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CNN Sunday Morning
Northern California Burning; Water Levels Along Mississippi Higher Than Expected
Aired June 22, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: Northern California burning. Firefighters are battling hundreds of fires this morning. Look at this dramatic video sent to us by one of our i-Reporters on the front line.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: Also, getting an unwelcome surprise in Midwest. Water levels along some parts of the Mississippi are higher than expected. Several towns are now on flood watch this morning.
NGUYEN: Disaster in the Philippines. A ferry like the one you see right here has capsized, more than 700 people on board.
HOLMES: Also, we're watching a developing story in Saudi Arabia that could impact the price of gas in this country. A high level oil summit has just begun. We'll have a live report.
Good morning to you all. From CNN Center from Atlanta, Georgia, it is Sunday, June 22nd. And I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen.
Let's straight to it.
And we do start with this. The ongoing emergency in California, dozens of fires are still burning at this hour.
HOLMES: Yes. Those fires are the result of lightning strikes. Here's a look at some of the areas getting the worse of it this morning. State officials say about 400 new fires were sparked from Monterey all the way up through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Redding, California.
NGUYEN: These are new pictures of those fires burning in Napa Valley. This is the largest one so far. It's destroyed 2,000 acres and still spreading. Evacuations have been ordered in the area as some homes have been threatened, but so far, no reports of any houses burning.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger ordered the National Guard to help the firefighters. The fear now though is that some of the smaller fires could merge, making them harder to contain. Plus, it's been hard for fire crews to reach all of the fires that lightning started, that lightning started. HOLMES: A little farther south, firefighters just about got fire under control in Watsonville. It's about 90 percent contained now they say, and should be fully under control by the end of the day today. Evacuation orders have been lifted. That's giving people who lost their homes a first chance to go back and see just how bad things are.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KRON/WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA/SATURDAY)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The house is just gone. We lost everything. My kids are OK. I'm just looking for my dog.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You always feel bad for fire victims, but when it happens right next door, somehow, it's even different.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Right now, firefighters are keeping tabs on hot spots that could spark up again.
Meanwhile, in southern California, the lights are out. Power is out there. The beaches, the place to be right now to cool off, temperatures there have been in the triple digits though the past two days. About 1,500 customers are still without electricity this morning. It's down for about 8,000 from yesterday. Libraries and senior centers are staying open late in Los Angeles for people who need a break from that heat.
NGUYEN: Well, meteorologist, Karen Maginnis is keeping an eye on this heat for us this weekend. And the big question for a lot of people, as we talked about triple digit heat yesterday, is how hot is it going to get today?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: We're still looking at triple digits and some will be at or near record-setting levels and most of that is going to be in southern California, also into Arizona. But we also saw some records up in Utah where there may be not be at triple digits but they are certainly in the 90s, not what they would expect this time of the year.
Right around St. Helena, that's where we've got a report of that particular fire there, to the north of the San Francisco Bay Area. I wanted to point out that Phoenix, right now, the sun hasn't even come up, it's 92 degrees right now. And Los Angeles is reporting a temperature of 74. So, it's going to be another hot day.
We head down to the south of the San Francisco Bay Area. Watsonville, you just heard about that, about 90 percent contained. But there's also very large fire, this in southern New Mexico. Now here's New Mexico. Just to the south, this is a portion of Texas. Just to the west of Carlsbad, they have a 13,000-acre fire that is zero contained; also, another one near Truth or Consequences.
So, we'll keep you updated on that -- T.J., Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Karen. HOLMES: Now, I want to head over to that Midwest flooding we've been talking about a lot the past couple of days. So far, billions of dollars in damage to property and crops, and the disaster is far from over.
NGUYEN: I want you to look at this video of the tiny farming town of Foley, Missouri. About half the homes there is swamped. Yesterday, Mississippi River rose higher than expected in some places and that makes people very nervous today.
HOLMES: And our meteorologist who's usually here with us on the weekend, our buddy, Reynolds Wolf, has been covering this flood from, really, right up to the water's edge and sometimes in that water himself.
NGUYEN: A lot of times in it. Yes, right now, he is in Grafton, Illinois. It's just up the river a bit from St. Louis.
Reynolds, where does the flood danger where you are? I see you have your waders on. So, that gives us a good indication.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, so does the sign. Check out the sign over my head -- "The meeting of the great rivers." That is certainly the situation here. We've got the Mississippi River, this area, we have the Illinois River and even to Missouri little bit downstream.
And this is what we found this morning. These waters continue to rise in this particular spot. The thing that's weird about it is they weren't expecting this at all. And we've got light pole here, I'm stepping on the other side of that. Here I am. And, still you see the waters are rising in a few spots. You've got a lot of homes, a lot of businesses off in the distance. You see a car wash where the water is there kind of lapping up against the side of the buildings, some convenience stores. Even some residential areas farther back up the street.
This is something that, again, as I mentioned, was not supposed to happen. Very unexpected but one of the problems that we have is we had some additional rainfall much farther to the north. Three big tributaries of the Mississippi river, we're talking about the Iowa River, the Cedar River and the Des Moines River, have been pushing quite a bit of additional water into the Mississippi. That, of course, has been coming downstream. And they've been trying to factor that into the rising water.
So, the situation is better for some communities this morning, but here, certainly, it has gotten progressively worse. This is usually kind of, I would say, a very active city. What I mean by that, it's certainly not a big city, but a place with a lot of tourists. This is the place where people go to enjoy themselves.
On Sunday morning like this, you've got people just about to get up and run (ph) to breakfast and many of these small restaurants they have down the street. But this morning, they're waking up to plenty of water. You take a look over here, follow me over here. You can just see a couple of street signs and what-not, some of them completely under water. Obviously, the river beginning to pull in a little bit more.
You can't see from this point but I'm just going to tell you -- there is a big piece, looks like, actually, it looks like part of a shed or house way off in the distance that is actually pulling down stream. You could also see street sign, stop sign, then, I guess, across street, the blue sign is topping just over the water. I'm telling you -- that's probably be about, I'd say nine feet or so.
And again, we're expecting these waters to go up just a little bit.
That is the latest we have here. We're going to send it back to you guys in the studio where it's much drier, much cleaner and much safer -- back to you.
NGUYEN: Wow. That's just really gives you an idea. Not only can you see the current, but when you see those street signs under water like that, it's a tremendous amount of flood waters entered into that particular area there. We have seen it through so many cities as this flooding just continues to cause so many problems for people downstream.
All right. Reynolds, we'll be checking with you shortly. Thank you.
WOLF: (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: Well, let's take you to Iowa where flood waters are actually going down but residents do face a new challenge. And that is - well, you're looking at it right there -- massive cleanup. What a mess.
Streets are piled with debris and garbage from flooded homes and businesses. And according to the "Des Moines Register," officials expect, listen to this, to haul away 96 tons of trash, just from the city of Cedar Rapids.
We're going to talk to a reporter from Cedar Rapids about the cleanup effort next hour.
And you know what? You can actually help. You can do something to help those in need. We, at CNN.com, have a special page on the Midwestern flooding, plus, links to aid agencies. So, it is your chance to Impact Your World. Go to CNN.com.
HOLMES: Well, a powerful typhoon hits the Philippines. And the Red Cross says, it has killed at least 152 people. Houses were washed away by huge waves; roads were blocked by falling trees. Officials say entire communities right now are under water. And there are fears that the death toll could go a whole lot higher because a passenger ferry that was carrying more than 700 people ran aground and capsized.
Joining us now on the phone is Paul Alexander who's the "Associated Press" bureau chief in Manila.
Paul, we appreciate you giving us some time here. A couple of things to update our viewers on -- tell us what happened, and is it believed that this boat went down as a direct result of this typhoon?
PAUL ALEXANDER, "ASSOCIATED PRESS" MANILA BUREAU CHIEF: It certainly seems that there is a cause and effect there. The ferry basically was heading from Manila to south central Philippines, ran into some very strong winds, sort of stalled off and ran aground and something in the middle of the morning caused it to suddenly shift and capsize. We have only four survivors so far. Two of those have talked on TV and as I said, that they don't see much chance that a lot of these people got out.
HOLMES: What is the update as well? Do we have a death toll of bodies or anything been recovered? You say only four survivors right now.
ALEXANDER: Well, the death toll officially from the typhoon stands at 155, but at most, that includes about six bodies that have washed ashore near where the ferry capsized. So, obviously, that death toll could go up dramatically over the next day. The question is -- what happened to these people?
The coast guard is checking out reports that a large number of survivors may have made it to one island. A life raft was spotted off of another island. So, it is possible that some of these people have reached shore and because communications are cut off, we just don't know about it yet. But authorities are fearing the worst at this point.
HOLMES: That is some good information. I guess a sign or a little piece of something to hope for if, in fact, some people have made it to other islands and there are survivors out there. One more thing before we let you go here, there is already some talk out there, and some criticism about why in the world was this ferry is out there, knowing that this typhoon was coming?
What is the talk right now -- unfortunately, yes, it's sad and the focus should be on trying to get survivors but still, there is already -- and the president of the Philippines is already putting out some critical words of why in the world was this ferry allowed to be out there in the water in the first place?
ALEXANDER: Well, that's a good question. In theory, you know, this is a very large ferry. It can hold over a thousand people. In theory, it should be fairly stable. But we're talking about a typhoon that has come through, blown over trees, sparked landslides; and why anybody would let this ferry leave shore under those conditions is anybody's guess.
HOLMES: All right. Well, we can certainly be talking about that down the road. Right now, hopefully, those survivors, as you said, possibly, some made it to shore somewhere and just haven't been able to communicate.
Paul Alexander, again, the bureau chief for the "Associated Press" in Manila -- sir, thank you so much for your time.
NGUYEN: Well, this just in. A female suicide bomber strikes in Iraq. At least 15 people died in this morning's attack in central Baquba -- that is northeast of Baghdad, and another 35 people are wounded. The woman appeared to target a police patrol in front of a government compound.
Now, today's attack is the latest by a female bomber. U.S. military officials say they're being recruited heavily by al Qaeda in Iraq. And here is the reason -- women can more easily avoid beefed-up security measures.
HOLMES: Well, we talked about this story yesterday. The outrage story of the day yesterday -- high school girls allegedly striking a deal to get pregnant.
NGUYEN: A "pregnancy pact" as a lot of people were calling it. And our viewers have some really strong opinions about this story, without a doubt. And some of your e-mails, wait until you hear this, just minutes away.
HOLMES: Also, the soaring oil prices. Well, the people who produce the stuff and people who use the stuff are meeting right now to come up with some kind of a plan. We'll see if they come up with anything just yet. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING on CNN: The news channel watched by more Americans.
HOLMES: Well, sky-rocketing oil prices, sometimes surging to nearly $140 a barrel. So, what needs to happen to bring those prices down?
NGUYEN: Isn't everyone is asking that question? It seems like it.
Well, today, Saudi Arabia is hosting an energy summit convening members of oil-producing countries and oil consuming countries, like the U.S. will be there.
And CNN's Wilf Dinnick reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are coming from 36 nations -- executives from oil companies, ministers from oil-producing nations, and just about anyone who's in the oil business.
Security is tight in Jeddah. Among the attendees -- the British prime minister, the Saudi king.
The stage is being set. All the major players in the oil industry will sit behind closed doors to hammer out what is being called a "working document," an action plan to try and bring down the record high oil prices.
Spencer Schwartz covers the oil industry and has never seen it quite like this.
SPENCER SCHWARTZ, DOW JONES CORRESPONDENT: There is no quick fix to this because this -- the situation that we're in, it is quite unique and it's going to take many years to correct.
DINNICK: There are complaints that oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia are not putting enough oil in the marketplace to help ease demand. Others call for better regulations to make sure traders are not manipulating market prices, selling oil for a quick buck and driving up the price.
Getting all of the parties to agree is the real challenge. Saudi Arabia's deputy oil minister is warning everyone not to expect a quick fix.
PRINCE ABDULAZIZ BIN SALMNA, SAUDI DEPUTY OIL MINISTER: I would endeavor certainly is to bring about tranquility and stability to the oil market. But it would be totally unfair to attend to this problem in such a quick fix approach. I don't think a quick fix approach is a welcome thing anyway.
DINNICK (on camera): This meeting is also a chance for the Saudi Arabian government to tell the world -- they don't set the price of oil, the marketplace does, and there's a lot of complicated issues that have driven the price to record highs.
(voice-over): Saudi officials are expected to announce a major boost in oil production at this meeting, but it would be months before it would make a difference in the marketplace.
Any new investment in oil production, like drilling or building new refineries would take time to pay off. It could take years before oil is pulled from the ground. So, there is a wide range in consensus here that there is no short-term solution to record high oil prices.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And Wilf joins us now by phone from the Jeddah summit.
Wilf, OK, we have heard a whole host of causes for this problem. And you say there's no short-term solution, but I understand we're going to be hearing today on exactly what they're hoping to use as a possible fix.
DINNICK (through phone): Well, just a few moments ago, actually, the king of Saudi Arabia spoke and he said that they're going to be boosting production and there's talk of getting another 200,000 barrels per day. Now, all these numbers are kind of confusing, but basically it's going to pump up the level of production in Saudi Arabia to 1981 levels.
So, that's a really big message that they're sending to the speculators, to the investors, and especially, to the Bush administration who's been calling for more oil on the market -- that there will be a supply of oil, there will be a good supply, and it will be there for sometime.
But the king also said that the OPEC nation, those middle eastern nations that have been producing oil, they're going to put aside a $1 billion and $500 million of those dollars, he suggests should go to developing countries, to the poorest people, those nations who have been squeezed very badly by those high fuel prices.
But, yes, even with all these new oil on the market, with these commitments, it probably won't translate to any ease at the pumps any time soon. So, what everyone is saying here is that what they're looking at is mid to long-term solutions, no quick fixes.
NGUYEN: Oh, that's not what a lot of folks want to hear today. Well, let me ask you this very quickly...
DINNICK: I know.
NGUYEN: When we talk about the rising price of gasoline here in the U.S., is there some concern, especially at this summit, that if they don't find a solution to bringing these prices down, they don't make oil more readily available, we will, indeed, find other sources of power for our vehicles and oil will be something that will be phased out?
DINNICK: No doubt about it. They are very clear here. One of the reasons the Saudi Arabian government has held this is to create transparency and they say that they really want people to know that they care about the long-term stability of the oil market and that's really word for yes. They don't want Americans and the western world to turn off and have to find other ways to find energy because, of course, these people sell oil and they want to keep selling it.
Although there is a believe here, though, that even with alternative energy, there is still a demand with India and China and so many parts of new industries in the world, that are still going to demand oil, that these people will be in business a long time but, yes, they're very concerned about, one -- perception that they're not helping to bring down the price and, two -- that Americans will look for other alternatives.
NGUYEN: All right. Wilf is joining us live by phone as we look at these live pictures from that summit that is taking place today. Thank you, Wilf.
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people are thinking recession these days. Super-investor Warren Buffett thinks we are already in a recession. Meanwhile, former Fed chief, Alan Greenspan says the recession is likely. But, what do they know?
We should be talking to Ali Velshi. His opinion is the one that matters, and right now, he's got some tips that are Right on Your Money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ALI VELSHI, CNN SR. BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Record-high gas prices, falling home values, and the lowest level of consumer confidence since 1980, are all signs of a possible recession.
Personal finance expert Jonathan Clements says follow these steps to keep yourself recession-proof.
JONATHAN CLEMENTS, PERSONAL FINANCE EXPERT: First, you want to accumulate cash. If you haven't got a lot of money sitting in a bank, if you haven't got a lot of money sitting in the money market fund, this is the time to accumulate it.
Two, get your debts under control. Pay off those credit card debts. Don't take up new car loans, think twice before trading up to a bigger home.
And three, keep funding that 401k plan. You should continue to put enough into your own 401k to get that full for a max (ph) -- even if you lose your job and even if you end up cashing out that 401k plan and paying income tax and tax penalties, you're still going to come out ahead.
VELSHI: Ali Velshi, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, everybody has got opinions on this story. The ones we brought to you on an alleged pregnancy pact among Massachusetts high school teenagers.
NGUYEN: Well, Josh Levs has a preview of what is just ahead. And I am sure the comments go all across the spectrum.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They really do. You got to hear these things. We've been hearing from people of all ages, even the seventh grader. Everyone is offering insight into what's going on, not just at this one school, but in America in general. It's all coming up here right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Oh, goodness. OK. We have follow-up to a story that we told you about yesterday. Here it goes once again.
Teenage girls intentionally are getting pregnant. School administrators think it was part of some kind of secret pact.
HOLMES: Yes. The story is out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, but it's outraged people across the country, got everybody talking. And one local man says the girls tried to recruit his step daughter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was a tremendous amount of peer pressure, negative peer pressure for as many girls as possible to join in this pact. And, luckily, my step-daughter was smart enough or scared enough to say no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And we asked you all to send us your thoughts in an e- mail about this story. Well, pretty clear right away, many of you are very opinionated about this story.
NGUYEN: Yes, it fired up a lot of folks. And because one of the reports said that one of the girls actually had sex with a homeless man in order to get pregnant, I mean, it just sounds really outrageous.
And Josh Levs has been looking through some of the e-mails to get the opinions.
LEVS: Yes, he's substantially older than her allegedly. And they really want it. You guys (INAUDIBLE) are not shocked, right, to hear we've got tons of e-mail about this?
NGUYEN: Oh, no. I mean, we figured it would be coming in for sure.
LEVS: Yes. And, you know, a lot of the time, I'm weary of anonymous e-mails, but this is such a touchy subject. We want to give people a voice. We're going to have some of those here. Let's take a look at some of them that we've gotten just in the last 24 hours. And we'd just picked some of the strongest ones here.
Let's start with this. This is from someone who's calling herself "Diane." She says, "It seems to me the schools have been finding -- we're not showing it to you. Do we have it? "It seems to me the schools have been trying to make kids wards of the state" -- there you go - "for years, by handing out birth control pills and taking girls for abortions without the parents' knowledge. I wonder if the school is willing to be the grandparents emotionally, financially, physically for these 17 babies?"
Let's going to the next one now. This one asks, "Don the new unwed mothers," there you go, "in Gloucester qualify for public assistance? If so, maybe that is why they got pregnant. I would like to see the fathers pay the bills." And that one actually has been resonating with other people who were saying, "Look, who's going to pay these bills?"
Let's keep going here. This is from a 24-year-old who says, "You cannot believe something like this could even happen. I think teaching sex education as a freshman is perfectly understandable, but it's the parents' responsibility to know what their kids are doing, not the school's."
Let's get to more if we can here. Who talks about whether kids are even at the point where they are scientifically-developed enough to even have this kind of challenge. As these teens are not fully developed -- all right, we're going to do this one, this is from a seventh grader. "My sister got caught up with a bout and she ended up deciding to get pregnant. Now, she's expecting another one. My mom kicked her out. To any teen thinking about getting pregnant, it doesn't benefit you in any way."
Now, I'm going to mention the last one I was just saying, it says, "Teens brains are not fully developed for common sense decisions," which is an argument I've heard before.
So, you got people talking about this. Are these kids even capable of making this decision? Should the school have influence, should the parents have influence? Are kids even at the point where they should even have the ability to do this without knowing -- should they have access to, you know, sex education and all these questions. It touches on everything. All of them were touchy topics about teens and sex.
NGUYEN: And I think another thing that we heard from one of the viewers is -- where were the parents in all of this? A lot of people are wondering if you have control of your kids, if you know - of course, you're not going to be there 24 hours a day.
LEVS: Not, but do you know what they're up? Do you know what they're doing with their lives? Do you know what kinds of decisions they're going to make about something that is incredibly adult, you know?
NGUYEN: Absolutely. All right. Thank you, Josh.
HOLMES: Josh, thanks.
NGUYEN: Well, the flood flap between the presidential candidates.
HOLMES: Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain trading shots and pointing fingers over flood prevention.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Hello. Welcome back everybody on this Sunday morning. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
Let's get back to the devastating flooding in the midwest. The Mississippi river is still a long way from stopping its relentless assault on the countryside.
HOLMES: CNN meteorologist Reynolds Wolf has been on the flood watch really the past several days. Today, he's in the town of Grafton, Illinois. That's just north of St. Louis. Reynolds, good morning to you. Again, tell us how are things? It looks like you're standing on, is that dry land this time?
WOLF: Yes, T.J.. This is terra firma for the time being. One of the few spots in the downtown area that's experiencing that. I mean take a look behind me. This is just a beautiful river town. Normally you'd have a lot of tourists that will be coming out. It is a Sunday morning. Skies could not be better. Conditions couldn't be better but if you happen to look down here, you have people that are going to be going out not in cars this morning but in boats. Take a look farther out here. You see a street sign. It says stop, obviously. Above that, it says water. It works either way. It works as water stop or stop water. You can invert them and it's still applicable.
Take a look off in the distance you see again the lighthouse. Not really guiding or really doing much of anything due to all the water. And the water rises not only in this part but if you look over here pretty much the same story. Let's step around these construction pylons. And folks, you can even get a gander over here at our CNN Gulf Coast bureau truck that made the trip up here to tell you the story about what's been happening to people up and down parts in the Mississippi River. And way off in the distance you can see again plenty of water. You know, this is not the way it's supposed to be. What we should have here dry streets. Over here you got a little park where kids should be out playing this morning. Maybe someone walking the dog. But this morning, it's just the water and it's just the fish and it's all the flux that you see floating up here.
Now over here you see Dos Rios Mexican Grill. Translation, two rivers. Right now we've got really two rivers closed at this point, the Mississippi River and of course, the Illinois River that flows into here. Backed up by all the rainfall we've had in parts of Iowa, it's come downstream and this is the result. Now way off, you can see a sign that says Grandma's Dream. Well, this morning, pretty much like Grandma's nightmare with all this water. I can't even tell you what kind of an impact this is going to have on people here. Because remember, this is a big tourist town. There should be people coming here and enjoying themselves. You have a lot of ice cream shops. Today I think they will certainly be closed for business. And you look and you see what is visiting today. You get all kinds of weird stuff here. We don't have any corn fields close by but you see corn cobs and that could be as far north as Iowa that made its way down here or perhaps even across the river or even have a sign here. I'm not sure what this thing says, Private property, no trespassing. The river can't read. It's certainly been doing its trespassing today. That is the latest we got from Grafton. Let's send it back to you in the studios.
HOLMES: Reynolds, you have used every single sign in that town to help tell this story from Grandma's Dream to the stop water to the two rivers and now private property. You were talking about this being a tourist area. A lot of people maybe not familiar with Grafton. What exactly do people come there for in that town? What do they come to see?
WOLF: They come here for two really great things. One thing, they come here for the great views you have of the Mississippi River. At this point, obviously, it's in the downtown area. The second thing this town is famous for bald eagles. You have a line of bald eagles that frequent the area and they stay up here in the higher elevations way off in the distance but you can't see it from this vantage point but there are some hills around here. The eagles like to nest up there. They down the river. They get their food, they bring it back up, they feed first the fish for the young and a great place for them. For eagles not much of a problem because they tend to stay high up except when their fishing but for people who have to make their way up and down the streets it tends to be a little bit of a problem.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds Wolf for us there in Grafton. We appreciate you again this morning for giving us that view really. You got a heck of a vantage point there from where you stand there in that area. We appreciate you and we'll see you again soon, buddy.
WOLF: OK.
NGUYEN: Well, some people are still not out of danger just yet. Meteorologist Karen Maginnis is watching it for us in the severe weather center. So, what are you watching exactly as we talk about folks who are not out of the woods just yet?
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I was looking at the information where Reynolds is located. He's done an incredible job explaining what's going on. But they have seen a little minor crest, it's tapered off and now it looks like it's going to crest as we go overnight Monday into Tuesday. That will last until Thursday. Let's go ahead and show you some of the weather that we've been watching over the last week. We take a look at Canton, Quincy and Hannibal and Clarkesville. And what we are looking at across this area are these crest that will materialize early on Monday morning. I will point out that now through Friday in St. Louis, you see that? Well, that's because the river just doesn't have anyplace to go. You get this big bulge of water and it all goes down stream. Well, right now we are seeing some precipitation right around St. Louis about a 50/50 chance. Also in through Des Moines, we're also looking at some rainfall there. What kind of rainfall totals are we expecting? Generally speaking, about a quarter of an inch, maybe half an inch. I just don't see half an inch for most of these storms but I want to show you the Mississippi River very quickly here at St. Louis. It doesn't begin to fall until we head towards Thursday and into Friday, but until then, we're looking at that crest at 37 feet and, Betty and T.J., it's just going to take a long, long time, days for these rivers to go down. Back to you.
HOLMES: All right. Karen Maginnis with the news. We appreciate you giving it to us straight. All that news isn't good right now but we appreciate it.
NGUYEN: Well, the midwest floods are playing into presidential politics. Barack Obama takes aim at John McCain for opposing a 2007 flood prevention bill passed by Congress. McCain then blast Obama for opposing an amendment to the bill. Following that? Obama has fired first in a speech yesterday. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Both Senator McCain and I have traveled recently to the areas that have been devastated by floods. And I know that Senator McCain felt as strongly as I did, feeling enormous sympathy for the victims of the recent flooding. And I'm sure they appreciated the sentiment. But they probably would have appreciated it even more if Senator McCain hadn't opposed legislation to fund flood levees and flood control programs which he considers poor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, you can expect McCain's campaign didn't take too kindly to that and shot back with this, saying "Barack Obama opposed and voted against the bipartisan effort to ensure that lifesaving levees like those that so tragically failed in Iowa and Missouri are given the highest priority and fixed first."
It is beyond the fail, he goes on that Barack Obama will attack John McCain for actually trying to fix the problem and change the way Washington works. Both presidential candidates are spending the day pretty much out of the spotlight. John McCain going to church in Phoenix and later will be attending a private meeting with a military battalion, tomorrow he will be heading to California. Meanwhile, Barack Obama spent some private time with his family today after that speech before the U.S conference of mayors that you saw in Miami yesterday. He then travels to Mexico tomorrow.
NGUYEN: Well, a Louisiana highway just awash in acid. You might not be able to see it in that picture but a tanker truck overturned yesterday and spilled some 4,700 gallons of hydrochloric acid. There were no evacuations but six miles of interstate-10 closed and the town of Sidell. Those lanes re-opened a little bit earlier today. And crews scrambled to neutralize that acid before it could seep into nearby lake Pontchartrain. Health officials also had some concerns about an approaching rainstorm that could have turned the acid to vapor. There's a look at that truck that overturned. And if it turned to vapor though, that could have created a whole new set of problems. Well, luckily, that never happened.
We'll take you now to Guthrie, Oklahoma. One person is dead after a charter bus slammed into the back of a pickup truck. The driver of that truck was killed in the interstate-35 crash. Now, neither the driver of the bus nor the 52 passengers were injured. The accident is under investigation.
HOLMES: We got a different kind of first-responder to tell you about looking to help in the aftermath of national disasters.
NGUYEN: Yes. Coming up, we're going to take a look at one man who is on the road all the time looking to clear the way for others. He's a hero in his own right ahead on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, as record high flood waters have breached levees and forced thousands from their homes and businesses, this week's CNN hero was on the scene to help out.
NGUYEN: But you know that's no surprise. In fact, when disasters of any kind in cities and towns all across America, Tad Skylar Agoglia is ready to roll. He's a CNN hero.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN, METEOROLOGIST: We have 20 reports of tornadoes.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Eight people were killed in severe weather.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it goes!
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Crews are fighting fires on several fronts.
TAD SKYLAR AGOGLIA, COMMUNITY CRUSADER: The most critical phase of a disaster is the first few days. That's when you have to find the people that are in desperate need of medical attention, food, water. But you pull up and there's a building lying in the middle of a road. Or if 20 miles is underwater, how do you get all those resources to those people? I got this crazy idea to use one of my cranes to respond to a disaster and just open up roads so that the real heroes have the resources they need to continue to serve.
My name is Tad Skylar Agoglia. I provide help and hope to those in their greatest hour of need.
There's people on life support. There's people on oxygen. There's people that are going to die if we don't get there. I put together a crew that stays on the road 12 months out of the year, responds to disasters all over America, free of charge.
Here's what I'm thinking, right. If we get on 65 we're right there. As soon as we see a threat striking anywhere in the United States, if we feel it's severe enough, we leave immediately.
You know where we can be of some help?
We see a lot of death. We see a lot of destruction. But there is something beautiful about looking at a disaster and seeing what good can come out of it.
Stand by. Oftentimes, I'm asked why I do this. And I can't help but think why aren't more people doing this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: What a great story. You know, it's a CNN viewer, just like you, who told us about Tad Skylar Agoglia. In fact, this year, all of our CNN heroes are extraordinary people that you have nominated on our website.
HOLMES: Yes. So you can go to cnn.com/heroes right now if you know someone that you think deserved to be a CNN hero. You never know, you could see your hero here on CNN.
NGUYEN: Well, coming up. Islam on line, social networking sites for Muslims.
HOLMES: We will show you how the digital age is bringing Muslims together and highlighting their diversity. That is just ahead in today's "Faces of Faith."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Islam online. Muslims connecting through social networking sites to share their beliefs and discuss their differences as well. Our Arab Affairs Senior editor Octavia Nasr here now with the story in our "Faces of Faith." You know, the internet has allowed people to connect and get their message out in all kinds of way. No surprise I guess that this is happening as well.
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. EDITOR, "ARAB AFFAIRS": Isn't that the truth? Of course, you know people sometimes think that Muslins are different than any other religion but in fact they're not. Just as Christians, Jews and Hindus and others are bombarded by sites on the net telling them to come to them for answers. Muslims are no different. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NASR (voice-over): The call to prayer unifies Muslims from Basra to Islamabad. Ashada (ph) bearing witness that there is no god but Allah and that Mohamed is his prophet but in this digital age unity of Islam isn't so simple. Muslims are faced with a barrage of media competing for their eyeballs and loyalty while each media claims it represents Muslims and offers them everything they need, the fact that Muslims are as diverse as any other group is downplayed. Sami Taher runs the site mecca.com.
SAMI TAHER, PRESIDENT & CEO, MECCA.COM: Muslims are no different from other people around the world. I mean, there are diversities and there are opinions and the way they view these matters especially when it comes to matters relating to social life and to the lifestyle. They are, indeed, varying. You will see that there's a lot of differences in opinions and people have both sometimes even controversial questions and people have to defend their point of view and it's an open forum.
NASR: In fact, the most popular discussions on mecca.com's forum are polygamy, virginity and dating. Here on the social networking site, Facebook one can take a quiz to find out "what sort of Muslim are you?," further highlighting the many social layers within Islam.
In Egypt, a phone service and a website appropriately nicknamed Dial a Sheik is popular. It offers advise, interpretation and edicts from Islam's most respective scholars who answer anonymous questions within 24 hours. Saudi Arabia offers a full-fledged TV station dedicated to Islam with a motto that promises to, "strengthen your faith."
NASR: And then the children. Qatar offers this colorful site with three children as the stars, Omar who is kind and pious. Mohanad is the mischievous one who is always scolded and given advice and a young girl named Selma who is clean, helpful and smart. The song says, "we love her and we love her head scarf."
Social networking sites with clear agendas perhaps or a reflection of a culture that is very diverse but prefers to think of itself as homogeneous.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NASR: And of course that diversity spans all the way from the Middle East, the Arab Middle East, all the way to Asia, countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, Singapore, full of Muslims and then the question is is Islam one for all of these people so that messages are addressed to just one nation or is it diverse?
HOLMES: Like you say there, some of these are agenda driven but it's amazing to see just how diverse. Like you say, people don't think about sometimes, Jews, Muslims maybe or even just a monolithic group but you know, it's such a diversity out there, what do people think? Are these gaining in popularity even if people don't, if Muslims don't agree with maybe the messages of some of these social, these agenda-driven sites or they still just want to check them out? Are they popular? Are they growing?
NASR: You know just like any other religion or any other site, you have people who are followers, people who like these sites and who come there to basically socialize, network, sometimes date online. It is true but the mainstream Muslims, the people I talked to on a regular basis they say, 'look, we don't need these sites for us to strengthen our faith or any of that.' They don't need the TV stations to be sending the messages but, at the same time, Muslims in general feel that they need direction, that they need to have a voice and basically they look at the internet and they see so many voices there and they feel that they need to have the voices heard there as well.
HOLMES: All right. That is something! You don't think about that. Go there to date as well online.
NASR: Absolutely.
HOLMES: Do a little bit of everything. Hey, again, all right. "Arab Affairs" senior editor Octavia Nasr, so good to see you this morning. Thank you so much for that.
NASR: Thanks, T.J.
NGUYEN: Well, the water is still rising across parts of the midwest and it's not going away any time soon.
HOLMES: Right here at the top of the hour, we have a live report from one river town that thought it was safe. Instead, just looking at deep, deep water.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. He is sometimes called the king of talk.
HOLMES: OK. You know the guy we we're talking about but I don't think everybody called him the king of rock 'n' roll. That is Larry King.
NGUYEN: Wow! Check him out.
HOLMES: Larry King out rocking out with the heavy metal band Motley Crue.
NGUYEN: The veteran group is back on tour but believe it or not they will dare to hit the road without Larry. I know it sounds crazy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, CNN HOST: You going to do a little guitar for me?
MOTLEY CRUE: I don't know if you can handle it.
KING: I'll try.
MOTLEY CRUE: Come on. Yes, Larry strap it on, come on, man!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You want to put it on? No, I'll show you how to do it. Watch your ears!
KING: Let me try it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Was he actually playing anything there?
HOLMES: I don't know.
NGUYEN: I heard a lot of noise.
HOLMES: It looked like the paramedics should have been called.
NGUYEN: Just a tight shot. His head was shaking. Larry, are you all right? OK. Tune in tonight for an encore airing of Larry's interview with members of Motley Crue. Obviously, by looking at that you do not want to miss it! It's at 9:00 Eastern, 6:00 Pacific, right here on CNN.
HOLMES: Well, the flooding continues in the midwest. So, it's the cleanup right now. 96,000 tons of trash in the town of Cedar Rapids alone.
NGUYEN: Plus firefighters battling 500 wildfires in California.
And in the Philippines, a ferry carrying at least 700 people capsized. We have a whole lot to tell you about today. Good morning, everybody from CNN Central right here in Atlanta. It is Sunday, June 22nd. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello. I'm T.J. Holmes. Glad you could start your day right here with us. We will start with our meteorologist Reynolds Wolf. He's been covering this flood from the water's edge. And like we said earlier, not just on the edge of it, sometimes he is in that stuff.
NGUYEN: Right now, he is in Grafton, Illinois. It's just up the river in St. Louis. And Reynolds joins us now live in the water once again. What can folks expect today? I mean, is that water level going to continue to rise, or are they headed towards some kind of relief?
WOLF: Actually, they are expecting the water to rise a little bit. In fact, over the next several days, we'll see it rise a bit more and in the next 24 to 48 hours, and then it's going to maintain that level before dropping off as we get into the next week. So this story is by no means over. One part of the story that is just amazing is that this was an unexpected at all. They didn't expect to have these waters rush through here. And to just give you an idea of how it would look like in a normal situation. Take a look at this video. From KPLR, you can see what Grafton looks like. It's just a beautiful riverside community. People come here. They say the ice cream at some of these little stores over here are just fantastic. Of course, you can see the Illinois here, view of the river, it's spectacular; but when the river makes its way right to the downtown area, not so nice.
We still have some people in the dry end of town, and farther up the town, it's not inundated by the floodwaters, they are trying to get around the best they can around barricades. There are plenty of those. But right here in the heart, you've got a park here where they normally hold concerts every Thursday night.
Back over here on this side, you can see to my left, the river. You see some river markers off there in the distance. You can even see a few street signs. Some of those, I'm told, are around nine feet or so, completely covered up, just to the very, very tip-top of the sign just exposed by the water, almost, sticking out like a fin. It's just really hard to believe and hard to see how this place would ever be dry.
I know you see the images that we have for you from the video, and thank heavens you have it's just -- it's mind boggling to imagine one state and now the other. It is going to be a tremendous cleanup. We've often talked about the impact it's going to have in terms of the agricultural, but in terms of just personal small businesses, many of those are going to be affected by this without question. And the cleanup -- my goodness, what a task (ph) that's going to be over the next couple of days, months, in some cases, even years.
Let's send it back to you in the studio.
BETTY NGUYEN, CO-HOST: All right, Reynolds. We do appreciate it. Thank you.
Well, in Iowa, floodwaters there are actually going down. But residents face a new challenge and that is the massive cleanup. I want to you to take a look at just the mess there on the side of the street, piled with debris and garbage from flooded homes and businesses. And according to the "Des Moines Register," officials expect to haul away 96,000 tons of trash just from the city of Cedar Rapids.
On the phone now with us is reporter Adam Belz with the "Cedar Rapids Gazette."
Where are people even beginning with this? I mean, it seems like they're just throwing what they can, what's been destroyed and it's out there on the streets and it doesn't look like there's too much that's been able to be salvaged.
ADAM BELZ, CEDAR RAPIDS GAZETTE (through phone): Yes. On the first floor of most buildings, everything has to be thrown out. Like you saw there, there's just piles of garbage along the streets and everywhere in town and the affected areas.
NGUYEN: When we're looking at video of it, I mean, it goes from block after block, trash everywhere. Is there any kind of worry about a health concern?
BELZ: Well, there's all kinds of worries. Officials say you're not supposed to bring your children down there and people are supposed to wear respirators. I don't think everybody is, but, you know, they say there are a lot of health concerns. Get a shot if you get a cut. You know, they're all over that.
NGUYEN: And mentally, how are people dealing with this? I was there about a week ago. And just seeing these homes filled with water was devastating enough, but once you go back to a place that you have called your home for years, and you see these mementos and these things that just can't be replaced destroyed, how are people dealing with that?
BELZ: People are pretty dazed, I think. The last few neighborhoods were opened up on Friday, and you walk through those neighborhoods, and they're just, like you said, completely devastated, and people are still sort of figuring out what to do. But it's almost become a cliche at this point. But, you know, Iowans are pretty resilient. And there's kind of a "can do" spirit already. And I think people are pretty optimistic even though they're still sort of realizing the impact.
NGUYEN: Where are they living in the meantime? Because, I know there was some worry -- in fact, there's still some concern over FEMA, and I've heard reports that people are actually wary of FEMA there.
BELZ: Well, I mean, I know that a lot of people have registered with FEMA, something like 7,100, just in Linn County, which is where Cedar Rapids. But from what I understand, many people are staying with friends and family right now.
The shelters are down to a few hundred people. And they haven't brought in trailers or anything. There's no temporary housing provided by FEMA yet. So, I think a lot of people are just staying with friends and family. NGUYEN: And so, what is causing this worry, this concern over FEMA, in particular? Is it because people just, you know, harken back to memories of Katrina?
BELZ: Yes, I think that's it. I think it's the Katrina reputation. But FEMA has already -- I think FEMA has been pretty responsive here, being cognizant of the Katrina reputation. There's already been $32 million in aid dispersed. And, like I said, a lot of people have already registered. There are three disaster centers in town. I know people are going to be wary of FEMA, but I think majority is still out on how they're going to do.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, we do appreciate your time with us today, and the work that you're doing there to report what you can and deal with the damage that I'm sure that your building has faced as well. Adam Belz with the "Cedar Rapids Gazette," thank you.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And while our Reynolds Wolf is out and about in that water as we've been seeing, Karen Maginnis is here with us in the weather center, watching a little bit of everything.
What do you have for us? Now, we've been watching some of those flood levels and we've been studying that graphic back there behind you for the past couple of days.
KAREN MAGINNIS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It certainly have been. This has been as a result of those very heavy spring rainfalls that we did see over the last several months. But it is ironic that for the month of June in St. Louis, they've only seen just a little less than 1.5 inches of rainfall, and yet they're anticipating major flooding along the Mississippi.
What you're looking at behind me, and we'll show it to you full screen, this is where Reynolds Wolf is located. And by the way, he has done a remarkable job.
Take a look at that. That's where we see the river go up into that major stage where severe flooding will take place. But wait until we go into Monday, and that's where we're looking at it slowly make its crest, and it isn't until we head towards the end of the week that we start to see the river fall off across that region.
All right. Let's go ahead and show you what's happening as far as the rivers upstream. And right around St. Louis, most have crest. However, as we go towards Clarksville, it isn't going to happen until early Monday. And then as you saw there right around St. Louis -- and by the way, they are experiencing showers right now, about a 50-50 chance for showers right there.
Also, into Des Moines, we're looking at maybe 0.25 inch, possibly 0.5 inch of rainfall. They can see in some of those light shaded areas around St. Louis. It indicates, generally-speaking what we're looking at, is just something less than a half inch of rainfall on most of those areas. So, that's pretty good news for the residents there, but we'll be eyeing the Mississippi River as we go through the afternoon. Some of them are not coming down until the end of the week.
HOLMES: End of the week -- and like you've said, eying the Mississippi. A lot of people have had their eye on the Mississippi for quite some time, causing all kinds of issues. Karen, we appreciate you. We'll talk to you again here shortly.
And a lot of people watching this disaster from afar, you can certainly help out. At CNN.com, we have a special page on the Midwestern flooding, plus, some links to aid agencies. It's your chance to Impact Your World. Let us help you do that.
And speaking of people that needing help, another emergency to tell you about. An ongoing fire emergency in California, hundreds of fires are still burning this morning.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And they are the results of lightning strikes. I want to give you a look at some of the areas that's getting the worst of it. State fire officials saying some 500 new fires sparked from Monterey all the way up through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest near Redding, California.
OK. Now, these are new pictures of one of those fires burning in Napa Valley. This is the largest one so far. It's destroyed 2,000 acres and is still spreading. Evacuations have been ordered in that area because some homes are threatened. But, at this hour, there are no reports of any houses burning.
Fire officials do admit, though, that they are running out of resources. All of their air tankers used to fight the fires are already being used and can't be moved to any new fires.
HOLMES: And just a little farther south, where firefighters have just about gotten the fire in Watsonville under control. It's 90 percent contained at last where we were told, should be fully under control by the end of the day. Evacuation orders have been lifted. And several homes were destroyed by this fire.
And in southern California, the power is still out for some people. So, you get out of the house, you go to the beach. One hundred eleven degrees yesterday; high temperatures are expected again today. About 1,800 customers are still without electricity this morning. Crews worked through the night to get the electricity back on.
NGUYEN: Well, a powerful typhoon hits the Philippines. The Red Cross says it has killed more than 150 people. That storm washed ashore and it also washed away houses and blocked roads and triggered landslides. Officials say entire communities are under water, and there are fears the death toll could go much higher because a passenger ferry carrying more than 700 people, well, it ran aground and capsized. Only four people on board were known to have reached the shore alive. We're going to have a telephone report next hour on that.
In the meantime, though, a female suicide bomber strikes in Iraq. At least 16 people died in this morning's attack in central Baquba, that is northeast of Baghdad, and another 44 people were wounded. Police and children among the casualties near the government complex. More than 200 female bombers have struck this year in Iraq. U.S. military officials say they're being heavily recruited by al Qaeda in Iraq. And here's the reason -- women can more easily avoid beefed up security measures.
HOLMES: Well, sky-rocketing oil prices, it's been in the news a lot lately. Now, Saudi Arabia is hosting an international energy summit today to talk about those high oil prices. And delegates from 36 countries, including the U.S., are attending. The main goal here is to come up with ways to bring down crude oil prices, certainly an issue on everyone's minds, certainly, one that everybody is aware of as well.
CNN's Wilf Dinnick joins us now from Saudi Arabia where this summit is happening.
Let's take the first issue here and trying to talk about ways to bring the prices down. But a lot of them don't exactly agree on what got the prices up in the first place.
WILF DINNICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., so many divergent views here and what they're really trying to do is get all the parties together, all the major oil players, and as you say, from 36 nations to sit down and discuss.
Now, the Saudi Arabian government is aware that there are many different opinions, but they feel that it's very important if everyone sits down, they can all listen to each other's sides and come up with what they're calling a "working paper" or a joint document where all the major players can come together and figure out how they can all play part now to bring down that really high price of oil. But what they're saying is there is no short term fix.
So, Americans can't expect that price of the gas at the pump to come down any time soon. I can say, though, that we have learned that just in a short, while the minister of oil in Saudi Arabia is going to announce a big increase in the amount of production. How much oil they put out into the marketplace -- 9.7 million barrels per day, and then eventually up to 12.5 million barrels a day. Those are a lot of numbers, but basically what that means is that they really haven't put out that much since 1981, and then that 12 million barrels per day, they really haven't done that before.
They're sending a message, though, that really that they are committed to making sure that there's enough oil out there. And that sends a message to the marketplace not to panic. All those traders buying and selling oil, are driving up the price because there's a fear that there hasn't been enough oil.
So, T.J., what the message there it's sending is that there is enough oil and Saudi Arabia will help supply that.
HOLMES: Yes, help supply that. But let's keep it in perspective there. It might help us out in the long run, but they're still, they have pretty selfish reasons for putting oil back into the market and doing it the way that they're doing it.
DINNICK: Definitely, and there's no doubt about that. But they also want to make sure and they're adamant about that, that they want to make sure there's long-term stability for that oil market. If the prices are this high, it's not in their interests. Sure, they're making a tremendous amount of money, but long term, there is a fear though that Americans or the western nations will start turning away and really investing in other forms of energy, selling those big American cars, looking at solar power, and wind power.
And, of course, that would mean that in the long term, Saudi Arabia perhaps in the west wouldn't have a very good marketplace. So, it is really in their interest to try to bring down the prices. And Saudi Arabia's position is, they don't set the price, the marketplace does. And so what they're doing is they're getting all these people here because they want everyone to contribute to try to bring down that price -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Wilf Dinnick for us there with the summit's happening in Saudi Arabia. Wilf, we appreciate you this morning.
NGUYEN: Back here, we want to talk about the flood zone flap between the presidential candidates, and our Josh Levs has been following that for us.
Hey there, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning to you. It's not shocking, is it? Now, they're attacking each other over flooding and levees. What are their real voting records? We've got that coming up -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right. We'll see you here shortly. And then a little later, going for the Olympic gold. He has a shoe deal with Nike, but he swims.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, both presidential candidates have visited the flood zone in recent days, and naturally, this being an election year, the flood offers its own political opportunities, unfortunately.
NGUYEN: Yes, Josh Levs has been looking at how both John McCain and Barack Obama are using these unfortunate events to their own political advantage.
So, how exactly they're doing that today?
LEVS: Yes, I'll take you through this. And, obviously, this is what happens in any election year. So, here's where it all starts. Yesterday, Obama attacked McCain. He targeted McCain's visit to stricken areas.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESUMPTIVE PRES. NOMINEE: I'm sure they appreciated the sentiment, but they probably would have appreciated it even more if Senator McCain hadn't opposed legislation to fund levees and flood control programs which he considers pork.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Then the McCain camp fired back at that and they said this in a statement. They said, "It is beyond the pale that Barack Obama would attack John McCain for actually trying to fix the problem and change the way Washington works." They said, "Barack Obama's willingness to continue the status quo, pork barrel, politics in Washington, and then engaged in political attacks and entirely disregarded the facts is," they're saying, "nothing more than a typical politician."
So, what we want to do here is give you the facts. Let's trace through their voting records.
The 2007 Water Resources Development Act is what this is all about. It was a $23 billion plan to fund a whole bunch of projects, including levee and flood control programs. Now, Obama supported that. McCain was against that. Although neither actually took part in the final vote there, and that did ultimately pass Congress. Bush then vetoed it. He was saying it was too expensive.
And then Congress came along and overrided that. McCain and Obama did not take part in that override vote.
And there was also battle over an amendment that Obama voted against that would have created a commission to prioritize water projects. McCain co-sponsored that. Now, he didn't vote on it.
Now, I know that's a lot of information. You feel like you need a flow chart to even follow that. But, in a way, that's the point. And that's what I want to get to here. You can see more of this at CNN.com, too.
The voting record is complicated. They both have complicated votes because there was a series of votes on this issue. You really cannot take these complaints they're going to toss at each other at face value ever.
And if you want more details on this, just go to CNN.com. At CNNpolitics.com, it's actually our top story right now. Now, trace everything that serves as your virtual flow chart. At issue is that 2007 Water Resources Development Act, exactly how they voted; the multiple times they voted. So, if you want the specifics, you get it.
And what it boils down to, Betty and T.J., really, is that each of them has demonstrated, at times, through votes a commitment to try to get more levees and flood programs going, but had questions about specific bills that were before Congress. So, that's the basic idea.
HOLMES: Josh, you say don't take what they're saying at face value.
LEVS: It's a shocking piece of information, isn't it? HOLMES: Is that another way of you saying, "Don't believe what the presidential candidates are saying"?
LEVS: How about if you say that, and I'll stick with the face value thing.
HOLMES: All right, Josh. We appreciate you. We know a lot of people need that explained. That is a complicated issue. We appreciate it, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: And we're going to be talking about breaking stereotypes while going for the gold.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CULLEN JONES, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: Even to this day, when I see someone, and they say, "Wow, you're so tall. You're a basketball player." And I go, "No, I'm a swimmer." And they just go, "Huh?"
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, that's Cullen Jones. We're hopping in the pool with this athlete as he shows off his Olympic and community spirit.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: A quick look now on some other stories that are making headlines.
NGUYEN: Still no answers on why this acrobatic plane crashed Friday night in Cape May County, New Jersey. The two people on board, an Atlantic City police officer and his wife, both were killed.
HOLMES: And witnesses say the plane burst into flames before it spiraled to the ground.
NGUYEN: In New York, pedestrians may be a bit more on guard as they stroll the city sidewalks. Take a look. Just over the past couple days, there's at least four incidents of cars plowing into the sidewalks. Eighteen people have been hurt in the seemingly unrelated incidents. And this accident in particular on Friday, the driver suffered an apparent heart attack.
HOLMES: And a fiery death on the drag strip. This is so tough to watch. Look at this.
This is Scott Kalitta in that vehicle, driving that car, burst into flames, couldn't be stopped and slammed, as you see there, into the barrier at the end of that racetrack. In drag racing, these cars go up to 300 -- you can see it right there it's clocked, 300 miles an hour. He was qualifying for a National Hot Rod Association event in New Jersey. This was a popular driver. He had actually retired twice, 46 years old, he's a two-time champion.
Scott Kalitta, again that horrible crash yesterday in qualifying. He was 46 years old.
NGUYEN: And that just terrible. And looking at that, it looks like the top of it blew off, and then it just kept speeding down and then eventually hit the wall in the end.
HOLMES: It gives you chills to watch that.
NGUYEN: Our thoughts are with his family, no doubt.
Well, the Summer Olympics, they aren't far off. Now, can you believe it? They'll get under way in August 8th, 8-8-08.
HOLMES: And to get you ready, we'll be checking in on some of the American athletes who hope to bring the gold back home.
Well, CNN's Rafer Weigel has one for us this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CULLEN JONES, OLYMPIC SWIMMER: Everyone knows what these are?
(CROWD AGREEING)
RAFER WEIGEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Cullen Jones is 6'5", African-American, and has a shoe deal with Nike. So what sport do you think he plays?
ANNOUNCER: The American record is 18.70...
WEIGEL: Chances are, you did not guess swimming. Jones says most people don't.
JONES: Even to this day, when I see someone, and they say, "Wow, you're so tall. You're a basketball player." And I'm like, "No, I'm a swimmer." And they just go, "Huh?" And they're like -- you've lost out in life? And I'm like, "No. Swimming has done pretty well for me. I'm pretty happy with it."
WEIGEL: So, well, it's tough keeping up with Jones. In 2006, he was ranked number one in the world in the 50 meter freestyle and led America's 400 meter relay team to a world record. Nike signed him to a multi-million contract, and now he's going for Olympic gold.
JONES: Every day, I definitely dream about what it would be like to stand up with three other guys on a relay, what it would be like to be an individual standing there and hearing the -- see my flag go up. You know, hearing the anthem and just singing along with it.
WEIGEL: It would be amazing for anyone, let alone a kid who grew up on the tough streets of Irvington, New Jersey, where swimming wasn't something kids did.
JONES: My friends weren't swimming. A lot of my friends were playing basketball or football or track. And for me to come up and tell them that I'm a swimmer was just very different. WEIGEL: There weren't many pools in his neighborhood, so his parents had to shell out for private school, and some didn't like that he was different.
JONES: The first bit of racism that I actually had to deal with wasn't with the swimmers, it was actually with parents. I've never -- I can honestly say never dealt with anything with a swimmer ever. It's usually the parents that are upset because I beat their son.
WEIGEL: Taking the road less traveled, Jones is now making a difference, bringing more diversity to the pool. In partnership with the YMCA, he started the Begin to Swim Program for inner city kids, mostly to combat a drowning rate that's three times higher for black children.
A cause close to his heart since Jones nearly drowned at a water park when he was seven.
JONES: When I got down and hit the water at the bottom, I flipped over and held on to the inner tube but was upside down holding on to the inner tube and had to be saved by a lifeguard and my dad.
Right after they gave me CPR, I was ready to get on the next ride.
WEIGEL: A ride with only one stop left to a podium in Beijing.
Rafer Weigel, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. We will keep an eye on him.
And also, a Super Bowl champion to tell you about now, taking a big step to help. Former New York Giant George Martin strolled into San Diego ending a pretty long walk.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes. But here's what he was doing, he was raising money for sick 9/11 first responders. The 3,000-mile walk raised more than $2 million, but Martin also lost something along the way. That would be 40 pounds and 24 pairs of shoes.
HOLMES: Pretty big guy still after losing the 40 pounds. But, yes, a long walk, a cross-country. He made it for a good cause.
NGUYEN: And made a lot of money at it, too.
HOLMES: Well, one eye, three legs, bad skin, no hair. Sounds hot, right?
NGUYEN: Not at all. No more calls, folks. We have a winner. There you go. The ugliest dog contest is just ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: OK. Triple digit heat out west yet again. It's not fit for man or beast. So, nothing else to do but pick up a cool dip in a lake, right -- like these two are doing. This is Lake Pleasant for good reason - wow, in Arizona.
HOLMES: That's a Chihuahua hitching a ride on the back of the Labrador Retriever.
