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CNN Sunday Morning
North Korea Introduces New Leader; Countdown to Election Day
Aired October 10, 2010 - 08:00 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.
North Korea is putting on a show for the world. We'll tell you what and in particular who they want you to see.
Also, several college students end up in the hospital after a party where someone spiked their drinks. Police say the victims -- they are victims of a scheme to render them unconscious and defenseless. Details about that is coming up.
But right now, from the CNN Center, this is your CNN SUNDAY MORNING. Eight a.m. in Atlanta, Georgia; 7:00 a.m. in Fayetteville, Arkansas, wherever you may be. Glad you're right here. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Let me get you caught up on some of the stories that are making headlines right now.
We could see the first of those trapped miners above ground by Wednesday. You know the story now, these 33 trapped miners in Chile, have been trapped for some 66 days. They are completing now the shaft. They were able to break through yesterday for a tunnel to get to the mine to where the men are. Now is the process of making sure everything is in place so they can get the capsule down and start pulling those men up again. Wednesday is when we expect to see the first miner come out.
Also, intelligence officials are telling us that eight people have been killed in a suspected drone strike. These missiles were fired on a house in northwest Pakistan. This is an area that has been the target of these drone attacks. The dead are said to be suspected militants.
Also, eight people are under arrest, and police are still looking for a ninth person in a string of hate crime attacks in New York. Police there say up to nine suspect beat three victims, sodomizing two of them. A fourth victim was beaten and robbed.
Let me get you back to North Korea now. Of course, that country represents a major foreign policy challenge for the United States. Now, the family that has run the communist country for some 62 years appears ready to pass control over to a new generation -- a new generation that, like the previous two, will likely defy U.S. foreign policy and possibly defy the world. The current threat: nuclear weapons. A secretive country like North Korea, image, of course, counts for a whole lot. It wants to portray itself as a major player on the world stage. So, today, the father, Kim Jong-il, the current leader of that country, put his son on display, Kim Jong-un. He was front and center at a major important event, a major military parade, in celebration honoring the 65th anniversary of the Workers Party.
We have been covering this event today. We have -- we saw the parade. We also saw the festivities. The younger son eventual elevation to the power that will literally put him front and center on the world stage.
Mike Chinoy is on the line with me now. He has been one of the foremost experts really on the region, on North Korea. He joins me on the phone.
Good to have you once again.
A lot of people are keeping a close eye on what's happening in North Korea right now. If you have a different leader, does that mean you're going to have different policies coming out of that country, Mike?
MIKE CHINOY, AUTHOR, "MELTDOWN" (via telephone): Well, I think in the near term, basically, things are going to remain pretty much as they are. But there are some intriguing straws in the wind.
The North Koreans have designated 2012 -- it's the 100th anniversary of the father of Kim Jong-il, Kim Il-sung, the country's first president -- as sort of a target year to make North Korea into a strong and prosperous nation.
And the North Koreans say that with their nuclear capability, they are already strong. And talk is now beginning to shift to prosperous. And some experts believe that may mean that the North is going to start with Chinese-style economic reforms, although much more limited variety because the North Koreans know their economy's in a mess and they've got to find some ways to fix it.
That's one of the things people are going to be watching, is to whether this changing leadership situation will lead the North Koreans to try and do something different with their very, very sick economy.
HOLMES: Mike, I know we don't know a whole lot about the youngest son now. The one widely believed to be the one in line to take over for Kim Jong-il, but are there indication that's he could possibly be an independent thinker who wants to take the country in a different direction? And also, he's being groomed right now. We don't know how much time he'll have in this apprenticeship, if you will.
So, could we just have a different leader, a different figurehead, but still the old guard behind him and still directing things?
CHINOY: Well, I think the new face, same system. No question. Except that the North Koreans under a lot of pressure from the Chinese, who are their only ally to try and do something with their economy. There have been some intriguing hints as this leadership transition process that in the last couple of weeks that the North Koreans would like to reengage diplomatically with the United States. They've promoted two officials who were deeply associated with communications with the U.S. over the last 15 years or so to more senior position.
I think on the one hand this parade, this political theater, is designed to project an image to counter all the outside speculation that North Korea is in such a state that it might collapse. But at the same time, some intriguing hints they'd like to reengage. And the question is: is there going to be any sign from Washington of a willingness to explore that?
HOLMES: All right. Mike Chinoy, on the line with us. He's a senior fellow at the University of Southern California's U.S.-China Institute, on the line from Hong Kong. Mike, we appreciate you as always. Thanks so much.
I want to turn back to politics now in this country. We are counting down to the critical midterm election. And in 23 days, voters are heading to the polls.
CNN, of course, is always your place for politics.
Our deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, is in Pennsylvania, ahead of the president's visit there.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Hey, good morning, T.J.
I'm here with the CNN Election Express. We are in Pennsylvania. And later today, somebody, a lot bigger than me, is coming to Pennsylvania.
I'm talking about the president, Barack Obama. And he will be joined by Vice President Joe Biden. They're going to be in Philadelphia for a rally.
What they're trying to do here is excite Democratic voter to get out and go to the polls on November 2nd. Remember, there are a lot of huge races, the battle for governor, battle for Senate, and a bunch of House races that are very tight, as well. Republicans think they can make a clean sweep in the state and they feel if they do that, they may be able to win back control of Congress.
That's what's going on here in Pennsylvania, T.J. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. Thanks as always to our Paul Steinhauser.
A busy week as always ahead for the president:
Monday, he will host an economic meeting at the White House. And then later, he'll travel to Miami for Democratic campaign events.
Tuesday, the president will host a Moving America Forward town hall meeting at George Washington University.
Thursday, he'll host a youth town hall. That will be live on MTV, BET, and CMT.
Then Friday, the president and vice president, both of them heading to Wilmington, Delaware, to attend a campaign event.
Saturday, the president will be in Boston for, you guessed it, another campaign event.
And then Sunday, the president and the first lady traveling to Cleveland and Columbus for what? Campaign events. It is that time of year, folks.
Well, coming up here: tormented through school and now finally talking. We'll tell you what happened when students and some teachers opened up on bullying.
Also, superheroes, aliens descend on the city the never sleeps. The annual comic con convention. The wackiness is happening next.
Seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Nine minutes past the hour. Now is a great football Saturday. Great college football Saturday.
REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Huge, huge, huge.
HOLMES: And weather cooperated for the most part in those games. They had a few issues, and like you said, it was going to happen in the Pacific Northwest.
WOLF: Yes, but, you know, I mean, come on. I mean, if you happen to play for the Oregon Ducks or, you know, you're Oregon State Beaver, if you're Husky, or Washington state, you use the rain. They're outdoor stadiums. That's what you're dealing with.
That was certainly the situation in Pullman, Washington, yesterday. The rain is still falling out there. And as we head over to the weather maps, we're going to show that it is still coming down in a torrent as we speak. And the reason why is we have a storm system that is brewing off the Gulf of Alaska.
And all of that is just bringing it all this Pacific moisture. But it's not just the rain. It's also some strong winds at the same time, we're going to be dealing with some very heavy surf right along the coastline.
As we pull a little bit more back to the east, we're seeing some scattered showers along the central plains, north of Cheyenne, we're seeing some raindrops. But if you look back over towards Boulder, just little bit of a telltale sign of some snowfall. And then when you leave parts of the Central Plains and Rockies, and you head to the northeast, precipitation is seen, but right above the U.S.-Canadian border, the big story we have in the northeast is that blue stuff you see there, which is the area where we have a frost and freeze warning in effect. Temperatures are now above the freezing point. And then by the afternoon, we'll be back in the 60s and 70s.
It's going to be much warmer in the southeast and possibly by tomorrow. We could be getting very close to the record high of 88 degrees in Atlanta. In fact, some places may get into the 90s for tomorrow. For today, mainly 80s for you. Plenty of sunshine back into part of Texas, and then Louisiana. Something else you're going to notice, more of a breeze coming in out of the south, which is really going to transfer some of that Gulf moisture on shore right on shore, which is not going to give you much in terms of rainfall, but the humidity, yes. That is definitely going to be felt.
Plenty of sunshine over the Four Corners, back in the Rockies. We were talking about the snowfall. Something else we've got, some cool temperatures. In fact, for Denver, 61 degrees, the expected high by the afternoon.
A beautiful day in Boulder. Drive up and check out some of the fall colors.
Salt Lake City, 70 degrees; 86 in Los Angeles; 83 in Kansas City; 81 in Minneapolis; 87 in Houston; 89 for New Orleans. If you're making the trip right into parts of the northeast, 66 in Boston, the high in New York, 69; Miami, 86 degrees.
That's a quick snapshot of the forecast -- T.J.
We got more coming up right ahead, folks. We're so glad you're with us. You're watching CNN -- welcome home. We're glad to have you here.
(COMMERCILA BREAK)
HOLMES: OK. We can go ahead and leave that up because this video is incredible. Have you seen this yet?
WOLF: No.
HOLMES: OK. Just take a look at what we're seeing here. And you'll see why the video goes along with this.
First of all, why would you set yourself on fire might be your first question. Next question is going to be, why would you set yourself on fire, then jump out a window?
WOLF: Still waiting for answers.
HOLMES: Yes, we are. Look at this. This video, Reynolds, has gone viral. This is also of YouTube, where else. But this clearly looks like the part of an elaborate stunt.
This is from a company called Brand X, group of stuntmen and directors, base jumpers in there as well.
Now, it looks like this could end up in a movie somewhere. Like this really looks like a stunt for a movie. But apparently, these guys do this stuff for sport.
WOLF: Do you find it perplexing that roughly 10 years ago, there wasn't a YouTube. But now, with the magic of modern technology, stupidity can be shown worldwide in just the click of a mouse. It is amazing.
I mean, is it impressive? Absolutely. But come on, setting yourself on fire and throwing yourself out of a building?
HOLMES: You know, this is what these guys do. These stunt guys.
WOLF: And they do it well.
HOLMES: They do it well.
WOLF: They do it well.
HOLMES: I mean, it didn't seem like you should have to say don't try this at home. But we'll put the disclaimer in there anyway. But it -- and it looks like -- maybe the covering he had was to just protect his face. But it looked like a -- what's his name? Michael Myers or something from the horror movie.
WOLF: Something like that, yes.
HOLMES: But look at this. Incredible video. It's slowed down and everything. You're seeing the whole scene.
But, yes, just something we thought we'd though you on YouTube. We're trying to get more details about exactly why, but these guys, group of stunt guys, directors.
WOLF: Do you think that it's something that stays with you? I mean, we all remember the first time we rode a bicycle without training wheels or maybe we had our first dance. Do you remember the first time that you jump out of a building that's 22 stories high, set on fire? I mean, you got wonder, is that one you take to your grave?
HOLMES: The guy's apparently a base jumper but he spiced it up with the fire.
WOLF: He certainly does.
HOLMES: All right. We've got more video you'll enjoy, as well.
WOLF: Oh, good.
HOLMES: You called a little stupid identity that one. I don't know what you would call this one.
WOLF: Gumby!
HOLMES: Is that Gumby?
WOLF: That's Gumby in green!
HOLMES: Well, who's on the right then?
WOLF: I don't know.
HOLMES: That's actually Katie Linendoll, one of our tech contributors here, who was dancing with Gumby.
But what you're seeing, a lot of people will recognize this -- I had to get it straight. We had the dragon con that was here in Atlanta not long ago. This is comic con taking place in New York this weekend.
And we know by now people celebrate comic books and characters and dressed up like those comic book characters. And they just have a blast.
WOLF: It's like a party at T.J.'s house. Check it. I'm serious. I mean, it's good times.
HOLMES: Reynolds, I invited you over under secrecy.
WOLF: I know, I know.
HOLMES: You had a vow of silence, you're going to put me out like that.
WOLF: Good times.
HOLMES: But, no. Just want to share those pictures as well. Dragon con is a celebration of, what again, the science fiction.
WOLF: Right.
HOLMES: Science fiction enthusiasts. This one is comic books.
WOLF: Comic con is comic books, Green Lantern, Spider-Man, Superman, that whole kind of thing.
HOLMES: That stuff.
WOLF: Yes.
HOLMES: Sixteen past the hour. We're going to get our conventions straight. We'll be right back.
WOLF: I'm going to set myself on fire and jump out of the window.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: North Korea today putting on a show for the world. North Korea represents, of course, a major foreign policy challenge to the United States now. The family that has run the communist country for some 62 years appears ready to pass control over to a new generation.
Our Alina Cho attended the celebrations today but also served as a coming out party.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good evening. From Kim Il-sung Square here in the center of Pyongyang where tonight, the North Koreans are holding what they call a soiree, the third such event in less than 24 hours, officially marking the 65th anniversary of the founding of the Workers Party of North Korea.
But make no mistake, what this is, in effect, is an elaborate coming out party for the man who will be the next leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, the young son of ailing leader Kim Jong-il. And take it a look behind me, it is pure pageantry -- the colors, the choreography, literally thousands of dancers both men and women dancing and singing to North Korean propaganda music. There were fireworks earlier as well.
And earlier in the day, right here in Kim Il-sung Square, there was also a military parade billed as the country's largest, some 20,000 military personnel, and also a show of North Korean military might, the hardware, if you will, the tanks, the missiles, the shoulder-fired rockets -- clearly a show of the military's strength that this country has.
Remember, this is a country the size of Portugal, the size of the U.S. state of Mississippi, and yet, it still has one of the largest standing armies in the world.
The media, we should mention, has been invited as guests, about 100 of us from around the world.
But make no mistake, the guest of honor tonight are in the balcony, Kim Jong-il and his son, the heir apparent, Kim Jong-un.
Alina Cho, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Taking a look at some of the stories that are making headlines today.
There has been an arrest in the stabbing of an 8-year-old boy. This happened in Long Island. Police say this was a completely random act at a Dave and Buster's. A man went up and just started stabbing an 8-year-old boy. That boy, now, has a punctured lung.
Also, turn to space now and the Soyuz. The Russian Soyuz spacecraft has now docked with the International Space Station. This was a first in that this was an automated docking procedure. First time they had done this.
NASA says it went pretty well. Actually said it was flawless. The first use of the new Soyuz craft to take place here. Now we have an American astronaut on board, two Russians who are adding to the crew of the space station. It's up to six now.
Also, some sad news for a lot of music fans out there. Soul singer Solomon Burke is dead at the age of 70. He a member of the rock 'n' roll hall of fame died while on tour in Europe.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, CNN is spotlighting bullying in schools. We're examining what causes it, what can be done to stop it.
Our CNN student news anchor, Carl Azuz, a friend of our show here on CNN SATURDAY and SUNDAY MORNING, giving us some insight from students and teachers.
Student, are they willing to open up and talk about this? I mean, certain kids wouldn't want to admit they're being bullied -- and I assumed many wouldn't admit that they are the bully. But do you get them to talk?
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: Very good question, T.J. I would say they were on our blog at CNNStudentNews.com, because there's a level of anonymity to it. We only accept students' first names. They can log on and talk to us about their experience, either as a bully or somebody who's been bullied.
We ran into some problems when we're trying to get students in Atlanta, in the Atlanta area, that talk on camera about it. I thought that was sort of an important and interesting part of the story because they didn't want to be seen and heard discussing bullying. But there were some exceptions to the rule. Anderson Cooper sat down with a group of students and spoke with them, and we had an iReport sent in to us from Mrs. Spiess' class in Ohio. They're Student News viewers.
I want you to take a listen to what one of her students said about bullying, about why it's so widespread. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think if you think about it everybody's bullied someone at some point in time. Whether it's shoving someone into a looker or calling somebody a name. So, yes, I have bullied someone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: And that's part of the reason why I think it's difficult to put a definition what exactly bullying is because what is it? Is it shoving someone into a looker? Is it more punitive, like we've seen in cyber-bullying? It's just a very broad thing that's very, very widespread. And there's not a lot of optimism it's going to go away.
HOLMES: OK. Is that kind of how they feel about, OK, it's just part of it, it's a part of growing up, you have to deal with it?
AZUZ: That's what a lot of kids are telling us. I mean, what we've seen on our blog over and over again from students is that this is something that, you know, regardless of what's done on behalf of schools or administration or something like that, they just don't feel like they're going to wake up one morning and there aren't going to be any more bullies. And as far as how it makes them feel, I haven't seen anyone phrase it as well as another student from Mrs. Spiess' class in Bryan, Ohio.
Listen to this one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KYRA ROBINETT, STUDENT: To me, it makes you feel like you have a bottomless pit in your stomach, like you're always worried about when the bully's going to come and pick on you and stuff. And it feels like nobody wants to help you. They want to side with the bully.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
AZUZ: And one thing they're dealing with, T.J., that you and I didn't have in school is cyber-bullying. I mean, there were always those kids who picked on other kids or people who insulted other kids, something like that. But now, with the Internet, there's a lot of fear amongst students that something's going to be posted about me online and it's not going to go --
HOLMES: The way it sounded with that young lady, it sounds like you're constantly living on edge, worried about the bully coming around the corner. Or like you said, showing up online. Are kids any different today than we were or kids before us? Is it just -- they're not really meaner kids is what I'm trying to ask. It's just they have a different means of bullying that can seem a lot meaner.
AZUZ: I think -- you know, I think bully's been around as long as schools have.
HOLMES: Yes.
AZUZ: There's no question about that. I think there are some things today's kids deal with that you and I didn't. There are some elements in terms of the Internet, cyber-bullying and the fear that something on YouTube that's not taken down is going to be there 10 years from now when they go to look for jobs.
So, I think that's a concern that's in the back of their minds that you and I didn't have to deal with. And that's what makes it a little more difficult, I think, for these kids.
HOLMES: You know, with those wonderful tools, those computers and everything kids have that can help them study and everything else, there are still some downsides with all this technology. It's amazing what kids have to deal with.
Carl -- AZUZ: It is. Thank you, T.J.
HOLMES: And we got a week-long -- I know you're going to be covering this all week, we were covering this actually with the bullying. And I know you were front and center on it, as well. We appreciate you as always, buddy.
AZUZ: Thank you, T.J. Appreciate it.
HOLMES: We're going to turn to this story we're telling you about a little earlier today. An overdose, a mass overdose at a college house party, about a dozen people, most of them young women, have to head to the hospital. Police say they may have been targeted in a sexual assault scheme.
Twenty-seven minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREKKA)
HOLMES: Hey there, everybody. Bottom of the hour here now; welcome back to the CNN SUNDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes. I'm glad you could be here.
Let's take a look now at some of the stories that are making headlines.
Look at that. That is what North Korea wants you and the rest of the world to see today. A huge celebration there, celebrating 65 years of their ruling workers party there. And it's also a coming out party for the youngest son of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il. That youngest son is expected to take the reins from his father at some point.
Also we'll turn to northwest Pakistan now where today a suspected drone attack killed at least four people. The four are believed to be militants. Intelligence officials say. Three or four missiles were fired at a house in northern Waziristan.
Also, it could be Wednesday when we see the first trapped miner in Chile on the surface for a change. They have been trapped nearly half a mile underground there in Chile since August the 5th. They are expected to be spending their last days.
Yesterday, a major milestone and a breakthrough when they literally broke through -- through the mine, where the drilling had been taking place for some time. The drill broke through, so now what they need to do is put a capsule down and start plucking those men out one by one.
We turn to Washington State now where someone, according to police, slipped drugs into the drinks of young people at a party. Twelve of them had to go to the hospital. Now according to many of the kids who were there, they believe that they were drugged with this date-rape drug known as roofies.
Right now, one of the people who went to the hospital still in the hospital, the rest were able to go home.
Shomari Stone of our affiliate KOMO reports the incident has students on alert at Central Washington University.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARRIE LANGHIE, STUDENT: And everybody's scared to go anywhere. I mean, like even if it's close to campus.
SHOMARI STONE, KOMO (voice-over): Carrie Langhie sticks close to her friends as they walk together as a group at Central Washington University. The school had meetings reminding student to be careful and letting them know where they can go to get help during emergencies.
LANGHIE: It scares me, honestly it scares me to ever go anywhere. I mean, like if they drug you, you don't know what's going to happen.
STONE: Twelve young women didn't know what happened Friday night. They drank some cups inside this house at a party 30 miles off campus, and overdosed on a drug that was mixed in their drinks. At first everything was ok.
KATELYNN ALLEN, STUDENT: Some people were having fun, and then all of a suddenly -- suddenly all the girls were puking everywhere. Girls were outside like on their back. And people were so drunk they didn't know what to do.
STONE: Police say some of the women only had one or two cups.
CHIEF SCOTT FERGUSON, CLE BLU-ROSLYN POLICE DEPARTMENT: We suspect that, again, that these drugs were -- were introduced to these students probably without their knowledge.
STONE (on camera): Now some people at the party tell us that they believe the drinks were mixed with a powerful date-rape drug called roofies.
CHRIS UNGER, STUDENT: They were roofied. So they were roofied and they're falling down, their drinks were going everywhere. And we were just picking them up. I carried about four people downstairs.
STONE (voice-over): Some women drove one of their friends to a nearby parking lot at a grocery store and called police saying their friend was unconscious. When police showed up at the house, around 50 other college freshmen and teens were either passed out or highly intoxicated.
Medics drove 12 people to the hospital. Most have been treated and released. Police are determined to find out who laced the drinks and what drug was used.
UNGER: And we knew immediately it was roofies, and we like we're trying to investigate who did it. But we couldn't figure it out.
STONE: Some students told me they're keeping their guard up.
LANGHIE: No I definitely wouldn't go out without my group of people.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now the police chief said when officers arrived they thought it was obvious that the drugging had a sexual motive behind it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FERGUSON: As of this morning we had three remaining in the hospital. Two have since been released. And that individual that was in critical has been upgraded to stable and is conscious and alert.
HOLMES: Why would you get the idea that it was -- this was sexual in nature?
FERGUSON: Well, what made it sexual is as -- as the officers were sweeping the -- the house for -- for additional victims, one of the members of the sheriff's department walked in and actually observed an individual, male individual engaged in sexual activity with a semi-unconscious female.
So that's where the -- the sexual assault had occurred.
HOLMES: And that was the only person who is believed to be sexually assaulted, or were there were victims who were taken at the hospital they believed to be sexually assaulted?
FERGUSON: No. No indication -- no indication of any other -- any other situations or incidents similar to that, no.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, you heard there what the officers saw when they came in. It turned out later that one individual that they saw having sex with a young woman who seemed semi unconscious, he was held for a time and questioned. But it turned out that that was actually his girlfriend that he was with at that party at the time. Eleven of the 12 people hospitalized were in fact women.
Well, coming up, for gays and lesbians the coming out process can be difficult, can be emotional. But parents can face difficult challenges, as well.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you tell your business partner? How do you tell your friends? How do you tell your family? How do you tell everybody that's involved? And how will they take that information?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, a new tool we're going to share with you to help parents get answers.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Let's turn now at 37 past the hour to the highlight of my Sunday morning; Candy Crowley and "State Of The Union" coming your way in just about 20 minutes. Candy good morning dear lady, how are you doing?
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN HOST, "STATE OF THE UNION": Good morning, I'm fine. You are in fine shape, as well, I can tell.
HOLMES: Well, thank you. I am doing well.
Let's see, 23 days until midterms. I assume you're going to be tackling this in a major way. But how many more twists and turns can we possibly have in this last 23 days? You think you figure something out, I mean, here comes another twist.
CROWLEY: Exactly. Remember October surprise.
HOLMES: Oh yes.
CROWLEY: It's the part of the political lexicon. So the Democrats are hoping the surprise is that the polls really narrow. Obviously they've been looking since the beginning of this year at very, very bad poll numbers at an election that looks like historically and statistically is working against them. They now see a closing of the polls.
Republicans sort of toss it off and say, listen, there's a natural closing in the final months before an election. People are paying attention, they make up their minds. But Democrats hope that this is the start of a trend and that they can at least if not win seats because no one really expects that they're going to win -- net win seats, at least not lose as many.
HOLMES: All right. And you have -- and give us some perspective here. You have seen plenty of midterm elections. And the party in power, yes we know -- who has the White House at least oftentimes will lose seats.
So how have you -- how would you compare this president's level of campaign activity to past presidents in the midterms when they're usually not so popular if you were leading into a midterm?
CROWLEY: I think this president has pretty much followed along the lines of others. Because if you are not popular in certain regions it doesn't mean you can't raise money for the candidate.
HOLMES: Right.
CROWLEY: And -- and what the White House is looking for now and what the Democratic Leadership on Capitol Hill is looking for is to retain the majority. So they have pretty much given their Democratic members carte blanche, do what you have to do to get elected. If that means I stay out of your district, ok. They are putting as much money as they can into it, and the president is always, no matter what his poll numbers are, the president is always a party's best fundraiser. And that's what this president's been able to do --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: And you know --
CROWLEY: -- as well as to go into districts where he's popular. And you've seen the outreach to the young people in recent weeks when he gets those humongous crowds. And so what he is hoping is they will sort of look back at the good old days of 2008 and get to the polls as they did for him in 2008.
HOLMES: You know, very good point to make. He doesn't have to be front and center to help these candidates. He can just have --
(CROSSTALK)
CROWLEY: Right.
HOLMES: -- a little reception and raise money for them, quite frankly.
Candy, thank you.
And I notice you also have former CIA Director Michael Hayden, and you're going to be talking about those recent travel alerts that we have been seeing as well.
So Candy, thank you as always.
CROWLEY: Thank you.
HOLMES: Good to see you.
HOLMES: "State of the Union" --
CROWLEY: Good to see you and have a good Sunday.
HOLMES: Thank you, thank you.
And it continues. You can see Candy Crowley here in just a moment about 20 minutes from now I should say at 9:00 Eastern Time, 6:00 Pacific. Candy Crowley, "STATE OF THE UNION."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a special "Faces of Faith" for you today.
A family struggles with their own faith after their son tells them that he is gay. In the end, they embrace their son, even posted their experience on line to help others in a similar situation.
CNN's Julie Peterson has this morning's "Faces of Faith." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADAM ELLIS, CAME OUT TO PARENTS: How do I tell them, how are they going to react?
JULIE PETERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Adam Ellis remembers how he felt when he came out to his parents 12 years. He was 16, and he was scared.
A. ELLIS: I knew deep down the whole time that they would never stop loving me. But I also knew just knowing from society and knew that it would be tough on them, that it was going to be a struggle.
PETERSON: It would become a struggle for the whole family.
PATTI ELLIS, ADAM'S MOTHER: That night he came in from a party or something and he sat down on my bed. And well, a conversation went on and then he said, "Mom, I'm gay." And he broke down. And then of course I get up, and I hug him and I go, "I have to go get your dad."
JEFF ELLIS, ADAM'S FATHER: And when you're finally faced with that information, all you can see is your whole life change. Because you don't know where once the domino starts to fall, where does it quit going?
How do you tell your business partner? How do you tell your friends? How do you tell your family? How do you tell everybody that's involved? And how will they take that information?
PETERSON: For three years, the family kept it a secret as they tried to come to terms with things.
J. ELLIS: It was a long, long struggle.
P. ELLIS: It was. It was.
And see, I think through the thing which most moms do, and that is what did I do to cause this. And I spent many, many nights praying to God to give me a second chance.
PETERSON: But Patti says through prayer, a lot of soul searching, and meeting other parents with gay children she and her husband were able to make peace with things. Then they went through their own coming out process, talking openly to family and to friends.
J. ELLIS: That has to be the most empowering thing is that we held that secret for so long, and then people have power over you because you're trying to contain this information.
P. ELLIS: I finally came out, and I came out with both doors bursting because that's my personality.
PETERSON: Nine years ago, Patti started a Web site for families with gay children.
P. ELLIS: This one starts off, "I just wanted to thank you and your family for sharing your story."
PETERSON: She's answered thousands of messages.
P. ELLIS: We've received emails from people all over the world. I seriously have gotten them from India. I've gotten them from Australia. I get them from England. And get them -- but most of them are just mom and dads in some small town all over America.
They think they did something wrong, and all of this -- it keeps them in the closet when their child came out, they went in.
PETERSON: So much has changed for the Ellis family. But one thing has not --
J. ELLIS: I cared for him from the moment they put him in my arms when he was born. And I said, "That's not going to change ever," for any reason whatsoever. He's too good a kid. Always has been.
A. ELLIS: But it makes me so grateful to have parents like I do. You know, almost a little bit undeserving.
PETERSON: Julie Peterson, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: And the two folks you see featured in there, Patti and also Adam Ellis, they are here with me now live in studio. Guys, thank you so much for being in here with us. An important conversation to have; and you all have some experience you can certainly lend to folks. So thank you so much.
That was how many years ago you came out to your parents now?
A. ELLIS: Ninety-seven.
HOLMES: Ninety-seven. Where is the family now compared to where they were then, just maybe immediately after you came out and even in the years after? How is the family now would you say?
A. ELLIS: Well, you know, a lot of people think that when they see the Web site that, you know, I came out and they've just accepted me as was. If they had another Web site, they may think that there was, you know, a little bit of a struggle. But it took -- it was a good three years probably before I -- when I got to college I think was when they finally really started to turn around.
P. ELLIS: We're really good now, though, no, T.J. We are. We're a good family. And I do believe because of that struggle we're a better family. We're -- we understand that you just -- you have to love each other. You're a family and you have to stick together.
HOLMES: I assume it was a tight-knit family beforehand. Everything was just fine. How difficult was that for you as a mother to essentially see your family implode in a way?
P. ELLIS: Well, you know, as a mom we kind of just keep that nest together. And I'm not going to let it implode. However, he saw the struggle we were going through. It put the strain on my younger son, who is in middle school at that time. And I'm sorry -- he was not. He was younger than that even.
But we just -- you constantly have to keep working it. And remembering that this is a family, and this is my son. And this is my other son. We just have to keep pulling it together.
HOLMES: Very religious family, would you describe yourselves as?
P. ELLIS: We were church-going people, yes, we were, absolutely.
HOLMES: How much did that play into the difficulty of trying to interpret or trying to explain what was going on with your son through your religion. Was that a big part of the strain?
A. ELLIS: I don't think so at all. I think it was more of a community aspect. I don't think that there was any sort of I guess a doubt on the religious aspect. It was more the community accepting it in that way.
P. ELLIS: Let me just say this. There was never, ever one time that I ever doubted that my -- that God loved my son and loved my family, ever. That was never -- what I did have to question, though, is how are we going to navigate in this world?
And, you know, every Sunday you knew -- you knew what was being taught in the churches. But this is my son, so there must be something wrong. There must be another truth out there that I don't know. And that was our search, was to find out what is really going on.
HOLMES: Now, why -- I think I heard in the piece, you kept it still secret from the community for, three years or something afterward? Why did you feel that was necessary to do? Are we still in that day and age -- or was that a different time even? You think it would be different now?
P. ELLIS: I think things are a little different. But at the same time, though, when you live in those -- in the suburbs and you live in a small community where your church is your community, your church is your social outlet; then, yes, it's a little hard to deal with because you know what's being taught inside the church. And you don't really have a church to lean on at that point.
A. ELLIS: Yes. And you see the bullying that's going on. You know, I mean that's still going on now. And I think it's kind of a timely thing that we're even talking about it now because -- I've dealt with that, too. And not even being out at that time.
HOLMES: What is the recommendation and advice you would give right now? You know there are plenty of young people out there who were in the same position as you were at that time. We just had the story you mentioned, out at Rutgers, the young man killed himself. I mean what are we supposed to do and what would you tell those young people to make them feel comfortable so they don't have to suffer in silence and, God forbid, do what that young man did.
A. ELLIS: Well, I think there's a whole campaign with the slogan of "It Gets Better". I think I've seen things on YouTube with that. And that's what I could say is that it does get better. You do get out of that small shell of whoever these people are around you, there's a much bigger world than that that is accepting -- there is an accepting world that's out there.
HOLMES: All right. Last thing here, I want you all to give the name of the Web site where people can go and just give a description of it. I want to make sure people know where they can check this out.
P. ELLIS: It's familyacceptance.com. And if you missed that, it's dot-net, dot-org, we have them all. It's familyacceptance and it's really story of our family when Adam came out and showed what we did and how we handled it in hopes that other families will not feel alone and they will know that you're going to be ok. And that's really what it's about.
HOLMES: Well guys, again, Patti and Adam Ellis, we appreciate you coming in here and sharing the story. I know you've been sharing the story for a while now. But like you said, awfully timely given what we have been seeing and being a part of our "Faces of Faith" today.
Guys thank you so much, and congratulations to your family with the success certainly that you have had. Thank you very much.
A. ELLIS: Thank you.
P. ELLIS: Thank you.
Holmes: It's 49 past the hour. Quick break here, we're right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, those miners who have been trapped underground for more than two months are now just a few days away from being back above ground. The first of the 33 men could be hoisted up starting Wednesday.
Our Karl Penhaul reports from outside the mine in northern Chile.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the news they've all been waiting for -- breakthrough. A rescue shaft finally drilled half a mile deep to the 33 trapped miners.
This bell sounds the moment, 8:05 a.m. On a barren hillside overlooking the San Jose Mine, families sob with joy. This is the final countdown to the time they'll be reunited with their loved ones.
"They must be happy, just look at us up here. Imagine how they must feel," this miner's wife says. Eight-year-old Bryan Arana(ph) hugs a flag dedicated to his miner granddad, Esteban Rojas.
"When the mine collapsed, I shouted, God, why has this happened to me. I've been a good boy. I didn't deserve this, I didn't think there was any hope," he says.
But the bell chime stirs new hope inside little Bryan. He has the words ready to welcome granddad home. "I love you, Papito," he says.
Bryan's grandma is celebrating, too. When the mine caved in on August 5, no one knew if the 33 were alive. But 17 days later, a test probe located them. It came back to the surface with this letter from Mario Gomes to his wife.
"Dear Lila, I'm ok, thanks to God. I hope to get out soon. Be patient and have faith. We will make it out. We will be happy forever with our family. We will see one another again soon. Good- bye, my darling, a kiss."
Mario Gomes and his 32 comrades have fulfilled that promise; against all the odds, they survived. And soon they'll be coming home.
Karl Penhaul, CNN at the San Jose Mine in northern Chile.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
Holmes: Well, we are only a couple of minutes away from Candy Crowley and "STATE OF THE UNION" at the top of the hour. But I'll give you a quick check of the headlines including what's happening in North Korea today that could signal a change in leadership down the road.
Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, taking a look at some of the stories that are making headlines today.
Big celebration taking place today in North Korea; they've had a show of military force with the military parade and also the pageantry here of the festival that took place. This is to celebrate the 65th anniversary of that country and its workers party -- its ruling workers party.
But it was also a coming out party for the youngest son of the leader, Kim Jong-Il, the youngest son now believed to be the one who's going to be taking the reins from his father at some point.
Also, a little update here about those trapped miners in Chile. The 33 of them have been down there since August 5th. We're being told that it could be on Wednesday that we see the first miner pulled out. Of course, they broke through with the mine -- with the drill. So they have made it down to the men. Just need to start pulling them up now.
But right now, I want to hand this thing over to Candy Crowley and "STATE OF THE UNION". Thanks for hanging with me, folks.
