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CNN Sunday Morning
Suspect in Anthrax Attacks Commits Suicide; Girl Falls 14 Stories, Survives
Aired August 03, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is August 3rd. And I know it feels like August for a lot of folks out there.
Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for T.J. Holmes. It's 7:00 a.m. here on the east coast and it is Sunday morning. Welcome.
We've got a lot of things on the hopper today. We talked about the suspect in the anthrax case who committed suicide, and now we're finding out things that were warning signs.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: His group's therapist has some testimony, or at least, some things that she wanted -- we want to share with you.
NGUYEN: Pretty chilling, I mean, they said he wanted to go out in a "blaze of glory" according to that testimony. So, we'll give you more of that.
Also, this -- you've got to take a look at this -- because do you remember way back when Reynolds was helping the folks there in Cedar Rapids, Iowa with all the flooding and the sandbags? Do you ever wonder what happened to those sandbags after the flood waters are gone? We're going to find out.
MARCIANO: Also, a girl falls 14 stories down a rooftop chimney and she survives. So that's a good news story that we want to, definitely, share with you.
NGUYEN: And we want to start with this though. A little bit of sound that you may not be used to -- a little extra jingle in your pocket perhaps?
MARCIANO: It sounds nice, doesn't it? If you filled up your tank recently you know what we're talking about. The gas prices are dropping again. The average price is down nearly a penny to $3.88 a gallon, this is 17th straight drop.
All right. And get this. Gas has gone down 22 cents in a month but don't get too excited. Remember last year? It was $1 cheaper. So, we're still up pretty high. NGUYEN: You had to bring that up, didn't you? Just the truth, folks.
All right. So, to save some money, one woman -- get this -- is attempting what many say is impossible. She is trying to go the entire summer on one tank of gas. How? Well, let's get the story from Nick Winkler of affiliate KATU in Portland, Oregon.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, KATU)
NICK WINKLER, KATU-TV CORRESPONDENT: Getting by on just one tank of gas all summer may sound like an impossible chore, but with some comfortable shoes, some good friends and some patience, one young woman says she can show you how to do it, too.
(voice-over): By closing the door on one way of life...
DANNI BRANCACCIO, BLOGGER: I think I'd just hope people will try to change their habits.
WINKLER: Danni Brancaccio hopes to open another -- less dependence on oil.
BRANCACCIO: It actually is more fuel-efficient...
WINKLER: ... to use cruise control and drive slow, she says. You see Danni filled her tank at the start of summer.
BRANCACCIO: Come down here, it's about 1.5 miles to the parking ride.
WINKLER: And to make it last, she figures she can drive only about three miles a day, and so she parks quickly at Clark County's 134th Street Park and Ride and hoofs it toward the bus stop.
BRANCACCIO: I started going to work in heels and I decided that with more walking on my schedule, I should switch over to flats.
WINKLER: To meet her one tank goal, Danni admits she hitches rides with friends and uses mom's car.
BRANCACCIO: There are a lot of tricks I still have up my sleeve that I haven't started using yet.
WINKLER: Word of Danni's goal has spread.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you making it?
BRANCACCIO: Yes, so far.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good girl.
WINKLER: She blogs about it on "The Columbian" newspaper's Web site. But first, this idea was just a way to save money, but now it's more.
BRANCACCIO: I'm not super green but I respect the fact that we need to, you know, be wary of what we do.
WINKLER: The bus gets Danni to work an hour early, so inside, she gets comfy and patient.
BRANCACCIO: Yes. I've read a lot this summer. I've read about 10 books.
WINKLER: And even though her car reads close to "E," one tank or not, she says everyone wins.
BRANCACCIO: I'll be really proud of myself, and I think it will change my life forever.
WINKLER (on camera): Brancaccio has only 36 days of summer to go and only a quarter tank of gas before she's on empty. You can see if she makes her goal on the Web at Columbian.com.
Nick Winkler, KATU News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So, about a month ago. But did you listen closely? She takes her mom's car. That seems like cheating to me.
All right. So, we're going to ask her about this coming up in the 9:00 o'clock hour when she joins us live. So, you want to stay tuned for that.
MARCIANO: All right. Imagine if every weekend was a three-day weekend. It sounds pretty good. Well, they're doing it to save gas and you can spend more time with your family as well.
Starting this week in Utah, most government offices will be closed on Friday. It's part of a state plan to save energy and money. State employees and most agencies will not work -- will now work 10 hours a day Monday through Thursday only.
NGUYEN: Do you think we could do that around here?
MARCIANO: I don't mind that.
NGUYEN: Not a chance.
MARCIANO: Just, you know, total hours is still the same, but you can get fired as well, not pretty nice.
NGUYEN: It's not happening. No.
OK. So we do have this, though. Some chilling new information about the man sources say was the government's chief suspect in a deadly 2001 anthrax attack.
MARCIANO: Yes, that's Bruce Ivins, a scientist who committed suicide last week. His therapist testified in court last month that Ivins threatened her, and during a recent therapy session, outlined a plan to kill his coworkers. An audiotape of that testimony was obtained by the "New York Times." Here's part of it.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JEAN DULEY, IVINS' THERAPIST: That he had bought a bullet proof vest, had obtained a gun, a very detailed plan to kill his coworkers, to -- that because he was about to be indicted on capital murder charges, he was going to go out in a blaze of glory, that he was going to take everybody out with him.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Ivins worked at an Army lab at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
CNN's Kelli Arena has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELLI ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When Bruce Ivins killed himself, the net was closing fast.
DALE WATSON, FMR. FBI COUNTERTERRORISM OFFICIAL: This case has been going on a long period of time. It shows that this case is not necessarily dead or closed by any means.
ARENA: The government has released no details of its case but sources say, at the time of his suicide, the government was set to indict Ivins and seek the death penalty.
His neighbors say he'd been under suspicion for months.
BONNIE DUGGAN, NEIGHBOR: We started noticing the surveillance probably a year ago.
ARENA: So, what led the investigators to Ivins? Sources say, a scientific examination showed the anthrax used in the 2001 attacks originated here at the Fort Detrick Army lab in Maryland, where Ivins worked for more than three decades.
The twisted irony here is that Ivins was a top microbiologist who was developing an anthrax vaccine. Officials say, the FBI was looking into whether Ivins released the anthrax as a way to test his vaccine. His lawyers say it was stress, not guilt, that caused Ivins to kill himself. They contend he's "innocent," that he "fully cooperated" with the government.
Another irony -- according to sources, Ivins even helped analyze some of the anthrax found in letters used in the attacks. The Justice Department is being tight-lipped, saying "investigative documents remain under seal" and that it "has to brief victims and families before the public."
One of those victims is former Senator Tom Daschle.
TOM DASCHLE, FORMER SENATOR: I'm angered by the fact that we've been so left out in the dark, really, and unaware of what the circumstances are. I think we are owed more than that. ARENA: Several officials say the FBI may soon close the investigation into the attacks that killed five people, indicating Ivins was the lone suspect.
(on camera): But there are skeptics from members of Congress to anthrax victims, who say the government may be wrong. It focused for years on scientists Steven Hatfill, even publicly identified him as a person of interest, then had to pay him millions of dollars when he sued. Those doubters say that Ivins won't have that opportunity.
Kelli Arena, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And next hour on CNN, more testimony about from the therapist about Ivins alleged plot to kill his coworkers, including claims that he tried to pick a fight with some people just so that he could kill them.
MARCIANO: Nine days of triple-digit heat for the Dallas, Texas area and it's expected to get worst. Today, the temperature could hit 107 by mid-afternoon and that will make it the hottest day of the year so far. It could be the all time high for Dallas -- we'll check with Reynolds on a second -- but sweltering conditions are already being blamed for three deaths in the city since June.
Well, can Dallas see more of this? And, boy, Reynolds, it's like -- I don't know, like 15 days the last 16 or something? It's crazy like that where they've seen temperatures over a hundred.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, you're absolute right. Let's see -- Denver, I believe, 20 days in a row of temperatures in excess of 90 degrees. I mean, even you little weirdos know that, I mean, that kind of heat is just extreme. I mean, come on, no one should deal with that.
NGUYEN: But didn't you say, yesterday, Reynolds, that if they got up to 106 that would have been the record?
WOLF: If it reaches 106 for Dallas on Monday, they're going to tie the record. Right now, the forecast calls for Dallas going up to 107. So that would be -- let's see, let's do the math -- 106, 107, one degree higher.
NGUYEN: Yes, that would be a record.
WOLF: Take a look at the shot we have in Dallas for the time being. One cool morning for you with temperatures for now in the 70s, but goodness gracious, what the day has in store later on going up to the triple digit heat. Now, it's being felt over the great state of Texas.
Yesterday in Houston, we've got some video for you compliments of KHOU, and you see the people out there, they're dealing with the heat and here is the reason why. The sun is just coming down to beat the band (ph) and it is just been brutal. These folks are trying to do what they can to build some shelters in some great community efforts, and they're drinking the right stuff, drinking that water, certainly the best stuff to do.
Oh, that sun is so hot. Oh, goodness gracious.
Let's go right back to the weather computers. We can go back (ph), we'll show you what we're going to be dealing with, just a big bull's eye across parts of the central plains into Colorado and that's where your most intense heat is going to be. Temperatures there are some 15 degrees above normal.
And take a look at what it's going to hold for Dallas in terms of these temperatures. We're going to be going to 107, at least the forecast for Monday in Dallas; then on Tuesday, it's going to 101, but then, take a look, wow, a cool down. Let's go, a break at the (INAUDIBLE), 99 degrees, the temperature is cooling down and then right back up to 100 for Thursday. So, this intense heat is going to be felt for some time to come.
We do have a chance for strong storms today in the northern plains; we're going to talk about that coming up in the next update. Let's send it back to you.
NGUYEN: I don't know if we want another update after that, Reynolds.
WOLF: Eventually, these temperatures are going to yo-yo a bit, more back and forth. But right now, we're in the true brunt of summer. So, I mean, it happens.
MARCIANO: Do I smell a transition?
WOLF: I think so.
NGUYEN: There is one coming up. The yo-yo is being the operative word here.
WOLF: Oh, yes.
MARCIANO: Nice work, Reynolds.
NGUYEN: All right. Reynolds, thank you.
WOLF: You bet, guys.
NGUYEN: He's such a team player.
Speaking of that -- take a look at this.
WOLF: Wow.
NGUYEN: Yes, that's some skill, my friends. You're watching the 2008 World Yo-yo Contest in Orlando, Florida.
MARCIANO: Yes, back in the day Reynolds Wolf could "walk the dog" like nobody's (INAUDIBLE). WOLF: (INAUDIBLE). Ironically, he's doing -- that's called the "screaming monkey" on one, and in the other side, he's doing with his left hand, that is called the "raging donkey."
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Get out of here. You're making that up.
WOLF: Trust me. Yes, I've done it (ph).
MARCIANO: I believed you on the air show you've (inaudible) yesterday but I call them to question.
WOLF: It's kind of expression this one, right?
MARCIANO: That is wild stuff -- 200 contestants, Reynolds, from 22 different countries taking part in this thing. In the two hits (ph) -- there's one handed trick division and two-handed trick division, obviously, also a looping division, whatever that means. Anyway, it really takes on a lot of tricks and they know what they're doing.
WOLF: It's a beautiful thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAURIE HARRIS, YO-YO MOM: It's artistic and it's - you know -- has music, so you can move to it, and they land the tricks and you just can't believe it. You just go, "oh!" And they do something else more amazing.
GREGORY COEH, CONTEST DIRECTOR: Yo-yo has changed a whole lot since the "walk-the-dog" stage. The contest seems to be 10 basic tricks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: But not any more. I'd just want to know, what do you win at this contest?
MARCIANO: Well...
NGUYEN: A souped up yo-yo or what?
MARCIANO: It's the fame and the glory.
NGUYEN: Is that what it is? That's why they practice all year long for it. All right.
MARCIANO: All right. More cool video to show you, this one involves one of our own Miles O'Brien. You've seen him jumped (ph) before but nothing like this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, boy, oh, boy. Oh. (END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Yes. He's our very own "Buzz Lightyear," aka Miles O'Brien. He's strapping on the personal aviation and you don't want to miss it. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Welcome back. Time now to check in and see what's going on on CNN.com, our most popular story this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes. And for that, let's go to Josh Levs at the dot-com desk to see what everyone is clicking on today.
Hey, there, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hey to you. It's busy morning already at CNN.com. A lot of completely fresh stories and I'm going to encourage you to check it out. Let's start focusing in on the top story we have at CNN.com right now.
This is really interesting. It's just broken from the CDC. They've found thousands more HIV cases in the United States and just to give you a sense of what this is about, they are saying about 56,000 people became infected with HIV in the past year, that's 40 percent more cases than officials had even estimated. You can find out why that is. Go to CNN.com.
Let's jump over to this one now. A big talker today. One of our most popular -- Christina Applegate. Now, I would read anything involved in Christina Applegate, but in this case, what we're learning about her is that she is battling an early stage of breast cancer.
Her publicist has now said this is now the case. She was diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer but that she benefits from early detection. She's taking care of it right now. People will be following her story very closely. And we're hearing from a lot of her fans at CNN.com saying, they are thinking of her right now.
All right. Let's get to some of the more funky stuff we've got over on our video page. This is one of the most popular videos for a few days. It's really freaky but everybody keeps clicking on it and still number one this morning. They're calling it the "Montauk monster," just don't look at it for too long because it's horrifying. It's like one of those flying monkeys or something.
So, people are trying to weigh in what is the "Montauk monster," how did it come to exist on this planet? Is it some sort of minion? You know what? Take it away. I can't look at it. It's freaking me out too much. All right, good.
Let's go to the more where you guys were just talking about -- Miles O'Brien. He always gets to do some cool stuff. In this case, he kind of sort, I guess, to take off to the heavens. Let's watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) O'BRIEN: For the first time I want to try this right now and give it a whirl. Here I go. Here I go. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. Uh-oh. Oh.
I'd like to go higher, don't you? Not bad. Slow down now. Want me to land? How did I do?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: All right. So, supposedly that thing can go actually 8,000 feet up in the air, but not so far. He only got to go about three feet and they're not letting anybody go more than 10 feet unless they practice it for hundreds of hours. But, eventually, people will be able to go more and the coolest part of all this -- anyone can buy one. All you need is a $100,000 spare cash, which, you know, maybe Rob can afford that. I couldn't get one right now but I'll tell you -- sometime in the next five years, I'm going to ride that thing when you're allowed to go at least 1,000 feet. Very, very cool.
NGUYEN: Yes. The question, Josh, is how much gas does it take in one of those, especially with the gas prices the way they are these days?
LEVS: Yes, not very green. I hear you.
MARCIANO: I'll take two. Order me up two and we'll have a party.
NGUYEN: Yes.
LEVS: All right.
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: Around (ph) the backyard and see what they're made of.
(LAUGHTER)
MARCIANO: All right, Josh, thanks, buddy.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: Check it out. Lots of fanfare and fireworks, but no actual fans just yet. This is the "bird's net," that's what they are calling Beijing's national stadium, the site of this month's Olympic opening ceremony. Look at that.
MARCIANO: Beautiful.
NGUYEN: It looks like the real thing, but it's just a rehearsal for the big day. The Olympics begin in five days -- 8/8/08. And you can follow all of the Olympic action on CNN.com at a special section called Fan Zone. This unique site brings CNN's global resources right to your computer. Just go to CNN.com/fanzone.
MARCIANO: Choosing a number two. Another name entered for John McCain's consideration.
NGUYEN: And the final decision could be coming soon.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Well, despite fuel prices dropping off a bit, it's still a good idea to look for ways to get a little bit of better gas mileage. So, Poppy Harlow gives us some tips on today's "Right on Your Money."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
POPPY HARLOW, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Americans are driving less as gas prices rise, but there are many ways to save fuel -- even when you're on the road.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The biggest thing you can do is just take it easy on the gas pedal. When the light turns green, accelerate gently away. If you're approaching a red light or a stop sign, take your foot off the gas earlier and let your car coast through the stop sign and stop gently. When you're on the highway, slow down.
HARLOW: When you need to stop your car for more than a few seconds, consider turning the engine off, though not if you're in traffic.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People waste a lot of gas just idling for no reason. Also, if you're running errands, don't wait and run one errand at a time. Plan what you're doing, run your errands in a line (ph), give your engine a chance to warm up and stay warm so as you turn it off and on, you're not wasting a lot of gas turning the car off and on.
HARLOW: Still, you can't believe everything you hear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably the biggest myth about saving gas is people think there are things like, you know, changing your air filter and things like that, changing your oil are going to have a big impact in fuel savings and you should absolutely maintain your car and keep your car drivable and keep it safe -- but the reality is, you're not going to see a huge impact on your fuel economy. So, the big thing is, quite simply, change how you drive.
HARLOW: And that is this week's "Right on Your Money."
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Speaking of money, airlines tightening their belt and passengers -- well, you better open your wallets. If you're about to fly coach on U.S. airways, pack a few extra bucks, would you? The airlines have been charging $2 for soda, juice, and bottled water; and they bumped up the price of beer and wine and cocktails. The airlines say they are trying to offset the cost of fuel.
It sounds like that every time we do a story about airlines, they're raising the prices on something. MARCIANO: Settle down.
NGUYEN: I know. The economy, it is "ISSUE #1," we all know that. And, we will bring you all the latest financial news on weekdays at noon Eastern. It's info that you need on the mortgage meltdown, the credit crunch, and so much more. "ISSUE #1" at noon tomorrow.
MARCIANO: You get so fired up about that. Come on.
NGUYEN: I do, because, well, you know -- we have to fly a lot for not only our jobs, but, you know, to go and see family and this or that -- and every time you turn around if it's not the baggage, they're raising rates on that, now, you've got to pay to get a drink on the airlines?
MARCIANO: Well, you know, I can't tell you how many times I conked out and the beverage cart goes right past me, so they're saving money on me.
NGUYEN: So, they're saving -- so, go to sleep is the key.
MARCIANO: Well, yes, exactly.
NGUYEN: Take some sleeping pills before you get on the plane, sleep through it, you aren't going to pay a dime. Got you, that's Rob's solution to it.
Well, the political season is in full swing but Josh Levs has some words of caution for us today.
LEVS: Do you think if I took enough sleeping pills I could skip some of the ugly parts of campaign season, too?
NGUYEN: Good luck.
LEVS: That gets rocky, too, doesn't it? Oh, man.
All right. So, here is the thing. While everybody was focusing on that one reference to Paris and Britney, John McCain says something else about Barack Obama. I'll tell you if that was true.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Welcome back. It's almost half past the hour on this Sunday. I'm Betty Nguyen.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for T.J. Holmes.
Tracking down IEDs, sniffing out weapons, and searching for al Qaeda -- bound by duty, dogs trained to serve in the war on terror and, now, the little pups are being honored.
NGUYEN: Get you some politics now. There may be another name on John McCain's short list for vice president, and we are getting that name in just a moment. First, though, Barack Obama has agreed to three official presidential debates. John McCain had challenged him to several joint town hall-type appearances, but it looks like that's s not going to happen. The Commission on Presidential Debates has three scheduled for September and October. Now, McCain hasn't agreed to the three debate plan just yet, but his campaign says he will soon.
MARCIANO: Neither candidate has public event scheduled today, but that doesn't mean have you to do without. In this critical campaign season, we want to bring you more from the candidate in their own words.
Here's Obama speaking to supporters in Florida about offshore drilling. It's an issue he opposes, but now says he'll consider it as a part of a larger compromise to get a bipartisan bill passed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: This wasn't really a new position. What I'm saying is that we can drill our way out of the problem. That every energy expert that I've spoken with, every scientist, every energy will tell you that with 3 percent of the world's oil reserves and 25 percent of the world's oil utilization, we can keep on drilling all we want, but the long-term trend is for flat or decreasing oil supply and increased consumption.
And so, what that means is that, if we want to have true oil independence, if we want to have true energy independence, then we're going to have to become much more efficient in terms of how we use energy.
What I said was that the "Gang of 10" bill, what I've seen so far -- and we haven't seen the final legislation -- has some of the very aggressive elements that I've outlined in my plan to move us in the direction of genuine energy independence. You know, a good example is their goal that, in 20 years, 85 percent of the cars on the road are no longer petroleum-based. That, I think, is the kind of bold step that we need. The fact that they're willing to put in $7 billion to help the auto industry retool so that those new energy-efficient cars are made in America, I think, is a positive step. So there are a whole bunch of good things that have been proposed by this bipartisan group. I remain skeptical of some of the drilling predictions, but I will give them credit that the way they crafted the drilling provisions are about as careful and responsible as you might expect for a drilling agenda and what I don't want to do is for the best to be the enemy of the good here.
And if we can come up with a genuine bipartisan compromise in which I have to accept some things I don't like or the democrats have to accept some things that they don't like and a change for actually moving us in the direction of energy independence, then that's something I'm open to. Obviously, this is very preliminary. These are early details, but I wanted to, you know, send a strong signal that we can't allow, you know, partisan bickering or the desire to score political points to get in the way of providing some genuine relief to people who are struggling. (END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, John McCain's short list is getting a little bit longer. CNN has learned that Virginia congressman Eric Cantor is now getting a closer look as a possible vice presidential choice. Cantor is currently serving his fourth term, fourth highest ranking republican. Now, this man, I show you him, is not in the running for vice president. There he is. He is Daddy Yankee, a popular Puerto Rican singer who actually sat down with John McCain on Saturday. Daddy Yankee told reporters they talked about improving Hispanic communities. Also, we want to bring you more from John McCain taking questions from reporters in Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The fact that is that we are grid locked in Congress, we are grid locked because the democratic leadership refuses to reach across the aisle and work with the republicans. We are grid locked on virtually every single issue and so I want to assure you, when I am president, I will reach across the aisle and we will sit down and we will work together and we will do it in a bipartisan fashion and we will solve the issues that confront the American people. Yes, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Obama earlier today expressed support or plan in a bipartisan plan that would allow oil drilling within 50 miles of the Florida's west coast. I'd like to get your reaction to that and him coming around to that position?
MCCAIN: We need oil drilling and we need it now offshore. We need it now. He has consistently opposed it. He has opposed numerous large power and he has opposed reprocessing. He has opposed storage and the only thing I've heard him say is we should inflate our tires. So he has no plan for addressing the energy challenges that we face and we need drilling everywhere that the states and the governors, such as in the state of Florida, approve of. Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please tell us the thinking behind this new web ad that mocks Barack Obama's messiah-like figure.
MCCAIN: Oh, we were having some fun. We were having some fun with our supporters that we said - that we sent it out to and we're going to display a sense of humor in this campaign. I noticed a couple of days that Senator Barack Obama challenged me to a duel. Light sabers is my weapon of choice. But, seriously, if we have differences, we should have appeared at the Urban League Convention today. I've asked him time after time to appear with me on the same stage so we can discuss the issues that are important to the American people. So I look forward to people across this country saying appear together, appear in town hall meetings and discuss the issues that are important to the United States of America. Kelly?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The political video today does use religious imagery. Some people might have questions about that. And where does [ inaudible ] as it has been described by some of your critics no long include a respectful campaign? Where is the line for you?
MCCAIN: This is a very respectful campaign. I repeated my admiration and respect for Senator Obama. That clip is of Charlton Heston, it's a movie, it's film, a movie. So I really appreciated the movie and I appreciated Charlton Heston's magnificent acting skills as I saw it, but it's a movie. Yes?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Senator, are you going to steal our governor for vice president?
MCCAIN: I think that your governor has earned a place in the republican party, not just in the state of Florida, but nationally. He's a great leader and I think that, obviously, he has a major role to play in the republican party and in this nation in the future. We aren't talking about the process, but everybody knows the respect and appreciation I have for him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: John McCain there talking about the man who is standing next to him, Florida Governor Charlie Crist. We also told you a little bit earlier that Eric Cantor was also on this list of possible vice presidential contenders. So, if you'd like to see the complete list and you want to know more about it. Check out our website CNN political unit at cnnpolitics.com has assembled a look at each of the potential picks. And if you're curious where our website readers rank the possible candidates, all you have to do is check out the political market. All of that is at cnnpolitics.com.
MARCIANO: The veeps stakes. I think that's going to be the big buzz here in the next couple of months.
NGUYEN: The veep stakes. Yes, that's what everyone wants to know right now as we go into those conventions.
MARCIANO: Absolutely. Well, you've heard from the candidates and what they're saying on the campaign trail. Now let's hear what their campaign staffers have been up to.
NGUYEN: Our Josh Levs has been checking the facts on some of the latest attack ads. So are they on the up and up or are they trying to pull one over on us?
LEVS: How often are they on the up and up. Sometimes there are some policy differences, I should say. You know, a lot of the times the attacks that you hear about are these really obvious things that everyone talks about, but sometimes an attack falls a little bit under the radar.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's the biggest celebrity in the world.
LEVS (voice-over): While everyone was focusing on this part of the McCain's campaign ad, this got less attention.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Barack Obama says no to offshore drilling and says he'll raise taxes on electricity?
LEVS: Will Obama raise taxes on electricity? The McCain camp points to a February interview with the "San Antonio Express News" discussing funding, education, Obama was asked if he would consider taxing emerging energy forms, such as wind energy. His answer, "that's clean energy, and we want to drive down the cost of that... what we ought to do is tax dirty energy, like coal and to a lesser extent, natural gas. But I think that the real way to fund education is for local communities to step up and say this is important to us."
Coal and natural gas combined generate most U.S. electricity. Obama has not proposed specific new taxes on them. Fact check.org calls it as one comment "a feeble peg" on which to hang the McCain camp's claim.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE; What do we fight for in Iraq? I have some idea.
LEVS: From votevets.org, attacks McCain.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator McCain would occupy Iraq indefinitely against their wishes.
LEVS: In 2004, McCain said he would not do that. Recently CNN's Wolf Blitzer asked McCain what if Iraq's Prime Minister wanted U.S. troops out in a year or two?
WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: What do you do? Do you listen to the Prime Minister?
MCCAIN: He won't. He won't.
LEVS: Politifact.com says it's noteworthy that McCain won't answer the question these day but VoteVets doesn't have enough ammunition for its claim.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: And politifacts also uses something called a truthometer. Let's click on that for just a second. We're going to close in on this image so you can see there from VoteVets.org false. For more on this, you can always visit fact check.org over or politifact as well and of course for all the latest in political news at all times, just go to cnnpolitics.com. Check out the ticker while you're there. You can see breaking news throughout the day. You can sign up to get that in your e-mail There you go, guys. A little fact check on one of the attacks that ended up under the radar.
NGUYEN: I love that truthometer. If only we all had one of those -
MARCIANO: Yes, if only we all have one of those big screens. The internet looks a lot more fun.
LEVS: I love this screen myself.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
MARCIANO: Well, getting back to our big story yesterday. Still a big story today. A plot to kill. A testimony that the anthrax researcher planned to go on a killing spree after learning investigators were closing in on him. We're going to hear chilling words from his therapist in our next hour.
NGUYEN: And young Tibetans at odds with their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. It's our "Faces of Faith" story.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, the summer Olympics are getting under way in Beijing in less than a week.
MARCIANO: Yes, the games have also brought some new attention. It's a long struggle between China and Tibet over the country's independence and Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama has pushed for what he calls a middle way, asking for autonomy within China, rather than full independence. But as our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour found out, the Dalai Lama is being challenged by a new generation of Tibetans. Here is a sneak peek at our new documentary "Buddha's warriors."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Tibet's tradition merging with today's politics. In exile in Dharamsala, India. The Dalai Lama's official state oracle is going into a trance. He speaks the language only a few monks can understand. But officials tell us he delivers an important political message, advising the Dalai Lama to continue his conciliatory approach to China, but there are a growing number of young monks here who are no longer satisfied with the Dalai Lama's so-called middle way. There are a lot of young Tibetans here who feel that you been taken advantage of and they are so eager to get an autonomous or free Tibet and they want direct action.
DALAI LAMA, EXILED TIBETAN SPIRITUAL LEADER: Their stand is complete independence but only youth but some even older people now very concerned about our approach. Yes. I understand it. But then, our issue is cannot solve by some emotional feeling - difficult. We have to accept the reality, how much we can do.
AMANPOUR: Lhasang Tsering is a mentor to many young Tibetan exiles who are frustrated with the Dalai Lama's approach.
LHASANG TSERING, FORMER PRES. TIBETAN YOUTH CONGRESS: Tibet was not and will not be a part of China.
This middle way policy is unrealistic and unacceptable. The Chinese came to Tibet to stay for their interests so until and unless we can throw them out, they're not going to walk away.
AMANPOUR: But how, asked the Dalai Lama.
DALAI LAMA: What is the method to get independence? No clear answer either using some force or some violent matter, huh-uh, so I argue how to get weapon. No answer. No clear answer.
AMANPOUR: To his critics, the Dalai Lama is equally unrealistic. You've had these dialogues with the Chinese. They're insulting you. They say you want to bring back feudalism to China so what is your way of bringing to the Tibetan people?
DALAI LAMA: There are lot of new buildings. A lot of roads and railroads links. These are positives. Tibet, backward country, no Tibetan doesn't want this backwardness. We want more modernize Tibet.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: We need to tell you the government of China declined CNN's repeated requests for an interview. Tonight, Christiane Amanpour goes inside the world of Buddhism and the fight for freedom and democracy. Don't miss it "Buddha's Warriors" at 8:00 eastern only on CNN.
NGUYEN: That is a fascinating special.
We know what goes up must come down, of course.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love sand. Sand loves me.
NGUYEN: I never heard it sung quite that way but volunteers in Missouri leveling the sandbag levees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: And there he is. Our man, Reynolds Wolf. He was out there helping those folks fill the sandbags in June. He is going to share his experience and what it feels like to see those walls come crumbling down. Yes, still sore, I'm sure. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Hundreds of thousands of sandbags put up to fight the flood waters in June and, now, it's demolition time. Erika Bifield with affiliate KMOV has the story from Winfield, Missouri.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ERIKA BIFIELD, REPORTER, KMOV (voice-over): 500,000 sandbags. That's how many the National Guard put up. So that's the exact number that needs to come down.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dirty work but it has to be done. Shifting the sand out of the way. It creates a problem for the soil when the farmers come back to plant. BIFIELD: On a day with the temperatures hovering in the 90s, 140 volunteers gave up the comfort of air-conditioning to take down Winfield's sandbag wall.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love sand. Sand loves me.
BIFIELD: Taking down the wall is just as organized as putting it up. Volunteers remove the bags one by one. Empty the sand, and put the bags in piles. Once it's all sorted out, the sand is trucked to an empty lot and dumped. That's where it will stay until the leaders of the city of Winfield decide what they want to do with it. The wood you see here would will be burned and organizers say they plan on recycling the piles of metal. Everyone we talked to Saturday had a different reason for wanting to lend a hand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to mean something to somebody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A lot of time when disasters happen, people walk away and forget the aftermath.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully no good deed goes unnoticed and our if our town had problems that somebody would come help us.
BIFIELD: Today's effort made a small dent in the sandbag wall and in the coming days volunteers will still have to remove hundreds of thousands of bags and it's just miles and laughter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My kids would love this!
BIFIELD: Heard among the volunteers means anything, they're up for the challenge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Reynolds Wolf was out there when this all went down back in June. You're actually not only working for us but working for them as well.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. Moving some of that sand you were talking about near Winfield.
MARCIANO: Yes.
WOLF: What's interesting. It's kind of an interesting spot near the (Quiver) River and the Mississippi River and thankfully the conditions there are much better but all of the hard work, man.
MARCIANO: Was it 12 hours a day? Was it day and night when they were throwing sandbags?
WOLF: Nonstop. I mean.
MARCIANO: What did it feel like for you watching all of that come down as much work as they put into it?
WOLF: Words can't express, Rob. I'm just going to cry. MARCIANO: It's a good news story, obviously.
WOLF: Absolutely.
MARCIANO: And now we go from the floods to the heat.
WOLF: Funny. Take a look at this story. That is the next big weather story we have is the extreme heat. We're going to show you what we have in Texas right now. Let's give you a couple of live images that we have in both Austin and in Houston starting off with, I believe, Houston, Texas, compliments of KVUE. There is the Capitol building. Take a look at it, it's just beautiful. And just off right behind that is you got Daryl K. Royal Memorial Stadium, home of the Texas Longhorns. The season's going to be underway very soon. It should be very interesting, less than 30 days from the start of the season and they reportedly are practicing. They are reported to practice yesterday and it's going to be a good time out there. No doubt a great time.
Farther to the south in Houston, the home of the Rice Owls. You got, again, a great shot there. Kind of a faded blue with a little bit of cloud cover there. Unfortunately, that cloud cover is not going to keep things cooled down in Texas. It's going to be brutal today. And if you look behind, you see what I'm talking about with temperatures anywhere from 5 to 10 degrees above normal but if you look at that bull's eye that we have in parts of Colorado, in through Kansas and back into parts of Oklahoma, even into Nebraska, temperatures, some 15 degrees above normal. So when you can anticipate, Denver alone, Denver has had temperatures in excess of 90 degrees over the past 20 days and that shows no sign of slowing down.
We're going to be seeing will be the temperatures at least in Dallas staying in the triple digits until we get into Tuesday and then a very weak frontal boundary comes through and 30 percent chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms and high by Wednesday 98 degrees and return to the triple digits by Thursday. Guys, summertime in the central plains. It happens. Extreme heat.
NGUYEN: Oh, summertime in Texas can be brutal.
WOLF: You would know. You would definitely know.
NGUYEN: Yes. I spent plenty of those summers sweating it out.
WOLF: With the Horns.
NGUYEN: Yes.
MARCIANO: Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
NGUYEN: As always. Thank you, Reynolds.
Testimony that the anthrax researcher who committed suicide bought a gun, a bullet-proof vest and plotted to kill his coworkers. You're going to hear that in less than 10 minutes. So, don't go away.
Also, a one of a kind retirement ceremony for some of the military's finest. A monument dedicated to our four-legged friends.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Well, they've been deployed to numerous combat zones in search for weapons all over the place.
NGUYEN: Yes. Now the military is retiring some of its working dogs and there's a new memorial in Florida dedicated to their service.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Danny. Bless. Max. Marco. And Jacko having served faithfully and honorably, were devoted to duty and held personal integrity above all.
SGT. JUSTIN MORRISON, U.S. AIR FORCE: I'm Staff Sergeant Justin Morrison and this is MWD Bless. He's been deployed to Iraq numerous times, Saudi Arabia, Qatar. He has done TV wide to India. So he has been all around the world. In Saddam's Palace, he has his throne. He hopped up and sat in the palace chair in the throne and just made himself comfortable there and they got some pictures of him just sitting on the throne and just hanging out there.
RICKY HOOKER, U.S. AIR FORCE: My name is Ricky Hooker and my dog here is MDW Jacko. He's had numerous bombs, car bombs and cache of weapons. He's been in ID six explosions and 176 rocket attacks and this is my partner in crime so having him there in my house I get to see him every day and I know what he and me went through in Iraq.
SGT. MICHELE STRINGERT, U.S. AIR FORCE: I'm Sgt. Michelle Stringert and Danny. That's Danny. We went on a mission up to New York City for the United Nations Summit. He got to search all different hotel rooms for all different diplomats and the President. Basically, I mean, he served his country and he didn't live in the best conditions. So now that he's able to live with me, he's very comfortable. He has his own bed, that's if he's not sleeping in my bed.
SGT. LEE KATHLEEN, U.S. AIR FORCE: I'm Staff Sergeant Lee Kathleen and this is military working dog Max. He found three weapon caches and a week before we were supposed to deploy this year they found out he had a heart murmur. His heart is not producing 13 to 14 percent of the blood that his body needs to function. They found out about it in March. And they told him he only had a month to live and he is still alive in August.
SGT. REBECCA LIND, U.S. AIR FORCE: I'm Tech Sergeant Rebecca Lind and this is MWD Marco. Marco came to Hubertfield in the summer of 2003. We thought that maybe he has had a problem adjusting to the heat and the different temperature of Florida but we found out later through x-ray and test results that he had broken his back at some point in his training at Lackland and it wasn't caught there before he was shipped to Hubert Field so that limited his working abilities. His ability to hop, run and attack. He helps me around the house. He does some landscaping for me. He is digging me a swimming pool in the backyard. He does house work for me. He can open up the oven and he eats the crumbs out of the oven so he cleans the oven for me. He can also open up the refrigerator and the pantry doors so he takes care of all the food he thinks might be going bad.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ladies and gentlemen, I would now like to present to you the Working Dog Memorial.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, look. Everybody look.
Everybody right here, look at me. Dogs will look when they're ready. Hold tight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is August 3rd at 8:00 p.m. at the CNN headquarters right here in Atlanta, Georgia. Good morning, everybody. I am Betty Nguyen.
MARCIANO: And I'm Rob Marciano, in today for T.J. Holmes. You know, we've been talking about some fascinating yet but some pretty chilling sound from a therapist in the anthrax suicide case. Let's get right to it.
NGUYEN: Bruce Ivins.
MARCIANO: Yes. He's a scientist. I thought we're going to hear that sound first. But he's a scientist who committed suicide last week. He was accused of threatening his therapist and hatching a plot actually to kill some coworkers.
NGUYEN: Well, that's according to therapist, Jean Duley. Now, sources say, Ivins was the chief suspect in the deadly anthrax mailing in 2001 and that he killed himself as the government was closing in. Duley has testified that Ivins has been diagnosed as a sociopathic, homicidal killer. She was granted a temporary restraining order after testifying in court last month.
The "New York Times" obtained an audiotape of Duley's testimony as Rob was talking about. So, let's take a listen to that.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
JEAN DULEY, IVINS' THERAPIST: On July 9th, the respondent was in a group -- one of our group sessions and he was extremely agitated, out of control, and came into group. And I asked him what was going on.
And he proceeded to describe to the group a very long and detailed homicidal plan and intention to -- that he had bought a bullet proof vest, had obtained a gun, a very detailed plan to kill his coworkers, to -- that because he was about to be indicted on capital murder charges, he was going to go out in a blaze of glory, that he was going to take everybody out with him, that he had been roaming the streets of Frederick trying to pick a fight with somebody so that he could stab them, that they weren't going to take him without a fight.
And, I asked him more specific details because I know the client so well, I know that he plotted a plan. So, I tried to get as much detail as possible and he described in detail exactly what he was going to do at his place of employment and he described those plans in detail.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, that is truly shocking from Ivins' therapist, Jean Duley who says he was going to go out in a blaze of glory, saying that he was plotting to kill his coworkers. As you recall, the anthrax mailings killed five people and traumatized the nation after the September 11th terror attacks. Authorities are looking into whether Ivins may have released anthrax as a way to test a vaccine.
Ivins conducted anthrax research at the government's biodefense lab in Fort Detrick, Maryland.
MARCIANO: Iraq's president is in the United States this morning, but not for any high level meetings at the White House. President Jalal Talabani is here for a medical checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He's also expected to get treatment for a troublesome left knee.
And a deadly accident in Baghdad claimed the life of one American soldier, another was injured. This is the first U.S. troop death in August. Eleven Americans died in July, marking the fewest number of troop deaths in Iraq since the start of the war.
And it's time for healing this Sunday morning. One week ago, a gun man opened fire at a church in Knoxville, Tennessee, killing two people, wounding six others. It happened at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church. This morning, church members will begin what they call a rededication and reconsecration. They'll hold silent meditation at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, followed by a Sunday service. The suspect, Jim Adkisson, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
NGUYEN: Well, the man hunt is over for a Rockefeller impostor. The FBI says the man claiming to be a member of the wealthy Rockefeller oil family has been arrested in Baltimore. And the daughter he's accused of kidnapping from Boston, well, she is safe.
Jim Morelli of affiliate WCVB has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE, WCVB)
JIM MORELLI, WCVB REPORTER (voice-over): One week after it began, the Clark Rockefeller run is over. Saturday, FBI agents acting on a tip from a concerned anonymous citizen arrested Rockefeller outside an apartment in Baltimore, Maryland.
COMMISSIONER ED DAVIS, BOSTON POLICE: Investigators determined that Clark Rockefeller and Reigh were staying in an apartment in Floyd Street, in close proximity to a facility known as the Anchorage Marina where Clark was docking his 26-foot unnamed catamaran.
MORELLI: Authorities tricked Rockefeller into coming out of the apartment by telling him the catamaran was taking on water. Four minutes later, at 3:29, they found his daughter, seven-year-old Reigh, safe and sound.
NOREEN GLEASON, FBI ASST. SPECIAL AGENT: Her first words were that she was very happy to see very nice people.
MORELLI: Back ins about ton, Reigh's mother and Rockefeller's ex-wife, didn't speak when she heard the news. She nearly passed out.
SUPT. TOM LEE, BOSTON POLICE: One of the best moments in my police career was getting to personally tell Sandra Boss that we recovered her daughter and she absolutely collapsed in my arms. I caught her before she hit the ground.
MORELLI: The story began last Sunday. Authorities say that during a supervised visit with Reigh, Rockefeller pushed a social worker out of the way in Marlboro Street and fled with the girl. The pair first go into New York. One of the rumors this week, that he had changed his girl's appearance to elude authorities, not true.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her appearance has not been altered. Reigh appears to be unharmed.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Now, a lot of people have been watching that case as it played out and now, obviously there is a good ending and the little girl is safe. So that is some good news.
MARCIANO: Let's get to Reynolds Wolf, he's been checking on some storms in the Midwest and some big time heat building just about every where else.
Good morning, Reynolds.
WOLF: You know, you're absolutely right, Rob.
You know, there are many places in Midwest that would love to have some scattered showers to cool things down. They could desperately use the heat. Kansas City happens to be one of these places. It's not going to need the heat, they need to cool down.
Take a look at Kansas City. Here's the shot I believe that is Kauffman Stadium, not 100 percent sure. Home of the Kansas City Royals, that is certainly kind of a hazy morning there. You see a lot of green out there, a lot of trees, a lot of people out this Sunday morning, making their way up into the freeway. It is going to be blistering hot there. There's a slight, I mean, a very slight chance of a storm in Kansas City.
The rain would be welcome, but it would also be welcome in parts of Texas where in this video, we're going to show from you Houston, you see a bunch of people doing a great job. What they're doing is they're work under that blistering hot sun for Habitat for Humanity. They're pounding away to those nails. The sunglasses certainly help with the glare. And water certainly helps ward off that heat, but the heat is going to remain locked in place for Texas, and across much of the central plains over the next several days.
Let's go back to the weather computer and as we do so, you'll notice right behind me, anywhere say from parts of central and south Texas up to parts of Oklahoma, temperatures are going to be anywhere from five to 10 degrees above normal. But it's that bull's eye, that big area of red you see through parts of Kansas and back in Nebraska, Wyoming, even into Colorado, temperatures some 15 degrees above normal for this time of the year.
Now, what we can anticipate is that heat to remain locked in place in places like, say, right near the Red River in Dallas. You can expect those temperatures just to be brutal for Sunday. Monday, we're expecting the heat to continue. On Tuesday, slight chance of the scattered showers and then we cool it down a little bit to 98 degrees by Wednesday. And in Thursday, we're back in business with highs to triple digits.
It's not the only thing that's heating up. The Gulf of Mexico is beginning to heat up. We see this one big batch of storms that's developing. At this point, we're not saying it is a depression, it certainly isn't a tropical storm or hurricane, but it's something we're watching. It's this time of year where you can see these systems get really active especially in parts of the Caribbean.
OK. We're going to wrap it up. Let's send it right back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: Oh, I was just asking Rob, it's been a pretty mild hurricane season so far, right?
WOLF: So far so good, but...
NGUYEN: I won't speak to soon.
WOLF: Yes, we've got all the way through the rest of November and maybe even longer. You'll never know.
MARCIANO: Yes, we've got one hurricane under our belt. Reynolds, you were there and hopefully, that's the only one, but obviously we're just ramping up. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: There you go.
NGUYEN: Well, Reynolds, we want to you check out this amazing story. It's from New York. A 12-year-old girl is in the hospital this morning, but she is lucky to be alive after falling 14 stories.
MARCIANO: She fell down the chimney of her apartment building and landed in the furnace on a two foot thick bed of ash and soot. The fire chief called it a miracle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WABC, LT. SIMON RESSNER: I'm amazed that she survived even with that powder, but that's the only thing we can explain it. She had no scrapes no cuts, so she didn't impact the chimney going down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: The girl was on the roof of her building, showing off the view to her cousin who was visiting from California. She suffered an injury to her hip, but otherwise amazingly, she' OK.
NGUYEN: That's a good thing that that chimney was large enough. I mean, a 12-year-old girl, not that tiny, to fall through there 14 stories and not get caught on something.
WOLF: And when you're 12, an image is everything, how embarrassing to have to tell your friends -- I fell down a chimney, guys.
NGUYEN: You know what? At this point, I don't think it even matters. She is alive.
WOLF: Very true.
NGUYEN: She's just happy to be still with us today.
MARCIANO: And her cousin had a little story to bring back to California.
NGUYEN: Yes, guess what happened to my cousin over the summer.
All right. Yes, OK. Viewers, they've been sounding off on a proposal in Congress to legalize marijuana.
MARCIANO: And the guy reading through all those comments and just reading is Josh Levs. Good morning, Josh.
LEVS: This is still one of those insert joke here stories, people having a field day with this. A lot of people weighing in and all sides here and you may be amazed how many of you share the same opinion.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: As part of an effort to help you make an informed choice in the presidential election, from now until November, we're going to play more of what the candidates are saying in their own words on the campaign trail.
Here's John McCain speaking at the National Urban League convention in Orlando, Florida
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator Obama and I have fundamental differences on economic policy and many of them concern tax rates. He supports proposal to raise top marginal rates paid by small business and families, to raise tax rates on those with tax only incomes of more than $32,000, raise capital gains taxes, raise taxes on dividends, raise payroll taxes, and raise estate taxes. That's a whole lot of raising.
And for me, and so families, individuals and small businesses, it will mean a lot less money to spend, save and invest as they see fit. For my part, I believe that in a troubled economy when folks are struggling to afford the necessities of life, higher taxes are the last thing we need. The economy isn't hurting because...
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: My friends, the economy isn't hurting because workers and businesses are under-taxed. Raising taxes eliminates jobs, hurts small businesses, and delays economic recovery.
Under my plan, we will preserve the current low rates as they are, so businesses large and small can hire more people. We'll double the personal exemption from $3,500 to $7,000 for every dependent in every family in America. We'll offer...
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: We'll offer every individual and family a large tax credit to buy their health care so employers can spend more on wages, workers don't lose their coverage when they change jobs. We'll lower the business tax rate so American companies open new plants and create more jobs in this country, not going overseas.
Now, there are honest differences, as well, about growth of government. But surely we can find common ground in the principle that government cannot on forever spending recklessly and incurring debt. Government has grown by 60 percent in the last eight years because the Congress and the administration have failed to meet their responsibilities and Americans are angry about it. And they should be.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: And next year, total federal expenditures are predicted to reach over $3 trillion. That's an awful lot for us to be spending when this nation is already more than $9 trillion in debt or more than $30,000 in debt for every citizen of this country. That's a debt our government plans to leave for your children and mine to bear. And that's not only a failure of financial oversight, it's a moral obligation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Barack Obama has his own tax plan. It includes help for struggling families. He talked about that during a campaign stop yesterday in Titusville, Florida.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WKMG)
OBAMA: If I'm elected, I will put $1,000 tax cut into your pocket. Ninety-five percent of Americans will get tax relief under my plan. I will...
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: I will provide a mortgage interest deduction for people who currently don't qualify so that homeowners get a little bit of relief. We're going to eliminate income taxes -- we're going to eliminate income taxes for seniors who are making $50,000 a year or less, so they get a little bit of relief.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And I'm going to support parents who are struggling right now by expanding the child care credit.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And making sure that families have paid sick leave because a lot of folks don't. And we're going to make sure that we have equal pay for equal work so that every woman in America is being treated the same way that men are being treated because that's just the right thing to do.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: Now, I don't want to wait until I'm president to do it, I want it done now. So yesterday I announced a two part emergency plan to help struggling families make ends meet and get our economy back on track. First part of my plan is to tax the windfall profits of oil companies.
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: And to use some of that money to help you deal with rising gas prices by getting a rebate to you right away. Now, this is an area where my opponent and I disagree. He opposes using that money to help you pay your bills. The other day, we learned that Exxon- Mobil made nearly $12 billion in three months. To put it another way, they made $1,500 every second. That's more than $300,000 in the time it takes to you fill up your gas tank.
Senator McCain actually wants to give oil comes like Exxon another $4 billion in tax cuts. I don't know about you, but I don't think we should be giving tax breaks to oil companies at a time that they're doing better than they have ever done before and you are doing worse.
I think it's time to use some of those record profits to help pay for your record prices at the pump by putting $1,000 emergency energy rebate into your pockets right now.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: And you'll hear more of what the candidates are saying next hour. And remember for the latest on the presidential race, you can always logon to our Web site: CNNPolitics.com.
NGUYEN: Well, you don't have to wait for the next hour for this. An amazing medical procedure, a double arm transplant, it is a first for doctors. But first though, we want to give you a preview of what Dr. Sanjay Gupta is working on for "HOUSE CALL."
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, guys. Awake during brain surgery. Why the most unlikely time for a conversation may actually be the best. I'll tell what you I'm talking about, and a dramatic 911 rescue. We're going to hear the phone conversation one mother will never forget.
Plus, exercising for two? Could all that activity hurt the baby? We'll tell you. Those stories and the latest on the salmonella outbreak -- coming up on "HOUSE CALL" at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: So, Democratic Congressman Barney Frank recently held a news conference to call attention to a bill that will relax the federal laws on marijuana.
MARCIANO: So to speak. So, we asked you of what you thought and, well, lo and behold, we got flooded with all sorts of responses and emails. And Josh Levs is here to share with us what you wrote.
NGUYEN: No experimentation, only reading of the iReports.
LEVS: Yes, we've got a high number of emails. I've heard it all, (INAUDIBLE). But you know what? People love the story. I mean...
NGUYEN: Of course they do.
LEVS: This jumped to number one, of course, on CNN.com as soon as it was posted.
NGUYEN: Yes, as if you had any doubt. I mean, come on. We're talking about marijuana here.
LEVS: I know, it's so clear. So, the ideas is what he wants to do is drop federal penalties for someone who has less than 100 grams of marijuana. Here's what Barney Frank told CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. BARNEY FRANK, (D) MASSACHUSETTS: The federal government should no longer treat as a criminal offense the personal use or possession, or personal use of marijuana. With all that the federal government's got it deal with -- terrorism, other serious issues of federal crime, counterfeiting, et cetera -- to think that federal officials, law enforcement officials, would be worrying about someone smoking marijuana is ludicrous.
(END VIDEO CLIP) LEVS: All right. So, obviously we got a lot of responses to this. Let's just take a look at some of them. We're going to start off with this one that we got that says, "I am glad to see the Representative Frank is once again taking a stand for a sensible solution to a problem which has been plaguing our country for over 70 years." That's from Julie in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Now, let's go on to this one. "I live in Alaska, where the state law suggests that marijuana is legal. I have not witnessed any problems with this law." That's from Keith Stanley.
Now, almost everybody spoke in support of it, but there were a few that did not. This one from Tommy. "The typical "opening a can of worms." Don't." From Tommy for Bluffton, South Carolina.
Now this one is interesting, Aaron writes, "While I do agree that federal penalties for personal use should be taken away, 100 grams is way to high." Not that kind of "to," but he meant too high. "That's over three ounces of marijuana. No one needs that much for personal use."
Now, I would read one more here. "The government is not preventing me from ingesting other substances that are much more harmful than marijuana, like cigarettes and alcohol. I say tax it and let responsible Americans use it if they want." That's from T. Grady.
You all can still weigh in. Just go to iReport.com. You'll see, it's one of the main questions we're asking you on the main screen right there. Let us know what you think. Send your photos, your videos, obviously not photos or videos of you doing anything (INAUDIBLE) just weigh in on the concept of dropping federal penalties for this. That's all we're interested in. How do you feel about that idea, time to legalize pot or not?
NGUYEN: So, essentially no video, no photos, if you're smoking pot out there.
LEVS: Yes, none. Please. It's not useful.
NGUYEN: We're not soliciting that.
MARCIANO: And of course, we don't have time, but we were going to ask for Betty's opinion on the topic.
NGUYEN: Oh, you think?
(CROSSTALK)
MARCIANO: Thanks, Josh.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
MARCIANO: We've got some surprising new numbers now on AIDS in America. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says 56,000 people contract HIV every year.
NGUYEN: That is staggering. That is a 40 percent jump over the CDC's original estimate of 40,000. Now, the CDC says it is a wake-up call. New testing technology allows scientists to better pinpoint the time of infection.
We want to give some facts in this new report. Fifty-three percent of new cases involve homosexual or bisexual men. African- Americans, well, they account for 45 percent of new cases every year. So, that means African-Americans are seven times more likely to contract HIV than whites.
Well, the head of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation says the report illustrates failures in the U.S. AIDS prevention plans and he spoke in Mexico City, that's the site of the 17th International AIDS Conference which is getting under way today.
MARCIANO: Pardon the interruption, but someone wants to play through.
NGUYEN: Or at least pass through.
MARCIANO: Yes, floor (ph) please. Who's going to say no to this guy? Go ahead, play through, we'll catch up with you.
NGUYEN: A pro golf tournament with a bit of a color on the 13th hole, shall we say.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, this is definitely a talker. In Germany, a medical first -- a man who lost both arms in an accident six years ago, gets a new set of arms, and is believed to be the world's first double arm transplant.
MARCIANO: How about that? The surgery by a team of 40 doctors, nurses and assistants took place in Germany late last month. Doctors say it could take two years before the transplant patient is able to move his hands without help.
NGUYEN: Because all those nerves have to grow back. But it is really miraculous.
MARCIANO: Yes, that's amazing stuff, sure (ph).
All right. Check out this video. Spectators and golfers at the U.S. Senior Open in Colorado Springs got a little more than golf yesterday, didn't they? A little black bear strolling across the course.
NGUYEN: Witnesses say the bear suddenly appeared from the woods on the 13th fairway. Now, he checked out the spectators, although the spectators want no part of him. The bear then just retreated. It turns out golf isn't his game. Rumor is he's a Chicago Bears' fan. Oh, come on. MARCIANO: Oh, please. Stop it. He's not built, you know, he doesn't look like Tiger Woods really. No, he doesn't have the slim hips, the wide shoulders and the (INAUDIBLE).
NGUYEN: But you know what? He owns that course when he's out there. No one is going to challenge him.
MARCIANO: He can play through as much as he likes.
NGUYEN: Well, this guy that we want to talk about now, he used to have a six figure job. Now, though, he makes coffee and we're going (AUDIO BREAK) saved his life.
MARCIANO: Cool, that's coming up in half an hour, but first, it's time for "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
