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CNN Sunday Morning
Suicide Bombers Target Baghdad Recruitment Center; Craigslist Censors Its Adult Section; Families Endure Emotional Wait for Chile Miners; Obama Presses Small-Business Bill; Iraqi Children Traumatized By War Find Ways To Cope
Aired September 05, 2010 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Suicide bombers today go after a familiar target in Baghdad: the same recruitment center where 48 were killed just two weeks ago. This, of course, four days now after the U.S. formally handed over military command to the Iraqis.
So a lot of people are asking, how did Iraqi security forces perform?
Also, censored. Craigslist taking down its adult-services section after criticism.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It is 6 a.m. where I sit here in Atlanta, Georgia; 1 p.m. in Baghdad. Glad you could be with us. I'm T.J. Holmes.
We want to welcome as well our troops watching on the Armed Forces Network in Iraq and Afghanistan. Thank you all for starting your day with us.
And we do want to start now in Iraq. And the security of that country has been fresh on the minds of people here in the U.S. and around the world after the U.S. formally handed over command to the Iraqis. And now, it seems, suicide bombers going after a familiar target.
We want to go to our Arwa Damon, who is in Baghdad for us.
Arwa, yes, of course, the security has been fresh on the mind after the formal handover. But truth be known, Iraqi forces have been the lead of security for that country for some time in the first place. But tell us, why this familiar target? Why this recruitment center? Why has this been such a popular target for suicide attackers?
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., this recruitment center is also the headquarters for one of the Baghdad operations command center. And it is also at the heart of the capital.
Now, in the past, there have been reports about lax or relaxed security. We saw that suicide bombing that took place around two or three weeks ago that killed 48 people that you mentioned earlier. Since then, the Iraqi government had in fact put its forces on high alert on August 28, saying that they had uncovered evidence that al- Qaida and other groups were going to be carrying out attacks. And so it is one of those targets that tragically is very appealing to the insurgency here. What happened this morning is that three suicide bombers tried to enter the base. They were, however, stopped by the Iraqi security forces, who opened fire on them. Two of them did detonate; the third one was wounded.
In total, seven people were killed, at least 21 wounded. But the death toll could have actually been much, much higher had they actually been able to enter that base, T.J.
HOLMES: Also, something you mentioned, as - as we were corresponding with you this morning, Arwa, is that in fact, maybe - maybe attacks have been low, but tension is pretty high right now in Baghdad. Why?
DAMON: Yes, it is, T.J., because there is this sense amongst the people, amongst the Iraqi security forces, because of this heightened alert, because of all of these significant events, with the U.S. officially ending its combat mission taking place, that there is this sense amongst the population that perhaps this is the lull before the storm. People are very tense, anticipating some sort of a big attack.
And while you could look at today and say this is a case of the Iraqi security forces actually (AUDIO GAP) - after the potential attack, for the population, they're looking at cases like this and thinking to themselves, 'If there are still suicide bombers out roaming the streets and that the city and the country are still not safe,' T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Our Arwa Damon, we appreciate you, as always. We'll be checking in with her throughout the morning. Thank you so much.
Also, we're going to be checking in with Arwa on another story she did for us, talking to the children of Iraq who have been scarred by war. You'll see that in a bit. She's sitting down, talking with kids about their experiences during the Iraq war.
Also, over the next 90 minutes here on CNN SUNDAY MORNING, also going to be sharing a story that a lot of people just find offensive. Diana - Princess Diana in lingerie. A Chinese lingerie company, many are saying now, marring the memory of the people's princess on the anniversary of her death.
Also, a high-tech noisemaker being used in Washington to try to drive away loiterers. But does it unfairly target young people?
All those stories coming up for you here in the next 90 minutes of CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Also, some news that's kind of shaking up the Internet, and a part of a debate that's been going on for years now. Craigslist and its adult- services section. Well, now "censored" is what has replaced the adult- services section. Users across the country are finding the link blocked with a bar that simply reads, "censored." You see it down there at the bottom in black.
Craigslist not exactly explaining the move just yet, saying instead that they will be releasing a statement later. It could be though a crucial first step in repairing its image after repeated protests that it promotes prostitution and child-sex trafficking. Last week, attorneys general in 17 states accused Craigslist of doing little to prevent that.
One of them commended the move yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D), CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Craigslist either cannot or will not effectively screen out the ads. And so Craigslist really voluntarily did the right thing as a result of our jawboning and talking to them.
But I think that it can be a model for other sites that may either enable or encourage prostitution ads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the human-rights group the Rebecca Project agrees, yes, this is a good first step. But there's a lot of room for improvement, they say, as well.
Their executive director helped sound the alarm about possible child exploitation on that site after she posted parts of an open letter from two girls allegedly trafficked through its adult-services ads.
She talked to our Tom Foreman last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM FOREMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Do you take this move by Craigslist this weekend to be an admission of responsibility in this?
MALIKA SAADA SAAR, EXEC. DIRECTOR, REBECCA PROJECT: I do. I absolutely see it as his admission that his site was hurting children, that his site was responsibility for child prostitution and sex trafficking and that he made the correct decision, the decision to protect children and decide that no longer would he allow his site to be used for pimping and trafficking of our most vulnerable children.
So I do commend him in that. But I ask him to go further and make sure that the value of a life of a child in India or anywhere where Craigslist exists internationally, that the value of that child is as important as the value of a child here in the U.S. who is being subject to sexual exploitation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, you may remember CNN doing an investigation on Craigslist. In fact, one of our reporters, our Amber Lyon, actually caught up with the founder of Craigslist, Craig Newmark. We're going to be looking back at her piece.
But here is just an example of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You guys say you screen all these ads manually on your blog.
CRAIG NEWMARK, FOUNDER, CRAIGSLIST: Have you - I've never - I don't know what this is.
(CROSSTALK)
LYON: Why do I have the responsibility to report this to you when it's your website? You're the one posting this online.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And more of that coming your way in the 7:00 Eastern hour. Again, top of the hour, 7:00 Eastern, 4:00 Pacific.
Well, it has been a month now that those miners in Chile have been trapped underground. A month now, 33 men have been trapped down there. The miners are getting words though of encouragement from family members.
Look at this: They spoke to their loved ones thanks to a video conference that was set up by the Chilean government.
Also offering them moral support four members of Uruguay's 1972 rugby team, who met and consoled the miners' relatives yesterday. That rugby team, some of those players, were stranded for more than 70 days in the Andes mountains after their plane crashed. Their survival story was the inspiration behind the novel and movie "Alive."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUSTAVO ZERBINO, 1972 PLANE-CRASH SURVIVOR (through translator): We need to ensure this never happens again. But it already has happened and now we need to get them out. That is the most important thing.
HOLMES: Now, again, it is going to be some time, could take several more months before those miners are rescued. They have holes being drilled now to possibly get down to those men. But it's going to take awhile.
Still, that's pretty good news compared to the news initially, after we all first got word of the mine's collapse.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CRISTINA NUNEZ, WIFE OF CLAUDIO YANEZ (through translator): A friend phoned and said, 'The San Esteban mine has just collapsed, that he miners are trapped inside.' And I said, 'What? That can't be true.' And I began crying.
I was crying and I couldn't talk. I was just crying and crying. I said, 'My Claudio can't leave me like this. Claudio has to be alive.'
(END VIDEO CLIP) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HECTOR TICONA, FATHER OF ARIEL TICONA (through translator): I was stunned by the news but I didn't cry. They'll be time to cry.
But my wife began to cry and I tried to calm her down. I said, 'Take it easy. We don't know anything for sure just yet.'
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCARLETT SEPULVEDA, DAUGHTER OF MARIO SEPULVEDA (through translator): I felt rage and pain and frustration. I thought, 'How can they be trapped like that? They're not animals.'
But here in Chile, they've always treated our miners like animals. It's horrible. I miss him so much. He always cheered us up and made us laugh. I just feel so bad.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA YANEZ, PARTNER OF ESTEBAN ROJAS (through translator): Those first days were unforgettable. There was huge uncertainty, just waiting and waiting.
Those were very bitter moments. I was crying day and night. I didn't want to sleep. I held out hope Esteban had been outside the mine. When I was crying, I hoped he was going to come out and hug me and say, 'Darling, I'm here.'
But the hours went by and they reported the names of the missing miners, and Esteban never came.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LILA RAMIREZ, WIFE OF MARIO GOMEZ (through translator): I felt a lot of rage and pain and I felt powerless because I knew this was an accident waiting to happen. A lot of the miners said that they had heard the mountain groaning.
I never doubted and I had a lot of faith that they were alive and that they were all together, and that's how they found them: all together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HECTOR TICONA, FATHER OF ARIEL TICONA (through translator): I always had faith and I stayed calm. And then what happened, happened. Then, the miracle came.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right.
Well, we talked about it could take months before these miners are rescued. But a new drill just go on-site last week, just a few days ago, that could possibly speed up the process. But still, we could be looking as late as December before the crew gets out.
Well, farmers out there working - working hard. They're growing the food. But it doesn't really help if the food they're growing cooks before they're able to even make some money off of it.
We'll explain what's happening here.
And Reynolds, it's happening because it's just so hot. The food's cooking.
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Amazing, isn't it? I mean that - that's just ridonkulous (ph). Look at that. It's like - it's - you know, the advancements in - in corn is just unbelievable. They're actually getting into the point where it pops before it - you know, as it's coming out of the ground.
Yes, it's amazing stuff.
We're going to talk about that coming up. Plus, we're going to talk about the beautiful weather you're see this weekend. I'm telling you, after the storm moved out - we're talking about Earl - we've got great weather that's building in.
How long will it last? I'll let you know, coming up in just a few moments.
You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Corn that pops by itself. Can you believe it?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Fifteen minutes past the hour here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
A Kentucky farmer, he isn't happy with his corn crop right now. It's kind of popping before he can even harvest it.
This is happening in a farm in Star Mills, Kentucky, where it has been - how has it been, Reynolds?
WOLF: It's been James Brown celebrity hot.
HOLMES: That kind of hot.
WOLF: It's been crazy hot.
HOLMES: And that's hot. High temperatures there caused the area's most common crop to dry up so much that the corn - in some ways, you could describe it as popping. It doesn't look like your Orville Redenbacher necessarily. But still, it's causing a problem.
The farmer has only been able to produce about half of what he was able to harvest last year. It's been so hot for so long he just can't produce the stuff. (INAUDIBLE).
WOLF: Yes, they - they had highs in the 100s.
HOLMES: Wow.
WOLF: They did, just about a week or so ago. And that caused some of this to pop.
But, you know, they've had some weird - weird times with the rain. They've had heavy rain in - during parts of the year, a little bit of these mini droughts. And then just odd weather.
I mean, Orville Redenbacher, like you said, would be ripping his hair out. He would be. I mean, you know, he - he's the guy who had the popcorn in the bag. Now you just go out in the field and it's just popping by itself.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE) by itself. Throw a little butter and you're good to go.
WOLF: It's crazy. It's crazy.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Well, as you know, we saw some mixed unemployment numbers out - out just two days ago. And with the new numbers comes a new push to get more help for small business.
Also, a lot of people celebrating this weekend, the holiday. But there was another day this weekend. Did you celebrate International Bacon Day?
It's 18 minutes past the hour. Does that not just look delicious? I've had breakfast (ph).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, 22 minutes past the hour now.
We're inviting you to climb aboard the CNN Election Express tomorrow. I'm heading out this week. I'll be on the road all week focusing on the important races and issues going on across the country.
We are going to start tomorrow in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Then Tuesday, we're heading over to Columbus, Ohio. Wednesday, Covington, Kentucky, we're coming your way.
And then on Thursday, going to wrap up with the good folks of Indianapolis, Indiana. You can tune in. You can see me, Gloria Borger, John King, also Jessica Yellin - they are also going to be aboard the Election Express as we kick off our political season here on CNN. Ohio going to be one of our stops. Always a political crossroads. And the things that matter to you are the same ones that matter to the folks in Ohio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just think that Ohio is a state that people look at because it has a huge mix in one state.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I now hate politics.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're going to talk to different people and everyone's going to have different thoughts.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's hard for me to figure out because I grew up in a very Republican family.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's too much to learn (ph).
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Sarah Palins is not part of what I want to be represented by.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I (INAUDIBLE) stopped, like, following it altogether, because I think it's such a load of crap.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're starting to see some Republican candidates come out ahead. You know, good, strong candidates. And I think - you know, I think we're going to have a good run for it here in November. (END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jobs need to be brought back to America. I see that part. I don't see anything now. I've got a nice hat that says, you know, "My boss is Jesus." But when I look inside and I look at that label, it says, "Made in China."
OK. Where's "Made in the USA at"?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Hmm. Those are some of the folks we're going to be talking to throughout the week in our political coverage.
Again, Election Express hitting the road tomorrow. Live reports start first thing tomorrow morning. We'll see you on the road all week.
And with less than two months to go until those midterm elections, there's no holiday for the president this week.
Tomorrow, President Obama speaking with workers and their families at a labor fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Then on Tuesday, the president welcomes NATO secretary-general to the White House.
Wednesday, the president heading to Cleveland, Ohio. Going to be talking about the economy and his plans to speed up the recovery.
Then on Thursday, the president will attend meetings at the White House.
Friday, the president holding a press conference that will likely focus on the economy, among other things.
Most small businesses still struggling right now in this tough economy. President Obama urging Congress to pass a bill aimed at helping small businesses expand and hire more weeks.
Our Kate Bolduan revisits a small-business owner who could use that kind of help.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DENISE D'AMOUR, OWNER, CAPITOL HILL BIKES: My second floor was a showroom for - for the high-end bikes.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): We met Denise D'Amour nine months ago, as she was closing down Capitol Hill Bikes in Washington. After nine years in business, a victim of the recession.
D'AMOUR: The lack of cash, we couldn't support this real estate anymore.
BOLDUAN: That was then. This is now. D'Amour has reopened what she describes as a leaner, meaner operation in a much smaller space. The good news: Customers are starting to come back.
But D'Amour says she, like other small businesses, is still facing the same challenges that got her in a tough spot to begin with: Access to cash and credit.
(on camera): Last time that we spoke, you said, 'We need ready access.'
D'AMOUR: Easy access to cash, to - to - to support some cash flow through the - through the hard times.
BOLDUAN: Is your message the same today?
D'AMOUR: Absolutely. Absolutely.
BOLDUAN (voice-over): It's something President Obama is trying to show he's tackling, urging Congress Friday to move forward on a bill designed to help small business, including a $30 billion lending fund to help ease credit and $12 billion in tax breaks.
BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: One thing we have a responsibility to do right now is to lift up our small businesses, which accounted for over 60 percent of job losses in the final months of last year.
BOLDUAN: Economic-policy analyst Anne Mathias says the measure will help but it's no silver bullet.
ANNE MATHIAS, DIR. OF POLICY RESEARCH, CONCEPT CAPITAL: It's not going to bring rush - you know, a rush of people into - into stores to buy whatever it is these different small businesses have to offer. But it will help. It'll help kind of at the back end.
D'AMOUR: Perfect. You look like a cyclist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
BOLDUAN: In the meantime, Denise D'Amour says she has adapted to tough times and is looking forward to making it through another bicycle season.
(on camera): But remember, we're heading into election season here in Washington. Congress is set to return in just over a week. And even if the small-business bill passes quickly, midterm elections are fast approaching, leaving little time for the measure's impact to be felt before voters head to the polls.
Kate Bolduan, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, in Florida, Republican Marco Rubio has put his Senate campaign on hold after the death of his father. He had actually already withdrawn from a debate with Democrat Kendrick Meek - was supposed to take place on this morning's "Meet the Press" program because his father's help was ailing. Rubio said he's glad his father lived long enough to see the sacrifices he made for his family were not in vain.
Rubio facing Meek and Governor Charlie Crist in the race for U.S. Senate.
The bombings in Baghdad this morning. Iraq security forces, of course, now in control there after the U.S. formally handed over control. But for the children who live in Iraq, war has always been and remains a disturbing way of life.
You're going to hear directly from them, coming up.
It's 28 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, CNN SATURDAY MORNING: Welcome back to this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. And as always, a special welcome to our men and women who are watching us on the Armed Forces Network around the world, wherever you all may be serving.
It is 6:30 here in Atlanta. Georgia here where I am, 5:30 in Memphis, Tennessee, 1:30 in the afternoon in Baghdad.
This is the first weekend after the end of combat operations for U.S. troops in Iraq. Iraqi security forces now in complete control of security, formally in control. Fewer than 50,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, serving in an advisory role. The mission now to train and assist Iraqi troops on how to battle insurgents in that country. President Obama spoke about ending the Iraqi war during his address to the nation Tuesday night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Our combat mission is ending, but our commitment to Iraq's future is not. Going forward, the transitional force of U.S. troops will remain in Iraq with a different mission, advising and assisting Iraq's security forces, supporting Iraqi troops and targeted counterterrorism issues, and protecting our civilians. Consistent with our agreement with the Iraqi government, all U.S. troops will leave by the end of next year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: We talk so often about U.S. troops, we talk so much about what Iraqi civilians are going through but what about the children of Iraq? Our Arwa Damon is in Baghdad and she talked to some of the kids visiting an ice cream parlor there in Baghdad and listen to some of the children whose first memories are of war.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARWA DAMON, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (on camera): This is one of Baghdad's more popular ice cream parlors and we've come here to speak with children. A child psychologist recently told us that he believed that the majority of Iraq's children are suffering from some sort of trauma as a result of this war. Abdul Rahman and Rami (ph) are 11- year-old cousins. They are outgoing and love to talk. Abdul Rahman want to be a doctor. Rami (ph) doesn't know. But they have nightmares of war, it's the first memory they have.
(CHILDREN SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
DAMON: Now that the boys are on summer vacation they say they miss school. At least it provided them with an alternate reality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): From our house to here the road is fine, but in other areas there are bombings so we can't go there. We come here and to another ice cream shop.
DAMON: Their familiarity with violence is troubling.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): Near out house they used to come and kill people just like that.
DAMON (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): Did you see that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): Yes! With my own eyes.
DAMON (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): What did you see?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): One day, I was standing there. I saw cars coming into our neighborhood, they started shooting and they left. This poor guy was shot in the head!
DAMON (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): Who was he?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): My friend.
DAMON (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): Your friend?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): My friend.
DAMON (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): So, was he your age?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): Yes. One time my brother was leaving school and four robbers in a Mercedes killed a guy and left his body on the street just like that. They shot him in the head and left him.
DAMON (voice over): Kids' conversations mimic those of adults, their childhood clouded with talk of assassinations, bombings and violence.
And 10-year-old Zahara's (ph) first memory is also of war.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): My mother was telling me not to go out because of bombings. I would go to my grandmother's house and I would hear the bombing.
DAMON: There are few centers to go to for psychiatric help. Zahara says she's still scared even as we sit here, but at least the nightmares stopped. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (ON SCREEN TRANSLATION): My uncle gave me a small Koran and told me when I want to sleep to put it under my head and sleep. So after I started putting it under my pillow I stopped remember scary things.
DAMON: Dreams here are rarely sweet, and sleep often offers little escape.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Kids telling those stories of what they've seen. That young age, just to have seen that much already. And the Brookings Institution here in the U.S. says a U.N. study found that civilian deaths usually go underreported, putting an estimate that may be some 600,000 civilian deaths may have taken place during the Iraqi war. We may never really know the real numbers.
Coming up a story we mentioned here just a bit ago, a noise-making device that can give teenagers headaches. The question you may have right now is why? We'll explain coming up.
Reynolds, here, talking about-Reynolds, just in this tease, don't use the name "Earl." Can do you that?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'll not use that name. Thankfully we don't have to, because that is moving up and out. What s coming in is some pretty nice weather for most the nation. However, it is going to come to an end. We're going to talk about that coming up in a few moments. You're watching CNN SUNDAY MORNING. See you in few.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It is 39 minutes past the hour now on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Come aboard the CNN Election Express bus, taking a bit of a road trip. Starting tomorrow I'm heading out along with some of my colleagues, focusing on the important races and issues out there.
You'll see me, Gloria Borger, John King, Jessica Yellin all aboard and we are coming to see you tomorrow, Pittsburgh. We'll be live in your city tomorrow morning, first thing live. Tuesday we'll see you, Columbus, Ohio. Wednesday, Covington, Kentucky, better be ready for us. Also, Indianapolis, by all means, make us dinner, we'll see you on Thursday. Tune in to CNN all day for our road reports.
Ohio considered, of course, one of the stops we'll be making. It is an important battleground state as always. And we're going to be spending some time there. My producer I'm going to be working with on the road Mr. Julian Cummings, he is already out and about. Spent some time in Ohio yesterday and see if some of these issues they have on their mind are familiar to you.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Too busy raising money for themselves to worrying about what's going on in the rest of the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There aren't many jobs coming in, and the ones that are here are minimum wage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't care for what party they are, Republican, Democrat, Independent, it's just the person that can help the average man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get rid of them both (ph), just people run for office and want to do the job.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a strong Democrat, however, I'm disappointed in many of our Democratic candidates. They have not worked harder for the middle class, they've made concessions for the wealthy Americans, and we're really hurting here in middle America.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Oh that looks good. That was actually at the Rib Festival, found a lot of folks to talk to in Ohio, that particular town, where that was taking place, again. All week long, starting tomorrow morning hitting the road kicking off CNN's midterm election coverage. Kicking it off this week.
Well, AAA says Labor Day may be good for the economy, quite frankly. Drivers hit the road this week and more and more drivers hit the road this week than last year.
We're talking about hitting the road and then we show an airplane.
Labor Day travel is up about 10 percent this year, 34.4 million Americans are expected to visit family, friends, during the five-day holiday period. Yes, they do planes, trains, automobiles, whatever it is, that's up some 3 million from last year. AAA travel agents also reporting hotel, car and vacation package reservations are up about 10 percent.
Reynolds, how is the weather cooperating? Everybody was worried about the storm.
WOLF: Yes, but it's gone. It's up and gone and it is going to be great travel weather for a lot of people across the nation. You mentioned you said Pittsburgh first? Pittsburgh is the first stop.
HOLMES: Yes.
WOLF: When you go to Pittsburgh and people of Pittsburgh know this go to Premani Brothers. This is a great place for sandwiches. They have baby-sized sandwiches. Not baby-sized sandwiches but sandwiches the size of an actual baby. I mean, huge, huge sandwich, good place to go.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: That is a gorgeous shot. We should do the show outside sometime.
QUEST: Really? You really want to do that?
HOLMES: That is gorgeous this morning. That is right outside of our window here at the CNN Center.
WOLF: Good times.
HOLMES: What was the name of the place again in Pittsburgh?
WOLF: It's called Premani Brothers. And a lot of people go there on the way to Steeler games or after Steeler games. Or even during Steeler games. They just run out of the stadium and grab a sandwich and come back.
(CROSS TALK)
WOLF: It's got to be a bad game for you to go do that.
HOLMES: No bad games, right, Scottie?
WOLF: There you go.
HOLMES: Our guy on the camera is a Pittsburgh guy.
We're going to take a trip across the country right now. We are gong to start in New York. You are going to be surprised by this, Reynolds. You remember the guy, you know?
WOLF: I do remember this fellow.
HOLMES: The guy who quit dramatically from the JetBlue, that was last month. Now we are just finally getting the official word that he's fired. I thought that would be more of an immediate thing. You remember this guy, Steven Slater, he had that profanity-laced tirade, jumped out of the plane, let down the emergency chute, grabbed him a couple of beers, cussed everybody out. Well yes it was well publicized, a lot of people called him a hero, because they thing they would like to have quit their jobs like that. But now, official word that he has been let go. Have some pretty lenient policies over there at JetBlue I suppose.
WOLF: Absolutely.
HOLMES: Got to do a lot to get fired.
Listen to this, you do not hear this every day, Biloxi, Mississippi, the mayor there is taking a pay cut of $88,000. There he is.
WOLF: That's pretty substantial.
HOLMES: That is a huge cut. He was making $115,000, going down to $27,000, his name is A.J. Holloway. He said because the city and like so many other cities are facing financial crisis, he's taking this voluntary pay cut to help out. He actually says he's going to getting by, he has some retirement money he can get by on. But can you imagine if more and more city leaders, even our federal, our you know guys up in Washington would possibly do that?
WOLF: You remember the story in California, about those guys who were making just ridiculous amounts of money and people waking up to the fact. And when you see city officials making these kind of moves you have to respect it.
HOLMES: So, we applaud Mayor Holloway.
Also, did you know-you usually tell me about stuff like this. I didn't know about it yesterday, bacon?
WOLF: Oh my gosh.
HOLMES: International Bacon Day? Were you aware of this?
WOLF: I was not aware of that, but I know it is certainly a big thing. I celebrate it every day as you do, too.
HOLMES: This is in Seattle we're showing you the pictures from. They celebrate, again, who knew, International Bacon Day. But they didn't just eat it like you're normally eating it. They actually made some kind of desserts out of bacon as well. You had your bacon and eggs, you had bacon burgers, but they also make cookies and bacon caramels.
WOLF: You know, it's amazing. There are things in nature that sometimes nature messes up. I mean, like the duckbilled platypus or Justin Bieber.
(LAUGHTER)
WOLF: But then you have things like-like, when it comes to bacon. Bacon is meat candy. It really is. I mean it is absolutely perfect.
HOLMES: Why are you picking on Justin Bieber? He's great.
WOLF: I don't know. I just did that. There is no offense, Justin. I love your music. But I do like bacon even better. You can't mess it up. I mean, you really can't. It is meat candy.
HOLMES: You can't mess up bacon.
WOLF: Meat candy, when you bring in music, meat candy would be a great name for a garage band, wouldn't it? Put your hands together, make some noise for Meat Candy. Come on, everybody.
HOLMES: I hope you've thought about this stuff. Because if you just come up with this off the top of your mind I'm concerned.
WOLF: I wish I had thought about it before. I'm really wishing I had at this point.
HOLMES: We are talking about some noise here. A noise as a deterrent, using noise to deter teenagers. This appears to be working at a busy subway stop in Washington, D.C. This device they have puts out a high-pitch sound that seems to affect only young people. Kids, who businesses often blame for loitering and sometimes causing some trouble, but is this fair to target the kids? Our Brian Todd putting it to the test.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (On camera): This section of Washington, D.C., called Gallery Place, is very popular among young people because of the trendy bars and restaurants like these down here, but there's also been a problem recently with loiterers and property managers have complained about that.
A couple of weeks ago there was a huge street brawl that took place. We're told it started down here in this Metro station , and kind of spilled over onto the streets. Since that time, property managers around here have installed this device up on the wall. It is called The Mosquito. It emits a high-pitched sound designed to keep loiterers away. The question is does it unfairly target young people?
(voice over): It can cause a high-pitched headache, and that's by design. Just outside the Gallery Place subway stop in Washington, The Mosquito beeps often. But is it indiscriminate? This anti-loitering device was placed here after a big street brawl, but the property managers and The Mosquito's distributor both tell CNN the noisemaker doesn't target young people. Still the distributor says teenagers happen to do the most loitering and he says the sound is most effective for the stage of life where humans can hear the highest pitches.
MIKE GIBSON, MOVING SOUND TECHNOLOGIES: The Mosquito, when activated emits a sound at 17.5 kilohertz, the high end of the youth hearing range, 13 to 25-year-old hearing range. When a youth hears the sound they find it extremely annoying and will leave the area in a few minutes.
TODD: At Gallery Place, we saw some young people getting irritated.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you hear it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Probably wouldn't shop at the shops if I heard it again.
TODD: Why not?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's too annoying. It gave me a headache.
TODD: There are settings on The Mosquito that can be heard by older age groups. I played the sound off a computer in our newsroom near several people in their 20s, 30s and older. I didn't tip them off beforehand. On settings for people 25, 30, 35 and younger, no one reacted. Then-
We're going to play a setting now, for people 50 years old and under.
(CROSS TALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ooh, I heard that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hear that.
TODD: I can hear that, too.
(voice over): Still, some believe this device does target teenagers unfairly.
(On camera): Among the community leaders who have concerns about this device, Judith Sandalow of the Children's Law Center here in the Gallery Place area.
Judith, if there are problems with violence and loiters driving away customers from the business that count on that business in this area, wouldn't anything like this help?
JUDITH SANDALOW, CHILDREN'S LAW CENTER: I'm sympathetic to businesses needing to be able to engage the most customers in the best possible way. I'm sympathetic to that. This isn't the best solution. We need to have better programs for youth, we need to engage them in activities.
TODD: Believe it or not young people have used this device to their advantage. We're told by the distributor that high pitched noise this thing makes has actually made its way on to the Internet. He says young people have been able to download that sound onto their cell phones as ring tones so that when their cell phones ring, they can hear the sound but their parents and their teachers cannot. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Smart kids! Aren't they? They figured this thing out already. We should make that maybe a question this morning. If you could use a sound to get rid of a particular group around you, what would that group be? If you could use a sound that would just make certain group that's bothering you scatter, what would it be?
WOLF: What sound would you use?
HOLMES: No, if you could target one particular group to get rid of them with some kind of high pitched sound what group would you want to get away from you?
WOLF: Fans of the University of Alabama.
HOLMES: Oh, wow. That's pretty good.
WOLF: First one right up there. Probably use I don't know maybe Yoko Ono's greatest hits, just throwing it out there, I don't know. I'm just reaching.
HOLMES: Send us some response to that, folks. You know where to find us, TJHolmes, CNNonTwitter and Facebook. What is your, as well? We never use yours. Are you on Twitter?
WOLF: Yes. It is Reynoldswolf@cnn.com -- no, reynoldswolf@cnn, oh, my Twitter address.
HOLMES: You want to give out your phone number while you're at it in?
WOLF: Might as well. Might as well. HOLMES: Let us know if you can make some particular groups scatter with a high pitched noise what group would you try to get rid of? Let us know. We'll hopefully share some of those in a bit.
Coming up here we have an ad campaign going on in China right now that raising some eyebrows. And some accusations of exploiting a dead princess. We'll show you the Lady Diana pictures sparking outrage in Britain. Our Editorial Producer Nadia Bilchik checking in with us in just a moment. It is 8 minutes to the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Five minutes to the top of the hour now.
Last Tuesday marked 13 years since Princess Diana's death. She was killed in a car accident in Paris, as you know. Britains were leaving bouquets outside London's Kensington Palace, her former home.
A company in China meanwhile was observing the anniversary a little differently; using the likeness of Lady Di to help sell lingerie. The story in the global spotlight for our Editorial Producer Nadia Bilchik, who is here with me once again.
I imagine folks in Britain did not take too kindly to this?
NADIA BILCHIK, CNN EDITORIAL PRODUCTION: Did not take too kindly. Nicholas Davies, who wrote "Diana, The Lonely Princess", which is a wonderful book about the complexity of Diana, said this is appalling. And, of course, the way he said it, he said this is "totally appalling" what's going on.
But here you have this campaign, there's Princess Diana in a bra and panties, or what the British call knickers, and she has a cello, and then the bow of the cello. And she is looking down at a child, supposedly William or Harry. Of course, it is not Princess Diana. It is a Princess Diana look-alike, a model. But caused great outrage and people are very, very furious about it because let her rest in peace.
HOLMES: They knew what they were doing, I assumed, that the point here was to find someone and promote this and to fool people essentially into thinking this is Lady Di.
BILCHIK: Well, yes. And it s Jealousy International, it is the name of the company. But let's look at it, 13 years ago, do you remember where you were?
HOLMES: Exactly where I was.
BILCHIK: Isn't that amazing? People do.
So, let's talk about the woman who was an icon in her life and is certainly an icon in her death and the impact she had on people's lives. That it's 13 years later we still remember her. And what do we remember her for? For her land mine work, for her philanthropy. She was one of the first who held the hands of an AIDS victim. She was so remarkable in that way and why did we feel for Diana so much? Because not only was she beautiful, but her husband had cheated on her. So she was loved by so many women. One of the most fascinating things I found in my research in the British Medical Journal, that after her death four weeks later, these suicide rates in the U.K. and Wales hiked by something like 17 percent. That's how much people feel for Diana. Here you have this extraordinary ad campaign, what it really shows is the global impact of Diana.
HOLMES: Is there any possible action anyone could take against this company?
BILCHIK: Not posthumously. If you had James Dean or Michael Jackson look-alike after their death, there's nothing. It's just in appalling taste. So the Diana fan clubs are saying this is blatant exploitation. There's no comment from the Charles camp but he hasn't commented on her for years. And the campaign themselves, Jealous International, are saying we are honoring Diana's memory by showing the kind of underwear she would wear.
HOLMES: But the timing as well, this coming out right around the anniversary.
BILCHIK: And tomorrow, 13 years ago was her funeral. Again-but-you know, they knew what they were doing, look at the world attention it's getting. Never mind Victoria's Secret, we're wearing Jealousy International. But in Britain or in America people would probably boycott it because it is in bad taste.
HOLMES: In bad taste is all. Nadia Bilchik we do appreciate the stories you do bring us. Always giving us a look at something happening around the world. Always good to have you.
BILCHIK: Next week we don't know where, Mandarin, maybe we'll be going-talking Mandarin. We'll be going to Madrid, maybe we'll go to Bombay.
HOLMES: No knows.
BILCHIK: Who knows?
HOLMES: All right. Nadia Bilchik always good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
Coming up, here, have you heard the name the Wal-Mart of the sex industry? When hooking up on Craig's List, we have gotten a lot more complicated now. We are going to see why there is a censored sign blocking one of its services. We'll talk about it at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning.
Suicide bombers today are going after a familiar target in Baghdad, the same recruitment center where 48 were killed just two weeks ago. Now, here we are four days after the U.S. formally handed over military command to the Iraqis, how did Iraqi security forces perform?
Also, censored. Craigslist takes down its adult services section after a lot of criticism. It's been replaced simply by the word "censored." Is it a permanent or just a temporary response?
From the CNN Center, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING. It's 7:00 a.m. where I sit here in Atlanta, Georgia; 2:00 p.m. in Baghdad. Wherever you may be, glad you're right here with us. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Now, adult services is censored on Craigslist. Users across the country are finding the link blocked with a bar that says simply "censored." Craigslist is not explaining the move just yet, saying instead that they will release a statement later. It's going to be a crucial first step, though, in repairing its image after repeated criticism that it promotes prostitution and child sex trafficking.
Last week, attorneys general in 17 states accused Craigslist of doing little to prevent that. One of them commended this latest Craigslist's move yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD BLUMENTHAL, CONNECTICUT ATTORNEY GENERAL: Craigslist either cannot or will not effectively screen out the ads. And so, Craigslist really voluntarily did the right thing as a result of our job owning and talking to them. But I think that it can be a model for other sites that may either enable or encourage prostitution ads.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: This is a story that CNN has been reporting on in the past few weeks, in particular our Amber Lyon. She confronted the founder of Craigslist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMBER LYON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the big things going on with Craigslist right now is that they are saying that they're monitoring all these ads that come through on adult services to check to see if any of these girls are under age or young. So, we put some words in here: "sweet," "innocent," "new girl." We're going to see what happen. We'll see if Craigslist kind of let her ad post. We'll also see, you know, what kinds of calls we get.
(PHONE RINGING)
CALLER: I saw your ad on Craigslist.
(PHONE RINGING)
LYON: Hello?
CALLER: Yes. What's your donation for an hour in-call?
LYON: So, what is that now? We've had 15 calls. And the ad's only been out for three hours -- 15 calls in three hours. (voice-over): Craigslist says its staff manually screens all of these adult service's ads and will reject any that make it look or sound like you're selling sex. That may not be easy but when we looked through the ads, most of them are pretty blatant.
The FAIR Fund investigates juvenile trafficking.
ANDREA POWELL, FAIR FUND: And most of the young people that we've worked with has exploited on line. Talk about Craigslist, I'm not talking about the other sites, Craigslist is like the "Walmart" of online sex trafficking.
LYON (on camera): So, we're here at George Washington University and we just found out that Craig Newmark, he's the founder of Craigslist, is going to be speaking here today at a tech conference. He doesn't know we're coming and he's been very media shy lately about all of these allegations against him. This guy is the Craig in Craigslist. It's his list.
So, can people trust that children are not being sex trafficked on Craigslist?
CRAIG NEWMARK, FOUNDER, CRAIGSLIST: I think we explained that pretty thoroughly on our blog.
LYON: That's where Jim Buckmaster says that you will immediately contact law enforcement if you suspect any ads --
NEWMARK: Jim does a great job showing that we do more than anyone in this area -- pretty good for a community of 50 million people.
LYON: This is Inspector Brian Bray with the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. He's also in charge of the prostitution enforcement unit.
In Craigslist's blog, they say that they're going to immediately contact law enforcement any time they see a suspicious ad and you say you've never been contacted by them.
BRIAN BRAY, D.C. METROPOLITAN POLICE: That's correct. If they're -- if they're notifying, I'm not sure if they're notifying the right people because we're not getting the call.
LYON: What are you guys doing to protect these girls?
You guys say in the blog that you will remove any ad that looks like the person might be suggesting they're going to offer sex.
Look at this ad. It says, young, sexy, sweet and bubbly. Clearly here, she writes, $250 an hour. I mean, what do you think she's selling in her bra and underwear, a dinner date? And she's in her bra and underwear.
What are you guys doing?
NEWMARK: Have you reported this to us?
LYON: But you guys say you screen all these manually on your blog.
NEWMARK: I've never -- I don't know what this is. Have you reported --
LYON: In Jim Buckmaster's blog, he says these are being screened.
NEWMARK: Have you reported this to us?
LYON: Why do I have the responsibility to report this to you when it's your Web site? You're the one posting this online. I just want to know, I mean -- OK.
It's just that we've run into a lot of victims and a lot of advocates that pretty much call your site the "Walmart" of child sex trafficking.
(voice-over): In 2008, Craigslist agreed to report any suspicious ads to the Center for the Missing and Exploited Children which works with police to find and rescue trafficking victims. Two years and hundreds of thousands of sketchy ads later, the center says Craigslist has reported fewer than 100.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now, Craigslist has not released an official explanation of what we're seeing on their Web site right now. The words "censored" in place of where the adult services section was. Company representatives, however, tell CNN they expect to send a statement out sometime this week.
We want to turn back now to the story we're telling you about at the top: attacks in Baghdad. Insurgents are going after a familiar target, the same place where 48 people were killed in an attack just two weeks ago. We were telling you about this attack the last hour. Just one person had been killed -- we're getting updated numbers from Iraqi officials now that seven people have been killed in this latest attack and 21 people are wounded.
Our Arwa Damon is in Baghdad for us. I talked to her last hour about what we have been seeing since the formal "handover" of military command to the Iraqis from the U.S.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARWA DAMON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There is this sense amongst the people, amongst the Iraqi security forces because of this heightened alert, because of all of the significant events with the U.S. officially ending its combat mission taking place that there is a sense amongst the population that perhaps this is the lull before the storm. People are very tense, anticipating some sort of a big attack and whilst you could look at today and say that this is the case of the Iraqi security forces actually (VIDEO BREAK) after the potential attack for the population, they're looking at cases like this and thinking to themselves that there are still suicide bombers (VIDEO BREAK) roaming the streets, that the city and country are still not safe. (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: All right. Seven minutes past the hour here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Now, our meteorologist Reynolds Wolf is going to be telling you how the rest of your weekend will be. Still got some holiday left in this weekend. We were worried about Hurricane Earl for awhile. That's not a problem now. It's all good.
Eight minutes past the hour. Reynolds is coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Nine past the hour.
Reynolds is here, not talking Earl necessarily.
Did this thing kind of clear stuff out and kind of result in some really beautiful weather?
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You could argue that this storm driving its way up to parts of the Northeast and the frontal boundary that pushed it out actually made things much better for much of the country.
HOLMES: Wow.
WOLF: Very stable conditions. So, there's some good aspects about it. The best aspect is that it's gone.
HOLMES: It's gone.
WOLF: Let' show you some video of what it did in Nova Scotia, because, you know, we want to see what happened there.
Thankfully, it wasn't really that bad. You see the boats getting tossed, monster waves up there as they have had up and down the Eastern Seaboard with the system as it chugs its way northward.
Thankfully, it is a dying system. It is gone. It's no longer followed by the National Hurricane Center -- which is the great news.
Now, let's take the next minute and show you what we've got in store for us, as we look down the road, to the Intertropical Convergence Zone we've got again -- the formation of more storms or potential storms. You see one wave off of the African coast, we'll get the remnants of Gaston.
What's interesting about this one is there is a chance, about an 80 percent possibility, that the remnants of this system may actually chug their way into the Caribbean and possibly become a tropical storm, maybe even a hurricane at some point. But that will be later on down the road. Certainly, it should not happen today.
What will happen today: beautiful conditions, high pressure is going to be just the big controller, I guess you could say -- the big component of your forecast is going to keep things high and dry across much of the nation, at least two-thirds of the nation.
Meanwhile, back over parts of the northern Rockies, this area of low pressure is going to bring some scattered snow showers to places like, say, the Tetons, perhaps Glacier National Park, maybe even some rain falling into parts of the Pacific Northwest.
Your high temperatures across parts of the desert southwest would be in the 100s, very comfortable for the Northeast -- 77 in Boston, 78 in New York -- and 81 in Los Angeles. That is a quick look at your forecast.
T.J., let's kick it right back to you.
HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you buddy as always.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: Talk to you again here shortly.
Well, coming up: they have a devastating and deadly menace for U.S. troops in Afghanistan. We're talking about roadside bombs. Well, the U.S. military has a new way to combat them and they're combating them from the sky.
It's 11 minutes past the hour. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Thirteen minutes past the hour here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
Loved ones of soldiers and marines imprisoned for killings in Iraq protested outside Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, yesterday. They call the inmates the Leavenworth 10, although two have been released from the military prison.
A rally organizer says they're trying to free the service members saying they killed because they believed they were defending themselves or fellow soldiers.
Republican Florida congressional candidate, Allen West, who's a retired Army lieutenant colonel, attended this event. Family members expressed their gratitude for the show of support.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan: the U.S. military has a new strategy to better protect troops from the insurgents' weapon of choice, the roadside bomb.
CNN's Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, shows us how the battle against improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, is literally taking to the sky.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Planes like these are the newest secret weapon against roadside bombs in Afghanistan. Carrying censors that sniff out deadly threats.
Ashton Carter is the senior Pentagon official responsible for finding ways to fight improvised explosive devices.
ASHTON CARTER, UNDER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR ACQUISITION: Just in the last few weeks, we deployed a couple of airplanes with a really revolutionary capability to do essentially chemical analysis at a distance, and they can distinguish ammonium nitrate, which is one of the fertilizer-based chemicals that are being used to make IEDs.
Those airplanes are flying now. We're seeing how they work. They're finding IED laboratories.
STARR: Troops may be celebrating the official end of combat in Iraq, but IEDs still threaten troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan, despite years of improved armored protection.
In Iraq, insurgents still put more than 400 IEDs a month out on the road. But Afghanistan is now the focus.
CARTER: For the first time in eight years, we are really surging our counter-IED capability there. The number of pieces of equipment, the number of trained people is increasing by a large factor. So, we are getting in the game in Afghanistan in a way we've not been in the past.
STARR: Waiting has been costly. In 2008, 87 U.S. troops were killed by IED attacks in Afghanistan. Last year, it skyrocketed to 187.
In just the first seven months of this year, more than 140 troops killed.
Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Fang has treated hundreds of the wounded.
LT. COL. RAYMOND FANG, U.S. AIR FORCE: We've seen, I think, more devastating IEDs recently because I think, as reported in the news, the amount of explosive is being increased because our protection is increased and the enemy adapts. And so, they make bigger bombs.
STARR: Bigger, deadlier bombs often with no little or no metal content that can be detected, making these new planes a vital tool in this very long war.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Again, that was our Barbara Starr reporting and she notes how nine years ago, a lot of Americans, did you really even know the phrase "IED"? Pretty much today, you can ask anyone and they'll know exactly what that means.
Well, coming up: her attacker came out of nowhere and the weapon of choice, a cup of acid. And police say that attacker is still on the loose. It's 17 minutes past the hour. Stay with us here on this CNN SUNDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MORGAN FREEMAN, PLAN!T NOW: Hi, I'm Morgan freeman.
And we can make an impact for hurricane relief. Here's something: a hurricane strike does enormous amount of damage. Resources are brought to bear on cleaning it up.
What if we were better prepared for it ahead of time? And we could prevent a lot of death and destruction?
This continued awareness of the danger of tornado and hurricanes is what Plan!t Now is really about, preparedness. Join the movement, Impact Your World, CNN.com/Impact.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, no doctor at all is probably better than a drunk doctor, would you say? An Ohio doctor arrested for drunk driving while on his way to the hospital for work.
Police say Dr. Chad Ulmer was driving to the hospital when he pulled over. He was pulled over for driving 101 miles an hour. State troopers smelled alcohol on his breath, says Ulmer tested just over the legal limit.
You're seeing the dash cam video here. It shows the 40-year-old doctor who was polite, very cooperative as well.
Spokesperson for the hospital says Ulmer has been taken off the schedule and won't return to work until he's deemed appropriate. Also, local affiliates reporting that the doctor, in fact, only requested that somebody call the hospital because he was scheduled to be the only doctor in the E.R. that night.
We'll turn now to an Arizona mother who is suffering from severe burns to her face after police say another woman hurled a cup of powerful acid at her.
Kevin Kennedy from our affiliate KPNX in Phoenix with this story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DERRI VELARDE, VICTIM: My shoulder was a little bit worse right here. That's more --
KEVIN KENNEDY, KPNX TV REPORTER (voice-over): Ambushed and attacked, acid thrown on her face, Derri Velarde describes the nightmare.
VELARDE: I opened my car door and saw a woman, you know, walking up with what looked like a drink of water in her hand. KENNEDY: That clear liquid was some type of acid.
VELARDE: She just looked at me with these eyes as if she was saying something.
KENNEDY: But nothing was said. She just threw the acid in Derri's face.
VELARDE: And I immediately started just burn. I was on fire.
KENNEDY: Derri ran to her apartment. You can see the stains on the front door, the suspect ran away.
VELARDE: And I just kept screaming, "Somebody poured acid on me, call 911."
KENNEDY: Her daughter and roommate splashed water on Derri's face, the pain unimaginable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's in a panic. She's terrified. She doesn't know what to do.
KENNEDY: A day later, she is doing amazingly well. Police are trying to figure out who did this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a very personal crime. Obviously, this person wanted to disfigure this victim.
KENNEDY: There are second degree burns on her face and shoulders, but Derri knows it could have much been worse.
VELARDE: I feel completely blessed. I was -- I was thanking God since the incident occurred.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Man. Well, police in Mesa, Arizona, are looking for a Hispanic woman between the age of 30 and 40 years old. They also say the suspect likely knew this victim. You just heard the police officer say this is a very personal crime, they do not believe this was random at all.
Twenty-four minutes past the hour. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: It is that time of year, you know, Labor Day tomorrow. It's time to kick off the campaign season and that's what we're doing here at CNN -- hitting the road on the CNN Election Express bus. I will be heading out along with John King, Gloria Borger and Jessica Yellin. We're all taking a road trip. We're going to be focusing on some of the important races out there and also the important issues and some battleground states.
Monday, we kick this thing off with our live coverage tomorrow from the bus from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We are coming your way. And then Tuesday, it's your turn, Columbus, Ohio. We'll be in your neck of the woods.
And then on Wednesday, heading over to Covington, Kentucky.
And then going to wrap up the week, Thursday, I'll be in Indianapolis, Indiana.
So, tune in, all day tomorrow and also all week as we kick off our political coverage heading in towards the midterms. Again, tomorrow morning is when we begin. We'll be out there on the road all week. We will see you out there.
We'll have more top stories as well coming your way as CNN SUNDAY MORNING continues at the top of the hour.
But, first, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is coming up right after the break.
