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CNN Sunday Morning
Obama Meets With Afghanistan's President; Tropical Storm Warning Issued for North Carolina
Aired July 20, 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, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING for July 20th. Glad you could be here. I'm T.J. Holmes.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CO-HOST: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Betty Nguyen. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
HOLMES: Well, the man who wants to be president is meeting with the president of Afghanistan this morning. We're just getting new video in to us. And there you see, Barack Obama there meeting with the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai. We have several pieces of video to bring to you this morning.
Also, check out this welcome that Barack Obama received from the U.S. troops there in Afghanistan.
This was actually his first stop that he made on this tour that he's on right now. This was actually in Kuwait, the troops greeting him there. We'll have a whole lot more on the trips that's happening right. We'll live in Kabul.
KEILAR: And check out this awesome viral video, T.J., that we are seeing floating around the Web this morning.
A hip-hop dance to raise awareness for the plight of the honey bees. It's pretty cool. A lot of people are talking about it, forwarding it to their friends.
HOLMES: And honey bees are in trouble right about now, which leaves relief in food prices and food supplies, a lot of things in troubles. So, some serious implications of what's going on, but a funny spin on it there.
KEILAR: Very funny. It gets your attention.
HOLMES: It absolutely does.
We will start even with something else we got our eyes on, the severe weather along the east coast happening right now.
KEILAR: Yes, tropical storm warning is issued from North Carolina. And Reynolds Wolf is keeping an eye on it for us. Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right. We're watching Cristobal. That's the name, not crystal ball but Cristobal. It is a tropical problem. It's a weak storm at this time, I need to say, a big rain producer though. The problem is, most of the rainfall is forming way off the coast precisely what we don't need it; we need it on shore. And that's not going to be the case for a good part of the day.
We're going to show very quickly where the storm is headed. It's a busy in the tropics. We do anticipate the storm to remain right off the outer banks of North Carolina, off Wilmington, off Cape Hatteras as we get in to Monday, with winds increasing. So, it is expected to strengthen. Wind is going 60 miles per hour. And as we fast forward into Tuesday, winds at 50.
That is the latest we have on Cristobal, but we, again, as I mentioned, we've got a lot to talk about the tropics. We're going to do come up in just a few moments.
HOLMES: All right. And we will see you in just a few moments. Reynolds, thanks.
KEILAR: Some new and disturbing details this morning about a bizarre case out of Pennsylvania. The medical examiner says the body of a woman found dead in an apartment had been cut open at the uterus. Police think that the woman is Kia Johnson who'd been missing and was pregnant. Another woman is in custody after she showed up at a hospital with the newborn that she claimed was hers.
Jim Acosta is in Wilkinsburg, just east of Pittsburgh. This is such a bizarre story, Jim.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, it's a tragic story, but the one fortunate thing that we can report this morning is that apparently this mystery of just exactly who this pregnant woman was has been solved. Authorities with the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office has tentatively identified this woman as 20-year-old Kia Johnson.
She was found in this apartment building behind me on Friday by investigators who were led to this scene by a smell that was detected by neighbors. They went inside and they found the body of Kia Johnson, apparently bound with duct tape around the arms and legs. Her body cut open. The baby that was apparently inside her womb was taken out.
And authorities, at this point, believe that the woman who was responsible for all of this, if you'll pardon this bus behind me, the woman that is responsible for of this, according to authorities, is 38-year-old Andrea Curry-Demus.
Authorities say she showed up last week at a hospital with a baby claiming that that child was hers but after tests at the hospital revealed that that child was not of Andrea Curry-Demus. She was taken into custody and questioned. Andrea Curry-Demus told authorities that she had tried to purchase a baby through a woman that she identified as Tina. Detectives are now trying to sort out exactly whether or not Curry-Demus actually concocted that story to cover up exactly what happened here. But, in the meantime, investigators are still running more tests. They're trying to determine exactly how all of this unfolded inside this apartment behind me.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WTAE)
DR. KARL WILLIAMS, MEDICAL EXAMINER: We will be looking for any drug that might have helped incapacitate her. There is not a lot of evidence of a struggle having occurred. So, there is some evidence that there were drugs at the scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And, apparently, Curry-Demus went to the extent to trying to cover up all of this up, according to authorities, by going to a baby shower and trying to convince friends and relatives that she was, indeed, pregnant. But one of the friends is telling a local reporter here in Pittsburgh that she would not allow loved ones to touch her stomach.
If there is one shred of good news to report out of all of is, it is that that baby boy that was born and apparently carried to the hospital by Curry-Demus is doing just fine, according to authorities -- Brianna.
KEILAR: And, Jim, this suspect, she's got a bit of a history, right, when it comes to coveting other women's babies or even attacking other pregnant women?
ACOSTA: Yes. According to authorities, she has a history of baby-snatching. Apparently this woman had a miscarriage when she was 12 years old and another one in her early 20s and that authorities believe that is what led her on path of doing things like this. She was apparently sent to prison for doing just this very same thing. Not exactly the same thing, but trying to kidnap a baby and she spent 10 years in prison.
So, this woman is obviously a deeply disturbed and authorities are trying to, at this point, just get to the minutia of this case. They apparently have most of it solved at this point -- Brianna.
KEILAR: All right. Jim Acosta for us in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania -- thanks.
HOLMES: We will turn now to Afghanistan, where the defense ministry says coalition troops accidentally killed nine local police officers because they thought they were Taliban members. It's happened in Farah Province, this is near Iran's border.
Local governor says that communication mishap started because the troops arrive in the area without first notifying police. He says police mistook them for enemy forces and attacked and then the troops fired back with missiles. Presidential candidate Barack Obama just wrapping up a meeting with the president of Afghanistan. New video in just to us this morning with Obama sitting down with President Hamid Karzai. This overseas trip is actually an official trip that Obama's a part of, an official U.S. delegation, but, certainly, it meant to boost his foreign policy credentials on a political front.
Earlier, he talked about the national security challenges facing the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What you're not going to see are sort of the traditional armies, a raid against us that we saw in World War II or World War I. We got asymmetric threats, terrorists, we got individuals who, with a strapped-on bomb can do enormous harm and that means that in addition to the great work that our military is doing, we've got to have much better intelligence, we've got to have much more effective diplomacy, we've got to have a clear strategic vision that uses all of our power, our economic power, our diplomatic power, our intellectual power, as well as our military power to help make this world safer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And before he had his meeting with the president of Afghanistan, Obama had breakfast with U.S. troops in Kabul. This is Obama's first visit to Afghanistan, and, apparently, this first has ended. We are just getting word from the U.S. embassy that, in fact, Obama has now left Afghanistan.
Again, he's part of an official U.S. delegation traveling with a couple of other senators but now has left and he's going to make his way on his trip to Jordan, to Israel, to Germany, to France, to England and also expected to stop, at some point, in Iraq.
But we are told after spending the night in Afghanistan, Barack Obama has now, in fact, left Afghanistan and he is making his way onto, we'll find out where he pops next.
KEILAR: Is Iraq prime minister backing Barack Obama's troop withdrawal plan? Well, according to a German magazine, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says Obama's proposal to withdraw troops within 16 months would be the right time frame.
But al-Maliki says his remarks were misunderstood and mistranslated. In the interview, al-Maliki says his comments are not an endorsement of Obama and an adviser to the prime minister says Iraq will deal with any U.S. administration that comes to power.
Republican John McCain says that Iraq's prime minister shares his views on U.S. troop withdrawals. McCain opposes setting a timetable for pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq and he says, "Prime Minister al- Maliki agrees." McCain took aim, again, at Barack Obama's position.
His foreign policy adviser issuing a statement that says, quote, "Barack Obama advocates an unconditional withdrawal that ignores the facts on the ground and the advice of our top military commanders."
HOLMES: Now, we'll turn to a story we're talking about a moment ago. That severe weather we're watching off the coast of North Carolina.
KEILAR: Yes, that's right. This is tropical storm Cristobal, already concerning some people.
This is a video from Ocracoke, North Carolina. This is in the outer banks, a really popular destination for people on summer vacation, and all along the coast, tourists there being warned to to watch out for the storm's effects.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WTVD)
DAN BAKER, WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH RESCUE DIR.: The strength of the waves and the rip currents will cause you to get yourself in trouble. We would like you not to risk our lives to save your by not listening to our warnings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, storm warnings there for good reason. They are absolutely necessary. In New Jersey, at least two people died after being carried under by rip tides. Those were caused over the weekend, last weekend by hurricane Bertha. That storm never came very close to the coast.
So we do want to get the latest now from Rebecca Hall of affiliate WTVD in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina.
How are things holding up there on the beach?
REBECCA HALL, WTVD CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., it's just started raining again. We're dealing with some misty rain right now and some wind gusts. Wrightsville Beach, actually started seeing the effects of Tropical Storm Cristobal yesterday morning. It rained all morning long and then around noon, the sun came out and people literally flocked to the beach to soak up at what little rays they could this weekend and then by evening time, the rain was back. But the rain isn't actually the biggest concern out here.
You just mentioned, we're taking a look at this ocean and the turbulent waters out there. The ocean is choppy again today. It was choppier yesterday.
Red flag warnings are expected though, once again today and life guards and ocean rescuers say, of course, the biggest danger out are rip current. They did make handful of rescues out there yesterday. So, assuming it's not recommended, at least, of course, you know what you're doing.
But take a look, we're seeing some surfers just hit the beach this morning. They tried to hit the beach yesterday and it was very difficult for them, too. They were skeptical and they didn't really make it out there like they could have, or like they were hoping to. So, they packed it up and called it a day.
But, again, today, we're watching the rip currents out here and we are dealing with some rain, T.J.
HOLMES: You are and it never fails, the warnings are out, people are told to stay out of the water, and right there, in your live shot, we see, at least, two surfers behind you with boards heading out trying to hit some waves. So, we do appreciate you and your report. We'll check in with you again.
I want to turn to our Reynolds Wolf for clarity.
KEILAR: Clarity because it was Cristobal which sound remarkably like crystal ball.
WOLF: You know what? We're going to go with Cristobal, how about that?
KEILAR: Cristobal.
WOLF: But if you want to with crystal ball, I mean, I don't think we've got nothing wrong with that.
HOLMES: We turn to you for these things, Reynolds.
WOLF: I'm going to go Cristobal.
HOLMES: You tell us what to do.
WOLF: Cristobal.
HOLMES: OK.
KEILAR: We got it.
WOLF: OK. Cristobal, you know what's interest about it -- it got different ways to say it but you also have different things to see. You saw a live shot just moments ago, where you had a little bit of win, you had some rain coming down.
Take a look at this other live image that we have for you. This one is compliments of HurricaneTrack.com. You see a little bit of sunshine coming through. A little bit of a variance there. This (INAUDIBLE) of the storm, it is right along the outer banks.
This is compliments of Mark Sudduth of HurricaneTrack.com. He's going to be up by in this area, around the outer banks, giving us some great live images throughout the day, we'll certainly keep a good eye on.
Let's go right back to the weather computer. Again, take a look at Cristobal and you're going to see just some scattered showers moving right through parts of the outer banks and this moisture forming right offshore. And we do anticipate the storm to remain right off the outer banks. In fact, the National Hurricane Center brings that path right near Cape Hatteras as we get, let's say, Monday, with winds increasing to about 60 miles an hour. That's a pretty significant bit of strengthen considering winds right now are at 45. Then, its expected to move deeper into the Atlantic with winds dropping to 50 by Tuesday.
Another thing that we're watching -- not really a tropical depression or tropical storm but this cluster of scattered storms right near the Cayman Islands. This is a big concern for us because this is going to be moving into an area we have very little sheer, very warm water and has the potential to becoming possibly a tropical storm or depression later on the day. So, certainly, we keep a sharp on that.
Also, very quickly, in parts of the northeast, especially near Philadelphia, we have an excessive heat warning in effect where it's going to feel near 100 degrees through 8:00 p.m. this evening. So, you got two tropical systems and plenty of heat. It's another full day in the weather center. Back to you guys.
HOLMES: Huh, that was a full day.
WOLF: It always happens, man
HOLMES: Well, we do appreciate you. We'll be checking in with you plenty this morning. Thank you, Reynolds.
WOLF: You got it.
HOLMES: Well, standards of conduct to talk about next. The military is sending criminals to serve in Iraq.
KEILAR: Yes, what's going on here? Some say it's all about the pressure to find recruits for two long-running wars.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Texas police are searching for a missing Fort Bliss soldier who is believed to be in danger. Police say that Private First Class Jeneesa Lewis may have been taking away by her estranged husband, Clinton Lewis. They say that there is evidence of foul play here.
HOLMES: And Jeneesa's sister is actually saying that the marriage is troubled and according to her, just two days before she vanished, Jeneesa sent a text message about leaving her husband.
KEILAR: Troops with a criminal past, showing up on the front lines in Iraq. Some are getting special waivers to join the fight, others simply following to the crack.
CNN's Brian Todd takes look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Marine Lance Corporal Delano Holmes shown here at his court-martial last year, convicted of stabbing an Iraqi army private to death with his bayonet. It wasn't his first time in trouble. Holmes had a prior civilian record of assault, disorderly conduct, drug use, and once threatened suicide, according to an investigation by "The Sacramento Bee" newspaper.
Holmes is one of hundreds of cases the paper looked at over the course of a year. The newspaper repeatedly found soldiers or marines with troubled past linked to criminal incidents in the military, most in Iraq.
Marine officials tell CNN that Holmes' record never came in background checks, possibly because he might have been a juvenile when some arrests took place. Since his record never showed up, Holmes didn't need a so-called conduct waiver to enter the marines.
But the military is still granting tens of thousands of those waivers each year, allowing people to joint despite felony and misdemeanor convictions in the past.
An attorney who's been a military prosecutor and defense lawyer says much of this is due to the intense pressure to recruit during two long-running wars.
EUGENE FIDELL, NAT'L INSTITUTE OF MILITARY JUSTICE: Unfortunately, it is the case that recruiters turn a blind eye from time to time to things that really ought to disqualify potential recruits, or they may advise a recruit to keep certain compromising information to himself or herself.
TODD: According to military figures, both the marines and the army saw an increase in waivers from 2006 to 2007 for recruits who had had felony convictions.
Contacted by CNN, officials from both branches emphatically denied that they're lowering their standards and say their screening of recruits is as thorough as possible.
Experts say the military does have a tough balancing act.
FIDELL: Now, the matter is complicated, because there are times when young people do engage in inappropriate behavior that society can and should allow them to put behind them.
TODD: When we asked just what's involved in their background checks, officials with the army and marine recruiting commands told us they run fingerprint checks, screen former employers and school officials, and check police records when they can. And they do that not only before enlistment but also while some recruits are in training.
(on camera): Still, some recruits fall through the cracks like Delano Holmes. He was convicted of negligent homicide but given only a 10 months sentence and that was time already served. He was, then, discharged. So, despite an extensive record, including the death of that Iraqi soldier, he's a free man. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Well, certainly, many of you know, and certainly you know as much as you frequent clubs, but you really never know who you're going to bump into at the club.
KEILAR: The bee boys, yes. A serious message, though, here with this hip-hop beat you've got to see this bee boy dance.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, bee, bee, bee, I show you some act here (ph). Deejay Honey, drop it.
(MUSIC)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: Deejay Honey drop it. This is called the bee boy dance. But behind these silly costumes is actually a serious message from Haagen-Dazs ice cream. This is part of the company's ongoing campaign to save the honey bee. The insects are being wiped out by what's called colony collapse disorder which is, of course, a very bad thing. Basically, honey bees are critically for pollination and farming, especially for fruit.
HOLMES: And they really can explain this disorder, colony collapse. They don't know what's causing the bees to just call off, as they're doing right now. But they have a serious, but this video, the idea behind it is the hive dance. Now, scientists say, when a bee discovers a source of nectar, it communicates the location and size of the discovery by doing a very elaborate and coordinated hip-hop dance.
KEILAR: And then actually - I mean, you got to check this out. You can check it out online, of course, but - and then at the end they all kind of disappear. And then you get the serious message behind it -- very, very interesting.
You know, millions of plastic bottles get tossed out every day. And you may wonder where they go.
HOLMES: And we wonder. Josh Levs, we ask you these things. Where does this stuff go?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, you guys are just looking at an unusual way of getting a message across, that's what I'm about to tell you about, this exact same thing. It's plastic, OK? So, a ton of it ends up in the ocean. These plastic get washed in there. And now they're poisoning the ocean environment. So, two environmentalists have a solution. They are traveling from California to Hawaii in a raft made out of junk including a part of a Cessna aircraft and 15,000 plastic bottles. I'm asked to record this interview with one of them from pretty much out in the middle of nowhere.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. Marcus, just start up with telling us again why are you doing this?
DR. MARCUS ERIKSEN, ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH FDN.: We have discovered a rabid of accumulation of plastic trash in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and most of it comes from land. We thought what a great way to get the nation paying attention to plastic waste and to build a boat out of that plastic waste itself and go across the Pacific.
LEVS: How long do you expect to be on this boat?
ERIKSEN: That's funny because we began this June 1st. And I told everyone and my girlfriend, OK, six weeks is all it's going to take. And then seven weeks later, we still got six weeks to go. The ocean has kind of (INAUDIBLE) caps off the bottles, and if the caps come off, the bottle is full of water and the boat begins to sink.
So, the crew came out with a lot of balloons to help us move back on into the water, out of the bottles, and then it still took us a month to get south of Lubay (ph) Island and away from the coast of North America.
LEVS: Do you have enough to survive?
ERIKSEN: Yes. We just made last week about maybe 15 pounds of fish jerky (ph) from (INAUDIBLE) that we speared.
LEVS: Marcus, how seasick are you getting on that raft? You are on raft made out of plastic bottles in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There is not enough bonamine (ph) in the world to get when you set foot on that thing. Are you seasick? Are you guys getting a little crazy?
ERIKSEN: Now, we brought with us tons of bonamine and (INAUDIBLE) patches. Yes, everything you can think of to curing seasick, we haven't gone seasick once. Our boat is so stable, it's low in the water that we ride the waves pretty gently.
(CROSSTALK)
LEVS: Hold on, I'm hearing a danger here. You're telling me that you are now proving that if you make a boat out of lots of plastic bottles, it can be very smooth ride? What if people want this idea and start making a boat out of plastic bottles?
ERIKSEN: Well, I guess, that's one alternative to recycling. You can reuse them to make a boat. It works for us. (END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: You've got behind me here is their Web site. You can follow as they make it through the ocean. You can find out everything about this junk raft at blogspot.com. let me show you two things quickly. First of all, to see a little bit about who'd just hearing, Dr. Marcus Eriksen, he's a PhD. I mean, this people have this degree, they know what they're talking about and this is their foundation -- the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. You can learn more about. Even sponsor a message in one of those 15,000 bottles for $5, guys, there you go.
How is that than a usual way to get a message across, rafting the Pacific on a bunch of bottles?
KEILAR: Very strange. Tell him, though, Cabo (ph) is that way. He's going the wrong way.
LEVS: Yes, I don't think it's his style.
KEILAR: I think it's not.
HOLMES: All right. Thank you, Josh.
KEILAR: Paying for plastic?
HOLMES: Yes. That credit card may cost you a bit extra at a place where price is already just make you wince.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Welcome back, everyone. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in today for Betty Nguyen.
Here's a look at some of the stories that we're covering this morning. We're of course watching the weather along the southeast coast. Tropical storm Cristobal is stirring off of the coast of North Carolina.
HOLMES: Pennsylvania authorities have tentatively identified the body of a woman found tied up with her uterus cut open. They believe she is Kea Johnson. Another woman who showed up at the hospital with a newborn baby is in custody now on child endangerment charges.
Also, in Afghanistan, the Defense Ministry says coalition troops accidentally nine local police officers because they thought they were Taliban members. It happened in the Farah province that is near Iran's border.
Meanwhile in Afghanistan, presidential candidate Barack Obama sitting down with the Afghan president. And the meeting has wrapped up and we just learned that Obama has now left that country. CNN's Reza Sayah joins us now live by way of broadband from Kabul.
Reza will talk about that meeting in just a second. We want to show you and we also want to show our viewers here the video of a reception that Obama got when he stopped to visit troops in Kuwait.
We can see there he is being received well with loud cheers from U.S. troops. Again, this is in Kuwait. His first stop before he got to Afghanistan. So tell us, Reza, we'll bring you back in. Did he get anything similar to that kind of reception when he was there in Afghanistan?
REZA SAYAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He did in the U.S. bases that he visited. And he visited several. He did get a warm reception from U.S. troops but let's get you the latest. Senator Barack Obama's first ever visit to Afghanistan is over. A U.S. government official in Kabul tells us that his plane took off about an hour and a half ago earlier this afternoon. Senator Obama and the congressional delegation that was here with him. Earlier this afternoon, Senator Obama and the congressional delegation that was here with him met with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. In recent weeks, Senator Obama making it clear that he believes that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is not doing enough to improve the security situation here in Afghanistan.
Earlier this morning, it was breakfast in Kabul. That's what Senator Obama woke up to. He had breakfast with U.S. troops at Camp Eggers here in Kabul. If you're having breakfast at Camp Eggers, you might as well have some eggs and bacon. That's what Senator Obama had. He stayed away from the grits he said because he wants to stay healthy but he sat down, chatted with troops. He talked a little football and he looked for service men and women from Illinois. Finally found a service woman from Joliet. He is very happy to have found her. He didn't do an interview when he was with U.S. troops in Afghanistan but in Kuwait on Friday, he did talk about U.S. troops. Here is what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In speaking to the commanding officers here, what's clear is that we really have perfected a lot of systems to move equipment, supplies and, obviously, troops in and out of Iraq, as well as some of the work that's being done to coordinate out activities in Afghanistan. And the key, I think at this point, is to make sure that not only do you guys have the support that you needed back home and in Congress, but that we also have a strategy and a mission that allows you to do your jobs well, but is also going to serve the larger strategic interest in the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SAYAH: So once again, Senator Obama's first ever trip to Afghanistan is over. The visit lasted about 26 to 27 hours. Many say this visit was crucial in changing perception back in the U.S. that he is weak on foreign policy. T.J..
HOLMES: Reza Sayah reporting for us there. He has been reporting for us this weekend on this first-ever trip to Afghanistan by the Senator. Reza, we appreciate you as always.
KEILAR: We got a rare glimpse inside of Myanmar after the storm where western journalists are banned from reporting in that secretive country.
HOLMES: But our Betty Nguyen got in to that country. She got into the devastated region of the Irrawady Delta. It was really a dangerous and stealth journey for her. She got there to show us what life is like now, two months after that deadly cyclone.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just getting into the country was half the battle. Little did I know the rest would be near impossible. We had to devise a plan to bypass multiple military check points and get down to the cyclone devastation.
So, the only way out of Yangon is through this check point? That's a problem. Because if we're caught, our team faced deportation, even prison time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a difficult job to do. It's one of the harder places to shoot and actually tell a story. Because you live in fear of yourself being kicked out but really more fear of the people that work for you being arrested and put away for 20 years.
NGUYEN: That was my photographer. I can't show you his face because he still works in the region. So after days of poring over maps and scouting out routes, we were finally on the move. To get down to the Irrawady Delta we have to leave under the cover of darkness. The last thing we need right now is to be stopped.
We hopped from different modes of transportation. All the while feeling like fugitives on the run. It's really the only way to get down there and bypass the check points. It's going to be a long ride. And a rough one. We slept in stifling conditions and lived off of little more than bottled water and power bars.
Once daylight broke through it was clear this journey was far from over. We're waiting right now for a second boat. A smaller one that we're told will be able to make it through the canals a lot easier. After 21 hours we finally made it. Though it normally takes only four hours to get here. And judging from the devastation, it doesn't look like much has changed in the two months since the cyclone struck.
Debris still littered villages. We had to work quickly, capturing what we could, never knowing when we'd get caught. Trekking through muddy fields, over makeshift bridges and right into rice paddies. We came across an eerie discovery. Bodies still rotting in the delta. I knew we would find them. I just didn't know how haunting it would be. Yet just a few feet away, the living press on. It's a place where slivers of hope can be found in the eyes of the young. So happy and full of life. And for a brief moment, you almost forget, they've seen more pain than most people can imagine. Betty Nguyen, CNN, Myanmar.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And you can see more of Betty's journey by going to her blog. You can get whole lot more about hat she saw inside of Myanmar. It's on our website at cnn.com. Also, finally, got a chance to talk to Betty about her experience. As many of you know, she has been absent from her spot here on the weekends sitting next to me for really the past several weeks because she has been on that assignment, but was able to finally talk to her at the end of the week last week. We will bring that conversation to you next hour.
KEILAR: China's intense clean air campaign kicks off today. It's an effort to try and control pollution for the Olympic games. Open ceremonies in Beijing are now less than three weeks away and this effort includes ordering more than 1.5 million cars off of the road every single day. Also, factories have been ordered to cut emissions. Beijing's heavy pollution has been a concern for athletes who are preparing there for the games.
HOLMES: All right. We turn it back to our Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on a tropical storm that we now just going to shorten and call it Cris.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it works for me. Why not? I mean, this is what we ought to do with all of them. Cristobal is the name and this is "C." Obviously, we've already had Bertha and Bertha is way up in the north Atlantic and the next storm we may be dealing with is Dolly.
We're going to talk about Dolly, coming up very soon but let's talk about what's happening in the outer banks. We have a live image for you in Wrightsville Beach. Take a look at this. Surf's coming in. A tranquil morning. There are some surfers out there a while ago. You actually see one there on the right hand corner of the screen with the seagulls flying by. It is a beautiful but it's deceptively serene. What I mean, if you happen to go out there and swim around and you're a non-experienced swimmer, there are rip currents, rip tides out there and can be very dangerous. If the life guards tell you to stay out of water, by all means listen to them. There is a reason why they are life guards.
OK. Let's go back to the weather computer. Here is the big reason why you're having some of the interesting surf conditions. This of course is tropical storm, Cristobal. You can see the winds 45 gusting to 60. The latest forecast we have from the National Hurricane Center indicates that the storm is expected to strengthen, with winds going to 60 miles per hour. Maximum sustained wind into Monday should be just to the east of Cape Hatteras and it should pull farther into the north and into the northeast by Tuesday with winds decreasing to 50 miles an hour as it moves - the storm moves into a much - I guess you can say cooler environment.
These storms really derive so much of their power from the warm ocean water. When it moves into a cooler environment, quite often they tend to weaken and that should be the case with this system. Now, another area that we're watching of disturbed weather that has us concerned is right in the Caribbean. With this particular storm is a cluster of thunderstorms in the Cayman Islands. There is the possibility that within the next 24 hours to 48 hours, this storm could become Dolly, possibly a depression, and a tropical storm later on today. Certainly, we're watching. We'll keep an eye on it for you.
And last but certainly not the least, happening in the parts of the northeast, in New York, you certainly have the warm weather but in Philadelphia, you have some excessive heat warnings that will be in effect through 8:00 p.m. this evening. That's the latest. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, we appreciate you. We'll check in with you shortly.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
KEILAR: So what do you think about pain for plastic? I mean, aside from interest charges, you know, you may want to know how you can save a few dollars on your next fill-up at the gas station.
HOLMES: Oh, this is a problem? Really? Plastic?
KEILAR: For some folks. Pain for plastic.
HOLMES: Yes, the answer to some of these questions is going to hit you hard in your pocket.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, Earl Simmons has been arrested in Arizona. You might not seem interested but Earl Simmons is the name of rapper, DMX. He has had several run ins with the law and add another one here. This one's for identity theft. Police say the rapper who is seen here in this video gave a hospital a false name and social security number trying to get out of paying for his medical bills. DMX owes that hospital $7,500 and his attorney has refused to give comment so far.
KEILAR: Another dead-end in the search for missing millionaire Steve Fossett. A new search team spent the week combing mountain areas near Carson City, Nevada which is where Fossett's plane may have crashed last September they've found no sign of the airplane. Fossett was declared legally dead in February.
HOLMES: Paper or plastic? You're used to hearing that at the supermarket but it's not just the choice for the grocery store anymore.
KEILAR: Yes, you may actually faced that question at your corner gas station and a good chunk of change could be riding on your answer. CNN's Jim Acosta explains.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Regular, fill it up half, cash.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Better stop at the ATM before pulling into this gas station in New Jersey.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we're trying to do now is to give our customers a savings.
ACOSTA: That's because the owner, Paul Kelly, is offering a big 10 cent discount to drivers carrying cash. He says he is tired of being charged a fee by the credit card companies every time a customer plays with plastic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we pay three percent on average or even a little less than that on a credit card fee at $4 a gallon and I'm making 12 cents a gallon. That is my entire profit.
ACOSTA: On a gas purchase totaling $100, roughly $3 goes to the credit card companies, depending on the card.
SAL RISALVATO, N.J. GAS CONVENIENCE & AUTO ASSN.: The world is fixated on the oil companies, the price of oil, the price of gasoline, and while everybody is fixated on that, the credit card companies are quietly laughing all the way to the bank.
ACOSTA: Sal Risalvato represents gas stations across New Jersey says the so-called interchange fees can be crushing.
RISALVATO: Many dealers just cannot stay in business any longer.
ACOSTA (on-camera): According to one trade publication, nationwide nearly 3,000 gas stations have closed in the last year. This one on the Jersey shore won't even re-open. The land is being offered up for town houses.
ACOSTA (voice-over): The credit card company's response? Don't blame us. In a statement, an industry spokeswoman says - "the oil companies restrict what the gas station owners can charge per gallon... the oil companies are squeezing them."
Still, late last month, Visa announced it was lowering its fees on fuel purchases.
Every little bit helps?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes. You have to save every dime you can.
ACOSTA: Back at that gas station, we found the cash discount got some customers revved up but one man who didn't read the sign paid the price as in the credit price.
You're now having to pay 10 cents more per gallon because you swiped your credit card?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. I don't think that's fair.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a mater of survival for us.
ACOSTA: Last year convenience stores alone paid $7.6 billion in credit card fees. So what's happening at the nation's gas stations may spread to other retailers putting a whole new premium on plastic. Jim Acosta, CNN, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Challenging the church. This will be a day of dedication and defiance for three Catholic women.
KEILAR: Yes, they are dedicating their lives to a church that will no longer recognize them as members.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Pope Benedict is in Australia this morning but he's speaking to the world. He warned of a spiritual dessert spreading across the globe. The Pontiff challenged young people to move beyond greed and cynicism to create a new age of hope. More than 350,000 Catholics attended his mass at a Sydney horse track and it wrapped up the Church's six-day World Youth Day Festival and the Pope's message to young people become agents of change because, "the world needs renewal.
HOLMES: In our "Faces of Faith" today. Three Catholic women will challenge one of the most basic teachings of the church. They will be ordained as priests. Their act of defiance will also cost them the religion they hold dear. The details now from Pam Cross from our Boston affiliate, WCBV.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PAM CROSS, WCBV CORRESPONDENT: They look like the neighbor down the street than the rebels they are. On Sunday, she will become a deacon. They will be ordained priests.
This bishop will lead the service, all Catholics. Their movement rejects church teachings that women can't be priest.
GABRIELLA VELARDI WARD, WILL BE ORDAINED AS PRIEST: I remember when I was five, I said to my sister, I wanted to be a priest when I grew up and my sister said, hah, you can't, you're a girl.
GLORIA CARPENETO, WILL BE ORDAINED AS PRIEST: For many of us, we have been functioning as priests for years and years. We've been ministers serving the people of god. So I don't think it's a gender issue. In reality, it's not a gender issue.
CROSS: Replace the men with women and it will look something like this. The Catholic Church has said strongly women cannot be ordained. The archdiocese in a statement said these women are by their own actions separating themselves from the church. One poll shows 64 percent of Catholics don't object to female priests. Their bishops say ordination is just a start.
BISHOP DANA REYNOLDS, WILL LEAD ORDINATION: The ministries and the work that follows and what these women are doing in their lives and how they are serving the people of god.
JEAN MARIE MARSHANT: We thought that ordination of women was on the horizon.
CROSS: Jean Marie Marshant finally stopped waiting and was ordained two years ago. She presides at services in Weston and is one of 60 female priests in North America and will advise those to be ordained.
MARY ANN SCHOETTLY, WILL BECOME DEACON: Just as long as the church doesn't recognize the equality, full equality of women, then the full equality of women on the earth is not recognized.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, that ceremony for them is scheduled to get under way in just about eight hours.
KEILAR: Running on empty. Petrol pirates leave some boaters high and dry. We're going to tell you about this wave of thievery.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. High price of gas leaving new victims in its wake. Behold. The latest thunder of the petrol pirates. The victims here, several yachts docked at this Massachusetts marina. Thieves drained hundreds, hundreds of gallons of fuel from the boats. Left them all pretty much empty. At least one owner didn't discover that the crime had been come until his journey was well under way.
KEILAR: Well, fuel is up but the markets are down and that means it can be a great time for investors to snap up some bargains. CNN's senior business correspondent Ali Velshi is "Right on your money."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALI VELSHI, CNN, SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Money may be tight these days but now might be the time to invest even if it's only a small amount.
HILARY KRAMER, AOL MONEY COACH: We're so low. It's always where you start investing. This is a perfect time to put your money in the market. Absolutely perfect.
VELSHI: The key could be thinking long term.
KRAMER: It is the power of long-term investing. What you have to realize is that if you invest $500, $500 in an S&P 500 index. It does 10 percent over the next 20 years you're going to more than double your money. So, as long as you have a very, very long time horizon, decades rather than months or years, there's a lot of money to be made.
VELSHI: But there are ways to invest and cash out sooner rather than later.
KRAMER: Well it depends when you need access to the money. If it's in the next one to two years do a certificate of deposit.
VELSHI: CDs are offered for fix terms, from a few months up to five years but remember withdrawals before maturity will usually be hit by a substantial penalty and that's this week's "Right on your money."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: You know that old saying, T.J.? If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.
HOLMES: Yes. However, I don't know if that applies to this guy. He keeps trying - he's going to get hurt. Maybe he should keep trying, maybe he should get a bigger bike. OK. We'll talk more about this in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. This is one of the hottest videos on the web right now. Trying to make out here, it's a very large snake that we discovered alongside a building. If you look at it, it seems like it's just chilling, but still, not a good idea to get close to this thing because when the guy with the video camera gets down to the business end of that snake, the snake is ready. You can't really make out too well what's happening, but there was a strike that nearly knocked that guy off his feet. Again, you can see more of this video, there you go, trying to make out what's happening here, this is at collegehumor.com, but a popular video right now.
KEILAR: You know, it's really amazing the length that some people will go to their 15 minutes of fame. You know a lot of them, they kind of start with the words "hey, all watch this." Well, this guy is out to show the world completing a loop de loop on a mini motorcycle is indeed possible. He fails once. That once? Wait.
HOLMES: Just a second.
KEILAR: That's the second. Oh, Lord. But he never says die. He just gets an extra long running start. Did he do it?
HOLMES: Did he ever do it? Are we going to see him? Did he actually ever do it. Does anybody know?
Josh, you keep an eye on these things. Can you confirm?
KEILAR: I think he's supposed to do it.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I just wish we had huge words across the screen "do not try this at home." Whoa, there he is. Whoa, I think we don't need that anymore now that we've seen what just happened to that guy.
HOLMES: OK. Don't try this at home. We have other viral video to share with you. One day we turn to Levs.
LEVS: We have one more video to show and Brianna, you haven't seen this one yet?
KEILAR: I don't think so.
LEVS: This is a viral video. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER (on-camera): In a year of first for presidential candidates, a phenomenon that has taken even seasoned political analysts by surprise, a growing grass roots movement borne on the internet to elect a virtual unknown to the highest office in the country.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTS (voice-over): It began on a popular one chat site where Diana Falzone, a former Maxim model hosts a weekly talk show.
DIANA FALZONE, TV HOST: It all started as a joke. Somebody called in and said, hey, I have this great who could be president and I thought, you know what, we have access to a lot of people, so why not see if we can make it happen.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: The videos now. Check this out. You can go there and type in any name. Look at this.
KEILAR: Sweet.
LEVS: It takes less than a minute and you can make anybody be this hot new candidate for president. Look at that, it's on top of a cab. This is incredible stuff. This is a new three-on-line.com, send it to everybody, Brianna for president.
KEILAR: I - I can't, right? I don't think I could be.
LEVS: OK. That's right. I'm the only person here who could be president. We got to wrap.
KEILAR: All right. Thanks, Josh. Those crazy fun. Appreciate it.
HOLMES: Well, thank you. The campaign begins right now.
We are here from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. So glad you could be here with us on this July 20th. I am T.J. Holmes.
KEILAR: And I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Betty Nguyen.
Well, we begin with new and disturbing details this morning about a bizarre case out of Pennsylvania and a medical examiner saying the body of a woman found dead in an apartment had been cut open at the uterus. Another woman is in custody after she showed up at a hospital with a newborn that she claimed was hers.
Jim Acosta is now live in Wilkinsburg. This is just east of Pittsburgh.
This such a strange story, Jim, on so many different levels. Give us the latest.
ACOSTA: Well, Brianna, it's a horrific story and it's one of those stories, as a reporter, you don't want to have to report, but unfortunately, this story is out there and people are talking about it here in Pittsburgh and across the country.
But this mystery of this woman whose body was found here at this apartment building on Friday, it has been solved. Authorities with the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office has tentatively identified this woman as 18-year-old Kia Johnson. Investigators say her body was found inside this apartment building behind me on Friday. Her legs and arms bound with duct tape, plastic covering her mouth.
And all of this started to unfold last week, around Wednesday last week, when a woman by the name of Andrea Curry-Demus, a 38-year- old woman here in Wilkinsburg, showed up at a local hospital with a baby claiming that that child was hers, but tests at the hospital confirmed that baby did not belong to Andrea Curry-Demus and she was taken into custody as authorities were questioning her, Curry-Demus told investigators that she had basically struck a deal with the woman she identified as Tina to buy a baby for $1,000.
Investigators doubt very much that any of that is true at this point and they're trying at this pot to connect Curry-Demus to what happened here on -- well some time late last week, before they found this body of Kia Johnson. And at this point, investigators with the Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office are trying to determine just how all of this unfolded.
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WTAE)
DR. KARL WILLIAMS, MEDICAL EXAMINER: We will be looking for any drug that might have helped incapacitate her. There is not a lot of evidence of a struggle having occurred. So, there is some evidence that there were drugs at the scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: And Curry-Demus has history of baby snatching. Apparently in 1991, she was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison. She only seven years of that sentence, but at that time, she disclosed to psychiatric analysts who assessed Curry-Demus and during that examination, it was revealed that she was suffering from hallucinations that appeared to stem to some miscarriages that Curry- Demus suffered during her lifetime. She even told a psychiatrist at one that she was hearing hallucinations of babies crying.
At this point, the baby that was brought to the hospital last week, according to doctors, is, OK, but Curry-Demus, Brianna, went very far in terms of trying to convince friends and relatives that she was pregnant. Apparently she even had a baby shower during which she told all of her relatives and friends that she was anxiously anticipating the arrival of a baby, that a baby apparently never came.
And at this point, authorities are just trying to put together the minor details of this case, definitively connecting her to what happen to Kia Johnson -- Brianna.
KEILAR: Jim Acosta for us near Pittsburgh -- thanks.
HOLMES: Now, Barack Obama has left the country. Afghanistan we're talking about here. But before he left Obama met with the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai. New video just coming in to us this morning from that meeting. Afghanistan was the first stop on Obama's overseas trip. He's part of a congressional delegation, but also hoping to boost his standing on foreign policy and national security.
Obama will be traveling to Jordan on Tuesday. From there he visits Israel, Germany, France, as well as England, and widely expected to visit Iraq at some point.
Obama's opponent says lessons from Iraq can help improve the situation in Afghanistan.
Here's what Republican John McCain says on his Web site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Iraq is much improved. The war in Afghanistan has taken a bad turn that must be quickly reversed. Security in that country has deteriorated and our enemies are on the offensive. And it's precisely the success of the surge in Iraq that shows us e way to victory over the Taliban.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And John McCain will be back on the campaign trail today and the trail goes through ballpark. He'll attend the New York Yankee's home game this afternoon with former rival, Rudy Giuliani.
And later this morning, our Wolf Blitzer will ask Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice about Afghanistan and Iraq. You can see Wolf's exclusive interview on LATE EDITION, coming your way at 11:00 o'clock Eastern.
KEILAR: Now, to some developing severe weather. We're keeping our eye on Tropical Storm Cristobal. This is off the coast of North Carolina right now and as you can see, there's one guy in Wrightsville Beach taking advantage of the stronger surf. But this is still a very serious storm. Tropical storm warnings have been issued. Some live pictures there at Wrightsville Beach. Again, the North Carolina coast, some of the coastal areas, they're bracing for possible flash flooding even.
HOLMES: Reynolds Wolf, what else should they be bracing for right now? You've been keeping an eye on this thing for past couple of days now.
WOLF: You know, one of the things that they're going to be bracing for are things that you really can't see, the rip currents, the rip tides, anyone going out there and trying to get in the surf. I mean, unless you're an experienced surfer or like a kayaker you saw moments ago, you really need to be careful out there.
Take a look at some of the live images that we have. We've got a couple there for you. Let's just pop one of them up. And you're going to see, hey, you've got a little bit of sunshine out there, doesn't look all that bad. That's kind of deceptive because out over that water, you've got some really rough surf conditions.
And as we go to the weather computer, you're going to see the thing that's causing all the rough surf conditions, this Tropical Storm Cristobal is going to make way east of Wilmington, at least according to the latest path we have from National Hurricane Center. Winds are expected to strengthen to around 60 miles an hour tomorrow. Still about 14 miles per hour shy of becoming a hurricane. And then it's going to pull a little more in to the North Atlantic and as it does so, it is going to be weakening considerably back to about 50 miles per hour.
Still, although it's not expected to make it's way near land say, in places like the Jersey shore or even Long Island, still, you're going to be dealing with these rip currents. So, please be careful if you happen to go out and enjoy the waves.
Something else we're watching. Right now in the Caribbean, we've got this big cluster of disturbed weather, some strong thunderstorms and deep convection. At this point, we have had winds in this area around 40 to 50 miles hour. But, still, this is not been classified as a tropical storm or a tropical depression because there really isn't any tight circulation with this as of yet.
Now, the air force is going to be bring in a reconnaissance aircraft in the middle of this and try to drop some instrumentation, to give idea of what the storm might be, ultra (ph) evidence of that closed circulation. If that occurs, this may become Dolly later on today. Tropical depression or tropical storm and then, we're just going to watch and see what happens with this storm.
Very quickly, one last thing, I'll mention, in parts of the northeast, it's going to be a pretty day but a very warm one for you in parts of Philadelphia where we have excessive heat warning in effect for the metropolitan areas. Temperatures in the 90s but with the high humidity, it's going to feel beyond 100 degrees to 8:00 p.m. this evening.
OK. So, you've got the heat, you've got the storm, you've got them both. Let's send them back to you.
HOLMES: All right. We've got it all. We appreciate you, Reynolds.
WOLF: You got it.
KEILAR: Thanks, Reynolds.
A brave trip into areas off limits for foreign journalists.
HOLMES: It was really the toughest assignment of her career. Our Betty Nguyen we're talking about here, got into Myanmar to look the (INAUDIBLE) of relief efforts for cyclone survivors.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, as many of our regular viewers of CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING will have noticed, there's been nothing regular about the anchor team lately. My dear co-anchor Betty Nguyen has not been here anchoring with me for some time. We actually have anchored together in some time because she has been on in assignment. While, we are happy to have the likes of Brianna Keilar here with us, we certainly miss our "Dear Betty."
And Betty has been working, haven't been vacationing. She has been on a really dangerous assignment, literally. She had to sneak into Myanmar to see the devastation there. She went to see what was going on, she went to hear the survivors' stories.
And because I haven't been on the air here in a while, either because I was traveling as well, I haven't talked to be Betty in quite some time. So, I finally got to talk to our "Dear Betty" just a couple of days ago to get a wrap on things as she was heading back to the U.S. from Bangkok. Take a listen to our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right, Betty, tell me first of all, dear lady, you're out of Myanmar, (AUDIO BREAK), is there anywhere in that region that was devastated that looks any semblance that things are starting to get back to what they used to be? Are people starting to go about their lives in any way, shape, or form? Did you see any of that at all?
NGUYEN: Oh, absolutely. They were trying their very best to scratch out what kind of a life that they can with what's left. There is no doubt devastation all over the place. The villages are trying to really recoup from this tremendous loss. Farmers, they're back out in the fields, but the problem with that, too, is that most of the water buffalo used for plowing those fields are dead. The cyclone inundated the rice fields with saltwater so a lot of the crops are just ruined.
And I will tell you, there a little bit of aid is getting to those farmers and the problem with that is you have to have 100 acres of farmland just to share one power tiller. And most farmer don't have that. So, you've got between 20 and 30 farmers sharing one tiller. So, it makes work very slow. And on top of all of that, T.J., you've got people still grieving over the loss of their family members.
HOLMES: And, Betty, you mentioned that aid, that relief, I mean, the world, sure, I mean, Myanmar and the government there was making it difficult, but still, the world was trying to help out. It seems like there should be massive aid and relief spots setup all over the place. Did you see anything that look like there's a flood of aid coming in to these people?
NGUYEN: You know, that's what's so frustrating about this. We went to about half a dozen or so villages, really in the hard to reach areas, and very little aid had trickled into those villages. Not much more than some bags of rice, maybe me some tarp, some roofing material. Really, not much of any significance. Now, the situation may be different in some of the larger cities along the Irrawaddy Delta, where the aid organizations have set up their camp but the problem with that is they often have military minders around them. So, in order for us to even get near that, we would have been caught by the junta.
So, unfortunately, I can't tell you what's happening in the larger areas. Hopefully, aid is getting to others, but where we were, we saw very little of it.
HOLMES: And you mentioned the junta there. The people you met there, and profiled, get stories (ph) with there in Myanmar, they're used to that military government, if you will. But, so is this just another status quo for them almost? Do they just not expect help from the government or do they have some real frustration at how things have been handled by the military after this disaster?
NGUYEN: I think, deep down, they are frustrated. But I think you hit the nail on the head. These folks are used to not receiving anything in the first place. So, they really didn't expect it after they cyclone hit, although, this cyclone just really devastated the area. As you well know, it killed some 85,000 people. Some 50,000 are still remained missing, and you have villages that are still decimated because of the cyclone.
I've seen monasteries, nothing left but the slab. Homes just destroyed. So, you know, I think there is this sense of frustration, but there's this also sense of -- there's nothing that can be done about it. We don't expect help. We've never gotten help. So, we're just going to have to try to do what we can with our own two hands.
HOLMES: Betty, is there a danger here that people are going to forget about the people of Myanmar, given everything you had to go through just to get in there, and get this story out, a lot of journalist aren't just frankly be able to do that, so we're not going to get a chance to see a lot of these stories. And you know what? Maybe the world will kind of start to forget what's going on there and people there will not continue to get that help they desperately need.
NGUYEN: You know, that was one of our worries. That's why this assignment was so very important to us. Also, I don't know if you can tell, but it's raining here in Bangkok. It is monsoon season. So, down in Myanmar, they're not only dealing with this tremendous loss, but they're also dealing with this inundation of rains.
So, you've got all these problems coupled on top of yet other problems and I don't even know how they get up every day and try to start anew, because it is overwhelming when you see it. But yes, that's why we did this story. That's why a lot of people took great risks to bring you this story, because the world needs to know what's going on. We can't forget. Often, you know, it's easy to ignore that which you cannot see, but if we shed a light on it and we'll show you what's going on, maybe change will occur.
HOLMES: All right. Betty, come home please. Could you do that for me, please, come home? NGUYEN: I'll be there shortly
HOLMES: All right. Well, they're wrapping me up there, dear lady. You take care of yourself over there and get back safely.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: OK. You can see that. I was having a moment because I haven't seen my "Dear Betty" in quiet some time. But I'm happy to report -- Betty is back on the ground in Atlanta. She has made it home. She just got home. And I'm emailing her, trying to get her to come in right now.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: It's not happening.
KEILAR: It was some amazing work that she did there.
HOLMES: Yes, some great work and work that lot of -- important work that we are not going to see a lot of. So, it's good to see it now.
KEILAR: Yes. So, next week and we'll say "Hello Betty." But we're saying so long Budweiser.
HOLMES: Oh, say it ain't so.
KEILAR: It was nice while it lasted.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KEILAR: Say it ain't so. The company that makes Budweiser, it's out of here. It seems downright un-American, doesn't it?
CNN's Jeanne Moos reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Even if you don't actually drink bud, it's impossible to nip all those slogans in the Budweiser.
From "This bud's for you" to...
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Budweiser beer the king second to none.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: The king of beers is the nectar of presidential candidates trying connect with the average Joe six pack. But prepare to drown your sorrows in a bath of Bud.
(on camera): You know who's buying Budweiser? A Belgian company.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Belgian company, not Germany, right?
MOOS: A lot of Belgians.
(voice-over): Noon time customers a Rudy's Bar near Times Square weren't exactly crying in their beer. But others were with "boycott Budweiser" t-shirts and a YouTube video, Stephen Colbert went on a binge of false outrage against Belgium.
STEPHEN COLBERT, TV HOST: Well, as soon as I heard, I started drinking nonstop, before those waffle-humpers change the formula.
MOOS: Actually, the formula isn't changing. Plants in the U.S. will still manufacture Bud, but that hasn't stopped the reminiscing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I want every Bud bowl.
ANNOUNCER: It takes on the 10 and lateral (ph) across the field.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I drink Budweiser through the class day (ph) of horses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (singing): Budweiser beer the one that's leading the rest.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The proud (ph)...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Green bodies, I've got some bad news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: It was bad news to songwriter Phil McClary, who wrote "Kiss our Glass" and directed it at the Belgian company InBev.
But back at Rudy's Bar, only one guy seemed wistful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To me, you know, like, Budweiser is like Ford motor company.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll drink Belgian Bud and I'll drink American Bud. It doesn't make a (BEEP) to me. What matters to me is the price when I get to this stand right here. This is the pig stand, this is the hog trough.
MOOS: And one e-mailer treated Bud like hogwash saying, "The Belgians can only improve the stuff. It can't get any worser than it already is. Worser?
COLBERT: This is America's beer.
MOOS: Everyone kept writing headlines, joking about the European Union.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Bud's for you. There we go.
MOOS: Or as they say in Belgium...
(on camera): This Bud's for you, in Flemish.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This Bud's for you.
MOOS (voice-over): If only a presidential candidate could pass a veto.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I will veto every single beer - bill.
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: OK.
KEILAR: That was particularly funny, Jeanne Moos.
HOLMES: Jeanne Moos. All right. But a lot of the beer tastes the same. I mean...
KEILAR: I mean, I guess it's important, but still...
HOLMES: But still. OK. All right.
Well, the sale of Anheuser-Busch is just the latest in a long line of well-known brand that are no longer owned by American company.
KEILAR: Yes, and Josh Levs has been making a list. And Josh, some surprises that you found, right?
LEVS: Yes, you guys are going to be disappointed by some of these, too. Sorry. But still, (INAUDIBLE) products are going to taste the same. Starting with Ben & Jerry's, look at this, this is from CNNMoney.com right here, we're closing on. This is Ben & Jerry's. A lot of people don't realize it was sold to the British Dutch company Unilever. Also, check out this one, the Chrysler Building, it's an American icon, an iconic place. This was sold largely to the government of Abu Dhabi. Also, a German development firm has a stake in it. And 7-Eleven over here, that is no longer American owned either. It's subsidiary of a Japanese company.
Now, we also this story on AOL News, they list a bunch more. let's take a look this. Starting with Good Humor. Good Humor is now also owned by the same company that owns Ben & Jerry's, it's Unilever. The British Dutch company.
Also, Trader Joe's, a lot of people think that's as American icon. Two German billionaires own that one. How about Firestone? Firestone sold itself to Japan's -- Bridgestone, in 1988.
All right. A couple more here. Dial soap, lot of people don't realize, no longer American-owned, that one is now owned by a company base in Dusseldorf of Germany. And one more, I find this amazing. This is kind of wild. The Indiana toll road which calls itself "The Crossroads of America," listen to this, the state of Indiana built it in 1965, they leased it to a joint venture of a Spanish company and an Australian company for 75 years. So, those two companies now have control of "The Crossroads of America."
So, there you go. We've got some icons no longer American-owned but still functioning just fine.
HOLMES: You say that was a lease? You can lease a highway?
LEVS: Apparently you can lease a crossroads. I didn't know that either.
HOLMES: For 75 years.
LEVS: We learn something new every day.
KEILAR: Fascinating.
HOLMES: All right. Yes, we do and it's usually from you, Josh.
KEILAR: Basically all of my top finances (ph), you know, accounted for in many of those companies.
HOLMES: All right. Josh Levs, we appreciate you.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
KEILAR: Thank you.
You know, we are just days away from our unparalleled television event "Black in America."
HOLMES: And, just minutes from now, a preview of family reunion with a bit of a twist.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, this Wednesday, CNN presents a "Black in America." It's a four-hour documentary looking at the success and also the struggles 40 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
KEILAR: Yes, part of the story is told through the eyes the Rand family, who are they you might ask? CNN's Soledad O'Brien has your introduction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's just after midnight in Houston, Texas. And the Rand family sets out for a family reunion.
(PEOPLE CHANTING)
O'BRIEN: At the same time, similar scenes in Dallas, New York, San Francisco -- from all corners of the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's get it on the road because we're on our way to Atlanta, Georgia, for the Rand grand reunion.
(PEOPLE SINGING)
O'BRIEN: Who are the Rands? They are mothers, fathers, aunts and uncles, and cousins. Theirs are stories of struggle and success.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When one person in this family succeeds, all of us succeed.
O'BRIEN: And when one dies, they all feel the pain.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't believe that I had lost another child.
O'BRIEN: Hundreds of miles later, they reach their final destination.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We made it in the rain (ph) and all.
O'BRIEN: More than 300 Rands descend on the city of Atlanta. Rainshowers forced the festivities inside but it doesn't dampen their family spirit.
VALERIE CARPENTER, FOURTH GENERATION RAND: I can't tell you how disappointed I am in the weather, but when God says it's going to rain, guess what? It's going to rain.
O'BRIEN: Rand's reunions are held every two years. It's an opportunity to celebrate and pass down a rich family heritage for the next generation.
DAVID BAXTER: This is the manifestation of some of Dr. King's dreams happening, you know, to be able to travel around the country, to be able to bring our kids together. And so, there's proud, positive heritage.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We tell our children, "when you have nobody, you have family."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (inaudible), older people, please work your way in the back.
O'BRIEN: At every reunion, a tradition -- a family portrait.
But there is a mystery surrounding the Rand family. A missing link that very few know about.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: CNN Presents "Black in America" this Wednesday and Thursday nights at 9:00 Eastern. You can learn more about this year- long project at cnn.com/blackinamerica. And tune in tonight for a CNN Essence magazine special "Reclaiming the Dream." That is at 8:00 Eastern, and is only right here on CNN.
