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CNN Sunday Morning
The Economic Situation; Candidates and the Economy; Rebuilding the Big Easy; Freedom from Colombian Guerillas
Aired July 06, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: Hello from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. It's CNN SUNDAY MORNING, July 6th here. I'm T.J. Holmes.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CO-HOST: And I'm Veronica De La Cruz in, this morning, for Betty Nguyen who is on assignment. We've got lots coming up on the show today.
HOLMES: And we're going to be talking money. We're focused on a lot here to Issue Number One, but also, the president, he's focused on it today as well. High costs of oil, pushing those gas prices up. What will world leaders do about it? They are meeting to talk (ph).
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, we're going to be taking you live to Japan ahead of the G8 Summit. Also this, what bad luck? You buy a new car and then bam.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BEAN, PASSENGER: It's like a mix between like new car smell and sulfur.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: I guess it's just Murphy's Law that stuff like that seems to happen, you know, you buy a new car and then...
HOLMES: Of all things.
DE LA CRUZ: But we're going to give you the details coming up because I'm sure that, you know, that was just a tease.
HOLMES: Coming up. Yes.
Also, everything else is costing a lot more these days. Well, why not your favorite beverage? We will tell you why you need to pack a few more dollars possibly.
DE LA CRUZ: Vitamin water? I love vitamin water.
HOLMES: It's good stuff. It's a little more expensive probably these days as well but that's not what we're speaking of.
DE LA CRUZ: We're not talking about vitamin water.
HOLMES: The video gives it away. The next time you belly up, you might want to make sure you have little extra cash. We're also going to be talking about that this morning.
But, we continue as well to keep an eye on this story about those hostages freed in Colombia after years in captivity. You know, Betancourt, the one primary hostage there, high profile at least, free now but a lot more details still coming out, a lot more being revealed.
DE LA CRUZ: That's right. We are talking about her and her entire ordeal along with the three Americans that were freed. We're learning more now about those desperate times, what life was like in captivity. Our Karl Penhaul is in Bogota and he has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Freedom -- the horror is finally over. For now at least, Ingrid Betancourt is not revealing her full nightmare, failed escaped bids, years in chains and the threat of sexual abuse, not by guerrillas but by fellow hostages.
Former Congressman Luis Eladio Perez knows only too well. He spent four of his seven years in captivity alongside Betancourt. He was freed in February.
LUIS ELADIO PEREZ, FORMER HOSTAGE (through translator): At the start, the guerillas' relationship with Ingrid was cordial but mid-level commanders were rude and coarse.
PENHAUL: But in July of 2005, captivity turned into a living hell. Perez says he and Betancourt staged a daring escaped but then turned themselves in.
PEREZ (through translator): We realized then they were beginning to circle the camp with razor wire. And so Ingrid said to me, either we go today or we lose our chance. So, we decided to run that night.
We didn't have sufficient food but we did it. Ingrid prepared everything at midnight. It was raining heavily. So, the guards couldn't hear and there was zero visibility.
We left the camp and dived into the river and swam for 2 1/2 hours. And we ran as much as we could until hypothermia set in.
When we handed ourselves in, there was absolute repression by the guerrillas. They chained us to a tree 24 hours a day.
PENHAUL: As conditions hit rock bottom, the hostages turned on each other.
PEREZ (through translator): There were one or two cases that overstepped the mark partly, but those of us who were friends with Ingrid backed her.
PENHAUL: Perez declined to spell out the true extent of the problems but he gave a fuller private account to Betancourt's family.
YOLAND PULECIO, BETANCOURT'S MOTHER (through translator): Congressman Perez told me the American Marc Gonzalves has behaved very well with Ingrid and defended her from the aggression of some of the other hostages.
PENHAUL: In interviews before Betancourt's rescue, her husband explained more.
JUAN CARLOS LECOMPTE, BETANCOURT'S HUSBAND: Some of the soldiers and the policeman who are hostage too, is right to abuse of Ingrid, because, I mean, I don't know. Maybe after 10 years in the jungle, they lose -- their minds, you know.
PENHAUL: He read me Betancourt's own description of her own ordeal pen in a letter she sent as proof of life in November.
LECOMPTE (through translator): This is a very dense jungle and the rays of light scarcely pierce the tree canopy but it is deserted of affection, solidarity, or tenderness. The six years have shown me I'm not as resistant, brave, intelligent, or as strong as I thought. I'm giving up. I'm tired of suffering, and of lying to myself, believing this will end.
PENHAUL: Karl Penhaul, CNN, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: And tonight, a CNN special presentation, an HBO documentary looks at Ingrid Betancourt's kidnapping and her family's six-year struggle to free her. HBO's "The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt," you can find it here and only here on CNN tonight at 6:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: We will turn to presidential politics now. Barack Obama is being accused of being a flip-flopper on one of the signature issues that helped him become the presumptive Democratic nominee -- the war in Iraq, of course. Barack Obama, now, having to speak out again, insisting that his Iraq war position has remained consistent.
DE LA CRUZ: Republicans, last week, accused him of backing away from his stand on troop withdrawals and Obama says that that is not the case.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have always believed that our invasion of Iraq was a strategic blunder for all of the reasons I've talked about -- distracting us from Afghanistan, the enormous costs in blood and treasure, the fanning of anti-American sentiment, the ability of terrorists to use our invasion as a tool to recruit more terrorists. And so I am unwavered in the belief this has been a strategic mistake and that this war has to end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: The McCain campaign responded with a statement saying, quote, "We are all absolutely committed to end this war, but on Thursday, Barack Obama's words indicated that he also shared John McCain's commitment to securing the peace beforehand." The statement goes on to say, "What's really puzzling is that Barack Obama still doesn't understand that his words matter."
And, in the week ahead, John McCain will focus on the economy. He's expected to outline his job's first economic plan. McCain is spending today off the campaign trail, he plans to attend church and visit a veteran center.
HOLMES: And Barack Obama is spending time with his family after getting a pretty enthusiastic welcome at a church convention.
Obama spoke before the African Methodist Episcopal Church Convention in St. Louis. He reiterated his call to expand support for faith- based community programs.
And a whole lot of buzz about Barack Obama and the presidential race at the Essence Music Festival that continues today in New Orleans. Obama won the black vote by huge margins during the primary season, but as Fredricka Whitfield now reports, black voters have not always rallied behind the Democratic Party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Well before Barack Obama became the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, Black Americans were solidly in the blue column. Polls show that nine out of 10 blacks vote Democrat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think it's more representative of the working-class people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The reason I choose to vote Democrat is because they open their arms to my ethnicity.
WHITFIELD: But before the 1960s redefined American politics, it was the Republicans who were identified with some of those same things. The party of Abraham Lincoln and abolitionist, Frederick Douglass, embraced blacks as equals while Democrats, especially in the south, supported segregation.
ANDRA GILLESPIE, EMORY UNIVERSITY: Also keep in mind that most former slave owners had been members of the Democratic Party, and so, the Democratic Party in the south was maligned as the party of the slave master as well.
WHITFIELD: So, what changed? An upheaval in the Democratic Party after the Second World War recast political allegiances.
GILLESPIE: That started in large part because in 1948, Harry Truman added civil rights to the Democratic Party platform. And as you know, Strom Thurmond and the Dixie-crats actually revolted from the party, thus beginning, even though it really doesn't happen until the 1960s, the exits of Southern Democrats from the Democratic coalition to the Republican Party.
WHITFIELD: Today, just 10 percent of blacks say they plan to vote Republican. In the minority, Ken Blackwell, formerly Ohio secretary of state.
KEN BLACKWELL, FAMILY RESEARCH COUNCIL: The reason I've been a Republican is because this is the party that believes in freedom. It believes in economic growth. It believes in the individual capacity to make a difference in his or her life and it's individuals that actually work in concert to change the course of history.
I don't believe in big government. I don't believe in monopolies. I believe in the power of the private sector.
WHITFIELD: The economy, gas prices, the credit crunch, unemployment -- all high on voters minds this election season.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That they're a voice and they knew the struggle that a lot of middle income level and lower income people are going through, so with this war, with the Katrina situation, with gas prices, food prices.
WHITFIELD: Ken Blackwell, now with the Conservative Family Research Council, thinks the Republican solutions could appeal to African- Americans.
BLACKWELL: It would be a missed opportunity if one candidate or the other wouldn't show up and would begin to take the African-American vote for granted, or, in the case of a Republican, in this case, John McCain, just to write-off the African-American vote.
McCain is proving that he is not going to take that direction. He, in fact, is showing up. He is basically willing to, you know, stand before African-American voters and say, "I care, this is what I believe."
WHITFIELD (on camera): Is this the year or the beginning of a period where there may be a new tide change?
(voice-over): Emory University's Andra Gillespie says that although Senator John McCain has an uphill struggle against Barack Obama, he's not turning his back on African-Americans.
GILLESPIE: The fact he has made overtures in the African-American community in the heart of the traditional black belt in the American south, it doesn't necessarily mean that will accrue votes for him but it will accrue a certain amount of respect.
WHITFIELD: Fredricka Whitfield, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And we're wearing a whole lot more from the Essence Music Festival a little later. Our Fredricka Whitfield is in New Orleans, she will be joining us live throughout the morning. You don't want to miss her special report.
DE LA CRUZ: She's having a great time out there, right?
HOLMES: And she is working hard, a lot is going on. DE LA CRUZ: She is doing a good job as well, yes.
Well, an update now on story that we first told you about yesterday. Investigators in Toledo, Ohio are taking a closer look at the cause of a huge apartment fire.
HOLMES: And 100 people out of their homes. They do have temporary shelter now set up for them by the Red Cross. Investigators believe the fire was started by fireworks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WTVG)
DIAMOND WELLS, FIRE VICTIM: At a, you know, discharged fireworks sitting on top of one of these roofs can start a fire and it did. These buildings, none of them have fire stops in them. So, once the fire burned through the roof into the cock lofts, it's just raced from one building to the other.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I was trying to go in. And there's smoke filling up. And I will have to stand outside and watch as everything fell (ph) in front of me.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You watched your building burned down?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, like balcony, everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And we talked to one local reporter who told us some of those fireworks may have actually been fired off in the hallways of one of those buildings.
And as we mentioned, a little earlier, you've got a brand new ride, you don't want anything to happen to it, you're worried it might become a lemon or might be a lemon, and all things to worry about -- lightning strikes.
DE LA CRUZ: Lightning, yes. I guess that's just Murphy's Law. We're going to be sharing the amazing story from the passengers.
Reynolds Wolf, Murphy's Law, stuff like this always happen, right?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. In this time of the year, it seems like we have kind of things that happen in parts of the Atlantic, namely like Bertha. Take a look at this tropical storm; it's one of the biggest storms on the planet.
And coming up, I'm going to let you know how strong the storm is going to get, where it may be headed, and how it might affect you and your families. That's just moments away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Well, lightning turns a truck antenna into a giant sparkler. It happened in Arizona on the Fourth of July, appropriately enough. HOLMES: Yes. And passengers say, they saw a bright green flash of light and the truck, which was running, just stopped dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KNXV)
JAMES BEAN, PASSENGER: The lightning struck the antenna right here and kind of electrified our whole car and stopped it in its track.
CHRISTIAN WINSICK, PASSENGER: The lightning just came down here and like struck and it hit the antenna and it just like kind of melted down. There's like sparks flying everywhere.
BEAN: There's blowing sparks off the antenna and on the windshield. It was kind of scary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: But here's the thing. I mean, luckily, they were OK. The bad news is they had just bought the truck.
HOLMES: Only had it about a month.
WOLF: Heartbreaker.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: You hate to see that happen. But believe it or not, to hear that being inside of a vehicle is one of the safest places you can be during a thunderstorm, and what so weird about it is the vehicle is not the best spot to be if you happen to be, say, in a tornado or flooding. I mean...
DE LA CRUZ: What are the odds?
WOLF: The odds -- let me get a pen and paper and I'll sort of figure it out for you. It's pretty weird, it doesn't happen every day but it did. But, what kind -- was it, what, a minivan?
DE LA CRUZ: It was a truck of some sort.
WOLF: A truck?
DE LA CRUZ: The bottom line is that it was brand new. It was brand new and it gets struck by lightning.
WOLF: That's what insurance is for. That's why you have insurance.
HOLMES: And we have you here for Bertha. Also, is going to be a big deal?
WOLF: That's a great question. I mean, it's the second storm of the hurricane season. We need to remember that, you know, we're getting close and the season is going to last from now all the way to November 30th, so we're going to see a lot of these storms. Let's go right to the weather computer maybe.
DE LA CRUZ: I still want the odds on whether or not your car is going to get hit by lightning.
WOLF: Absolutely, there you go. Dee dee (ph), our director, I just called her, I called you on this and didn't tell you ahead of time and I do apologize.
But, folks, right there on the right hand corner of the screen, you can see the Cape Verde Island, that's right next to it is the big (INAUDIBLE) looks like green and yellow and orange sherbet. What's that stuff is -- that is your storm. Not really well-defined right now but we do anticipate the storm is going to gain some strength.
In fact, the National Hurricane Center has this thing with the maximum sustained winds at this time, right at 50, but gusting be going up to 65. And what we anticipate with this is that the path is going to bring a little bit more to the west, as it does show, it's going to move into water that's going to be a bit warmer.
These storms drive all their strength from very warm ocean water. There's going to be very little sheer with this. Sheer sometimes can break these storms to pieces. That's not going to happen as we get into Monday. And as we get into Wednesday, and into Friday, notice the wind speeds increasing from 65 miles per hour up to 80 miles an hour on Wednesday and fast forward to Friday. When it passed the 74 miles an hour, it's being classified as a hurricane.
And as it passes north of, let's see, the Leeward Islands and towards Puerto Rico, and then Santo Domingo, and north of the Dominican Republic, the storm is going to get a little bit closer to the eastern seaboard. Now, right now, there's a lot that can happen with this storm. I don't want you to panic, for you (ph) in the eastern seaboard. But this is the time to put that hurricane preparedness kit together.
Right now, in places like, say, Boston, I know you're farther up the coast but it would not be out of the realm of comprehensions of one day see a storm possibly hit this part of the eastern seaboard. So, right now though, you are storm-free in Boston, cloudy skies and few drizzles here and there, but you may have a thunderstorm later on today. We'll talk about that in a few moments.
Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
DE LA CRUZ: Things are not looking good in Boston this morning.
WOLF: No. And baseball-wise, too, they lost to the Yankees yesterday. I hate to see that.
DE LA CRUZ: Well, go Yankees.
WOLF: Go Red Sox.
DE LA CRUZ: I'm a Yankees fan, I'm sorry. For all of you Red Sox fans, I'm going to get hate mail now. I know it.
HOLMES: That's the way it should be, that's a long storied rivalry. Get heated about it. Well, we had a birthday party that we were all not invited to. Not really a party but the president actually had a birthday.
DE LA CRUZ: Invitation lost in the mail, I'm sure, T.J. everybody loves you.
HOLMES: I don't think so. This one wasn't lost, it wasn't sent, but the president is overseas, actually, for his birthday. Actually, he's doing some serious business in Japan at the G8 Summit.
DE LA CRUZ: Right. The big question here is: What do you give a world leader for his birthday?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN: The news channel trusted by more Americans. Now back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
HOLMES: Well, President Bush is in Japan this morning, getting ready for tomorrow's G8 Summit.
DE LA CRUZ: The G8 leaders have a lot of important issues to work on. But today, President Bush spent some time talking about the Olympics.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now live from Hokkaido, Japan this morning.
Good morning to you, Elaine. I understand that the president actually just wrapped up a press conference with the Japanese prime minister. Do you know what else they discussed?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know, North Korea is certainly a continuing issue as the U.S. tries to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
But you mentioned the Olympics, that certainly was a big topic. You know, it was just a few days ago, in fact, that the White House announced officially that President Bush would go ahead and attend the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics next month.
Well, today, in his first public comment on the issue, the president explained why. He said that he sees the Olympics really as a chance to cheer on American athletes and he said boycotting the opening ceremonies would be an affront to the Chinese people. Now, President Bush also insisted that he has raised the issue of China's dismal human rights record many times in the past, and would continue to do so in the future.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES: And every time I have visited with them, I have talked about religious freedom and human rights. And so, therefore, my decision to go was -- well, I guess I don't need the Olympics to express my concerns. I've been doing so.
(END VIDEO CLIP) QUIJANO: Now, at the same time, President Bush is very mindful of China's decision earlier this year to crackdown a very harsh way on Tibetan demonstrators. The president was very quick to notice well to reporters that he is the first sitting U.S. president ever to appear publicly with Tibet's exiled leader, the Dalai Lama. Veronica?
DE LA CRUZ: And I understand, Elaine, that the president also has another item on his plate besides the G8 Summit and that item would be a slice of a birthday cake?
QUIJANO: That's right. You know what, that was actually on the way here on Air Force One. Imagine this, birthday Air Force One-style. The president celebrated his 62nd birthday en route here to Japan.
We're told he had a coconut birthday cake and his gift from White House staff was a whole host of notes and birthday cards in a wooden box engraved with the president's initials but not just any wooden box. This isn't something you can just order online.
This was a wooden box carved by a Texas woodworker made from wood of a tree that used to sit on the north lawn of the White House, a Scarlet Oak that was planted back in 1892. It fell last October and they went ahead and made this box for President Bush.
But certainly, a very special birthday for the president, his last G8 Summit en route here. We're told that he did have just a small piece of cake during his impromptu birthday celebration.
(CROSSTALK)
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, the coconut sounds good. All right, Elaine Quijano in Hokkaido, Japan -- Elaine, thanks so much.
HOLMES: Well, it can help you out if you want to qualify for a loan or even lower your interest rates. And the higher it is, the better off you are. You probably can guess what we're talking about here.
DE LA CRUZ: We're talking about your credit score, right? Yes, your credit score. And Ali Velshi has got some tips to help you boost it on this week's Right on Your Money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Falling home prices means more opportunities for buyers, but with lending standards tightening, improving your credit score is more important than ever.
JOHN ULZHEIMER, CREDIT.COM: If you want to guarantee your best the best rate and the best terms that any lender has to offer, you really need to be boasting a 750 across the board. Now, of course, you can still approved with a score lower than 750. You can even get credit in the mid-600s, but you should not expect the best rate and the best of terms in the mid-600s.
VELSHI: The easiest way to give your credit score a boost is to pay off high credit card balances and avoid opening new lines of credit.
ULZHEIMER: If you're in credit score improvement, you really need to kind of take a step back, no knee-jerk reactions, and tackle the things that are costing you the most. Pay off the collections or settle them, pay down the credit card debt as much as possible, and, by all means, do not exit the credit environment as a means for improving your credit score.
VELSHI: And be aware, closing credit cards just because you rarely use them will not help your credit score. Hold on to older credit cards. The longer you've managed credit, the better your score will be. And that is this week's Right on Your Money.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And on Monday, you can watch the CNN NEWSROOM throughout the day to see how you can recession-proof your life. We'll have recommendations from our team of experts. A look at energy alternatives and pointers on how to make the most of what you got.
We also want to hear from you now about how you stretch your dollars. Send your responses to iReport.com/desk and click on "Beating the Recession." We'll take a look at your responses all day Monday. And that's beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
Well, the more we see of the video of the hostage rescue in Colombia, the more questions we all have.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, that's right, like: why these captives look as good as they do after years of living in the jungle? Let's bring in Josh Levs.
And, Josh, you know, Ingrid Betancourt, she stepped off that plane, she looked amazing. I mean, she really, she was able to stand there in front of the mic and really strong, and poised and I'm sure you'll have the answers to those questions this morning, right?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in some ways, we have more questions than answers. But you're right, that right there, is one of the big ones. And I'll tell you, piecing through the video, as I'm about to show you, we did find there are some images that do need to be explained.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN, ANCHOR: Hello again. Welcome back, everyone to the CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN ANCHOR: It's nice to see you this morning. I'm Veronica De La Cruz. Betty Nguyen is on assignment.
HOLMES: By now, many you seen that remarkable video of Colombian rebels tricked into giving up 15 hostages. But there are more to that video that first meets the yet. The raw footage came from the Colombian government. Our Josh Levs went through this frame-by-frame. He found out some really interesting things and kind of gave us another look. Josh Levs joins me now. Again, we've seen this in clips but to slow it down like you have and really go through it and analyze that you found some stuff.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we're going to show you a key freeze frame in just a second. What we want to do is to trace you through the most important parts of this video. I want to start at the beginning because I want people to understand what we're seeing. This is from the Colombian military. Now, let's step out of the way for a second. And everyone you're seeing in fatigues we're told are members of FARC. This is the group, the Colombian group that held people hostage for years. Let's skip ahead now because I want you to start to see the first images we have of some hostages. Now, this is what we're going to see, in my next video. What we're going to see here are - there you go. These are the hostages. These are the first images we have in this video of the hostages. That is Ingrid Betancourt. I'm going to step out again. You're going to start to see the camera move around a little bit.
Now, why do they think there's a camera there. Here is what the military says. That right there is Keith Stansell. That's an American hostage. The military says that FARC was told there's a humanitarian group that was going to move all these hostages here from one guerilla camp to another guerilla camp and that along with them comes a couple of video cameras. So that's why everyone we're seeing thinks video cameras are there including this American right there, Keith Stansell and other hostages as well. We're told that's what they think. You can't hear the sound well which is why we're not playing it right now. We listen to it six times. You can hear them say in Spanish, I love my family. Amo mi familia. This right here. This man steps forward and he says let's listen to a little bit of his sound for a second. [ speaking in foreign language ]
There you go. Okay. In Spanish, he just identified himself. He says that he was a soldier in the Colombian military and that he is being held for 10 years by FARC. Let's keep ahead again. Because what you're about to see in the next clip of video we're going to show you is that last steps these people take as hostages. But they don't know it. Again, T.J., they think they're just being moved from one location to another. So they are on this grass over here. They're being brought - that's Ingrid Betancourt. We're about to see the others get on to this helicopter that's right there. And you can see behind them as we'll see in a few seconds that there are plenty of members of FARC with weapons who are watching them get on. Look at that. So they are there. They're watching these people get on. And this is a key that I wanted you to see.
We're going to watch the last section now as they get into this plane. You're going to see their faces after they've just been told that they're free. And suddenly what they thought was them in shackles being moved from one location to another, is celebration. Let's listen to some sound here. You can see they're crying, they're celebrating. This right here is when they've just found out. They have just been told they're free. Now, we just can't tell where they are at this point. We believe they are up in the sky.
But there's one more image in this moment that I want to point to. That's a freeze frame ready for you. Let's see if we can bring in that freeze frame because this is very important. See those knees in the middle, right here? Those knees? Ingrid Betancourt said when she got on the plane she saw her lead captor Cesar naked and bound and that was the moment she knew that she was being set free. That they're all being set free. I can't tell you this for sure but we believe that this quick image. We had to freeze frame it here is him, his feet bound there. So, that's one of the key images that we're seeing right here.
And let's move T.J. back in. As we look at this and as we look at any parts of the video, what we see obviously are a lot of questions. What does FARC think, why do they look healthy and that kind of thing?
HOLMES: But still all that video you said, people are saying, everybody is watching. The FARC members, also these hostages are watching people with cameras shooting this whole thing? Is that right?
LEVS: Yes. They're watching people shooting this whole thing. And FARC was told that the humanitarian group was bringing its own video camera so why not just have these little camera along the way, maybe to show hey the people are healthy, maybe they'll show they're being treated OK and they are still alive. But there are a lot of questions. How did they pull this off? What did FARC really think? Was there anyone inside FARC turned and in on this and was that really Cesar on the ground. And we're told they overpowered Cesar and another. They subdued them on the plane. How did that do that quietly without firing a shot that FARC would hear outside? Lots of questions.
HOLMES: We're wondering how these FARC members feel today after this video showing them looking pretty silly and being fooled. Josh, we appreciate that breaking that down for us. And tonight we got a CNN special presentation. An HBO documentary looking at Ingrid Betancourt's kidnapping and her family's six-year struggle to free her. That's HBO's "The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt." You can see it at CNN tonight at 6:00 Eastern. Veronica.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Political news now. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton teaming up to raise some campaign cash. The Obama campaign says they will appear together at three fund-raisers in New York this week. Two are to raise money for Obama's general election campaign. The other is try and help Clinton pay off her debt from the primary. She ended her presidential bid with about $22 million of debt.
And important diplomatic positions awarded to political friends. It's a common practice but some former diplomats are calling on the presidential candidates to stop it. State Department correspondent Zain Verjee explains why that is not likely.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZAIN VERJEE, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Try breaking up this Washington marriage of politics and diplomacy. There's a rich tradition. New presidents giving friends and contributors plum diplomatic post. The American Academy of Diplomacy wants John McCain and Barack Obama to break with that past writing "too often ambassadorships have served as political rewards for unqualified candidates."
RONALD NEUMANN, AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DIPLOMACY: We embarrass ourselves. We're the only country in the world that sends unqualified nonprofessionals out as our ambassadors. We project a sense often of arrogance and of disrespect.
VERJEE: "Non career appointees as ambassadors has generally been about one-third of total appointments" the latter says. "A new target in the area of 10 percent should be adopted."
President Bush's friends and contributors have landed some of the top ambassador slots. Former South Carolina politician David Wilkins is ambassador to Canada. The present noncareer ambassador in Tokyo can trace his friendship with President Bush back to their investing in the Texas Rangers baseball team. And another Texas Ranger partner is now U.S. ambassador to France.
NEUMANN: Just as you need a qualified engineer to build a bridge or a qualified chemist to certify toothpaste, you need a qualified person to take on some of the most serious diplomatic tasks of the nation.
VERJEE: Former congressman Leon Panetta who served as White House Chief of Staff for President Clinton says political appointments are "the reality of what happens in campaigns." Any change, Panetta says, is "something that frankly is necessary, but likely is never going to happen."
SEAN MCCORMACK, STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN: From my experience, it's healthy to have a mixture of political appointees and career diplomats. I think they can learn from one another.
VERJEE: Some non-career diplomats like Howard Baker are applauded. The former Senate majority leader was ambassador to Japan where he experience, prestige and age are appreciated.
VERJEE (on-camera): So far neither presidential candidate has responded to the American Academy of Diplomacy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: That was our State Department correspondent Zain Verjee there. The candidates, the campaign, the issues, all of that - we're going to be discussing it coming up next with Politico correspondent Jonathan Martin. He joins us in a couple of hours for a live interview. It's going to happen around 9:00 a.m. Eastern, I believe, right? We're going to do that in the 9:00 hour, T.J.?
HOLMES: We're going to be talking about, a lot to talk about. Always a lot to talk
DE LA CRUZ: Always on the political front.
HOLMES: Always. But up next, our "Faces of Faith." You know being born into an Islamic family is one thing, converting to Islam, that is a an entirely different experience.
DE LA CRUZ: Especially if you're American. Two women explain what it's like to become a Muslim in the United States.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Of course, it's a holiday weekend. A lot of picnics, cookouts going on. But one in particular here in Atlanta kind of got our attention here. It was organized by the American-Islamic Fellowship. And its goal was to provide a recreational event for Muslims in the Atlanta area. But also to reach out to people of faith beyond the Muslim community. And Melissa Robinson and Kelly Wentworth formed the American Islamic Fellowship in October. They join us now. Melissa, Kelly, thank you all so much for being with us this morning.
MELISSA ROBINSON, AMERICAN-ISLAMIC FELLOWSHIP: Thank you for having us.
HOLMES: Now, American Islam. Now you all tell me if you all believe there's a difference in an American Muslim and any other Muslim you would find anywhere around the country. You're shaking your head now?
ROBINSON: No.
HOLMES: What do you think?
ROBINSON: I believe that any type of Muslim is someone who believes that they are dedicated to their principles of Islam. Our purpose was that we would bring together people of all types of faith and of all types of Islam and so that was our purpose, but we named it the American Islamic Fellowship to kind of bring in together people from all around the country so that was our purpose.
HOLMES: Now, how do you all - I mean, you were drawn to Islam. I mean, Americans. I mean, people think Muslim, they don't think these aren't the images that come to their mind. I'm sure you all know that. What drew you to Islam in the first place?
KELLY WENTWORTH, AMERICAN ISLAMIC FELLOWSHIP: I was studying at the University of Tennessee and I took a religious study class and was introduced it as well as a lot of other faiths. My upbringing was kind of, you know, my parents were very open to me exploring different avenues and I really appreciated that from them.
HOLMES: But as you got into Islam, there was something that turned you off about it as well, some things that you weren't so crazy about as far as - I mean, you know, you talk about how the race, though, excuse me the genders are separated.
WENTWORTH: Right.
HOLMES: There's and no music. I mean so many things. WENTWORTH: A lot of things I think are cultural, T.J.. I think Islam, to me, was the most embracing of all different faiths. It's a very individualistic religion where each person has an individual relationship with god and with their society and that relationship is very private and personal and each of our paths are going to be slightly different because of that.
HOLMES: Now, an American Muslim. You all aren't the face, again, of course, of Islam.
WENTWORTH: Right.
HOLMES: What do you all find in talking to other Americans of all religious faiths and backgrounds? Do you find people kind of scratching their heads and confused sometimes? I guess, what is the reaction really?
ROBINSON: I find people are very curious and they want to know more because I believe that a lot of people didn't really know or still don't know a lot about Islam. And so, one of the positive things about 9/11 was it really brought Islam into the forefront of people's minds so they want to know more about Islam and what to know about religion in general and how they can bring together different faiths. And so that is part of our mission is to bring together people of different faiths and also to bring in together different types of Muslims as well because there are very many different types of Muslims just like there are many different types of faith, too.
WENTWORTH: Yes.
HOLMES: What is the difference? Give me some of those differences, I guess. And certainly what makes the uniqueness of an American Muslim?
WENTWORTH: Well, there are you know, very different sects, sort of within Islam. Generally speaking we try to say we're all Muslim. We are all same but you know, there are Shia Muslims and there are Sunni Muslims and there are Muslims and there are Sufi Muslims and there are, you know, other people who just say I'm just Muslim. So there are lots of different - lots of variety in there. And each individual is going to have a slightly different perspective.
HOLMES: But an American Muslim we're talking about. Is that Muslim different? Again, you kind of spoke a second ago. You know, it's just kind of a cultural upbringing is the difference.
WENTWORTH: Yes.
HOLMES: You're all Muslims but, still, you know, I just - go ahead.
ROBINSON: Right. I believe the American part would be because we live in America and we have total religious freedom or very a lot of religious freedom and so we live in a society where we can totally question our faith and we can explore our faith and I believe that's a huge component of being an American Muslim. And so part of what we do in our group is we discuss these different components and where we can explore things inside and outside of our faith and I believe that's part of growing spiritually.
HOLMES: Last thing here and certainly that partnership you try to have and that conversation you try to have certainly can be helpful but you all know there are a lot of stereotypes and negative connotations attached to Muslims, Americans or otherwise. Like is say, when people think of Muslims they don't think of these two faces here.
WENTWORTH: Actually, they will after today.
HOLMES: You know, how much can it help? Simply not even in the conversation but by just more people seeing Muslims that look like you?
WENTWORTH: Well, you know, the picnic that went on yesterday, it's a great example. Because we're - you know, we just brought people together. We were just trying to get people to see one another as people. You know, we might have different beliefs. We might have different jobs. But that doesn't mean that we're any different in our souls.
HOLMES: All right.
WENTWORTH: And our hearts.
HOLMES: Melissa Robinson and Kelly Whitworth, really I'm glad you all came in. And again a different face. Just a face that people aren't, that they don't think of when they think Muslim. So glad you all came by. I was fascinated reading up and getting some of the background about you all story here. So thank you all so much.
ROBINSON: Thank you so much for having us.
HOLMES: All right. You all enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Veronica, I'll hand it back over to you.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Thanks, T.J.. Well, the economy might be guzzling down your weekend enjoyment. It's now having an effect on beer. Shortage isn't the only problem facing brew fans, we're going to tell you more about that. Reynolds Wolf, is the economy guzzling down your weekend enjoyment?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Don't get me started. Don't get me started but anyone who might be heading out to the Jersey shore to enjoy a fine beverage may also be dealing with a few scattered showers. Same story farther to the south off the Carolina coast. I'm going to let you know how long this pesky rainfall is going to stick around and what we can expect in the tropics. We got tropical storm Bertha. That and more coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. This is - it is not that important of a story, but it is important to some.
DE LA CRUZ: To some people, it's very important. HOLMES: Very important but there is a worldwide shortage of hops. If you don't know, that is the main ingredient in the beverage of choice for many adults. And we're talking about beer. Here hops, the price up about 500 percent.
DE LA CRUZ: Wow. Can you say up 500 percent?
HOLMES: Gas isn't up that much, I don't believe. But some smaller brewers decided to change their recipe. Now, this shortage is due to bad weather happening in some places around the world, less production of hops in this country. So, it's just kind of a few things have come together to make this a problem. But you combine that also with the rising fuel costs and that's leading to possibly higher prices for beer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DINA STRECKFUS, WINEMAKER AND BERRMAKERS SUPPLY: When this has happened, I said my goodness this business - I need hops in this is business. This is my business.
JESSE WILLIAMS, NEW ALBANIAN BREWING CO.: It affects tiny breweries a little bit more than bigger breweries. Bigger breweries can afford to go with a longer hops contract.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Well, everybody kind of raising their prices here, the big companies, but imports are kind of getting a break. Because for them, the exchange rate of course with the dollar, it's kind of working out for them, making things a bit easier.
DE LA CRUZ: But honestly, the rising cost of hops, that is why Reynolds Wolf does not drink beer.
WOLF: No, of course not. Absolutely not.
DE LA CRUZ: That's why I don't and T.J. doesn't either.
WOLF: There you go. Not a beer man.
DE LA CRUZ: Vitamin water. I'll stick to my vitamin water.
WOLF: Although some would say it would be a good thing to sell the nurse when you try to reason with hurricane season. And it is hurricane season. And we've got a big storm in the Atlantic. You know, we are already on B. We started with A and of course this is B, we're talking of Bertha. We're going to give you the very latest on Bertha in a few moments. I'll let you know where this storm is headed and if it will intensify.
But for the time being, we'll get the rest of the holiday weekend for many of you to think about. The hurricane will deal with, the tropical storm we'll talk about. But right now, what you're seeing south of New York, scattered showers. In New York City, you've got the cloudy skies. Here you got a shot of the Statue of Liberty that shows pretty overcast conditions at this point. You can see her. There she is. Looks pretty good. And we're going to go back to the weather computer and show you what you can anticipate in New York.
New York is at the top of the screen. Here's Milford. Here's all the showers that's drifting off to the north. New York, within the next half hour, maybe even you could get scattered showers. Along parts of the Carolina coast, we are seeing some embedded thunderstorms. Some of these pretty loud. If you're tuning in this morning say from Myrtle Beach or Wilmington, if you look out over the coast, you might see just a little bit of flash here and there with some lightning. Some of these storms have been intense as they move deeper into the sea, way out to sea. Way on the Atlantic, we're talking about Bertha moving now to the west of the Cape Verde Islands. The storm, the latest we have from it, winds at 50, gusting up to 65 miles an hour. It's about 1,000 miles west of the Windward Islands or rather east of Windward Islands. Here at the Windwards. Here are the Leewards and the storm is expected to pass just to the north of both of these points. The latest path is from the National Hurricane Center shows the storm intensifying as we get into Monday. By Wednesday, the maximum sustained winds getting to 80. By Friday, same story. So, it's going to be very interesting to watch over the next couple of days. Let's send it back to you.
DE LA CRUZ: So, Reynolds, I have a quick question for you. Going back to New York for a second. We're just looking at the Statue of Liberty, every day for the past two weeks, there's a shot there, around 5:00 in the afternoon, it rains. What's going on?
WOLF: Well, basically we have been getting some sea breeze showers coming through and we have the daytime heating, not unusual with a little bit of breeze comes in, you have a convection and few scattered showers.
DE LA CRUZ: And so, this is going to continue for the rest of the summer?
WOLF: Yes, a little bit on and off. I mean, I would not complain about. It's a great thing because in parts of let's say the southeast, we are desperate for rainfall. Any drop we get would be fantastic. So, what is kind of pain for some will be very beneficial for others.
DE LA CRUZ: All right. We'll live with that.
HOLMES: All right.
DE LA CRUZ: A young filmmakers' recreation of a famous experiment on race and the shocking outcome, we're going to take a look at that.
HOLMES: Yes and see what he says about the realities of racism. We'll have a live report from New Orleans in the Essence Music Festival.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: Well, the mysterious Salmonella outbreak, FDA officials continue to search for the cause.
HOLMES: And now, they're taking tomato farms in Mexico. And starting tomorrow, they'll expand the Salmonella probe beyond tomatoes to include cilantro, jalapeno peppers among some other things. Since April, more than 900 people across the U.S. have gotten sick.
DE LA CRUZ: A pregnant woman surviving only on 500 calories a day.
HOLMES: That's actually a reality in some parts of Peru because of a growing food crisis. Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in Lima digging for a solution.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It's 2:00 a.m. in Lima, Peru. Soldiers cloaked by darkness, they strategize on Low Gear, a covert military operation, with a surprising objective. What you're witnessing here is The Peruvian government's answer to the food crisis. It's literally a fly by night operation. This is done in the middle of the night to avoid chaos, to avoid rioting. They have actually enlisted the help of the Army who have secretly put together these bags of food and now are going to knock on doors, one by one and distribute them.
But door to door handouts simply aren't enough in this mountainous country. In some regions, over 40 percent of children under age five are malnourished.
When you are trying to get a sense of a food crisis problem, Velma is a good example. First of all, she takes about 500 calories a day. That's way less than the 1500 she should get at a minimum. She comes from one of the most remote areas of Peru. And get this. She is pregnant. She is trying to carry a baby at 500 calories a day and take care of her four children at home with very little food as well.
Food prices have gone up all over the world, really. Are there solutions literally right underneath our feet?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We think potato is an overlooked opportunity.
GUPTA: In fact, Peru has been more than 5,000 different types, all different shapes, colors, names. Well, potatoes gets a bad rep in many parts of the world. In fact, they have been linked to the obesity epidemic but a medium-sized potato like this one over here is about 100 calories. A great source of vitamin C, fibers, and minerals and it doesn't have any cholesterol or fat.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They need to start looking at potatoes, sweet potatoes as opportunities for securing their food.
GUPTA: Today, scientists are working to help farmers increase output and market the Peruvian spuds locally and abroad. 8,000 years after they were first cultivated, it may be a new beginning for the Peruvian potato. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Lima, Peru.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CO-HOST: You can join Dr. Sanjay Gupta tonight at 8:00 Eastern for "The Survival Project: One Child at a Time" and learn more about how you can Impact Your World. You can log on to CNN.com/survivalproject.
T.J. HOLMES, CO-HOST: And from the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING on this July 6th, 8:00 a.m. here at CNN headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm T.J. Holmes.
DE LA CRUZ: Good morning. I'm Veronica De La Cruz. It's nice to see you this morning. Betty is on assignment.
And good morning to you.
HOLMES: Hello, again. Thank you for being with us this weekend while Betty is gone.
DE LA CRUZ: Of course. I'm having a good time.
HOLMES: Well, I don't know if this was too good of a time here, this happens every now and again, right around this time of the year, a fireworks display gets a bit out of control. We'll explain exactly what happened on this one, in particular.
DE LA CRUZ: Also, what is the world is going on in London? Young people are dying. There are other people who are buying knife vests. We are going to check in with a reporter who's live there on the ground. They are talking about fighting knife crime; that is now their top priority. We're going to get details in a live report.
But we want to go and start now with the presidential race. The faltering economy, health care -- all issues front and center for most Americans.
HOLMES: And especially for African-Americans as well when race is often part of that equation. And at the Essence Music Festival in New Orleans, our Frederick Whitfield talked with a young woman who recreated the famous doll experiment on race from the 1940s.
And our Fredricka Whitfield, there she is, in New Orleans for us. Good morning to you, ma'am.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: How are you guys doing? Let me tell you, she is such an inspiration. But, you know, before I get to even that, we are not going to be able to sleep in. You guys are not able to sleep in, but look at this place, it's pretty dead right now, but in a couple of hours, it will be jumping all over again. But no wonder, after a night of Joe Scott and Labelle, if you recall, Labelle, that's the trio of Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, and Sarah Davis (ph), well, they were in their re-ignition appearance last night as opposed to a reunion. It was the day of Bill Cosby and Alvin Poussaint.
But we really were inspired by this young filmmaker, 19-years-old Kiri Davis. She too was inspired by that 1940s doll test. If you recall, it was children who associated beauty with the white dolls and discarded the black dolls. She decided to do her own modern-day version.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KIRI DAVIS, FILMMAKER: I heard about the test in middle school when we were studying the Brown versus Board of Education desegregation case. And the only, I said, like ascendants (ph) about the doll test, I was surprised I was paying attention to it, but I always remembered and I always wondered how much have we really progressed in like, the last 50-some odd years.
And so, I was working on the film "A Girl Like Me," on black doll stuff image, I kind of wanted to explore the doll test.
WHITFIELD: And so, was it different or are young girls still associating beauty with white and not black?
DAVIS: Well, yes, pretty much, I think, I've seen that in this way when (ph) children, boys and black girls chose the black doll what they though was bad and the white doll is the one they thought was good and the one they want to play with. And so, it was really similar and really kind of sad because of that.
WHITFIELD: How did that make you feel?
DAVIS: I think like I feel like after 15 years, I thought more children would choose the black style, but -- and so seeing it was kind of disheartening, just to see it again and again and again. But it's like -- it's what they hear and what they see. And even though they are five or four years old, they still know what American values and in many instances, they know it's not always them.
WHITFIELD: Was it difficult for you to not reveal your own personal shock?
DAVIS: I think, it's just, you know, they were kids and you didn't want to put a weird face on or whatever. I just wanted to be their friend and just guide them through it.
WHITFIELD: And maybe it was really easy for these young kids to be honest, too, because, at the time, you were a kid. Now, you're 19, you're at Howard University, student at the School of Communication, I love that because that's where I graduated from, but at that time you were 16, and, you know, they are kids and they probably don't see you as kind of that threatening authority that often kids do with adults.
DAVIS: Yes, it was like a really friendly environment. I just had the dolls, and they were more interested in playing with the dolls afterwards. And so, it worked out fine.
WHITFIELD: Well, it's tremendous that you got this documentary. You've received so many accolades, awards all over the place, and even "Essence" magazine has named you one of the 25 most influential people. You're up there with Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama, Beyonce, among those who have been named. That has to be an incredible honor. DAVIS: Yes, it was an amazing honor. I was so surprised when they chose me for the list. And it's just really nice to know that my work actually, something that I created, is really reaching people around the world. And so, it's an amazing feeling.
WHITFIELD: It's reaching people, and what's next, because, you really are just at the beginning of your cause?
DAVIS: And I think that was my goal. Just to kind of, wanted this just to be a wake-up call. I didn't want to exactly judge the whole situation. I just wanted people to be able to see it. But you can tell people all you want about how things are and how certain things affect self-esteem and self-image, but until you see it, and you see these children choosing a certain doll, that doesn't reflect them, that's when people truly get it.
WHITFIELD: Keri Davis, so nice to meet you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right. Keri Davis, you don't want to forget that name and look for that documentary as well.
All right. Today, leading discussions impacting, about issues impacting African-Americans in this country. Reverend Al Sharpton, evangelist Juanita Bynum, who will be talking to live today at 5:30 Eastern Time right here on CNN. You don't want to miss that.
Also today, our Regina Belle, she is a singer, and also, a motivational speaker, and in tonight, performing, Chris Rock and Mary J. Blige. A full day and a full night straight ahead at the Essence Music Festival -- T.J. and Veronica.
HOLMES: And a full day and a full night? Have you been having some full days and nights? Are you losing your voice there, Fredricka? Are you OK?
WHITFIELD: I know, it's terrible, and didn't get a chance to go to the concert last night. You'd think I was like screaming and all that, and that's why I lost my voice, I don't know what's going on.
HOLMES: You poor thing, well, hang in there, you're doing some great work down there, showing people what's happening at Essence Music Festival. Thank you, Fredericka, we'll see you again soon.
WHITFIELD: Thank you.
HOLMES: We'll turn now to a story that is really scaring some folks in London. Knife stabbings have overtaken the city as the number one concern, topping even terrorism, that's according to police. Eighteen teenagers have been killed so far this year, and most were stabbed.
DE LA CRUZ: And London police have now arrested a man in connection with last night's brutal stabbing deaths of two French students in the city.
CNN's Owen Thomas is in London this morning where authorities are cracking down with Operation Blunt. Owen?
OWEN THOMAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me tell you, that it is a feature of just how serious the police are taking this. Tomorrow is the third anniversary of the 7/7 bombings here in London where 52 people died. But, for the first time since then, the police are saying knife crime is now the number one priority for the London police service.
Now, the latest person to be stabbed in this sort of gang-style stabbings is a 16-year-old boy. A guy called Shakilus Townsend. As you say, he is the 18th person to be stabbed to death in London since the beginning of the year. He was lured away from his home. He was set upon by a gang of people in bandannas; that were holding baseball bats. They were holding knifes and they stabbed him. And he was crying out for his mother as he was dying in broad daylight on a housing estate.
But let me just show this, and this is what really the police up against. This is a picture of Shakilus, one of the boys yesterday that lost his life, I should say on Friday. But, look, he is posing there with a knife. And that is what the authorities really are having to deal with right now. How do you deglamorize knives for teenagers?
DE LA CRUZ: Owen, can you tell me more about all the victims in this case? We know that there are 18 total so far and they all seem to be young. Is there a connection between all of the victims?
THOMAS: There doesn't seem to be any connection, per se, with family members or friends. It really does look like gang-like style killings in many cases, in the sense that there are young people that are going out, carrying knives, and they are saying to you, to journalists and you talk to them and they say, "I'm frightened when I go out. I've got to have a knife for protection."
And if you're carrying a knife, you're more likely to be the victim of knife crime. And the other part of this, people are carrying knives just to look tough. Hey, I'm going out on the streets, everyone else is carrying a knife; I'm going to carry one, too." And that's the connection, it's the youth connection, it's the gang connection.
And that's what the authorities are trying to work out. How do you stop this? What are the incidents and the problems that people have that make them feel in London in 2008, they've got to carry a knife and they go out every time?
DE LA CRUZ: Well, Owen, I understand that people are so scared, so scared that they've been wearing knife-proof vests.
THOMAS: There are people that are going out, and certainly, there are some people, young people that are doing this. Let's not get this overblown too much. There are 6 million people here in London. But certainly, people on the front end of police is saying, for instance, people who are traffic (INAUDIBLE), people who work in Social Security benefit offices, they are the people that are also being provided with these anti-stab vests because it is becoming more common. And I have to say, just around the corner from us here at the CNN bureau, a Nike store, two security guys were stabbed there yesterday. It looked as though it was just some sort of failed shoplifting attempt. They were trying to get away. But the fact that they were armed is really alarming.
DE LA CRUZ: Wow. Really scary situation there in London. Owen Thomas, thank you so much for that report. We do appreciate it.
THOMAS: You're welcome.
HOLMES: And we've been sharing some of this video with you all throughout the morning this morning, and also the past several days. This dramatic video of the rescue of 15 hostages in Colombia was shot by a government agent posing as a humanitarian worker.
In the video, you can see armed rebels standing in the coco field; those plants provide that raw material to make cocaine, of course. And at this point, everyone here believes that a helicopter is simply taking the 15 captives to another rebel camp in the jungle.
DE LA CRUZ: And take a closer look at Ingrid Betancourt right there. She is the former presidential candidate kidnapped six years ago. And it's at this moment the captives realized that they have been freed. You see the joy, the jubilation. They are lying on the helicopter floor with one of the rebels. He had been subdued and tied up.
Our Josh Levs is going to share that video with us again, go through it frame-by-frame and try to underline the significance of that video. We're going to take a closer look at that coming up.
HOLMES: And some more video we need to show you here, about something that went pretty bad, terribly wrong even in Iowa. A fireworks show for July 4th misfired a bit, and that sent a giant fireball rocketing into the crowd.
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, 37 people injured.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, KTTC)
BRENDA JUDY, CHARLES CITY, IOWA RESIDENT: When they started the grand finale after the flag went up, the fireworks just started going all the way around. They were shooting.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
DE LA CRUZ: The fire marshals are investigating the cause of that scary accident.
HOLMES: You always get a couple of those around this time of the year.
Well, flying high in a lawn chair (ph) built for one. One man's gullible attempt to fly like a bird, or at least, fly like somebody attached to a bunch of balloons. We'll see you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Let's go ahead and I get you up to speed now on some politics. John McCain is focusing on jobs and the economy in the week ahead.
HOLMES: And Barack Obama, meanwhile, is raising cash for the campaign. And both candidates will be targeting a group that could sway key states in November.
Our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser is taking a look now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Veronica and T.J., this week, both presidential candidates court Hispanic and Latino voters.
(voice over): From John McCain...
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I received 70 percent of the Hispanic vote in my last reelection.
STEINHAUSER: ... to Barack Obama.
Both candidates are making a pitch for Spanish-speaking voters. Senators McCain and Obama each separately speak to a top Latino organization here in Washington on Tuesday, the second of three such meetings this summer.
And here's one reason why. Hispanics and Latinos could be the deciding factor in such contested states as Florida, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado.
This week also finds John McCain pushing his plan to create new jobs.
MCCAIN: We need to help millions of workers who have lost their job that won't come back.
STEINHAUSER: He'll be touting his proposal in some of the key battleground states.
Barack Obama starts the week in two red states he'd like to turn blue, North Carolina and Georgia. He'll also be campaigning for cash, hitting (ph) big bucks fundraisers in D.C. and New York. We expect him to team up with former rival Hillary Clinton at the two (ph) in New York.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We've made the decision not to participate in the public financial system for the general election.
STEINHAUSER: But John McCain is staying in, which means he gets $85 million in public financing to spend this fall.
(on camera): Obama can spend as much money as he can raise and that's one of the things on his to-do list this week -- Veronica and T.J. (END VIDEOTAPE)
DE LA CRUZ: All right. Paul Steinhauser, thank you so much.
Continuing on now with politics, President Bush is arriving in Japan just a few hours ago. He is there for his last G8 Summit as president. The summit starts tomorrow. Today, the president spoke with Japan's prime minister and the press about the summit agenda.
HOLMES: And that's just how you want to spend your birthday. Not really. But the president is spending his birthday -- it's his birthday today actually. He is turning 62. We are highlighting there that tie, we're told that's a new telcolite (ph) tie he's wearing because we're not exactly sure about all the - we could just stay at the tie. Did we have to spotlight it, did we see the tie?
DE LA CRUZ: I like the tie.
HOLMES: The president and his staff and the first lady, they celebrate on Air Force One during that flight over to Japan. Again, a lot of people noticed he was wearing the new telcolite (ph) tie. But also did get a lot of notes and cards from staff members and a special wooden box that was from a tree that fell at the White House.
DE LA CRUZ: That's right. And a very small slice of coconut birthday cake, like Elaine Quijano was saying. And just one more party you and I weren't invited to. And you know, Reynolds Wolf, I wasn't invited to yours, either, March 15th?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No. Actually, that was Josh, Josh was March 15th, I'm March 16th. My sister's birthday, my younger sister's is actually the same as the president, the same as George W. Bush's birthday.
DE LA CRUZ: And that's why you and Josh are so close?
WOLF: Because my sister's birthday is today, that's why we're close? I guess so.
DE LA CRUZ: Something like that.
WOLF: All right. Let's go and show you what's happening on the tropics.
Right now, we've got the storm that's coming right off the Cape Verde Islands. This storm I'm referring to, of course, is Bertha. Bertha is now forecast to become a hurricane as we get into Wednesday, and into Thursday, and Friday, a Category One storm. Currently, winds are at 50 miles an hour, gusting to 65. We do anticipate the maximum sustain winds are going to 65 by Monday, then it's going to continue in strength and veer supposedly off to the west and northwest.
The reason why I say supposedly off to the west and northwest, because these storms are very fickle. There's that good possibility the storm could actually curb a little more to north, possibly more to the south and enter the Caribbean. These storms we do watch very carefully. I take a great deal in stock of what's going to happen today and tomorrow. But as far as looking way ahead for parts of the eastern seaboard and saying this storm is going to affect the United States, right now, it's too far to say. But I would certainly say it is a good time to go ahead and get your hurricane preparedness kits together.
If you live on the eastern seaboard, go ahead and start making a plan. We are in hurricane season from now all the way through November 30th. So, certainly, be advised.
What we're also seeing along the coast this morning, some scattered showers namely along the Jersey shore east of Baltimore and not too far from Milford. You've had a few thunder boomers this morning. And down, we go in parts of the outer banks of North Carolina, in Jacksonville and Wilmington, you've got cloudy skies.
But if you look at over the water, you can see some of the rain; you can certainly see a little bit of the lightning, you can hear the boom of thunder. That will continue through the midday hours.
That is a look at your forecast. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
DE LA CRUZ: All right, Reynolds, thank you so much.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: And many of you out there, do you ever wonder how you could possibly save the world?
DE LA CRUZ: Yes, maybe not the whole world, but Josh Levs says one child at a time can make a huge difference. Good morning, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, good morning to you guys. That's right. Today, we have a special focus on kids, kids all over the world, and we will show you how you can help kids anywhere via our Web site.
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HOLMES: Well, the "Survival Project: One Child at a Time" is a must- see hour of television, it's tonight, 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
DE LA CRUZ: That's right and you can preview the show online at CNN.com and access resources for children in need around the world. Josh Levs joins us now to actually walk us through the site. Hey, Josh.
LEVS: Yes, hey there. It's really interesting to see what you can learn there in advance of this program or even after. A lot of people are going to see this and say, "I want to do something to help."
Let me take you through this. We have a special page right here at CNN.com, just click on "Survival Project" at the very top of the screen; you're not going to miss it. What we'll do is talk to you about major issues facing kids. You can educate yourself.
Let me show you this screen, which, I think, is really interesting. This traces you through some of the most difficult places in the world for kids, showing you the mortality rate, obviously, a lot of it right there in Africa.
Let's also see if we can go over here to something that really struck me -- major causes of mortality in the world. You can learn about that. I know it doesn't show up super well in your screen, but it shows here that about 17 percent of kids dying, the major cause is diarrhea. I mean, it's such a tremendous reminder of how different, you know, the third world is in so many ways. The basic need for water, that we're hearing a lot about.
You want to do something? What do you do? CNN.com/impact takes you right there to Impact Your World. And we have a list of more than a dozen sites that you can visit through this, that will help you contribute to kids anywhere you want, whether it's time, some kind of volunteerism, education, or money.
Let me show you an example here. This gives you a list of sites that we've already clicked (ph) to. I'm just going to jump over this one. So, you can see right here, this is Save the Children, Savethechildren.org shows you all sorts of ways that you can contribute to kids' health in all sorts of different ways and it shows you what projects they have going on.
Also, what I really like about it, it shows you what happens to your money. I know, some people give to charity; they are concerned where it goes. You can see breakdowns there.
Another way you can help is through iReport.com. When you travel around the world, or if you know someone who has, encourage them to submit pictures of kids in need to iReport. And I want to show you some striking ones we've got right here.
Let's start with this. Look at that picture. I just want to leave it on this for 10 seconds because I think that picture is pretty incredible. That is from Jerusalem just the other day. This is sent to us by Daniel Dreifuss. And we have more photo of this child as well. He says this is a baby who was wounded in a terror attack in Jerusalem this past week when a Palestinian from east Jerusalem plowed a bulldozer into a passenger bus. This baby survived, four people were killed.
I also want to show you some pictures we received from children in Myanmar. These are families including a lot of kids there begging for food. We've got these three pictures here sent to us from Levi Dang (ph), who says Mangte and Pat were the ones who took the photos while traveling over there.
Again, to iReport.com. These are photos of families, including kids, guys, who are, you know, begging out there for food. Send us any photos you get from anywhere as part of this project. We're going to highlight some photos involving kids in need. And again, to find out anything about this, just go to the homepage of CNN.com and you can click on the Survival Project. Veronica and T.J.?
DE LA CRUZ: All right, Josh, thank you.
LEVS: Thanks.
DE LA CRUZ: Again, the program is "The Survival Project: One Child at a Time." It airs tonight at 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN. And as Josh has showed us, you'll find much more online at CNN.com/survivalproject.
HOLMES: All right. Stick around for this story. We'll show you what happens when people just have too much time on their hands. They get bored or maybe they get hot. We'll explain.
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HOLMES: All right. A simple math lesson for you this morning. If you owe somebody a penny, would you collect or spend rather 39 cents to try to collect that penny? Again, you're spending 39 cents to try to collect one penny. A county in Kansas did. Due an accounting glitch about 900 people each, ended up owing 1 cent in property taxes.
DE LA CRUZ: Oh, boy. And, you know, T.J., when you total that, it totals $9, a whopping total of $9. So, Shawnee County sent out letters notifying people of a delinquency, and then, T.J., and then, it costs the county about $350 in first-class postage. So, even if the county collects every penny, it loses money. And the county treasurer, he's just doing his job, but still.
HOLMES: He's in elected position, the county treasurer, we need to get his name and get him on the 9:00 o'clock hour. That is not a good steward of the taxpayer money. Sorry, sir.
We'll move on to another crazy story here. And this guy's wife called him crazy. You can see why. But he did get the last laugh. And yes, Kent Couch got high, as we were saying a moment ago. He rode a lawn chair, attached to more than 150 helium-filled balloons, and he rode it across the skies over central Oregon. He rode this all the way to Boise, Idaho.
DE LA CRUZ: That was fun though. You know, he made this 235-mile trip in nine hours. And check this out, T.J., how did he land? He landed by having somebody pop the balloons with a pellet gun. I mean, it looks like a good time. What I do think is weird about the story is that the guy's name is Kent Couch, and he's riding around in a lawn chair.
HOLMES: Well, couch is kind of heavy. It's the lawn chair that allows this thing to get in.
DE LA CRUZ: He should try that next.
HOLMES: I wonder what his mother-in-law thinks.
DE LA CRUZ: About all of this.
HOLMES: My daughter married a winner. I'm just kidding. I'm sorry. It's 8:30, we're about to wrap up the show.
DE LA CRUZ: You're just jealous because you can't do that.
HOLMES: Yes, absolutely right. He's got me. We are going to go back to the Big Easy next hour with Fredericka Whitfield. And we'll tell you about a New Orleans music therapy program. She is doing great reports for us.
DE LA CRUZ: It is all about the music.
HOLMES: The musest festival, yes.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in New Orleans as well. He is here with much more in "HOUSE CALL" coming up.
