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CNN Sunday Morning
Pregnant Soldiers Death; Peeping Tom Floored; California State of Emergency; Free Gas; White House Race; Nuclear Negotiations
Aired June 29, 2008 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Well, hello from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It is Sunday, June 29, I'm T.J. Holmes.
RANDI KAYE, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: And I'm Randi Kaye. Betty is on assignment. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: And we unfortunately have to start with just a horrific story out of Atlanta where a teenager was decapitated. Where? Yes. As you are seeing in the picture here, at a Six Flags theme park. We'll tell you what happened, here.
KAYE: Also, this morning, we're talking about one tough mom. A mom catches a guy apparently trying to take cell phone pictures of her 6-year-old daughter while the girl was trying on a bathing suit in a dressing room. The alleged peeping Tom, no match for this really mad mother.
HOLMES: Yes. You've got to hear this. Sweet justice...
KAYE: Absolutely.
HOLMES: And also, we have been talking about these free gas giveaways, we were talking about the one we saw yesterday...
KAYE: People ling up.
HOLMES: Yes, I got upset with a Mercedes going through the line. But that's neither here nor there. But, the free gas give always, not as rare as you may think, lots of businesses actually getting in on this. They have a very good reason for it.
KAYE: It's a way to pull people in, right?
HOLMES: Pull people in and they buy other things possibly. We'll be talking about that, but again, not as rare as you think.
Up first, another horrific story that we have and you specifically have been following about this pregnant soldier who was found dead in a North Carolina motel room. Now there is a person of interest in this case. This is a Specialist Megan Touma who we're talking about, here.
KAYE: Right. They're not calling the person a suspect, they're calling him or her just a person of interest at this point. We know that they haven't even said yet how -- authorities haven't even said how Specialist Megan Touma died. We're not sure if it's natural causes or if indeed she was murdered. We tried to get the autopsy results which aren't complete yet.
What we did get, though, was the search warrant. Apparently they took some samples of DNA from the room, this Fayetteville motel room where her body was found last weekend and they also took some drywall which they think might actually have some blood on it, but they're testing that sample once again and still they haven't yet said that she was murdered.
HOLMES: And we don't know -- and again, we have to be specific, there, not a suspect, but person of interest. Can mean all kinds of things, maybe just somebody they just want to talk to, but we have any idea who this person could be at this point and how they're connected, maybe, to the victim?
KAYE: We don't know yet. We've been talking to authorities, actually, since this story broke last week and we can't really get any straight answers. We tried to find out why she even went to Fort Bragg in North Carolina. We have been able to determine that she was working in Germany for three years. Her aunt told us she moved to Fort Bragg to be with her boyfriend and then another friend of hers told us through some e-mail conversations that she went Fort Bragg because she was engaged, she was showing off her ring, she excited to be with her fiancee, she was seven months pregnant, looking forward to getting married. So, it's really hard to say if she knew anyone who was actually there. One person calling it a boyfriend, another a fiancee and why she actually went to Fort Bragg.
HOLMES: And we don't have any idea who that person is, right now. Don't know who the father is, as well. And to throw into all this mix, this strange letter.
KAYE: Oh, yeah.
HOLMES: A confession, allegedly, by this killer claiming to be a serial killer, sent to a newspaper.
KAYE: Right, we have this anonymous letter. We can show it to you, it was sent to the "Fayetteville Observer." It's was dated June 17, the paper received it June 25. It's interesting that it was dated June 17, because her body actually wasn't found until the 21st and the person who was writing that letter actually mentioned the body being found, but dated the letter four days before.
We can talk about that in a minute, but calls the murder a "masterpiece," calls her death a "masterpiece." Says that he or she, the writer, killed many times before in several states using the role models' signature, which is this circle with a vertical and horizontal lines through it. You can see maybe right here, it's the same symbol that the Zodiac Killer had used, actually, in the 1960s. The letter taunts police, it calls them "incompetent." Police say that the letter is valuable, but may have been used to mislead them. And there's that symbol, right there. That symbol was actually found inside the room, this is really interesting...
HOLMES: That's key, yes. KAYE: Very key, because it's on the letter by this anonymous person confessing to it, but also on lipstick apparently in the room somewhere, so it's pretty interesting. We're going to have to find out how that person who wrote the letter knew that that symbol was in there.
HOLMES: A lot more to come on this story and again, we were -- good do have you here, you've been on this story, we have you here, a resource to help us through it this weekend.
KAYE: We are trying.
HOLMES: So, that's good. But, we'll keep you updated.
KAYE: Yes, and we are also going to be talking about what triggers someone to kill. At the half hour, we'll go inside the criminal mind. I'll talk to one of the nation's foremost criminologists.
HOLMES: Meanwhile, we'll turn back to that story we just mentioned a moment ago about a teenager being decapitated at Six Flags Over Georgia. This is actually not far from where we sit, about 10 miles to the west of where we are, right here, in downtown Atlanta. This young person was a member of a church group from South Carolina killed at the amusement park, decapitated by the Batman ride at Six Flags.
File footage here, you're seeing, this is not, of course, yesterday, this was not the scene, but this was just file footage of the actual theme park. Police say this person had jumped two fences, two six-foot fences to get into this restricted area that, according to park officials, was clearly marked that said it was dangerous to be there. So, just a tragedy in which we'll be investigating, but really a tough time for a group here on vacation.
Also, another story here that's gotten attention this morning about a mom that you do not want to mess with and you don't want to mess with a mom's child. This all began at a Wal-Mart in North Carolina, Statesville, specifically, where a man reportedly reaches his cell phone into a dressing room, tries to snap a picture of a 6- year-old girl trying on a bathing suit. Here comes mama, she chases the man down and pretty much takes him out with one punch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUADELUPE JIMINEZ, ENRAGED MOTHER: He stay in the floor help me, "help me, help me" and the one man look and, "no!"
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She handled it well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, and there's a picture of the suspect that we're seeing. there. And at last check, that 40-year-old suspect being held on $10,000 bond. KAYE: A federal emergency declared in California. President Bush responding to a call from California's governor. There are more than 1,000 wildfires burning right now, most of them were caused by lightning strikes, the biggest around Big Sur. The popular northern California tourist area is in big trouble.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so we have got, you know, fire coming from the south and fire coming, you know, across from the east and fire coming from the north, so we know we're in the area that's likely to burn. When you seeing flames, you kind of have to go and you're not sure what you're going to return to and it's disconcerting...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: A health alert in effect this weekend because of all the smoke from those fires. Plus, there is a threat of more lightning, which could spark even more fires.
There is a mandatory evacuation order for some residents about 40 miles north of Las Vegas. A wildfire there is threatening more than three dozen homes. That fire started when a small plane clipped power lines and crashed into the mountain. All four people on board were killed.
HOLMES: Well, our Reynolds Wolf standing by for us in the Severe Weather Center.
Is weather still severe? Seems like that's the case every weekend.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, I mean, right now, we don't have anything too severe, but later on today, that's where we're a little bit concerned with and it will include the eastern third of the country where we could get some the strong storms late in the day, at least a slight risk of strong storms.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, thank you. We will check in with you again shortly.
Well, we hope all you viewers out there, we know it gets busy in the morning, you might be running around the house trying to get breakfast, trying to do this and that, and you may not be paying that close of attention to us -- free gas.
KAYE: That's going to get your attention.
HOLMES: Got your attention now.
KAYE: Sure did. Companies think there's a lot of mileage in those two words, free gas, so they're offering an incentive to sell everything from groceries to good times, you might say.
HOLMES: What do you mean?
KAYE: We're going to find out from CNN's senior correspondent, Allan Chernoff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN NEWS SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice over): In a lousy economy, you've got to motivate consumers and the motivator of the year is free gas. The promise of free fuel is how businesses are selling everything from candy bars to cars.
VINCENT TEPEDINO, BAY RIDGE CHRYSLER: It brought a lot of customers in that may not otherwise have bought our product.
FRED AUSTIN, CHRYSLER CUSTOMER: This is a good bargain, this is a good deal. You know? We as Americans, we all are looking for deals.
CHERNOFF: There are deals at the ballpark, $25 of gas if you buy four tickets to the San Francisco Giants. Free gas for less wholesale entertainment in Nevada. The women of the Shady Lady Ranch, a legal brothel, offer $150 gas cards for those who indulge in three hours of pleasure.
(on camera):Free gas promotions are in the supermarket, too. The Shop Rite chain is offering $25 gas cards to shoppers who buy $75 worth of major brand name products, so you can fight gingivitis and get free gas at the same time.
(voice over): For these pharmacists, gas is also a lure to take business from competitors. Transfer prescriptions to Rite Aid, the pharmacy will enter you into a weekly drawing for a year's worth of fuel.
MIKE POIRIER, RITE AID PHARMACIST: The more prescriptions they transfer with the coupon, the more chances they have to win.
CHERNOFF: And free gas is motivating good deeds. Connecticut's Red Cross enters blood donors in free gas raffles.
PAUL SULLIVAN, AMERICAN RED CROSS: The gas cards these days are highly valued and we're finding it to be a successful promotion.
CHERNOFF: The more you spend, the more gas you get. Buy Callaway's (ph) best driver, get it? -- and you'll have a fuel tank to get to the golf course.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the FTI, which is their square driver, also a composite head and this one is $500 and gets a $100 gas card rebate.
CHERNOFF: Or if you can afford it in this economy, rent a yacht for $20,000 an get $500 of gas. Let's not even think of how much gas that yacht is burning.
Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, you do what you got to do to get the customers in, don't you? And our Allan Chernoff as you saw there, Ali Velshi, as well, and Gerri Willis part of the CNN ISSUE NO. 1 team. Tune in weekdays at Noon Eastern to catch that.
KAYE: Kite surfing, it's hugely popular sport around the world, just don't do it -- that's right -- near a busy airport.
HOLMES: Oh, come on. Is this -- are you serious? This can't be serious. Many are saying this might just be another viral ad. We'll check this one out.
KAYE: We'll see.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, Senator John McCain will soon be arriving in Asheville, North Carolina, here's there to meet with Franklin Graham, the son of Billy Graham. We'll talk about the Evangelical vote coming your way in about six minutes.
Also new this morning, at the Vatican, several U.S. priests are named as regional leaders of the church. Pope Benedict ordained three new archbishops in this morning's mass. They will lead the archdiocese of Baltimore, Minneapolis and Mobile, Alabama. Also Archbishop Raymond Burke of St. Louis will become the first American to head the Vatican's Supreme Court.
KAYE: Incredible viral videos pop up every day, some just too amazing to be true and that's probably because they aren't. Josh Levs found one, though, that will make you look twice, anyway -- Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN.COM DESK: Have you guys ever gone kite surfing?
KAYE: No.
HOLMES: No.
LEVS: No? I've been parasailing, I've never done kite surfing. This one you got to see. I mean, I know we saw a clip of it before. It's actually even funnier in context. I got it behind me up from Metacafe, it's also all over YouTube. I'll start playing here, but you know what? Let's just got to the full version. Control room, let's pull it up so they have the really clear version. There you go.
So, what you're seeing is this guy who's showing off a little bit, you know, he's got the moves down. Now, let's just let it play for the next 10 seconds when you see something happen that apparently he was not expecting.
And he's gone and the friend keeps shooting a picture, obviously, and there he goes. All right, so this (INAUDIBLE), became one of the most viral videos in, not just America, but it was viral all over the world. We saw it on top five lists. It is pretty incredible and we got it looping for you. You can see the scary move again.
So, is it true? Is it not? We did the sleuthing, our great producer, here, Gwen Emery (ph). Guess what? That was originally a Danish Sprite Zero ad. And I have an article here about it, that looks at specifically what kinds of ads are done out there. You can link to this through cnnmoney.com. Talks about showing off the perils of extreme sports, New Sprite Zero ad with kite surfers and a plane.
So, what this really is yet another example of people creating a viral video and getting people to send it each other and then getting people interested -- what it's all about, ultimately finding out, see, it's an ad for Sprite. But the people who sent it to YouTube and stuff, they took off the sprite part, so you can see it 10 time and not know that.
KAYE: There you go. It was kind of believable, though, until you find the truth, obviously. It was pretty cool.
LEVS: Yeah, it's pretty fun. Oh, I love this one. You can watch it over and over again. But that's the think (INAUDIBLE) and you never know since some of them out there are real. There you go.
KAYE: That's true. Thanks for setting us straight on that.
LEVS: You got it.
HOLMES: All right, thank you, sir.
Well, we were talking about Amy Winehouse, last week, and her father announced that she had emphysema.
KAYE: We talk about her every week, don't we?
HOLMES: We do, usually. And it's not usually the best reasons we talk about her. But to be a woman, that's supposedly suffering from emphysema, she sure does, Amy Winehouse, still pack a bit of a wallop.
KAYE: And we are not talking about her voice, either.
We just got -- it's hard not to laugh. We just got video of the BBC of her performing last week at a music festival and for some reason she's singing her song, but she goes after one of the fans as if it's, you know, just part of the song.
HOLMES: And the funny part is how the voice changes as she's taking the jabs. She takes a few before just continuing on and moving away, keeps singing. And according to the "Associated Press," witnesses say someone tried to touch her and obviously that is a no- no-no.
KAYE: She just socked him, though, while she was singing her song.
HOLMES: And kept going. So, she maybe has been working out.
KAY: Maybe.
HOLMES: All right. We'll continue with the Amy Winehouse updates next weekend. Well, for now...
KAYE: Or not.
HOLMES: Or not. Abandoned pets is what we're going to move on to.
KAYE: Left behind in the flood zone, those are the pets we're talking about. Now, looking for new homes and some TLC.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: A pregnant soldier found dead in a hotel room. A letter sent to a local newspaper by an anonymous person claiming to be the killer. Who would do this? Getting inside the criminal mind, that's just ahead.
HOLMES: All right, a lot to talk about in the race for the White House. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton campaigning together for the first time since their primary battle. McCain and Obama, courting Hispanics and Obama now saying he is taking a little road trip to the Middle East and Europe.
Ken Roudin, our good friend here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, and political editor for National Public Radio, joins us.
Ken, first thing we got to get out of the way, everybody's wondering did they coordinate their outfits at this unity thing? The blue tie, the blue pantsuit, powder blue, they were an exact match.
KEN RUDIN, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO: Well, they did have that powder blue color. Obviously something to help and obviously is was something to help, but obviously the supporters are bright red, I mean, they're fuming red, a lot of the Hillary Clinton supporters, so pale blue, the powder blue, was good adjuster.
HOLMES: And are they going to be looking for, her not just to see this picture that we've seen plenty of times as it happened on Friday, but are we going to be looking, or are those supporters going to be looking for a sign that this is genuine? They need to know that she is genuinely behind Obama and not just doing this to put on the show?
RUDIN: Oh, I don't think there's any question it's genuine. I think after what's gone on in the eight years, the Democrats really feel they have to recapture the White House and the only way to do it is for Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama to be on the same team.
It's the supporters who are less willing to come along, there are a lot of hard feelings among many Hillary Clinton supporters, so that's -- really, I think, the unity rally was not to get Hillary onboard, it was to get her supporters onboard.
HOLMES: And when you said, make sure that people know they're on the same team, you don't mean the same ticket, do you?
RUDIN: No. I think that's not going to happen. But again, I think they both need each other. Of course, they probably need bill Clinton, too, he gave a very tepid 27-word endorsement that sort of Bill Clinton saying anything in 27 words is kind of remarkable.
HOLMES: All right.
RUDIN: But, you know, we have to see what he does.
HOLMES: We're talking about unity on that side. Unity on the other side is not really McCain and any other individual, it's McCain and conservatives, really, and Evangelicals to be precise. We talked about him going to North Carolina to speak to the son of Billy Graham. Are they going to be matching outfits, today? What does McCain really need to be doing here with Evangelicals?
RUDIN: Well, you know, we talk about what kind of unity on the Democratic side, it's tougher, I think, for McCain on the Republican side. Evangelicals never really cared for him. John McCain supports stem cell research, he's opposed to a constitutional ban on gay marriages so, you know, as you saw during the primaries, they like Mike Huckabee, they like Mitt Romney. Pat Robertson even endorsed Rudy Giuliani, so you know that there's sympathy for John McCain, but he's got to reach out. He's still very conservative, he's extremely, extremely pro-life, I mean he was solidly pro-life. So, I mean, I think they have far more in common than not in common.
HOLMES: Is his issue, here, not necessarily going to be that some of these Evangelicals, if they don't come onboard with him, not necessarily going to vote for Obama, but Obama found a way to really excite the electorate and if McCain can't do the same for what should be his key supporters, they might just stay home.
RUDIN: Well, that's the big fear and of course, what really elected President Bush in 2004, was the vote of the Evangelicals, the passion of these Evangelicals, especially in states like Ohio where McCain met with some Evangelicals, this week. There is a big passion and enthusiasm gap on the Republican side, but when you have an unpopular president and unpopular war and gas prices passing $4, reaching $5, you know that the Republicans have a lot of work to do, if they're going to win it.
HOLMES: All right, and last thing here, road trip for Barack Obama. He will not be able to -- or McCain won't hold over his head anymore that he hasn't been to Iraq in a while. We understand he's supposed to be going to Iraq and Afghanistan, don't know when, but also announced he's going to be taking a trip to Europe. Is this just standard stuff, he has to do the homework, and does he needs those pictures on our air over and over and over to look presidential and look like he's up or things foreign policy-wise?
RUDIN: Well, it's more than just pictures; obviously, the one area where the Republican Party does have an advantage over Obama is national security, foreign policy. Obviously, Obama by going to Britain and the Mideast and things like that, shows that he is not going to concede this issue to John McCain at all.
HOLMES: All right, Ken Rudin, again, good friend to us here at CNN SUNDAY MORNING. You enjoy your fourth, I know you got big plans and you will be bronzed.
RUDIN: I'm going to be cleaning my WaterPik, so it should be a nice weekend for me.
HOLMES: That's going to be a good time.
RUDIN: It's sad.
HOLMES: Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. We'll see you soon.
RUDIN: Thanks, thanks.
HOLMES: All right, so what's in the political future for the Clintons? We've got that. You can watch THIS WEEK IN POLITICS, this afternoon, 2:00 Eastern, only right here on CNN.
KAYE: The U.S. Olympic team trials for swimming begins. They're actually beginning -- they're held this weekend in Omaha, Nebraska. Swimmers, Dara Torres , is 41-year-old, a mother and is ranked No. 1 in the country for the 50 free style. Our Betty Nguyen takes us "To the Top" to meet the fastest mom in the pool.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dara Torres won her first Olympic gold medal in 1984, 24 years later, she's 41 years old and set on winning again.
DARA TORRES, FOUR TIME OLYMPIC SWIMMER: Everyone asks why am I doing this? And why don't you let the younger kids have a chance? But, the bottom line is it doesn't really matter how old you are. If I'm the fastest, then I should go.
NGUYEN: Torres was once a regular face at the Olympics bringing home medals in the 1984, '88 and '92 games.
TORRES: In '92, I was 25 years old and I was the oldest on the team at that point in time, they called me the "grandma." You just did not see swimmers out of college swimming in the Olympic games.
NGUYEN: But that didn't stop her from trying again eight years later in the Sidney Olympics.
TORRES: I remember walking out of the arena in 2000, I finished all my races, got the five medals, everything was great and this reporter stops me and he says: I just want to know, in eight years will you be back at 41? And I looked at him and I said: that's the stupidest question I ever heard and walked off.
NGUYEN: Torres thought her racing days were over until she was pregnant in 2005 and started swimming again to stay fit. TORRES: I realized I really missed the sport. I feel like I just have some kind of connection with the water, I just feel so great when I'm in the water.
NGUYEN: Torres balances motherhood with the chance to become the first swimmer to make five Olympic teams, but she is realistic.
TORRES: My body is a 41-year-old body, you know, it has its moments that you can tell the difference between a 20-year-old and a 40-year-old, but for the most part, inside I feel like I'm their age. I'm proving that you can be 41 and you can follow your dreams and that age is just a number.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: That's impressive.
KAYE: Very. She is so fit.
HOLMES: Forty-one years old. Well, good luck to her this summer.
Well, "Baywatch," do you remember that show?
KAYE: Yes.
HOLMES: Were you a fan?
KAYE: No. I watched it. You were probably a fan.
HOLMES: Oh, it was Emmy-Award winning, I thought. Well, through "Baywatch" out, you can tune in for the new beach front drama, "Bear Watch."
KAYE: Oh, very cute. This guy brought a whole new level of unsightly body hair to the beach. We'll tell you how his outing ended with a surfside rescue.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Welcome back. I'm Randi Kaye in today for Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello, I'm T.J. Holmes. We have a quick look at our top stories. Up first here, a tragedy at an amusement park outside of Atlanta. A teenager killed and decapitated after he was hit by a roller coaster. Police say he actually scaled two six-foot fences and got into a restricted area.
KAYE: And police say they have a person in the interest in the death of a pregnant soldier from Fort Bragg North Carolina, but there's still no word on how Specialist Megan Touma died. Her body was found in a hotel bathtub just over a week ago and she was seven months pregnant.
In addition to the person of interest, police are investigating a letter from someone claiming to be the killer of the Specialist Megan Touma. And with us on the phone now, is James Alan Fox, professor of criminal justice at Northeastern University in Boston.
Good morning.
PROF JAMES ALAN FOX, NORTHEASTERN UNIV: Good morning, Randi, how are you?
KAYE: Good, thank you. You and I have done a lot of stories together on serial killers and getting inside the mind of a killer. You have studied serial killers for more than two decades. Take us inside the mind of someone that might have written this letter. Does this sound to you like it's an letter from a killer?
FOX: Well, it sounds like a latter from a killer and there's many characteristics about the letter that are very common in the mindset of a serial killer, such things as his commenting on how incompetent the police are. Serial killers revel in the fact that they see themselves as brilliant, that they can outsmart the police, and it's sort of beefs up their own ego.
However, there's something that bothers me about the letter and that is the difference between when the letter writer dates the letter, which was 17th of June, prior to this discovery of the body, and the fact that it was postmarked several days after the discovery, I think it was the 24. So, there's a whole week between when the letter was typed and -- supposedly typed -- and when the letter was postmarked. If you're a killer...
KAYE: Right. If they wrote it on the 17th, it also refers to the death -- to the body that was found on the 21st, so how would they know on the 17th that the body was found on the 21st if the letter was actually written on that day?
FOX: Exactly. It seems to me someone is trying to appear to be a serial killer, I'm a little skeptical of that and...
KAYE: What do you make of the symbol? This is a symbol where the writer refers to it as a symbol of role model that he's now adopting. It's the same symbol that was used in -- there, we are looking at it right there on our air. The same symbol that used by the Zodiac Killer in the 1960s. This symbol was also found apparently in the hotel room. So, how would the writer know that? Can you help us make sense of that?
FOX: Sure, it's speculation and anonymous source that exact same symbol was found in the hotel room. Sure, the mirror from the hotel room was taken by the police, but I don't think there's any real confirmation that it was the exact same symbol, maybe it's similar. Maybe there's another symbol entirely. I've seen so many cases where information that comes anonymously to the press about a crime scene is dead wrong. And so that may be just an inaccurate report.
KAYE: Right, a just quick yes or no before we go. This person is claiming to kill before and will kill again. Do serial killers write letters?
FOX: Yes, many of them do, they feel invicible that they brag to the -- to everyone about how important they are.
KAYE: All right. James Alan Fox, thanks for your insight this morning. Always good to chat with you.
FOX: Take care.
KAYE: T.J.
HOLMES: Randy, we turn to some weather now and a hard-fought battle against the surging Mississippi River is lost after more rain and heavy flooding hit the Midwest. A makeshift emergency barrier failed in Winfield, Missouri, that's northwest of St. Louis, and that triggered widespread flooding that destroyed more than 90 homes, dozens of others were damaged.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cried. I mean, you know? This is our childhood home and since my father has passed away, we just don't know what we're going to do now. He won't be here to rebuild it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, simply put, Mother Nature won, that's how a local official put it. Well, today officials are still assessing the damage there. Meanwhile, thousands of people still don't have power after Friday's tomorrow in Omaha, Nebraska. We got some pictures her to show you that were sent to us by an i-Reporter.
Brandon Erikson is his name, he said it was a "scary time." Look at this. The sky, got little dark, a little greenish, there. The winds picked up and began tossing around debris and that is when he headed straight for the basement.
I'm going to step over here, now. Try to get the picture back up. What is that possibly? He said it's kind of green or grayish dark or what possibly was going on there?
WOLF: What I'm thinking, first thing is that Brandon's pretty good with the adjectives. You know, the whole scary part. That works. Yeah. I mean, take a look.
HOLMES: What is that?
WOLF: We have a little bit of an outflow boundary bottom of that thunderstorm pushing these clouds out. I mean, kind of a spooky thing to see. Very typical, unfortunately, in Omaha, for a couple of weeks, they've had rough weather. You will remember not too far from Omaha, right across the border, we had, of course, the tornado that hit the boy scout camp. I mean, it's just a rough time in parts of the Central Plains. It's been an incredible in terms of tornadoes. When I mean incredible, I'm not saying incredible, we're talking incredible bad. And we've had, of course, the incredible amounts of rough weather in terms of the flooding in parts of the Midwest.
(WEATHER REPORT) HOLMES: We appreciate the story, Reynolds. Thanks so much.
KAYE: Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, some people left behind by the floods, a lot of people affected by the floods, but some of those left behind are pets, as well. Hundreds of them were abandoned or dropped at shelters as people were fleeing those flood zones.
KAYE: I'm going to adopt all of them, right?
HOLMES: No, you are just -- your little heart...
KAYE: No, if my husband is watching, he's not going to be very happy about that. But, the Washington Animal Rescue League decided to help and they decided to bring some of the pets to the D.C. area giving people a chance to adopt them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the dog we're looking for is something a little bigger and something that has a good personality.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A couch potato to come to a good home.
GARY WEITZMAN, WASHINGTON ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE: The shelter in Cedar Rapids is completely destroyed, it doesn't even exist anymore. And there's probably about 800 animals in a temporary shelter and they brought back about 30 animals, altogether.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We kind of looked for them after Katrina, also. But I couldn't find one that I really liked.
WEITZMAN: There's awareness now that animals don't have to be left during a disaster. It certainly wasn't that three years ago for Katrina.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we heard about the Iowa flood dogs that had been brought here, so we thought it was a good opportunity to come out and see what pets were available.
WEITZMAN: This is really nice dog named "Cedar." He got hit by a car a couple of weeks before the flooding happened. His guardian took him to the vet and got him all fixed up, so he actually survived getting hit by a car only to lose his home with his owner (INAUDIBLE) when the floods hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're just cutest things and they have -- they're defenseless.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There you go.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thanks for the kisses.
WEITZMAN: An entire apartment building was wipe out with the flood and there were about 45 cats in the building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We found a dog that we think we like a lot, so we're going to keep playing with her and see if she's the right one.
WEITZMAN: The animals are the ones that really suffer when a disaster like this happens and they can't fend for themselves and we can't forget about them.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAYE: Such cute animals that need your help and you can help not just with pets, but also with the human victims of the flood. We give you the resources on our Web site. It is a chance for you to "Impact Your World." Take advantage of it. Just go to cnn.com to see how you can help.
Giving kids a place to play and get some exercise. That was the idea behind this very ambitious project, building a playground in a single day.
HOLMES: Yes.
KAYE: In an area devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
HOLMES: We were talking about this yesterday and we took you there live as the volunteers, one of them being our own Dr. Sanjay Gupta, started on this project in Metairie, Louisiana and by the end of the day, look at that. They opened a playground. It was a joint effort with KaBOOM!. And we said our guy was volunteering, Dr. Gupta there, that the most work we saw him do.
KAYE: Yeah, we have him such a hard time about that.
HOLMES: It was the snap of the scissors, yes. But this nonprofit group wants a playground within walking distance of every child in America. And if we can build them all in a day, then we could get a lot of that done.
KAYE: I feel like we owe him an apology, though, we were so skeptical that they would ever get...
HOLMES: OK, on that part.
KAYE: OK, we were so skeptical, so Sanjay, congratulations, nice job getting it done there in one day.
HOLMES: And working so hard there.
KAYE: Yeah. HOLMES: Well, it's going to turn to North Korea. Bringing down the house, or, well, it's a nuclear cooling tower. They're bringing something down. But will this kind of movement lead to nuclear negotiations with Iran?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KAYE: Just days after the Supreme Court strikes down a gun ban in the nation's capital, one woman admits the ruling has changed her mind on gun control. Her story is still to come.
HOLMES: Well, North Korea, as we saw, taking an important step in the past week on -- and talks about disarmament. They imploded a cooling tower, a very symbolic gesture as we're seeing here, at their biggest nuclear plant. They call it a gesture of commitment to the disarmament talks. Our CNN State Department correspondent, Zain Verjee, now taking a look at how North Korea's gesture could impact Iran's nuclear stance.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With North Korea the U.S. is flashing a diplomatic green light, lifting sanctions in response to North Korea's actions. With Iran the red light stays on. The U.S. wants Iran to stop its uranium enrichment before it will sit down and talk.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: If Iran cannot make the right choice, then it will face consequences.
VERJEE: Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is holding firm, using the official Iranian new site to blast what he calls the U.S. language of threat and bullying.
Experts say leaders of both Iran and North Korea use the nuclear issue to cement their hold on power. But unlike North Korea, which is totally isolated and poor, Iran is rich in oil and a powerful force in the Middle East. It's getting even richer and insulated from sanctions, thanks to rising energy prices.
JAMES PHILLIPS, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I don't think Iran is likely to follow North Korea's lead because it doesn't have the same need to lift economic sanctions. Its economy is much stronger. And it doesn't need international aid to the same degree that North Korea's embattled regime did.
VERJEE: Experts say Iranian leaders are running out the clock on this White House.
AFSHIM MOLAVI, NEW AMERICAN FOUNDATION: Iranian leaders, like leaders around the world, are playing a waiting game right now -- waiting out the Bush administration, waiting to see who the next president is going to be -- before they make their next strategic move.
VERJEE: And one of Barack Obama's foreign policy advisers says the administration missed the chance to engage Iran in tough negotiations. WENDY SHERMAN, PRINCIPAL, THE ALBRIGHT GROUP: I think what we've seen in North Korea and what we've seen in Libya is, one, having direct talks between the United States and these very difficult countries does and can produce results.
(END VIDEOTAPE) Reporter: with North Korea, the U.S. is flashing a diplomatic green light lifting sanctions in response to North Korea's actions. With Iran, the red light stays on. The U.S. Wants Iran to stop its enrichment before it will sit down and talk.
VERJEE (on camera): The Bush administration also points to Libya as a success story where Moammar Qaddafi decide to give up his weapons of mass destruction
Zain Virgie, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We want to get a little more on this, now. Gary Samore is with Council on Foreign Relations, joining us now -- this is, of course, a nonpartisan think tank that publishes foreign policy, that's a journal of global affairs. He joins us from the Washington bureau.
Sir, thank you for being with us this morning. With this movement by North Korea, now, does this mean that the axis of evil is down to one, Iran?
GARY SAMORE, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Well, the step with North Korea is a very small step, it's useful, but it's only at the very beginning of a disarmament process. So, I think you can say that North Korea has its nose poked out of the tent of the axis of evil, but it still has a long way to go before it will be completely reconciled with the United States.
HOLMES: And a part of the long way to go, there's still nuclear weapons that the U.S. wants to know about, doesn't know about. Is that North Korea really holding on to maybe a bargaining chip? Holding a little something close to vest?
SAMORE: I think it's more important to them than a bargaining chip. I think the Kim Jung il regime believes that it needs nuclear weapons to survive and defend itself. So, I think it's quite unlikely that North Korea will give up its nuclear weapons any time soon, certainly not during the course of the rest of the Bush administration.
HOLMES: Now, how much hope, like you said, North Korea right now, just has its nose out of the tent -- that's an interesting way to put that -- but, Iran's still firmly in there in the axis of evil, if you will. So, any hopes, any chance of what we are seeing in North Korea, any way sending any kind of message to Iran or helping them or pushing them towards some kind of negotiation and talking about their nuclear program?
SAMORE: Well, it certainly makes sense for the U.S. to try to engage Iran directly over the nuclear program and I expect that the next administration, no matter who's elected, will try that engagement. But, as your guests said earlier prospects for Iran making nuclear concessions are not very promising.
In the first place, they still haven't acquired a nuclear weapons capability and it's going to be difficult for them to accept limitations that will stop them short of that objective.
In contrast, North Korea, as you said, already has nuclear weapons, so it's easier for them compromise in terms of limiting the size of their program. And secondly, as your earlier guests said, North Korea is a very small, poor, weak country and needs the economic and political incentive the U.S. can offer in contrast, Iran is just not as desperate.
HOLMES: And they've been holding out for so long. You talk about North Korea being desperate. They've been holding out so long. Why now? Has the situation just gotten to a breaking point for them, there? Or are there actually voices over reform in North Korea that have helped get the U.S. and North Korea to this point?
SAMORE: Actually, I think it's change in the Bush administration's strategy that explains this current agreement. Prior to the North Korean nuclear test in October 2006, the North Koreans were making clear they were prepared to accept these kinds of incremental arms control agreements, but the Bush administration was insisting on comprehensive and immediate nuclear disarmament. The Bush administration changed their strategy after the nuclear test and as a consequence, we've seen a series of these modest, but important arms control agreements.
HOLMES: Modest, but important and maybe symbolic, even what we saw with this cooling tower coming down. Certainly, they wanted to put it on a show for the international community and we've the pictures to show. Gary Samore, again, with the Council on Foreign Relations. Sir, we absolutely appreciate your time and your expertise and your insight, this morning. Thank you so much, you have a good day.
SAMORE: Thank you. You too.
HOLMES: All right. And we will certainly -- going to be something we're going to keep an eye on and we're going to be joining our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour. She's going to have a special investigations unit, "Notes from North Korea." This is a very fascinating hour long look inside that country, so join Christiane Amanpour, again, Saturday and Sunday night 8:00 Eastern Time -- Randi.
KAYE: A truck bomb killed seven people north of Baghdad today, but U.S. officials say overall the situation in Iraq is getting better. U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, gives this is assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RYAN CROCKER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO IRAN: We've got more hard work in front of us. Fighting here is by no means over, but clearly we are in a different and better place than we were even six months ago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KAYE: Ambassador Crocker will be a guest on LATE EDITION at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time. Topics include war in Iraq, troop timetables and the presidential candidates' positions on Iraq. Senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley will sit in for Wolf Blitzer, today.
HOLMES: Want to let you know, as well, right now, something we're keeping an eye on, we have been for quite sometime, the entire international community, what's happening in Zimbabwe, the election there.
We told that, in fact, the president, Mugabe, announced himself the winner and now we're getting word that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has begun to release some results of that. And they're saying that he has gotten the majority of the votes in that election.
We don't have actual numbers, but he has been in this election in a runoff, this was. However, the only candidate on that ballot because the opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, actually withdrew from the race. His name was still on the ballot; however, he withdrew because of violence, because of threats, because of intimidation of many of his supporters. And Robert Mugabe now has declared himself the winner.
We're expecting an inauguration to happen this afternoon, there, in Zimbabwe, just two days after the runoff election. You may remember back in March that election, he did not get the majority of votes, the opposition leader, that's why we needed a runoff, but so much violence leading up to the runoff, the opposition leader dropped out, but a lot of condemnation about what's going on in Zimbabwe, right now. But, results starting come out, and saying that Mugabe has in fact, gotten the majority of votes.
KAYE: We'll see, keep an eye on that one.
Coming up, the right to bear arms. The handgun ban overturned in D.C. Some people say they feel safer, others say crime is going to shoot up. We'll have more reaction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it is that time for us now with Howard Kurtz in Washington to see what's ahead on CNN's RELIABLE SOURCES.
Good morning, sir.
HOWARD KURTZ, RELIABLE SOURCES: Hi there, T.J. Coming up, Hillary and Obama spent a few hours together and the media go wild. Is the coverage turning into cheerleading?
Don Imus in trouble over a racial remark, but was he wrongly accused this time? Plus, George Carolyn's death sparks a fresh debate over those dirty words he prosecuted for saying 35 years ago. Are those rules now outdated? That and more ahead on RELIABLE SOURCES. KAYE: All right. Thank you, Howard.
In the nation's capital, some D.C. residents up in arms over the Supreme Court's decision to strike down a ban on handguns.
HOLMES: Some people worry the district's murder rate will rise, but as our Kate Bolduan explains, others say they have the right to defend themselves.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TAWANDA MINCEY, D.C. RESIDENT: There's too much going on out here, the crime.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Tawanda Mincey says it's still hard to believe her brother Anthony is gone, gunned down in Washington last month.
MINCEY: I would have never guessed in a thousand years that my brother would have been a victim of gun violence.
BOLDUAN: With such a painful connection to D.C.'s gun violence, you may be surprised by her reaction to the Supreme Court striking down the city's handgun ban.
MINCEY: I have an alarm in my house for protection right now, but what does it good when someone's coming in my house with a gun? I want a gun, too. I want to know that I'm able to fight back. I have the right to defend myself.
BOLDUAN (on camera): In a 5-4 ruling, the Supreme Court said D.C.'s 32-year-old gun ban violates a person's right to keep and bear arms. Much like the split ruling from the bench, D.C. residents are split as well.
(voice over): Washington's mayor, Adrian Fenty, calls the ruling a disappointment and says the streets will be less safe.
MAYOR ADRIAN FENTY, WASHINGTON, D.C.: More handguns in the District of Columbia will only lead to more handgun violence.
BOLDUAN: Fenty says it's naive to think only law-abiding citizens will be able to get the weapons.
FENTY: In the same way that illegal handguns move through the black market, legal handguns will also move through the black market.
BOLDUAN: But as Tawanda Mincey walks through her neighborhood, she says she already feels safer because she's no longer helpless.
MINCEY: My brother, maybe if we were allowed to carry our weapons, maybe that would have been a different story. No one, no criminal, likes to be shot back at.
BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Why would a guy towing a 375-pound bear?
KAYE: Great picture, Isn't it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We're going to take you to the beach at Alligator Point which makes you think we might be talking about alligators, but we're not, were' talking about that big guy, a 375- pound black bear. He lumbered to the coastline before state wildlife officials had to tag him with a tranquilizer dart.
KAYE: Now, it may be hard to see, but the dart is in there, it's a green tranquilizer dart sticking in the bear's ear. But, a state biologist rescued the bear. There's a picture of him swimming away with it, the bear got a little groggy and wandered into the water and the bear wasn't hurt and was eventually relocated to a much less populated area.
HOLMES: Wasn't hurt. We should ask him. Up next still on CNN here, was he being serious or was he being sarcastic. Well, radio shock jock, Don Imus makes comments about a black NFL player who's been in trouble with the law. Howard Kurtz dives into this controversy next, on RELIABLE SOURCES.
KAYE: And life in Iraq, is it getting better? Will U.S. troops be returning home soon? U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker answers those though questions. Senior political correspondent, Candy Crowley fills in for Wolf Blitzer in LATE EDITION, but first a check of the morning's top developments.
