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CNN Sunday Morning
London Stabbings; Colombian Hostage Rescue; Essence Music Festival; Political Race; California Fires; Pollution-Eating Cement; Political Pop
Aired July 06, 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: Hello everybody, from the CNN center in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm T.J. Holmes and you are in the CNN NEWSROOM, but this is the CNN SUNDAY MORNING show. Glad you all could be here with us.
VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: This is CNN Sunday morning. I'm Veronica de la Cruz. Always good to see you. Betty Nguyen is on assignment today. It is Sunday, July 6 and, you know, just in case you haven't seen it, we are showing you dramatic video of the rescue of 15 hostages in Colombia. Our Josh Levs is taking us through the video step-by-step, he's going to go ahead and underline the significance of each frame.
HOLMES: Yeah, a few things to spotlight in there you may not have noticed.
Also, other video we've been seeing. You've seen a couple of the incidents in the past couple of days, since the Fourth of July, seems like we have them every year, some kind of an incident involving fireworks. We have one more to show you where a fireball actually went out into a crowd. We'll explain what happened there.
CRUZ: Year after year, you always see this stuff happen.
Also up in the air, to stop the fire below, firefighters using the biggest plane they can, employing a DC10, also helicopters to fight the fires. And more than 1,400 fires now burning through the state of California.
HOLMES: We've seen that issues there for the past couple of weeks, weather hasn't held, lightning strikes falls a lot, have their hands full out there. We'll be talking about what kind of progress they are making.
CRUZ: But first, we want to begin with this. Tomorrow marking the third anniversary of the London bus bombings, but what are Londoners worried about the most? Teenagers roaming the streets with knives.
HOLMES: Yeah, scary story, here. Police say stabbings now overtaking the city as the number one concern. Police say 18 teenagers have been killed so far this year and most were, in fact, stabbed. CNN's Owen Thomas in London, now, where authorities are trying to crack down.
How do you crack down on this, Owen? OWEN THOMAS, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: That is the huge question that really everybody is asking. And as you say, it is the third anniversary of the 7/7 bombings. Fifty-two people died and this is the sign of the time, in just how worried the police are that they now say that knife crime is their number one priority. That's despite Britain being on a severe terrorism alert which does indicate that the home office thinks a terrorism attack is highly likely.
As you say, most of these young kids aged between 14-16, they've been stabbed, they've killed in basically random sort of attacks. The latest, Shakilus Townsend, just 16 years old. He was lured away from his home, set on by a gang of thugs with baseball bats and knives, left to die. Left to die in somebody's arms, crying for his mother.
But take a look at this, and this is one of the most disturbing pictures and disturbing features of the whole incident. That's a picture of Shakilus in one of the newspapers, here in Britain, this morning. and look, he is posing with a knife and that is the thing that the authorities have to deal with. Just how do you stop knives being made glamorous to 14-year-olds, 15-year-olds, 16-year-olds who are going out with them in their pockets, in their shoes.
HOLMES: Owen, help us here. Help people in this country who oftentimes see guns. The debate here is always is about guns, how easily accessible they are, people can get them and sometimes how they are glamorized. How do you go about -- how has it happened, over time I guess, that a knife, that stabbing would be glorified in the country? And are guns not as accessible? Do gun crimes -- not be as prevalent there as maybe here in the U.S.?
THOMAS: No, absolutely now. We don't have the same sort of gun culture that you do, certainly in the United States. People are not allowed to have guns and that's for very specific reasons. But the thing with knife crime, you can just go and buy one in a shop. There a laws that saying, oh, you've got to be over 18 to buy a knife, but hey, just go to your mom's kitchen drawer and pick one up. And this is a problem.
When you talk to some of these kids, the 14-year-olds and 15-year- olds, they say, to us: well, you know what? Because people are being stabbed, I feel that I've got to go and have a knife with me to protect myself and of course, if you've got a knife and then bring it out, you are far more likely to be a victim of knife crime. And there's the other side of it, as well, this sort of gang site where people are going: hey, look at me, look at the blade that I've got in my hand, be afraid of me. And that's what's making people afraid all over this country right now.
HOLMES: Oh, that is a scary, vicious cycle over there. Owen Thomas, really, Owen, we appreciate that report. Thank you so much.
CRUZ: Well, there is more good news this morning for former hostage Ingrid Betancourt. French media reports say doctors in Paris gave her a clean bill of health after tests at a military hospital. The former Colombian presidential candidate and three Americans were among 15 hostages snagged from leftist rebels in a Colombian jungle. And now we are learning more about her desperate years in captivity. Our Karl Penhall is in Bogota.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHALL, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Freedom, the horror is finally over. For now, at least, Ingrid Betancourt is not reliving her nightmare, failed escape bits, years in chains and the threat of sexual abuse, not by FARC guerillas, 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, FMR HOSTAGE (through translator): At the start, the guerilla's relationship with Ingrid was cordial, but mid-level commanders were rude and coarse.
PENHALL: But in July 2005, captivity turned into a living hell. Perez says he and Betancourt staged a daring escape, 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 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 guerillas, they chainedtous a tree 24 hours a day.
PENHALL: As conditions hit rock bottom, the hostages turned on each other.
PEREZ (through translator): There were one or two case that is overstepped the (INAUDIBLE), but those of us who where friends with Ingrid backed her.
PENHALL: Perez declined to spell out the true extent of the problems, but he give a fuller private account to Betancourt's family.
YOLANDA PULECIO, BETANCOURT'S MOTHER (through translator): Congressman Perez told me the American, Marc Gonsalves, has behaved well with Ingrid and defended her from the aggression of some of the other hostages.
PENHALL: In interviews before Betancourt's rescue, her husband explained more.
JUAN CARLOS LECOMPTE, BETANCOURT'S HUSBAND: Some of the soldiers and the policemen who are hostage too, tried to abuse of Ingrid, because, I mean, I don't know, maybe after 10 years in the jungle they lose their minds, you know.
PENHALL: He read me Betancourt's own description of her ordeal penned in a letter she sent as proof of life in November.
LECOMPTE (through translator): "This is a very dense jungle and the rays of lights scarcely pierce the tree canopy, but it is deserted of affection, solidarity or tenderness. These six years have shown me I'm not as se resistance, 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.
PENHALL: Karl Penhall, CNN, Bogota.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CRUZ: And tonight, a CNN special presentation, an HBO documentary looks at Ingrid Betancourt's kidnapping and her family's sixe year struggle to free her. HBO's "The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt," you can see it here and only here on CNN tonight at 6:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Well, President Bush is getting ready for a last hurrah. He is in Japan this morning getting ready for tomorrow's opening of the group of eight summit, known as the G-8 Summit. It will be the president's final G-8 appearance at the summit. Today, the president met with Japan's prime minister.
One issue on their agenda, North Korea. That Also, trade, the environment, aid for Africa, as well as, the food crisis and energy price spike that we have been seeing, also going to be talked about by those G-8 leaders.
And meanwhile, the president is on his way to Japan had a little celebrating to do, his 62nd birthday he had on the flight. Now, we're highlighting that tie because a lot of people, well, they're not sure what he got her for his birthday, but some noticed that that was a new kind of fly tie, teal color there, maybe that was a birthday gift.
We do know that the staff and first lady threw a bit of birthday party for the president on Air Force One. And another gift that he did get was a wooden box filled from cards and letters from other members of his staff. But that box was in particular made from wood from a tree that had planted in 1892 at the White House, so not just any wooden box you can pick up somewhere.
CRUZ: The tie is nice. The teal tie is nice. Not as nice as your tie.
HOLMES: Oh, much nicer, it hase the presidential seal on the back, all those things.
CRUZ: You know, what I like, though? I like this, I like the handkerchief in your pocket.
HOLMES: It's just -- I tear up sometimes during the show. So, that's why -- I actually use it.
CRUZ: Slick.
All right, moving out to Iowa where once again, it went terribly wrong. We see this happen year after year. Fireworks for a July Fourth show. This time they misfired during the grand finale and that sent a giant ball of fire rocketing into the crowd. Thirty-seven people were injured. Fire marshals are investigating the cause of the accident.
And then in Arizona, a hot new ride is a hunk of junk after a lightning stuck the antenna and fired the engine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a mix between like new car smell and sulfur.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lightning just came down here and like struck and it hit the antennae and it just like kind of melted down. There was like sparks flying everywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Five people were riding in that car when the lightning hit the 5-week-old truck. No one, luckily, was injured.
HOLMES: Our Reynolds wolf will bring you -- and you've certainly been covering whole lot of weather a whole lot over the years, but lightning, certainly rare and, you know, what are the chances of getting struck like that, but you also said it's one of the best places to be is in a vehicle.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's in a car.
CRUZ: You are supposed to look into the odds, right?
WOLF: Yeah, don't have those numbers for you, Veronica, not going to give them to you this morning.
CRUZ: Really? OK, so it's like that.
WOLF: I will tell you this, lightning strikes the earth pretty much a total of around eight times per second. I mean, that's an awful lot and that is one thing that many people need to -- especially in springtime in North America. This time of the year, as we get into summer, you have different things to deal with, say in the tropics where you have this system. This is the latest we have with Bertha now moving to the west of the Cape Verde Island. This storm expected to intensify over the next couple of day as we get into Wednesday, it should be a Category 1 hurricane and then the latest forecast brings it north of the Dominican Republic with maximum sustained winds at 80 miles-per-hour.
Still at this time, it's not a direct threat to the United States, but hey, we are moving into hurricane season. If you happen to live along the eastern seaboard, it is time to go ahead make some of those plans for the season, not necessarily with this storm, but will be others along the eastern seaboard. Get those hurricane preparedness kits together. Never too early to take that early action. That is the latest we've got for you, let's send it back to you at the news desk. CRUZ: All right, thank you Reynolds.
HOLMES: Also appreciate you.
Well, the music is taking center stage in New Orleans this weekend, but it is not just about entertainment.
CRUZ: That's right, it is also about therapy, too. We are going to be live from the Essence Musical Festival, coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: That is Rihanna rocking at the Essence Music Festival and rocking a new haircut with a nice little tattoo on the neck.
CRUZ: Yeah, she looks great. You know, but the jam is "Please Don't Stop the Music." I like the umbrella song, but.
HOLMES: That's the one everybody knows.
CRUZ: All right, well, you know, more artists are going to be taking to the stage today, as the Essence Musical Festival continues and Fredericka Whitfield, she's been there, she's been covering it all and she's actually lost her voice because she's been having so much fun.
Hi, Fred.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: I know, so I'm going to try and hang in there and hopefully you can hear me and I'm comprehensible. Well anyway, good to see you guys. All right, well, let's talk about music and music therapy and the connection between it and literacy and also the controlling of your emotions. In fewer words, we're talking about the New Orleans Music Therapy Program.
Stephen Lee is a certified music therapist, Taj Brown is with the Children's Defense line, because it's really is kind of a network of families involved and trying to reach children, young people, particularly getting them off this path to prison and a lack of education, all of that. Let's begin first Taj, with how it all works.
TAJ BROWN, CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND: Hey, the Children's Defense Fund's Freedom Schools program works with community-based organizations and churches and schools to find children, help children find themselves. We run summer afterschool programs and it is a literacy enrichment program. The whole point is to reorient kids to what learning is, what school is and to show then that learning can be fun. We were so grateful last year when Chevrolet came to us and said: can we help you introduce a music component. And of course, we went to the American Therapy Association and since we have a new therapy initiative.
WHITFIELD: And we know, Stephen, kids love music.
STEPHEN LEE, MUSIC THERAPIST: Yes, they do.
WHITFIELD: So, why not use this as a tool for something very instructive. And that's what you do.
LEE: Yes. Board certified music therapist use clinical, evidence- based music intervenes and activities to work on individualized goals. We work with goals, objective to change and address behavioral needs and to promote health, and particularly here in New Orleans with the trauma from Hurricane Katrina. It's been a wonderful marriage between music therapy and...
WHITFIELD: And how do you do that because, yes, we heard the music from Rihanna, she's been performing throughout the weekend, just before they came to us, but it's also more than that. It's also producing your own music.
LEE: Sure. Music therapy is -- pretty much in our interventions we compose, we listen to music with our clients, we make music performing already notated music or improvise music. And either the individual or in group settings, we encourage our clients to engage in a purpose- driven process to work on certain goals, certain objectives with hope to change behavior.
WHITFIELD: Now Taj, tell me why it is important to particularly reach these kids of New Orleans equipped with a couple doctors from Tulane who really did underscoring the kind of mental fragility that young people and older people, alike, are feeling here, but particularly for the young people because they come back to New Orleans and they see so much is still in disrepair. It's much like three years ago when the trauma first hit everyone.
BROWN: Actually, and there's been a small, very, very, little mental help kind of response and redress. For us, it is about showing these children that you can deal with the violence and anger and hostility and stress in ways that are healthy to promote you success. The Children's Defense Fund's recent report, last year, called the "Cradle to Prison Pipeline" -- the "American Cradle to Prison Pipeline" and how children -- a lot of black and Latino children and poor children, in particular, are being set up for lives that end in premature death...
WHITFIELD: (INAUDIBLE)
BROWN: Well, because they don't have opportunities and access to things you need just to be healthy and safe. Education opportunities are not there, health, food, safety, guidance, mentors, responsible, caring adults. And so, through the report we learned that born in 2001, a black boy has a one in three chance of going to prison. And so the Children's Defense Fund...
(CROSSTALK)
Absolutely. It was founded in 1973 and this is the 35th year. And so, we have a lot of policy initiatives that respond to those kind of statistics. We also have this programmatic imitative happening, and we're one of many organizations that are working with children. But the point is, while we're working to change the policies and reform laws, let's equip our kids with some street skills and survival skill that will help them succeed and become adults. WHITFIELD: So, it really is, indeed, a community effort. Taj Brown and Stephen Lee, the Children's Defense Fund, working as well with the New Orleans Music Therapy Program. Thanks so much to both of you. And that's why this Essence Music Festival is "a party with a purpose," because yes, it's about having a good time, it's entertainment, but it's also about thought-provoking dialog, problem solving, finding solutions here -- T.J. and Veronica.
HOLMES: Absolutely, it's a good time, it brings people together and they get the message while they're there, but we appreciate you taking care of that for us over there, Fredericka.
CRUZ: Party with a purpose, for sure.
Well, Obama versus McCain? How are things shaping up?
HOLMES: We'll talk to a guest and we will get into who is really running for Bush's third term. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, Republican John McCain calling himself the underdog as we head toward the general election. This week he said the focus was on the economy and outlined his "jobs first" plan. Meanwhile, Democrat, Barack Obama will team up with Hillary Clinton and do some fundraising. Here now to talk about it all, Jonathan Martin of Politico.com.
Sir, thank you for being with us. Let's talk about Barack Obama and has been big issue, a headache, for him the past few days. "Flip- flopper" is now being applied to him and many people, may liberals a little upset about how he seemed to have changed his tone when it comes to Iraq. He's been saying: when I get in there, we're going to start pulling them out immediately, 16 months all of American troops will be out, he seemed to back off a little bit. How big of a problem does he have, here?
JONATHAN MARTIN, POLITICO.COM: Well, T.J., since he got the nomination, he has pivoted to the middle on a number of issues, most recently and certainly most importantly on that of Iraq. He said, just before the July 4th holiday, that he wanted to "refine his view" after talking to the commanders on the ground, there, when he visits the country later this month.
This is not really a surprise to a lot of political observers who sort recognize at a pragmatic level, sticking to a plan of pulling out troops with a certain defined timeline with no regard to what's actually happening in the country wasn't really realistic. And so he is...
HOLMES: You said the political observers, you know, folks like you looking at that saying, sure, that makes sense, but to a Democrat who says: I have been listening to you from the beginning...
MARTIN: That's the danger, T.J. exactly, is that for his loyal base, folks on the left, especially, this is the kind of thing that could perhaps jade them a little bit. You know, his success was predicated in the primary on the fact that he was the one pure keynote on this issue, against the war from the start and throughout the time of the conflict and supporting strongly bringing the troops home. And he's bending on that, that could hurt him with some folks in his base.
HOLMES: And John, there's a battle going on right now to define Barack Obama. On one side you got Barack Obama and on the other side you have a Republicans. And I spoke before the break about there was this article about -- and editorial in the "Wall Street Journal," talking about who's really running for Bush's third term. It's Obama because of his -- the way he has flip-flopping on so many issues. Who is winning the battle right to define him?
MARTIN: I think Obama is actually doing a smart thing right now. You saw last week, T.J., what he was doing, he wasn't talking about issues, he was wrapping himself in the flag and talking about everything short of, you know, mom and apple pie: patriotism, honoring veterans, faith, service to the community, these are all issues that he understands he has got to define himself as, somehow purely American, a patriot, someone who loves this country. That's because he is still an unknown commodity to a lot of Americans, still new on the political scene. He's trying to assure a lot of folks in the country he's not going to represent any kind of a radical departure from his (INAUDIBLE) in American life and that's why he's talking about the issues. You saw him on July 4 at a parade and picnic, there's no more American way to do July 4.
HOLMES: Everything sort of mom and an apple pie, you said. Well, I got to let you go, we actually -- I just ran out of time. Again, Jonathan Martin of politico.com, we got so much more we need to be talking about and we certainly will. We'll have you on...
MARTIN: We got four more months.
HOLMES: We got for more, we will get you back for sure. I hope you had a good holiday weekend and enjoy the rest of it. Thanks so much, buddy.
MARTIN: Appreciate it.
CRUZ: Well, you know, Ralph Nader, he runs for president, never wins, but have you heard what he's been saying about Barack Obama lately? Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Ralph, you have been going after this guy. I mean, recently, you said that he's trying to talk white. Do you regret that?
RALPH NADER, SECRETARY OF COMMERCE: No, because the fact that he is talking white and not calling out the white corporate power structure which is dominating government and driving our country into the ground through this globalization stuff, doesn't mean that he should talk black.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CRUZ: Well, tonight at 10:00, Rick Sanchez in the NEWSROOM with Ralph Nader and Rick would like to hear from you. If you could ask your government one question about jobs, gas prices, maybe food prices -- what would you ask? Go ahead and send your questions. The e-mail address, right there at cnnnewsroom@cnn.com. Rick puts the secretary of commerce on the hot seat tonight to ask him what is up with "Issue No. 1." Again, tune in tonight at 10:00 Eastern, go ahead and send Rick your questions.
HOLMES: All right, well you got a taste of politics. So, one soda maker hoping that you do have a taste. We got a pop contest involving pop and the president.
CRUZ: Presidential pop.
HOLMES: We'll all find out about this together. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CRUZ: Hello and welcome back. I'm Veronica de la it is Cruz in today for Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello, I'm T.J. Holmes. A quick look now at some top stories. And you know this one, you know it well -- a fraction of a penny increase in gas prices again today AAA says the average for regular unleaded rose another -- to another record overnight almost $4.11 now, a gallon.
CRUZ: Then FDA officials say that they will begin testing some foods from Mexico for salmonella as part of the investigation into the recent outbreak. And starting tomorrow, they are going to expand the salmonella probe beyond tomatoes to include cilantro, jalapeno peppers, scallions, and onions. Since April more than 900 people across the United States have gotten sick.
HOLMES: Well, firefighters are graining ground on a large wildfires in southern California. Some of the mandatory evacuation orders in Santa Barbara County have, however, been lifted. But as CNN's Kara Finnstrom reports, thousands of homes, still in danger.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARA FINNSTROM, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): More than 1,000 firefighters battling with trucks, hoses and shovels. A dozen aircrafts, even a DC-10 unleashing tons of fire retardant. Help from around the country has come to Goleta, California. The fear is powerful evening winds rocketing through the canyons might reignite a smoldering fire threatening some 3,200 homes.
(on camera): About 35 of those homes are nestled in the bottom of this canyon. This is an isolated community that's been here since the 1920s and the people who live here take fire seriously.
(voice over): So, despite all the hell, this rugged band of homeowners is also taking its own stand. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've been here, I think, 23 years.
FINNSTROM: They're a volunteering to help firefighters, 12 members strong, is spraying fire retardant, foam and water. In updating neighbors through Web sites and AM radio stations.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Resources are stretched to their limit and there's just not enough people to guard every community and every house. So, we realized many years ago that we needed to be able to have our own resources in order to protect the homes.
FINNSTROM: Some of those homeowners are also staying, despite evacuation orders.
JAN ROHBACK, RESIDENT: : I lost my house 18 years ago and I'm not going to do it again.
FINNSTROM: Jan Rohback and his wife lived in the house he grew up in. It burnt to the ground during a wildfire that destroyed one-third of this community.
J ROHBACK: We built it back in 1991, so I hope I don't have to put another number up there.
MARY LYNN ROHBACK, RESIDENT: It's been really difficult. I came up with my daughter and my two grandkids and was ready to leave with them with them, but then I can't leave. For some reason, I've my husband here and my son here and I just can't leave yet.
FINNSTROM: Each passing hour with firefighters gaining control eases fears for now.
J ROHBACK: I took a big couch up to the top of the hill and we go up there every now and then and sit on the couch and watch the fire all you have to do is have a wind change and then you're back where you were before.
FINNSTROM: Kara Finnstrom for CNN near Goleta, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right, our Reynolds Wolf in the Weather Center keeping an eye on all things.
Let's see, where's your map there? You're starting on the West Coast. Are they getting some help weather-wise with these fires?
WOLF: Well, it's going to be interesting, they have a weak trough that is going to be moving through parts of the central coast of California, but it's not going to provide a whole lot in terms of moisture. Although there is some fog in places like San Francisco. Take a look at the shot that we have, compliments of the KRON in the Bay Area. You can see the bridge, or at least part of it, kind of melts away into the fog as the oncoming traffic, you see it coming through the lights on low beam. But that is not just the fog you have in the Bay Area, that is also coupled with that fire that you have farther to the south in Big Sur.
We're also seeing some in places near Santa Barbara, Goleta, for example, where the fires continue to rage over a half million acres burned at this time, but still the fires continue just to roar on. That's the big store story out to the West, they're not going to get much relief today. It's going to be still breezy in a few spots, so we could see this flame spread.
Meanwhile, we're going to go farther to the East, much, much farther to the east, in fact, the other sides of the plains where you see the Cape Verde Islands, here. There you see this storm. The storm is expected to get much stronger, in fact, it's going to go from a tropical storm, which is Bertha, to a possible hurricane as we make our way over the next couple of days.
By Wednesday the National Hurricane Center is forecasting this to be a Category 1 hurricane with winds right around 80 miles-per-hour, maximum sustained winds also at 80 forecast for Friday moving to the north of the Dominican Republican.
Now, at this point, it is not posing a threat to the United States, but there's that potential the storm could become bigger, it certainly could make its way along the eastern seaboard as we make our way, say maybe next weekend, maybe the coming week, not this Monday, but the following Monday, but still, these storms can be very fickle. You've got to watch them carefully and that's precisely what we're going to do here at CNN.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CRUZ: Hey Reynolds, I'm hearing that you are the star of an Internet video. You've become an Internet video sensation?
WOLF: I've heard horror stories about that, too.
CRUZ: I think we are going to take a look at that video coming up.
WOLF: OK, I'll hide. I'll crawl under the desk. You guys keep on...
CRUZ: Yeah, you've been warned, my friend. Thanks Reynolds.
Well, there is more good news on former hostage, Ingrid Betancourt. French media reports say that doctors have given her a clean bill of health after tests at Paris Military Hospital. The former Colombian presidential candidate and three Americans were among 15 hostages snatched from a leftist rebels in a Colombian jungle on Wednesday.
The three Americans freed with Betancourt group say that they are doing fine. In a statement, the former hostages said they are thrilled to be home. Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes have been getting medical care at Brooke Army Medical center in San Antonio. They were captured after their drug surveillance plane went down southern Colombia in 2003.
HOLMES: And we've been sharing some of the dramatic video of the rescue of those hostages, but upon closer review, some interesting things we want to highlight for you, now.
CRUZ: That's right, let's take it over to Josh Levs. He has been going through the government video with a fine-tooth comb.
Josh, what have you found?
LEVS: Yeah, what we're going to do right now is show you some of these highlights including some striking images along the way, because people are seeing the video, not necessarily clear on everything they are seeing.
Let's start at the beginning. I'm going to step out of the picture and tell you what's going on, here. Everyone that you see in fatigues, we are told by the Colombian military, are members of FARC, this is the group that holds hostages. This is taking place at a drug plantation; it's all big coca field, there. Now, and we have been told FARC gets a lot of money from drug trade.
Let's skip ahead in the video because I want you to see here the first images that we have of hostages. Now, the story that they have been told, that FARC apparently has been told is that this group of hostages -- there's Ingrid Betancourt -- is going to be moved from one area of the jungle to another area and that they're being moved by a humanitarian group. Right there, sleeveless shirt, that's Keith Stansell, that's an American hostage, right there.
They are being told that they're going to move from one section of the jungle to another, a humanitarian group is doing that move and bringing video cameras. Let's listen to the sound a little bit.
It is hard to hear what he said, but I played that bit for you because we went through it five time, he says (speaking foreign language), "I love my family." Let's skip ahead again, a little bit because I want you to see these hostages then get on a helicopter. That helicopter, they believe it is there to move them. And I want you to see that there's a lot of members of FARC watching them. Members of this group who are holding weapons and you see these people including Ingrid Betancourt and others get on this helicopter, they still believe that they are being taken somewhere else to remain in custody of FARC.
No, they've just been told that they're free on the plane. Let's listen.
All right, so you are hearing these sounds of celebration and some tears, as well. We don't know what the time jumps are along the way. As the military gave us this video, there were some time jumps. But there's one thing we noticed in a freeze frame that I want to take you to, right now. Let's go to this one image, though, I want to show you. We are going to put on the screen behind me. Right here you're seeing these. This is what we believe this is, we believe this is their lead who was captor subdued.
Ingrid Betancourt says that when she got on this military air -- rather, this helicopter, the first thing she saw was Caesar, who she says had been her lead captor, who was horrible to her, lying naked and bound and she knew she was free. We don't know how many minutes more or where they were up sky when they found out officially they were free, but we are told by the military that they subdued two members of FARC. Is that him, is that Caesar? We don't know officially, but we believe guys, that's what we're seeing here.
So, we still have a lot of questions about this video, exactly what happened, if we are seeing members of FARC in that video who were turned, if that's Caesar, as well, but those are the basics when looking at this video. And you can visit again at cnn.com. Those are the basics right there, those are the players in this key video that right now, the whole world is watching.
HOLMES: All right, we appreciate that, Josh, really. We saw that early highlights of things for people to focus on, now. Probably some more stuff in there we can glean from that video. But, we appreciate you.
And you all can see a CNN special presentation tonight, an HBO documentary looking at Ingrid Betancourt's kidnapping and her family's six year struggle to free her. HBO's "The Kidnapping of Ingrid Betancourt" you can see it here on CNN, tonight at 6:00 Eastern Time.
Well, President Bush, meanwhile, plenty to say this morning, after arriving in Japan this morning.
CRUZ: That's right, he's there on Hokkaido Island ahead of tomorrow's G-8 Summit. Today the president met with the Japanese prime minister and the press. He said he wants progress on the issue of global warming, but China and India need to be onboard, as well. The president also defended his decision to attend the Olympic opening ceremonies in the next month. And we know that also the Japanese prime minister, he will too be attending those opening ceremonies.
HOLMES: This has become standard fare at G-8 Summit, it's always a lightning rod for protests, the song "Money, Money, Money" playing on this particular clip. The G-8 leaders (INAUDIBLE) of economic issues on the agenda including trade, but the first item on the agenda will be meetings with several African leaders to discuss aid and growing food problems.
Well, stay tuned. Many of you are viewing us here on television, but a lot of people online are seeing the video and we're going to show you what they are seeing and what they're liking, actually.
CRUZ: Yeah, it's called "Most Popular" for a reason and Reynolds Wolf is the star, stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CRUZ: All right, so I'm going to go ahead and start by turning off my cell phone. Because, if you were tuned in yesterday, you might have seen a segment that Josh Levs did on cell phone etiquette. And I know that I got to turn this thing off.
HOLMES: All right, and Reynolds is here because Reynolds had a part in this, as well. But, we will hand it over to you. The most popular videos, and this happens to be one of them. LEVS: This is the No. 1 video in the world according to CNN. In fact let's show the live Web, right now. This our No. 1 video, 24 hours after it happened (INAUDIBLE), oops, there you go, that's you, the meteorologist on your call.
Let's explain what happened. So, I did this story about cell phone etiquette and that you're not suppose to leave your phone on in meetings and other awkward situations. Then this guy over here has the audacity to come along and slam the whole idea of cell phone courtesy month, which I was reporting on, and says it's a crazy idea. Let's watch what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: What did this month come from? What's next? National sock puppet month? Good gosh, almighty. I'm going to take this. Watch this, turning this off. There goes to cell phone. Let's go right to your forecast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: That was totally not planned at all. It just happened to, it was indeed up here with his cell phone, so now he thinks needs his own cell phone courtesy month.
CRUZ: Well now, we've all pitched in, we bought him a new cell phone because his smashed into a new million pieces right after that segment.
WOLF: Is it made out of like Nerf? Is it like a Nerf cell phone, indestructible?
CRUZ: It is titanium.
WOLF: It might be a good idea, they're No. 1. You know, some guys do crazy things like they climb Mount Everest, you know, they do other amazing, amazing things to make them feel, you know, up in the stratosphere. I throw a cell phone.
LEVS: Well, this is about Everest of Internet video.
(CROSSTALK)
CRUZ: ...you know, yeah, I had friends who didn't even catch the show yesterday, but they saw it on cnn.com and got busted because they didn't know I was in Atlanta until they saw your video. Reynolds Wolf, thanks a lot.
LEVS: Enjoy it after we're done.
HOLMES: It was an authentic moment.
CRUZ: Well, congratulations, Reynolds, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you very much. HOLMES: Well, we're talking about taking a bite out of smog here, as well. An Italian cement company has discovered a formula for cutting pollution and CNN's Alessio Vinci with the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): We all know about pollution eating away at buildings and monuments, but how about buildings that eat pollution? An Italian cement company sys it's come up with a concrete step towards cleaner air. It mixes the cement with a chemical called titanium dioxide, when exposed to sunlight, the concrete called TX, accelerates the breakdown of pollutants.
(on camera): So, this is cement that eats pollution, right? You can't be serious.
ENRICO BORGARELLO, ITALCEMENTI: I'm very serious. When the pollutant that comes out of the exhaust gas from the cars, reach the surface, instead of reach to the surface, they are destroyed -- chemically destroyed, oxidized to harmless product but this (INAUDIBLE).
VINCI: Harmless product?.
BORGARELLO: Harmless product.
VINCI: They don't pollute?
BORGARELLO: They don't pollute anymore.
VINCI (voice over): Test by Italcementi indicate the product can reduce pollution in treated areas by 20 to 70 percent, depending on the amount of sunlight. This stretch of road, near the laboratory, sees 1,000 vehicles an hour. A year ago it was paved with a TX concrete. Since then pollution levels, according to company data, have dropped by 60 percent. But, we are not taking their word for it, so we visited a tunnel connecting two busy intersections in the heart of Rome that was recently renovated with TX. A year ago it was dark and grimy. No one would walk through it.
"Take a look now," says one of the city engineers who worked on the project. "We monitored the tunnel throughout last year and we saw that pollution was cut down by more than 50 percent."
(on camera): OK, pollution-eating cement could be a privative catch phase, but there are those who say that doing something about reducing pollution, even is small amounts is better than nothing. What still needs to be assessed, though, are the long-term benefits because experts say the chemical agent triggered that trigger that magic pollution-eating reaction tend to lose strength for a time.
(voice over): This cement wasn't even designed to cut pollution, but to keep buildings and surfaces looking better. This section of the Rome tunnel was intentionally left untreated. See the contrast with the treated part. The special mixture was first developed architect Richard Meyer (ph), five years ago when the Vatican asked him to design a church to commemorate 2,000 years of Christianity. Today the walls of the church are still remarkably clean and bright, and they're still chomping away at pollutants.
Alessio Vinci, CNN, Rome.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, up next here, we are talking tiny patients and risky births.
CRUZ: A startling trend happening right here in the United States.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRUZ: Fighting for their lives, babies born too early and too small.
HOLMES: And as CNN's Kate Bolduan explains, it's happening right here in the U.S. at an increasing rate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's you looking at, huh? What's you looking at?
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Low birth weight is a leading cause of infant death nationwide and for those that survive, it can leave long-lasting effects. Elise Brown, a first-time mother living in Maryland knows that all too well.
ELISE BROWN, MOTHER LIVING IN MARYLAND: She was one pound six ounces and my son was one pound nine ounces.
BOLDUAN: Brown's twins were born three months early, fragile, underdeveloped and highly susceptible to illness. They spent two months in the hospital before her son, Duran died.
BROWN: Every time I look at her I see him. I see him.
BOLDUAN: These infants are part of a troubling friend across the country, according to the latest survey of child well-being by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a nonprofit child advocacy group. The survey shows while there are some areas of improvement in children's health, infant health has gotten worse, largely because more babies are being born with low birth weight, which is 5-1/2 pounds or less. Maryland ranks among the worst states.
MATTHEW JOSEPH, EXEC DIR ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN & YOUTH: It's not just that children are potentially dying, it's that if they are born with low birth weight, the implication for the rest of their lives are severe.
BOLDUAN (on camera): According to the census bureau, Maryland is the wealthiest state in the U.S. and child advocates say that's why the state's standing is so startling, 39th among the highest in the number of babies born with low birth weight.
JOSEPH: It would be bad enough if the last 10 years we were towards the bottom of other states, but we've actually seen the data get even worse.
BOLDUAN (voice over): Maryland state health officials say they're taking notice and making infant health a top priority. The solution, they're not sure, but a first step is offering mothers easier access to proper prenatal care long before the due date.
DR MARSHA SMITH, MARYLAND DEPT OF HEALTH: We know that we need to have more of a focus and we've actually given $2.6 million to that initiative this year to focus on a comprehensive approach.
BOLDUAN: With her baby girl gaining weight and home from the hospital, Elise Brown knows, like many moms, she had a long road ahead, but she's already seen one miracle.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Baltimore, Maryland.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CRUZ: Watch "The Survival Project: One Child at a Time," tonight at 8:00 Eastern on CNN and be sure to check out our special report online at cnn.com where you can preview the show and access resources for children in need around the world. Again, you can find that and much more at cnn.com/survival project.
HOLMES: All right, let's check in with Howard Kurtz to see what's happening momentarily on RELIABLE SOURCES.
HOWARD KURTZ, RELIABLE SOURCES: Coming up, Ted Koppel weighs in on coverage of the campaign, a controversial "New York times" report on the hunt for bin Laden and Koppel's recent trip to China. Why don't we get more international news on American TV?
Wes Clark ripped John McCain over his Vietnam record while Barack Obama continues to battle false rumors about his religion. Are the media playing a truth squad role or making things worse? And Wolf Blitzer in the hot seat for a change after a decade of anchoring LATE EDITION, that plus Bill Gates orchestrating a sweet sendoff from the media, ahead on RELIABLE SOURCES.
CRUZ: Definitely looking forward to that.
HOLMES: Oh, yeah.
CRUZ: Well, a soda-maker comes up with his own presidential poll.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's blue against red, Barack O'Berry versus John McCream.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Neither one sound very appetizing, actually. Which candidate, however, is top pop, which one is kind of fizzling? We have a political soda sampling.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CRUZ: Did you see Josh there in the shot looking dapper?
HOLMES: Josh and dapper don't usually go together, but I'll take your word for it. We're going to turn to the candidates soda wars to tell you about, here. Connecticut voters sipping through a straw for a presidential straw poll.
That's right, reporter, Jim Altman of affiliate WTIC gives us a taste of the political pop.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JIM ALTMAN, WTIC REPORTER (voice over): Who has the most political pop in town, Barack Obama?
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We cannot wait.
ALTMAN: John McCain?
JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: That dependent on foreign oil.
ALTMAN: Or perhaps it's Rob Metz.
ROB METZ, OWNER, AVERY'S BEVERAGES: This election we're having, it's historical, it's exciting and we wanted to get involved in it.
ALTMAN: The buzz in New Britain is over what's sizzling in his factory.
(on camera): Avery Soda has launched their own 2008 presidential straw poll. It's blue against red: Barack O'Berry versus John McCream.
(voice over): You heard it right. Bottle after bottle, taste after taste, they're shaking up this political season which can be rather refreshing. Obama is a blue raspberry and McCain a red cream.
METZ: We decided we're going to have our Avery straw poll and let folks choose the flavors of soda based on either what they think tastes good or their political leanings.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like the cream better.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John McCream.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's blue because mommy is a Democrat.
ALTMAN: So far, Connecticut is staying true blue. The Barack brand holds an early lead, but there are those who are using their moxie for their candidate.
GOV M JODI RELL (R), CONNECTICUT: You know, red cream, John McCream. This is the one to purchase. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT ATTY GEN: Red is a nice easy color, but blue is a winner for change. I like this product so much I might buy the company.
ALTMAN: It's a buck a bottle to cast your vote and few rules apply after that.
METZ: The only strong rule that we have is that unlike a lot of precincts in Connecticut, we prefer that all of our voters are living and breathing. Vote early and vote often. Polling officials can be bribed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CRUZ: I'm going to stick to vitamin water. I don't know about you.
HOLMES: I'll stick with -- well, I'll just stick with something else.
Right, OK. Well, our very own Wolf Blitzer, he is celebrating a milestone today and for that we're going to get him a teal tie, much like the president.
Yeah, he's 10 years now...
Ten years.
And we're going to talk to this go. Yeah, we'll hear more from him. He's interviewed pretty much everybody, but he's going to sit down in the hot seat, himself, next on "RELIABLE SOURCE" with Howard Kurtz. Then at 11:00 the 10 year anniversary special of "LATE EDITION" with Wolf Blitzer.
But first we have a check of the morning top stories for you.
