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CNN Sunday Morning
12 Hurt When Dallas Cowboys Practice Arena Collapses; Ex- Football Star, GOP Politician Jack Kemp Dies at 73; Mountain Town Struggles After Devastating Layoffs
Aired May 03, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Good morning from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING; Sunday, May 3. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. It's six o'clock here in Atlanta, Georgia. It's 5 in Dallas, Texas, where this video comes to us from - I don't know if you've see this yet, but this happened yesterday.
What you're seeing here is the Dallas Cowboys indoor-practice facility collapse yesterday. Twelve people injured; a couple of serious injuries. More on this story and more of this video in just a moment.
NGUYEN: But we do want to start with the death of former Republican vice-presidential candidate Jack Kemp. Kemp, the running mate of Bob Dole in 1996, died last night of cancer.
Kemp was a former New York congressman and a quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. He was 73. We're going to have more on him in just a minute.
HOLMES: Also, new numbers - of course, these numbers keep changing in this global flu scare. The Centers for Disease Control and prevention now reporting 160 confirmed cases of this new flu virus in 21 states. New York confirmed 11 more cases yesterday.
Those numbers, however, not included in the overall CDC figures. Also not yet on the CDC list, one case in Iowa. So we do have several states that are confirming their own cases but haven't yet been added to the CDC total. Also, we know there has been one death after this flu scare. That was in Texas, a 23-month-old.
Also, Mexican officials reporting 19 confirmed deaths.
NGUYEN: Check this out: A tour-bus crash in Southern California hurt all 28 people onboard, eight of them critically. The bus hit a median, smashed through a wall and then came to a stop in someone's yard.
It happened yesterday on Interstate 215 in the city of Perris. The cause of that crash - well, it's still under investigation.
All right. Back to this story right now, because Jack Kemp was a barrel-chested guy who played both football and politics with a passion.
HOLMES: Yes, he sought the 1988 Republican presidential nomination and also was the Republican VP candidate in 1996. He revealed back in January that he had cancer.
CNN's Don Lemon now with more on the life of Jack Kemp.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DON LEMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As a star quarterback in the old American Football League, Jack Kemp led the Buffalo Bills to back-to-back championships in 1964 and 65.
When he retired from football in 1970, Buffalo-area voters elected him to the House of Representatives.
Kemp often said he was more interested in ideas than partisan politics, and he regarded his political foes as opponents, not enemies.
JACK KEMP (R), VICE-PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: You know what helped me? Playing football, when I got my head knocked off by Nick Bonaconi (ph) or Ernie Land (ph) or my - they're my best friends today. And I realized that they didn't make it personal, and I don't take it personal. And I - I think politics can be the same way.
LEMON: In 1978, Kemp teamed up with Senator William Roth of Delaware to propose the Kemp-Roth tax cuts. After Ronald Reagan became president in 1981, much of that proposal became law.
KEMP: From 1981 to 1988, the top tax rate came down from 70 to 28.
LEMON: Those tax cuts established Kemp as a leading advocate of conservative supply-side economics. But unlike many of the other conservatives of his era, Kemp actively courted African-American support.
KEMP: The ability that our party could be a Lincoln party in terms of attracting black and brown and men and women of color and low-income status and immigrant status, who want a shot at the American Dream for their children.
LEMON: Kemp made a bid for the 1988 Republican presidential nomination. He was unsuccessful.
But the man who won that nomination, the first President Bush, put Kemp in his Cabinet. As secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Kemp stuck to his supply-side philosophy, advocating tax breaks for inner-city business and home ownership for the poor.
KEMP: We're here to tell every single resident in public housing in the United States: You, too, can manage and control and ultimately own your own property.
LEMON: In 1996, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole picked Kemp to be his presidential running mate.
BOB DOLE (R), REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I like people around me that have ideas. That's why I picked Jack Kemp for my running mate. Jack has ideas.
LEMON: On the vice-presidential campaign trail, the former football star was a team player.
KEMP: I've played second-string quarterback a lot of times in my life.
LEMON: Dole and Kemp lost to the incumbent, President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.
KEMP: I called Vice President Gore and offered my congratulations to him and the president.
LEMON: The defeat ended Kemp's career as a political candidate. But it did not dim his influence inside his Republican Party. He continued to write and speak about his ideas, inspiring a new generation of supply-side conservatives.
KEMP: The only way to oppose a bad idea is to replace it with a good idea, and I like to think that I have spent my life trying to promote good ideas.
LEMON: Jack Kemp was 73 years old.
Don Lemon, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: I want to turn now to storms we saw. That awesome video, really, that we saw out of Dallas. Strong winds tore through the roof of Dallas Cowboys' indoor-practice arena during a rookie mini camp (INAUDIBLE). Several people actually injured.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
You know, it happened when a powerful thunderstorm hit Saturday. Check this video out. While 27 people were going through workouts, all captured on tape - and you can see here that the facility is just an air-supported canopy with a metal frame. But look at what's left.
Players, coaches, up to 70 people overall, where on the field when the storm struck. A crew from CNN affiliate WFAA captured everything, and we want you to take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(WIND BLOWING)
(SCREAMING)
(WIND BLOWING)
(CROSSTALK)
(SCREAMING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey (ph) baby! Hey baby! Who needs help?
(CROSSTALK)
(WIND BLOWING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) Get over here! Watch out! Watch out!
(CROSSTALK)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That storm came in just fast and furious, and as you can see, they just scrambled to find out who was still underneath the canopy as, you know, the winds blew it over and it was raining hard.
That was photographer Arnold Payne with CNN affiliate WFAA. He was at the facility, obviously, when it collapsed. And he told our Don Lemon what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEMON: I see there that you caught the - the lights as they were starting to shake. Tell us, what did you hear, and then what caused every one to look up at the ceiling and then start shooting this?
ARNOLD PAYNE, WFAA PHOTOGRAPHER: Well, we were - they were -- the Cowboys were right in the middle of the afternoon practice. And the rain was falling tremendously hard outside. I mean, it was just absolutely pouring all of a sudden.
And I noticed that the walls started to waver. I mean, the wind was so strong that the - this is kind of a tarp-type structure that they practice in when the weather is bad outside. So they got inside to escape the weather.
And then I - I noticed that the lights that are hanging from the ceiling start to sway. And it was - it wouldn't stop. And then it caught the attention of the players, and my attention. And shortly after that, it was as though someone took a - a stickpin and - and then hit a balloon.
It just collapsed. The walls collapsed; the ceiling was falling. And by the grace of God, I - I had the - the - the mind of - to just kind of take my time and see where things were falling before I tried to run out. Because otherwise, it could have been (INAUDIBLE) worse than it was.
LEMON: Mm-hmm.
I was looking at some of your images there, Arnold, it looks like at times, there were people who were trapped under this metal. You caught some of that on tape.
Explain to us what the guys were doing. It - it appears that they were not only running for cover, but they were trying to help each other and point out people who - who were trapped in this thing.
PAYNE: No question.
Well, initially, everyone was really trying to get out. And I mean, players were about as frightened as anybody else, obviously. It just - it just happened so fast.
So once guys figured that they could actually get out, that's when their attention immediately turned to helping their - their - their partners, and - and calling out their names, and - and their teammates.
And it - it was just a lot of - a lot of screaming of names. And they knew how many players were here, and obviously the coaching staff and a contingent of media people.
And it - at that point in time, it was not about football, but people helping people.
LEMON: And what were - what were they screaming? You said they were screaming names and looking - there's one guy who's on his knee, pointing over, saying, 'There's someone over there.'
And tell us about the people also who were trapped under - because I saw, there were several folks who were laying under this metal.
PAYNE: Yes.
Well, there was nowhere go. And obviously, you had light fixtures falling. The metal that's holding the tarp up - all of this stuff collapsed onto the field. And these guys couldn't go anywhere. And the players were calling other players' names, because they - those...
LEMON: Right.
PAYNE: ...were their partners, their friends.
As a matter of fact, the Dallas Cowboys had two photographers - this - this facility, it's about three stories high. And they have two photographers that take the - the game - I mean, the practice for the coaches, for them to review. And apparently, these guys - there was nowhere to go, and they actually rolled (ph) the building down with the story.
(CROSSTALK)
LEMON: They were above - they were in the - in the top part of the building, shooting this practice - shooting from up above this practice. And you're saying that they were in that top level, and then fell down with the building?
PAYNE: That's exactly what happened. They - there was nowhere for them to go.
And it fell so fast. It just collapsed as though the building was being imploded. I mean, it was - it was just that type of a scene. And they actually had to ride the building down.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, one special-teams coach suffered a broken back. Pretty serious injury there. Eleven others suffered minor injuries. No players were seriously hurt.
But 27 players in there. They were all rookies. So...
NGUYEN: Right. It was a mini camp there, and boy...
HOLMES: Welcome to the NFL, fellas.
NGUYEN: Yes, they're going to remember that.
Hey, I want you to check out the aerials of the roof. Because meteorologist Bonnie Schneider has been taking a look at the weather there and exactly what happened to cause this kind of damage.
HOLMES: Also, we got a comeback story for you this morning.
Well there it is; forgive my dramatic pause.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: But the music came.
That's Olympic swimming champion Dara Torres. She might want to be an Olympic champion one more time at the age of 45.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, the Dallas Cowboys are going to get the day off from practice today, because that is their practice facility right there. It was going to be the final practice for the rookies. But of course, this is what happened to that practice facility yesterday in Irving - collapsed in that storm.
Twelve people injured; one coach suffered a broken back. Heavy rain and winds just shy of a tornado brought down the metal-and-canopy building yesterday.
NGUYEN: Just tossed it around like it wasn't anything at all.
You know, meteorologist Bonnie Schneider has been looking at this.
And Bonnie, I understand what we are trying to figure out what happened here is the result of a microburst - what is that?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Betty, a microburst is a rapid downdraft of cooler air coming down. And we have a great I- Report to show you that really illustrates this.
It's a fantastic photography from Rick Senoa (ph) - I-Report. Does it look to you like an upside-down tornado? Well, that's because the winds in a microburst are actually coming in the opposite direction. Normally, with a tornado, we see the winds coming up, and then you have the funnel cloud kind of coming to a point at the end because it's sucking up the air. But in a microburst it's different; we have the air, the cold air, coming down rapidly, really fast.
What happens is, the warm air in the thunderstorm rises into cooler and drier air. It evaporates - cools really fast, almost as if you came out of the pool and it's warm air all around, but you still feel cold because you have the water droplets on you. That's what happens on the top of a thunderstorm.
Then suddenly, the air rushes down, very fast, gaining speed as it comes to the surface. So 70 mile per hour winds could suddenly become 90 miles per hour just near the surface as the downburst comes down.
So a microburst is a very dangerous thing. Maybe not a tornado, but it could certainly have some very damaging winds.
I want to show you what's going on right now. We're going to take a look at the thunderstorm situation in Texas, because we still have thunderstorms and severe weather in and around the Dallas area. Some strong storms rolling through Dallas. Right now, just light rain.
But that's not the only place we're tracking severe weather. You can see we've got some very powerful storms working their way across areas into lower Tennessee, where flooding has been a huge problem. And unfortunately, frequent lightning strikes associated with these storms. So be careful out there. It's early in the morning; if you don't have to travel, I would - I would advise against it, because we still have a severe-thunderstorm watch, with frequent, real-time lightning popping up all over Texas, Arkansas, Tennessee.
It's another storm morning. Rough go of it. Back to you.
NGUYEN: All right.
HOLMES: Bonnie, thank you. And thank you for that illustration. That's interesting to see. And like you said, an upside-down tornado.
SCHNEIDER: Yes, I think that's the best way to kind of understand it. It's the opposite winds, but they're coming down fast.
HOLMES: Wow.
NGUYEN: And that's exactly what it looked like, too...
SCHNEIDER: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...once you put it in that perspective.
OK, thank you, Bonnie. SCHNEIDER: Sure.
HOLMES: Thanks, Bonnie.
NGUYEN: You know, CNN is bringing together "Money & Main St.," where we see the real impact of the current economic climate on Americans.
HOLMES: And of course, losing a job can pretty much be a financial disaster for any family.
In Spruce Pine, North Carolina, 1 in 7 works is out of a job. Textile and furniture manufacturers packing up, leaving town.
Our Gerri Willis now introducing us to one family that is trying to get by.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEITH MURDOCK, JOB SEEKER: My job search has filled up about three pages already.
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL-FINANCE EDITOR (voice-over): Like most parents, Vickie and Keith Murdock worry about providing for their family. Keith is unemployed following his second layoff in eight years.
K. MURDOCK: Everybody you talked to - 'Well, we're not hiring,' you know? 'We ain't got nothing open; not now.'
WILLIS: Vickie and Keith met at a textile mill nearly 20 years ago in tiny Spruce Mine, North Carolina. But Keith was laid off when the mill closed in 2001. And Vickie lost another job in 2006, when furniture maker Ethan Allen closed its plant here.
Their situation is not unusual in this area.
(on camera): It looks like lentils maybe.
THE REV. BILL SWEETSER, SHEPHERD'S STAFF FOOD PANTRY: You got salad dressing and...
WILLIS: Oranges. Canned fruit.
(voice-over): Workers at the Shepherd's Staff food pantry say they are seeing three times as many clients as they did just last year.
SWEETSER: Right now, I would say we're barely keeping up.
WILLIS: The community has lost more than 2,000 jobs in the last six years. Major industries - textile, mining, furniture - have left the area.
But residents are hoping new businesses will help. A growing crafts and tourism industry is adding jobs, and the town is hoping to attract retirees looking for second homes.
Vickie and Keith both did the right thing; Keith went back to school and retrained for a job as an auto-body mechanic. Vickie retrained, too; she'll graduate as a certified medical assistant in May.
But retraining doesn't necessarily guarantee long-term employment.
K. MURDOCK: I heard of a place coming in - in (INAUDIBLE). And I got a job with them. And I - I loved it. And then here, just recently, I've got laid off from it in January.
WILLIS: In the meantime, Keith and Vickie keep their spirits up.
VICKIE MURDOCK, JOB SEEKER: When we get to worrying, how are we going to pay for this, it's like, the Lord makes a way.
WILLIS: They're hopeful that they'll find new jobs soon and keep their family afloat.
Gerri Willis, CNN, Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, Gerri says Vickie and Keith making all the right moves. They're retraining; they're hitting the pavement out there as well, and they're keeping their eyes and ears open for new jobs.
A bright spot for the family: Their oldest daughter just received word that she'll get a Pell Grant to attend a local community college, where she will train to be a nurse.
You can see more "Money & Main St." every Thursday morning on CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING."
NGUYEN: Well, good for her.
You know, all kinds of job fairs, they are just popping up all across the country, and people are very interested in these, for obvious reasons.
HOLMES: Yes, right about now, they could do a lot of folks some good.
And our Josh Levs talked to recruiters at one fair here in Atlanta for people with a little diversity. So what's the secret to landing the job?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOLLY PARTON, SINGER: Maybe you could say, "Working 6 till noon."
(LAUGHTER)
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Ah, Dolly.
Well, that was the interview that T.J. and I did of the - with the one and only Dolly Parton a few months back. She...
HOLMES: She gave us the remix.
NGUYEN: ...decided - exactly.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: We change it up for our show.
HOLMES: Because we do. We're on the air from 6 to noon...
NGUYEN: Six till noon.
HOLMES: ...on Saturdays, as many of you know.
But her musical though, "9 to 5," it opened up on Broadway just a couple days ago based on, of course, that 1980 film about secretaries...
NGUYEN: Was it 1980?
HOLMES: It was 1980.
NGUYEN: Wow.
HOLMES: She was in, along with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin - a lot of people remember that. And that song, of course, "Working 9 to 5" (sic).
NGUYEN: Yes.
Well, you know, hey, a lot of people want to be working...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...9 to 5 in this economy. They'd even settle for a crazy schedule like ours, right?
HOLMES: Yes, we got nothing to complain about here.
NGUYEN: Uh-uh.
HOLMES: It turns out that some people are in luck right about now though. Despite all the competition we keep hearing about, some well-known companies are actually searching for workers.
CNN's Josh Levs spoke with two recruiters at a job fair. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So we talk all the time about how there are so many people clamoring for the jobs that are available. But what you realize when you come to a job fair like this is that there are companies that are doing the opposite: They're showing up here and they're saying, 'We have jobs. Please apply for them. We have availabilities starting right now.'
We want to find out what this is like and how some people can take advantage of that.
We're going to talk to a couple recruiters, starting off here with Carlos - Carlos Urey of Home Depot.
CARLOS UREY, HOME DEPOT: Yes, sir.
LEVS: So talk to me about this. Why is it worth spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars to come to a job fair, where you could just post a job online and get lots of resumes?
UREY: Definitely - I mean, everybody knows the Home Depot brand. But - but we are interested in reaching out to our community, letting them understand that we need them, especially the Latin American, Spanish-speaking community. We need them to service our customers better.
LEVS: This is interesting. It's a bilingual job fair, and you're saying that even though there are lots of resumes out there, lots of people looking for jobs, you need to target specific communities in order to get the people you need.
That's a little bit promising for some people who meet that niche.
UREY: Yes.
And not only Latin America. I mean, in - in every community out there. This is just one of many. But we - our customer base is diverse, and we need our personnel also to be diverse to be able to help them out better and provide the customer service that they demand.
LEVS: This is so interesting. I know you've seen a lot of people here today. It's been very busy; hundreds have been showing up.
Another company that's here is Zap Inc., and we're going to talk right now to a representative from there, Vera Jackson.
VERA JACKSON, ZAP INC.: Yes.
LEVS: And you're a chemical company.
JACKSON: Yes.
LEVS: All right. So what have you seen today? And are you seeing qualified applicants? You also have a sign that says, 'Immediate openings. Join us right now.'
JACKSON: Yes.
Right now, we're actually seeing a few opportunities in reference to candidates that are qualified for our sales positions. The turnout has been great. A lot of people are not familiar with the Zap name brand, so we're here to represent in the community, to let them know that we are a 70-year-old company here in Atlanta, and that we do have opportunities available.
LEVS: You know, it's interesting, because as we know, there are so many people applying for jobs. But when we look at a situation like yours, it is a sign that if you have a niche ability, like if you're bilingual - right? Certain talent, certain skills...
JACKSON: Yes.
LEVS: ...there might be a job out there that's looking for you really hard that has to set up a booth to find you.
JACKSON: Yes, that's true.
Today, we're finding that candidates are bilingual that are showing up at the table. However, sales tend to intimidate people. We are a chemical-manufacturing company; most of our products are actually on the Home Depot shelves. So we're just trying to get our name out there and let them know that we are a company here in Atlanta, and we're looking for great candidates to work for a great company.
LEVS: It is really interesting.
In fact, speaking of their products, I want to show you one thing they had on their table that they've been giving away all day. Always a good thing to have, maybe especially right now - a little hand sanitizer, as hundreds, even thousands of people come on through.
I'm Josh Levs, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And with so many more people out of work as a consequence, more and more people are becoming homeless right about now.
NGUYEN: Yes. And coming up, how the face of homelessness may look a little more familiar to you in these trying times.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, hello there, and welcome back everybody on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen. We do have some sad news to tell you about. Former Congressman and presidential Cabinet member Jack Kemp, he died last night. Kemp sought the Republican presidential nomination in 1988 and was Republican Bob Dole's vice-presidential running mate in 1996. He also was a former congressman from New York and a professional football player. He served as Housing Secretary under President George H.W. Bush, a long history there.
Well, Jack Kemp died of cancer. He was 73 years old.
HOLMES: I don't know if you saw this yesterday, but what you saw was one of the biggest upsets in Kentucky Derby history -- a 50-to-1 stunner. Yesterday, Mine That Bird - there he is - 50-to-1, like I said, blew out the competition. It wasn't even close, really, on that muddy track. It rained a lot yesterday in Louisville.
Now, trainers had scratched the favorite going into the race, I Want Revenge, because of an ankle problem. The second race in the Triple Crown, which is the Preakness - it comes your way on May 16.
NGUYEN: I love that, 50-to-1.
HOLMES: Somebody got paid.
NGUYEN: Oh someone made some serious cash on that. And the name, Mine That Bird, that's pretty cool. My favorite, Mr. Hot stuff? Uh, 15th.
HOLMES: Why was that your favorite?
NGUYEN: That's OK. I just liked the name.
HOLMES: Of course, you did.
NGUYEN: All right. Roll the beautiful footage. Shall we? Well, it's not all that great. It's kind of sad when you think about what happened after this storm tore through the canopy roof in the Dallas Cowboys indoor training facility.
Look at that. Can you imagine. It just came crumbling down. The entire thing, in fact, just collapsed. Twelve people were injured, including a special teams coach who broke his back. No players were seriously hurt, and that's good news. But about 70 people were inside the training facility, when a rookie training camp was taking place. And then, of course, that storm blew through and shut it all down.
We want to show you a picture of what the Irving facility looked like before and after the storm. So, you see it right there, right? It's all together in one piece. Check out this. We are going to show you -- well, there we go. Can you imagine? This was what, a canopy top. And when you are looking at winds were up to 65miles-per-hour. It can really tear through and rip it to shreds, and unfortunately, that's exactly what it did.
HOLMES: A lot of these workout -these training facilities are essentially just shells. They're not sturdy buildings. They are just places to have, essentially, a roof a roof over your head, these guys go in and practice.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: So, they are not sturdy buildings at all.
NGUYEN: Yeah, obviously.
HOLMES: Obviously. So, our Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider has been tracking the storms in Texas. Are the storms done in Texas?
(WEATHER FORECAST)
HOLMES: A lot of people familiar with that show. A lot of people like reality shows. And there is one --
NGUYEN: I watch a lot of it.
HOLMES: You watch "The Extreme Makeover", where they make people over.
NGUYEN: Oh, where they kind of fix their teeth, their hair, everything. Yeah, that's --.
HOLMES: Yeah, change them up completely.
NGUYEN: Remarkable.
HOLMES: The next contestant? The GOP.
NGUYEN: No, get out of here.
HOLMES: Maybe they could use a show like that. We are talking about what they are trying to do to rebrand, with our Paul Steinhauser. He's coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The nation's chief executive, that would be Barack Obama, he's kicking back today. No public events on the schedule. He's got his regular briefings on Monday, however, and then on Tuesday he will welcome Israeli President Shimon Perez to the White House; and then on Wednesday meeting with the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Then the Treasury Department makes public those stress tests of the nation's 19 largest banks. Not on the president's schedule but he is expected to make some remarks about those results.
Cant he Republican Party, now, reshape itself? Three prominent Republicans hope so. They've kicked off a campaign to do that. Paul Steinhauser, CNN's deputy political editor, joins us now from Washington.
All right. A kickoff gathering in Virginia yesterday. What are they trying to do here? PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: They're trying to -I guess, as you said, just before the break, T.J., you said it quite well; a complete makeover in a way.
They are trying to reach out to voters and get new ideas. Here is why. Remember, 2006, elections they lost control of Congress, 2008 just last November, they further lost seats in the House and Senate, and they lost the White House. Now they have been rebranded -or branded by the Democrats, the rival party, as the party of no, the party of no new ideas.
And take a look at this number from CNN/Opinion Research Corporation, we polled nationally, and we asked how do you feel about the parties? Well, a51 percent have a favorable opinion of the Democratic Party, 39 percent, only 39 percent, T.J., have a favorable opinion of the Republican Party. So, they have their work cut out for them, no doubt about that, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Some of this work kind of started in Virginia. Like we were talking about, this meeting. So is this going to be kind of a grassroots effort, or are some of the people and players at this event we see in Virginia are some of the same players we've seen, or is there just going to be maybe some new faces and names start to come to the forefront?
STEINHAUSER: It's a little of both. What they're calling this thing is the National Council For A New America. And they will have these town hall forums. They had their first one yesterday. As you mentioned, right there, you can see in the middle, Eric Cantor, he's the second -- number two Republican in the House there. Also, there, Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor. And Mitt Romney, we remember him, the former Massachusetts governor who also ran for president as a Republican president.
They went to a pizzeria in Northern Virginia. And as you were saying, it's a little of both, T.J. Because they were reaching out to people and asking their ideas, and they were kind of going to incorporate this and come up with some new ideas for the Republican Party, to shed that image the Democrats are laying on them, that they're the party of no ideas. This is the first of a number of forums they will be having across the country, they say, T.J.
HOLMES: So, what is that debate about within the Republican Party? Are people trying to take it in a new direction? Some still trying to hold on to the old guard?
STEINHAUSER: Yeah, exactly. There is a struggle going on. This party is trying to find itself. And there are two kind of ways they could go maybe. Do they just stay within themselves and try to reenergize the conservative base, the base that was not so excited last year, with John McCain as their nominee. Or do they try to reach out and try to bring back independents and moderates back into the party, people they lost? And do they also try to reach out and grab new voters, such as ethnic voters, minority voters, and female voters, who they didn't do so great with. So there is a debate, which way to go. Big tent, or just stay narrow, T.J.? HOLMES: All right. We will see what comes. And, of course, still looking for leadership, if you will, at the head of that party.
Paul Steinhauser, if we have not told you before, we really appreciate having you here on the show with us on Saturday and Sunday morning. A friend of our show, Paul Steinhauser, deputy political director. We'll see you here in a little bit.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T. J.
HOLMES: All right, Betty.
NGUYEN: A dear friend, indeed.
Listen to this story, though. When a catastrophic tornado just rips through Kansas City, it pretty much took out the entire town. Now, Greensburg is reinventing itself and becoming one of the greenest cities in the nation. We will explain why you saw that car slammed on the top of that roof. It's all about going green.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, long after disaster strikes, people often wonder whatever happened to that community that was affected by the storm? Greensburg, Kansas, for example; two years ago an F-5 tornado pretty much wiped that city off the map.
NGUYEN: All right. So how does a small town rebuild from scratch? Just as important, how do you keep storm victims from starting over somewhere else? To find out, I took a trip back to Greensburg. And as you are about to see, the progress, it's pretty impressive.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)'
NGUYEN (voice over): May 4, 2007, this is all that is left of Greensburg, Kansas. And F-5 tornado tore through town, killing 11 people.
STEVE HEWITT, CITY ADMINISTRATOR: I walked upstairs and there's nothing but sky. There's not top of the house. It's all gone.
NGUYEN: That was City Administrator Steve Hewitt showing me where his home once stood two years ago. This is him today.
(On camera): Nice. It's a lot better than an just an empty piece of property which I saw last time.
HEWITT: Yeah, we have come a long way since then.
NGUYEN: And so has the town. Take a look at what was left in 2007. Little more than empty slabs and stacks of debris. But look at it now. Hewitt says that 50 percent of the town is rebuilt. And not just to code, the town has gone green. The goal? Become one of the most environmentally friendly cities in the nation, and in doing so create jobs so that young families will wanted to stay. Like the Tedders, who have been living in this FEMA trailer for a nearly year and a half.
JODI TEDDER, STORM SURVIVOR: Six of us, and a dog, it's kind of small.
NGUYEN: It is a little cramped in here. I see there is laundry on the side. I mean, there is no place to put it.
TEDDER: Yeah. And there is -a dresser.
NGUYEN: Microwave on the dresser.
TEDDER: That has silverware in it.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN (voice over): They are one of the last families still living in what is referred to as FEMAville. Some 300 trailers used to line these lots. Today there are only about two dozen. Soon to be one less.
The Tedders are packing up and moving into a brand new house built in the middle of town.
(On camera): So when you get into your new home, your room is not going to look anything like this, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, I will be twice the size and I'll have more room to put stuff.
NGUYEN: (voice over): But staying here was not always a given.
(On camera): Did you ever think about not rebuilding and moving out of Greensburg?
TEDDER: Actually, we did. But Greensburg has a great -- they have a wonderful school system, so we made the decision to stay.
NGUYEN (voice over): Just what Hewitt wants to hear as he works to bring Greensburg back in a big way.
HEWITT: We have tremendous opportunities. It won't be without a lot of tough sweat and equity and (AUDIO GAP) every single citizen. But I thought, let's at least give it a shot.
NGUYEN: And that's what they are doing, one family at a time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And it's really remarkable what they are doing there. For more information, here's what you can do. You can check out our blog at newsroom.blog.cnn. And there it is. Then you can actually watch some of the other pieces as well, that I was able to gather while in Greensburg. And coming up in the next hour, how Greensburg is redefining what it means to be environmentally friendly from a house that withstand a car being dropped on its roof, to a unique way of lighting your home or business without any electricity.
All right. So with one Supreme Court justice retiring, how will the seat be filled? That's what a lot of people are asking.
HOLMES: It's a favorite guessing game in Washington.
NGUYEN: Isn't it?
HOLMES: Who is going to be that person? We are going to be talking to our expert in Washington about the timetable and possible replacements. Also, and experts of sorts in the pool, at least; five- time Olympian and Olympic champion. There she is, Dara Torres. You know about what she's done in the pool, but you have no idea what she's been through out of that pool.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Yes, that's what you know about Dara Torres. Five Olympic Games, 12 medals, she has been breaking world records since she was 14 years old. She is 42 now and while, again, so many of us know her as an Olympic champion swimmer, her life has included many personal struggles. We talked about those, this week, here in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARA TORRES, CHAMPION OLYMPIC SWIMMER: The biggest thing I learned coming out of the Olympic Games, is that you just don't have to put an age limit on your dreams.
HOLMES (voice over): For Dara Torres, her dreams of becoming an Olympic champion have been realized and then some. Five Olympic Games, 12 Olympic medals, her dreams of motherhood almost never got off the starting block after she was told she couldn't conceive.
But after years of experimenting with infertility treatments and at the age of 39, Torres had her daughter, Tessa Grace, who is now three.
TORRES: One, two, three!
HOLMES (On camera): What seemed less important in life once you had a daughter?
TORRES: You know, it is really funny. Walking into the ready room - which is where all the athletes hang out 15 minutes before you swim in your finals in the Olympic Games - you walk in and it is so intense in there. You can basically hear a pin drop. I look at these kids' faces and I'm thinking, they think this is the most important thing in their life. And they have no idea what the most important thing is in life yet.
HOLMES: Your dad, with his painful bout with cancer, you go through two marriages, two divorces, the tough time trying to get pregnant. You go back to bulimia, that you dealt with -
TORRES: Jeeze, you're making it -
HOLMES: A lot of people go through things in life, but you have been through some exceptional things.
TORRES: Right, but it is painful, but I got through'em. And I moved on. And I've become a better person because of the stuff that I learned from my past. That's what inspiration is. I mean, you have all those low moments, but you also have the high moments, also. The inspiration doesn't just come from winning the medals, or going to the Olympic Games. It comes from what I had to battle and go through and deal with.
HOLMES: Do you see young people, some around you, maybe some - certainly I see a lot of swimmers - do you see them going through maybe some of the same things you did, with bulimia, at least? Do you see some of that stuff?
TORRES: Absolutely. Yeah, it is not just swimmers, I mean, the everyday person can have it. Different athletes can have it. It is something that I wanted to get out there that everyone could relate to.
HOLMES: It takes a while to get over that, physically, but it takes a little longer, emotionally, how long did that whole healing process take for you?
TORRES: It took awhile. The five, six years was the actual bulimia part, but as far as having a fear of food and looking at other people eat and think, God, I wish I could eat like that. That took a long time. That took until probably - I don't know, 1999, which was about seven years after I got over it. So, it takes a long time to heal from something like that. And to get over it, but I want people to know that you can get over it.
HOLMES (voice over): Today, at the age of 42, Torres is still one of the fastest swimmers in the world. And she still doesn't think she has reached her full potential as a swimmer, which means the 2012 Olympics in London is a possibility. That would be her sixth Olympic Games and she would be 45.
(On camera): Do you feel like your body starts to --
TORRES: Totally.
HOLMES: I mean, but still, it's a little different. You say you heal fast and but is it different than -?
TORRES: I do heal fast. And in the weight room when I'm training, I recover fast, but sometimes you just have arthritis and other things going on that you just can't help. And it comes with age and you just have to sort of deal with it. That's why I'm taking it day by day and not saying, oh, yeah, I'm going to train for the 2012 Olympics. I can't say that because I don't know how my body will hold out.
HOLMES: Why wait until you can't do it anymore. Why not let it go at your peak? Before you're Michael Jordan with the Wizards or something, you know?
TORRES: Well, what is a peak? I don't know what the peak is yet.
HOLMES: I mean, go home and check out your trophy case.
TORRES: Do you not want to see me swim anymore?
HOLMES: Check out your medals.
TORRES: Here's the thing.
HOLMES: Yes?
TORRES: I get grief like from some people saying, you know, you should let the younger kids swim. But if I'm the fastest and I earn the spot on the team, why can't I swim? So, you are saying, why don't I just stop now? The problem is I lost by a 100th of a second in the Olympic games and it really pisses me off.
HOLMES: Yes? OK?
TORRES: And so I want to keep swimming.
HOLMES: You want to keep swimming, but that sounds like you want to get back to the Olympics and get the gold.
TORRES: Well, I want to be the best in the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Right now, she is still one of the best in the world. She has been busy promoting her book, "Age Is Just A Number," where she chronicles her life, and talks about some of those personal struggles. But in the meantime, she is still working out. Training every single day, swimming some of her best times yet, Betty. She is getting ready for the Worlds in Rome, coming up a little later this summer. And if the body holds up, we might see her in the Olympics.
NGUYEN: You know what, I don't blame her. She was that close. And who would not want to go and try it again to get the gold.
HOLMES: But to think, 45 in London.
NGUYEN: Hey, she looks great.
HOLMES: She is doing just fine.
NGUYEN: We'll be watching.
HOLMES: All right.
NGUYEN: A fierce storm. Look at this. It just ripped apart the roof of the Dallas Cowboy's training facility. Two people were seriously hurt. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, all the times people think of homelessness, and they think maybe of an individual man or a woman living on the street, maybe begging for money.
NGUYEN: Yes, absolutely. But with the perfect storm of the foreclosure crisis, and the faltering economy, more and more families are becoming homeless. CNN's Kate Bolduan introduces us to one such family.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SHEILA WASH, HOMELESS MOTHER: Yep, right on schedule.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Every day, just past 4:00, Sheila Walsh meets her daughter, Shalaya (ph), as she arrives home from school.
WASH: Hey, I brought your jacket because I know it's cold.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, it's really, really cold.
BOLDUAN: But every day is anything but a homecoming for the Walsh family. Sheila and her two children are homeless, and have been since 2007, after Sheila lost her job with the government. They Washes are now watching in this Washington, D.C. shelter.
WASH: I thank God we have a roof over our head right now. You know, you have to accept the things that come to you.
BOLDUAN: Their situation only made worse as the economic recession set in.
WASH: Trying to find a job it's been hard, and then now that a lot of people being laid off, it's even harder, you know, trying to find a job, when other people are looking for the same job.
BOLDUAN: The Washes are part of the changing face of homelessness. Not just individuals, but families. The D.C. region alone is reporting a 15 percent jump in homeless families since last year.
(On camera): What would you say to those people who don't understand this face of homelessness?
WASH: Uh, whew. I mean, you just can't judge a book by its cover. I mean, there's always a story behind a person that is less fortunate than you.
BOLDUAN: School officials in Prince George's County, Maryland, where the Wash kids go to school, say a day doesn't go by without enrolling more children as homelessness. Denise Ross handles outreach to homeless families.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Some of them are embarrassed and some of them are scared. Some of them are sad. Students who are displaced, or homeless students, feel that schools is a safe haven. That's - they really want to come to school.
BOLDUAN: And school is the one source of stability Sheila Wash says they can count on right now. They are shopping for new uniforms with the help of school vouchers. However, they're facing another setback. Their current shelter is about to close, and the Washes don't know where they will stay next, but one wish keeps them going.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pray that I wake up in the morning, and my mom -we get a house and everything that we wanted.
BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Great story there. Struggling times obviously. It really puts a face on it.
So, can't find a job, struggling to make those house payments. One of Oprah's spiritual advisors shed some light on how to cope during these rough economic hard times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. MICHAEL BECKWITH, FOUNDER, AGAPE INT'L. SPIRITUAL CENTER: Affirmative prayer and meditation, study. Being around individuals that keep you encouraged, counting your blessings. These are things that allow you to hear that inner intuitive voice of guidance that assists you in making the right moves at the right time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith, in today's "Faces of Faith".
HOLMES: From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING for this May 3. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Betty Nguyen.
It is 7:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 6:00 a.m. in Dallas, and 4:00 a.m. in Las Vegas.
We do want to get started with some unfortunate news.
HOLMES: Yes, Jack Kemp is dead. He's the Republican vice presidential candidate. Of course, he is the running mate of Bob Dole in 1996. He died of cancer last night, also, a former New York congressman and quarterback, championship quarter with the Buffalo Bills. He was 73 years old.
NGUYEN: An Iraqi soldier in training was shot and killed, as well as two American soldiers, they've been wounded and three others. It happened yesterday at a combat outpost south of Mosul. The Americans returned fire and killed the gunman. A second shooter fled from the scene.
(VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This scene here is video out of Dallas. This is at the Dallas Cowboys indoor training facility that was damaged pretty badly when that roof collapsed yesterday while practice was going on. Twelve people were injured, including one coach who actually broke his back. And officials say he'll likely need surgery. No players were seriously hurt even though there were 27 rookies practicing there at that time.
NGUYEN: Well, officials say, there were 70 people inside desperately, just like they're scrambling to take cover when the walls began to rattle.
HOLMES: Yes, there was a -- they got some pre-season drills going on here, and this was for the rookies. So, welcome to the league, fellows. CNN's Brendan Gage now reports that few players and coaches were trapped in the rubble.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENDAN GAGE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amazing images from Dallas television station WFAA, the NFL's Dallas Cowboys were in the middle of a practice session for their first year players, about a violent thunderstorm with high winds shook the walls of the air- supported canopy, and everybody inside fled.
Listen to this team employee describe his experience.
MICKEY SPAGNOLA, DALLASCOWBOYS.COM: The wind was blowing so hard. When we opened the door, it was like the wind was sucking us back in and we could not get out the door.
GAGE: Not everyone was lucky enough to escape the wreckage unscathed. Despite the terrifying images, officials say this was a case of things that were done right.
DR. PAUL PEPPY: The immediate reaction here of not only the police and fire, and, you know, especially the fire department and also the organization itself, the Cowboys organization, their prompt action actually prevented a lot of the problems that we could have had.
GAGE: Dozens of players, coaches and support staff were inside the structure went it went down. The National Weather Service says the wind gusts were as much as 60 miles an hour when the canopy went down.
I'm Brendan Gage, reporting from Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, of the dozen people hospitalized for their injuries, 10 were taken by emergency vehicles and two went on their own. HOLMES: And one man who witnessed the collapsed told CNN affiliate WFAA what he saw. Listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WFAA, SATURDAY)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was actually one of the first people here on the scene. The far structure of the building over there, pretty much, I did see it fall over to its side. And there were bodies scrambling outside the building. A couple ambulances that were here previously before did carry a couple of bodies off with them.
It was pretty quick. It did happen all of a sudden. So, it wasn't just a quick fall, no, but it did -- as it was on the ground, the high winds kind of kept pulling things apart.
I was shocked and just frightened pretty much for the people that were inside. And as I saw people scrambling, I mean, there was nothing I can do to help, but, you know, still just in shock.
I did see people running out. And some of the ambulance and paramedics were coming out of the building that were in the building on backboards, so to speak, carrying bodies out. I did see two people come out on backboards.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Now, we want to be clear. He mentions bodies -- no one was killed in that. But one special teams coach suffered a broken back, and 11 others had minor injuries. Team officials saying no players were seriously hurt.
HOLMES: Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is in for us this weekend or in for Reynolds Wolf.
And, you saw this a little earlier. This was really fascinating to explain. Even though you don't have a tornado, how something still can do this type of damage, this weather -- this wind can do this kind of damage?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely, T.J. and Betty. And, and we have a great iReport sent to us from Rick Seno, that really captures this microburst. And if you are wondering what is a microburst, we take a closer look at this iReport, it almost looks as if it's an upside down tornado -- because normally, we see a tornado, we see the finer point at the bottom sucking up the air and then the wider column at the top, where we're getting that really suction motion happening as the air rises and really spirals in a tornado.
Well, this is the opposite. This is a microburst. What is happening here is the wind -- the cold air is rushing very rapidly down and also spread out to the side. So, we are seeing a fanning effect. And the wind coming out from -- the wind coming down rather from the microburst can come at an accelerated rate of 70 miles per hour.
However, just a few hundred of feet from the ground, right before that wind reaches the bottom, it can accelerate. So, we could even see a microburst have winds of 100 miles per hour. And that's why you could see so much damage, because they are so rapid and so intense.
The reason you get a microburst sometimes during a severe thunderstorm, is have you the warm up draft of a thunderstorm -- which we typically see warm, humid air. However, on the top part, the very top part of the thunderstorm, you have much drier, cooler air. And as that warm air and the moisture sort of evaporates quickly, it cools fast, almost as if you had water on your body and you step out just into cold air and you feel cold like in a cold rainstorm. Well, the same thing happens on the top a thunderstorm, that cold air, its dense is heavy and it rushes down rapidly. And that's exactly what we saw in this microburst here -- very well illustrated in the iReport here. You can see that downward flow of air.
What's happening right now in Texas? Well, we got frequent lightning strikes and some very strong storms rolling through areas south of Dallas. In fact, there is a severe thunderstorm watch in effect as we go through the afternoon hours, because we are tracking intense weather in the region. We're also watching for the threat for flooding.
So, here is the severe thunderstorm watch. Notice the frequent lightning strikes in and around Arkansas, Texas, on into Mississippi. This is the beginning of thunderstorms rolling through to the east and it will produce, possibly, some more very strong and even damaging winds as we go through the afternoon hours.
And I want to show you temperatures right now. You can see the contrast where the front is coming in. Dallas is cooled now to 59 degrees. It was much hotter this time yesterday. But we're still watching some hot weather down in this region here in southwest Florida. And it's really here, just in Glades and Hendry County that we're watching out for a threat of fire danger, low levels of humidity, gusty winds and hot temperatures -- Betty and T.J.?
NGUYEN: What a great explanation. I like the way you work that magic wall there, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Well, thank you.
NGUYEN: I know.
SCHNEIDER: I couldn't do it.
HOLMES: No, really, but we appreciate the illustration this morning.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Certainly with the iReport picture. And really, we do appreciate you. We're sitting here captivating by the -- not that we're not when Reynolds is here.
NGUYEN: Yes, not at all.
HOLMES: But, really, a lot of weather information today.
NGUYEN: Good explanation today. Thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks, Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Thank you.
HOLMES: We'll turn to Supreme Court today. Justice David Souter, of course, announcing last week that he's leaving the Supreme Court; and the president now will have to pick a replacement who could affect the balance of the court for years to come.
CNN deputy political director and friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING, Paul Steinhauser joins us now live from Washington.
Paul, these have historically been very epic battles between all sides. So, what are we expecting President Obama to get from conservatives, from Republicans, about his pick?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: He's going to get pushback, no doubt about it. And, you know, this is interesting because, this time, you'll probably not going to get a change in etiology of the court because Souter, of course, was part of the liberal block of the court, and probably will be replaced by somebody as progressive as he was.
But, T.J., as you said, the conservatives are already pushing back. Our Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent was reporting about some talking points the conservatives are putting out there, they will fight any nominee this White House puts out there. One of the things they're going to fight back about is a comment that President Obama made on Friday.
Take a listen to what Obama said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: I view that quality of empathy, of understanding and identifying with people's hopes and struggles as an essential ingredient for arriving at just decisions and outcomes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEINHAUSER: That's what conservatives are upset about, T.J. They are saying that empathy -- empathy for who? All Americans, some specific Americans, they say that should not be part of this equation here, that whatever the -- who ever the nominee is should just be somebody who deals with the rule of law. That's one of the ways they are pushing back.
Now, Republicans in the Senate, they are a little more realistic here. They know they don't have the votes, and they know that unless President Obama picks somebody extremely controversial, they're not going to have the votes to stop the president. Another problem here, T.J., is what happens on the judiciary committee. Remember, the top Republican on the judiciary committee, Arlen Specter, is now a Democrat. So, they need to find a new leader, I guess, to bring out -- to lead the charge, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. How soon might we hear a name from the president?
STEINHAUSER: The timetable is interesting. The White House has said, the White House has said, the president has said he wants somebody on the high court by the beginning of October, and that is when the new session starts. The press secretary, Robert Gibbs, has said that probably means late July.
But take a look at this. Our Robert Yoon, our research director, came up with this. Of the last 13 nominees, and nine of them have been picked within six days of a vacancy. That's pretty quick. But I don't think you're going to see that quick a pick this time. In fact, Bill Mears, our Supreme Court producer said, you know, that this White House may wait until after this current session is over, which is the end of June. So, maybe, sometime in July, T.J.
HOLMES: And it's amazing that we can talk about frontrunners, but there are frontrunners even though I don't even know where they come from, people who you pull out in the air.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMERS: Because, the president and the White House are not saying anything. But, who are the considered out there? Who -- all the chatter is about who?
STEINHAUSER: Yes, the chatter first of all is about women, because there is a lot of pressure, I think, on this White House to name somebody -- you know, there is only one female Supreme Court justice right now. There used to be two.
So, take a look at these three women that come up a lot in conversations this last two days. The first one is Sonia Sotomayor; she is -- U.S. Court of Appeals, the Second Circuit. She was nominated by the first President Bush, and she is Hispanic. Diane Wood, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. She was nominated to the bench by President Clinton. And Elena Kagan; she is the solicitor general for this administration, basically the lawyer that tries cases in front of Supreme Court. She, before that, was the dean of the Harvard Law School, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Again, the frontrunners, if you will. But ...
STEINHAUSER: Yes.
HOLMES: Go ahead and finish your point.
STEINHAUSER: Now, there is a lot of other names out there.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: We just touched on a few of them. So, T. J., people are going to be talking about this for quite sometime.
HOLMES: All right. Betty wants to talk now. She wants to talk to you about something else.
NGUYEN: Oh, you want me to do this.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, we did want to mention that President Obama did take the first lady out last night for an evening on the town, correct?
STEINHAUSER: Yes. You are correct, ma'am.
NGUYEN: And he took her to a place called, the Citronelle, which is a fancy D.C. restaurant. And you know, I guess my question to you, Paul, is when was the last time you've done something like that for your lovely lady?
HOLMES: Oh!
STEINHAUSER: Well, you put me on the spot.
NGUYEN: The reason why I put you on the spot is because one of our associate producers here, Hanna, wrote on our blog today, we're going to put it up for you, and you can go to our blog at CNN/blog.com. And she lists all of the things that the president is dealing with -- you know, a possible pandemic, pirates, a failing economy, the Iraq war and on and on and on. But her point is, look, he still had time to take his lady out on the town.
And she wrote this to her boyfriend, in fact. At the bottom, she put, "Men, step up your game." So, I'm just throwing it out there, guys.
HOLMES: What? She had to wait 103 days for that date. I mean, he's waiting like 104 of the ...
NGUYEN: Yes, sure. He's been a little busy.
HOLMES: OK.
NGUYEN: Making excuses. I already hear them.
HOLMES: It's not an excuse. But, Paul, I mean, if you even take your lady out once a month, you're still on a better schedule than the president there who is taking his lady out.
STEINHAUSER: Well, you know, it's interesting. It's interesting, guys, because the previous president and first lady did not go out a lot here in Washington, D.C., you know. This is -- this president, we will see if he's different if he and the first lady go out and hit some of the hot spots here in D.C. We'll keep our eye on that, T.J. and Betty.
HOLMES: And, Paul, I'm sorry, if I would have known she's going to put you on the spot like that, I never would have let her.
NGUYEN: Oh, whatever.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: You let me do the dirty work on that one. I see how you operate, T. J.
Paul, we'll talk to you later.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: All right. We're going to move from that to this. More deaths because of the H1N1 flu virus, and it's now confirmed in a new state.
HOLMES: Also, we'll turn to the Kentucky Derby, always a big deal, but a bigger deal this year, some history made. We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Now, for the latest on the swine flu and the outbreak. The World Health Organization says the number of cases worldwide rose to 787 on Sunday, 19 of them in Mexico, one in the United States. Iowa's governor has announced the first confirmed H1N1 flu case in that state.
President Obama and Mexico's president, Felipe Calderon, spoke on the phone for 20 minutes yesterday. And both president shared information about efforts to contain the outbreak, as well as the importance of close cooperation during this crisis.
And this flu scare has led to a number of U.S. schools' closing. We want to check out this map. Schools are closed in 19 states. New York is among them. And the majority of the cases there come from St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens. That school is set to reopen tomorrow.
HOLMES: And President Obama talked about being vigilant in handling this flu outbreak during his weekly radio address.
NGUYEN: Yes, CNN's Elaine Quijano tells us how the nation's chief executive is handling the outbreak.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In his weekly address, President Obama walked a fine line on the flu outbreak. Between reality ...
OBAMA: This is a new strain of the flu virus, and because we haven't developed an immunity to it, it has more potential to cause us harm.
QUIJANO: And reassurance.
OBAMA: I would sooner take action now than hesitate and face graver consequences later.
QUIJANO: Trying to ease fears, the president stressed his administration's flu-fighting steps so far, prep-positioning millions of courses of antiviral drugs. His $1.5 billion request to Congress for pandemic response and preparedness.
And Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that schools and daycares with confirmed cases of H1N1 close for up to 14 days.
DR. ANNE SCHUCHAT, CDC SCIENCE & PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAM: Children are very common reservoirs for infectious diseases, including infectious viruses like influenza. They tend to have lots of social contacts, more than adults. And they also shed the virus longer than adults do.
QUIJANO: While authorities in Mexico are suggesting the virus may be stabilizing in that country, here in the U.S., the CDC warns, Americans are not out of the woods.
SCHUCHAT: While reports from Mexico are -- appear to be encouraging, and some are cautiously optimistic, we can't afford to let down our vigilance. We have information that this novel virus continues to spread.
QUIJANO (on camera): President Obama spoke by phone to Mexico's president about this new flu strain to share details on how each country is working to limit the spread of the virus. The White House says the two leader also discussed the importance of close U.S. and Mexican cooperation.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And, today on "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King: Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, also, the director of the CDC has the latest information on the swine flu outbreak and also taking your iReport and Facebook questions. John King, of course, is hosting "STATE OF THE UNION," 9:00 o'clock Eastern.
NGUYEN: All right. So, how would you like to stand on a balcony of one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world, and look down and see nothing, or actually, everything below your feet? Meaning, you can see all the way down to the ground.
HOLMES: OK. You know me well enough to know my answer to that question.
NGUYEN: You love it, right? HOMES: Yes. Well, it's about to happen. Our Josh Levs is going to show us.
Good morning.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I think it's cool. Good morning to you. But, yes, I think a lot of people have the same response that you do. Zoom in for just a second, I'll give you more details coming up. But the basic idea here, anybody at all is going to be able to stand there and look down 1,400 feet to the ground.
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HOLMES: All right. Betty's favorite, Mr. Hot Stuff.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Wow, we should explain, probably.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Yes, he didn't win.
HOLMES: It's a horse we talk about here. But, Mr. Hot Stuff didn't do so well, but the real Mr. Hot Stuff, 50 to one shot, and pulling off the upset and did it. And did it in pretty blowout, pretty blowout fashion you see there.
NGUYEN: Oh, look at that. I mean, it was really ...
HOLMES: The name of the horse is Mine That Bird, won on the muddy track. It's been running on and off. Good (INAUDIBLE) yesterday in Louisville. Trainers actually scratched the favorite going into the race. I Want Revenge had an ankle problem. They didn't want to risk that horse's health.
The second race in a Triple Crown is coming. The Preakness on the 16th, and of course, we got to see if they can get a Triple Crown this year.
NGUYEN: Fifty to one odd on Mine That Bird, someone made some serious cash.
HOLMES: If they've decided to put down some serious cash.
NGUYEN: Hey, if you put down $1, you still did all right on that bet, right?
HOLMES: It's just fine.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Let's head to Chicago now, on the Sears Tower, one of the tallest buildings in the world, offering something new, a chance to stand 1,300 feet in the air, and look down and see nothing and nothing holding you up. NGUYEN: Yes. So, the question is, is it exciting or is it kind of scary? We're going to let you decide this. Josh Levs has been looking into this.
And I have to tell you, Josh. You know, for someone like me who's kind of scared of heights, this is pretty cool.
LEVS: I think it's really cool. So, we know T.J. wouldn't do it. Would you do it?
NGUYEN: No, T. J. would absolutely do it.
LEVS: Oh, T.J. would do it.
NGUYEN: No problem, right?
HOLMES: Oh, wow. What do you know?
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: I know you don't know me well.
NGUYEN: You are a daredevil, T. J.
LEVS: No, I really don't know.
NGUYEN: You can do this, right?
HOLMES: I don't even like to fly.
NGUYEN: Whatever! (INAUDIBLE) Please, don't listen to him.
LEVS: I'll tell you what, let's do a close up and then you guys can decide based on that, because I want everyone to see what we're talking about.
It's at Sears Tower, 1,353 feet up in the air. Let me tell you what you're seeing here. These people are leaning on a balcony, but you can't tell because it's made of 1.5 inch think, that's all glass. So, it's like any other balcony except it's made of crystal glass. You look down, you see absolutely nothing holding you up. If you look really closely, you can see the reflection on this guy right here.
And it's kind of amazing. And this is going to be open in June. Anyone is going to be able to go out there. If you are up at the sky deck, just go, you take a look. So, think about it. Is it scary? Is it not?
You want more details, right over here at CNN.com/US. It talks you through all of it, and that's how we found out about it actually. One of the many stories from our affiliates right down here. And one of the most popular stories on this page is this, right over here, "Dog gets second chance to walk." Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) KIM CHRISTIANSEN, KUSA REPORTER (voice-over): Just two days after that first fitting, Andre is getting the first second chance to stand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the first time Andre has been able to stand on four legs in over a year and a few months now. So, it's a -- it will be an interesting challenge for him as he learns, instead of having to survive with two legs, how he can actually thrive on all four.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: It's just a great little story there. He got his prosthetic limbs there after having been really in a kind of tragic situation earlier. But it ends up being really a feel good story. Those limbs are working out for him. He is running around. You can see what a happy dog Andre is again, and he is going to be up for adoption.
More details on that and the clear balconies and anything else you might want to know, CNN.com/US, guys.
NGUYEN: That's interesting stuff.
LEVS: Yes, it's cool.
NGUYEN: OK. Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks.
NGUYEN: So, he has given spiritual advice to Oprah, to President Barack Obama, and now, he has some words for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REV. MICHAEL BERNARD BECKWITH, SPIRITUAL LEADER: How can we help each other, how can we share, how can we give.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: In the next hour of CNN SUNDAY MORNING, advice on what to do when your world is falling apart in this economy. Reverend Michael Bernard Beckwith is in today's Faces of Faith.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: I know that song, Betty.
NGUYEN: Madonna, you know, speaking of striking a pose, they did at the Kentucky Derby. And what would it be without the hats? Look at this, and this guy obviously bet on Mine That Bird, especially with the dollar signs in his eyes. Because if you did bit on that, you won 50-to-1. Wow. Look at that one.
HOLMES: Oh, my world.
NGUYEN: Can we get to the ladies hats?
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Because those are the pretty ones. Look at that.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: That's gorgeous. Those are works of art. Creative head gear. And, you know, they probably needed these large hats yesterday because of all the rain they were getting right before the race. It was a muddy track.
HOLMES: You know, I actually saw -- and, again, this one, that's just cool.
NGUYEN: That's great.
HOLMES: Some of the coolest thing to watch. And really, all the ladies who come, and some of them are wearing traditional and very elegant, and some just go all out. They actually did a piece with Paris Hilton on NBC. They had her going hat shot, but I'm not sure what hat she picked out.
NGUYEN: She ended up with a yellow hat.
HOLMES: Is she?
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: OK, I missed that. But, and so I heard, do the shopping at least.
But aside from the hat, the big story yesterday was Mine That Bird.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: Which nobody was talking about.
NGUYEN: A long shot.
HOLMES: And nobody was betting on it, 50-to-1, won the race. And move everybody out, somebody got it (ph).
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And that person is a very happy man or woman this morning.
All right. Well, you know, there's a lot still coming up right here on CNN.
HOLMES: Yes, at the top of the hour, of course, Betty and I will be back. We'll be talking about the passing, of course, of Jack Kemp. Also, the latest, we got new numbers on the swine flu, that new flu -- a new flu virus. So, we'll be back with a live news at the top of the hour.
Right now, we hand it over to Dr. Sanjay Gupta and "HOUSE CALL."
