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CNN Sunday Morning
Obama Attacks Critics Before Minneapolis Crowd; More Troops Headed to Afghanistan?
Aired September 13, 2009 - 08:00 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. It's September 13th. Eight a.m. here in the east.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
NGUYEN: Five a.m. Pacific. Boy, it's early out there.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: It's early. What can I tell you?
Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hello there, everybody. I'm T.J. Holmes. It is Grandparents Day.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: So, happy Grandparents Days to all the grandfolks out there.
You know, we've been covering -- certainly in the past couple of days -- it's been kind of ugly at the U.S. Open with the rain. In fact, they cancelled some things.
NGUYEN: Weather-wise, but things turned a little ugly on the court.
HOLMES: It got ugly. It got ugly on the court last night -- a really ugly incident involving the biggest U.S. tennis star, Serena Williams. We'll explain to you how she lost the match and lost her cool.
NGUYEN: Pointing fingers, cursing, all that good stuff.
All right. And talking about this, Hurricane Ike, one year ago today. How the city is recovering. Also, there's a prayer service this morning. Some block parties so that people can reunite, get to know each other again, because they were just devastated down there in Galveston. Some seven feet of water, it was the third worst hurricane in U.S. history when it came to damage. I'm going to revisit the city and talk to the mayor.
Also, a year ago, the financial hemorrhaging started. Yes, tomorrow, President Obama will claim the bleeding has stopped. But he's also going to call for more reforms in a speech on Wall Street. And this weekend, President Obama is focusing as well on health care. Tonight, on "60 Minutes," the president says he's not interested in passing a bill that does not work.
And yesterday, he took his message on the road with our Elaine Quijano along for the ride.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): President Obama was back in campaign mode at a rally here in Minneapolis, pitching health care reform to an enthusiastic crowd of about 15,000 cheering supporters. And the president had a new twist on his health care argument, he's cited a new treasury report that estimates over the next 10 years, about half of all Americans under 65 will lose their health care coverage at some point.
But the president's speech here mostly reiterated what he told a joint session of Congress on Wednesday, including blasting critics who argue the president shouldn't rush reform.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We are closer to reform than we've ever been before. But this is the hard part. This is when the special interests and the insurance companies and the folks who think, you know, this is a good way to bring Obama down -- this is when they're going to fight with everything they've got. This is when they'll spread all kinds of wild rumors, designed to scare and intimidate people. That's why I need your help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: But outside the hall, signs that the president still has some convincing to do. Protesters echoed some of the concerns voiced by Republicans and fiscally conservative Democrats. The biggest sticking point: How exactly to pay for the president's $900 billion plan.
Elaine Quijano, CNN, Minneapolis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: As we mentioned, President Obama will make his speech on the financial crisis tomorrow. Then on Tuesday, the president will speak to the AFL-CIO Annual Convention that's happening in Pittsburgh. The AFL-CIO is the largest confederation of unions in this country.
And on Wednesday, something many are waiting to see. In the Senate Finance Committee, the chairman, Max Baucus, will release his own version of the health care bill. It drops the public option. And many people are saying this may be the best and last chance at a bipartisan health care reform bill.
NGUYEN: Well, President Obama drew thousands of people at his Minneapolis rally, but opponents of his plan were not to be outdone in Washington. Let's give you a little look at the National Mall yesterday outside the U.S. Capitol. You can see right there, tens of thousands of protesters marching, chanting, waving signs. They are upset over the Democrats' health care efforts, but some on hand say, it's not about political parties.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are American first. We are not Republicans. We are Republicans, Democrats, independents, who finally decided, enough is enough.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Well, this was the last stop for the tea party express, which is a series of protests across the nation over government spending.
(VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: Different story in Orlando, where the rally was for President Obama's health care reform initiative. The Health Insurance Reform Now bus tour stopped at the central Florida fairgrounds yesterday and hundreds of supporters turned out. The tour is being sponsored by the Democratic National Committee. It heads off to Tampa next and its final stop is Las Vegas on Thursday.
HOLMES: An autopsy will be performed this morning on Christopher Kelly, that's a close aide and fund-raiser for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. Kelly was found dead yesterday. He was facing federal corruption charges. Kelly was supposed to report to federal prison on Friday to serve a three-year term for pleading guilty to tax fraud charges.
NGUYEN: Well, the positive effect a little publicity can have on fund-raising. Listen to this, South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst during the president's speech last Wednesday not only put his congressional race next year against Democratic opponent Rob Miller in the spotlight, it's also filling up their respective war chests. Both candidates have reported taking in about $1 million in the few days since that outburst.
HOLMES: Let's take you back to Turkey now, where they are seeing some of the worst flooding they have seen in some 80 years. We've been showing these pictures for the past several days. It's just a mess there. There are people having to be rescued. Thirty-two, at least, we know of have died in the flooding. And still know that nine are still missing.
There have been mass evacuations. And it might not be over just yet, because there might be some more rain, some sporadic storms, they're calling them, that could drop some more rain. But this is some of the worst flooding they have seen there in about 80 years.
Also, in Brazil now, some flooding problems there. They've been seeing this -- kind of a similar scene to what you just saw there in Turkey. They haven't seen this for almost a week now. Severe weather there, tornadoes calls, some landslides, a lot of people have been displaced, thousands, we know of. The numbers to give you here: five dead and 120 injuries that we know of.
Thousands -- literally -- thousands are in government shelters right now and a lot more people, you know, it's just a mess, people are trying to wait for word of relatives and things like that.
NGUYEN: And some villages are just cut off because of the floodwaters. That's hard for people to get in to.
Let's bring it back home, shall we, and get to Reynolds Wolf in the severe weather center -- because we've been talking about flooding here, right here in the good ol' U.S. of A.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Absolutely. You know, we often refer to flash flooding, as some of the stuff we've been saying in parts of Texas. And in case you're curious, you know, what in the world is flash flooding? What are you talking about when you mention that?
Well, what I'm talking about is when -- when you talk or mention flash flooding, the flash part of it has to do with the speed of the rainfall. What happens is -- let's say you got a glass of water, you go outside and you pour on the ground. Well, it's going to absorb into the soil.
What happens when you have very heavy rain that falls at a very quick rate, the ground can only absorb a certain amount, and everything else is runoff. Well, that runoff finds its way, that additional moisture finds its way into low-lying areas, into creek beds and the rivers, that causes the water to rise very quickly -- flash flooding.
That's been the situation in parts of Texas this morning. The heavy rainfall forming in Denton over towards Dallas. Temperatures in this hour in these locations are mainly into the 60s and 70s in the few key spots. South of Dallas is 69 degrees. Over towards Waco, temperatures are mainly into the 70s.
The rain is expected to continue. The reason why it's going to continue is due to this area of low pressure. It's going to continue to pull that moisture in from the Gulf of Mexico, and that combined with your daytime heating is going to give you more rainfall. So from Dallas southward to about Austin and San Antonio is going to be your best chance of seeing some rainfall. And that's going to be an issue as we make our way into Monday.
Still relatively dry though for much of the eastern seaboard. The northeast, you may see a few stray showers in spots like New York later on. We have a live shot for you in Central Park right now and that shows the conditions are looking OK, a little bit of haze in the sky. But into the afternoon, you may have a raindrop or two. Certainly, nothing is going to ruin your day as you round up the weekend. It should be fairly nice for you in Gotham City. Meanwhile, let's go back to the weather map. Nice and cool for you across parts of the Corn Belt and into the Rockies. You might see a few showers west of Denver. Still hot and dry for you in the desert southwest with high temperatures going up to 100 degrees in Phoenix, 97 in Las Vegas, 61 in San Francisco out by Pier 39, Seattle with 78 degrees, 75 in Billings.
Back in the southeast, warmer conditions -- certainly not hot, but warmer, say, Atlanta with 83 degrees, 86 in Tampa, Miami with 88. And again, the rainfall totals we were talking about over towards north of Austin, the Bell/Williamson area, over a foot of rainfall. You could see more of that as we make our way into Wednesday and Tuesday.
All right. Stay dry in Texas. Let's send it back to you guys.
NGUYEN: All right. Thank you, Reynolds. We appreciate it.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: He's talking about staying dry in Texas, how about staying cool in New York? Cool, under pressure, under fire. If you haven't seen it, we're going to show it to you now and let it speak for itself. Serena Williams at the end of her semifinal match at the U.S. Open last night. Take a look at how this went down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: A foot fault and that...
(INAUDIBLE)
(BLEEP)
(INAUDIBLE)
SERENA WILLIAMS, TENNIS PLAYER: I didn't say I was going to kill you! Are you serious? Are you serious?! I didn't say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yes, when your defense begins with "I didn't say I would kill you," I don't know if this is going well. We have to put this in some perspective, what we're seeing here.
NGUYEN: Yes, let's do that, shall we?
HOLMES: Let's start with what was called -- there's a line judge that called a foot fault, which essentially means she had her foot on the line when she served. This is a call you hardly ever, ever see and you certainly don't see it in match point or close to match point at the U.S. Open semi final. There's the judge there walking off.
Well, Serena was upset, obviously, because she was close to losing the match. She was then penalized for going off the way she did. NGUYEN: Yes, that conduct.
HOLMES: The conduct costs her one point.
NGUYEN: Which...
HOLMES: One point is all her opponent needed to win.
NGUYEN: It costs her the game.
HOLMES: Game set match.
NGUYEN: And you saw what happened there, the finger-pointing, the cursing, you heard all the bleeps. At one point she said, "I'm going to take this ball and shove it down your blank throat.
And she was obviously upset because it was -- it was a bad call because...
HOLMES: It was.
NGUYEN: When they went back and look at it, it was not a double fault, her foot did not go over the line, yet it was called that way and then the rest ensued.
So, we want to hear from you today. What do you think about all of this? Justified? I don't know how you can say that, but, hey, we want to hear your opinion today. You know, it's like there are things that set us off every now and then. There's a time or place, not really sure that's the way you go about it, but let us know.
You can reach us at Facebook and Twitter and all these other sites. We're going to be reading some of your replies on the air.
HOLMES: All right. In our next hour, you'll also going to hear from Serena Williams herself in her own words. She had, of course, that post-match news conference. You'll hear her defense. That's coming our way at 8:30.
NGUYEN: Yes, what did she have to say about how that went down?
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Stay tuned.
HOLMES: Also, up next, a new round of bombings and battles in Afghanistan -- the latest there, which includes the death of more U.S. servicemen.
NGUYEN: Yes. Then, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports from the war zone and shows us how American medical technology is helping some unintended victims.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, it has been a bloody weekend in Afghanistan. Five American service members were killed in two separate roads bombings and one of the attacks in western Afghanistan was followed by a Taliban ambush. Earlier this morning, I spoke with Atia Abawi, who is in Kabul.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're hearing from the U.S. military, as well as the Afghan National Army here is that in western Afghanistan where we saw those three U.S. soldiers killed, at first, their convoy hit an IED, a roadside bomb, and when they came to assess what exactly occurred, that's when they engaged the Taliban. The Taliban is attacking from three different sides. In the end, the Taliban is also launching mortars, killing civilians as well, including a 14-year-old teenage girl in the area.
Although it was a very bad day for U.S. soldiers yesterday -- five U.S. soldiers killed, as T.J. had said, two in eastern Afghanistan, three in western, it was also a very bad day when it comes to militants as well. Dozens killed, not just in western Afghanistan. We saw many deaths during that attack, but we also saw in eastern Afghanistan, in Wardak province and in northern Afghanistan, Kunduz, this is an area where we saw the NATO air strike just last week killing dozens of militants as well as civilians. But in the end, yesterday, 11 more militants killed up in Kunduz -- Betty?
NGUYEN: All right. And what is the reaction to adding some 3,000 troops to deal with roadside bombs? That's something that has been talked about. And what are you hearing on that end?
ABAWI: It's a very mixed reaction, depending on who you speak with. When you speak with commanders on the ground, they'll tell you that's what they need at the moment -- not to just deal with the IEDs, but also to help with this new civilian effort that they're working on to build infrastructure because they're going to need -- the civilians are going to need the protection when they come to country to actually help build. Because the Taliban and the militants and the insurgency will attack them to show that progress can't be made. So, they're going to need that security.
And when you speak to the Afghan people, it also, again, depends on who you talk to. Some will tell you that they do need the security. But then those who have actually experienced deaths within their families, within their neighbors, within their villages, they'll tell you that they don't want extra forces in the country. But, they -- at the same time -- they'll tell you that they don't necessarily want the Americans to leave, either. They want to help in building and infrastructure.
This is a country where time stopped in 1979. And even then, you only saw infrastructure in the cities of Afghanistan. So, obviously, Afghanistan is very -- left very far behind. They want the help to improve. They want the building. They want help with their farming. But at the same time, they are tired of war after 30 years.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, the deaths of American troops, just the latest in a very tough summer for U.S. and Afghanistan.
Josh Levs is here...
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
HOLMES: ... to show us how -- you can track the war, really, online. This is -- it's a war people we started, you know, it was all about Iraq for a while.
LEVS: Right.
HOLMES: But now here we are, it's all about Afghanistan.
LEVS: We're back. We're back and the summer has been, as you were saying, incredibly tough.
And we have this site, CNN.com/Afghanistan. Let's zoom in because I want to show up something. Right here, we actually show you who these people are, the American casualties.
At any moment, you can actually see them right here. We give you their names, background, where they're from, what they did in the war. Some cases we have photos. You can learn a lot more about that.
Just to emphasize what we were just talking about. Check this out from iCasualties.org. These are the U.S. casualties in Afghanistan. Each year of the war, look, we're still in September. We're already at 200, which is more than we've had any year in the past. We still got more time this year. Reminds you of how tough this is.
We also trace you through some of the key developments in the war, year by year, 2001 all the way through 2008. And one of the key developments we've been seeing this year in 2009 is in this video. Take a look.
(VIDEO CLIP)
LEVS: They've been exploding these poppy fields all over. Opium production in Afghanistan has gotten huge since the war began. Huger and huger each year, it's incredible.
But, this year, there's actually some success in what you're seeing right now. The officials are saying, including the U.N., that this has helped get rid of some of the poppy, some of the opium production, which could lead more farmers to building other crops, growing other crops, which could ultimately help Afghanistan in many ways and help the fight there.
All right. Before we go, I just want to show you some nice shots here from Kabul -- because we're actually talking about a country with a lot of people who live there and there are some really beautiful photos from Afghanistan to help you learn more about the people there and what they're dealing with. All of it right there at the address you can see on your screen, CNN.com/Afghanistan.
T.J., Betty?
NGUYEN: All right, Josh, thanks so much for that.
LEVS: (INAUDIBLE).
HOLMES: We're going to be back with our morning's top stories in just a second, including new developments in the search for that missing Yale student. She was supposed to get married. This is such a heartbreaking part of it -- her wedding was scheduled for today. She's been missing now since last Tuesday. Still don't know what happened to her.
NGUYEN: Also this -- President Obama is prepping for a major speech on Monday that takes stock of Wall Street and the overall economy. We're going to get a preview with "STATE OF THE UNION's" John King.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Investigators are poring over potential evidence collected from a lab where missing Yale student Annie Lee was last seen. Surveillance video shows the 24-year-old entering a building, but it's not clear if she ever left that build. University officials say there's no indication she was on the run. She's trying to get away. Le was supposed to get married today.
NGUYEN: Just a heartbreaking story right there.
But also this one to tell you about -- an autopsy will be performed today on Christopher Kelly. Now, Kelly was a close aide and fund-raiser for Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He was found dead yesterday. Kelly was indeed facing federal corruption charges, and he was supposed to report to federal prison Friday to serve a three-year term for pleading guilty to tax fraud charges.
Well, a spokesman for Israel's president, Shimon Peres, is blaming a hectic work schedule for his collapse. Peres fainted on stage after delivering a speech in Tel Aviv yesterday. He was taken to the hospital where doctors kept overnight for observation, and then released him this morning.
HOLMES: Well, coming up in just about 35 minutes, "STATE OF THE UNION" with our guy, John King. We're just teeing this thing up for him here. We're just filling the time. Everybody's waiting to see John.
NGUYEN: Waiting for John King.
HOLMES: And there he is.
NGUYEN: And, you know, there's a lot to talk about -- because the president, you know, we've been talking about health care, we've seen all the town halls, we're seeing the protests, the tea parties, the whatnot, but he's shifting focus a little bit this week, talking to Wall Street, specifically. JOHN KING, "STATE OF THE UNION" HOST: He is. And it will be interesting to watch, because there are some in the administration -- even though the unemployment rate went up to 9.7 percent last month, even though some think it might even creep up near 10 percent by the end of the year -- they're beginning to be more optimistic in the Obama White House. And I was told by a top official this week, they actually expect the economy will start adding jobs again late this year, by the end of the fourth quarter.
So, it would be very interesting to hear the president's tone on Wall Street. How optimistic is he about the prospects for recovery and how much does he lecture Wall Street? Remember, a lot of collapse was blamed on not having tough rules and regulations and oversight in place. The administration is still pushing Congress to do a lot of financial reforms this year -- a lot of questions about whether they're tough enough, whether they would protect consumers from another letdown like we saw late in 2007 and into 2008.
So, yes, a change in focus for the president. The economy, obviously, is always issue number one for any president. And there are, in part, doubts about the economy that are affecting the health care debate. So, it would be very interesting to watch the president's tone this week.
HOLMES: You're talking about the economy -- certainly the president ties health care and health care reform into the economy. Health care, it was a strange week last week, John. In a lot of ways, the speech, big speech on Wednesday, everybody was waiting for details, but then we get up on Thursday morning and it seems like we're not talking about health care, we're talking about Joe Wilson yelling out, "You lie."
What happened last week? Did the health care reform debate advance any, or did it just get nastier?
KING: It depends which piece of the pie you're looking at. In terms of trying to boost morale among the Democrats, get the Democrats more focused on the difficult compromises they have to make within the Democratic family, there is no doubt the president advanced his goal somewhat in that regard. The details still to be negotiated. We'll see how it works out, but the Democrats were in a much better mood at the end of the week than they were coming into the week and they're beginning to talk about making those compromises.
In terms of, you know, Congressman Wilson, he has apologized for yelling "You lie" at the president. Some Democratic leaders are considering a resolution to sanction him in the House of Representatives. It is a reflection of the polarized politics. You see that in the tea parties, you see than when you travel the country.
Democrats and Republicans, still a sharp partisan divide and a coarseness of the language of the debate -- increasingly, instead of saying, "I disagree with you on the substance of this," "I think you're raising taxes," "I think you're liberal" -- "You lie," a pretty strong word. Some Republicans say, you know, the president said it's a lie in his speech, talking about those who have criticized the so- called death panels, which the president says don't exist.
So -- but the coarseness of the language is pretty rough and it makes it hard to imagine we're actually going to have a great spirit of bipartisanship in this town anytime soon.
NGUYEN: Well, you know, you bring up a really good point, because yesterday, we saw thousands -- tens of thousands march on Washington with the tea party express and then we've seen the counter- tea party events as well.
I mean, is the health care issue and the details of it kind of getting blurred in all of this?
KING: The substance, sure. And both sides would tell you that, that it's more about mistrust of the parties, the tea parties, mistrust of the president or mistrust of the Democratic Party. It's the message in the tea party protest.
And a lot of times the volume of that and the personal nature of some of that is distracting from a debate about what exactly would the public option be, or if you're trying to squeeze $500 billion in savings out of the Medicare program, exactly how do you find that? Where is all this waste, fraud and abuse? There are very serious policy questions, and legitimate policy debates about what to do in health care.
And I think anybody would tell you that because of the more personal language and the pointed protests and the emotion of the town halls, and now, the tea parties -- on both sides of the political spectrum -- that, yes, without a doubt, sometimes it distracts from very legitimate, substantiate disagreements and debates the country has to work itself through.
HOLMES: Are we actually, though, John, going to turn a corner this week if Senator Baucus actually does finally get a bill out of his committee that it seems is bipartisan? Still might have a long way to go in the House -- but still, could this be the week that maybe we actually have a real bill to actually start debating, instead of four or five out there and nobody really knows what's going to be in one?
KING: It is a huge question as to whether Senator Baucus can get any Republicans on board what he wants to move through the Senate Finance Committee beginning this week. But it is also a very big deal because most Democrats -- now, liberals in the House don't like this, they like their approach -- but most Democrats and the White House would tell you privately, they expect the Senate Finance Committee legislation to become the major vehicle for negotiation as we move forward. Because it is being shaped by more centrist members of the Senate, it is viewed as something that can get enough votes to pass the Senate. Therefore, you could actually get a final product.
So, that is the big debate to watch on health care this week.
NGUYEN: Well, we are looking forward to watching "STATE OF THE UNION" with you at the top of the hour, John. Thanks so much, spending a little bit of time with us.
Again, "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King starting at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
OK. So, did you see this video or did you actually watch the match last night? Serena Williams -- she raised her racket, she raised her voice, she pointed her finger and ended up losing at the U.S. Open.
HOLMES: Yes. We'll hear her side of the story. That's coming up next. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well hello again and welcome back to the CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. HOLMES.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: All right, you know it's bad when even John McEnroe says you lost it.
NGUYEN: Or it was a bit much.
HOLMES: He is the guy known for losing at a time or two but Serena Williams -- I don't know -- somebody even saying she was swallowing some pride even though she was trying to get a judge to swallow a tennis ball.
NGUYEN: Yes and in no uncertain terms either.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Basically, it went down yesterday at the U.S. Open. Fingers pointing, curse words, yelling it was ugly.
Our Mark McKay though, tells us what led to Williams' meltdown and talked to the woman who beat her.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK MCKAY, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Just when we thought this U.S. Open couldn't get any more bizarre, it did Saturday night. As a half-full Arthur Ash Stadium crowd were left stunned by the circumstances that saw Kim Clijsters go through to Sunday's final and the defending singles champion Serena Williams go out for earning a point penalty on match point for arguing a foot fault call.
SERENA WILLIAMS, TENNIS CHAMPION: All year, I don't get -- I've never been foot faulted and then suddenly in this tournament, they keep calling foot faults on me. I'm not saying I don't, but, like, I don't know. I'm not going to sit here and make an excuse. If I foot fault and I did. So it was what it was and that's basically all it was.
Well, I try to be really professional. I think Kim played a wonderful match and I think I played good too. I think I could have played better and I actually feel like I can go home and I can actually do better, which I'm really excited about. There's someone out there that makes me want to go home and makes me want to work out and makes me want to go run and do better. And I can't wait to do that.
MCKAY: Another chapter has been written in the comeback story of Kim Clijsters, I'm sorry, second career.
KIM CLIJSTERS, TENNIS CHAMPION: Yes.
MCKAY: Congratulations.
CLIJSTERS: Thank you.
MCKAY: Kim, could you have envisioned reaching the final of your first grand slam back, let alone under these circumstances?
CLIJSTERS: No, I just didn't expecting things to be going as well -- as for this year. I kind of planned to do well and get back into the whole rhythm of playing tennis again and being back at tournaments and then, hopefully I could start next year of playing some good tennis.
So things are a little bit ahead of schedule, but in a nice way. So that's good.
MCKAY: You looked as shell shocked as everyone else inside of Ash Stadium. You didn't know whether you should you celebrate or not.
CLIJSTERS: No. Definitely I remember just sitting there after the match and just sitting on my chair and it was like, oh like what happened out here tonight? And so it's just unfortunate that a match -- that was -- which was a fun match, I think, for both of us that it has to end like that.
But for me, personally, it doesn't take away how well that I played. So I still have a good feeling about this match.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right and she's definitely going to remember that match for many reasons.
And we're hearing from you today and getting some responses as to what exactly happened. And I've heard a lot of this -- let me go to my Facebook page because Laura Liles says, "Whoa, very disrespectful. She deserves a fine over this, maybe even a suspension."
And I've heard a few people say that
And quickly on Twitter, Annie Mason says, "Serena Williams lost it. She's a professional and should act like one."
HOLMES: And one there to right from my Twitter board as well, simply saying, "Williams' comments were on the edge of being criminal." Now I just heard that one a few folks again.
She said -- I mean -- in no uncertain turns but she was pretty certain when she said it in strong language, "I will shove this blanking ball down your blanking throat."
And pretty much the whole stadium, if you haven't been there, it's very intimate, quite frankly...
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: ...and it's quiet.
NGUYEN: And you can hear.
HOLMES: You can hear every word in there.
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
HOLMES: So it's not like there're no witnesses. But congratulations to Kim Clijsters, it's a wonderful story being lost.
NGUYEN: Yes.
HOLMES: She came back from having a child and took a year and a half off and now she's in the finals. A wonderful story is going to be lost there.
NGUYEN: Yes, well, good for her. And it's just unfortunate, I just think, that all of this happened. But it did and of course, I'm sure we'll be talking about it for a little while to come.
In the meantime, though.
HOLMES: Yes, coming up, a teenager's test of faith or decision to switch religions prompted a shocking reaction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: On today's "Faces of Faith:" a tearful runaway teen making a pretty stunning claim says her parents want to kill her for converting from Islam to Christianity.
But as CNN Susan Candiotti reports her family is telling a whole different story.
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: T.J., it may have started out as a family affair, but now the case of runaway teen Rifga Bary has turned into a religious and political tug-of-war.
Florida's Governor Charlie Crist has called the girl's safety his administration's -- and I'm quoting here -- "first and only priority." But a spokesman for Ohio's Governor, where the teen's family lives, says there's no reason to believe why the girl cannot be safe under Ohio's watchful eyes. So is Rifga Bary in danger?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) CANDIOTTI (voice-over): If there's one thing all agree on.
RIFGA BARY, CONVERTED TO CHRISTIANITY: And I'm fighting for my life. You guys don't understand. I -- you don't understand.
CANDIOTTI: It's that Ohio teen runaway Rifga Bary appears to be one frightened girl.
BARY: They have to kill me.
CANDIOTTI: She says her parents want to kill her for converting to Islam to Christianity.
(on camera): Your daughter says that at one point you held up a laptop and said, I'm going to kill you.
MOHAMED BARY, RIFGA'S FATHER: It's not at all true. It's not at all true. I have never hit my child.
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Rifga's parents say the 17-year-old first talked about being a Christian at age 14 to get babysitting jobs.
M. BARY: We did not fight over it. We just asked and then that's it.
CANDIOTTI: A couple of years later, Rifga joined Internet Christian Prayer Groups, including this one on Facebook run by a college missionary student.
BRIAN WILLIAMS, RIFGA'S FRIEND: She shared with me her testimony of how she became a Christian.
CANDIOTTI: Brian Williams says he sometimes met the teenager at a prayer group near Ohio State University and baptized her at her request. Williams says after Rifga's dad allegedly threatened her, she announced on Facebook she was running away.
Rifga's parents insist she's free to be a Christian. They say they even allowed their daughter to be a high school cheerleader, wearing short skirts and no head scarf.
An anti-Muslim extremist group, the Florida Security Council says Rifga's case deserves all the attention it can get.
TOM TRENTO, FLORIDA SECURITY COUNCIL: Publicity is a double- edged sword. On one sense, the story is getting out and more and more people are in this position and saying and she wants the story out.
So the positive benefits outweigh the negative possibilities of a sudden Jihad syndrome, Jihadi running around and trying to kill her.
CANDIOTTI: At the family's Ohio mosque, supporters insist they don't advocate honor killing and say it's not in the Kuran.
DR. ASMA MOBIN-UDDIN, NOOR OUTREACH COMMITTEE: I really fear that the long this goes on and the more hype and hoopla and things the more difficult it's going to be for her to reconcile with her family in the future.
M. BARY: I want to say to my daughter, I love you, I want you to come back home. It's safe for you. Nobody will harm you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI: A Florida juvenile court judge has sealed the long investigator report looking into the alleged threat. But instead of scheduling a trial that judge has instead ordered all sides to get together for a mediation to try to work things out -- T.J.
HOLMES: All right, what a piece there and a lot of people are very watching very closely.
NGUYEN: Oh yes, no doubt and you are just one minute away from another check at this morning's top stories.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: President Obama, you see there, back in Washington, D.C., after a quick trip to Minneapolis to push for health care reform. He tells CBS News that he, quote, "has no interest on reform legislation that does not work."
NGUYEN: Yes. And that comment was made to the network's "60 Minutes" which airs tonight. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, though, is expected to reveal a plan Wednesday from the so- called "gang of six."
Still the coolest open.
HOLMES: It is. We don't have that.
NGUYEN: We don't have anything near as cool as that, Carl. So what does that say?
CARL AZUZ, CNNSTUDENTNEWS: Best part of my segment.
HOLMES: No. It gets better.
Carl Azuz for CNNStudentNews: a big week for students last week and the president, actually.
AZUZ: It was indeed.
NGUYEN: Speaking directly to students.
HOLMES: Some of them saw it, some of them didn't.
NGUYEN: This is true.
AZUZ: We're going to cover all of it. And that's one of the things that we really wanted to get across to students was this is something that directly affects you. It's not just a presidential address to the American people. This is directly to the students.
And one of the ways we wanted to engage students was to kind of bring them in on it, to bring them in on the controversy. To explain that some folks had a problem with the White House's initial lesson plans; the Education Department later revising them.
We covered the concerns that some folks were afraid the president would address policy. And so we bring students in on why this is controversial. And then we threw it back to them on our blog and on Facebook to say, "Hey, what do you guys think of all this?"
NGUYEN: One of the big controversies surrounding that whole speech was the fact that a lot of parents and a lot of people thought, well, it is going to be a policy, so maybe I want to keep my kids at home. The question to you is how many students actually saw the speech.
AZUZ: Good question and we checked on our poll, it's not scientific, but we put a quick poll on our blog at cnnstudentnews.com.
And you can see from the numbers here that most of them did watch the speech or did plan to watch the speech. The poll indicated that 62 percent saw it. Actually I think that number's a little off -- it should be 62 percent, but those who didn't were 38 percent. So we did have a majority see the speech.
And they had some interesting things to say about it on Facebook. I saw one student's comments, she said, "There's some policies the president has I don't agree with, but how am I going to know unless I see this speech?"
Another student said he was planning to skip school on the day of the speech.
And a third student saying, "If you're going to skip school when the president speaks on education, you should probably be in school listening to the president speak on education."
HOLMES: That's a very good point. I know this is mainly -- a lot of older kids maybe know, but does it seem from what you saw on Facebook and all that stuff that you got, that kids were even aware that the grown folks were that much at odds about the speech?
AZUZ: They were when the actual speech took place and he did address, exclusively, education, the dropout crisis in America, then a lot of them kind of pulled away saying, well, what was the basis for the controversy? It didn't seem to be that he addressed policy in a way some were concerned.
But one of the ways in which we help teachers and help some of you parents out there speak about the news with your student is through our media literacy question of the day. That's a new thing we're doing this year. And this particular question was, why do you think that a president would want to make a direct address to students? What do you think this type of speech might generate positive and negative reaction? And one of the things we're trying to do with this is just to try to bring them in on not only why something's in the news, but how it's approached, why it's important to students, and help them converse about it at home and in the classroom.
NGUYEN: Yes. It's all about the educational process.
AZUZ: Yes, ma'am. It certainly is.
NGUYEN: Well, it's good to have you back. Good to see you. Schools back in session and you're going to be with us every Sunday.
AZUZ: I hope so.
NGUYEN: Yes. Well, so far, so good, right.
AZUZ: As long as you're in trouble, you'll be stuck with me.
NGUYEN: All right, Carl. Thank you so much. See you next weekend.
HOLMES: Carl, good to see you. Thank you Carl.
AZUZ: All right.
NGUYEN: In the meantime though, Galveston, Texas, let's talk about that. It has seen its share of hurricanes. But it is struggling to bounce back from Hurricane Ike, which, in fact, struck one year ago today.
I was there for the worst part of the storm and I just recently returned to see how the city's doing to rebuild.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, sunrise church services were held in Galveston, Texas this morning. In fact, some of them under way right now. And it was one year ago today that Hurricane Ike struck the city. I was in Texas when it hit and it left 75 percent of Galveston under seven feet of water.
But the island city is no stranger from direct hits from hurricanes. Listen to this. There's been Alicia, Karla, then the deadly hurricane of 1900 which killed 8,000 people and every single time Galveston has rebuilt.
So what about now? Well, I went back to find out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): At 2:10 in the morning on September 13th, 2008, Hurricane Ike roared into Galveston leaving the island under water and in splinters.
(on camera): We're taking a look at the debris, because the sun starting to come up. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The water line was up to here.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peter Davis.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Peter, how are you?
NGUYEN: Since Ike, Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas has lost residents, funding, and the city's only emergency room, but she has not lost her determination.
(on camera): So, mayor, it's been a year since Hurricane Ike. What's been the biggest challenge for you?
LYDA ANN THOMAS, MAYOR, GALVESTON,TEXAS: The biggest challenge, really, has been getting our citizens back on the island and getting our businesses open. But I'm very proud to say that after a year, approximately 65 percent of our businesses are now open.
Certainly on the seawall where we are, The Strand, our downtown historic district, it's a little slower coming back. They really rebuilt.
NGUYEN: Why is that?
THOMAS: Well, first of all, all the buildings are historic buildings and that's a historic district, so they have to be restored according to not only to our code, but also to the national historic codes. Plus, most of them did not have flood insurance.
NGUYEN (voice-over): Money, or the lack of it, seems to be what's now standing in the way of Galveston's recovery. Thomas says it will take an estimated $3.2 billion to rebuild the island city. To date, FEMA has paid $68 million, HUD, $269 million, and Thomas is counting on $28.5 million in stimulus money. But the island is coming back.
THOMAS: Our trauma center, which was a level one center, opened about two weeks ago. So we're very happy to have our emergency room back. It's important to know that our medical center and the Houston Medical Centers serve an entire region and also that our medical center here is the largest employer in the county and when it's shut down, they were really in trouble.
NGUYEN (on camera): Because at some point, you were having to send people who needed that emergency help to other hospitals.
THOMAS: Absolutely. We sent a lot of them to Houston or somewhere between here and Houston. And there was a layoff of about 2,500 people. They're rehiring now. We've got 300 beds open and we're looking forward to opening another 300 beds in the next three years.
NGUYEN (voice-over): Planning for the future while familiar with the city's past, Thomas is from one of Galveston's oldest families. Her grandfather also served as mayor. Ironic, because she's living proof history has a way of repeating itself. What's your hope for this city?
THOMAS: Well, first of all, that we don't have a storm right now, but we will. I always say, you know, it's not if, it's when.
My hope is that we continue to grow and recover and that we continue to be not only a destination for our tourists, who love our beaches, but certainly a destination for our medical complex and our research and the port of Galveston continues to grow. And it is growing and doing well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And to keep Galveston protected from future storms, plans are in the works, at least on the table to build a massive flood gate. It could take ten years and maybe cost several million dollars, but, again, it's just something up for discussion. As soon as we get more details on that, we'll bring it straight to you.
You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: In Afghanistan, of course, still a volatile situation going on there and oftentimes, civilians are the victims of some of the violence there. This is a country of 33 million people, and would you believe, there are only three neurosurgeons there.
NGUYEN: And you're about to meet a man striving to become the fourth. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the United States and Coalition Trauma Hospital in Kandahar. By far, most of the patients here are Afghan locals. U.S. Or coalition troops only account for about 25 percent of the patients.
(on camera): They can get a lot of blood in very quickly, which is exactly what he needs. These machines are pressing the blood and pushing it through as fast as they can. Once they are stabilized, U.S. troops who need more care are sent to Germany or even home.
But I wondered why are there so many civilians here and what happens to them? Where are they sent?
I found my answers just a short distance away. This is the Kandahar regional medical hospital and there's something happening in here that's different than other hospitals. Let's take a look.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's the -- good, you have the kidney there and the liver just to the left of it.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Mohammad Shaheeb (ph). He's 28 and came from the north. Like the other Afghan doctors, they came here to improve their skills; their mentors, U.S. Soldiers. They invited me along to see firsthand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On his head. We want to change the ventilator.
GUPTA (on camera): This is a good example of the type of operation they do here. I don't know if you can see this, but this is a fracture of the bone here. You can see obvious shrapnel from bullet fragments.
(voice-over): It's a tricky cultural intersection. Different languages, translators everywhere. Bare feet and flip flops are not normally seen in a U.S. hospital, yet with the focus on saving lives, everyone patiently makes it work.
But making hospital rounds, of course, is one thing. The true life or death challenge is here in the operating room. Air Force Captain Ryan McHugh (ph), an anesthesiologist, showed me.
CAPT. RYAN MCHUGH, ANESTHESIOLOGIST: I wanted to make sure that the (INAUDIBLE) correctly as far as the machine is ready to go. It's very important after the tube is through that we listen to his chest.
GUPTA: A textbook in the operating room.
MCHUGH: And here you'll be putting the intubating way (ph) here.
GUPTA: Talk about learning on the job. Now it's time for the Afghan doctor to put in a breathing tube in his very first patient.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you see? Do you have a good view?
GUPTA: Success this time around, but one of the problems is, there's simply not enough doctors here in Afghanistan and that makes the average life expectancy of 45 no surprise.
For example, there's only three neurosurgeons for a country of 33 million people. As for Dr. Mohammad Shaheeb, he's here in part because he's seen so many head wounds in his country. He's here because he hopes to be the fourth neurosurgeon in Afghanistan.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Kandahar, Afghanistan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And we are just minutes away now from "STATE OF THE UNION" with John King.
NGUYEN: Yes, we are.
In the meantime, though, let's get you up to date on the latest top stories. Two roadside bombings in Afghanistan have left four Americans dead. Earlier, the U.S. military said five troops were killed. They have now corrected that number. After one of the attacks, Taliban militants ambushed U.S. Forces in western Afghanistan Farah Province and the U.S. and Afghan officials say dozens of militants were killed. President Obama tells CBS that he has, quoting here, "no interest," end quote, on health care reform that does not get the job done; those comments coming tonight on the network's "60 Minutes" program. The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee is expected to reveal a compromise reform plan on Wednesday.
And quickly want to tell you about this. An autopsy will be performed today on Christopher Kelly, who's a close aide and fund- raiser for former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. He was found dead yesterday. Kelly was, indeed, supposed to report to federal prison on Friday to serve a three-year term for pleading guilty to tax fraud charges.
There is much more news coming up at the top of the hour with "STATE OF THE UNION" and our very own John King.
