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CNN Sunday Morning
Myanmar Frees Jailed American; Tropical Storms; Uninsured College Students
Aired August 16, 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, from the CNN Center in Atlanta. This is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. And look at Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta. Looks like it's going to be a beautiful day shaping up, still a little dark outside, but it us August 16, and we do appreciate you being with us this morning. Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And mornings are supposed to bright and early, not dark and early...
NGUYEN: Yeah, but it's only 6:00 a.m.
HOLMES: It's only 6:00 here where we sit. Hello there. I'm T.J. Holmes. Yes, we're here in Atlanta. It's also 6:00 a.m. in Florida where they might have some issues in a few days -- tropical storm warnings have been issued this morning for parts of Florida -- of course our Reynolds Wolf all over that. He'll be talking to us in just a moment and what we just witnessed here a few minutes ago over in Bangkok...
NGUYEN: Yeah, Virginia Senator Jim Webb held a press conference at the Bangkok Airport and really the headline is that he secured the release of an American who was sentenced to seven years for violating immigration laws, municipal laws and other laws as he when to pro- democracy leader Aung Sung Suu Kyi's house and that caused her to add additional time to her house arrest.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: So it's a big mess, but the headline gain, the American has been released and Jim Webb has secured that release from Myanmar.
HOLMES: We talked about dark over here, it's pretty dark and pretty doggone early in Phoenix right about now. The president's going to be waking up there this morning -- don't know if he's up just yet, if so, good morning, Mr. President. He's talking about health care reform on a bit (ph) of a family vacation in the tour of the West. Yesterday he was in Grand Junction -- a town hall there in Colorado -- also had a visit in Yellowstone with the family. We'll talk more about that. He's pushing, but he's going to be heading on back home to D.C.
NGUYEN: A little business with pleasure...
HOLMES: Yes. NGUYEN: ... is what the president and his family are doing. OK, let's get to this -- our stop stories this morning. This is what happened overnight -- a seven magnitude quake off the western coast of Indonesia, Sumatra's Island, to be exact. Now there's no immediate tsunami warning and there's no word yet on any possible damages or injuries.
HOLMES: I want to turn to Taiwan now -- we've been keeping an eye on this for the past week. A lot of much needed foreign aid is starting to arrive in villages that have been cut off by mudslides and flooding. That was caused of course by typhoon Morakot that battered the island last weekend, triggering the worst weather disaster there in some 50 years. Storms blamed for killing at least 123 people, however, the numbers are expected to possibly go up to at least 500. Thousands of others displaced. They are in temporary shelters right now. Several countries, including the U.S. have offered to help.
NGUYEN: And back to this story as well -- the governor of California urging everyone in the path of almost a dozen wildfires to evacuate. (INAUDIBLE) some live pictures right now of what's called the Lockheed fire -- apparently these aren't live pictures because it's a little bit daylight in that, so this is from Saturday, but this is the largest fire that's burning. It's burned some 7,000 acres in the Santa Cruz Mountains and forced nearly 3,000 people to evacuate. Firefighters say it's about 30 percent contained, but today's temperature changes, well that could pose new challenges.
And the story that we've been talking about this morning, American John Yettaw free today in Thailand. He arrived in Bangkok just a little while ago with Senator Jim Webb from Virginia.
HOLMES: Yeah and he -- we just saw that press conference about 30 minutes ago. There he is walking in. We thought, maybe, we might see Mr. Yettaw, but, of course, we've been talking about he's not in the best of shape, not in the best health, so he wasn't at this press conference. He was actually being checked out by medical staff. But Webb has secured the release of Yettaw.
Webb there is the first member of Congress to visit Myanmar in over a decade I suppose on an official visit. He actually mentioned during his press conference he had been on a private visit back in 2001 -- had gone himself. But this is an official visit over there. He did -- as we see in this picture -- addressing reporters. Listen to what he said just a short time ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JIM WEBB (D), VIRGINIA: And we are fortunate that the government honored my request to allow him to come back here to Thailand with me. He was on the aircraft with me. He's not a well man. He had a medical incident this morning when they read him his orders of deportation. He's now undergoing a thorough medical review here in the hospital and soon he'll be able to return to his family.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: All right -- so a lot more to come on that story. A lot more details to get. But, again, the headline is there. A lot of details you can get mixed up in. It was a confusing story at the time. It's a confusing story now.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: But Yettaw is coming home -- the American, the Missouri man is going to be coming home, so don't know how soon he will be back, but it's a pretty tough medical condition he's in apparently...
NGUYEN: Absolutely and like we said, we thought we were going to see him at that news conference, but he had another medical condition arise this morning, so he's with doctors, at least last we heard from Senator Webb about 30 minutes ago, so we'll see when he does indeed arrive back in the U.S. -- no doubt his family is looking forward to seeing him. But a lot of people looking forward to figuring out what is happening weather-wise, especially if you have some travel plans out there because we are talking about two tropical storms.
HOLMES: Ana and Bill, they make a great little duo, don't they?
NGUYEN: Yeah...
HOLMES: ... cute little couple. Reynolds Wolf standing by over there -- what do you want to start with -- Ana or Bill?
HOLMES: How about a microphone...
NGUYEN: How about a microphone...
HOLMES: ... that's on -- Ana, Bill, and Reynolds. That makes a heck of a trio. All three can give you a headache some time...
NGUYEN: There we go -- Reynolds, can we hear you...
HOLMES: Reynolds -- we can't hear Reynolds yet...
NGUYEN: No we can't.
HOLMES: All right...
NGUYEN: (INAUDIBLE) technology -- we'll get that worked out.
HOLMES: We're going to get back to Reynolds. Let's move on to some health care, shall we?
NGUYEN: Shall we?
HOLMES: Health care reform -- the make or break month right now where Congress is back home and getting an earful right now, but today you might compare the debates -- or really delve through the Grand Canyon. Both are rocky...
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: ... terrains, huge divides right down the middle.
NGUYEN: You know that's a good point. Both are on President Obama's agenda as well this weekend with a visit to the Grand Canyon planned for today and another town hall meeting which happened last night in Colorado. Our Ed Henry is following the president's trip.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Family time at Yellowstone National Park -- the first family expressing joy at the sight of Old Faithful. But a sharply different emotion from the president at a health care event in Colorado. For the first time he invoked last year's death of his own grandmother to slam conservatives like Sarah Palin who have accused him of promoting euthanasia.
BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it's like to watch somebody you love who's aging, deteriorating. So the notion that somehow I ran for public office or members of Congress are in this so that they can go around pulling the plug on grandma? I mean when you start making arguments like that, that's simply dishonest.
HENRY: The only really pointed exchange...
ZACH LAHN, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO STUDENT: I'd love to have a debate, just all out, any time, Oxford-style if you'd like.
HENRY: College student Zack Lahn pressing on whether a public option would wipe out insurance companies.
LAHN: How in the world can a private corporation providing insurance compete with an entity that does not have to worry about making a profit, does not at have to pay local property taxes, they do not have to -- they're not subject to local regulations. How can a company compete with that?
OBAMA: It's good to see a young person who's very engaged and confident challenging a president to an Oxford-style debate. I think this is good. You know the -- this is good you know. I like that. You've got to have a little chutzpah.
HENRY: The president said the details are not final, but broadly speaking the charge is not true.
OBAMA: And in fact right now you've got a lot of private companies who would do very well competing against the government. UPS and FedEx are doing a lot better than the post office.
HENRY: In a sign of just how engaged the public is right now, Lahn told me he drove four hours to get here. He expressed disappointment the president did not have more details but was satisfied in one way.
LAHN: I've learned that these town halls are genuine and that's something I was very, very happy with.
HENRY (on camera): Really?
LAHN: I was very concerned when I came up here -- I was talking to my friend -- that I was afraid the people who were going to be called on for questions were going to be plants. And I'm not saying that none of them were, but I'm saying that I came here with a genuine question, and if he knew my question, he might not have wanted to call on me, but he called on me not knowing anything about me and that is one thing I do respect.
HENRY: The first family's summer tour of national parks continues Sunday at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Then the president wraps his western swing Monday in Phoenix with a speech to the VFW's annual convention before heading back to Washington as his fight for health reform reaches a critical stage.
Ed Henry, CNN, Grand Junction, Colorado.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Fight for support for his health care reform. I wonder how much you found at an event last night in Atlanta -- not much. The heat -- the hot Atlanta heat couldn't keep health care opponents out of Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. The conservative group organized yesterday's rally.
NGUYEN: Yeah, speakers included former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey and conservative radio talk show hosts, but some of the people our Don Lemon spoke to said this debate is more than Republicans versus Democrats.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONNY CAMPER, AGAINSTS HEALTH CARE REFORM: It started with all the bailout money. You know it's just -- it just ballooned from there. You know they keep spending money and spending money, spending money. It's going to come to an end. You know the best thing to do is to nip it right now and let's go back to the Constitution, and let's think America first.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: So, but you said it started with the bailout money. So for you it's not partisan because that was introduced by -- during the Bush administration.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not partisan, no.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not partisan. I wasn't -- I did not agree with George Bush on all the bailouts. It's not partisan at all.
(CROSSTALK)
SARAH CAMPER, AGAINST HEALTH CARE REFORM: That's what capitalism is all about. You know let the market -- let's let the free market take care of it. If we keep bailing out and baling out and baling out, how are we ever -- where does it end? It just keeps going on and on.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: OK that event in Atlanta as we said pretty civil affair. People let their minds be known, but you know no real back and forth. Everybody in that crowd pretty much was like-minded. They were all on the same page...
NGUYEN: Yeah and you know that's key to it I guess if you don't want to have a contentious debate here.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: But you know it hasn't gone so easy for many lawmakers, mostly Democrats at recent town hall meetings. But do the protests and the yelling and the shoving at these meetings actually sway the health care debate at all? Let's look at some new poll numbers with CNN Deputy Director Paul Steinhauser.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Betty, T.J. we've seen a lot of coverage in the media these past few weeks over these town hall protests that have been occurring as lawmakers are holding these forums across the country and one question comes to mind right off the bat. Average Americans who aren't going to these town halls, well, are they paying attention.
Take a look at this number from Gallup that was conducted this week, this poll, national survey, and you can see right here that almost seven out of 10 Americans say, yeah, they're either very or somewhat closely paying attention to these town hall protests. Only 18 percent say they're not closely watching them at all. And you can see right there at the bottom, 13 percent said (INAUDIBLE) we're not watching at all. I guess the next question that comes to mind is well, are these protests at these health care town halls having an effect.
And you know, most of these protesters are against the president and the Democrats in Congress against their health care proposals, their health care reform proposals, so check out these -- all these numbers from Gallup from that exact same poll that was conducted this week and you can see that 34 percent say that watching these protests make them a little more sympathetic to the protesters use, which are against the president's health care reform proposals.
Only one in five say that watching these protests makes them less sympathetic toward the protesters and 36 percent say these protests that these town halls are having no difference whatsoever in their opinion when it comes to health care reform. Another question is are these protests at these town halls having an effect on the president's numbers.
And well two polls, Gallup and Marist were conducted this week and both indicate that you know what, it seems that the health care protests are not have that much of an effect. The president's overall approval rating is in the mid-50s. That's where it was before these protests started. And his specific numbers on health care reform, Americans continue to be split.
They were split before these town halls started, and they seem to be split right now. We are going to continue monitoring these polls and surveys as they come in this month. As you would assume, these health care town halls continue and the protests continue, so we'll better -- be able to better gauge I guess the effect later this month, but that's where we stand right now -- Betty, T.J.?
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN, your hurricane headquarters.
NGUYEN: Yes, indeed it is our hurricane headquarters. So far no hurricane but they're kind of getting close with these tropical storms, Reynolds.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely your loud and clear on that one. Let me...
NGUYEN: Glad to hear you.
WOLF: No question. Hey let me -- let me show you something else we've got. We've already been talking about Ana -- we've been talking Bill. What we might be seeing is Claudette. Take a look at this for a moment. You got the state of Florida (INAUDIBLE) the latest tropical depression. This tropical depression not number one, two, three tropical depression number four and you can notice that it has a little bit of a rotation on it just to the west of Tampa. If you happen to be in the Tampa area and you happen to look off the coast, to your back you have got the sun coming up on one side, but off to the west you see those scattered showers.
I'm going to shrink that one for you and give you an idea of where the storm is going. We're going to take a look at the storm path. Again, a depression for the time being, but as we look at this very carefully (INAUDIBLE) on Sunday it will be just to the south of Apalachicola, possibly coming onshore around midnight or so early tomorrow morning and then moving into parts of Alabama into Monday and Tuesday, so that may be Claudette before all is said and done.
Next up we've got two more storms to talk about. We of course have Bill. We also have Ana. You see both the storms right there, to give you an idea of where these are going to headed, we're going to put these into motion, first and foremost we're going to see Ana -- Ana expected to actually stay about the same, not expected to actually reach hurricane strength, move right along the islands and as it does so into Monday, into Tuesday, into Wednesday, it is expected to weaken because it's going to have its interaction with land. And as we go very quickly to our next storm, next storm, of course, will be Bill -- Bill expected to strengthen. Going from a tropical storm to a hurricane as we get into Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday.
Winds -- by the time we get to 2:00 a.m. Friday, a category-three storm with maximum sustained winds, over 100 miles per hour. Take a look at that -- look at that cone of probability. There's a chance the storm could veer a little bit more to the south, possibly a bit more to the north. There's a lot of unknowns right now, so we're just going to watch it for you very carefully. CNN, of course is your hurricane headquarters, so if you're tuning in to get some information of the tropics then you're in the right place. Let's head back to you guys...
NGUYEN: And you're the right guy with all the information -- OK. Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds. Thanks. Well a lot of people have a lot of questions for Fantasia. You know she disappeared for a little while, people were wondering where she was...
NGUYEN: What happened, yeah...
HOLMES: Yes, we'll get an answer to that when I sat down and talked to her, but there was another question that I had you'll probably want the answer to as well. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Is it tougher to just be up on this stage in front of two, 3,000 or stand up on the stage by yourself with a microphone looking at Simon Cowell.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That's a good one.
HOLMES: What would you guess?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would think it's Simon Cowell.
HOLMES: He can be brutal.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right.
HOLMES: OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well you'll hear her answer coming up and answers to a lot more questions -- my interview with Fantasia.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
HOLMES: That's Fantasia there, doing what she does best, singing on stage. Never really been a problem for her. She's been doing it since she was about 4 years old and it certainly helped her win "American idol" back in 2004 -- I believe that was the third season.
She's still singing on stage these days, however, she's mixing in a little acting between the songs. She is reprising her role as Ms. Celie in the Broadway production of "The Color Purple". Her first run as Celie started in '07, ended in early 2008 after she had missed over 50 performances with no real explanation. She is now ready to explain why she left and why she just had to come back.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) FANTASIA BARRINO, SINGER: I had to do Ms. Celie. She's a part of me now. I think after my first week I knew like, oh, my god, this ain't no joke. It's not and you know the difference in this first time I did it in New York (INAUDIBLE) and I think that when I was doing it then I had so much baggage of my own that it was hard for me (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: As we say now, you are back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: Everybody wondered where did you go.
BARRINO: There was a lot going on. I actually had tumors. I had to have surgery, and I was just tired. I didn't understand why I was so tired. I would go from "The Color Purple" and go get IV's because I would be dehydrated, it wasn't that. I had two tumors that was draining everything out of me.
HOLMES: For Fantasia, getting news about tumors was bad enough, but they were in her throat of all places. The worst news given that she's a woman without a high school diploma whose success has been almost solely based on her ability to sing.
BARRINO: It was a trying time for me, I will say that, because after I had the surgery I couldn't speak for six weeks. So I'm like everything at the time was going wrong. I can't even speak or talk, can't work for six weeks. And I work because I have to pay my bills, and I have to take care of my whole family.
HOLMES: Are you fully recovered now?
BARRINO: Fully recovered.
HOLMES: Fully recovered.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: How are the vocal cords?
BARRINO: Stronger than ever -- the only thing that I have to do is I have to get somebody to work with me because my talking, they say, is worse than my singing. I never heard that before.
HOLMES: What does that mean?
BARRINO: But I don't know. Everybody's like do you really talk like that and I'm like yeah. But the doctor says my talking is worse than my singing.
HOLMES: And while the speaking voice may need some work, the singing voice, judge for yourself.
BARRINO: (Singing)
HOLMES: Fantasia's health scare prompted her to get a backup plan, an education. You want to go back and get your diploma.
BARRINO: (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: That is going on now, right...
BARRINO: Yeah...
HOLMES: How's it going?
BARRINO: It's hard. Yeah, it's been a long time. I dropped out of school in the ninth grade but I'm doing it because I have an 8- year-old daughter and a 16-year-old brother and I'm so hard on them about school. I'm so hard and I'm like how about this. Watch your sister go. I'm getting my diploma, and I'm still cool.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Still cool.
HOLMES: And to answer the question, she has to play before 2,500, 3,000 people every night on stage. "The Color Purple" -- is that worse than being in front of Simon Cowell?
NGUYEN: Right. I said Simon.
HOLMES: You say Simon. She said no doubt being in front of all those folks trying to perform "The Color Purple" because for her she's a singer. She can stand up in front of any crowd, anywhere, or any tough critic and sing, no problem, but she says she never looks out into the crowd, she never makes eye contact when she's performing "The Color Purple". She never looks out there because it just freaks her out.
NGUYEN: Wow, You know I guess we would feel a little bit different because we just have cameras in front of us.
HOLMES: Yeah.
NGUYEN: Just imagine having a crowd there...
HOLMES: A live audience...
NGUYEN: Oh, we would ham it up, wouldn't we?
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: It would be exactly like a town hall meeting...
NGUYEN: Yeah -- and a contentious one.
HOLMES: OK for more of that interview with Fantasia, you can go to our blog, CNN.com/TJ I'm told -- wow, we have our own -- look at that.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: That's a lot better than the ones we've had in the past.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: And some of you are sending us your comments on Facebook and on Twitter. You can contact Betty and I both there as well.
NGUYEN: Kudos to the graphics department. All right let's move on to this. You know August could be a make-or-break month when it comes to health care. One of the questions though that we are asking is will uninsured college students get help?
HOLMES: And Josh Levs looking for the answer -- good morning to you, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you guys, too. You know the government says that one in five college students is uninsured. President Obama saying that his plan will change that -- will it, though? The "Truth Squad" has a verdict.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So we have been hearing a lot of promises about what health care reform will do for America.
HOLMES: And one of those things we've been hearing is that uninsured college students will be helped. Is that the case? Josh Levs with the answer for us -- good morning again, Josh.
LEVS: Yeah, good morning again to you guys. I really like this example a lot because it gets at what we're doing at the "Truth Squad" now. You know we're watching the town halls, we're watching the lawmakers, seeing what they're saying, but we're also getting questions directly from you and this "Truth Squad" comes from you. Take a look here.
I'm going to show you this example. This is a question that we got from David Morris who says "I'd like to know if under Obama's insurance reform plan if students like me who turn 25 and can't be on their parents' insurance anymore will be covered?" That's what he wants to know.
Well you know we dug into that. Let's go straight to a graphic here because I want to give you some facts about this and how big it is. About 20 percent of college students in this country are uninsured. Now, there are various reasons for that. It's not just age, but that's one reason.
And in this economy you have more and more young people going back to school, and some of them can't because then they'll lose insurance, so this is a big issue for a lot of people. Now we looked into it and this is the first point that we can make about President Obama's plan.
What he has put forward -- and again, we don't know what will ultimately make it through Congress, but his plan would indeed help those who are too old for their parents' insurance. His plan would allow kids who -- or young people, whatever you want to call people who are 26, 27, 28, to stay on their parent's insurance for longer if they are full-time students. Therefore, here's our verdict (INAUDIBLE).
Take a look at from the CNN "Truth Squad". Our verdict is true. And we want to encourage you first of all to keep those questions coming, because we're going to tackle them, but also to check out all of the "Truth Squads" that we have right here at this new CNN.com/healthcare, this main page of our health care coverage right now.
You click on the fact check area. It will bring you to a long list of all the fact checks that we're doing. And if you want to know more about the health care debate, of course, and how all these reforms could affect you, keep it coming there, CNN.com and CNN.com/healthcare. This is going to be updated literally every day, sometimes overnight, on the weekends too. And guys, we have gotten -- I was looking at the blog before. In one section alone, we're up to about 600 posts.
NGUYEN: Really?
LEVS: People's telling us their biggest concerns about health care, the "Truth Squad" takes a look at that list, we're pacing (ph) through them, and we'll be having more truth -- fact checking in the coming days.
NGUYEN: Well that just shows you there are a lot of concerns and a whole lot of questions out there and people just want to get some answers as this debate continues.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Thank you, Josh.
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: Well protesters arrested in Birmingham during the civil rights era may soon get a clean slate. It's coming up next hour. I'll talk with the mayor of Birmingham who wants to pardon those who were jailed in the 60's.
NGUYEN: And we're also going to hear from one woman who says her arrest is a badge of honor.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. It's 6:00 a.m. here in Atlanta, 5:30 p.m. in Bangkok where U.S. Senator Jim Webb just held a news conference about John Yettaw, who is the American that Webb helped free from a sentence of seven years in Myanmar. Here's Senator Webb and what he had to say at a news conference just a short time ago. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEBB: One is a release on San Suu Kyi of her house arrests is something over which I have no control. There are a lot of variables about that (INAUDIBLE) prosecution (INAUDIBLE) things that I don't want to (INAUDIBLE) but you know it's better to -- better to hope than not to hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Much more to come on that story and many more details to come, we'll continue to follow that here.
A few other top stories we're working on. Take a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(GUNFIRE)
HOLMES: This is U.S. Marines storming a fortified compound where insurgents have reportedly been spotted firing rockets.
NGUYEN: Inside they say they found marijuana plants and parts to make roadside bombs. Now, this predawn raid is part of an ongoing military offensive to regain control of the Taliban occupied area. >
(END VIDEO CLIP)
And fire erupts during a wedding celebration in Kuwait, killing 41 women and children. It happened in a tribal area west of the capitol. Officials say it only took three minutes for the fire to consume the wedding tent. At least 76 others were injured and some of them seriously. Now, the cause of this is still under investigation.
HOLMES: In Taiwan friends and family members remembering those who were lost in the Typhoon Morakot. More than 123 people, including children, have died since Typhoon Morakot battered the nation last weekend. Many families have been holding roadside memorials since Saturday to honor the dead. Thousands of villagers are also displaced because of mudslides and flooding.
We turn to the president now. He'll be visiting the Grand Canyon a bit later today, and he's staying in Arizona to start off the week. Tomorrow he addresses the national convention for Veterans of Foreign Wars, VFW. That will be in Phoenix. Then Tuesday he welcomes the Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak to the White House. Then Wednesday he'll have a ceremony for Jimmy Johnson, the 2008 Sprint Cup champion, that's NASCAR. Car racing, if you didn't know. Friday he leaves for Camp David.
And then the Obama health care town hall tour stopped in Grand Junction, that was last night. There the president fine-tuned his pitch for a sweeping overhaul. Trying to calm a lot of fears with statements like this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: I just lost my grandmother last year. I know what it's like to watch somebody you love, aging, deteriorating, and have to struggle with that. So the notion that somehow I ran for public office, or members of Congress are in this so that they can go around pulling the plug on grandma? I mean when you start making arguments like that, that's simply dishonest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Well, let's get some honesty now from CNN's Deputy Political Director Paul Steinhauser. He's been following these town hall meetings.
Good morning to you, as always, kind sir. Good to see you. We've been talking about seeing all these town halls, and the tone of them stands out to some people. What has been the tone of some of the president's own town halls?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: I guess they are a little more civil, you would say, than some of those we seen on TV from some of the lawmakers, T.J. Maybe that's the Secret Service being in attendance. You know, in the Montana town hall on Friday night, you also had Air Force One parked right outside.
So there are some tough questions at these town halls. We saw the one yesterday. You saw in Ed Henry's piece, from the college student. But mostly these are more supportive crowds for the president, T.J.
HOLMES: You mentioned that college student. That college student was getting at a point about public option and how a private company could compete with the government, that is running a plan. The government, of course, not trying to make a profit necessarily.
The president seemed to suggest, a bit in there, that, hey, we don't know if that's going to be in there. But that certainly was a cornerstone of his health care reform. So, as this debate continues throughout this month, and so far, does the president seem like he's willing to give on some aspects of the plan that he did want?
STEINHAUSER: That is a good point. Ed Henry made that point as well last night when he was watching the event. Yeah, the president said that maybe, maybe not 100 percent sure that a public option will be in there. Of course, many on the left really want that public option. We know Republicans are dead set against the public option. That is one of the sticking points in these negotiations in Congress. The president, maybe, maybe he's signaling yesterday that the possibility the public option may not be in there.
Another thing you've seen the president do the last couple of weeks is focus on more of the vast majority of Americans who have insurance and like their insurance; now the president calling this health insurance reform. Earlier, when this process started, earlier in the year, the president was talking more about insuring those 46 million who don't have it. That's still part of the plan, of course, but maybe not emphasizing that as much as they were, T.J. HOLMES: Yes, he had a question about that in one of these town halls as well. A guy got up and said when did you decide to turn this debate as an attack on the insurance companies.
One more here before I let you go. There was some debate about who these people were in these town halls. He wasn't getting as tough questions. Of course, like you said, Secret Service is around. A guy standing there with a machine gun and an ear piece, you are not going to be as nasty to the president as you might be to some local congressman. But, who are these people in these crowds? Are they being hand picked?
STEINHAUSER: No, they're not being hand picked. The event, Tuesday, in New Hampshire, and the event yesterday, in Colorado, those tickets were given away via the White House web site. You could go online to WhiteHouse.gov. or call an 800 number to and ask for tickets and you'd be in a lottery. They weren't hand selecting them.
The one in Montana, on Friday night, those tickets were actually given away in Montana, in the local area. So they don't select only supporters of the president. And if you're an opponent of the president, we've seen a couple of them, and don't agree with his plans on health care reform, you can get into these events as well.
HOLMES: All right. Don't think anybody is going to get into the president's face like they have been doing at some of these town halls, however.
Paul Steinhauser, our deputy political director, and friend of our show, here on CNN SATURDAY & SUNDAY MORNING. We'll see you again.
STEINHAUSER: Thanks, T.J.
NGUYEN: Well, with the Obama's going to both Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, our national parks, they are in the spotlight, no doubt, but they need a face lift. Here's a look at how stimulus money is actually helping them out.
HOLMES: Also in tough economic times an education is more important than ever, but at some historically black colleges the money crunch can put dreams of higher education in jeopardy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well stranded villagers in Taiwan are getting some much need foreign aid. Several countries, including the United States, have offered Taiwan help, and some of it already arriving by helicopter. CNN Senior International Correspondent John Vause joins us now live with the latest from the ground.
Hey, there, John.
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: You know, I sat down a little earlier today with President Ma Ying-jeou and I asked him straight out, how does he respond to all that criticism we've been hearing from so many people here that essentially his government -- the rescue response, rather, was just simply was too late and too little.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MA YING-JEOU, PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN: Certainly, I will take full responsibility, whatever the blame is. Because, after all, I'm the president of this country.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAUSE: Now, in recent days President Ma has been touring the devastated region. He's been apologizing to a lot of people. But as far as we know, this is the first time he has actually said that he takes responsibility.
I asked him what does that actually mean? He says it's now his responsibility to investigate what went wrong, to find out where there were mistakes, and to fix those mistakes. Because, he say, there are other typhoons on their way in the coming months.
He also said he'll find those officials, who basically screwed it up, and they will be punished.
Now, despite all of this, President Ma remains deeply unpopular in this country. He opened a baseball game last night and there he was booed and heckled. There were some protestors there who were demanding his resignation. He doesn't intend to step down.
He is still defending that rescue operation. He said one of the biggest problems was, in fact, the weather, which kept military helicopters grounded for most of the first four days. He says now that the weather has been mostly cleared, almost 8,000 people have been flown to safety and that's the biggest air lift in Taiwan's history.
Some also, good news to report. The USA seems to have arrived, at least, part of it. About 15,000 pounds of plastic sheeting, they're also expecting some heavy lifting helicopters in the near future as well. But that plastic sheeting will be crucial because they will use that to make some temporary accommodation. They're going to have a big problem here. About 7,000 people are looking for some place to live. President Ma says that in the next couple of months they'll get into those prefab homes and that's where they'll live most likely for the next year or so, Tony (sic).
NGUYEN: A lot of work still to be done there. All right, John Vause joining us live from Taiwan.
HOLMES: It is Betty.
NGUYEN: John Vause has been working very hard over the past couple of days.
HOLMES: A lot going on.
NGUYEN: He's been working 24/7, so, if he gets our names confused that's OK, John. HOLMES: There was an audio issue. He couldn't actually hear her voice. Just a little behind the scenes there, but ...
NGUYEN: I do look a little bit like Tony, don't I?
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness. That's a scary thought. Love you, though, Tony.
Well, the recession, of course, squeezing some college students. Squeezing some of them right out of the classroom. CNN's Sandra Indo has today's "Money & Main Street".
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Sophomore Zakiya Williams found a perfect fit at Spelman College.
ZAKIYA WILLIAMS, SOPHMORE, SPELMAN COLLEGE: This place was meant for me.
ENDO: But when the tough economy hit her and her family hard, she packed her bags ready to drop out.
WILILAMS: I wasn't able to get loans. Neither were my parents.
ENDO: It's a familiar story at colleges across the country, but especially at historically black colleges and universities where in some cases up to 95 percent of the students rely on financial aid to fund their education.
President Barack Obama has moved to increase the financial aid with stimulus and budget funds, but still many black colleges expect enrollment rates to keep shrinking as families and students struggle in the economic downturn.
BEVERLY TATUM, PRESIDENT, SPELMAN COLLEGE: As many students want to come, will they be able to afford to come?
ENDO: Since 2004, $238 million of federal funding was earmarked annually for historically black colleges. And in the last two years those institutions also benefited from an extra $85 million each year under the College Cost Reduction Act, which ends in May of 2010. So those institutions may feel the squeeze even more.
CARLTON BROWN, PRESIDENT, CLARK ATLANTA UNIVERSITY: We are under resourced. We try to keep our costs as low as possible. That means that our margins are always very tight.
ENDO: In the Atlanta area alone Morehouse College laid off 25 adjunct professors. Spelman is eliminating 35 jobs next year. Clark Atlanta University's budget axe fell with 70 professors and 30 staff members let go. The White House Budget Office says President Obama's budget calls for a 5 percent increase in permanent funding for historically black colleges.
MICHAEL LOMAX, CEO, UNITED NEGRO COLLEGE FUND: We are saying, you're moving in the right direction, but unfortunately in these tough times not far enough.
ENDO: For Zakiya Williams, a scholarship came through at the last minute. And she says the struggle to stay at a historically black college was worth it.
WILLIAMS: I was completely relieved and now I'm focusing on my studies.
ENDO: Sandra Endo, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: You can catch a new "Money & Main Street" this Thursday morning on "America Morning" starting at 6:00 a.m. Eastern.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A little CCR for you in the morning.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. Who needs coffee when you have CCR?
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: That's some rock'n'roll music.
WOLF: Exactly.
NGUYEN: We're playing this because just yesterday was the 40th anniversary of Woodstock. None of us, obviously, were there at the time. I don't even think we were alive.
HOLMES: Well, Reynolds you were just a little tyke at the time.
NGUYEN: Oh, OK, you were.
WOLF: I was born in the '70s.
NGUYEN: That's all right.
HOLMES: OK.
WOLF: I was around, in a way. Let's not even go through that whole thing.
NGUYEN: OK. Let's not get technical here.
WOLF: That was just one of many events we had around the nation yesterday. We had all kinds of cool things. Let's take a look at this. In Seattle we had, let's start off there, why don't we? The Hempfest, one of the largest marijuana legalization festivals; in Phoenix, Arizona with the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention; in Woodstock, we had the 40th anniversary.
We were talking about that. The big festival and I'm sure you might have been able to partake in some of the goodies in Seattle at the Hempfest, at Woodstock. Then at the International Gift Fair, you might have had a gift maybe of Cheetos, that would be a good thing to do. And then you can have your drug test at the American Chemical Society meeting, which happened to be, again, 10,000 scientists expected. You know that was a great time.
(LAUGHTER)
Of course, what you see, I mean that in a very positive way.
NGUYEN: I love how you're wrapping this all together.
And, of course, there's the Yo-Yo Competition.
WOLF: The Yo-Yo Competition. But probably one of the coolest things we had, which is one of the oldest running festivals, was actually the Chicago Air & Water Show. We have some video from that. Take a look at this.
Just a spectacular thing to see. They get over 2 million people that make their way to the lakeshore. You see them out there, they are braving the sun, hearing the sound, seeing the sights of all kinds aircraft. A few people going up, a few people going down, like you see there.
And just a neat thing to see in the skies above and, of course, on the lake below. Just an amazing spectacle. You never get tired of watching that kind of stuff.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. We want to get back to Woodstock, for just a second, because we have iReports from people who remember it very well.
HOLMES: Leonard, we got one from this guy in New York. He said he was at Woodstock when Hendrix played and these are his photos.
NGUYEN: Wow.
HOLMES: Wow. Says he specifically went there to see Hendrix. Said the weather was bad and he didn't go until late that Monday morning. A lot of people had already left, but those who stayed got to see a legendary show. Most famous performance probably of the weekend that was full of famous performers. I found out -- I don't know if you guys knew, he actually played at 9:00 in the morning the next day. The festival was supposed to go three days. It went four. He was the closing act at 9:00 a.m. That's a heck of a party that ends at 9:00 a.m.
NGUYEN: And how about Leonard making it just in time. He wasn't going to be there until that morning. He was running late. There you go. You've got Hendrix on stage. What a performance.
WOLF: Good stuff.
HOLMES: All right. Reynolds we appreciate you, as always. Locating some of those events. You go to some of those conventions with scientists? You said the weather convention. WOLF: That's right. National Weather Service stuff, American Meteorological stuff. And yeah, we party hard. That's right.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: That's right, not on the level of Woodstock, of course.
WOLF: Not a chance.
HOLMES: Thank you, Reynolds.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: We're keeping an eye on stories, the new developments overnight. That's a big story there. That's Senator Jim Webb that you're looking at. But the American being held in Myanmar, is on his way home because of Senator Webb. We are live from Bangkok, Thailand, where that American was released.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Baby you can drive my car. That's is Sir Paul McCartney, playing last night, right here in Atlanta, Georgia, at Piedmont Park. That in fact, that song is what he started the concert off with. And get this, some 40,000 fans were in attendance. We're getting these pictures courtesy of our affiliate, WXIA. And let me tell you, Piedmont Park was just buzzing last night. Though, it rained a little bit.
HOLMES: Because of the 40,000, you were among them.
NGUYEN: Yes, I was out there. I don't really have Paul McCartney on my iPod, but he was jamming last night. He was rocking out.
HOLMES: Go rained on a little bit?
NGUYEN: Yeah. It started out all night, it was a nice cool night, which is kind of odd for Atlanta, in August. But, yes, midway through, it just started pouring.
HOLMES: And a fundraiser, as well? Did I hear that right?
NGUYEN: It is for -yeah, Piedmont Park's green initiative. It was all about being green. They invited people to come on down, but don't drive. Take the public rail system. Really just trying to lower that carbon footprint.
HOLMES: Well, all right, then. That's why you're a little blurry-eyed this morning?
NGUYEN: A little tired this morning. We're going to move on and talk about your money at work. Because this weekend the president is putting the spotlight on the country's national parks.
HOLMES: Yeah, the stimulus package passed in February earmarks $750 million to the national parks. So we asked CNN's Kate Baldwin. She visited Prince William Forest Park, just outside of Washington. She's taking a look at what's happening to all that money.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From Shenandoah to the Grand Canyon, America's national treasures in need of some serious repair?
ROCKY SCHROEDER, PARK RANGER: As you come around the back of the cabin, you'll see that the siding is all rotted along the ground, which means the dirt has come to here and moisture has gotten in and rotted all this wood.
BOLDUAN: Rocky Schroeder is a park ranger at Prince William Forest Park, about 30 miles outside of Washington, where more than a dozen historic cabins are slated for repair, one of 250 national parks getting spruced up, thanks to the economic stimulus.
SCHROEDER: The stimulus will help keep our visitors here, keep them happy, keep them coming back.
BOLDUAN: The Park Service estimates national parks across the country face a $9 billion backlog of work. The stimulus is supposed to contribute $750 million to that. So far about 10 percent is in the pipeline.
DAN WENK, ACTING DIRECTOR, NATIONAL PARKS SERVICE: It's campgrounds, campsites, amphitheaters for evening programs, its the bathrooms. It's literally everything that we have to make our visits enjoyable.
BOLDUAN: Nearly $56 million is going to repair Washington landmarks. More than $14.5 million to Mesa Verde National Park and nearly $11 million to the Grand Canyon to name a few. But when it comes to this money, you have to ask --
(On camera): How is money for a national parks stimulus?
WENK: It is stimulus because we are putting people to work. We'll be putting people to work for the next two years. But it's also stimulus because we're creating a better place, increasing the visitor experience.
BOLDUAN (voice over): Some Republican lawmakers aren't buying it.
REP. JEB HENSARLING, (R) TEXAS: Clearly we need to improve our national parks but nobody should confuse that with economic stimulus. I mean, frankly, that's just false advertising.
BOLDUAN: The Interior Department estimates this stimulus will create about 8,000 jobs over two years. Many will be temporary jobs but this park ranger is confident it's a worthwhile investment.
SCHROEDER: The national parks are our past, our history. Preserve that. That's where we've come from. It will give an idea of where we're going.
BOLDUAN (On camera): Here at this Virginia park they're hoping to start putting hammer to nail next month and park officials say they've had overwhelming interest. For projects like these they need to hire about six additional people. They've received nearly 200 applications. Kate Baldwin, CNN, Prince William Forest Park.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right.
HOLMES: We'll have a look at our top stories in just a few minutes when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody. Welcome on this Sunday morning. You're in Atlanta, right here, we are, at least, broadcasting live from CNN Center. It is August 16.
Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Good morning. I'm T.J. Holmes. As she mentioned, we are in Atlanta. Some of you in Atlanta, as well, 7 a.m. where we sit.
But it is 6:00 p.m., in Bangkok, where we've got some developing news coming out of there. That's where U.S. Senator Jim Webb is, and he made an announcement a short time ago, but had a press conference talking about the American, John Yettaw, that he helped get released from a prison in Myanmar. The man had been sentenced to seven years. A lot of ins and outs of this story had to do with him going to illegally visit to Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the pro-democracy leader over in Myanmar. But this man has been released, is now in Bangkok, being checked out, and has some medical issues.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: But he is going to be coming home. A lot more on that developing story this morning.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. And we want to tell you about this. A 7.0 magnitude earthquake has struck Indonesia. Now, the center is near the Sumatra Island. The good news though, so far, no tsunami warning has been issued. We're going to get the latest on any possible damages or injuries because of this.
HOLMES: And pardons are being offered to those who marched, those protesters in the civil rights protests back in the '50s and '60s...
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: ... specifically in Birmingham. Pardons are being offered. The mayor is offering them pardons. A lot of people don't want them. We're going to have the mayor of Birmingham here with us live this morning, in just a few minutes and also, a woman who says keep your pardon.
NGUYEN: Keep the pardon, huh?
HOLMES: Keep the pardon. Their conversation is coming up.
We'll continue here with some of our other top stories.
First story we're following: About 2,000 firefighters on the scene of this fire you're looking at. It's in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It's one of 11 wildfires in California right now. The Lockheed Fire has burned nearly 7,000 acres since Saturday and forced about 3,000 people to evacuate. It's now about 30 percent contained.
NGUYEN: Well, tomorrow's commute in San Francisco could be a real mess. Workers for the commuter rail system have threatened to go on strike tomorrow after officials approved new work terms that unionized workers say add up to 7 percent pay cut. Negotiations between the commuter rail system and the workers union, well, they are resuming today.
HOLMES: Now, the post-elections trials of protesters continue in Iran. Well, today, the supreme leader appointed that guy you're seeing right there on the right. That's Iran's new judiciary chief. He's a brother of Iran's powerful parliamentary speaker. This is important because it now means the brothers are in control of two of Iran's three government branches. The new judiciary chief takes his seat as more detainees go on trial.
Turning to some health care now. Overhauling health care, hosting a Middle East ally and getting ready for a Martha's Vineyard vacation -- all of this part of a busy week for the president.
Our Paul Steinhauser could use a vacation himself. He's our deputy political director and friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING.
Hello again to you, Paul. Health care reform -- are we going to see anything take that away from the top stories and the headlines in the next coming days and weeks?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Probably not, at least when it comes to domestic news, T.J., because remember -- there are three weeks left in this congressional recess. So lawmakers are going to continue to hold these town halls across the country on health care reform.
I've got five, I can see right here on my list, that we're going to be covering, CNN will be covering tomorrow. And not just the ones with protests -- we're covering the good, bad, the ugly. All of our correspondent and photo journalists and producers out to as many of these as possible, T.J.
HOLMES: The president is not allowed to have one track (ph) now. He just can't do that, he has to juggle a lot of things. So, Middle East peace, all right, in the middle of all this is going to get back on the front burner at some point this week. Explain why.
STEINHAUSER: You got it. The Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak, will be at the White House on Tuesday. This meeting was rescheduled from earlier this summer. The two met back -- last met back in June when the president was in Cairo, Egypt, and he gave that speech to the Muslim world.
The president has also had the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, back in May. So, yes, on Tuesday when the Egypt president is at the White House, Mideast peace is going to be front and center.
HOLMES: All right. And we know the president is on a bit of a working vacation, doing some town halls over this weekend but also stopping at some of the national parks, going to hit the Grand Canyon, doing Yellowstone.
But then another kind of his vacation is going to come in. This ain't just walking through and looking at some pretty pictures. This is a -- this is a place you and I don't usually get to hang out, Paul.
(LAUGHTER)
STEINHAUSER: Martha's Vineyard, a week from today.
HOLMES: Yes.
STEINHAUSER: We expect the president, as you mentioned, to take a week off with the family up in Martha's Vineyard. Your remember President George W. Bush often went to the ranch in Crawford.
But this brings us back memories of the Clinton administration because back in the '90s, then-President Bill Clinton often summered in Martha's Vineyard. The Secret Service is familiar with the island. We expect the president to leave for a week. He leaves one week from today. We think Michelle and the girls will head out there a little earlier, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Paul Steinhauser, when will you get a vacation in?
STEINHAUSER: Maybe the following week.
HOLMES: All right. Let me know where you're going. Talk to you soon. Thanks as always, buddy.
ANNOUNCER: This is CNN: Your hurricane headquarters.
NGUYEN: Well, Paul may want to let Reynolds know where he's going to make sure there's no severe weather, because so far, we're talking two tropical storms.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right.
NGUYEN: One may turn into a hurricane? WOLF: Well, one may definitely turn into a hurricane, forecast to become a hurricane, but we may have an additional named storm.
NGUYEN: Oh.
WOLF: So, we've got -- let's see -- Ana, we've got Bill, and then Claudette (ph) would be the next one.
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: So, you know, two's company, three's a crowd.
NGUYEN: Right. Especially when you're trying to take a vacation down there.
WOLF: No question about it. You know, that's not the only thing we're dealing with.
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: We also have a 7.0 earthquake that struck Indonesia's Sumatra Island earlier this morning. In fact, the U.S. Geology Survey says no tsunami warning was issued which is great new and there are also no early reports of damage or injuries. So, this is all good coming out of that's part of the world.
However, again, as we make our sights back towards places like, say, Miami, Florida, the sun is coming up. Things are looking great. But the tropics are getting busy.
Here's a shot that we have for you. Skies are kind of hazy for the time being, but in the coming days, we could be dealing with quite a bit more -- talking about clouds, talking about some heavy rainfall, maybe even some flash flooding. It's all part of the tropical season.
Let's come back to me for just a moment. What we're going to do is show you the first storm, and that would be the thing we're dealing with this morning, kind of a surprise to us. We woke this morning with a few scattered showers. They are forming right up the Florida coastline, just near Tampa. This is tropical depression number 4.
Later on today, we're expecting this storm to actually make its way a bit to the north. As it does so, there's a chance this storm, as it makes and surges its way north moves onto Alabama over the next 24 to 48 hours. This storm could actually become Claudette. So, we'll keep a sharp eye on it. All it has to do is have winds at 39 miles or higher for it to be classified as a tropical storm.
We already have two tropical systems out here, both tropical storms. First and foremost, we've got Ana. That one is right here. This is Bill, much better formed. Now, what we're going to be seeing with both of these storms is, again, movement going off to the west and veering off to the northwest a little bit. First and foremost with Ana, it has winds of 40 miles an hour gusting to 50 miles an hour. So well and good for the time being. But when it gets closer to land, like in the U.S. Virgin Islands, it could bring some heavy surfs and heavy rain, winds to 45 miles per hour by 2:00 a.m. tomorrow. Then as we move into Tuesday then into Wednesday, it is expected to weaken once again as it crosses over land. As of right now, it looks like that's going to be the game plan.
Certainly not good news for island nations, say, like, Cuba and certainly for Haiti. But at the same time, it is going to weaken. So, that's great news.
Bill is a bit more of a concern -- right now a tropical storm, winds of 45, gusting to 60. And very quickly, we do expect the storm to strengthen to a category one and then a category two by Wednesday. By Thursday into Friday, winds going up to 115 miles per hour, a category three storm into 2:00 a.m. Friday morning. We're talking a major hurricane and certainly one we have to watch very carefully. This time of year is when things do get busy.
We've got a lot more weather to talk about and, of course, we're going keep you up-to-speed with everything, also, what's happening on the home front. That's all moments away. Let's send it back to the news desk.
NGUYEN: A lot going on there. OK, Reynolds, thanks you so much.
HOLMES: All right. Thanks, Reynolds.
WOLF: Thanks guys.
NGUYEN: Well, American John Yettaw -- he has been freed. In fact, he's in Thailand right now. He arrived in Bangkok just a little while ago with Virginia Senator Jim Webb.
Now, Webb negotiated Yettaw's release from Myanmar yesterday. He was sentenced to seven years there before that release and Webb is the first member of Congress to actually visit Myanmar in over a decade. So, he addressed reporters this morning at the Bangkok airport.
And let's get you to latest on what he had to say. CNN international correspondent Dan Rivers joins us live from Bangkok.
Were you able to learn at all through this news conference as to exactly how he was able to secure that release of John Yettaw?
DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Senator Webb is being a little circumspect, Betty, because he says he's going to report back to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton first. But clearly, I think the reason that they were so keen to allow him in and allow him such incredible access is that he has long been a critic of the previous Bush administration's policy of sanctions against this regime of isolation, of punishment.
And what he laid out in his press conference was basically it's time for a change. Hillary Clinton has already announced there's a review of policy going on. It's time we engaged this regime and traded with them and perhaps improve the lives of ordinary people living there.
So, I mean, that's his philosophical position on it. I think it's because he comes from that side of the argument, that's the reason they gave him such access, that's the reason they allowed him to bring home John Yettaw.
NGUYEN: Yes. I find it interesting that he said he's going to report back to Secretary of State Clinton first because this was not an official state visit, correct?
RIVERS: That's right. He stressed all along that he was there as a senator, independent of the secretary of state. But it's clear, he said that he'd been having in-depth consultation talks with her for some time now --, and clearly, I think there is a subtext to all this, which is there is a review of the current policy going on. She's announced that. He's gone in there independently.
The United States doesn't even have an ambassador in Myanmar. So, it's difficult diplomatically to know how to play this. But this is one way. Rather in a similar that President Clinton went into North Korea to free the two journalists. Well, he's gone in here ostensibly to free John Yettaw, independent of the administration, but clearly with its tacit support.
But also, there's a wider agenda running as well as to what should happen to Aung Sang Suu Kyi, the democracy leader, and what should happen economically and politically in this country.
NGUYEN: Yes. And Senator Webb said he has asked for the release of Aung Sang Suu Kyi. He didn't meet with her while in the country.
But very quickly, Dan, I want to ask you. Do you think the health condition of John Yettaw was a big factor in Myanmar releasing him?
RIVERS: I think that was a factor. I think he was being used basically as a political pawn in this game of sort of diplomatic chess, if you like. But they have decided to release him in the hopes that perhaps this results in some relaxing of sanctions, some further engagements.
Clearly, he's an ill man. Senator Webb said that he even had a medical episode just this morning as he was being given his orders of release. So, he's been taken to a hospital now to be checked out, and we understand he'll be put on a plane very shortly, perhaps even within a few hours.
NGUYEN: All right. Dan Rivers joining us live from Bangkok, Thailand, this morning. Dan, thank you.
HOLMES: Well, some arrested during the civil rights movement era now could have a clean slate. Coming up: I'll talk to the mayor of Birmingham about pardoning those who were arrested in the '60s. And also, one woman who says her arrest is a badge of honor, keep your pardon. NGUYEN: Yes. And what to do, Democrats and Republicans, when it comes to health care? Well, we're going to look at exactly where they stand.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, they braved police dogs, they braved the water coming from fire hoses at such velocity it really stripped their clothes off and yet the protests went on. Now, some 46 years after the fact, Birmingham's mayor offering non-violent demonstrators of the '60s civil rights movement a pardon.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR LARRY LANGFORD (D), BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA: This city is what it is because a wrong was committed, and we are now righting it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Gwendolyn Webb-Appling is now 60 years old -- there she is. She is joining us from Texas this morning. In 1963, at the age of 14, she was arrested and detained for a week at a fairground for marching without a permit.
And also this morning joining us: Birmingham's Democratic mayor, Larry Langford, who was offering some of those pardons, is joining us as well.
Now, we do want in an effort and full disclosure here, to see what's going on. Mayor Langford, as many people down there covering in your area know you're facing a federal indictment right now, facing a trial later this month. We're not here to talk about that. If you want to make a comment on the back end, maybe we can talk about it then but we're here to talk about these pardons. But just want to in the interest of full disclosure, get that.
But here we are, 46 years after the fact, mayor. Why now? I guess what is the point of pardoning these people and some of these records at this point?
LANGFORD: Well, I really wish I could take credit for the idea, but I received a phone call from a reporter with "The Associated Press" several days ago asking me if the city of Birmingham had ever pardoned the people. We went back and checked, and found out that they had not. But this is an idea whose time has come.
If the United States of America can apologize for slavery, pay reparation for our Japanese-American citizens for the illegal detainees during the World War II, and certainly, the city of Birmingham can pardon these citizens involved who participated in the civil rights movement here and say to them straight out that a fight for human decency was not a crime.
HOLMES: Well, Ms. Webb Appling, a pardon is one thing. An apology, a lot would say, is another. A pardon itself is essentially forgiving someone for something they did wrong. Now do you want a pardon?
GWENDOLYN WEBB-APPLING, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Well, that's exactly why I for one and several others that I've had an opportunity to speak with, especially a 92-year-old man who said, "No, we do not want a pardon." I don't want one. To say give me a pardon or for me to take a pardon, it would say that we as children and others, that we had done something wrong. We did no wrong.
Now, the pardon should go to those that wronged us. But everything that we did was right, fighting for freedom and going to jail to be able to participate and go to places like others.
HOLMES: Now, Mr. Mayor on that point she just made, and pardon me there, Ms. Webb-Appling, but Mr. Mayor, on the point she just made there, again, you're just offering people a pardon to people saying to them you did something wrong and we're going to forgive you for it, versus just saying I'm sorry -- versus the city just making a proclamation or something and saying I'm sorry.
Do you see the difference there?
LANGFORD: I saw the difference when we started, let's be very clear about this. The pardon is more for the city than it is for the people who participated.
HOLMES: Now, what does that mean?
LANGFORD: In fact -- you know, sometimes words are a very powerful thing. Sometimes you have to say I'm sorry for the injured party to know that what they did was not wrong and for the party that did the injuring to say, "Listen, I wrong to have done it."
HOLMES: All right. Let's -- a couple of people have been supportive of the move. Let's go and put one thing from Reverend Joseph Lowery who we actually had here with us yesterday. He just got the 2009 Presidential Medal of Freedom.
In his words, he said, "It vindicates the people who went to jail and says that what they did was a good thing. It shows that the city has grown to recognize the jail-ins as spiritual acts, not criminal acts. They didn't violate the law; they helped fulfill law."
But Ms. Webb-Appling, I let you know, as we tell you what Reverend Lowery said there, he also said that he believes this is a bit of maybe a political stunt and has some political motives behind it.
Do you find anything political about this or do you think there's an ulterior motive even, Ms. Webb-Appling?
WEBB-APPLING: Well, what I feel is that I think the mayor put the gesture, but everything to a large degree is very political. But as it was in 1963, we cannot allow the political aspect to destroy what we did in 1963 -- as one individual and so many others, we would not allow it. We went to jail for the right -- not just the right of those in Birmingham, but Birmingham's movement rocked this whole world, and the whole world recognized that.
And for us to say, well, we accept a pardon, it would be like a soldier saying, well, let me give back my Purple Heart. We can't do that. I refuse to do it. We used to sing a song, we ain't going to let nobody turn us around, and I can't allow anyone to have me to say, well, please forgive me for what I did right. I cannot and I shall not say that.
HOLMES: Well, Mr. Mayor, I know you have -- you have certainly heard some of the criticism before. You knew some of this was happening. But I think a lot of people do take you, like she just said there, as your word that it's a good gesture. I want people at least to hear one thing, you got a question about this being some kind of a P.R. stunt or something.
I want to play for our viewers what your response was when you got this question. Let's take a lesson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANGFORD: Yes, so many people who are happy being unhappy. So, tell them I say...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, Mr. Mayor, I'm sure you remember that there. But I guess, kind of explain -- and kind of explain that to me and certainly, follow up here with some of the criticism you've been hearing that maybe this is just kind of a stunt and not sincere. Go ahead.
LANGFORD: Well, first of all, it wasn't a criticism that I heard. What you just played was an after-the-interview statement about a totally different subject. And there are people who are happy being unhappy.
Now, as to your previous statement, some people say it was a political ploy. Was it a political ploy when they washed and whipped the children down and put dogs on them? You know, we can take something good and turn it negative any time we get good and ready. The fact of the matter is, is that, I, too, was a child during that era.
And this is an opportunity for the city to say, listen, you know, the city was wrong, and if the person wants to pardon, it is a blanket pardon and not only are we giving them the pardon, but also we're going to remit the fines back to those individuals.
Ninety-nine point nine percent of the people don't want the pardon, don't want it expunged from their records. But the fact of the matter is, is that, if the nation can apologize, certainly Birmingham, Alabama, can do the same.
HOLMES: Well, a very good point there. Mr. Mayor, I want to be clear, we are to wrap this up. But I just want to make sure we know the people who don't -- they don't have to accept the pardon, is that correct? You're offering them...
LANGFORD: That's exactly...
HOLMES: That's exactly right.
LANGFORD: That's exactly right.
HOLMES: OK. I just want to make sure and make sure we got that in.
Ms. Webb-Appling, I appreciate you being here this morning.
WEBB-APPLING: Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: Mr. Mayor, I appreciate that as well. I know you got a lot of these questions before. But like Ms. Webb-Appling said right here live on TV that she certainly believes your motives are sincere despite what some of the back-and-forth might be. I think a lot of people at least appreciate the gesture.
So, we appreciate you both being here this morning.
LANGFORD: Thank you for your time.
WEBB-APPLING: Thank you very much for having us.
HOLMES: All right. Betty?
NGUYEN: August could be a make or break month when it comes to health care, and one of the questions that we are asking is: Will uninsured college students actually get some help? Josh Levs is doing some digging for us and trying to come up with some answers.
What have you found so far, Josh?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I'll tell you, Betty. You know, we've been taking a look at that this morning. It's one of the fact checks that we've got going right now on CNN.com/healthcare. And one thing I want to do is point out to all of you, we're going to do this in just a couple of minutes some key Web sites that you can use, that you can go to any time to get the facts and make sure you're not getting the fiction. We're going to show you that in just a couple of minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: We've got some new video just coming in to CNN. And take a look. That man right there is 53-year-old, former military serviceman from Missouri, John Yettaw. He is also the man that was sentenced to seven years in a Myanmar prison after traveling over there and illegally swimming to pro-democracy leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi's home and stayed there for about two days.
Well, Virginia Senator Jim Webb has secured the release of Yettaw. And we see him boarding to a bus right now and being taken inside the Bangkok airport. We're told that he underwent some -- a medical condition this morning and had to be treated for that.
But it is well known that Yettaw has been in ill condition during the trial in Myanmar. He, in fact, had several epileptic seizures, and that's what's been reported. So, it's a big question as to whether his health condition is a main factor and why Myanmar decided to release him to Virginia Senator Jim Webb.
Again, we want to make sure that it is known that this was not an official State Department visit on the part of Senator Jim Webb, although it's the first time that someone of that position has visited Myanmar in over a decade. But there we are, getting a look at John Yettaw, the 53-year-old American who has just been released from Myanmar.
HOLMES: Still ahead this 8:00 hour, what's worse than having your home foreclosed? How about facing fines for it and possibly going to jail? We'll explain what happens to one couple when that bank never followed through on their foreclosure paperwork.
NGUYEN: And, when you get the church this morning, you may hear a push for President Obama's health care plan rather than a sermon. Faith-based leaders all over the country are getting involved in this health care debate. Health care in the pulpit -- that is coming up in our "Faces of Faith" at the top of the hour.
HOLMES: "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta is coming up right after the break.
