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CNN Sunday Morning
Police Cordon Off Second Home in Calif. Kidnapping Case; Dry Weather Fans California Wildfires; Kennedy Laid to Rest Beside Brothers
Aired August 30, 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.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Good morning, T.J.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: Here's (ph) helping you there getting everything together, make sure everything was in place.
Hello there, folks. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING for August the 30th. I am T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. Hello, and thanks for joining us. I am Betty Nguyen.
It's 6 a.m. in Atlanta, 5 a.m. in Chicago, 3 a.m. in Los Angeles. Wildfires burning there. We're going to get you the latest on that.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: So let's start with that, shall we?
In fact, those wildfires have quadrupled the size since just yesterday, threatening 10,000 homes. The storm it's called - the perfect storm, in fact, of conditions for those firefighters. And they are working really hard to battle what you see right behind us.
HOLMES: Then we were talking about those yesterday - 5,000 was the number we were given...
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: ...for the size of that fire. Up to 20,000, as you said a second ago.
NGUYEN: Quadrupled, yes.
HOLMES: We'll be talking about a whole lot.
Also, what we saw yesterday, the final farewell to the lion of the Senate. Of course, the ceremonies we watched yesterday - really somber, beautiful ceremonies to see these take place. But really, a - a sad day for the Kennedy family and also for many in the country and his Senate colleagues, as Ted Kennedy finally laid to rest yesterday. We'll be looking back at the ceremony.
NGUYEN: All right. Let's get you some top stories right now.
We do want to begin with the deaths of seven people in rural Georgia. Now, police are releasing very little information at this point. But here's what we know: The deaths happened at a mobile-home park nine miles north of Brunswick on the Georgia coast. Now, two other people were actually found alive but in critical condition.
The police chief of Glenn County calls it the worst mass slaying in his 25 years. The victims have been tentatively identified, but authorities are not releasing any names at this point, nor are they revealing just how the victims died. Police say a family member called 911 after finding the victims. And autopsies, they will be done today. And we will continue to follow this story for you.
HOLMES: Critics of big government taking their gripes on the road with a series of planned protest called the Tea Party Express Tour. Rallies started Friday in Sacramento; another in Reno yesterday. People protesting issues from health-care reform to skyrocketing national debt.
Protests expected in 33 cities. You see a lot of those stops on the Tea Party Express right there. The final stop going to be in Washington, D.C. Going to be a three-day march on September 12.
NGUYEN: All right. Well, a bizarre case of a young girl kidnapped and held captive for nearly two decades takes another strange twist today. Late yesterday, investigators expanded the crime scene to include a neighboring home.
Now, authorities are not revealing what's behind that move. But the man accused of abducting Jaycee Dugard is now being investigated for a number of unsolved mysteries. A search warrant was issued for Phillip Garrido's home in connection with a series of murders back in the 1990s. And Garrido and his wife Nancy, they both face nearly 30 felony charges related to the abduction and rape.
Well, the Associated Press now reporting that those series of killing sin the 1990s involved the murders of prostitutes. Yellow crime-scene tape has been placed around the property next door to Phillip Garrido's home.
HOLMES: Our Ed Lavandera has a look now at where Jaycee Dugard was kept, and details on what's now an expanded investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A peek into Phillip Garrido's backyard, a tent and a small compound hidden away in the trees. Authorities say Jaycee Dugard was held captive here for 18 years.
Mike Rogers owns a house that sits up against Garrido's backyard. He says in the last three years, he often heard men partying in the backyard, where Dugard and her two daughters were held captive. MIKE ROGERS, PHILLIP GARRIDO'S NEIGHBOR: They would be partying next door, be drinking and carrying on and there would be a bunch of guys back there. And they always had a bonfire going, and they'd be high-fiving each other, just going crazy back there. It was - it was - it was crazy.
LAVANDERA: He never saw the young girls, but now he's disgusted to think about what might have been happening. Rogers says he's told investigators about what he saw, but still hasn't been formally interviewed.
Meanwhile, investigators continue searching inside Garrido's property, while Garrido and his wife, Nancy, remain locked up, facing almost 30 felon charges, including kidnapping and rape. Both have pleaded not guilty to the crimes.
Police say they're also looking into where Garrido is connected to a series of murders in the 1990s. The mother of one of those victims says she's been told by police that they're looking into whether Garrido is the killer.
MINNIE NORELL, MURDER VICTIM'S MOTHER: I hope that it's true. I hope that it's true, and I - there's three other gals that were murdered the same time as my daughter. And I hope that it was him that did all of them. They'll put him away for life.
LAVANDERA: From what we' been able to learn, it doesn't appear Garrido kept Dugard and the young daughters hidden all the time. We've spoken with neighbors and several of Garrido's business associates who say they often saw the young women. Garrido operated a printing company, making business cards. Some of his customers say Jaycee was the creative force behind the business.
Neighbors describe Phillips Garrido as "creepy," someone who had become a religious zealot, yet loved music, often singing in his front yard. But those neighbors, many who refused to speak with us on camera, say Nancy Garrido acted like a brainwashed wife who rarely spoke to anyone.
(on camera): Late Saturday afternoon, investigators expanded the crime scene at Phillip Garrido's house to include a neighboring home. But what that means isn't exactly clear, as investigators have refused to answer any more questions about the case.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Antioch, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So what do you think about this story? We really want you to weigh in on it - this story and any of the other stories that we're covering this morning. We're going to be reading some of your responses on the air, so here's how you do it: Just go to our Facebook and Twitter pages, or you can go to our blog, CNN.com/betty, or CNN.com/TJ. It's all up there on the screen for you. There are several ways to reach out and speak with us today, and we are looking forward to those responses. HOLMES: Well, we know some evacuations are under way out in California. We mentioned earlier, at the top of the show, about this fire now quadrupled in size.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: We were telling you right here yesterday morning, reporting that this fire, the Station Fire, is about 5,000 acres large. Now, we're told 20,000 acres. Some homes already being burned, some structures already being burned.
Three injuries we know of. Don't know the severity of those injuries. But we do know some 10,000 now homes are being threatened by this thing, and it is 20,000 large right now.
And essentially that's going to - go ahead and bring in Reynold - Reynolds here.
And Reynolds, it sounds like the firefighters say this thing - and it was a direct quote, really, one of the forestry guys, is that this thing is burning "at will."
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, absolutely. I mean, there's nothing to impede it; there's nothing out there to stop it right now. I mean, these guys, the - the firefighters, the men and women who are going to be out there battling this blaze, they are going to be doing so trying to create fire lanes back in the hills of the San - of the Angeles Mountains. They're going to be back also along the coastal range, doing what they can. A lot of it just shovel work, trying to stop these flames. A lot of it, they're just trying to get ahead of it strategically to just do what they can to throw a block if you can for these - for these fires.
Sometimes, these flames just kind of go up the hillsides at just incredible speed. And there's nothing really stopping it.
I - I will tell you one thing that's very odd about this storm is that there really isn't a great deal of wind with this either. You just have intense heat. You've got very dry conditions. The flame just continue just to mount on - on one from treetop to treetop. And of course, the homes, I think you mentioned - what? - 10,000 homes are - are certainly in danger at this time.
We've also got - seen the fire spread, as you've also mentioned, from 5,000 now over 20,000 acres scorched. And that was a report from just a few hours ago. So now as we speak, every second that passes, we're having more of this continue to burn.
Right now, you're going to notice parts of Southern California. Temperatures right now right along the coast mainly into the 60s. Back in the hills, same situation.
But later on today, as the sun is coming up, what's going to happen is temperatures along the coast are going to remain mainly into the 60s, but inland, in those valleys, things are really going to begin to heat up, because it's away from the influence of that cold California current. So temperatures back here into these hills could get up in the triple digits. We're talking about 100, 102.
So just incredible issues for - they're going to dealing with today.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: All right. So the summer vacation, over for the first family. Yes, President Obama and crew fly back to Washington a little bit later today.
HOLMES: I like how we call them "and crew."
NGUYEN: And crew. His family.
HOLMES: His wife and kids.
Well, White House correspondent Dan Lothian tells u the first family's trip to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, came with a history lesson.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LOTHIAN: When President Obama played his first round of golf on Martha's Vineyard, and when they all went out to eat at a local restaurant, the first family chose the town of Oak Bluffs, a picturesque seaside community that's long been a haven for African- Americans, where decades ago the color of your skin didn't close the door.
PROF. CHARLES OGLETREE, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: The colored-only, white-only signs were up throughout much of the twentieth century. And so this was a place that didn't have the signs, didn't have the barriers to integration.
LOTHIAN (on camera): Word spread quickly. And African-Americans who visited the island came to especially enjoy this beach, a tiny sliver of land that's often referred to as the Ink Well.
(voice-over): Charles Ogletree, who is a Harvard professor, Obama friend and a 15-year summer resident, says the Ink Well became a kind of community meeting place for African-Americans and remains that way today.
OGLETREE: They're exercising every morning. They're swimming every morning. There's not a house. There's not a - a temple. It really is just out in the water, folks chilling and having a great time there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This shot, I think, is really quite telling.
LOTHIAN: At the Martha's Vineyard Museum, the history of African-Americans on the island is traced back to the 18th century. Some were slaves who, when freed, made a home here. Later, other blacks came in search of good jobs.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You could get on a ship, a whaling ship. And in the 19th century you had these multiethnic and multiracial whaling vessels.
LOTHIAN: And while other sitting presidents like Ulysses S. Grant and Bill Clinton have visited here, historians say Mr. Obama's vacation at this 28 and-a-half-acre farm in Chilmark carries more weight and draws attention to the rich history that Carrie Tankard (ph) is promoting with the Heritage Trail -- 22 sites honoring people of color on the island.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We uncovered headstones and things. You know, you can put your hands on it. You can see it. It's just a feeling you can't describe. We just want them to know that we were here.
LOTHIAN: Martha's Vineyard, a vacation destination for the first family that some see as another chapter in the island's deep African- American history.
Dan Lothian, CNN, Martha's Vineyard.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. The "cash for clunkers" program you heard a whole lot about.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: It's done. It was successful, but finally had to let it go last week.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. OK, so how about not "cash for clunkers," but "cash for cribs"? Yes, well it's out there. Christmas comes early for parents who want to trade in some of those old items.
And then this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Forty. Fifty.
WOLF: Bat Cave, home of the world's largest bat colony. Learn more about it, coming up on CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes. We - we often say that Reynolds looks kind of look like Superman.
NGUYEN: Kind of. Sort of.
HOLMES: Kind of. Sort of.
He's Batman....
NGUYEN: Today.
HOLMES: ...this morning. Reynolds taking a look at a spine- tingling tourist attraction.
NGUYEN: Mm-hmm.
HOLMES: Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, America said farewell to Senator Edward Kennedy. And his burial yesterday at Arlington Cemetery marked the end of an era for American politics.
HOLMES: A live picture...
NGUYEN: Or a segment of it.
HOLMES: Yes. A live picture here this morning. Still dark in the Capitol, but you can see the flag there still flying at half staff.
Well, yesterday, we saw three of the nation's four living former presidents joining the current president, Barack Obama, at the funeral mass. The president praised Edward Kennedy for his dedication to principle and his ability to forge friendships across the political spectrum.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We can still here, his voice bellowing through the Senate chamber, face reddened, fists pounding the podium, a veritable force of nature in support of health care or workers rights or civil rights.
And yet, as has been noted, while his causes became deeply personal, his disagreements never did.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: In Washington, the Kennedy motorcade stopped in front of the Capitol building on the Senate side where he served this country for 47 years. The family took part in a brief ceremony for Kennedy staffers, friends and former colleagues.
NGUYEN: And from there, they traveled just a few miles to Senator Kennedy's final resting place in Arlington National Cemetery. He was buried just after sunset next to his brother Robert and his brother John, the former president.
As you well know by now, Senator Kennedy did die at his family home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts.
HOLMES: Yes, this has been called the Kennedy compound, commonly. This is a place where a lot of people are familiar with, has been in the news over the years because that's where the Kennedys gather, and oftentimes they've had to gather there unfortunately to mourn at times.
NGUYEN: Yes. HOLMES: Our Brian Todd looks at what may happen to the property now that Senator Kennedy has passed.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Kennedy family's grief, so often shared with the public, so often at this place. With Ted Kennedy's death, what does the future hold for the cherished Hyannis Port compound?
A close Kennedy family associate tells CNN the property could be given to a non-profit organization, possibly to be made into a museum or another type of educational center.
The associate says plans are not yet final, but that the senator for some time had talked to family members and close friends about how to preserve the compound and its history.
Author and historian Robert Dallek says it reflects...
ROBERT DALLEK, HISTORIAN: The extent to which the Kennedys are so mindful of the country's history and how much their family history is bound up with the public life of the nation, that they're intertwined.
TODD: It was Hyannis Port where the family gathered in November 1960 to hear the final results of John Kennedy's election victory over Richard Nixon; where they came to absorb the heart-wrenching aftershocks of John's and later Bobby's assassinations; where Ted Kennedy himself retreated in 1969 to reassess his life and career following Chappaquiddick.
But it was also a place of genuine contentment. University of Virginia Professor James Young spent nearly 100 hours interviewing Ted Kennedy for an oral-history project.
Much of it was done at Hyannis Port where the senator shared simpler, happier moments.
JAMES YOUNG, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: He would mention, you know this is where I tried to jump from the roof of the garage, being a parachutist, with an umbrella. This is where my brother Jack did such and such or fell on his bicycle. This is where we used to play games.
TODD: The house is also a symbol of the family's wealth. Senate disclosure records indicate Kennedy family trusts are worth at least $14 million. And its power, something Dallek says could still be worth holding on to for some members of the family.
DALLEK: And it could be very useful to any younger Kennedy who aspires to public office to maintain that kind of image.
TODD: But Dallek says he's not sure if the younger Kennedys have quite the same connection to the place, the sense of growing up there, of being part of that landscape, as Ted's generation did. So the idea of a museum there could be very appealing to the younger Kennedys as well. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, we are also following another big story, and that being those wildfires out in California. They are just burning out of control at this hour. Here is some video of it. We're looking at - what? - some 10,000 homes that have been threatened, some 20,000 acres that have been gone up in smoke. And people are, in fact, evacuating.
We're going to have the latest on these fires right after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
WOLF: Shall we get started? Let's get it started this weekend.
NGUYEN: Let's do it.
WOLF: Let's look at the Michael Jackson Block Party.
NGUYEN: OK. Yes.
WOLF: You know, yesterday was Michael Jackson's 51st birthday.
NGUYEN: Yes.
WOLF: Yes, and they went out there and people enjoyed themselves. You see - look, you got the glove.
NGUYEN: Oh look at that. And the moves.
WOLF: You see the nice moves.
Yes, I mean - you know, we can all do it. Some people can just do it better.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: And he did a pretty good job. You see all stages of Michael there and his life, and, you know, from younger to just in - in later years. And you see everyone out there, of all ages, enjoying themselves.
HOLMES: This - there's Spike Lee. He pretty much put this together, but he had a longstanding working relationship with Michael Jackson, and told a story about Michael Jackson actually coming to his home in Brooklyn to ask him to produce one of his videos.
WOLF: That is pretty cool.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: That's a pretty amazing thing. You know, that's just one of many events we had just this past weekend.
Take a look at the map. We're going to show you some other events that happened around the country.
Speaking of music, the Latin Music Festival in Chicago, that was a great event. Had - a lot of people showed up for that along the Miracle Mile.
Then for - let's see, in Travers Stakes, we had in Saratoga Springs. He was the 140th running of that event. It's the oldest major thoroughbred race in America.
And then in terms of racing, the Hotter N Hell - Hotter N Hell 2009 Bike Festival in Wichita Falls.
Betty, you ever heard of that one? You ever...
NGUYEN: Well, I tell you, Wichita Falls can get hotter than hell. So it's appropriate.
WOLF: This is what - this is what they tell me.
And then of course, that would be the American Fisheries Society annual conference in Nashville, Tennessee, which of course was a - a - a good time. I'm sure it was just phenomenal there in the Music City.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Also, you know, not - not to - just forget about this. This was also a huge event - yesterday was a - a - actually, a beginning event. We're talking about something that took place - it was the Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut Dog Days. It was the first time they ever had it.
NGUYEN: Dog days, yes.
WOLF: Rob Marciano was brave enough to go up there and put together a great report to give us an idea of what exactly happened up there at Mystic Seaport. Lots of boats, dogs and fun this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROB MARCIANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mystic Seaport, Connecticut, not a place to spend the weekend as we wind down summer here along the eastern shores of the Connecticut shoreline. This is an 80-year-old maritime museum, has some 500 boats here, some of which - a lot of which they're refurbishing.
Some of those are historic landmarks. As a matter of fact, one of them has a - kind of a hurricane connection. Hurricane Katrina trees that were blown down during the storm, they took some of that live oak would, and they've been using it to refurbish the - the oldest existing wooden whaling ship right here in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut. And they're actually waiting on - on some wood from Hurricane Ike, out of southeast Texas. That, couple with the Dog Days of Summer. That's what they're celebrating here in Mystic Seaport this weekend. Fifty different types of dogs from all over the country convening here to - well, celebrate summer, dogs and boats.
Rufus, one of the many, he's pretty much the biggest celebrity here, 2006 Westminster dog champ. He is the winningest bull terrier in history, 750 titles, 35 being best-in-shows. Kind of the grand-poobah puppy here.
And then earlier, we saw some exhibitions from search-and-rescue crews from Connecticut. Hamish managed to find me when I was hidden and covered up. And these amazing Newfoundland dogs that are bred to 130 to 150 pounds and trained to jump out of boats and save fishermen or whoever happens to fall out of a boat, and swim them either back to the shore or back to the boat.
Amazing things happening right here in Mystic, Connecticut.
Hope your end of summer is wrapping up well. I'm Rob Marciano.
T.J. and Betty, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Wow.
NGUYEN: Sounds like you had a good out there.
WOLF: Great times out there. Yes, you know, great way to spend a weekend, with some dogs in Mystic, Connecticut.
NGUYEN: And boats.
WOLF: And boats, with - yes. Uh huh. Yes. Good times.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: Absolutely. Not a bad way.
NGUYEN: Not at all.
WOLF: Last weekend of summer. No question. Hope folks get out there and enjoy it.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Reynolds.
HOLMES: We will you see again shortly, yes.
NGUYEN: We do appreciate that.
HOLMES: And of course, we've been covering this (INAUDIBLE). The - four years now, the anniversary since Hurricane Katrina. Our Dr. Sanjay Gupta taking a look at clinics and programs popping up due to a fractured hospital system.
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Hello, everybody, on this beautiful Sunday morning. Welcome back to CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes. Several developing stories we're following this morning, including that strange kidnapping case of California involving that man, who held a woman hostage, essentially, in his backyard for some 18 years.
Well, now authorities looking at another home once linked to that suspect, Phillip Garrido. He's accused, of course, of kidnapping that 11-year-old girl. More details on that story just ahead.
But first, we want to give you some top stories you may have missed overnight.
NGUYEN: And here they are:
At least 14 people killed, dozens wounded in a series of attacks across Iraq. It is the deadliest so far north of Baghdad. The suicide bomber detonated a car bomber near a police checkpoint, killing nine officers.
HOLMES: And critics of big government taking their gripes on the road with a series of planned protests that they are calling the Tea Party Express Tour. Rallies started Friday in Sacramento. Reno held one yesterday as well. People are protesting issues from health-care reform to the skyrocketing national debt.
Protests are expected in some 33 cities. It is a heck of a tour, as you see there. He final stop is going to September 12, with a three-day march in Washington.
NGUYEN: All right. So four major fires in central and Southern California to tell you about. And - and just look at these pictures; they are pretty devastating when - when you just see the flames on the side of this mountain there in California. It's called a station fire in L.A. County; burned more than 20,000 acres, 10,000 homes have been threatened. In fact, 900 homes evacuated yesterday. Fire officials are describing the conditions that led to the spreading of this fire. Listen to how they describe that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL DIETRICH, FIRE BOSS, U.S. FOREST SERVICE: Today, what happened is what I call the perfect storm of fuels, weather and topography coming together, generating extreme fire behavior. Essentially, the fire burned at will, and went where it wanted to, when it wanted to, when all those factors came into alignment.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: So, the perfect storm is what he called it. Will there be any relief for those firefighters in California? Reynolds Wolf is tracking it for us. He joins us now live.
Reynolds, boy, this thing has quadrupled overnight. They really could use some help.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, one of the latest numbers, 20,000 acres scorched at this time, over 10,000 homes, I believe, in endangered. There have been evacuations. It's a huge mess out there.
We refer to this as a stage fire. In case you are tuning in, you are wondering, what does that name come from? What they do at Cal Fire, which is the branch in the state of California that actually handles fires, Cal Fire. Is they find a geographical spot, say example, it could be Stage Road, the stage area, and they'll call that area, what's around it, the stage fire. The Stage Fire, as I mentioned, is one of the big ones.
One of the huge issues we have with that fire is, again, very dry foliage, we have very dry conditions. Temperatures, later on today, which right now are in the 60s, later on today you can actually get into the triple digits. So we are going to see very, very hot conditions. A lot of that foliage will be drying out, so perfect tinder for those fires to form in places like San Luis Obispo County, Santa Barbara County, back into L.A. County. It is just going to be a huge mess.
We also have something else that could really cause even more issues. There's an area of low pressure that's going to be forming over parts of the desert of Southwest. With winds spinning counterclockwise, around that low, and passing through those mountain valleys, what will happen is that air, as it sinks, tends to compress and warm up. So we can see even more issues later on today.
Wind was not a big issue yesterday, but today it might be. That is certainly something to watch out for.
(WEATHER FORECAST)
WOLF: One thing I want to talk about as we wrap things up. With a look at the fires. Take a look at this i-Report that we have for you, sent in by one of our viewers. An amazing shot to share with you. Here it is. This is sent in from Deborah Cally. You see off in the horizon? Everything is just ablaze. In the foreground, things are fine, terrifying prospect today wondering what is going to be happening with their homes, with their belongings. Certainly scary times and also frustrating times.
Very quickly, one last thing to show you. Although things in California going nuts. If you take a look at the weather wall, just far to the south of Baja, California, we have a major hurricane. We are talking about, Hurricane Jimena, drifting up to Baja, California, but well south of that fire scorched area. No help from this system.
That is the latest we got for you. Let's kick it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Reynolds. We'll be checking in very shortly.
HOLMES: As we know, Hurricane Katrina hit four years ago this weekend. That's a while ago even though it was devastating still a while you would expect some things up and running. Well, a lot of city services were knocked out, but some still not back to 100 percent just yet.
NGUYEN: Absolutely again, four years since Katrina struck. Sanjay Gupta tells us some people there had to improvise, actually, to get the proper medical care. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Four years ago Katrina unhinged New Orleans. Homes, people, buildings, bruised and battered, along with a medical system destroyed. An icon of that system, Charity Hospital, today, is still closed. But out of the woodwork, in unorthodox places, the community is responding.
(On camera): What does community-based therapy look like here in New Orleans? You're looking at it. This used to be somebody's home but is now an outpatient clinic. Let's take a look.
So this is your house?
PATRICIA BERRYHILL, LOWER NINTH WARD HEALTH CLINIC: Yes.
GUPTA: Used to be your house?
BERRYHILL: Yes, now the clinic. I still own it, but it's a clinic now, the Lower Ninth Ward Health Clinic.
GUPTA (voice over): Before the storm, Patricia Barryhill was a nurse at Charity Hospital.
BERRYHILL: I had water to the ceiling here in this home.
GUPTA (On camera): Right here. So, there was water to the ceiling?
BERRYHILL: To the ceiling.
GUPTA: It's so hard to imagine.
BERRYHILL: Oh, yeah. The first time I saw it, it looked like a time bomb had hit it. Everything was destroyed.
GUPTA (voice over): The triage area used to be a den. Berryhill's kids' room now a kid themed exam room. Her old bedroom, more exam rooms. Berryhill built the clinic alongside a friend, another nurse at the Charity. ALICE CRAFT-KERNEY, LOWER NINTH WARD CLINIC: The first patient that walked through the door was so ill we had to send her to the emergency room. What that did, was that confirm our belief that we needed to be here.
GUPTA: The days are long. The two nurses, alongside two part time doctors, two medical assistants, care for about 80 patients every week. And the cost to the patient, even those without insurance, a pittance funded in part by government insurance like Medicaid and donations.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Ma'am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right.
GUPTA: Across town, under a bridge, a free therapeutic drum circle.
DR. JAN JOHNSON, DIRECTOR, PROJECT RISING SUN: We had an increase in mental illness since the storm with a decrease in providers and a decrease in hospital beds.
GUPTA: This is not a cure for depression. But organizers say it's a subtle non-stigmatizing way to give some relief, the circle, the clinic, both a response to hemorrhaging hospital budgets and emergency rooms filled to the brim with patients.
(On camera): Are you going to get to a time when this doesn't need to be a clinic anymore?
CRAFT-KERNEY: We hope we will get put out of business, in a way. Because if that happens that means we will have adequate health care.
GUPTA: Doctor Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Four years later still many organizations continuing to help victims of Katrina rebuild and recover. You can find out how you can make a difference as well. Visit our Impact Your World page at cnn.com/impact.
NGUYEN: CNN.com has a special section called Katrina After The Storm. It looks back when the hurricane hit and current recovery efforts with special interactive features on everything Katrina. Find it at cnn.com/Katrina.
Some of you are sending in comments on our Twitter and Facebook pages, regarding Katrina. Has enough been done? That is what I was asking. And Angelica (ph) says, "I don't see Ninth Ward residents returning, or much effort in bringing them back. What does that tell you?"
Let me go to my Twitter side, real quick. Let's see.
DP Jizzy (ph) says, "Many people still feel the wrath of Katrina. Not enough has been done to help them."
Down here, Ms. Zack (ph) says -it seems like a lot of people agreeing here. "Not nearly enough done to bring residents back to New Orleans. Rebuilding living areas, address crime issues. What are they waiting on?"
It has, indeed, been four years. We've been taking a look, four years to the day, yesterday, in fact, when Katrina struck. Keep those comments coming. We want to hear from you. Go to our Facebook and Twitter pages, or go to our blog, CNN.com/betty and CNN.com/tj.
HOLMES: We want to turn back for a moment to that strange abduction story out of California. Police there now saying that Jaycee Dugard was held captive on the property, the property you see there, in California for 18 years. Her accused abductor Philip Garrido was in custody only a short time before he started talking, granting this jailhouse interview to a local television reporter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PHILIP GARRIDO, ALLEGED KIDNAPPER: Wait until you read that document. My life has been straightened out. Wait until you read the story of what took place at this house. You will be absolutely impressed. It's a disgusting thing that took place in the beginning. But I turned my life completely around. To be able to understand that, you have to start there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Philip Garrido there has already pled not guilty. He did that on Friday. Authorities are searching Garrido's property for evidence relating to the open cases.
NGUYEN: Our next stop on this tour, this morning, will be Central Texas, folks. Yes the sun goes down, the skies fill up -- with those things, bats. Swarms of them. Actually Reynolds Wolf braved the condition and took a tour of an, actually, unusual tourist attraction.
HOLMES: He's done bees, I guess he likes things that swarm, I suppose. But we are looking forward to seeing that.
Also, new questions about the historic presidential election in Afghanistan. Investigators said the complaints are so serious the outcome could be affected.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Remembering Ted Kennedy. He lived his life split, between his power base in Washington, and his beloved refuge in Massachusetts.
HOLMES: It was fitting on the day he was buried, he again, made that journey. Barbara Hall, now with a closer look at his final farewell.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA HALL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): At a funeral service on a rainy Saturday morning, in Boston, Senator Kennedy was mourned by family members and honored by presidents and fellow senators. President Barack Obama remembered Ted Kennedy as a respected statesman and a voice for those who had none.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today we say good- bye to the youngest child of Rose and Joseph Kennedy.
A champion for those who had none, the soul of the Democratic Party, and the lion of the United States Senate.
HALL: But his sons reminded those in attendance that to the family he was much more.
PATRICK KENNEDY, SEN. KENNEDY'S SON: Most Americans will remember dad as a good and decent hard-charging senator. But to Teddy, Karin, Caroline, Kara and I, we'll always remember him as a loving and devoted father.
TED KENNEDY, JR., SEN. KENNEDY'S SON: I love you, dad. I always will. And I miss you already.
HALL: Following the funeral, Senator Kennedy's body was flown to Washington, D.C. where the hearse stopped at the U.S. Capitol steps, a chance for current and former Kennedy staffers to bid a final farewell to their boss. The senator's body was laid to rest on a hill at Arlington National Cemetery, only steps away from his brothers John and Bobby, in view of the place he served the nation for 47 years.
I'm Barbara Hall, reporting from Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: A man accused of holding a kidnapped girl for 18 years may be connected to some other crimes as well. We're going to tell you why police are investigating.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: I don't know if sweet dreams are made of what you are about to talk about.
WOLF: Let's talk about bats.
NGUYEN: Creepy. '
WOLF: You know, they do serve a purpose. They are creepy. There is something weird about them. There's no question. But bats are a very important thing.
You know, in Hollywood bats are often the embodiment of spine- tingling creepiness. But in real life, they can be worth their weight in gold. And there is no other place they are more appreciated than Central Texas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF (voice over): Austin, Texas, known for music legends, TexMex - and bats.
(On camera): And that is Austin's Congress Street Bridge, where on summer nights thousands of people gather along the riverside to watch a swarm of Mexican free-tail bats fly from underneath the bridge and up the riverside.
(voice over): But just south of the city is something even more amazing, Bracken Bat Cave, home of the largest colony of bats on the planet.
FRAN HUTCHINS, BAT CONSERVATION INT'L.: We have 20 million Mexican free-tail bats, right now, in the cave.
WOLF: Bat expert Fran Hutchins says the bats fly out every summer night. At times they travel as far as 50 miles away on the hunt for insects. Nearly 250 tons of bugs eaten every night.
(On camera): That has to be a huge help to farmers.
HUTCHINS: Yes, just to the cotton crop farmers alone in this area, it is probably about $1 million, $1.5 million that they save in pesticides they don't have to buy and spray on their crops because of all the bugs that they eat every night when the go out.
WOLF (voice over): In their quest to feed they can reach altitudes as high as 10,000 feet and fly as fast as 60 miles per hour. They never stop from the moment they leave the cave until they return at dawn. These prolific hunters utilize sound waves to sense their prey in what's called echo locating.
HUTCHINS: Just the fact that they can go out and echo-locate and find an insect in the dark, be able to track it, and hone in on it, and catch it while they are flying, they are the number one insect predator when the sun goes down.
WOLF: But their journey is not without danger. Often snakes and raccoons will wait at the mouth of the cave. High above hawks will circle and pounce. Just a few of the obstacles they will face during their nightly flight, and return trip home.
(On camera): Why are they at Bracken Cave, of all places?
HUTCHINS: This is a maternity colony here at Bracken Bat Cave. The environment in the cave is good for the mothers to raise their young. It's over 100 degrees in the cave. We have 20 million Mexican free-tail bats right now in the cave.
WOLF: Perfect conditions for raising young bats, which with luck will live up to seven years in the wild. That is seven possible summers in Bracken Bat Cave. HUTCHINS: The mothers come in, they'll have their young here, and in the fall migrate back to Mexico when it starts cooling off in Central Texas.
It is a totally an awesome sight. The sound, of all those - we have a tornado of bats here. It's one of the more awesome things in the world.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: OK, I want you to think about some numbers for a moment. We're talking about 20 million bats inside this cave. Inside the cave, it gets up to 100 degrees all because of the bat guano.
NGUYEN: Guano.
WOLF: That lands and then it decomposes. So there is really no question why 20 million bats fly out of there as fast as they possibly can.
NGUYEN: Get out of here.
WOLF: Whoo, this is skanky. I'm getting out of here. Off they go.
NGUYEN: It is cool to see, though. I lived in Austin for a while and when you see them just swarm up. I mean, people will gather on that bridge in Austin. Congress, right?
WOLF: Absolutely. Congress Street Bridge.
But there at Bracken Bat Cave takes about six hours for all of these bats. I mean, it is worse than the traffic you will see, say, going up the Georgia 400, here in Atlanta, on a Monday afternoon.
But it is insane. They go out there and from the moment they leave the cave to the moment they come back early morning they never stop flying. They don't stop and take a break. They don't stop by the 7-11 and have a drink. Let's go back now. It's a non-stop flight there and back. Amazing thing.
NGUYEN: All right, Reynolds.
You need to listen up to this next story, we want you to get a little help in the family department here.
WOLF: OK.
HOLMES: Yes, the Cash for Clunkers, big success, as we know, maybe too big of a success. A good thing for consumers, a lot of people had good deals with this program.
NGUYEN: Right. This is how it could help you. You have a whole - you have a brood at home. Now a toy store chain is offering its own program to spur spending and it is called, Cash for Cribs. I'm sure you have got plenty of those, Reynolds? WOLF: Are your kidding me? Yes, absolutely.
NGUYEN: Listen to this. Toys "R" Us is giving customers a chance to trade in used cribs, car seats and other children's items in exchange for a store discount. The program runs until September 20th and customers will get a 20 percent discount on selected items. There's no limit on the number of products they can turn in.
So, Reynolds, you may already be able to pay for all those Christmas gifts with all the stuff you are about to turn in.
WOLF: The Wolf tribe is going to be busy today.
NGUYEN: Yes, exactly, cleaning out the garage.
WOLF: Oh, you have no idea. A lot of stuff, a lot of clutter, yes.
NGUYEN: Cash for cribs.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds, we appreciate you. We'll talk to you again shortly.
We want to take a look now at an innovative program in New Orleans.
NGUYEN: Children are discovering a new harmony that actually echoes far beyond their free music lesson.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: No doubt, in New Orleans, music the heart and soul of the Big Easy. I'll give you some pictures of New Orleans this morning, trying to get a live shot, working on that, but in the mean time -
HOLMES: There it is.
NGUYEN: There you go.
HOLMES: Good shot of the city this morning.
It's coming up on 6:00 o'clock, there, I do believe in New Orleans. A lot of musicians are using music and its healing powers with kids who are growing up in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Our Fredricka Whitfield with the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): The powerful booming reach of rebirth, one of the most popular brass bands in New Orleans just got bigger. For drummer Derrick Tabb, their gift of music needed to reach another audience.
DERRICK TABB, CO-FOUNDER, ROOTS OF MUSIC: That music really saved me from a lot of stuff that was going on in the street, and I figured I could do the same thing with a lot of other kids.
WHITFIELD: He came up with an idea. All For Kids, ages 9 to 14 a chance to learn music for free.
TABB: that was with no advertising or anything, it's just word- of-mouth.
WHITFIELD: No strings attached, no instruments needed, just bring yourself.
TABB: I call it the no excuse process. I give them a bus, I give them the transportation, I give them the instruments, I give them the food, I give them the tutors, I give them the teachers. They have no excuse why you're not here.
WHITFIELD: At first, 42 kids showed up.
TABB: In a week and a half we had 65, 70 kids.
WHITFIELD: A year later.
TABB: Like about 100 kids in the program right now still; and 400, almost, still on the waiting list.
WHITFIELD: A year-round music education program. For at least three hours a day, five days a week, known as the Roots of Music; fuelled by donations, volunteers, and lots of love. For kids like this nine-year-old Jeremiah Russell, even riding the program bus 20 minutes is an exercise in discipline.
His mother sees the transformation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ever since he's been in the band he's been a much better child, academically, as well as his behavior. It's better.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 10 to the second power.
WHITFIELD: Program co-founder Allison Reinhardt helps make even math something to smile about.
ALLISON REINHARDT, CO-FOUNDER, ROOTS OF MUSIC: All our kids have gone up a letter grade in mathematics and language arts.
WHITFIELD: A success rate worth bragging.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: CNN.com special section, "Katrina: After The Storm" looks back at the hurricane and its aftermath with special interactive features on everything about Katrina. You can fine it at CNN.com/Katrina.
From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING, for this August the 30. Hello, to you all.>
NGUYEN: Yes. Good morning. How you doing?
HOLMES: Good morning to you.
I am OK.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: It's early.
Dragging a little bit still. It's 7:00 o'clock, we should have this thing going by now.
NGUYEN: Yes, it is coming up on 7:00 a.m., just 30 seconds away here in the East, 4:00 a.m. out in California where wildfires are threatening some 10,000 homes.
Thanks for joining us this morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
Let's get to those wildfires. The area has nearly quadrupled since yesterday. It started out, yesterday, 5,000 acres.
HOLMES: That's what we were reporting here. Yes.
NGUYEN: Now we're up to 20,000 acres. Reynolds Wolf is tracking those conditions in the hot zone. We'll have the latest in just a few minutes.
HOLMES: We want to pass along some other stories making headlines this morning.
Critics of big government taking their gripes on the road with a series of planned protests that they are calling the Tea Party Express Tour. Rallies like this one you see here. There was one in Sacramento on Friday, another one held in Reno yesterday.
People are protesting issues from health care reform to skyrocketing national debt. Protests are expected in 33 cities. You can see how that tour grows across the country. And it is going to end up on September 12th in Washington, D.C., for a three-day march.
NGUYEN: Seven people have been found dead at a residence in a mobile home park in rural Georgia. Police are releasing very little information, though, about those deaths. Here's what we know. The victims have been tentatively identified, but authorities are not releasing any names. Nor are they revealing just how the victims died.
Two other people were found alive, but they are in critical condition. Police say a family member called 911 after finding the victims. The police chief of Glen County calls it the worst mass slaying in his 25 years. And it happened at a mobile home park just nine miles north of Brunswick, on the Georgia coast. Residents of that park say that they are just shocked and upset.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It makes you worried and mad. I mean, I don't know if it was somebody inside the home that does it or could have been somebody, you know, just passing through.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's scary. I mean, that's the only reaction I have. I'm worried. I mean, we have a young child and we do -- we go outside a lot. And now, I don't want to be here right now, with everything that's going on, you know, especially if there's a suspect at large.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, autopsies on the seven victims -- they are being done today.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: The bizarre case of a young girl kidnapped and held captive for nearly two decades is taking another strange twist this morning. Late yesterday, investigators expanded the crime scene to include a neighboring home. Authorities are not revealing what's behind that move. Philip Garrido is the suspect. He's the man accused of abducting Jaycee Dugard. He's now being investigated for a number of unsolved murders.
A search warrant was issued for Garrido's home in connection with a series of murders in the 1990s. Garrido and his wife Nancy face nearly 30 felony charges related to the abduction and rape.
NGUYEN: We take you Afghanistan now, because there are a rising number of accusations involving voter fraud. The complaints could delay official results from the national election.
HOLMES: Let's get more from Atia Abawi in Kabul for us this morning.
Atia, we know you've been following this since election day. Some voter results are being released. What are they showing us so far?
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, 35 percent of the votes have already been tallied. President Karzai, the incumbent, in the lead with 46 percent of those streets. His rival, Dr. Abdullah, is only receiving 31 percent of those votes. But, again, we do expect President Karzai's lead to increase from the votes come in from the south.
But as you both mention, this is an election marred with fraud. The Electoral Complaints Commission is already receiving over 2,000 complaints, nearly 600 of them so serious that it could affect the outcome of the election.
But the question remains is, why should the American people care? Why do the Afghan people care?
We'll start with the Afghan people. They care because this is going to be a government that is going to be elected through fraud -- a government that they already have very little faith in and that they don't trust anymore. If they see that this government takes place through violence, intimidation and ballot stuffing, you're going to see more Afghans actually turning to criminal elements, to warlords, to even the insurgents, because they will trust them more than their own government.
When it comes to the American people, why should American people care? It's because America has been here for eight years, the European countries have been here for eight years now, and if this doesn't work, the American government, the European government, the coalition governments are worried that their people, the American people, the European people, who have been paying with the lives of their sons and daughters, that are paying -- been paying tax dollars to a war and a money that they're saying is going into a corrupt system -- they might want to pull out.
And if they pull out, it will not only be devastating to Afghanistan, but it will be devastating to the world -- T.J.?
HOLMES: And, Atia, you mentioned some of these complaints that are coming in. And a lot of them are serious. But what's exactly being done about them? Who are these people able to complain to, and then what's happening to those complaints? Are they being investigated?
ABAWI: There's an independent institution here called Electoral Complaints Commission, actually headed by a Canadian. And they've been getting complaints even before the elections, primarily on election day, and many, many more coming after the elections. What they have is an office set up in Kabul. They have offices in various provinces throughout Afghanistan.
And people can go in there and many people have, to say that they've been intimidated. They had local authorities above their shoulders when they were voting. They had people actually forcing guns to some people to make sure they voted. And others just ballot stuffing.
Dr. Abdullah releasing video that he has submitted to the complaints commission, video showing blatant fraud, people stuffing those ballots, people saying, oh, make sure you keep checking off a certain candidate's name. And he's not the only one complaining. There are other candidates complaining as well but they haven't been as public -- T.J.?
HOLMES: All right. Atia Abawi for us in Kabul, we appreciate you as always.
And to our viewers, please feel free to weigh in and have discussion on this story or any other stories that we are covering this morning. We'll be reading some of your responses on the air. Go to our Facebook and Twitter pages, also to our blog, CNN.com/TJ or /Betty.
NGUYEN: All right. We got a lot to tell you about this morning in regards to those fires, massive wildfires in Los Angeles County. We're talking fires that started out on 5,000 acres now expanded, quadrupled to 20,000 acres. And at this point, what, only 5 percent contained.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Can you believe it?
NGUYEN: It's burning out of control.
WOLF: I know. It's like being a kid and going to a camp fire, and you get a piece of paper and you throw out there, and the whole thing just goes up in smoke. That's essentially what's been happening in California.
NGUYEN: Look at this home right here.
WOLF: I know. It's just an awful thing to see. You've a lot of the people evacuating. And they leave their homes and not knowing if they're going have a lot of their prized possession when they come back. I mean, it's a frightening prospect.
And I'll tell you, Betty, today, we're expecting winds to really pick up again. We've got red flag warnings throughout the area, very low humidity.
NGUYEN: It's not what they need.
WOLF: Absolutely. I mean, really, you're nailing it. They could use some scattered showers. They don't have any rain anywhere in the forecast. Not expecting anything. With winds picking up in the afternoon, it is going to be a huge mess.
Let's show you another shot that we have. We've got a live shot that we're going to show you. This is in, of course, L.A.
Things are fine if you happen to be downtown, but I guarantee you, if you're walking downtown and you're going through Burbank or whatnot, you can be able to smell those smoke. That smoke way off in the hills and that smoke has been so intense, it's actually been picked up by some upper level winds and carried over to places like Las Vegas. So, from Las Vegas back to L.A., it's just been smoky conditions.
If you happen to be flying in today to the L.A. area, going into LAX, maybe even John Wayne, as you're flying through, you're going to be able to go through a few scattered clouds. It's not going to be that marine layers, it's going to be from those wildfires.
And as I mentioned, red flag warnings are in effect. Everything happens say, Santa Barbara County back towards Santa Barbara, back north to Monterey, even San Louis Obispo counties, the red flag warnings there be in effect.
Now, what does that mean? Red flag fire warning is when you have very low humidity, very high temperatures coupled with some strong winds. And we're going to see some strong winds in this part of the world. One of the reasons why we're going to see this because this area of low pressure that is forming over parts of the Four Corners are going to have wind that's going to spin counterclockwise or remain that low, it's going to pass through these mountain valleys, it's going to accelerate and it's going to cause all kinds of issues -- issues like the one you're going to see in this iReport that's sent in by a viewer.
Take a look at this shot that we've got for you. And there it is, you got some guys up there not only in the skies above but on the ground doing the rough work, trying to battle these blazes. This iReport sent in by Keith Bohanan.
And you'll notice this incredible aircraft coming through, like this helicopter you see, they go in, they scoop up the water from along the coast and some of the interior lakes you have and they go and they drop it. It's just like trying to put out a giant fire with an eye dropper, all things considered. But every little bit they can, used to chip away this immense fire, certainly works out.
Now, the rest of the nation -- certainly, they're dealing with dry conditions. We make our way through parts of the southeast where they could see some scattered showers forming right along this frontal boundary. You got plenty of moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico. That combined with your daytime heating could give you a rumble of thunder.
Not expecting any severe weather today. And the remnants of that tropical system we were talking about yesterday, Danny, is going to continue to march its way to north, some scattered showers possible for the eastern half of the Great Lakes.
That is a look at your forecast. We've got more to share with you throughout the rest of the day. Let's send it back to you at the news desk.
NGUYEN: You're going to be a busy man today, Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
NGUYEN: All right, thank you.
HOLMES: Thanks, Reynolds.
NGUYEN: You know, we're looking back because Hurricane Katrina did strike four years ago this weekend, causing the levees to break in New Orleans. So the question today is, are they safe now?
HOLMES: Also, big event getting under way in New York.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: U.S. Open starting tomorrow. We'll check out the players you'll want to watch and we're not just talking about (INAUDIBLE).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Some (INAUDIBLE) that we saw yesterday. This is, of course, because four years ago, Hurricane Katrina really devastated the gulf coast, killing 1,400 people in New Orleans alone. Yesterday, the city stopped to remember, ringing bells, recalled the moment the first levee broke, letting loose a deadly flood and much of that city underwater.
Mayor Ray Nagin attended the ceremony and thanked the residence for their resilience.
NGUYEN: As we look back, let's take a picture now of New Orleans. A live look this morning as the city looks pretty vibrant under these lights. But you know what? Many in the Lower Ninth Ward still rebuilding after Katrina and billions have been spent on repairing and upgrading those levees.
HOLMES: And our Sean Callebs now is going to find out will the city be ready if another Katrina-size disaster hits?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In New Orleans, water every where. Rivers, canals, lakes, it can be beautiful. But after the storm, everyone here knows that in a heartbeat, that water can turn into a monster.
GWEN ADAMS, KATRINA VICTIM: I don't feel that I'll ever feel as safe as I did pre-Katrina.
CALLEBS: Gwen and Henry Adams. She's a teacher, he drives a taxi. They lived their entire lives here in the Lower Ninth Ward. It was only about 50 yards from a flood wall that broke. The storm wiped them out and killed their neighbor.
And yet, as hard as it is to belief, they are rebuilding in exactly the same place and moving back.
(on camera): Do people ask you why are you moving back into the area that's so close to the -- to the...
ADAMS: To the levee.
CALLEBS: Let's go and take a look.
ADAMS: People ask us that all the time. And I tell them like I'll tell you, because it's my home.
CALLEBS (voice-over): In the four years since the storm, the Army Corps of Engineers has spent $3 billion to repair and upgrade levees and installed other flood protection. By 2013, four years now, it says it will have spent more than $14 billion.
Colonel Robert Sinkler runs the corps' project here.
COL. ROBERT SINKLER, U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEER: I'm not going to say that folks here will not have anything to worry about, but we are reducing hurricane risk and there's always risk of a bigger, larger storm. CALLEBS (on camera): The Corps of Engineers insist New Orleans has never been safer. The work going on here is scheduled to be done in 2011 and designed to provide 100-year storm surge protection. That means each year there's a 1-in-100 chance this system could be put to the ultimate test.
IVOR VAN HEERDEN, DIR., LSU HURRICANE PUBLIC HEALTH: It's the water going underneath.
CALLEBS (voice-over): This man, Ivor Van Heerden, is a longtime critic of the Army Corps of Engineers and its safety claims regarding New Orleans. He's the director of Hurricane Public Health at Louisiana State University. Ask him, is the city safer, and you get a definite yes and no.
VAN HEERDEN: What is better is that where it broke it's being fixed. But there are still some old weak spots in the system. So, a category two on the right track, slow moving, could flood parts of the city. Another Katrina would definitely put water all over the levees in many, many different locations.
CALLEBS: As he takes us to a place to show us what he's talking about, Van Heerden tells us he's losing his job. LSU is eliminating his position. He said it's punishment for speaking out. LSU says it can't comment on personnel matters.
VAN HEERDEN: Before Katrina, we were saying, "Get out with a category two or above." We haven't changed that message. Get out. It still, in simplicity, is unsafe.
CALLEBS (on camera): This is the weakest of the weak links surrounding New Orleans. This is the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet or Mr. GO, built by the Army Corps of Engineers about a half century ago to provide a shorter route for ships from the Gulf of Mexico to New Orleans port. Katrina's winds forced a wall of water down this waterway, city didn't stand a chance. Some engineers now say about 80 percent of the flooding in New Orleans can be traced to Mr. GO.
(voice-over): Many critics blame the corps. After all they built it, and that's one reason the corps is rushing to close it, building a 24-foot wall that spans two miles and will close the funnel.
SINKLER: A project like this, historically, would take decades or over a decade to construct and we're doing it in just a few years.
CALLEBS: The tremendous damage caused when Mr. GO became overburdened also prompted a massive class action lawsuit against the corps. And if the corps loses, it could cause hundreds of billions of dollars. And that brings us back to Gwen and Henry Adams. They are plaintiffs in the suit.
ADAMS: One day, you're a viable human being, working, contributing to your society, and the next day, you are wondering if you're homeless. CALLEBS: Water every where and about 350 miles of levees, stretching about the distance from Washington, D.C. to Boston. But the corps says it's safer than ever before.
ADAMS: I say prove it because we can't endure another Hurricane Katrina. We can't endure another disaster like that.
CALLEBS: She hopes the rebuilding works but she's skeptical. After all, the way she and so many others here see it, the Army Corps built this system in the first place.
Sean Callebs, CNN, New Orleans.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. So, four years later, there are many organizations continuing to help the victims of Katrina rebuild and recover. And to find out how you can make a difference, all you have to do is visit our "Impact Your World" page at CNN.com/Impact.
HOLMES: As we said, the U.S. Open starts tomorrow. Huge event in New York. We are going to get some help in telling you who you need to be keeping an eye on. That guy, we're keeping an eye on.
NGUYEN: Later.
HOLMES: Larry Smith.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. Michael Jackson, they are celebrating his life, his legacy -- in fact, what would have been his 51st birthday. This is in Paris as they're doing -- is that the "Thriller" dance that they were doing right there?
HOLMES: That was "Beat It."
NGUYEN: Oh, "Beat It." They danced. They, well, marched around. Whatever you call this, in observance of the birthday. I guess the 51st birthday of Michael Jackson. They also had a minute of silence just to remember and reflect.
HOLMES: We all do those routines. OK. I'll speak for myself. I used to know those routines.
NGUYEN: Can you still do the moon walk?
HOLMES: It's not that hard. I mean...
NGUYEN: Well, show us then.
HOLMES: OK. We'll get back, because we'll get to Larry now.
(LAUGHTER)
(CROSSTALK) NGUYEN: Good thing you are here, Larry.
LARRY SMITH, CNN SPORTS: Right, yes.
NGUYEN: We got plenty of time. Go on, T.J.
HOLMES: Really. We got to get right to this important story, U.S. Open.
Well, good to see you first of all, and good morning to you.
SMITH: Yes, good to see you.
HOLMES: U.S. Open, a lot of players to keep an eye on, but one from Georgia you highlight for us?
NGUYEN: Yes.
SMITH: Absolutely, yes. We first really got kind of learned her name at Wimbledon a couple of months ago , and now, she is trying to make her move at the U.S. Open starting tomorrow, also for that great American hope and she may be the next one.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH (voice-over): It's no surprise that Serena and Venus Williams are considered among the world's best tennis players, sitting second and third respectively in the Sony Ericsson WTA rankings. But to find the third best American, you have to go all the way down to number 67 and 17-year-old Melanie Oudin.
MELANIE QUDIN, 17-YEAR-OLD TENNIS PLAYER: It was my goal from last year's U.S. Open, this U.S. Open, to be top 100 so I would be in the main draw.
SMITH (on camera): Melanie burst on to the scene this year at Wimbledon, where she advanced to the round of 16, defeating the sixth rank in the world, Jelena Jankovic, along the way.
QUDIN: Realizing that I could actually win, I think, was my key thing. Realizing in the first set that she was no better than me, and that I was right there and whether I won or lost the match, like at that moment I knew that I was right there with her and I can compete with her.
BRIAN DE VILLIERS, QUDIN'S COACH: I think there's a little pressure on her now, and we have to maintain that. I mean, I've seen so many kids come and go and have a great tournament and then you never hear from them again.
Fire from the hips, come on, come on. No, no, do that shot again. Make that. That's sloppy. Make it. And again. Make it. Very good.
SMITH (voice-over): Brian de Villiers has coached Melanie for eight years and has a theory on why there aren't more American players in the world tennis rankings.
DE VILLIERS: They are too soft over here. There are too many escape clauses as in I can go to college. A lot of them come from affluent families and they basically have never had to really work for something for themselves. And the minute the going gets tough, they bail.
SMITH: At the U.S. Open, Melanie will be looking to dispute that notion and make her first taste success as a pro a lasting one.
QUDIN: I'm still the underdog. Again, (INAUDIBLE) or anything. There's going some pressure. But I'm just going to go out there and play my game and hope I can play like I did at Wimbledon.
DE VILLIERS: Hit the line again. Extend. That's better. Right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: You know, we see things that happen with these players on the court but, I mean, she practices four hours a day, another fifth hour in training. She said this is her job. I mean, she's really sacrificed for it. Wish her well.
HOLMES: And we just see them show up and don't realize all that goes into it.
(CROSSTALK)
SMITH: All the work. Yes, all the work.
NGUYEN: Yes. Success doesn't happen overnight, right?
SMITH: Right.
NGUYEN: OK.
HOLMES: Larry, thank you.
NGUYEN: Thank you. That's a great story. Yes.
SMITH: I'll see you guys. All right. Take care.
NGUYEN: So, faced with the public's outcry on health care reform, a group has launched a national bus tour in protest.
HOLMES: Yes, we're hopping aboard the tea party express, asking the people what they think -- coming up in our 8:00 hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, Ted Kennedy was among the nation's most prominent Catholics, yet his personal and political lives were often at odds with his church's teachings.
HOLMES: Yes. He had, of course, been divorced and was among Washington's staunchest supporters of abortion rights.
CNN senior congressional correspondent, Dana Bash, has more on what Kennedy himself called a "complicated relationship."
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ted Kennedy's family chose this church for his funeral mass because he prayed here every day when daughter Kara was diagnosed with cancer -- an example of his quiet but deep Catholic faith.
(on camera): Did you consider him a religious man?
REV. GERRY CREEDON, ST. CHARLES BORROMEO CATHOLIC CHURCH: Very much so.
BASH (voice-over): Father Gerry Creedon counseled Kennedy for more than 30 years.
CREEDON: This is an old picture, probably goes back to 1980.
BASH: He says Kennedy not only attended Sunday mass but sought him out to discuss the tenets of Catholicism.
CREEDON: Most people sat there either disagreeing with me or sleeping. I'd walked out of church and Ted Kennedy would come up to me and continue the theme I was preaching on.
BASH: Kennedy often said it was his mother's Catholic faith that guided his famous family's political agenda. He used scripture on his push to end poverty and discrimination.
SEN. EDWARD KENNEDY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: My favorite parts of the Bible are always Matthew 25 through 35, "I was hungry you gave me to eat, and thirsty, you gave to drink."
BASH: Kennedy support for abortion rights flew in the face of Catholic credo.
KENNEDY: The Roe v. Wade made very clear a declaration that is the law of the land. I support that, the law of the land.
BASH (on camera): Senator Kennedy told me he had a complicated relationship with the Catholic Church because he was for abortion rights.
CREEDON: I think he would wish that he could have found a middle ground, a common ground with our church institution. I prayed for him at mass yesterday morning and I got an e-mail saying, "You scandalized the faithful by praying for Ted Kennedy."
BASH (on camera): Father Creedon says Kennedy often came to him for spiritual guidance during low publicized, low points in his life. And then in the last year, too ill to go to church, Kennedy asked him to come and give communion at home and never asked others to pray for him. CREEDON: When it comes to the Prayers of the Faithful is the time normally people make petitions, and often times, his wife will make a petition for his health and so forth. He never made a petition. But he always had two or three prayers of thanksgiving, gratitude.
BASH: Dana Bash, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And our top stories in 30 minutes when CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues.
HOLMES: But first, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now. Betty and I will see you back here live in just half an hour.
