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CNN Sunday Morning
Found Bodies Could Help Solve Flight 447 Mystery; 5 Contractors Held in U.S. Death in Iraq; Toll Rises to 38 in Mexico Day-Care Fire
Aired June 07, 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. Welcome to CNN SUNDAY MORNING, joining you live right here from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
It is Sunday, June 7. Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Six a.m. here in Atlanta, Georgia, where we sit; 5 a.m. in Austin, Texas.
NGUYEN: Ah yes.
HOLMES: Did you put that in there?
NGUYEN: I did not, but I like it.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: And - must have been Deanna (ph), our producer. She's a...
NGUYEN: Yes, exactly. She's another Longhorn.
HOLMES: Texas girl (ph).
Also, 3 a.m. in Scottsdale, Arizona, this morning. Glad you could be here with us. Let's get the - get this thing started.
NGUYEN: Shall we? Well, nearly a week after that Air France jet disappeared in the Atlantic - well, the bodies of two passengers, they have been found. Those bodies, along with several items from Flight 447, were spotted yesterday. And now researchers and searchers hope to find the plane via its signal beacon.
And it's not going to be easy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the (INAUDIBLE). This is what we are looking for, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The bodies were found roughly 420 miles north of a group of volcanic islands. Here's a map of the area. The plane vanished early Monday en route from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, to Paris. Two hundred twenty-eight people were on board that plane.
The Brazilian military is now searching an area about the size of Nebraska.
Well, three Indiana pension and construction funds are asking the Supreme Court to block the sale of Chrysler to Fiat. The funds filed papers with the high court this morning in Washington. A federal appeals court in New York approved the sale Friday, but gave opponents until tomorrow to appeal.
Chrysler wants to sell most of its assets to Fiat as part of its plan to emerge from bankruptcy.
And voters in Lebanon are going to the polls in parliamentary elections. They'll be choosing between a coalition supported by the United States or an alliance backed by the militant group Hezbollah. Lebanon has 3 million registered voters and turnout is expected to be high.
Election observers expect a tight race, with Hezbollah-dominated alliance winning the majority of seats.
HOLMES: Well, we got some breaking details coming to us out of Baghdad, where five American security workers now being held in connection with the killing of an American contractor. That victim was found last month, you may remember, inside the highly secure Green Zone. He was found bound and blindfolded.
Our Phil Black is joining us now live from Baghdad.
Phil, I know you have some new details here. Tell us what we know about the men being held...
PHIL BLACK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HOLMES: ...and the company they work for.
BLACK: Certainly, T.J. Certainly - as you say, that victim, Jim Kitterman was found on May 22 bound and gagged, stabbed. Five men, private security companies - from a private security company, Americans all, have been picked up in an early-morning raid by Iraqi and U.S. forces.
We have now learned from Iraqi and U.S. security sources that these men all worked for one private security company. It is CTU, or Corporate Training Unlimited.
We have also learned the names of the five men who are now in custody from both these sources. I can tell you they are Donald Feeney (ph), who is the - the founder and CEO of that company; his son, who is also known as Donald Feeney; Michael Milligan (ph); Mark Bridges (ph); Jason Morton (ph).
Now, we are trying to reach CTU for further comment. But its company Web site tells us that it has been operating in Iraq since 2003. And that company founder, Donald Feeney, is a former U.S. Delta Forces Soldier - T.J.
HOLMES: All right.
Phil, help us all also to understand - they have - they are being held, I guess not charged yet. But when charges come, are those charges going to be coming from Iraqis - because we understand that security was handed over to the Iraqis for the Green Zone not too terribly long before this incident happened.
BLACK: You're correct.
This is unclear at this stage. They have not been arrested. They are being held by Iraqi forces within the Green Zone, within a jail there, we understand. The question now is, what happens to them?
Under the security agreement between the United States and Iraq that kicked in at the start of this year, private security contractors can, under certain circumstances, now be prosecuted in this country, can fall under Iraqi legal jurisdiction. It's unclear yet if this applies in this particular case.
We are told by Iraqi sources that negotiations are under way between the Iraqi government and the U.S. State Department to determine just what will happen to these five men - T.J.
HOLMES: All right. I want to ask you another question here - and I hate to put you on the spot, maybe, because I know this is new. But still, do we have any idea, any talk about a possible motive in this case, why this man was killed?
And also, you mentioned that Donald Feeney, the founder of this company, is actually one of the men being held. Are all of the five men - do we know, are at least this point being alleged to have participated - physically participated in the killing of this country?
BLACK: What we understand, again from Iraqi sources, is that these five men knew the victim, James Kitterman. We don't know how well; we don't know how - how they knew him as yet.
The Iraqi sources tell us that of the five, three are suspected of direct involvement in the death. We're not sure what that means precisely. We're not sure what - how the other two may also have been involved - T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Phil Black for us, getting these breaking details. Phil, we certainly appreciate you. We'll be checking in with you again. Thank you so much.
NGUYEN: Well, this hour, another story that we're following for you - in fact, it's a top story on CNN.com. For more of the latest developments, you can always go there to get that information.
But let's get you to the story - the death toll from just a tragic fire at a daycare center in Mexico has grown. Thirty-eight children, all of them under the age of 5, now confirmed dead. More than two dozen are hospitalized. CNN's Thelma Gutierrez is in Hermosillo, Mexico, with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is one of the hospitals in Hermosillo where some of the children were brought. Those with the most severe burns were actually MedEvaced to a hospital with a pediatric-burn center in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Neighbors described an absolutely horrific scene at the ABC Daycare Center, which is in a working-class neighborhood here in Hermosillo. They described parents arriving at the daycare center completely desperate, seeing this place engulfed in flames, knowing that there was no way to get the children out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): But they didn't tell us anything, nothing, until, like, 6 p.m. They told us that my child was at Chavez Hospital (ph), and we went there, and we saw that he was badly burned - 75 percent of his body was burned. They operated on him, but he could not resist.
GUTIERREZ: Officials say there were 142 children trapped inside the burning building. There was only one door that was open. The other door actually had a padlock on it. There were several windows, but they were high up and there was no way for the children to get out.
Neighbors say you could hear the cries of the children, you could hear the screams of the parents. One man so desperate jumped in his pickup truck and rammed into the building three times to try to break in to get the children out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): When we went out and ran towards the nursery, the teachers already had many children outside, those who could walk properly. Those inside were children of two years or one-and-a-half years. So we started helping.
A pickup truck broke down the walls. The dad of one of the kids broke down the walls with his cars, driving in reverse. And that helped us a bit.
GUTIERREZ: The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Hermosillo, Mexico.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, two of the children hurt in that fire have been taken to Shriners Hospital in Sacramento for treatment, and that is according to the Associated Press.
We're also being told that the - they're both just three years old. Doctors say one of them has burns covering about 80 percent of her body. Normally, transporting a patient long distance can be risky, but doctors say in her case, they really had no choice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DR. TINA PALMIERI, SHRINERS HOSPITAL IN SACRAMENTO: There are times when you have to weigh the risk of the transport against the benefit. And when the risk is that it's likely the patient's going to die, pretty much most transports will show a - a benefit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That little girl is currently in critical condition, and doctors say she could be hospitalized for months.
Shriners Hospital for Children specializes in pediatric-burn treatment.
Well, small businesses in New Orleans are still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. But there is one restaurant owner who says he has the recipe for success, even in his economy.
HOLMES: Well, all right.
Reynolds Wolf with a bit of a recipe today. What you got - good stuff over there today, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: If you like yummy rain, yes.
HOLMES: Oh wow.
WOLF: Absolutely. Tasty rain can be expected for parts of the country that do need the rain.
Not the story though in south Florida, where the rain has been - just been pummeling the Sunshine State.
Now coming up, we're going to give you the latest on the rain in Florida, how long it's going to last, and we're going to talk about snow. That's right, snow in June.
That's coming up in a few moments. You are watching CNN SUNDAY (sic). See you in a few.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC, WILL SMITH, "MIAMI")
HOLMES: Ah, that's a Miami tower cam, you're telling me?
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: Well - well, actually, I didn't tell you. Will Smith told you.
HOLMES: Wow.
WOLF: To - to the - the music of, you know...
HOLMES: What year was that? Mid 90s maybe? That was a good summer hit for a little while. WOLF: A long time ago. And right now, they're getting some mid- summer - it's not even mid-summer. It's actually late-spring rain.
Take a look at some of this video that we got for you.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: ...nine inches of rain?
WOLF: Seven to nine in many places. And, you know, when it falls at such a fast rate, that's the last thing you want to deal with. They're still cleaning up. This is video from yesterday, from WSVN. And T.J., we have not only this contribution from WSVN, but we also have a - iReport or two from - take a look. Take a look, from Thomas I believe. It's going to be popping in a few moments, and - there it is. Just like a rain shower, it scattered for you all over the place.
The rain up to the side of the doors, you see, of these cars right in this - this area. Just a horrible thing to go outside. It's like, 'Hey, hold on a second. I'm going to go downstairs and get my keys, get my wallet from the trunk (ph) of the car.' And you go in, you see and your car is filled up halfway with water. I mean, it's a - it's a horrible thing to see.
The rain is going to continue a little bit for today, not quite as heavy. Right now, it looks like Tampa's getting the worst of it. But still, what an amazing thing to see. Not...
HOLMES: And golf-ball-sized hail. Or golf - yes, golf-ball-sized hail reportedly.
WOLF: Golf-ball-sized hail.
HOLMES: And something else I was reading about, the lightning. It sounded like a lot of lightning, like that was the big deal. But like you were saying, you said the rain was more the big deal. It - it was so many hundred lightning strikes in about a five-minute period. And you were like, 'No, that's - that's not the big deal.'
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: 'We're talking about the rain here.'
WOLF: Well, and then you have to remember that south Florida and central Florida, that's really the - the lightning capital of the United States, more lightning strikes happen there...
HOLMES: I did not know that.
WOLF: ...than any other place in - in at least the United States.
HOLMES: I did not know that.
WOLF: And one spot would be central Africa. But lightning is not something that's uncommon. Seeing that much rain that's not associated with a tropical storm or a hurricane or a depression, that's where it gets interesting.
HOLMES: All right.
WOLF: Hey, let's show you something else interesting. Let's go right to the weather wall. And as we do, very quickly, we're going to zoom in on a few key spots, one of those places being the Sunshine State of Florida, which today should be a little bit better.
Take a look what we have for you. Tampa looking OK for the time being. But if you were to head south along parts of 75, you would see some scattered showers. More in store into the afternoon.
Right now, heaviest rain falling in North America falling right on - near St. Joe's and just north of Kansas City along 35. As you go back out to the west, not rain, but snow for parts of the Great Tetons and back into Yellowstone. Out near Old Faithful, not so much in terms of snow there. But high in the mountains, you could see some places getting up to a foot of snow. Certainly rough driving for you along parts of 90 and along 15 if you're making that drive southward to Idaho Falls. Beautiful drive if you can see it through the snowflakes.
Could see a slight chance - very slight chance of severe storms through parts of the Midwest into the Central Plains later this afternoon. The rainfall continues through parts of the Great Lakes. A fairy dry day for the Mid Atlantic states, but showers possible for parts of New England.
All right, T.J. That is the latest. Let's send it back to you at the desk.
HOLMES: All right. And sorry I was walking in front of your camera and whatnot when you were...
WOLF: Were you?
HOLMES: ...try to (INAUDIBLE).
WOLF: You know what? I didn't even notice.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: So comfortable, you're such a buddy, I would never know those kind of (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: I appreciate that. Reynolds, thanks. We'll talk to you again here shortly.
WOLF: (INAUDIBLE)
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: All right. Well, let's talk about your money. Fighting the recession, our special series "Money & Main St." spotlights a New Orleans restaurant owner who is battling the competition after surviving a natural disaster.
CNN's Sean Callebs shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If there's one thing New Orleans can do, it's amazing cuisine.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do I need to order more crabmeat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we need to order more crabmeat.
CALLEBS: Stephen Schwarz is the owner of Mat & Naddie's in New Orleans uptown. Tourists and locals have a wealth of restaurants to choose from, and the economic downturn is making competition that much more fierce.
STEPHEN SCHWARZ, MAT & NADDIE'S RESTAURANT OWNER: It's a matter of how much stamina we can have and how long we can last before things turn around.
CALLEBS: Consider this: Before Katrina, there were about 800 restaurants in New Orleans. Now it's close to 1,000.
SCHWARZ: I think eventually there are going to be places that are going to go out of business. They're going to have to.
CALLEBS: Schwarz has no plans on becoming a statistic. Now in his early 50s, Schwarz came to New Orleans on a visit about 30 years ago and never left.
To keep the restaurant going, his catering business is branching out and now counts for about 40 percent of Schwarz's income.
KRYSTAN HOSKING, MICHAEL'S CATERING: Hi. Would you like some pulled pork
CALLEBS: He employs about 28 people part and full time. Without catering, Schwarz would have gone under. And without glowing reviews, his business would wither on the vine.
HOSKING: Word of mouth is very important, because if you get one bad review, there's tons of restaurants that will -- you know, people are just waiting to try.
CALLEBS: Meeting payroll and paying suppliers is a monthly challenge. Schwarz benefited from a $10,000 grant and a $40,000 low- interest loan he received from the state.
It's part of Louisiana's effort to help small businesses recover from Katrina's devastating effects. But in this case, it's money getting him through the lean months of this recession.
SCHWARZ: How much capital do you have or how much can you generate to maintain a slow loss over a long period of time and still be able to meet your obligations? CALLEBS: New Orleans will always have great atmosphere and great food. He says it may take creative financing, but Schwarz plans on being part of the city's culinary landscape for years to come.
Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And you can watch on this special series Thursday morning at 6 a.m. Eastern, "Money & Main St.," how to cope through this tough economy.
HOLMES: All right. Well, of course, we had our D-Day coverage yesterday.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: A lot of live events. You saw the ceremony live right here yesterday morning. And - well, the president is still over in France.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: And we are still getting people's comments on those ceremonies.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
Josh Levs has been looking through them at the CNN blog.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
NGUYEN: What are you finding, Josh?
LEVS: People are weighing in like crazy. A lot to say about the ceremony yesterday specifically, as well as what the ceremony was about, remembering what happened 65 years ago.
And coming up, you are going to see some of the most amazing video from the frontlines of D-Day.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: Well, the president still in France right now. He's going to be returning to Washington today, after the 65th anniversary of D-Day yesterday, we saw.
NGUYEN: Yes. And following those ceremonies, the president and first lady went to dinner at a bistro near the Eiffel Tower. Looking at some video right now, and the motorcade there. Several bystanders could be heard cheering the couple upon their arrival.
Listen to that. And you hear it just a little bit. I don't know if that's traffic noise or people. (LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Little bit of both probably.
And in case you missed some of the president's remarks at that anniversary ceremony, here's some of what he told the Allied veterans gathered at the American Cemetery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You, the veterans of that landing, are why we still remember what happened on D-Day. You're why we keep coming back. For you remind us that in the end, human destiny is not determined by forces beyond our control. You remind us that our future is not shaped by mere chance or circumstance.
Our history has always been the sum total of the choices made and the actions taken by each individual man and woman. It has always been up to us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, it was the largest seaborne invasion in history. And you can see some of the work of the Allied forced on D-Day.
HOLMES: Yes, Josh Levs here to show us that.
Good morning to you, sir.
LEVS: Hey, good morning to you guys. And you guys got to see a little bit of this yesterday, this amazing new Web site that the Army has set up.
We're hearing from a lot of people about this. It shows video straight from the frontlines on that day. Let's take a look at a clip.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just as soon as I bailed out, I knew that was the end of it. I was - I was not coming back anymore because I had never seen so many tracers in my life. Traces were all over the place and were shooting at us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: And you can see a lot more of it there.
Now, I'll tell you, we also have a lot of photos - still photos that were taken that day. There you're seeing some of the parachutes that were all - people all - it's all 65 years ago yesterday. And here on this screen behind me, lots of still shots from that day as well. I spoke with an army official yesterday about how they put this together.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LT. COL. KEVIN ARATA, U.S. ARMY: Each of the units did have photographers assigned to them to document this as they went through the war. And so that's where we pulled most of this from, and it's very powerful images that just show incredibly what - what these men went through as they landed on - on the beaches of Normandy.
LEVS: So we're seeing all the really powerful images there.
And take a look at this one right here. That - I want to see if we can click on this, because this is a helmet that's on top of what appears to be a - a rifle there. That's kind of a memorial, a makeshift memorial at the time, right? Maybe (ph) to people who were giving their lives.
ARATA: It is. And it's still used as a symbolic measure today to show the respect and - for soldiers who have died in combat, is the helmet up on top of the rifle upside down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: Now that's called a soldier's cross there.
Now I'll tell you, Betty and T.J,. we actually got - as you were saying earlier, we got a lot of blog posts about this, a lot of people writing to us. Let's zoom in. I want you to see where you can weigh in.
At cnn.com/newsroom, we also give you a link there directly to the - the site we were just showing you.
Here's what Michael wrote us: "This is a day of remembrance for all people to heed the sadness that war brings with all the lives lost to protect the great American dream of freedom. May God bless all the warriors who gave there" - he means 'their' -- "lives on that beach. And may we never have another D-Day."
We're also hearing from you over here by Facebook. This is Bill: "Their sacrifice must not be forgotten. And those of us not of that generation must never forget that preservation of freedom comes with a price."
Over here at Twitter, we've got people just saying, "Hey, that site's really amazing." A lot of people weighing in.
Let's show everybody the graphic, so you can keep it coming today, cnn.com/newsroom. And then you got my Facebook page, Facebook.com/joshlevscnn. Twitter.com/joshlevscnn. You guys know the deal.
And I'll tell you, lots of people still weighing in today, guys. We expect to hear throughout the morning as more and more people join this story and learn about what happened 65 years ago.
NGUYEN: Yes. OK. Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: You got it, guys.
NGUYEN: We appreciate it.
You know, it could be the president's next big project. We have the first draft of his health-care plan, and you will want to know what's in it.
HOLMES: Also, voting is under way this morning in Lebanon. So what will happen if the militant group Hezbollah wins? What will it mean for power in the Middle East?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, hello again. Welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T. J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
OK, we now have confirmed 38 children were killed in that daycare-center fire in Hermosillo, Mexico. Yesterday, family and friends gathered to say goodbye to some of the victims. More than two dozen children remain hospitalized, many of them in critical condition.
Now, the exact cause? Well, that is still unknown. But investigators say the fire started in the warehouse next door.
Nearly a week after that Air France jet disappeared in the Atlantic, the bodies of two passengers have been found. The bodies, along with several items from Flight 447, were spotted yesterday. The plane vanished early Monday en route from Rio De Janeiro to Paris. Two hundred twenty-eight people were on board that plane.
And want to show you this grainy photo. That is James Kitterman, owner of a Houston, Texas, construction company. Well, five American security contractors have been detained in Baghdad in connection with Kitterman's death. His body was found last month in the highly secured Green Zone, and our Phil Black reported just minutes ago that Don Feeney, the found of CTU - Corporate Training Unlimited - and Feeney's son, are among the five being held by Iraqi security.
HOLMES: Well, President Obama headed home today. This is the president's schedule. You know, he's been on quite a road trip, and wrapping it up in France.
The first family is going to be visiting the Pompidou Center in Paris today. The center is one of the country's most popular art-and- culture facilities. Then, wheels up for Air Force One; the president scheduled to be back in Washington by late afternoon.
However, his wife and daughters are just sending Daddy home. They're going to stick around and enjoy France, at least until tomorrow.
Well, after almost a week overseas, President Obama will return home to concentrate on domestic issues. The president wants a health- care reform bill drafted by fall, and CNN has obtained a copy of a bill drafted by Senator Ted Kennedy.
CNN's Kate Bolduan taking a look at that for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Winding down a trip focused on foreign policy, President Obama returns to make the big push on his No. 1 domestic priority: health-care reform.
OBAMA: The status quo is broken. We cannot continue this way. If we do nothing, everyone's health care will be put in jeopardy.
BOLDUAN: President Obama wants health-care legislation on his desk by October. The White House and Democrats aim to ensure all Americans are covered.
A draft bill by Senator Ted Kennedy obtained by CNN establishes a new government-run insurance option, something Republicans strongly oppose, saying it threatens to drive private insurers from the market.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, (R) MINORITY LEADER: The American people want health care decisions left up to families and doctors, and not bureaucrats in Washington. They don't want a government take over that denies or delays the care they need. And they don't want politicians telling them how much or what kind they can have.
BOLDUAN: Also, under the draft bill, many individuals and employers would face penalties for going without insurance. And it proposes the government subsidize premiums for people with incomes up to 500 percent of the poverty level. But the draft does not include specifics on how to pay for the health care overhaul.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you so much for coming.
BOLDUAN: This weekend the Democratic Party's advocacy arm, Organizing for America, kicked off a campaign-style lobbying effort, hosting meetings across the country to build public support for the health care push. Republicans fighting for a seat at the bargaining table say efforts like these are not helping.
REP. ROY BLUNT, (R) MISSOURI: Activating the grass effort from the campaign is one way to keep your campaign effort alive. It's not a particularly effective way to create a bi-partisan solution to an important problem.
BOLDUAN (On camera): Senator Kennedy's office insists the draft bill is just that, a draft. Meaning it's not final and could change dramatically as the big healthcare debate begins in Congress.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: A crucial election is under way in Lebanon. And that could hand control of parliament to a coalition supported by the United States, or to an alliance backed by the militant group Hezbollah. Our Cal Perry is in the Lebanese capitol of Beirut, and Cal joins us now, live.
Cal, I want you to explain what is exactly at stake in these elections?
CAL PERRY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Basically, we are talking about two separate political blocks. One is called March the 8th, that is the block that includes Hezbollah, it is led by Hezbollah. It is backed by Iran and Syria, and not the U.S.
The other block, March the 14th, they are the current majority in parliament. They are backed by the West. And one of the big questions is, what will happen if Hezbollah and the March 8th block becomes the majority? How will the U.S. react? How will Israel react? There are hundreds of election monitors here in the country. And former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is one of them. I asked him this specific question about Hamas - uh -
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FMR. PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Remember that Hezbollah only has 11 seats in the parliament, out of 128, and they are not seeking any additional seats. So they'll wind up with 11 seats, if the election goes well today. And I don't think there is any reason why the United States should not deal harmoniously and cooperatively with any coalition government that is formed. Not matter who - whether the March 14th prevails or whether March 8th prevails.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PERRY: So, Betty, you hear there the former U.S. president talking about Hezbollah, and the need for the U.S. to really work with whatever coalition wins.
I want to show you something, though. Inside this polling station, Betty, they're talking all morning about voter turnout. Well, from what we can see, voter turnout has been huge. What you are witnessing right now is actually a member of the Lebanese security forces, either a police officer, a Lebanese police officer, he's actually trying to get people to move back, because every time he opens the doors, he basically gets yelled at by this crowd of voters, some of whom have been waiting up to three hours to vote. So while we have seen no violence across the country, Betty, what we have seen on a local level at these polling stations is this kind of back and forth -- yelling -- between people who wanted to get in and vote, and the people who are charged with securing these actual polling stations.
NGUYEN: And Cal, let me ask you this. A clear-cut victory for Hezbollah, what does that mean for the U.S.'s credibility in that region? PERRY: That's a big question. I think the key will be what does Barack Obama say and how does he react to that result if it is a victory for the current opposition, the March 8th block, led by Hezbollah. If they do win, how does Obama handle that situation? Does he recognize this vote? Now, in Gaza, 2006, when Hamas won, the U.S. did not recognize that vote, even though Jimmy Carter called those free and fair elections. But Obama, after giving his speech in Cairo has indicated a willingness to open up to Iran. And one would assume, if he's willing to open up to Iran, potentially there is a chance that the U.S. could deal with Hezbollah on some diplomatic level, Betty.
NGUYEN: Very interesting. All right. CNN's Cal Perry, joining us live. Thank you, Cal. It looks like there is going to be quite a bit of voter turnout there today.
T.J.
HOLMES: All right. We are going to turn over to Reynolds Wolf again, head back over the Weather Center.
Reynolds, where are you keeping an eye on things today?
(WEATHER FORECAST)
HOLMES: So, you are holed up in your house. You have no electricity. You've got no television to watch. What is a couple to do besides snuggle up together?
NGUYEN: Says, what?
(LAUGHTER)
OK. Well, that's what a lot of people were in fact doing back during Hurricane Ike back in Texas, and of course, there is a baby boom.
(BEGIN MUSIC VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Oh, my goodness. I have not seen these guys in forever. In fact, T.J. loves New Kids On The Block.
HOLMES: I can do the whole routine.
NGUYEN: I bet you are dancing to it right now, right?
(LAUGHTER)
Well, what does it take to be a new kid. One of our reporters, not T.J. unfortunately, got backstage to New Kids Boot Camp. I wonder what that's like?
HOLMES: New Kids? New Men. They are 40, they're almost 40.
NGUYEN: Exactly. They're grown men. Stay with us for that.
(END MUSIC VIDEO)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Keep that up.
NGUYEN: Very appropriate.
HOLMES: Keep that up.
We will tell this story while we keep the music going. But there's a reason. We don't usually - that song doesn't seem appropriate when you are talking about Hurricane Ike.
NGUYEN: No.
HOLMES: Maybe, however, some people are saying it is more than just a powerful hurricane. It was a powerful aphrodisiac, Betty.
NGUYEN: Oh, wow, you went there.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: OK, well, you know, in fact nine months after Ike roared ashore, in Texas hospitals well, they are preparing for a baby boom. Rachel McNeil from our affiliate KPRC in Houston has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL MCNEIL, REPORTER, KPRC HOUSTON (voice over): Maybe it was the howling wind, or the pounding rain, but hurricane Ike certainly stirred up romance.
JENNIFER: We weathered the storm, and we ended up with two little babies.
MCNEIL: Twin girls Jocelyn and Jaycee are two living, breathing mementos of the storm of the century. Before Ike hit Jennifer and Tim were planning to conceive but needed a little help.
JENNIFER: The Saturday of Hurricane Ike, we --
TIM: 8:30 that Saturday morning, we had a fertility procedure planned, and got the phone call that we had to go to plan B, which was on our own.
MCNEIL: Mother Nature stepped in when science could not.
JENNIFER: I like to say it was a miracle. I mean it could just be --
TIM: Two miracles.
JENNIFER: Yeah, two miracles. But yeah, it just ended up working out in our favor.
DR. RAKHI DIMINO, OBSTRETRICIAN: I know that Women's Hospital has been really preparing for that. Our new half of the hospital is open so they have many more beds. And they are hoping to ramp up the staff a bit to accommodate what we think is going to be a little bit of a baby boom.
MCNEIL: As an obstetrician Doctor Rakhi Dimino cares for many Ike mommies. In fact, she is an Ike mom, too.
DIMINO: I had actually joked during the hurricane. When I went to the grocery store and I was looking for bread and stuff like that to fill our grocery cart with, and I am watching other people with all their wine bottles and beer. And I told my husband I should have dropped condoms in all of their carts. And then at the end I was like, maybe we should have done that.
MCNEIL: So what's behind the 25 percent spike in babies conceived during the storm? Changes in barometric pressure? Nah, experts say it was more likely the loss of modern conveniences.
DR. JENNIFER BRATTER, ASSIST. SOCIOLOGY PROFESSOR, RICE UNIVERSITY: We had no TV, no computer, no Internet. It seemed very natural that people had more time together. We saw somewhat of an uptick in births after 9/11. We saw one after the Oklahoma City bombing, the blackouts in New York, certainly also correspondent with an uptick in births. So this is actually not entirely uncommon.
MCNEIL: But we had to ask. Did Ike inspire any namesakes?
DIMINO: Everybody who hears you got pregnant during Ike, they're like is it going to be an Ike baby, or and IKEA?
TIM: For about three seconds.
JENNIFER: Yeah.
(LAUGHTER)
TIM: You know, not going to work. Even if they were boys. We weren't going to go that route, no.
JENNIFER: Yeah.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Who wants to say what we are all thinking? We all had the same reaction.
NGUYEN: Same way.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm going to let you guys start.
HOLMES: No.
NGUYEN: Well, essentially it is this. I will tell it. You know, hey, when there is nothing to do, it's kind of sad to think that that's the only thing people could think of, right? HOLMES: It takes - it -- why? OK, there's no TV.
NGUYEN: No, TV, there's no power.
WOLF: It takes two to make a tango right; it takes two to make it out of sight.
But the thing that is kooky and crazy about this is usually when you deal with a hurricane you don't have power, you don't have water, you don't have a lot of things. So, I haven't bathed in three days.
NGUYEN: Right, exactly.
WOLF: And then you take it off. I don't see that happening!
NGUYEN: Smelling pretty ripe by now.
WOLF: I know, it is just some crazy stuff.
NGUYEN: But we were down there covering Hurricane Ike --
WOLF: Not together.
HOLMES: Wow!
NGUYEN: Well.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Just clarifying. Just putting that out there.
NGUYEN: A lot of our correspondents were down there covering Hurricane Ike.
Are you going to come back here, T.J.?
WOLF: Come on. Come on.
NGUYEN: And we saw the long lines of people that were without power, without gasoline. They could not even go places, in fact. So, I guess it does make sense. You are stuck in your house with nothing to do.
WOLF: Well, maybe there was very little power in Houston, but there was the power of love.
HOLMES: Oh, gosh.
NGUYEN: And with that, we will move along.
HOLMES: Reynolds can do this all morning, actually.
NGUYEN: The Belmont Stakes, Reynolds.
HOLMES: We know, Reynolds, that you saw the race.
WOLF: We did see that.
HOLMES: Saw it live.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: The Belmont Stakes, yesterday. But take a look at how this thing ended.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Comes right back! Mine That Bird! And here is Summer Bird. And here is Summer Bird to win the Belmont Stakes! Summer Bird and 11to 1 upset. Dunkirk finishing second.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: An 11 to 1 upset. But it was the wrong bird that people were thinking might win this race. Mine That Bird, of course, won the Kentucky Derby with Calvin Borel riding. Calvin Borel was on Mine That Bird, again. He did what he did in the earlier race. Came from the back. He navigated through.
NGUYEN: He was close.
HOLMES: He was about to win this sucker, and then Summer Bird, 11 to 1 odds came through with the win. So, congratulations, and no Triple Crown for Calvin.
NGUYEN: For the jockey.
HOLMES: For the jockey.
WOLF: Quick rant here. Can we have a horse is that not named Mine That Bird? Can we have a horse that is named - Bob? I want to hear a race announcer saying, here comes Bob down the back stretch. Or Ted, or a Susan?
NGUYEN: I don't know.
WOLF: How about a horse with a normal name?
NGUYEN: No, I like the cool names.
WOLF: Do you really?
NGUYEN: Yeah, because I don't follow them that closely. So, if it has got a really neat name, I'm going to pick it.
WOLF: I mean, who are the people that came up with some of these ideas? I mean, were they, you know, in Hurricane Ike, and out of power and doing some other stuff instead of thinking about good names for horses? I mean, where do come up with this?
NGUYEN: Well, I don't know, Reynolds.
HOLMES: Oh, Reynolds. All good questions. NGUYEN: We will get the investigation team on that one.
WOLF: Maybe so.
NGUYEN: OK, Reynolds.
HOLMES: All right. Fair enough.
We will be talking about polluted air, unsafe drinking water, hazardous dump sites, that are plaguing poor communities across this country.
NGUYEN: All right. So, who is fighting for their right to breathe clean air?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have to be, at EPA, speak to and empowering those communities, so that they understand what risks are real.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Still to come I talked to the director of the Environmental Protection Agency about homes and schools in polluted areas and what the government is doing to improve air quality.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Well, the Environmental Protection Agency is trying to determine if children face unhealthy levels of pollution while at school. And I talked with EPA Director Lisa Jackson about the study of air quality underway in schools across the country
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (On camera): You're monitoring the pollution around some 62 schools across the nation. What are you hoping to discover by doing so?
LISA JACKSON, DIRECTOR, EPA: We're hoping to get information and data. You know, what happened is that the media, in this case it was the newspaper, put out a series of stories that were really alarming to people about -- that took average pollution levels from EPA data and modeled it to say there seems to be a risk here, folks, because these schools are either located near industrial areas, or oftentimes they were located near roadways, major highways.
And so we didn't have enough information to say one way or the other whether these schools were really a concern. It was modeling. But you can't go back to a parent who is about to send their kid to school and say, oh, don't worry, it is just a model. What we thought we would do is try to pick those schools that were potentially some of the worst in terms of air quality, do the monitoring, get that information in the hands of parents, so they can ask locally. But also get a better sense of whether this is really a problem for the country as a whole, or whether we might have a couple of individual schools, but maybe not a global concern.
NGUYEN: Whether it is a school, or maybe a low-income neighborhood, how are you working to make sure that those areas are not victim to the pollution that could be caused by local manufacturers or companies in that particular area?
JACKSON: We have to commit ourselves as a country to fairness and equity, the principles of environmental justice. They're for all communities, but they are nowhere more important than low-income communities. Because those, as you know, tend to be communities that disproportionately suffer the impacts. Whether it is the citing of a facility, whether it is the historic burden of having sort of been located on the quote/unquote wrong side of the tracks, they find themselves sort of with sometimes a double or a triple whammy of air pollution, maybe unsafe drinking water, maybe hazardous waste sites in their neighborhood.
We have to be, at EPA, speaking to and empowering those communities so they understand what risks are real, what risks aren't, where you might be able to embrace some new industry without giving up environmental health. And it is especially important now as we're really beginning to enter a health care debate in this country, to realize that those same communities, that are low income, often time rely on hospitals and emergency rooms as their primary source of medical care. And so this is a problem that mushrooms and manifests itself in health care costs as well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: On another note, Friday, the EPA was sued by the environmental group, Wild Earth Guardians. This group claims the agency has failed to limit the transmission of air pollution across state lines, as required, under the Federal Clean Air Act in a handful of Western states.
HOLMES: An EPA spokesperson says now that the agency has not had a chance to really review this entire lawsuit and cannot comment on pending litigation.
As we have been reporting this morning, we have some breaking news out of Iraq; new information about the Americans detained and the death of an American contractor. We'll be live in Baghdad.
NGUYEN: Also, the first clues that indicate Air France Flight 447 did go into the ocean. We will tell you what else was found besides luggage.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC VIDEO )
NGUYEN: Boy, that takes me back.
HOLMES: To what?
NGUYEN: To when I was just a little girl. This is one of the most popular videos on CNN.com. Our Reggie Aqui learning dance moves. This would be great if you had done this. But I know you wouldn't have.
HOLMES: I probably wouldn't have.
NGUYEN: From the New Kids On The Block, who just launched their summer reunion tour.
HOLMES: Yeah, it is a little misleading, right? To say New Kids?
NGUYEN: Yeah, it should be Grown Men On The Block.
HOLMES: These Grown Dudes On The Block.
That is our Reggie, there, on the right. He is going to be making a little confession in this piece you are going to see. Check him out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REGGIE AQUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): It's the summer concert season and New Kids On The Block are back on the road again. So what is it like to put together such a big tour? Well, I caught up with the guys for a little bit of NKOTB boot camp.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Five, six, seven, eight.
AQUI (voice over): If you grew up in the '80s, chances are you already know the first step to becoming a New Kid. No matter how many new songs they released, no matter how many new moves they make, it's this familiar step from 20 years ago that drives their fans wild.
(On camera): During that, how high you bring your leg up or is it higher. Because in the video, it was higher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These days, that's how high we bring it up. And back in the day --
AQUI: Because I remember, like that. I remember a higher kick!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's six foot, four, a crazy leg like that is how you are going to hurt someone.
(Voice over): But a New Kid can't just rely on hold material.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am Kevin Mahir (ph), the New Kids On The Block choreographer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Think about you in the summer time. You got it. You got it.
AQUI (On camera): It's almost there. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dance evolves and styles change, so I just had to update them with the newest things going on.
AQUI (voice over): It's no surprise the dancing takes a toll. After a successful reunion tour last year are they ready for an encore so soon?
DONNIE WAHLBERG, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: We want to be better than last time, and that euphoria was so high, it's going to be really hard. So we set the bar really high with that first tour.
AQUI (On camera): Have we upped the game?
WAHLBERG: I would say we upped the game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think we have upped the game.
AQUI: What is the "I am going to kill myself" question that you guys have gotten all of these years?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You already asked three of them.
AQUI: Already?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on.
AQUI: Hug it out.
JOEY MCINTYRE, NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK: I think definitely hands down is, what is the craziest thing a fan has ever done to meet you?
(CROSS TALK)
MCINTYRE: Trying, about girls in the bathroom. They snuck in. I got scared, blah, blah, blah.
AQUI: Such is a pop stars life. Maybe the rest of us don't look the part.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're tall to be a New Kid.
AQUI (voice over): Or dance the part.
(On camera): I got this.
(On camera): I did not even try singing the part.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Give me your mic.
AQUI: But a confession? Well, that I could do.
I wanted to make an apology to all five of you. I told the guys, back in middle school, to save face I denied being a fan in front of all of my classmates.
(On camera): And regretted it ever since then. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's group hug, then.
AQUI: Thank you. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's no shame.
(CROSS TALK)
And that was the moment I felt like one of the Kids. Reggie Aqui, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Speaking of denials, T.J., you probably had one of those posters on your wall, right, growing up?
HOLMES: No. We can get any family of mine on the phone.
NGUYEN: Just to verify?
HOLMES: T.J. Holmes was not a New Kids fan. But the new and improved guys, I'll check them out now. Has the concert happened yet? It is here in Atlanta?
NGUYEN: I'm not sure - yes, it has, I have been told.
HOLMES: Oh, we missed it. Oh, hey!
NGUYEN: Next year we're there.
HOLMES: Congratulations to the guys. That's staying power. Those guys have been around a while.
NGUYEN: Still have some moves.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: All right. Stay with us.
Hello, everybody. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING on Sunday June 7th. Good morning everybody, I am Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I am T.J. Holmes. It is 7 a.m. here in Atlanta, where we sit; 6 a.m. in Chicago, 4 a.m. out in Los Angeles. Wherever you maybe thanks for starting your day with us here this morning.
Got a few developing stories to tell you about. Tell you about this horrible story out of Mexico. It's confirmed now that 38 children were killed in that day care center fire in Hermosillo.
Yesterday family and friends gathered to say good-bye to some of the victims. More than two dozen children remain in the hospital, several of them in critical condition. The exact cause of that fire still unknown, but investigators say it started in a warehouse that was next door to the day care center.
NGUYEN: In southern China, rescue efforts are going on to reach eight workers trapped in a collapsed tunnel since Thursday. The workers have sent up a note saying that they are alive and well. Another rescue effort is going on in southwest China at a side of a huge landslide. Twenty-seven minors were trapped by that landslide that also killed 26 people.
HOLMES: Now, voting is under way in parliamentary elections in Lebanon. They are choosing between a coalition supported by the United States, and an alliance backed by the militant group Hezbollah. Former President Jimmy Carter is among more than 200 international observers monitoring that vote. Carter says the United States should work with which ever coalition wins.
We'll take you back to the breaking news we've been following out of Iraq, specifically Baghdad, where five American security workers are being held in connection with the killing of an American contractor. The victim was found last month inside the highly secured Green Zone, was found bound and blindfolded.
Phil Black is joining us live in Baghdad with the breaking details. And we know some names now and the company that these accused -- or we should say the held Americans, who they work for and who they are. Give us the details, Phil.
PHIL BLACK, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, T.J., that's right. We're learning much more about the people who have been arrested in connection with this. Let's go to the latest pictures first. These still images, which you should be seeing now, are images of the five Americans who have been arrested in connection with this killing. They are locked up in an Iraqi jail within the Green Zone. These pictures come from an Iraqi security source exclusive to CNN.
The five Americans -- we have learned from Iraqi and U.S. security forces -- work for an American security company known as CTU, Corporate Training Unlimited. And we can give you the five names of all those people who are being held as well. They are: Donald Feeney, he is the founder and CEO of the company, his son who is also known as Donald Feeney, Michael Milligan (ph), Mark Bridges (ph) and Jason Morton (ph). They are the five who are now being held in an Iraqi jail within the Green Zone.
They were picked up early Friday morning in an early-morning raid conducted by U.S. and Iraqi forces. They are being held in connection to the murder of James Kitterman, who was found bound and stabbed in a car within the Green Zone or International Zone, as it is known here, back on May 22nd, T.J.
HOLMES: And, Phil, we know there may be now some tricky legal questions to figure out where do we go from here? Who charges them? Where might they be tried if they are charged and tried?
BLACK: We should be clear, they have not been officially charged yet. We are told that the U.S. embassy officials have visited them and offered counselor assistance. But, the next question is: what happens should they be charged? Or especially, should Iraqi officials want to charge them, because they now technically have the right to do so?
Under a security agreement between the U.S. and Iraq that started at the beginning of 2009, private security contractors can be prosecuted here. They now fall under Iraqi jurisdiction. We are told from the Iraqi sources that negotiations are under way between the U.S. State Department and the Iraqi government to determine just what will happen next, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Phil Black for us on this breaking story -- we appreciate you this morning, thank you so much.
Also, he mentioned, Phil there, the company, CTU. A little more information about that company now: the company's Web site says it composed of security professionals from around the world. CTU was founded in 1986 with four people. It's based in Fayetteville, North Carolina, has more than 100 security workers and has offices in Hong Kong, Iraq, as well as the Philippines.
This story right now is our top story on CNN.com. For the latest developments and all details, you can go to our Web site, again, at CNN.com.
NGUYEN: We want to turn now Air France Flight 447; two bodies and some personal property have been recovered from what's believed to be the crash site.
HOLMES: Yes. The bodies now are being taken to a city in northern Brazil, to be identified. But the cause of that crash is still a mystery right now.
CNN international correspondent Karl Penhaul with the latest.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: In a joint press conference by the Brazilian air force and Brazilian navy, authorities have confirming to us that they have recovered two male bodies from the Atlantic Ocean, in the area where the Air France Flight is presumed to have gone down.
In addition to the corpses, authorities say they have also recovered items of luggage. They say that they found a suitcase. They say they found a backpack with a laptop computer inside. And they've also found a leather briefcase. Inside that leather briefcase, an Air France ticket on it and the name of the passenger that was listed on the doomed Air France flight.
In addition to that, authorities say that they have found a blue seat. They are now confirming the serial number on that seat to details provided by Air France, to confirm if that seat was from the Air France flight.
Now, the location of where this discovery was made is about 670 miles off the Brazilian mainland, about 450 miles north of that Brazilian island Fernando de Noronha.
What the authorities are saying now is that the search is divided into two teams. One team which is scouring the area where the bodies and luggage were found, to see if they can find more debris and more human remains; they also say that the second team is continuing to search other areas of the ocean, because they see, they know, that given the time that has transpired, and the ocean's current in that area, that the debris could be scattered far and wide across parts of the Atlantic Ocean.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Recife, Brazil.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, Reynolds joins us now.
We've been hearing a lot about this storm and the damage that it could have caused. Tell us something that they describe as updrafts.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, very common. It's a very common phenomenon for thunderstorms. Thunderstorms are like a giant engine. You have an inflow, you have an inflow. The inflow of the air feeding into a thunderstorm can accelerate very rapidly going up, these are referred to as updrafts.
What I find most interesting about this is that, you do have storms that can form these kinds of updrafts. There had been some conjectures to whether these storms that were right along the intertropical convergence zone in the Atlantic were actually up to 100 miles per hour. Some say they are in the 70s and some say they're up to 100.
The bottom line, I think, what's so puzzling to me is why that plane was flying through these storms to begin with. We've been hearing stories about how there were all kinds of electric failures on board.
NGUYEN: Right.
WOLF: I'm thinking that maybe -- maybe some of the radar systems on the plane, which the A300 is equipped with, may have gone out. And the pilots were literally flying blind and not been able to see these thunderstorms. I mean, think of how many times you guys fly. And anytime you have severe weather, you're usually held in a holding pattern where the flight is diverted.
NGUYEN: Right. Exactly.
WOLF: You avoid these thunderstorms. You don't go through them. Yes, you don't do it.
Well, these guys went right into the teeth of it, and there's every reason to believe that they may have just gone in there, and not just one particular thing that caused the plane to crash, but those mainly are catastrophic event, I mean to say, looks like a stack of dominos. And without the radar, without them being able to see these storms, they dealt with all kinds of elements, including these updrafts.
HOLMES: You wouldn't know it until you were in it.
WOLF: Absolutely. Absolutely. So, they were literally flying blind in the darkness and then, boom, came running in it and once you're on it, you can't get out.
NGUYEN: How frightening. OK. All right, thank you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, we appreciate you.
WOLF: You bet.
NGUYEN: Well, can one speech, one trip change U.S. relations with Europe? That's a question that's been batted about this week after President Barack Obama delivered a challenge to this predominantly Muslim audience in Cairo on Thursday. Well, some say it was pandering and others describe it as progress.
We want to take that conversation a little further. Politico.com's White House reporter, Alex Burns joins us this morning from Washington.
Alex, thanks for being with us.
ALEXANDER BURNS, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, POLITICO.COM: Thanks for having me.
NGUYEN: First off, let's talk about this. The president's trip started with his promise speech to the Muslim world and some of the strongest political reaction came from his comments about Israel. We want you to take a listen to just a portion of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRES. BARACK OBAMA, UNITED STATES: At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israeli's right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine's. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So, what do you think the response has been from Israel? What are you hearing?
BURNS: Well, the Israeli government issued a very -- the prime minister's office issued a very sort of measured restraint, respectful statement, saying that they hope that the president's trip to Egypt, to the Muslim world is the beginning of a new phase of discussions about peace, but really not commenting directly on the speech itself. The Israeli president, Shimon Peres, who's a bit more of a liberal than the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was, and some were more positive on the speech, but certainly, conservative Israelis who really do still make up the political majority in the country were not pleased with the president's speech. NGUYEN: Alex, you also know that a lot of people, in fact, many have characterized this trip as Obama's apology tour. What specifically drawing the most opposition there?
BURNS: Well, certainly on the right, they're saying that the president went to Cairo and gave a speech sort of saying sorry for interrupting with our war in Iraq and our war in Afghanistan and our war on al Qaeda. I think that if you are listening to the president's speech on Thursday, there were sections of the speech that drew virtually no applause from the crowd or no reaction at all.
Well, he was actually somewhat tougher on the Muslim world, saying, "Listen, folks, you got to stop denying the Holocaust, you got to stop denying Israel's right to exist, you got the stop all these conspiracy theories about 9/11, these things actually happened and they need to be dealt with directly.
But at the same time, this president used rhetoric that really -- I don't think we've ever heard from a president in American history, certainly not a recent president -- about the need to bridge the divide between the United States and the Muslim world. And for the United States to behave, he said, more respectfully towards the Muslim world.
NGUYEN: Yes. Well, let's zero in just a minute on what you just spoke. The president strongly condemned the Holocaust, and 9/11 deniers in that speech. Who, specifically, was he sending that message to?
BURNS: Well, in the Muslim world, you know, here, we certainly take it for granted, that the Holocaust existed and that it was one of the greatest atrocities in human history. And certainly, we all remember 9/11.
But in the Muslim world, there are still heads of state, heads of government who deny the Holocaust, certainly, President Ahmadinejad in Iran. And there's a lot of doubt in that part of the -- in that part of the globe, about what exactly happened on 9/11. There are still a lot of conspiracy theories there about whether the United States government or the Israeli government had a hand in it.
Certainly, we find those things very, very offensive in this country. But we haven't had an American leader go there and say that directly before.
NGUYEN: Alex Burns, Politico.com -- thanks so much for your insight today. We really appreciate it.
BURNS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: And this morning on "STATE OF THE UNION," White House senior advisor David Axelrod talks about President Obama's Middle East trip, General Motors and the confirmation battle with Judge Sonia Sotomayor. John King hosts "STATE OF THE UNION" today, starting at 9:00 Eastern.
HOLMES: Of course, just about anybody would like to pay lower taxes.
NGUYEN: Oh, yes.
HOLMES: And certainly, some people are in position to do so, given their property is going down in value. Well, your property tax is going down as well. How to make sure you get the right deal -- it's coming up.
NGUYEN: Yes, exactly. That's important.
And it is Broadway's biggest night.
(VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Guess who's play up for a Tony Award?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. You know it is bad when even the treasury secretary starts renting out his home because he can't sell it. Tim Geithner's house in New York went on the market in February, but it's yet to attract a buyer. The Geithners paid $1.6 million for the property back in 2004. They were willing to take a $60,000 loss just to sell it, and when that didn't work, they decided to rent it for $7,500 a month.
HOLMES: (AUDIO BREAK) economy, a lot of people are in this position. You own a home and it's not worth what it once was worth.
Our housing expert, Clyde Anderson, is here with some advice, however, that could save you some money. It seems strange but kind of an upside -- a little upside to this.
CLYDE ANDERSON, FINANCE EXPERT: Yes.
HOLMES: At least, you're not -- you shouldn't be paying as much in those taxes.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: You always got to find the silver lining.
HOLMES: All right. So, what should you do here to try to get that tax bill down a little bit?
ANDERSON: What you really need to do is find your tax records, see what your property has been assessed in the years past, first of all.
HOLMES: OK.
ANDERSON: And find out is it high, is it low. With property values declining, it's key -- because a lot of people are paying more on taxes than the properties really worth. That's not right.
HOLMES: Can you end up some kind of where -- you know, people get nervous about this.
ANDERSON: Right.
HOLMES: Can you slip up and end up trying to get it reassessed or whatever may happen, and end up paying more than in taxes?
ANDERSON: It's possible.
HOLMES: How is that?
ANDERSON: It's possible. It depends on what the tax assessors will find. It's comparable. You know, they're going to look out and find what properties have sold probably in the last six months to determine where your value should be.
HOLMES: OK.
ANDERSON: And that's the first step. So, if there's been some sales in your neighborhood, it could possibly skew that a little bit. And they can look at your property and say, hey, well, you maybe able to sell your property for $200,000 instead of $150,000, at what you think it should be. So, that's key.
HOLMES: Are you essentially at their mercy, if you will, on what they say your property is worth?
ANDERSON: Yes, that's the good way to put it. You are, a lot of times, because they're really going to look at it, they're going to look the comparables, they got to make sure. But a lot of counties don't reassess often. And so, because the market has changed so much, there's really a need to assess more, you know, more frequently. And not do it the way they have done in the past, because it's not the same market that we're in years ago.
HOLMES: All right. I know you're in there. You're a housing expert. We don't usually like to put you on the spot, you just give direct advice. Everybody makes up their own mind.
ANDERSON: Right.
HOLMES: But still, give us the pros and cons -- if you had to list them here, the pros and cons of doing this. Let's go with the pros. What's the upside of doing this? Obviously, you might save money.
ANDERSON: Save money. You're going to save money. I mean, for example, you may have a house that, you know, you bought for $300,000, but it was worth $500,000 before. Or you may purchased a house that you paid $150,000 for, the years passed, it was $200,000. And so, because of that you're paying a lot more on taxes.
So, the key is that you're going to save money, that's a big part. Save money, cut your monthly payment even, because tax is a part of your monthly payment. So, go ahead and cut that. So, that's one of the biggest pros, I think, right there. Also, that you're going to make it a lot stronger as far as when you are in the property, you want to stay on the property, we've been talking a lot people being able to keep their property, have a lot of stronger chance of keeping that property now -- if you get the taxes where they really need to be, because you can pay a lot more money on taxes.
HOLMES: And quick, some of those cons, some of those downsides.
(CROSSTALK)
ANDERSON: Hey, it could go up, like you mentioned. Other con is that, now, when you sell the property, if you got a lower assessment, you may not be able to get that higher amount that you wanted before. So, you got to keep that amount.
But talk to a realtor, really find out -- let them comment (ph), save money, don't pay to have an assessment done. That's key.
HOLMES: All right. Clyde Anderson, housing expert for us -- always good to have you.
ANDERSON: All right.
HOLMES: Thank you so much.
ANDERSON: Thank you, T.J.
NGUYEN: All right. Here is something to ponder. How does a 5- year-old kid end up being sentenced to traffic class? Josh Levs joins us for that.
What is going on here, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Betty, we have a picture of him completing his class over here, and I'm going to tell you all about this story.
NGUYEN: Wow.
LEVS: And we also have this for you, the nation's first African- American female rabbi. You will hear from her.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
NGUYEN: Get you up and moving on a Sunday morning.
HOLMES: I want to fly away from Atlanta.
NGUYEN: Nowhere.
HOLMES: A beautiful shot of Atlanta where we sit on this beautiful day.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is, looking forward to it.
HOLMES: Well, an interesting first this weekend -- the nation's first African-American female rabbi.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. Our Josh Levs joins us with that and some other stories coming from CNN affiliate.
Hey, Josh.
LEVS: You know what, guys? Our producer, Deanna, says she didn't think she had a music that would nail this story, about the African-American female rabbi, but that was Lenny Kravitz, African- American, and Jewish, too.
NGUYEN: Oh, interesting.
HOLMES: There you go.
LEVS: So, see, Deanna, you did pretty well. I like that.
This is a pretty big deal actually. Take a look. We see from our affiliate today. We can see, one of our stories here, it links to it from CNN.com/US, WCPO, this is the first African-American woman in the world, apparently, who has been ordained as a rabbi. You can hear from her now. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, WCPO)
ALYSA STANTON, 1ST AFRICAN-AMERICAN FEMALE RABBI: I'm a rabbi, who happens to be an African-American woman; and not an African- American woman who happens to be a rabbi. And as I said from the beginning, if I was the 50,000th African-American person doing this, I would still be on this journey. It's so happens that I'm one of the first, and I'm honored.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: And she's been ordained. Now that she's going to -- going to North Carolina, and she'll be serving a congregation there with 60 families. You can learn a lot more -- CNN.com.
All right. Now, Betty, before the break, we're talking about this child, this 5 year old. I know you're interested in this. It really is amazing. Here's his picture over here. Let me show you.
He was sentenced to sit in traffic class. You can see him there. The poor little kid having to listen during traffic class. And there's his picture having completed it.
Now, the basic story behind this is that his mother had been pulled over when he undone his seat belt. She ended up getting ticketed, and she asked the police officer to talk to him, but when she finally went to court, she asked the judge just talk to him, and the judge end up sentencing him to that.
A lot of people writing in here, this is from affiliate KRQE. If we can zoom in it for just a second, I want to show you. Some people are really upset about this. Here's the message that says, "For heaven's sake, getting kids to wear a seatbelt is easy. Don't go until the belt is on, and if they take it off, pull over and wait until they put it back on."
I was reading through several messages. Not a lot of people happy with this little young boy having to go to that class.
But we're going to end with something that is pretty happy and pretty fun. One of the biggest sandcastle competitions in the world. This is from our affiliate KPRC. And you can see, the architects travel from around the country, even around the world to make some really funky, massive sandcastles. And they have a lot of fun with that. Ultimately, there's a competition.
You can watch all this stuff at CNN.com/US. See what's coming from our affiliates.
Send it back to you, guys.
NGUYEN: You're a little excited about that there, Josh?
LEVS: I think it's funky. In fact, I miss the beach. Time to get out.
NGUYEN: I know, we all need a little vacation.
LEVS: Boy, we do, always.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thank you.
NGUYEN: Well, he got a shout-out from the president this week, in a key speech.
HOLMES: Yes. And this morning, the one who got the shout-out was first Muslim American elected to Congress. He's going to be joining us live to talk about the president's outreach to the Muslim world, also, to the Muslim community right here in the U.S.
Also, we're talking about first and first evers. Another woman, we're going to show, has reached first ever status -- how she was caught out a spot in history on a wing and a prayer. That's coming up in the 8 o'clock hour, right here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, it is the night that honors the best in theater. The 63rd Annual Tony Awards are tonight.
HOLMES: Actor Neil Patrick Harris is hosting the show. And as CNN's A.J. Hammer tell us, a well-known star is hoping to add another trophy to their case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) A.J. HAMMER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Tony Awards on Sunday night seek to honor the best of Broadway, and this year, a few of the nominees that have already earned the respect from Oscar or Emmy are enjoying the attention from Tony.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The nominees for best performance in a play are Jane Fonda, "33 Variations."
JANE FONDA, BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE, PLAY: I can't say it was a dream come true because I never dreamed it. It never occurred to me that this would happen.
HAMMER: And one of Jane's former co-stars feels the same way.
DOLLY PARTON, BEST ORIGINAL SCORE NOMINEE: This is Broadway. This is New York. Every now and then, that hits me up side of the head and I say, "Oh, my God, here I am nominated for a Tony."
HAMMER: Dolly Parton's production of "9 to 5" stars best-leading actress in a musical nominee, Allison Janney. And the Emmy winner said that a Tony nomination is a reward for the demands of eight shows a week.
ALLISON JANNEY, BEST ACTRESS NOMINEE, MUSICAL: I don't recommend it for the lazy or weary or fearful because it's a -- it requires more energy than I have ever had in my life.
HAMMER: And every week takes its toll, says "best actor in a play" nominee, Jeff Daniels.
JEFF DANIELS, BEST ACTOR NOMINEE, PLAY: You can't phony it in. You can't fake it. You can't not really feel like doing it today and just kind of sort of -- you've got to be there because it's so fast and it's so intense. By the end of the week, you need that day off because you're like, you know, you're like Mike Tyson at the end of his career. It was just -- you know, you're beat up.
HAMMER: But for some actors, there's no place they'd rather be.
FONDA: You know, I think of my dad who always loved live theater. But I never got it until now, and I wish he was alive so he could see me enjoying this the way he used to enjoy it, and I love doing this. If all I did for the rest of my life was theater, I would be really happy.
HAMMER: A.J. Hammer, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Ah, I do love the theater. Actually, I'm going to see a play this week.
HOLMES: And you know, I love the one you are going to see.
NGUYEN: "Wicked."
HOLMES: "Wicked."
NGUYEN: I can't wait.
HOLMES: It is great.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Just to put together the whole story ...
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: I'm not going to tell you today.
NGUYEN: OK.
HOLMES: A wonderful story.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.
