposed to come here will not affect anything.
NGUYEN: Well, let's hope so. Reporter Christian Farr, thank you joining us live, thank you, Christian.
You know, it is hard to appreciate how vast the Midwest flooding is until you see it from the air.
HOLMES: Yes, that's where you, our iReporters, have been invaluable. Josh Levs has some photos that we have been receiving from people helping us tell this story -- Josh. JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. And given the report that we're coming out of right now, I want to start with Iowa City. Let's take a look right here, what we received from Carly Canape (ph). Now we're going to close in a little bit so you can see Iowa City flooding. A little hard to see on your screen, but this right here is a "road closed" sign. You think? A little bit of irony there.
But we've been receiving a lot of photos from throughout this area. You can see them all at cnn.com. I want to bring you over here though to these pretty amazing aerial shots we now have from Des Moines. This is all water right here. And the only part that's supposed to be river is way up here.
I'm going to ask our control room now. There you go, this is it, from Keith Ryan (ph). He was in a flight from Washington to Des Moines. And I want to emphasize, this is obviously not downtown, but it's right near the city. And as he was flying in, he tells me about five, six, seven miles outside the city, all those areas that are generally crop fields were just completely smothered by this water. He managed to take these shots while he was in the plane. He says he has never seen anything like it ever, as long as he has lived there, for years.
This is what people are telling us. It's historic. There's also a serious economic impact. You've got to think about the crops that are being lost. We already have food shortages, we already have very expensive grocery bills. We're already hearing that could have a real effect later on.
One more thing before I go, I want to show you what we've got from Shell Rock, Iowa. A lot of small towns getting hit. There is a lot of focus on the cities, but look at this, this is right near an elementary school in Shell Rock, Iowa, which I was looking up, I believe it's east of Des Moines -- and northeast of Des Moines. These are from Jen Reese (ph). Look at that.
I mean, apparently, this is a basketball court. Let me try going over here, too. They had been doing some construction. Look at that. You can't even see the construction vehicles anymore. Obviously we're going to following all of this at cnn.com. We'll have more photos for you throughout the day.
And one of the biggest concerns today is, is there going to be worse weather? Are they going to be getting more rain? Will things get any better? And for that, of course, I'm going to turn over to our own Reynolds Wolf, who is right here next to me in the Severe Weather Center.
How is it looking? Any good news?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: You know, this morning, we have already had some rough weather in parts of Iowa. We already had some strong storms. Some of these were very intense, quite a bit of lightning. We can expect another round to develop later on today. But I'm talking about later on today, we're talking about 2:00, 3:00, 4:00. And then we could see some residual shower activity into the evening hours, late evening, maybe even overnight. So what they need is a rain-free forecast. Today it's not in the cards.
What we do have is a lot of that activity driving its way very quickly towards Chicago, some of these embedded cells rolling eastward, around 60 miles an hour. So these are quick-movers. They are going by very rapidly. A little later on today in places like Iowa, as we mentioned, that's where you could see some heavy rain.
A lot of the flood waters we have been telling you about, not just in the cities, but also in the rural areas, as Josh was showing you with the iReports moments ago, all of that water is going to try to get its way into the Mississippi River in many spots like Keokuk.
Take a look at what we have here in terms of a river gauge in Keokuk. Notice the levels, currently at 23.92. By any stretch of the imagination, that's record flooding, that's extreme flooding. But then you look at the record stage at 27.6. It's going to surpass that as we get into Wednesday or Thursday. So we have got a ways to go.
Farther downstream in places like St. Louis, we are going to travel down there. We're going to be seeing the possibility of that occurring too because of all the floodwaters. Notice the levels that we're going to have in St. Louis, currently 33.45. But are going to be rising as high as nearly 40 feet, 39.4 is the forecast, with the additional rainfall, we could see it rise a bit more.
One last thing, take a look at the amount of cubic square feet -- or cubic feet per second that are moving past that gauge. We forecast anywhere from 729,000 cubic feet, just to give you a visual, give you an idea of how much water is going to be passing through St. Louis, imagine eight full-size Olympic swimming pools just roaring by per second, per second. That's how much water. That's the sheer volume of water that's going to be going right by the Gateway City as we get towards the end of the week, just amazing.
Back to you guys.
NGUYEN: Boy, that was a good explainer. I'm glad that you put in that perspective because it helped us understand just the enormity of the situation.
WOLF: Oh, it's unbelievable. And the thing is, we're not done yet. We really don't know how much rain we could get today. If we get a lot, we could see this problem compound a bit more. But certainly an awful, awful situation with long-term effects, no question.
NGUYEN: No doubt. OK. Reynolds, thank you. And we are learning more about the death of Tim Russert. The host of NBC's "MEET THE PRESS" died of a heart attack on Friday while preparing for a show scheduled to air today. Russert was just 58 years old. An autopsy revealed cholesterol plaque ruptured in one of his arteries, it also showed that he had an enlarged heart. Russert was once named one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. Several parenting organizations also named him "father of the year." No word yet on funeral arrangements.
HOLMES: Well, the president and first lady about to bid au revoir to France.
NGUYEN: Yes, we have a live report just ahead from London on the royal reception awaiting them this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, it's about that time, wheels up for Air Force One. Right now the president and first lady, they are wrapping up their week-long trip to the European continent.
HOLMES: And from Paris they will fly to London to be with Queen Elizabeth as well as Prince Philip. And CNN European political editor Robin Oakley is in London awaiting their arrival at 9:00 Eastern time for us.
Tell us what's on the schedule, not -- it doesn't look like too much business is on the schedule.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN EUROPEAN POLITICAL EDITOR: Not really today, T.J. No. I guess it will be cucumber sandwiches and scones and cream at Windsor Castle with the queen. But then they go on for what is to be a social dinner with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah at 10 Downing Street tonight.
Tomorrow morning there will be breakfast with Tony Blair, these days a Middle East envoy, and the former British prime minister. And then the final engagement of the president's trip in Europe will be in Northern Ireland. But the beefy bit of the talks will be with Gordon Brown tomorrow when they'll go through all of the issues like Iran and Afghanistan, world trade talks, fuel prices, that kind of thing.
The one bone of contention might be on British troops in Iraq. Because The Observer newspaper here has said the prime minister has -- has said the president has warned the prime minister not to pull British troops out of Iraq prematurely. But an official traveling with president said it was ludicrous to suggest it was a warning -- T.J.
HOLMES: And, Robin, tell us as well, this is kind of the president's farewell to Europe, saying good-bye as president to folks there in the U.K. How is he going to be -- expected to be received there on this final farewell?
OAKELY: Well, there will be a few crowds out in the streets again. The people who still really castigate President George Bush for his role in the Iraq War. But his reception by senior figures in government and so on is a different matter. This second-term president has been much better received all across Europe because he's felt now to be a listening president who weigh and takes into consideration the opinions of European leaders. And Gordon Brown and he get on well enough. It's not the same buddy-buddy relationship that he had with Tony Blair. I mean, Gordon Brown does not do informal really. But he's a keen admirer of the United States, but he has kept his relationship with George Bush a little bit cooler because he saw how much Tony Blair paid for being a close ally of the president.
That's why Gordon Brown is now in office and Tony Blair isn't -- T.J.
HOLMES: Well, that's a very good point you make there. Robin Oakley for us there, awaiting the president's arrival. Robin, we appreciate you this morning.
NGUYEN: Well, on the one hand, it's just a building.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PASTOR JEFF GILMORE, PARKVIEW EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH: And yet, I did not feel too emotional until we got into the nursery. Just -- I've got to get out of this room. Seeing those toys floating, that got to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, it's just a building, but if that building is your spiritual home, it hurts you a little bit to see it like this. A pastor surveys his ruined church right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, our "Faces of Faith" this morning, we are talking about just how deep is your faith? Can that faith even be measured?
NGUYEN: Yes, for the pastor of a church in Iowa City, it's at least four feet deep. See for yourself in today's "Faces of Faith."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GILMORE: And so when we heard the flood was coming, yes, and everybody thought, oh, it will be OK. It will be OK.
We were safe in '93.
But when we first went in, I was so taken aback by all the water and the different perspective, I actually -- within the first few minutes, I didn't know where I was.
(CROSSTALK)
GILMORE: ... totally, it's gone.
I've been through the building thousands of times over the last 17 years.
Look at this floating. And this is a perspective that would never ever dream of having to witness.
First time in here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What are you feeling?
GILMORE: Shock and awe.
And yet, I did not feel too emotional until we got into the nursery.
Just -- I've got to get out of this room.
And seeing those toys floating, that got to me. Yes. Nobody dreamed that the flood would be this bad. But the church will go on. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. If the gates of hell can't prevail against it, certainly a little flood won't.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, Pastor Jeff Gilmore of the Parkview Evangelical Free Church joins us now live from Coralville, Iowa, to talk more about this disaster. First thing I want to ask you, and I know a lot of your parishioners are going to be asking this, too, when you look at this kind of devastation, and when you look at this kind of flooding, how do you make sense of it all, especially when people of faith wonder how could God let something like this happen?
GILMORE: Well, I would say, Betty, that number one, there are a lot of reasons things happen. Every single person will go through difficult trials in life. And all of these trials God can use for good. We are promised that in scripture, in Romans chapter 8. We're told that all things can work together for good, for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose.
And so by faith, we walk forward and realize that God will and can use it for good, even though the tragedy itself is very difficult. It is a tragedy. But God can work it for good in all of our lives. And we have seen that over and over already.
NGUYEN: Yes, we have. We have seen people take just horrible situations, disasters, in fact, and somehow it strengthens them. But your church, 90 years old, in fact, you were undergoing an expansion project? What do you do now? Where do you have your service today?
GILMORE: Well, right now we just want to encourage people, we want to encourage people to keep their eyes on the lord. We want to encourage people to walk by faith, not by sight. Sight would certainly discourage us. But the good news is, is that the church, even though the building itself is sort of going downstream, the church is stronger than ever.
We need to stop. We need to just focus on the lord, regroup, and put together some plans for moving forward. And thankfully, the people of God, the people of faith will move forward and will continue to make a very, very positive impact according to the mission that God has given us.
NGUYEN: But, Pastor, you are more -- you are human, just like everybody else. And as we watched in that piece just moments ago, as you walk through this church, you just kind of take it all in, you go OK, this is what I'm dealing with. But there are those moments in time, those little visions that capture your eye, like the nursery that really break you down. What has been the hardest part of this for you?
GILMORE: Well, the hardest part, I would say, not so much the building itself, but all the memories that the building holds. When I got to the nursery, and again saw all those toys, you know, I thought of my own kids. We have got six kids. And all of our kids have been raised in that church. And people poured their lives into my kids. And my kids played with those toys.
And so when I think of the memories, my kids got married in that church. Again, six kids, and we've had two of them get married in that church. My mother even -- I performed the wedding of my own mother in that church after my father passed away a number of years ago.
So it houses numerous memories, memories that we cherish very, very much. And yet again, the church will continue. The church will go on for...
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Right where it is standing? Are you going to rebuild right there?
GILMORE: We are just not sure yet. We have to find out what the city will allow, what the corps of engineers will allow. And there are numerous options. We have a task force put into place right now looking at short-term, intermediate-term and long-term objectives. So we have a lot of people mobilized who are incredibly gifted and talented.
And so we don't want to be inactive. We don't want to be like the person who leans on a shovel and prays for a hole. We want to move forward and move forward in faith, move forward aggressively, and yet at the same time we want to wait on the lord and be behind the lord and let him be the one who leads us.
NGUYEN: Well, I can see the strength in your spirit today. And we do want to wish you the best. It is Father's Day, so happy Father's Day. I know this, obviously, is one that you will not forget because of the circumstances. Thank you very much, Pastor Jeff Gilmore of Parkview Church.
GILMORE: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
HOLMES: Is it not amazing? We have done several stories of tornadoes, flooding, churches always seem to get hit. Unfortunately, when we have the pastor on, on Sunday, and we all are just uplifted, a day in great spirits.
NGUYEN: You just feel better about it. I mean, and no matter what you're dealing with, whether you are in a flood zone or not, when you hear something like that, and you see someone facing so much devastation, but then stand so strong, it makes you realize, you know what, we have it good.
HOLMES: We have it good.
NGUYEN: We're still alive, we're still here. Everything else can be rebuilt.
HOLMES: That's amazing. So they are going to be back on their feet, no doubt. We hope to see them again down the road.
Up next here, though, talk about keeping the bonds of family secure even when families are split apart by the prison system. That's ahead in our salute to everyday heroes.
NGUYEN: And unfortunately though, more rain in the forecast for part of the waterlogged Midwest. We have the latest from the flood zone just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: When a man or woman is sent to jail, innocent victims are often left behind, their children. But at least one person is trying to keep that crucial bond between incarcerated parent and the child. Carolyn LeCroy is today's "CNN Hero."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello, Cameron (ph), this is your father.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, J.J., it's mommy, I love you very much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Claire (ph), mommy misses you.
CAROLYN LECROY, CHAMPIONING CHILDREN: The children of an incarcerated parent are the silent victim of the parent's crime. These children get forgotten sometimes.
My Name is Carolyn LeCroy. And I started the Messages project so that incarcerated parents can keep in touch with their kids.
In 1994 I was arrested and charged with possession of marijuana. I was very fortunate. My children came to see me all the time. And there would be women who never got to see theirs. And I would look at them, if they were this unhappy, what about the children?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray.
LECROY: I know how important it was for my children to see me. When I got out, I took a bad situation and I made something good of it. Just talk from your heart. That's what this is about.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Caleb, this is daddy, buddy. I love you. And I hope you enjoy this.
LECROY: They know they have made mistakes. But they are still human beings. They have children. And they all love them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is from your daddy, OK?
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: Daddy?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have two books here, I hope you enjoy it. "One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish. This one has a little star. This one has a little car. Say, what a lot of fish they are."
LECROY: We have found with the videos, for many it's reestablishing a bond that got broken. It's hard when a parent is in prison. So I think that makes all of those children heroes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, it was a CNN viewer out there just like you who told us about Carolyn LeCroy. In fact this year, all of our "CNN Heroes" are extraordinary people that you have nominated on our Web site. So you can go to cnn.com/heroes right now if you know someone who deserves to be a "CNN Hero." You never know, you could see that hero of yours right here on CNN.
HOLMES: Well, hello, good morning, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, June 15th. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody, I'm Betty Nguyen. Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there and thank you for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: And we do have to start with the flooding and more cities and towns being threatened by the flooding. More misery this morning from all of that. And again, this is all happening in the Midwest. Much of the trouble is in Iowa. Specifically in Cedar Rapids, officials report at least one fatality from the flooding, a woman who was found dead in her home.
The flooding water is starting to recede there a bit but now the city is facing another issue, that's a shortage of clean drinking water. Meanwhile, in Des Moines, the National Guard and volunteers shored up levees with sandbags but rising water did breach one levee, flooding a neighborhood.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: We have it all covered for you this morning. Take a look, Sean Callebs is in Cedar Rapids, Christian Farr in Coralville, Iowa, and Reynolds Wolf is in the severe weather center tracking the threat of even more rain today. HOLMES: New water woes in Cedar Rapids as we're talking about. Officials say the city is facing a shortage of clean drinking water. And this is a dire situation.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. This latest threat is moving in as the floodwaters start to recede and CNN's Sean Callebs joins us now live from Cedar Rapids with the situation there.
So, the river has already crested, the Cedar River, but the problem still remained.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, without question. It's going to be here for not days but perhaps weeks. In fact, I talked to somebody earlier who said, boy, you're in for a long week. He rolled his eyes and said, "It is going to be a long month."
Let me just show over this, look at this sort of gray lagoon that is formed here in this parking lot, this intersection. If you look in the distance you can see, (INAUDIBLE), you see the parking lot. Yesterday, all that was under water. In fact, it looked like rapids flowing through there. So, this area is actually receding somewhat quickly, but an anxious night here for residents.
I want to show you some storms that blew in basically about dusk last night, lightning storm, heavy rain throughout much of this area and it continued on this morning. When we arrived here, it's absolutely pouring, more lightning here in the area. A major concern not only here but also down river where this water basically has nowhere to go.
And, boy, the water's been so high, it has swamped bridges and now is just beginning to go down, the debris is being captured on those bridges. Bits of homes, actual houses, are flowing down, slamming into not only bridges, cars and trucks but also for rail traffic. And we know that rail traffic has been interrupted here to a large degree causing a big problem in this area. But without question, the number of evacuees, 24,000 people had to be evacuated here in this town of 120,000.
We went to one shelter last night and over the last 24 hours, the number of people staying there has varied dramatically from 75 to 201, but the community relations director at that shelter tells a pretty frightening story. Practically, everyone coming in there says, you know, what -- I did not have flood insurance. The flood has crossed 500 year plain (ph) and it's something we never anticipated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE DOSER, CEDAR RAPIDS SHELTER: It's sad and I talked to a gentleman here yesterday. He said his floor was getting wet. He just kind of thought he'd check on the basement, opened the door and right there, the water was just already up to that door.
And a lot of people that we've talked to said, couple people told us a story that they were told they didn't need flood insurance, don't worry about it, you're in the 500, don't even think about that. And now, they don't have anything. And so, that's a big thing. Most of the people here we have do not have flood insurance.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Boy, and the drinking water situation here in the town is critical. That's the only way to phrase it, Betty. People are being told only use water for drinking. Don't use it to wash your clothes. Certainly, not your lawn. It's the last thing you need at this hour.
But also, they're concerned about fires. We heard one emergency official said yesterday, look, if people keep using water, even for flushing toilets, then at some point, we're going to have a fire and there may not be enough water to handle it. Sort of an ironic situation, if you look around here and you see water.
NGUYEN: Wait, how does that work, causing a fire by flushing a toilet? How does that work?
CALLEBS: You're not going to cause a fire but flushing a toilet, but you're going to have difficulty fighting the fire because every time you flush the toilet, there goes five gallons of water. Less than half of the wells in this area are actually feeding water in to the city. So, they're down significant amounts of water. So, they're telling people, only use water for drinking.
NGUYEN: Gotcha.
CALLEBS: Does that make more sense?
NGUYEN: It does make more sense when you put it in that perspective -- you were like flushing a toilet, we have problems with fires - and so I get it now. You know, when we are talking about this though, dealing with the water, it's very imperative because when I was there just a few days ago, they said, don't use it for anything else but drinking water and that still remains today. So, it's something that people are obviously really taking heed to that warning but it's a problem that's staying with them, no doubt.
All right, Sean Callebs, thank you.
The Iowa River though is still rising. Everybody is keeping their eye on that.
HOLMES: And we've got a reporter there. Now, Christian Farr is following the flood threat along the Iowa River, joins us now from Coralville.
We've been talking about curfews in some places. Is there a curfew in place for the people there?
CHRISTIAN FARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was a curfew here, T.J., between 8:30 and 6:00 a.m. this morning. Of course, that has now ended about an hour ago. We are in Coralville, right next door a condo complex and a hotel.
But I want to show you the street. This is a street that's been completely flooded out. We're just about 100 yards from the Iowa River. And the Iowa River is swollen. And you can really see that if you go up to one of these hotel rooms because as you look out the window, there used to be a pond back there and some homes. You can't see the pond anymore and you can only see the roofs of those homes.
Now, the Iowa River is going to crest, hopefully, possibly today or early Monday afternoon. They were estimating that it could crest somewhere between 33 and 34 feet. It normally crested at 25 feet but if it crests earlier, those numbers would be lower, which would be good news.
Let's take you over here to the sandbagging effort that happened here in Coralville. The only entrance that's opened up with these sandbags right now is the entrance to the hotel. As you can see, these sandbags are pretty high and it's dry behind here. None of the water has leaked in. There is a little bit of water in the basement, I'm being told. And this condo complex is only about nine months old. They should be covered.
Right now, they think it might come up about a foot or two, as you can see, this is nearly five feet, so hopefully no more rain is going to come, even though we've got a chance of thunderstorms, that is sort of the thing that's got people concerned. Once those thunderstorms pass, we should have some clear weather and hopefully people can start cleaning up and recovering.
HOLMES: Yes, there's a lot of hope and hopefully in there. But so far, those sandbags, I think, is working, hopefully, will continue to work there for some of those business owners.
Christian Farr for us there along the Iowa River, thank you this morning.
NGUYEN: Well, meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is in the severe weather center with more on this rain that they definitely don't need. But I understand it's expected at some point today.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It certainly is. Already, this morning, Sean Callebs is talking about this heavy rainfall they had much earlier. Right now, the strongest storms are moving into parts of Chicago, just to the west of that city at this time, but we now have something else to watch and that is the possibility of some development over in parts of say Iowa and Nebraska. This is a new severe thunderstorm watch, including areas like Des Moines, places just hammered by the floodwaters. Certainly possible, they could be dealing with more storms today.
I believe we've got a live image popping up, here it is, KCCI country, right there, right in the heart of Des Moines, you see the rivers. You see that span of river and the waters receding today but, I'll tell, is that that water moves out, we have the potential for heavier storms and more water coming back in. It just really compounds the problem.
All this water is not going to remain in place, but it also isn't all going to evaporate instantly. What's going to happen is going to feed its way into the Mississippi River.
And coming up, what we're going to do is give you an idea of what they can expect farther downstream, in places like St. Louis. For the time being though, in St. Louis, things are considerably dry. We do anticipate at this time some of the heaviest rainfall, believe it or not, moving into parts of - well, take a look -- central and southern Missouri.
This is the latest computer model we have in terms of precipitation. For the time being, it doesn't look that bad for places like Des Moines in terms of the heaviest rainfall, heaviest rainfall back into say, parts of the show-me state. We're going to watch that for you very carefully. With the strongest in the afternoon, we're going to see these totals change big-time for much of Iowa.
Let's send it back to you.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Reynolds. We'll stay on top of that as well.
Well, parts of New York are working to recover this morning after a ferocious thunderstorm just swept through the city. Officials say thousands of homes and businesses lost power during yesterday's storms. In Queens, part of one subway line shut down. Storms dumped nearly two inches of rain in Central Park.
HOLMES: Well, better weather and calmer winds helping fire crews battle a series of wildfires in northern California. The worst blaze has charred at least 74 homes in a place called Paradise -- yes, Paradise, California. It's about 90 miles north of Sacramento. Thousands of people have been forced from their homes. Officials say some evacuees are being allowed back to access their homes and also assess the damage and the losses.
NGUYEN: Well, here's a story that's going to make you buzz. An estimated 60,000 honeybees are living inside the walls of this North Carolina home. And get this -- the owner didn't even find out until just recently when he spotted a stain dripping from the wall. He found it was honey. He's since called the bee keepers and the bees are now buzzing somewhere else.
HOLMES: Well, we've got some secrets being revealed on a train. Confidential papers related to Britain's war on terror found on a train. And this is not the first time this has happened.
NGUYEN: Also, what is a child to do this Father's Day if dad has passed away? Well, there is a special group that understands exactly what that is like, and can help.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Jail break in Afghanistan. This morning, the hunt is on for more than 400 Taliban members who escaped a prison in Kandahar. A suicide bomber ran a truck loaded with explosives into that prison and that was followed by Taliban fighters rioting into the prison on motorcycles freeing their comrades. It sounds like something out of the movie.
Well, U.S. officials say the search has resulted in 15 insurgents killed, at least five others captured but it's not yet clear if those insurgents are connected with the prison break.
And documents that appear to detail the British government's policies against terrorism have been found in London.
HOLMES: Yes, found. These are very confidential papers. They were turned over to the newspaper "The Independent" after somebody found them on a train, of all places.
Our correspondent, Owen Thomas, joins us now from the British capital.
Are you kidding me? This stuff -- people just leave it sitting around on the train, huh?
OWEN THOMAS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It is just incredible. I'm not kidding at all. And you know what is even more appalling, if you like, T.J., this is the second set of documents, top secret, classified documents, found on a train in a week. They were handed over to "The Independent" on Sunday, as you said, a respected paper. New batch of terror files left on trains.
The paper doesn't go into actual details of what they said. They do tell us that they detailed the UK's policies towards fighting terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering, that contains criticism of Iran, as far as fighting financial crime and the financing of terrorism and the confidential file also apparently outlines how trade and banking systems could be manipulated to fund weapons of mass destruction in countries like Iran.
Now, let's not take this out of total proportion. They weren't secret nuclear command codes or anything like that, but this does seem absolutely incredible. It smacks of amazing incompetence. Last week, documents were found on a train detailing government policies to Iraq and al Qaeda.
Now, there are a voices, as you would imagine, saying, hang on, a minute, is this some sort of conspiracy. The overwhelming thought here is, no, this is just a serious personal blunder. We've been speaking to the Pauline Neville-Jones. Now, she was the former chairman of the joint intelligence committee, she now speaks for the opposition conservative party on security matters. She is absolutely appalled.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAULINE NEVILLE-JONES, OPPOSITION PARTY SECURITY SPOKESWOMAN: The information that could have been exposed is potentially prejudicial to national security and certainly to the public interest of this country. It also tells foreign governments that this is a government in the United Kingdom that really isn't in control of the situation, isn't in control of its government machine.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS: Pauline Neville-Jones there.
Well, we've been speaking to a spokesman for the British Treasury where these documents actually originated. This is what they told us, "The department is extremely concerned about what has happened and will be taking steps to ensure that it doesn't happen again in the future."
The problem is, it sounds familiar, because the police as well as the government is looking into the first set of missed, lost, files, confidential files, found on a train last week. It's doubly embarrassing, because tomorrow here in London, there starts a conference -- week-long global conference on fighting international crime.
But, T.J., come on. You know what it is all about. Even, if you're just going to see your mom, you get off the train -- I forgot my wallet, my umbrella, my cell phone -- oh, my secret documents.
HOLMES: And my confidential papers.
THOMAS: Not in this case.
HOLMES: OK, is there any chance that somebody did this intentionally? You said chances are just a personal screw-up here. But still, is there any chance somebody wanted to leave those behind, wanted it to get out into the public, to a newspaper?
THOMAS: Of course, there is always that danger. But the thing is, this isn't the first type this has happened. In fact, there's been about 15 times (INAUDIBLE) of the year, laptops have been found from the minister of defense in a McDonald's restaurant. Other things like that.
And also, in November, the British government itself said it lost the banking and personal details of 25 million people when an junior employee at the finance ministry sent two computer disks through the post, not encrypted, unregistered, unrecorded. And all those details are giving all sorts of banking details and all the rest of it. This really does look total incompetence to many people here in London.
HOLMES: It appears and I guess it makes reporting from there a little easier. All you have to do is keep your eye out on a train or McDonald's and you're going to find government secrets.
THOMAS: It keeps us busy, T.J., let me tell you.
HOLMES: All right. Well, Owen, keep your eye out. Let us know when you find some secret stuff sitting around in a restroom somewhere next. Owen Thomas for us there from the British capital. Good to see you this morning. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: Well, it is Father's Day. And Josh Levs has a little survey of dads out there. What did you find? JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's all I got for you. He's got exposed secrets and all this crazy stuff, I got a few facts -- oh, man. I cannot compete.
Well, here's what I do have for you. How many dads would take a pay cut for more time with their kids or even quit if their wives could comfortably support the family? We've got the answers, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, on this Father's Day, we have a special story about a young woman who has conquered her pain to make this day that much better for other kids.
HOLMES: And Nicole Lapin is here to tell us all about that. Good to see you this morning. Good morning.
NICOLE LAPIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning.
You know, it's part of my series, "Young People Who Rock," where each and every week, I feature a different young person or people under 30 doing amazing things in the world of politics, business, entertainment, and in this case, community activism.
Her name is Kate Atwood and here is her story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAPIN (voice-over): Kids out playing, jumping, and dancing on a Sunday afternoon. It seems pretty normal, right? And that's the point.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was real fun.
KATE ATWOOD, FOUNDER, KATE'S CLUB: I used to do a lot of basketball camps.
LAPIN: That's Kate Atwood having casual conversation with young members of her club, something she didn't necessarily do when she was their age.
ATWOOD: I was one of that, you know, just some guy (ph), you know, and that became my every day challenge was to avoid the abnormal situation where she came up or the situation of not having a mom came up.
LAPIN: Kate was just 12 years old when her mom died. She didn't know anyone her age who'd lost a parent.
ATWOOD: I'm just some guy. You know, what (ph) happened, you know, when you're that age, you don't think of your parents as a human being. I mean, they're something special. I didn't know where I was safe in sharing that voice, sharing my grief. And that was my voice around, you know, going to school, not feeling normal. LAPIN: She started Kate's Club five years ago, to offer kids who'd lost a family member that voice, and the chance to remember -- you know what? They are still just kids. Like 13-year-old Alec Vargas, when his dad died less than a year ago, he really stepped up to take care of his baby sister and his mom. But this is a place where he can really let loose.
ALEC VARGAS, KATE'S CLUB MEMBER: Come here, just get away from all the hurt. Play around, get to tell (ph) or something. Teach you how to grieve with it. That's OK.
DAPHNE GONZALES, ALEC'S MOM: He has some mentors at school, and the school counselor and all that stuff in charge of helping, but these people really know where he's coming from.
ATWOOD: As a child, you go through adolescence and you already have enough challenges. You just have to be strong fighting (ph) back. You should never be alone and that's what we wanted to change here with Kate's Club.
LAPIN (on camera): Well, it looks like none of these kids are alone.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAPIN: Well, they are definitely not alone. There are 200 kids at that club here in Atlanta. And you know, it's really important on days like today, on Father's Day, to not feel alone. On a personal note, Betty, I know you can relate. When my father died when I was 11, days like today, Father's Day, Mother's Day, birthdays, anniversaries that are particularly tough, I didn't have something like this growing up but I wish I did.
NGUYEN: I know. Well, you know, I've also lost my father as well. And it's difficult because, as you think back, and it's just another day that they're not around for you to tell them how much you love them and care about them.
So, it's wonderful to see, especially children who is - it's even more difficult for them to deal with a day like this. To see that there are people around who can help make it a little bit better and a little bit brighter on difficulties.
LAPIN: Right. Better and brighter and just normal, just make them feel like they're just kids.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Thank you for sharing at us that great story.
LAPIN: My pleasure.
HOLMES: Nicole, thank you this morning.
We're going to turn over to our Reynolds Wolf who is standing by, I believe, in the weather center right now along with Josh Levs.
WOLF: You can believe, T.J., you guys worked here, all you have to do is just believe and it's going to happen.
NGUYEN: Look at all of them.
LEVS: Dad power right over here.
WOLF: That's what I'm talking about. America, you know, happy Father's Day to all of you. We happen to be the two dads here on staff.
And happy Father's Day. Josh, you know, you've got some cool things about this wonderful day.
LEVS: We're already showing everybody pictures of our kids. Yes, we do. OK, so let me ask you something. How many dads would you think have had to miss a significant event in your kid's life due to work?
WOLF: Wow, it's a dangerous question.
LEVS: I know.
WOLF: That's a really dangerous question.
LEVS: Now we have an answer. You want to venture a guess? Well, let's take a look. I don't want to put him on this (INAUDIBLE). Take a look at the numbers. There you go.
It's 46 percent. This is a survey that was just done recently for by Harris interactive for Careerbuilder.com, 46 percent, so nearly half. And it's just in the past year.
Now, let's go to the next one which shows -- how many have missed more than three events just in the past year? We're talking about a quarter of dads. You know, especially in this economy, a lot of people are working hard, a lot of people are taking less vacation and doing a lot of overtime, which affects families, dads particularly.
Now, how many dads do you think would leave their jobs if their spouses could comfortably support the family? Here's that number. About 1/3 say they would leave work, they would give it up all together if their wives could take over. And how many would take a pay cut if they could spend more time with their kids? Exact same number -- 37 percent.
So, we're looking at about a 1/3 of dads out there who'd be willing to leave their jobs or take a pay cut for more time with the family.
Now, here on CNN.com, we have some helpful information for you. You see this sweet picture here. If you go to CNN.com -- I really like that picture, it's so nice -- and we trace you through the fast facts about Father's Day, where it came from.
About 64 million dads in America now, according to the census, and we also get to find out how much money people will be spending on dads. Hint out there -- guys, this thing (ph) you're going get from your wives -- average about $100 on each dad this Father's Day. That's what's expected.
We won't officially know until all the spending is done tomorrow, because that includes, you know, going out to meals, taking to nice places and gifts and stuff like that. So, there you go -- a few facts to take you through Father's Day.
And of course we do, as Reynolds said, wish everyone out there who is a dad, a happy Father's Day, especially you troops. This was actually originally a holiday created to celebrate a dad who was a veteran. So, especially, to all of you troops out there, who if you can't be you're your kids, happy Father's Day to you -- Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh. Happy Father's Day to the both of you.
LEVS: Thank you.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: What are you talking about?
HOLMES: I don't know.
WOLF: You can actually argue that if you actually were one of those who chose to stay at home with the kids, that actually is more work. I mean, in my house, I can guarantee you, my wife and I can work together, we can clean the house and within 10 minutes, it looks like, you know, a party after homecoming at an ATO house, all right?
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: What are you talking about?
WOLF: I mean, you could argue that by doing less work at work and being home is actually more work, you know.
NGUYEN: Reynolds, we're happy to trade you in, but can Erin do the weather? I mean, I don't know if she's...
WOLF: She can do anything. She's the smartest, well, I wonder how smart she is she's married me, but she's a brilliant lady and she works like crazy, no question.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, she'll be up in about an hour.
WOLF: She might be smarter than I am.
NGUYEN: Thank you.
WOLF: You bet guys.
NGUYEN: You know, a sophisticated sipper raving about the bouquet.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This one has a sort of some tropical fruit things that are coming through there, notes of pineapple and a little bit of mango.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: It's coffee.
NGUYEN: She's serious about it, apparently.
HOLMES: It's coffee. That's $15 a cup coffee.
NGUYEN: Yikes.
HOLMES: Yes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
