Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Attack on Remote Afghan Outpost Kills 8 U.S. Troops; Indonesia Aid Workers Cling to Hope; Typhoon Parma Kills 16 in Philippines; Seniors Wary of Obama Health-Care Reform Plans; 70-Year-Old Uses Running to Keep Alcohol Addiction at Bay; Chicago Teen's Beating Death Sparks Call to Stop Youth Violence
Aired October 04, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everybody. Welcome to CNN SUNDAY MORNING, joining us live here from CNN Center in Atlanta.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Mm-hmm.
NGUYEN: It is October 4, a chilly morning out there for many of us.
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: Good morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And hey there, I'm T.J. Holmes. Six a.m. in Atlanta, where we sit; 5 a.m. in Wichita, Kansas; 3 a.m. in San Bernardino, where they got a mess going out there right now.
It sounds innocent enough, the Sheep Fire. But you can - you can tell, there ain't no sheep there.
NGUYEN: Mm-mmm.
HOLMES: Fifty homes have been evacuated at least. Three that we know of have been destroyed. This started yesterday afternoon. This is going, again, in San Bernardino just outside of Los Angeles. We'll get an update on the efforts out there to put this thing out.
NGUYEN: All right. Now, this is quite a story: An earthquake hit Indonesia on Wednesday, a powerful one, 7.6 magnitude, all right? So you've got buildings that have crumbled, people being trapped underneath. A CNN photojournalist was able to talk a man still trapped under the rubble.
Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. Hi, where are you from?
JOHN LEE, TRAPPED IN RUBBLE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Singapore.
LEE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name, sir?
LEE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Lee (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: You see that? All you can see in that shot right there is his hand. He was able to get a little bit of water to sustain him, but he's been trapped for days. His legs are trapped as well. They are working feverishly to get him out.
We have the exclusive story coming up.
HOLMES: But right now we want to give you a look at some of our top stories, including this one out of Afghanistan overnight.
NGUYEN: Yes, eight U.S. service members and two Afghan soldiers have been killed in fighting in eastern Afghanistan. Militants attacked two security outposts northeast of Kabul, and military officials say that the U.S. and Afghan forces repelled the attack, inflicting heavy casualties on the enemy.
HOLMES: Also, news out of Iran, where the United Nations inspectors will visit Iran's recently disclosed nuclear facility on October the 25th. The head of the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, made that announcement just a little while ago in Tehran. You see him there in the middle of the screen there - there, a little to the left now.
He says it is necessary to send inspectors to ensure the facility is for - quote - "peaceful purposes."
NGUYEN: Well, we are hearing that Maya Angelou was rushed to the hospital overnight. TMZ.com says the 81-year-old poet was in Los Angeles to attend the BraveHeart Awards, where she was to be honored. And there are very few details at this hour, but we are following the story and we will bring you the latest.
HOLMES: We will turn now back to the story out of Afghanistan, the deaths of eight Americans there. This comes as President Obama considers whether to send more U.S. troops there.
We want to get the details now, the latest on what happened. Our Atia Abawi is in Kabul for us.
Atia, tell us what happened here that resulted in these eight Americans being killed.
ATIA ABAWI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it started yesterday, T.J., Saturday morning, an attack came in in a village in Nuristan province. That's in eastern Afghanistan.
They - the Taliban, the insurgency in that area attacked two outposts. These two outposts were joint outposts by the ANA, the Afghan National Army, and the U.S. troops stationed there. In the end, eight U.S. troops were killed and two Afghan soldiers killed through a complex attack. That includes rockets, small-arms fire.
But when we spoke to the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, they're telling us that they also inflicted a lot of damage when it - to - to the insurgency there. In fact - quote - saying, that "they paid a heavy price" for their attack on those outposts - T.J.
HOLMES: And Atia, again, why, I guess, are insurgents going after, I guess, U.S. forces, in these outposts in particular. What do we think the point was for these insurgents?
ABAWI: Well, the point of any attack when it comes to the militants - what's clear right now is that they're trying to scare off the coalition forces. They want them to believe that they're here to stay, that they're not going anywhere. They want to wait them out.
And they want the public back home in America, whether it's America, whether it's Britain, whether it's Germany, to have their population at home saying that they want their troops to come back home.
Right now, if you really look at the forces, there's around over 300 forces when you combine coalition and Afghan forces in the country. And when you really look at the Taliban forces, they have approximately 20,000 forces. So their tactic right now is to wait out the coalition troops, because they do feel like other invaders, as they call them, that they will eventually leave if they feel that they are not making any progress - T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Atia Abawi, thank you so much. We know we'll be checking in with you again. Thank you so much this morning.
NGUYEN: Also this morning, we are following the aftermath of three separate disasters in southern Asia.
So we want to begin this morning's roundup in Indonesia. Search crews admit that time and hope both running out for hundreds of people still missing from this week's devastating earthquakes. More than 600 people are confirmed dead.
In the northern Philippines, local media reporting that Typhoon Parma has triggered a deadly landslide. At least 12 people reported dead there. It comes on the heels of an earlier typhoon that killed more than 240 people.
And in the Samoan islands, hundreds of American aid workers are helping dig out from last week's deadly tsunami. More than 165 people were killed in that.
HOLMES: Let's turn to Indonesia now, where families are remembering their loved ones killed in those devastating earthquakes. Memorial services began this morning for more than 600 people who died. Also praying for victims who could be buried alive still beneath that rubble.
Our Dan Rivers has a look at the search-and-rescue operations there in Padang.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAN RIVERS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The city of Padang is peppered with destroyed buildings. Some, like this, collapsed like a house of cards. Some remain standing but severely damaged and structurally unsound. The city's main hospital is also badly affected.
But much of the city somehow escaped the worst of Wednesday's magnitude-7.6 quake.
(on camera): From the air, you get a real sense for how patchy the damage is. There are large areas which are relatively intact, but then you come across the odd building that has been completely destroyed.
(voice-over): Like one of the city's main hotels, the Ambacang. It's feared many dozens of people may have died here.
On the ground at the hotel, a frantic operation to find survivors.
PRIYODI KARDONO, NATIONAL AGENCY FOR DISASTER MANAGEMENT: The rescue now is still going on, but not many are (ph) - founded many bodies - dead - a dead body. Still in there, Hatarmajong (ph), we - we still are thinking that there is a lot - there's a lot of people missing there.
RIVERS: The operation is continuing around the clock, blowtorches being used to cut through the tangle of metal.
A specialist search-and-rescue team from Switzerland is here, using sniffer dogs to check for signs of life. But so far, it's not looking good.
(on camera): How possible is it that there are still people alive after this amount of time?
STEFAN CHRISTEN, SWISS RESCUE TEAM: Well, there are example that other people survived quite a long time in other earthquakes. In Isma (ph), Turkey, we had a lady which was surviving over 100 hours trapped in a building. So the hope is still here.
RIVERS (voice-over): Elsewhere though, many people are coping on their own. Away from the city, there is little in the way of help. And for many, little in the way of hope.
Dan Rivers, CNN, Padang, Indonesia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, now we want to take a look now at this CNN exclusive. This is of a search-and-rescue that did have a happy ending. This is from John Lee. This is a man out of Singapore who was trapped beneath the rubble in Indonesia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hello. Hi, where are you from?
LEE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Singapore.
LEE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name, sir?
LEE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Lee (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, John Lee - you hear it in there. He had been at a meeting at a five-story hotel when it came down. And as you can see there, it came down on him. You can only hear his voice. He is behind that rubble.
Mark Phillips (ph) is one of our photojournalists who was actually talking to him while he was trapped and even helped him call his daughters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And there he is; that was the - the voice - that's the face, I guess, of the voice that we heard behind the rubble. This was in Singapore. He was reunited with his family. Lee had been trapped in that rubble for some 30 hours. Only a few broke toes, actually.
NGUYEN: Wow.
HOLMES: Another man who had been with him when that hotel collapsed actually died. So a happy ending. Just lucky, I guess, quite frankly, just where the - the brick fall sometimes and - that he wasn't (INAUDIBLE).
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Yes, sometimes they can create a little bit of an air pocket, a little pocket for you to survive just the massive amount of construction that's on top of you. Five stories though...
HOLMES: Wow.
NGUYEN: ...and to be trapped for 30 hours and only have just a few broken toes, that's a lucky man.
HOLMES: That is a very lucky guy. I mean, just the - that's amazing think, and so many others did not make it out of there.
NGUYEN: I know.
HOLMES: So that's pretty (INAUDIBLE)
NGUYEN: And a lot of them still digging and searching for survivors right now.
Let's get the latest on the weather situation in the Philippines, actually. We're going to talk about that because they were getting pummeled yesterday by a typhoon.
What's the situation now, Reynolds?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: The situation right now is getting a little bit better for them. But, I mean, at the same time, it's still kind of weird.
Let me show you what I'm talking about. The latest we have with the storm, Typhoon Parma, it is moving to the north. It has weakened considerably; winds right now only at 75 miles an hour, gusting, however, to 90.
But the thing that's really bizarre about this, the storm, the latest forecast models we have, show very little movement. Yes, it's going to continue to rotate. But take a look at this; I have - I have not edited this one bit. I want you to see this exactly as the computer spits this out.
You'll notice that as the storm makes its way just north of Luzon and then out into the open sea, it is really - kind of clusters together over the next of days. You see jumbled up in this mess, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. It's not expected to move much at all. That frontal boundary that we were expecting to move right off the China coast to push this thing deeper into the Pacific is expected to remain stationary, so this storm may just stay put.
That's really not what we wanted to see. We'd love to see this thing move deeper into the Pacific, out of harm's way. Right now, it is expected to weaken. But we'd love for it die out. We'll have to watch it very carefully.
(WEATHER REPORT)
NGUYEN: OK, so the White House takes its health-care-reform message directly to those who need health care the most. But are they believers now? That's the question.
HOLMES: Yes, speaking health-care reform there, a lot of people think we should be focused as well on education reform.
NGUYEN: Mm-hmm.
HOLMES: And right here, in Atlanta, a man saying he has the key to changing (ph) education in this country and possibly changing the world by producing students who actually like being in school.
The story coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) NGUYEN: Well, as Congress wrestles over health-care reform, polls show older Americans are among the least likely to back the president's vision for reform.
HOLMES: And last month, the vice president visited a retirement community in suburban Washington to try to reassure the seniors there.
Well, our Kate Bolduan went back to that community to talk about their concerns now.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At 63, Phil Marks is healthy. But he's had his share of health problems, with quadruple- bypass surgery in 2000. Marks, like most senior citizens, has Medicare insurance.
(on camera): In general, are you happy with your care?
PHIL MARKS, MEDICARE PATIENT: Satisfied.
(CROSSTALK)
MARKS: Satisfied. I don't know that I would use the word "happy."
BOLDUAN (voice-over): Living at Maryland's Leisure World, a community for seniors, these seniors say they're watching the health- care debate very closely.
MARKS: In terms of the debate, every - everybody has an oar in the water on this.
BOLDUAN: The 65-and-over population is a strong and active voting bloc, one that overall remains skeptical of President Obama's health-care proposals. Concerns include fear of an increase of the cost of care, decrease in quality and possibly a cut in Medicare benefits.
MARKS: And I'm concerned about my kids and my grandchildren and their ability to get real - good health care at a reasonable price.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think my greatest concern at the present moment is that the insurance companies are driving your medical care.
BOLDUAN: Seventy-year-old Phyllis Ross (ph) supports the administration's reform plans and wants health insurance for every American. She was among the crowd when Vice President Biden visited Leisure World last month as part of a White House effort to push back against what Democrats call "scare tactics from the right."
JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Nobody is going to mess with your benefits. No one. All we do is make it better for people on Medicare.
BOLDUAN: While this group agrees some reform is needed, speeches may not be enough to win them over.
(on camera): What do you need to hear from the administration to make you comfortable with the health-care reform?
BOB STROMBERG, MEDICARE PATIENT: Specifics. They - they really are pretty vague about what's going to happen.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): At 84 years old, Bob Stromberg says at least he and his wife, Joy (ph), would consider higher payments to help foot the bill.
STROMBERG: We're willing to give up something. And I think many seniors are. Not - but not too much. Not too much.
BOLDUAN (on camera): Evidence the administration has more hard work ahead: According to a recent CNN-Opinion Research Corporation poll, a majority, 54 percent, of Americans over the age of 65 oppose President Obama's reform plan.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: Oh, with a shiny teeth and a - and a guitar (INAUDIBLE)
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: Guys, time for "Weekend Events." I mean, last couple of cartoons...
NGUYEN: Can't wait.
WOLF: ...wanted (ph) to let you know.
We're going to get things started right now. We've got the avocado...
NGUYEN: Yes, you're knocking things down. That's fine.
WOLF: What was that?
WOLF: Yes, you've got the avocado event that's taking place out in Carpinteria, California. That's a great thing.
Also, at the same time, we've got the National Storytelling Festival. That is in Jonesboro, Tennessee.
But one thing really to pinpoint for a moment is the Burlesque Festival taking place in New York. And tonight...
NGUYEN: Oh wow.
WOLF: ...at 7 p.m. they're going to be handing out something called the 2009 Golden Pasty Awards.
NGUYEN: Oh my goodness. WOLF: A couple of categories to discuss here: "Most Sensual Performer," "Biggest Hair" - not biggest posterior, but "Biggest Hair" - and "Performer with a Positively Perfect Posterior."
So biggest hair...
NGUYEN: It's so funny how you did so much research and background on that...
HOLMES: Yes.
NGUYEN: ...particular festival and not, say, the Tarantula Festival, which is taking place.
WOLF: Yes, we - we all have to pick and choose that stuff.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: You know, we all have our - our things that we have to...
NGUYEN: You only have so much in the day, right?
WOLF: Absolutely. Yes, we don't have enough time to - but hey, we always have time for food, always the time for a barbecue.
NGUYEN: This is true.
WOLF: Yes, take a look at this: the American Royal Barbecue, that's taking place in Kansas City, that is a tremendous event where you have nearly 500 teams, 500 competing in four culinary contests.
The Royal is the largest barbecue contest on the planet. Events include from, say, the Midwest, the largest and oldest livestock expeditions, which is always a good time, professional rodeos, prestigious horse shows. Also, the national championship, saddle-bred horse competition. Just beautiful, elegant horses, great food and - got to love this food.
(CROSSTALK)
NGUYEN: Look at that.
HOLMES: Oh, that looks good.
(CROSSTALK)
WOLF: I'm telling you, that is, like, nature's perfume. It's just unbelievable.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: I'm serious, you know? Just a - just a great thing. A little dab of - of that smoke, that little grit, whatever it is, behind the ears.
NGUYEN: You just want to bottle that up, don't you? WOLF: Oh, it's just a beautiful thing. Absolutely.
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: But good times there. Just a - a snapshot of things happening around the week - you know, around the nation this weekend from avocadoes to burlesque to barbecue.
NGUYEN: Hey.
WOLF: And why can't we throw them all together?
NGUYEN: Why can't we just do it all?
WOLF: Why, Betty? Why?
NGUYEN: I know. I know. Hey, you only live once, right?
WOLF: Absolutely.
NGUYEN: OK.
WOLF: There you go.
NGUYEN: Thanks, Reynolds.
HOLMES: We'll check in with you again on some weather, all right?
(LAUGHTER)
NGUYEN: Yes.
In the meantime though, there is another event to add to Reynolds' list: a marathon in Minneapolis this weekend. And for one runner, it does have some special meaning.
HOLMES: Yes, Josh Levs looking into that for us this morning.
Good morning to you, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hey, good morning to you guys.
He has completed a whopping number of marathons. And today's event shows how running helped overcome a dangerous addiction.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
LEVS: One thing I try to look out for for you on the weekends is the best stories we're getting from our CNN affiliates.
And today, we have a really great story for you. It comes to us from Minneapolis. It's about a 70-year-old man who will be running 26 miles today and marking 26 years of sobriety.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Ed Rousseau is an addict. In 30 years of running, he's finished 86 marathons, 76 ultra-marathons.
In his south Minneapolis marathon...
ED ROUSSEAU, RUNNER: Now there's every Twin City Marathon medallion up there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ...a shrine to his running career.
ROUSSEAU: My first pair of running shorts. And we did wear those babies out before I got a second pair.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fast Eddie's (ph) longest race? Three-hundred and eighty-four miles over six days.
ROUSSEAU: You want to see ugly, there's a - there's a picture after about 80 miles at 2:00 in the morning.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But better this addiction, Ed says, than the one he started out with.
ROUSSEAU: I knew that - that alcohol is a problem for me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of all his ribbons, trophies and medals, Ed's sobriety medallion means the most.
ROUSSEAU: Without it, I may not be here.
BILL WENMARK, FRIEND: He wouldn't be here today if he hadn't found running and discovered that - even though he was 40 years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Bill Wenmark is a friend and fellow runner.
WENMARK: And every day he gets up, the addiction is still there. He knows that. What does he fill that addiction with? Goes for a run.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ed didn't start running till he was 40.
ROUSSEAU: I found out in a hurry that I couldn't go very far before somebody put the big woolen mitten in my mouth and I couldn't get air through it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This Sunday, he'll run his 163rd marathon.
(on camera): Do you still get nervous?
ROUSSEAU: No, it's - it's - it's always there. You go through the training, and then you wonder what's going to fall apart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): Twenty-six miles in the very same week he celebrates 26 years of sobriety.
WENMARK: You come to a split in the road of your life, and you have a choice. Ed said, 'I want to take this road.'
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At 70, Ed is still on that road, and hopes to stay on, one day at a time, one race at a time, for the rest of his life.
ROUSSEAU: I've got a vision: At 92, I will finish my 50th consecutive Twin City Marathon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (on camera): So that's what you're aiming for?
ROUSSEAU: Well, and - and beyond, you know? That'll - that would be a launching pad to the next - next one.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: And our thanks to KARE for that.
If you want to see that and other affiliate stories, one easy place to go, CNN.com/US. We bring together some of the best stories from our affiliates each and every day. We update this all the time.
And I encourage you to check it out. We always have a lot of great working coming into us from our affiliates.
Betty and T.J., really nice to see something like that on a Sunday morning, inspirational story for us all.
NGUYEN: Yes, absolutely. We love that.
OK, any morning, we'll take it. Thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
HOLMES: Well, the president he was focusing on the Olympics a bit over the past few days. This week, no fun and games - no games at all.
NGUYEN: Yes.
(LAUGHTER)
HOLMES: We're talking about nailing down a plan...
NGUYEN: Unfortunately (ph).
HOLMES: ...on Afghanistan now.
NGUYEN: Oh yes, we are.
He's also addressing youth violence in Chicago, where another teen was buried just yesterday.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, hello again, everybody. Welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Yes, good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen.
All right. Let's get to our top stories, shall we? Militants - we want to talk about this -- attacked two outposts in Afghanistan, killing eight U.S. service members and two Afghan soldiers. That attack was in Nuristan province, which is just northeast of Kabul. It was the largest number of Americans killed by a hostile action in a single day since July 13 of last year.
HOLMES: And take a look here now, that's the Chinese premier arriving in North Korea for a three-day visit to that reclusive nation. The two will discuss foreign relations, of course. And Premier Wen will attend events celebrating the 60th anniversary of official diplomatic relations between the two countries.
NGUYEN: Well, Americans are rallying to help tsunami victims in the South Pacific, especially those in the U.S. territory of American Samoa. In San Francisco, groups shipped out their first load of donated goods yesterday. More than 300 workers from U.S. agencies are on the ground in the Samoan islands, where more than 165 people died this past week.
HOLMES: Well, a funeral for a Chicago teenager beaten to death outside his school became a rallying cry for parents desperate to find ways to stop the violence there.
Evelyn Holmes, from our affiliate WLS, has this story for us now from Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EVELYN HOLMES, REPORTER, WLS NEWS: They quietly filed in to the funeral of Derrian Albert to honor his life and call for the violence, that abruptly claimed him, to stop.
EMERALD DUKES, MOURNER: There's a lot of people I know that are dead. A lot of people (INAUDIBLE) they're just dead.
E. HOLMES: It was standing room only at this morning service outside of the Greater Mt. Hebron Church, which not only drew civil rights leader the Reverend Jesse Jackson and the Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, but others who called for an end to youth violence. Pamela Bosley lost her son to gun violence last year.
PAMELA BOSLEY, MOTHER OF VICTIM OF GUN VIOLENCE: I have not been to a child's funeral since my baby. And this was the hardest thing to see another baby lying in a casket.
ANNETTE HOLT, ANTI-VIOLENCE ADVOCATE: Get in here and do something. I don't want to hear another thing about the Olympics. I don't care about the Olympics anymore. I mean, we lost it any way. Get in here and change this city. Make it safe for us to walk down the street every day.
E. HOLMES: Other figures and Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Wiesse (ph) were also among the mourners inside the church, where video screens scrolled through pictures of Derrion as a baby, and with his family; and also, showed photos of his academic awards. Some paid tribute to the teen by wearing T-shirts with his picture, that read, "We will always remember you." While others wonder when the violence would end.
REV. ST. JOHN CHISUM, PASTORS OF ENGLEWOOD: With faith in God, things can get better, but you have to go for what is right.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SUNDAY MORNING: Well, you know, it is a government program that is supposed to help get banks to lend money and put people into tens of thousands of vacant homes.
HOLMES: Yes, but four months into it now, the results are mixed at best. We talked to one woman about how this program is working for her, though.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Mary J. Blige for you this morning. And, hey, we need to celebrate because Obamas are having their 17th wedding anniversary. The first anniversary, wedding anniversary, in the White House. Kept it simple. There were no planes, no escorts, no nothing like that. They had dinner at a place called the Blue Duck Tavern in Washington, it's near Georgetown, actually. And just, you know, in case you were wanting to know the exact date, the Obamas were married October 3, 1992 at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
HOLMES: Not like the last -the last wasn't an anniversary. It was a date night.
NGUYEN: No, it was a date night.
HOLMES: It was in New York, which got a lot of press for it.
NGUYEN: Got a lot of flak, too.
HOLMES: Turned the town out there, for a Broadway show. But kept it low key for this anniversary. So, congratulations.
NGUYEN: Yes, congratulations.
HOLMES: Making it 17 years. That's a big deal these days, right?
NGUYEN: That is a huge deal these days.
HOLMES: Congratulations to them for that.
NGUYEN: We want to talk a little bit about the weather now. Because some people may be celebrating the fact that - I don't know, fall is on its way, because it feels like it.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it just came down like a sack of hammers. It seems like summer was 15, 20 minutes ago. Now all of a sudden, the weather machine is coming along and we have snow in the forecast. We have heavy rainfall. Colors are popping up in parts of the Northeast. It's just a crazy morning for you.
Right now, we have an interesting live shot for you out of Manchester, New Hampshire. Let me show you a live image. Here's how it looks. Kind of bright. We're expecting kind of a nice day. A few scattered clouds in the area. Maybe a bit of rain, but much of the rain is pushed off toward the east.
In Manchester, I'll tell you, and some areas a bit to the north. You'll be seeing some beautiful fall colors but high above the big colors will be gray. Gray skies, you can expect through much of the Northeast.
(WEATHER REPORT)
WOLF: Speaking of water, I had a chance to go to the Georgia Aquarium and swim with some sharks just yesterday. They have a brand new exhibit there, at the Georgia Aquarium. A next weekend we are going to give you a sneak preview of this incredible shark exhibit. You're seeing some of the footage here where just on Friday I almost became shark food. That's right, swimming with whale sharks. You see some hammer heads there in the center of the screen and manta ray mixed in there, too. Good times. Guys, if you ever have the opportunity. I'm telling you, you need to hop over there and take full advantage. It is certainly an amazing, amazing thing to do.
NGUYEN: That is so cool. I don't know if that's enough insurance around here for all of us on the team to go shark diving.
WOLF: Exactly.
HOLMES: You go first.
NGUYEN: Exactly.
HOLMES: You guys go first.
NGUYEN: We'll send T.J. in to make sure all is well. All right. Thank you, Reynolds, we are looking forward to that.
WOLF: You bet guys.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arnie Duncan are going to Chicago this week. And the White House says they will meet with school officials, students, and residents to talk about school violence.
HOLMES: CNN Political Editor Mark Preston has a preview of the week ahead in politics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR (on camera): Good morning, Betty, T.J.
President Obama is probably still smarting over Chicago's loss of the 2016 summer games. But more pressing issues do face this president. That make Copenhagen a distant memory.
Afghanistan, health reform, the economy, a even a spike in new violence in his adopted hometown of Chicago are all major challenges that face President Obama.
The president continues his meetings this week with top military advisors as he considers whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
Key administration officials continue to keep a close eye on Congress which is entering a critical stage in the battle of health care reform.
And on Wednesday, two Cabinet officials will be dispatched to Chicago to address the growing problem of youth violence in that city. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arnie Duncan will appear at the school that was attended by a 16-year-old honor student recently beaten to death by fellow teenagers.
As for politics, we're now in the one-month window of the 2009 elections. Yes, there are elections this year. Critical contests in New Jersey and Virginia, where Republicans have a shot of winning back two governorships that are currently controlled by Democrats. A loss of even one of these seats by the Democrats will be portrayed by some as proof that voters are not supportive of President Obama or the Democratic Party's stewardship of the nation.
But in just a few hours, politics will be shelved for a short time as leaders of the legal community, Congress, and some members of the Supreme Court attend the Red Mass being held at St. Matthews the Apostle here in the nation's capital. The annual mass that celebrates the legal profession will be held the day before the Supreme Court begins its new term with the newest member, Justice Sonya Sotomayor.
Betty, T.J.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right.
And a small Illinois town that lands on the national radar demanding accountability from police.
HOLMES: This happens after an unarmed black man was shot and killed by two white police officers. The NAACP is involved in demanding now some nationalized standards for all police officers. We'll have a live interview coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Four months ago, we profiled a government plan to ease the housing crisis. But since then it's come under some heavy criticism.
NGUYEN: Yes, it has. Hundreds of families are still waiting for help. The money, still there, but patience is running out. Our Ed Lavandera has today's "Money & Main Street" report. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LISA LOCASCIO , HOME BUYER: Super duper. Thank you.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Finally, Lisa Locascio has the key to a new home, the first she's ever owned.
(On camera): When's the house warming party?
LOCASCIO: Right now.
LAVANDERA (voice over): But reaching this moment has been a test of endurance. She bought the house with the help of the federal government's Neighbor Stabilization Program, or NSP, which has $6 billion to help people buy foreclosed or abandoned homes in 250 cities nationwide. But most of the money has not been spent yet and how it's distributed varies from state to state. But in Phoenix, Arizona, the goal is to help 900 home buyers. But six months into the program, Lisa is just the third person to close on a home.
(On camera): So what's it been like?
LOCASCIO: It's been rough. It's been a long process.
LAVANDERA: Tired?
LOCASCIO: No, I was more annoyed.
LAVANDERA: Since June we tracked Lisa's progress through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. One of the NSP programs offers prospective homebuyers up to $15,000 to cover down payment and closing costs. The idea was also to help banks get foreclosed homes off of their books and keep neighborhoods from deteriorating in value.
LANCE CONNOLLY, REAL ESTATE AGENT: $15,000 back.
LAVANDERA: But Lisa's real estate agent Lance Connolly doesn't think banks got the memo.
(On camera): Did you find that banks were willing or eager to deal with you?
CONNOLLY: No. No, pretty much every bank except for Fannie Mae was pretty much unreceptive to the program whatsoever.
LAVANERA (voice over): The Housing Department official in charge of dishing out the money here in Phoenix, Maria Bears, says people like Lisa Locascio are competing with real estate investors. They offer the banks cash, usually at a lower price. Locascio bid on nearly 30 homes before striking a deal.
(On camera): But you still think this is money well spent?
MARIA BEARS, PHOENIX DEPUTY HOUSING DIRECTOR: I do. Any time you stabilize a neighborhood, that's the fabrics of our community. So, ghost towns don't do anybody any good at all. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING SPANISH)
LAVANDERA: Maria Bears is trying to build momentum. She helped organize this Spanish-language telethon to get the word out. City housing officials say there's reason to be optimistic about the plan. Another 72 families have been approved and are ready to start home shopping.
(On camera): Everyone here agrees this program is off to a slow start. But the Neighborhood Stabilization Program won't last forever. The clock is ticking. It's set to expire towards the end of next year. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And four more stories of people thriving in a tough economy. Log on to cnn.com/Money&Mainstreet.
Well, Oprah Winfrey calls him a phenomenal man. But what makes Ron Clark such a hit with students? You're about to find out. And learn how one person can start a revolution that could change America's classrooms forever.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Back in the day, did you like school? Me neither. Most kids don't. But they are loving school at Ron Clark Academy. It's run by a man named, yes, Ron Clark. He's found a way to motivate middle school students like few before him have. His unconventional teaching methods are getting some amazing results. So much so, that even Oprah called him out on it. But what is it that makes his school so different? Look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (voice over): This isn't a music class, or choir. It's language arts class, yet these middle school students are singing about possessive nouns.
STUDENTS: I know what possessive means, if you want to know, it's so easy can't you see?
HOLMES: Singing a grammar lesson is just one of the non-traditional teaching methods you'll find in classrooms at Ron Clark Academy.
It's a lot different from the first classroom Ron Clark walked into in 15 years ago in North Carolina.
RON CLARK, FOUNDER, RON CLARK ACADEMY: This kid looked down and said, "Is you going to be our new teacher?" I was like, I guess, so.
HOLMES: He was only there because his mom convinced him to fill in as a substitute. He had a college degree but no teaching license and no desire to become a teacher. But that day changed his life and taught him a lesson that has shaped his teaching philosophy.
(STUDENTS SINGING)
CLARK: You can't teach the way that we used to teach kids. These kids have iPods and video games and movies, and all this stuff that's going on. And they're text messaging. You can't just bring kids in and have them to sit down and expect them to stare for an hour.
(STUDENTS SINGING)
HOLMES: Clark Academy is different. You notice that immediately upon walking in the front door and are greeted by a two-story electric blue slide.
It's not just for the kids. Every visitor to the school is required to get slide certified.
(STUDENTS SINGING)
HOLMES: Clark and Kim Bearden co-founded the private middle school in a rough Atlanta neighborhood in 2007. They kept it private so that they'd be free to experiment. Tuition to the school is about 18 grand a year. Just about all of the 100 or so students are on scholarships. And though there are only about 100 students enrolled Clark says his real mission is teaching teachers.
CLARK: When teachers come to our school they see color, life, and energy. They see students that are on fire, students that want to learn. Every kid sitting up, paying attention, the kids are raising their hands, and the teachers are just electric. We're using music and energy and its hands on; and there's art and color, and extremely high expectations.
All right, Troy, you have a test on that tomorrow. Practice for it.
(STUDENTS CHANTING)
HOLMES: After a visit to his school Clark hopes teachers will take what they learned and implement it in their own classrooms across the country, leading to what Clark calls a revolution in education.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When we sing the songs, it actually helps us to remember.
HOLMES: Even though education reform can seem like a big expensive and complex problem, Clark doesn't think the solution is big, expensive, or complex at all.
CLARK: People just need to listen to me.
(LAUGHTER)
I wish the government would just listen, and people would say, you know, he knows what he's talking about.
HOLMES: It's that simple.
CLARK: It's that simple. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let me hear ya'll.
CLARK: It's all involves with the state teacher. You can talk about the state government, you can talk about principals, superintendents. It all comes down to finding passionate people who want to teach. We have to give teachers more freedom, trust them more, and allow them to use their own creativity to fire up their students in the way that they know they need to do.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Love, ya'll. That is perfect, OK?
HOLMES: His results can be measured with enthusiasm you see in the hallways and classrooms. And on standardized test scores. His students posted major gains in practically every subject, and scored, in some cases, in the top 70, 80, 90 percentile compared to other students in the country. But perhaps on the biggest place his success shows is on the faces, and in the hearts and minds of these students.
CHI CHI UGWUH, STUDENT, RON CLARK ACADEMY: Our motto at the school is, like, "There's no room for fear." So, I've learned to put myself out there and just get what I give.
OSEI AVRIL, STUDENT, RON CLARK ACADEMY: Not only does it teach you how to be academically great, but it teaches you how to be a global citizen and a global leader.
(STUDENTS SINGING)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Had us dancing here.
HOLMES: People might recognize -- I didn't know -- this is why I got into the Miley Cyrus song.
NGUYEN: Oh, this is the reason? He's been playing the Miley Cyrus part in the USA song like constantly over the last few days.
HOLMES: I don't mind admitting that.
NGUYEN: It's a good song.
HOLMES: I love that song.
NGUYEN: Yes, it gets you happy. It's one of those kind of feel good song.
HOLMES: Feel good song. They made a song about health care reform based on the Miley Cyrus song. In the same vein they did with the --
NGUYEN: The T.I., "Whatever You Like."
HOLMES: "You Can Vote However You Like". You tell me, we've got it cued up?
NGUYEN: Yes, let's listen to the song. HOLMES: Let's listen to the song, right quick.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUDENTS SINGING: Welcome to the world of medicine, whoa, here we go again. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That's so fun!
HOLMES: So, they get to mix the health care -- it's a problem in the USA. These kids, it's obvious. You walk in the front door and the kids are like something like you never walk in any other school in your life.
NGUYEN: Just the excitement, the enthusiasm on their faces. When you walked in the door, we saw in that piece that you had to get slide certified.
HOLMES: You have to. That's a part of it.
NGUYEN: What's that about?
HOLMES: It's a part of their culture, just to set a tone. Every adult that goes in there. They don't care if President Obama walks in that school.
NGUYEN: You have to go down the slide?
HOLMES: They will tell him to go down the slide. And it dumps you right on the floor. It's not like you get caught down there or something. You dump on the floor. But the kids -- even -- you walk in and everybody hugs you. I put out my hand to shake someone's hand. They said, no, we hug here. That's the type of mentality they have there. And Ron Clark keeping it private. Something like that, you get sued if you try to hug a kid in a public school. Not necessarily. But he was trying to make a point there -- I have to keep this school private to do things the way I want to do them, to have the freedom that a lot of teachers, he believes, in public schools do not have. He's getting results at that school.
NGUYEN: I wonder, too, if because it is private and the classes aren't as large, there are only about 100 student there.
HOLMES: 100 students in the whole school.
NGUYEN: That they are able to get the one-on-one attention which allows them to, one, focus, two, be enthusiastic about going to school because you feel like you have that connection.
HOLMES: Getting that personal attention. Those kids - we talked $18,000 a year tuition.
NGUYEN: Right. That's a lot. HOLMES: Most of the kids are on scholarships. They are from all kinds of backgrounds. Rough neighborhoods. Most of the parents can't afford to pay that of course. They get scholarships. They go to six of seven continents by the time they're in seventh or eighth grade. I mean, big trips like that. These are just worldly kids and it shows that you can't use an excuse of where a kid comes from, the home life, or anything. You believe in a kid and invest in the kid. You have a teacher in there that's excited and get them enthused. And you can get results from that.
NGUYEN: It's a great lesson for teachers as well as to how to implement those classroom discussions in a way that kids can really be enthusiastic about it. Great story.
HOLMES: And Miley Cyrus will get anybody going, right?
NGUYEN: We'll be hearing more of that song on the show.
Stay with us, though, because from the CNN Center in Atlanta this, is CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Hello, everybody. It is October 4 and in many places today it feels like October, kind of chilly out there. We appreciate you joining us today. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: Hello there, I'm T.J. Holmes. It is 7 a.m., where we sit here in Atlanta, Georgia, 6:00 a.m. in Rockford, Illinois. We'll be talking about that town here in a second. Also 4:00 a.m. out in San Bernardino, California where they have news going on there as well.
In particular, Rockford, like I just mentioned, there was a black man, unarmed, he was killed there by two white police. This happened in front of students, kids who were at a day care at a church.
NGUYEN: Oh, wow.
HOLMES: So this is raising all kinds of questions. Investigations going on. We're going to be hearing from both sides this morning.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Also, do you remember that earthquake that hit Indonesia on Wednesday? It's a 7.6 magnitude, a very large earthquake. Many people are still trapped under that rubble.
We have exclusive video this morning of a Singapore man who had been trapped for some 30 hours under a five-story building. Our CNN cameraman was able to actually speak to him. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARK PHILLIPS, CNN PHOTOJOURNALIST: Hello?
JOHN LEE, SINGAPOREAN: Hi.
PHILLIPS: Where are you from?
LEE: Singapore.
PHILLIPS: Singapore?
LEE: Yes.
PHILLIPS: What's your name, sir?
LEE: John Lee.
PHILLIPS: John Lee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: So, find out if he was able to make it out from under that rubble. We know that part of his legs were trapped. But he was able to move his hands, and because of that, he was getting some water which helped keep him alive during those 30 hours. Again, that exclusive story coming up. You don't want to miss it.
But first, though, a quick look at some of the stories that we've been following overnight.
Eight U.S. service members and two Afghan soldiers have been killed in eastern Afghanistan. Militants attacked two security outposts northeast of Kabul. And our records show that this was the largest number of American combat deaths in a single day since July 13 of last year.
HOLMES: Well, to southern California now where 45 mile-an-hour winds have pushed a wildfire across the mountains and the canyons of San Bernardino County. Three homes have been destroyed; 50 others have been evacuated. They're under threat right now. Camp grounds and an R.V. park also have been cleared out. The fire, we're told, is only about 5 percent contained.
NGUYEN: We're also hearing that poet Maya Angelou was rushed to the hospital overnight. TMZ.com says the 81-year-old poet was in Los Angeles to attend the BraveHeart Awards where she was set to be honored. There are few details right now but we are following her condition. Bring you the latest just as soon as we get it.
HOLMES: Also, details now on those eight American deaths in Afghanistan. This happened in the Afghan-Pakistan border in the Nuristan province. Two security posts were attacked from militants pouring out of a mosque in a nearby village. The fighting said to be one of the fiercest of the eight-year war. The Taliban is claiming responsibility for this assault.
Earlier, we talked to our Atia Abawi who's there. She's our correspondent in Kabul about the Taliban's strategy here.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The point of any attack when it comes to the militants, what's clear right now is that they're trying to scare off the coalition forces. They want them to believe that they're here to stay, that they're not going anywhere. They want to wait them out.
And they want the public back home in America -- whether it's America, whether it's Britain, whether it's Germany, to have their population at home saying that they want their troops to come back home.
Right now, if you really look at the forces, there's around over 300 forces when you combine coalition and Afghan forces in the country. And when you really look at the Taliban forces, they have approximately 20,000 forces.
So, their tactic right now is to wait out the coalition troops because they do feel, like other invaders, as they call them, that they will eventually leave if they feel that they are not making any progress.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And again, this was the deadliest day for American troops in Afghanistan since July of last year.
NGUYEN: Well, this morning, we are following the aftermath of three separate disasters in southern Asia.
So let's begin this morning in Indonesia. Search crews admit that time and hope running out for hundreds of people still missing from this week's devastating earthquakes. More than 600 people confirmed dead.
In the northern Philippines, local media reporting that typhoon Parma has triggered a deadly landslide. At least 12 people reported dead there. And this comes on the heels of another typhoon that hit a little bit earlier. That typhoon killed 240 people just last week.
And in the Samoan Islands, hundreds of American aide workers are helping dig out from last week's deadly tsunami. More than 165 people were killed there.
HOLMES: Earlier this week, we told you a story of a man who was trapped inside the rubble of a collapsed hotel in Indonesia. As crews raced to free him, the man spoke to a CNN photojournalist and dealt with the possibility that he would not survive.
Today, we're glad to share a happy ending with you. We'll get the exclusive details now from CNN's Ralitsa Vassileva.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RALITSA VASSILEVA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): After a long wait, the joyous reunion -- a welcome hope for John Lee, a Singapore man who survived the deadly quakes in Indonesia.
The last time his family saw him was in television. They watched CNN cameraman Mark Phillips talk with John Lee who was still trap in the rubble, not knowing if he would make it out alive. He asked Mark to send messages to his family.
Back home, his family prayed for his safety and their prayers were answered. His wife thanked God for the miracle.
PHILLIPS: What's your name, sir?
LEE: John Lee.
PHILLIPS: John Lee.
VASSILEVA: John Lee was trapped for 30 hours in the rubble of a hotel destroyed by Wednesday's deadly earthquake in Sumatra. During the ordeal, he'd resigned himself to the thought he would never see his loved ones again.
LEE: I'm just doing my best to give myself awake because if I don't keep on exercise my leg, I think by now, my leg is gone, because the space is too small for me to turn around.
VASSILEVA: Lee still recalls the moment the 7.6 magnitude quake struck, entombing him in the rubble.
LEE: It is dinosaurs coming out from the earth. I mean, it's not just shaking. It's (INAUDIBLE). All things shake and collapse. All things happened within three to five seconds.
VASSILEVA: Hundreds, perhaps thousands are still buried under the rubble in Sumatra.
LEE: It's a miracle. It's the whole -- it's not possible for me to slip under five stories, I think, but that happened.
VASSILEVA: Incredibly, Lee is nursing only minor injuries. He still needs medical assistance, but he knows he's very lucky to make it out alive.
Ralitsa Vassileva, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Very lucky indeed. And, you know, the folks in the Philippines, a little lucky as well, because they did not get a direct hit from Typhoon Parma, especially on the heels of the last typhoon that just caused so much damage. We're going to get to Reynolds Wolf with the latest on that. He's been following the system there.
And, hey, we got a lot of rain but not a direct hit, right?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, I know. I mean, they got really lucky. But the thing that's so weird about these things, Betty and T.J., these storms are so immense. I mean, it's a biggest storm on the planet. So when it rolls by, it doesn't have to be a direct hit.
I mean, case in point, you check out Manila. You check out the Philippines, look at the size of this thing, it's huge. I mean, if you're actually to pick up this hurricane, this typhoon, and drop it on top of the Philippines, it would nearly cover the entire island nation. The thing that's interesting about this, we've mentioned mudslides they're going to be dealing with in parts of the Philippines, the reason why, we have the high altitude areas, you have these high mountains, and the ground is very poor. So, it absorbs all that water, and then it's almost like a giant sponge, all that weight goes down the hillside that causes the issues.
Now, the weird issue with this storm is although it's moving away from land, it has weakened. Winds now at 75, gust going to 90 miles per hour. The forecast only brings the storm basically in this circle, in this area over the next four or five days. It doesn't really have it pulling away and having a direct path, maybe going deeper towards the Pacific or closer to the China coast. It's going to stay out there and meander. It should kind of fluctuate in power.
Hopefully, it will be weakening over the next couple of days. It certainly bears watching. That is certainly what we're going to do.
We're also going to look at the possibility of waters rising across parts of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and into Oklahoma. From now, I'd say to tomorrow afternoon, there's a chance of one to four inches of rainfall in this particular area. That certainly is going to be a big concern. Another area we're going to see some heavy stuff is possibly one to four feet of snowfall across apartments of the North and Central Rockies.
It's going to be dry for you in southern California. Back out to parts of the Southeast, a dry and cool day for you. Very windy in the Northeast. If you happen to be in New York, get some rain. Today should be a little better. Clouds are rolling in and sunny into the afternoon, and a mixture of sunshine and clouds across much of the Great Lakes.
That is a look at your forecast. Let's wrap it up and send it back to you guys in the news desk.
NGUYEN: All right. Much appreciate it. Thank you.
HOLMES: A small Illinois town is landing on the national radar and demanding accountability from police.
NGUYEN: Yes. We're going to tell you why the NAACP organized a march in Rockford, Illinois, this weekend. We have a live interview that you do not want to miss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, in Chicago's South Side, a funeral for an honor student killed became a rally against city violence. Hundreds of mourners came together to remember 16-year-old Derrion Albert, who was beaten to death on his he way home from school. Reverend Jesse Jackson and Nation of Islam minister, Louis Farrakhan, were also there.
President Obama is sending U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and Education Secretary Arne Duncan to Chicago on Wednesday to meet with school officials. HOLMES: Residents in a small Illinois town are demanding two things this morning. First, they want to be heard. Second, they need an answer to a question -- when should a police officer be allowed to use deadly force?
Rockford, Illinois is what we're talking about. It's located 80 miles from Chicago. It should have seen its share of racial tension in the past. But six weeks ago, two police officers shot an unarmed man.
That incident and others has the NAACP calling for a national standard on police force this morning.
Hilary Shelton, the organization's vice president for advocacy talking to us live this morning.
Controversial case here, sad case no doubt. This actually happened. A few more details here. Happened in front of kids who were at a day care at a church. And this was an unarmed man as well -- a black suspect and two white officers involved here.
So, to give a little bit more background there, I do have statements here from the attorney, for the police, and also the mayor that I'll share in just a second.
But I want to ask you first, Hilary, good morning to you. Thanks for being here. Is the NAACP willing to wait and accept the findings of the investigations that are now going on in to this incident? Or does the NAACP feel like they already know what happened here and already come to your own conclusions?
HILARY O. SHELTON, NAACP, V.P. FOR ADVOCACY: Well, very well, the information that we have at this point raises major concerns. We have reached out to the attorney general's office asking for the U.S. Department of Justice to do an independent investigation. We're always concerned when police departments decide to investigate themselves when instances like this occur.
So, we'll be waiting, watching it very carefully. But we know what we've seen so far seems to be part of a national trend, unfortunately, something that very well needs to be addressed.
HOLMES: Now, you called it a national trend there. Would you say this is an issue of race or just an issue here of police just not being adequately trained to perform under these stressful situations sometimes?
SHELTON: Well, I think we're seeing both. The very well we're seeing that police officers, first, don't have a very clear standard about the use of force and in this case, even deadly force. Very well without a clear standard, you can't enforce policy or program. And certainly, you can't train people.
HOLMES: Now, where are you there on that? You talked about there -- some kind of a national standard for it. I know you know, police officers will say every situation out there is different. And they are on a life or death situation pretty much every time and having to make split second decisions.
So, do you feel like it's -- some might says and officers will say it's not really reasonable to standardize everything because every situation is different.
SHELTON: Well, very well, even fighter pilots go through intense training to make sure they have made those snap decisions, when things are moving very, very quickly, they have, very well, the policies, the standards in place, and they're well-trained in those standards. So, in this case, we do need well-trained police officers, trained to a standard as they preserve lives as well.
HOLMES: Well, let me share here a statement from Tim O'Neil, who is an attorney there for the Rockford Police Union. We'll put it up here.
He says, "The first thing I want to urge is for no one to jump to conclusions. The end of the findings will be released to the public after a complete investigation from the Illinois State Police, which is an independent agency. I cannot tell you what my client has told me because it is privileged. However, what I know from reading statements in the press, it's inconsistent from what I have seen at the crime scene one hour after it occurred."
Now, we do know that the state police and also the Cook County state attorney looking in to this. Do you still not believe -- those aren't the Rockford police investigating -- but do you believe the Cook County state attorney and also the state police investigating, that's not enough? You mentioned earlier, police investigating themselves. But do you think these two agencies aren't independent enough?
SHELTON: We don't. As a matter of fact, we do think the U.S. Justice Department needs to investigate. This, among other things, is a civil rights issue. What we have is a young man that was unarmed, shot to death in front of eyewitnesses to say very well that he did not resist. And very well, when you have those kinds of statements being made, it only helps when you have more than one source actually investigating the case.
HOLMES: Well, how do you all combat the NAACP and others sometimes? Because I think everyone in the country wants to -- and for the most part does -- do respect what officers are doing and respect that they are out there putting their lives on the line day in and day out. And, oftentimes, this could come across as an indictment of all police officers across the country when an organization comes out in saying that there needs to be standards and there's a pattern of abuse when, certainly, the overwhelming majority out there are trying to do a good job and doing it in good faith.
Do you worry about some kind of a, I guess, a backlash of the NAACP being seen as -- in some way making a broad indictment of police officers as a whole?
SHELTON: No. Very well, we hope that's not the case. We've always supported the importance of good policing and going back to the days of W.E.B. DuBois, (INAUDIBLE) organization that recognized the importance of good policing but has the trust and perception of integrity in the communities they serve. Without that, they cannot be effective either.
So, we want good policing, solid policing, fair policing, and balanced policing. And, very well, we know that good standards, good training, and good oversight makes a huge difference in that area.
HOLMES: I will share with you as well a statement from the mayor there in Rockford. We'll put this up as well, saying, "We have retained Independent Assessment and Monitoring, LLP, of Oakland, California as outside consultants to conduct the administrative review of our policies, procedures, and training in the deadly use of force, in not just in this case, but our agency as a whole."
Now, that statement there as well, do you expect or I guess appreciate that he has brought in another agency. And it sounds like at least the mayor is willing to not just look at this case, but, hey, take a look at everything we've been doing here in Rockford.
SHELTON: Well, very well. They're treating it by bringing in consultants as some kind of an anomaly. And very well, at least one of the police officers involved in the shooting has a history and track of problems along these lines. So, very well, setting up a structure and infrastructure that again would include good standards, good training, and important ongoing independent oversight is going to be extremely important. Not just in this case, but cases in the future.
HOLMES: And one last thing here, I know you're going to make some efforts, Representative Conyers is trying to bring back a bill that he tried to go after some years ago in trying to standardize procedures and training for officers across the country. What kind of support do you think you will have for that? And what kind of resistance do you think that Conyers and the NAACP will have for that bill?
SHELTON: Well, there will be no reason for any resistance. Very well, even police unions had oftentimes raise concerns about these issues should very well rest assured that having good policies in place in which their officers can be trained and very well carry out their services effectively is extremely important to them as well. They can't solve problems, solve crimes, nor can they prevent crimes if they don't have the trust of the communities they serve. And until those communities feel that, very well, the policies are fair, that they are safe even with their police officers, it would be effective.
HOLMES: And do you think the trust issue as you mentioned there is hurt because we do have some high-profile cases? I mean, officers out there -- I mean, right now, are making arrests and doing stops and there won't be an incident, if you will. One, of course, is too many. But there -- certainly officers, day in and day out, are doing this. But there's a one or two high-profile cases here or there.
Does that really speak to us having a big issue in this country of police issue and brutality and excessive force?
SHELTON: It speaks to the issue of the need for federal standardized policies. Very well whether you're talking about Rodney King in California, or Sean Bell in New York, whether you're talking about Amadou Diallo in New York, or in this case, whether you're talking about the case in Rockford, Illinois.
That very well, we know there have been problems in the past. We know how it undercuts the trust and integrity police officers need to be effective. And very well, we want to make sure that every police officer is given the opportunity. Most of them are courageous, hardworking, and went to law enforcement for all of the right reasons: to serve and protect the communities in which they live.
HOLMES: Well, absolutely. Certainly, everybody would agree with you on that point there.
Hilary Shelton with NAACP -- we appreciate you taking some time out and speaking with us on this issue. We certainly will be following up with you. And either way, this is a sad case happening there in Rockford. Thank you so much. We'll be talking to you soon.
SHELTON: My pleasure.
NGUYEN: It's a great discussion there. I want to talk about this too. America's first solar city might not be too far off.
HOLMES: A solar city.
NGUYEN: Solar City.
HOLMES: Josh Levs looking into that for us. Good morning to you again, Josh.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. Yes, interesting idea, isn't it? The question here is whether an entire city can be powered by the sun. We're going to show you the plans.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Take a look now at some of our top stories.
Eight U.S. service members and two Afghan soldiers have been killed in eastern Afghanistan. Militants attacked two security outposts in Nuristan province northeast of Kabul. The deaths come as President Obama is considering whether to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan.
NGUYEN: United Nations inspectors will visit Iran's recently disclosed nuclear facility on October 25th. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency made that announcement this morning in Tehran. He says it is necessary to send inspectors to ensure the facility is for, quote, "peaceful purposes."
HOLMES: And Americans are rallying to help tsunami victims in the South Pacific, especially those in the U.S. territory of American Samoa. In San Francisco, groups shipped out their first load of donated goods yesterday. More than 300 workers from U.S. agencies are on the ground in the Samoan Islands where more than 165 people died this past week. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC)
LEVS: And this is a part of the show where I get to look out for really cool content we have for you on CNN.com and then post links in a place you easily be able to find them yourselves.
Take a look at this. I want to start off here. One of the most popular videos today is about -- an area in Florida in which a utility and real estate developer are working on plans for a solar-powered city and they have some designs for the way it would work.
Now, we talk to you on CNN.com about how it would operate, how much it would cost. But they are saying the technology is already there to power an entire city purely through the power of sun. In the Sunshine State, you can get a lot more of that at CNN.com.
I also like to take a look at these for you. Some of the world's greatest pictures and pictures of the world, a lot of people don't realize we have these. CNN has these vast resources. We are going to the far reaches of the earth.
Check this out -- this is one of our teams that went up to the Arctic and took some amazing photos. Now, there is also the serious point to this. They talk about what's happening in the Arctic and some concerns about these environmental changes that are happening there, including the melting of the icecaps. We actually went all the way out there.
We have teams in Greenland that are showing some of what's there. And along with it, take a look this -- this is called the changing face of the Arctic. And it talks to you about how animal life is changing in the region as well. Some of these species you may or may not be familiar with and what's happening to their terrain.
And the opposite side -- before I go, I want you to see this as well. We've also gotten these pictures from the rainforest and it talks about the changes that are happening inside rainforests as well. These are part of our latest spreads at CNN.com/Environment. The stories that go along with it, videos as well. But sometimes, as you can see here, individual photos can be some of the most powerful images that we have of all.
Now, here is where you can see absolutely everything. Let show everyone that graphic. You got the blog, CNN.com/Josh. You also got Facebook and Twitter, JoshLevsCNN. I'm going to take everything that I just showed you, give me like three minutes and then I will post everything up there for you all to see, comment on, and tell us what you want to see here -- what you want us to be keeping an eye out for when we do this, you know, lookout.
So, Betty and T.J., always a good chance on the weekend to look at some of the great images we got there at CNN.com.
NGUYEN: As always, yes. We do appreciate it. Thank you, Josh. LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: All right. Speaking of images, just imagine the red mask, right? It sounds like a movie, right?
HOLMES: I'd see that.
NGUYEN: But it actually marks a significant moment in Washington.
HOLMES: Yes. That's coming up 30 minutes from now. And Betty and I return with more live news. Again, that's right at the top of the hour.
Meantime, we want to hand it over now to "HOUSE CALL." We'll see you shortly.
