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CNN Saturday Morning News
Bush Meets with Pope; Paris Hilton Back in Jail; Beef Recall; Possible Problems with "Atlantis" Space Shuttle; Tires Cause Disaster Off the Coast of Florida
Aired June 09, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Well, from the CNN center, this is CNN Saturday morning. It is June 9th. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J..
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR, SATURDAY MORNING: Good morning, T.J..
HOLMES: Good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: Hey there everybody. I'm Betty. We want to thank you for joining us today, got a lot to tell you about.
HOLMES: Including going from land to space, the shuttle launch. Looks great there, doesn't it? Looks pretty much picture perfect.
NGUYEN: But could this small tear, you see it right there, cause any problems during re-entry? NASA is keeping a close eye on it and we're going to bring you the latest from the Kennedy space center.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She handcuffed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, she was cuffed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Paris Hilton, yeah she was cuffed and she's waking up this morning in a California jail. Is it justice served or is this undue punishment? We'll let you weigh in this morning.
NGUYEN: But we start with the president and the pope, President Bush stopping at the Vatican this morning for his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI. We've got plenty to talk about. The pope, of course, has been an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq. And CNN Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci is joining us now live this morning. Alessio, how did the meeting go?
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty, from a beautiful day in Rome and also very windy. The meeting went pretty well I would say. The president arrived with -- accompanied by the first lady, Laura Bush. He was escorted through the corridors and hallways of the Vatican by the head of the pontifical household, who happens to be actually an American, Archbishop James Harvey. The two leaders then sat down in the pope's study and that is when Benedict XVI went straight to business, asking the president about his G-8 meetings. The president answered that it was a successful meeting, mentioning, of course, progress towards combating AIDS and poverty in Africa, something, of course, both leaders see eye to eye.
And then the pope also asked the president about his meetings with President Vladimir Putin of Russia, a lot of controversy. And the president there caught a little bit off guard and basically pointing toward the fact that there were cameras and reporters in the room. He basically told the pope, I'll tell you a little bit later, indicating that perhaps he wanted to discuss the issues behind closed doors. Behind those closed doors, of course, Iraq on the agenda. The pope recently suggesting that nothing positive is coming from there.
One particular concern at the Vatican, we're told by Vatican officials, the fate of the Catholic minorities in Iraq caught in the strife in that country. Most of the Catholic minority has left the country, fleeing the strife. And of course, there's a lot of concern for these people. Recently a priest was abducted, another one was killed. But the Vatican is not calling for the troops' withdrawal out of Iraq, they basically recognizing that at the end of the day, that presence there is necessary to as much as possible maintain some kind of stability. Back to you.
NGUYEN: Alessio, I wanted to ask you about the meeting with the prime minister this afternoon. What can you tell us about that? What's on the agenda?
VINCI: President Bush is going to meet with the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, a working lunch a bit later on. Today of course, the two leaders just met in Germany during the G-8 summit. On the agenda, of course, again international event such as the Middle East, of course, also Italy's commitment in Afghanistan and in Lebanon where Italy has a series of -- has committed to some troops. The president suggesting before traveling here that he wanted, perhaps, the Italians to do a bit more.
The Italian prime minister of course will lead the center left coalition with some far left wing members and communists who are opposing, actually, the U.S. military intervention of Afghanistan has their hands tied but the Italians did actually over the last few months beefed up their presence in Afghanistan sending their helicopters and some other hardware so the Italians, although they are -- the Italian prime minister, although he is a little bit sort of in a tight position because he can't do really much in terms of sending more troops, he is trying to send a clear message to the Americans that their relations are good and they're trying to do everything they can to be together. In fact, on most international issues, such as Iran, Darfur, Sudan, Darfur and Lebanon, the two sides, of course, see eye to eye.
NGUYEN: Alessio Vinci joining us from Rome. Thank you.
HOLMES: We got some questions this morning about one of President Bush's friends in Saudi Arabia's royal family. British media reports say a 1985 arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia was backed by secret payments to Saudi Prince Bandar Sultan (ph). NGUYEN: Prince Bandar is the former Saudi ambassador to the U.S. The report says the prince may have received up to $2 billion from a British defense firm with ties to the British government. Now, the firm, BAE Systems denies it did anything wrong. A statement from Prince Bandar's attorney says the same thing.
HOLMES: NASA is taking a closer look this morning at the lift-off of space shuttle "Atlantis."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And lift-off of space shuttle "Atlantis" to assemble the framework for the science laboratories of tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the launch looked good but further examination of the video and pictures showed problems with falling foam and a rip in a thermal blanket. What does all this mean? For that we are joined on the phone by CNN's space correspondent Miles O'Brien, who's at the Kennedy space center this morning. Miles, here we go again, is what a lot of people are probably thinking. How big of a deal is this?
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's hard to say at this point. First of all, those two little pieces of falling foam were not a big issue, T.J.. The video evidence clearly suggests that the foam fell off at a time in the mission when it would not cause significant impact to the orbiter, did not strike the orbiter itself. As you see in that picture right there, you see what appears to be tearing or a bunching in some thermal blankets located on the upper left hand portion of the back portion of the shuttle right near the tail. This is a piece of blanket there which it's hard to say, but many people would say it's torn or bunched up and it's perhaps exposing the shuttle's skin beneath.
These blankets are made of silica and woven glass, essentially. It's kind of like a quilt. And the blankets are put on this area right beside the tail in areas where there is less heat exposure. And so by virtue of the fact that it's blankets there, there isn't as much heat that is -- that the shuttle will be exposed to. So the concern level right now is in the moderate range. Obviously they're going to be looking very closely at it. Those little pieces of foam that you see falling off there on the tank, you can see them off to the left highlighted. You notice what they do, they go straight off to the side and it's clear that they don't strike the orbiter at all. So that appears to be a harmless little piece of foam. The launch itself was otherwise near flawless, countdown. The weather was perfect for it. The seven-member crew on its way to the international space station today will conduct a more comprehensive survey of all of the tiles, all of the thermal protection system to ensure there aren't any other potential breaches.
HOLMES: Miles, that picture we're seeing, we'll try to get it back up here, that hole we saw in that thermal blanket you're talking about, how big is that? I know it's enhanced here and we can't make much out of it. But how big of a hole are we talking about right there? What possibly could have caused that? Would it had to have been something striking the vehicle?
O'BRIEN: Well, it certainly looks like a strike of some kind. The question is, what would have struck it at that point? It's hard to say. They'll have to look more carefully at the imagery from the ground. There's radar tracking which is aimed at the shuttle itself to see if there's anything falling off the vehicle or if it strikes anything that would be in the air. It's about 3, 3 1/2 inches at its longest point in that triangle. And the depth of those blankets can be up to about a half inch thickness. So that gives you a certain sense of scale there so hard to say.
I can just tell you that in the early days of the program, the first two, three, four space shuttle missions in that part of the shuttle on the upper left, near the tail, it was covered with tiles. Those tiles had -- constantly fell off. They were a real problem. And those three, four missions came back to earth without any significant problem with tiles missing. So it's an area that it isn't exposed to a tremendous amount of heat. That's why they put the blankets on there which don't provide as much heat insulation as those black tiles that you see on the bottom of the space shuttle where temperatures can exceed 2,000 degrees. So nevertheless, this will be something they're going to look at and potentially look at the possibility of coming up with some kind of repair, which the crew could, perhaps, do in the midst of this mission.
HOLMES: All right. Like you said, kind of a moderate concern right now, but still they're taking a close look at it. Miles O'Brien all over this for us and we appreciate it. Certainly we'll be checking back in with you. Thanks so much, Miles.
O'BRIEN: You're welcome.
NGUYEN: In other news, funeral services are set for this afternoon for Senator Craig Thomas. The Wyoming Republican died Monday after suffering from leukemia. A public service is planned today in Casper for burial set tomorrow in Cody, Wyoming. Thomas' passing is not expected to upset the balance of power in the Senate this year. (INAUDIBLE) submitted the name of three possible replacements to the state Democratic governor, then he picks one.
There is another beef recall to tell you about this morning, 40,000 pounds of ground beef are being pulled off the shelves at Wal- Mart stores in 12 states. The beef from Tyson Foods may be contaminated with e. coli bacteria. Take a good look. Here's a list of the states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. Now, this is not related to an earlier beef recall by United Foods in 11 western states.
HOLMES: Well, Paris Hilton is waking up in jail again this morning. This is the day after she was released. A judge sent the hotel heiress back to lockup. Now, Hilton is undergoing physical and psychiatric testing. We get more now from CNN's Ted Rowlands.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she handcuffed?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, she was cuffed.
TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Paris Hilton's journey back to jail started in handcuffs and a ride with sheriff's deputies from her house to a waiting judge who wanted to see her back in court. Photographers and reporters literally trampled each other trying to get a glimpse of Hilton as she left. From the air, news helicopters showed the chaos outside the house, broadcasting every second of it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at these people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm on vacation and I thought I would see a little bit of this. I almost got stamped over everyone, besides the cars.
ROWLANDS: The media broadcast Hilton's ride through Los Angeles to the courthouse. Her parents followed behind in a black SUV occasionally pulling alongside. The scene was reminiscent of other, only in California celebrity moments, including Michael Jackson's race to court in his pajamas and O.J.'s slow-speed Bronco chase.
HARVEY LEVIN, MANAGING EDITOR, TMZ.COM: It's this fascination that goes way beyond the case itself. It's just kind of an event to watch. It's interesting --
ROWLANDS: The fascination over Hilton's case grew after she was released from jail and allowed to serve her sentence at home. Many people were outraged over what they thought was preferential treatment by the sheriff. In court, the judge seemed to agree, ordering Hilton, as she sobbed, to serve the rest of her sentence behind bars.
ALLAN PARACHINI, L.A. SUPERIOR COURT SPOKESMAN: The judge heard arguments, he heard out the county counsel's office representing the sheriff. He heard the defense. He heard the city attorney. He ruled that he was remanding Miss Hilton to the sheriff's custody to serve the remainder of her sentence.
ROWLANDS: The sheriff blasted the judge's decision to send Paris Hilton to jail in the first place, saying others in her situation would never have been treated as harshly by the court. Sheriff Baca also scoffed at claims that he was somehow giving her special treatment.
SHERIFF LEE BACA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF: The only thing that I can detect of special treatment is the amount of her sentence, because under our 10 percent early release program, she would not have served any time in our jail or would have been directly put on home electric monitoring system. So the special treatment in a sense is because it appears to be her celebrity status. She got more time in jail.
ROWLANDS: Baca also defended his initial decision to let Hilton serve her sentence at home, saying county doctors told him her mental condition was deteriorating and, he says, now she'll be in a special medical unit, indicating she may be a danger to herself.
BACA: I'm just going to keep her in a better facility for her condition, meaning one that has a more intense form of medical support, and we'll watch her behavior so that there isn't anything that is harmfully done to herself by herself, which is a great concern to me.
ROWLANDS: Ted Rowlands, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, the saga will continue. Coming up at the half hour, we'll talk with former U.S. Attorney Kendell Coffee (ph) about the twists and turns in and out of the courtroom in this Paris Hilton case.
NGUYEN: Suspects are in custody in connection with two missing soldiers in Iraq, but is the U.S. military closer to finding out the Americans' fate? We have the latest on the search effort. That is coming up on CNN Saturday morning.
HOLMES: Also, it wasn't the weather that caused a lot of flight delays at several airports. So what happened?
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And speaking of weather, we have rain and fog right now in Connecticut and parts of Long Island. We're also looking at wet weather in Miami. So if these are any of your travel destinations, I'll tell what you to expect for this weekend coming up.
NGUYEN: Also, passport problems. Summer vacation plans on the line.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't even reschedule because you don't know when we're going to get our passports.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: But help is on the way. Please, grab you a cup of coffee, maybe some fruit loops or grits maybe or some turkey bacon, some veggie sausage, whatever it is, grab it, stick around. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Oh, that morning-after jitters at the nation's airports. Air travelers hit by huge delays Friday after a computer glitch quickly spread throughout the system. The problems began in Atlanta Friday morning and were fixed by 11:00 a.m., but by then flights across the east coast were either canceled or delayed. And at one point flights into New York's La Guardia airport were delayed by nearly four hours.
NGUYEN: Wow. Hopefully you're at your destination now. HOLMES: Where you're supposed to be.
NGUYEN: There was some severe weather in Wisconsin this week. Is any more on it's way? A lot of people are wondering that.
HOLMES: Bonnie Schneider is going to give those people the answers that they seek. Hello Bonnie.
SCHNEIDER: Good morning T.J. and Betty. A lot better for Wisconsin for today, actually really nice conditions. High pressure building in from Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois so the weather looks really good. We've got lots of sunshine. But on Thursday, it was a totally different story. We had tornadoes on the ground. Check out this i-Report video. This is from Matt Kaskavitch and he sent in this video because he spotted a tornado that actually did come down on the ground. He shot this video out of Bevent (ph), Wisconsin. Wisconsin was the site for numerous reports of tornadoes and severe weather on Thursday. Things calmed down a lot yesterday but we did have over 300 reports of strong wind and hail. Yesterday wasn't really a tornado day but it was definitely a day for wind damage.
Let's take a look at the map for today. The same front that brought all the severe weather to the upper Midwest, this is actually sliding to the east and tapping into a lot of moisture so we'll still see some wet weather, particularly for Florida. That's where we're watching for a lot of rain, but we're also looking for cooler and dryer conditions where the front has already passed through. So as I mentioned, some good weather for parts of the Midwest. But I want to show you what's happening in the northeast if you're just waking up into Boston, New York City, Hartford, Connecticut, you have fog right now in Connecticut. And that easterly flow, that's not the best thing for a weekend because that means we'll see cloudy and cool conditions and intermittent showers. New York City right now we do have some rain, but that should actually clear up. The further west you live, the better the forecast looks. In the meantime we're also checking out a little bit of rain, as I mentioned there and high temperatures that are pretty warm across the south, particularly into the southern plains. Dallas, you'll see a high of 91 degrees, 81 in New York City and look at this, Chicago, Detroit in the upper 70s. That's where you want to be today. The weather looks great. Betty, T.J.
NGUYEN: All right, Bonnie, thank you.
HOLMES: Thank you Bonnie. Well, are you in passport panic mode? If you're planning an overseas trip this summer, you know what I'm saying here. Now some temporary changes in passport rules for certain destinations. We'll tell you about it.
NGUYEN: A lot of people excited about that because they have those vacations planned.
And it's a war of words over swear words.
HOLMES: Swear words?
NGUYEN: Well, curse words. HOLMES: Cussing going on.
NGUYEN: All right, all right, just don't start cussing at me. What viewers get and what they won't be getting on television when it comes to those cuss words. We'll have all of that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, planning to travel outside the U.S. this summer and can't get your passport? Well, help is on the way. Well, you see these passports here. You might not have one just yet. It might be an issue for you. The Bush administration is actually temporarily suspending some of the rules that were meant to put in place to keep terrorists out of the country post-9/11. Now, travelers heading to Canada, Mexico, Barbados and the Caribbean can now make the trip with a photo ID and proof that they've applied for a passport without the actual passport. So that could help you out. Well, what are the other travelers facing? Here now with that story, Allan Chernoff.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Diana Perez is in a panic. Five days before her family's scheduled flight to Colombia, South America. The family's luggage is packed but her children's passports have yet to arrive, even though Diana applied for them nearly four months ago. She's been calling the passport agency each morning at the crack of dawn.
DIANA PEREZ, WAITING FOR PASSPORT: I started calling 6:01, 6:02, 6:03, the whole morning, I spent like over two hours on the phone.
CHERNOFF: Even worse than negotiating the agency's automated phone system is the fact that Diana and her husband, Orlando, spent $1500 on airline tickets they may be unable to use.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can't even reschedule because you don't know when we're going to get our passports.
CHERNOFF: The Perez family is not alone. As summer vacation season begins, the U.S. passport agency is overwhelmed, swamped with a record number of applications. Why? Well, the U.S. toughened passport policy in January, now requiring citizens to carry a passport when flying to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
WANDA NESBITT, BUREAU OF CONSULAR AFFAIRS: We did not know exactly what the level of increase would be and so our predictions fell a little bit short. And that's why there's currently a little bit of a crunch.
CHERNOFF: The crunch, though, wasn't a complete surprise. The State Department's passport agency had more than two years' notice. It was back in December 2004 that Congress approved tougher passport rules, part of its response to 9/11 Commission recommendations to tighten homeland security. The State Department did beef up the passport agency, expanding facilities and hours, hiring 280 extra passport reviewers, even asking retirees to come back to work. The number of people who actually review each application or each renewal is how many?
NESBITT: About 700 right now.
CHERNOFF: And this year you expect to process 17.5 million passports?
NESBITT: That's right. It's pretty efficient.
CHERNOFF: Sounds like not enough people.
NESBITT: As I said, we're in the process of hiring more.
CHERNOFF: About 300 more. Plus, they're starting up this brand new passport printing center in Hot Springs, Arkansas though it won't be fully operating until year's end.
NESBITT: We are doing everything possible to make sure that we meet the increased demand that is clearly out there.
CHERNOFF: The State Department acknowledges applicants now wait 10 to 12 weeks to get their passports, far longer than the prior wait time of six to eight. Passport officials say Diana Perez's four-month wait time is the exception. Travelers with an upcoming trip do get priority. And the vast majority of Americans are getting their passports in time to travel even if the documents arrive with just a few days to spare. Next year, even tougher rules kick in requiring passports for Americans crossing the Canadian and Mexican borders by car, which is sure to further increase demand for passports. The State Department says it's doing everything possible to meet the extra workload but is making no promises there won't be further delays next year. Allan Chernoff, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, the U.S. military talking about a breakthrough in the search for those missing soldiers in Iraq.
HOLMES: New clues to who may have done it. The massive hunt isn't letting up. We'll have the latest on it.
NGUYEN: Plus, Josh Levs is keeping an ear on what we see and hear on television. Josh is there.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I am. You know what Betty, the FCC this week faced some trouble. A court struck down FCC rules involving what words can be said on television. Does this mean our favorite shows are going to start cursing up a storm? We are going to have a CNN reality check which I know T.J., you're very excited about this one.
HOLMES: We're going to test out some of those new rules.
LEVS: No, we're not.
HOLMES: It will be later in the morning, though.
Also, we got this story for you, truckers who can't speak a word of English get a commercial driver's license? We'll see what one law officer did after having a hard time communicating with one driver. Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF LEE BACA, L.A. COUNTY: The only thing that I can detect as special treatment is the amount of her sentence, because under our 10 percent early release program, she would not have served any time in our jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Oh, we have a legal showdown over Paris Hilton's jail time. You saw that picture there of her.
NGUYEN: Tears.
HOLMES: In tears, she was. It was kind of touching. No, seriously, not to say everybody should be sympathetic, but still nobody going to jail, nobody should be applauding that.
NGUYEN: And we are going to talk to a legal expert about who really has the power to keep the famous heiress locked up. There's a bit of a turf battle we're hearing about. So we'll get to the bottom of that.
Meantime, welcome back everybody on this Saturday Morning. I'm Betty Nguyen.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. We're so glad you could be here with us.
We have some military maneuvers to tell you about, first. Among the top brass at the Pentagon, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Peter Pace is stepping down. Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to nominate Admiral Mike Mullen to replace him. Mullen is chief of naval operations. Gates said he decided not to nominate Pace for a new term to avoid a bitter confirmation hearing that would focus, no doubt, on Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT GATES, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I am disappointed that circumstances make this kind of a decision necessary. As I say, I just think that a divisive ordeal at this point is not in the interest of the country or of our military services, our men and women in uniform, or the individuals. I wish that that were not the case. I wish it were not necessary to make a decision like this. But I think it's a realistic appraisal of where we are.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HOLMES: Pace was expected to be nominated for another two-year term as the nation's top military officer, instead he'll retire at the end of September.
NGUYEN: Still missing in Iraq, four weeks and thousands of troops focused on finding two missing American soldiers. Look at them right there in these pictures.
CNN's Brian Todd reports the exhaustive search may finally be paying off.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For the first time in nearly a month, U.S. officials talk of a breakthrough in the search for two missing American soldiers in Iraq. They say massive deployments of U.S. and Iraqi forces have worked around the clock to gather intelligence and.
BRIG. GEN. KEVIN BERGNER, MULTINAT'L FORCE IRAQ: That intelligence and that information has led us to be able to identify 17 named individuals who either planned or executed the attack on our soldiers. And we have subsequently been able to detain three of those individuals that we -- that were involved.
TODD: General Kevin Bergner says the multinational force is conducting what he calls the appropriate questioning to get information from those captured.
U.S. military officials provided CNN with pictures of militants in black masks, but it's not clear if they're the ones taken into U.S. custody. The images are apparently from a video released by the Islamic state of Iraq, which claims responsibility for the attack and showed what appeared to be the military IDs of the missing soldiers, specialist Alex Jimenez and Private Brian Fouty.
Four U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi were killed in the May 12th ambush at an observation post south of Baghdad when Jimenez and Fouty went missing. The body of another soldier, private first class Joseph Anzak Jr. was found 11 days later.
General Bergner was cautious when asked what the U.S. has learned about the abduction and those responsible.
BERGNER: The operational aspects of how they conducted the attack and specifically who was involved and the possibility that information could lead us to locate our missing soldiers is what we're all focused on.
TODD: General Bergner says sharing any more than that might compromise the safety of the missing soldiers. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, political maneuvering under way to keep the immigration bill alive. When the Senate failed Thursday to get the bill on the schedule, Democrats set the bill aside. On the campaign trail, Senator John McCain promises the battle is not over.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARIZONA: The president of the United States and I and many others were hopeful that we could come to some conclusion on this. Well, my friends, because we didn't, then as I said, several hundred people will cross the Arizona border today into Arizona and go around the country and several hundred tomorrow, and then the next day. So it's not an issue we can say, well, it's over, because it's not over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, later this morning President Bush uses his weekly radio address to urge the Senate to try again.
NGUYEN: She shot and killed her preacher husband, but it's unlikely that a Tennessee woman will serve any significant prison time. Mary Winkler could have gotten up to six years behind bars.
The judge yesterday ordered her to serve at least 210 days of a three-year sentence, but he gave her credit for the five months she's already spent in jail. That leaves about 60 days and she'll be allowed to serve that time in a mental hospital. Winkler says she had been physically and mentally abused by her husband for years.
Listen to this story -- a trucker forced to park his big rig because of a language barrier. The Nebraska State patrol stopped the truck driver who speaks only Russian. He had a commercial license but couldn't communicate with the troopers and, by law, he was ordered off the road until he learns English.
Federal regulations say truckers should speak English well enough to carry on a general conversation. However, several states offer the commercial driver's license test in other languages.
HOLMES: You can't say that on TV, Betty.
NGUYEN: What did I say?
HOLMES: Or can you?
NGUYEN: Just you wait then.
HOLMES: A federal appeals court struck down an FCC policy on indecency so does that mean broadcasters can't be fined for airing the "F" word?
NGUYEN: The F bomb?
HOLMES: CNN's Josh Levs is here with a story that could really save Betty's job.
NGUYEN: Whatever! HOLMES: Because some of the stuff that comes out during the commercial breaks.
NGUYEN: Oh, please.
JOSHUA LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Drunken sailor. It's amazing. You would never guess this about her.
NGUYEN: OK, hold up.
LEVS: But it's nothing compared to him. Nothing compared to him. Betty, I've always got your back. I do, she knows this about me.
NGUYEN: Don't make me say something I'm not supposed to say.
HOLMES: No, you can say it.
LEVS: Somebody let me talk up here. All right, check this out. Here is what's going out. Check this out.
So there was a big decision this week that can affect a lot of the shows that you watch about words that can be said on TV. I want to come to you at the top, we, as much as T.J. might want us to, we're not going to be airing the profane words. We're bleeping them out so you can relax about that part.
But in the end, this comes down to a court saying government rules are unconstitutional.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): Cher used the "F" word at the 2002 Billboard Music Award. The next year at the same ceremony, came this. The words were not bleeped.
NICOLE RICHIE, ACTRESS: Have you ever tried to get (BLEEP) out of a Prada purse? It's not so (BLEEP) simple.
LEVS: They're called fleeting expletives. Traditionally the government did not go after networks for these live situations, but President Bush has taken a tougher stance against indecency. Congress passed and he signed a bill multiplying the maximum fine by ten, up to $325,000.
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's going to help American parents by making broadcast television radio more family friendly.
LEVS: But is it legal for the FCC to fine for fleeting expletives?
A federal appellate court in New York ruled no, because the FCC has not provided a reasoned basis for changing its policy.
The court also noted the FCC was OK with swear words when "Saving Private Ryan" played on network television. They court says the FCC's subjective rules may violate the first amendment.
And the court said the words at issue aren't always used literally to describe sexual or excretory activities, words the FCC can regulate.
The court noted how President Bush used the "S" in a conversation with Tony Blair was caught on a microphone and how Vice President Cheney told Senator Patrick Leahy to, you know.
FCC chairman Kevin Martin slammed the court's decision in a statement using both words in quotes multiple times. He said children watch at certain hours and he fears that if the FCC cannot block these fleeting expletives, Hollywood will be able to say anything at any time.
That fear is nothing new. In 1939 producers of "Gone with the Wind" had to pay a $5,000 fine for using the "D".
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Oh, my gosh.
LEVS: They're freaking out over the "D" word.
So you know, this battle obviously exists in any generation. And what we're seeing now about these fleeting expletives is just the latest incarnation.
The FCC can appeal this, so there might be a further fight. But in the meantime guys, do not expect award shows to run away from some of the more rebellious stars who might say anything they want when they're there.
NGUYEN: So now they can, I guess.
HOLMES: But you know our concern is cable. We're sitting on cable right now. What can we do?
NGUYEN: Can we just say anything we want?
LEVS: You know, according to the FCC, yes, but I'm not sure about the folks upstairs who make a decision about all of our jobs.
Basically, here's the deal. It's interesting. Even from a news perspective because these days in homes that watch TV, 86 percent have either cable or satellite.
So the idea that FCC regulates television, a lot of that dates back to the public airwaves, the idea that these broadcast networks use the public airwaves and they can't really do much about what happens on cable.
So in the end right now, that's not an issue that the FCC can control. That said, there are groups out there, private groups that care a lot about what we say and we'll hear from them, obviously, if you know anything were to ever happen. It's not just about government, it's also about what Americans want to see.
HOLMES: Well, Josh, that was a hell of a reality check. Is that OK? We're OK there, right?
LEVS: Was that damn good?
NGUYEN: Stop it, guys.
HOLMES: It was that good.
Josh, thank you.
LEVS: Thanks.
NGUYEN: You're in so much trouble.
Should Paris Hilton -- should we get to this, please? I know you want to go to expletives to this. Paris Hilton released from jail, should that have been the case? And is this case unusual? We're going to talk to a lawyer who is going to weigh in.
HOLMES: Also, problems off the Florida coast. Find out how a 1970s plan to get rid of tires and create a manmade reef is creating an environmental nightmare.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right, Paris Hilton waking up in jail again this morning, certainly not where she wanted to be. Hilton left a Los Angeles courthouse crying and screaming for her mom yesterday. A judge ordered the celebrity socialite back to jail to finish her sentence for violating probation.
And here to talk about all of this courtroom drama is courtroom lawyer and former U.S. attorney, Kendall Coffey. Kendall, nice to see you.
KENDALL COFFEY, ATTORNEY: Hey, good morning, Betty.
NGUYEN: All right, let's get down to the bottom of this. And it may be a turf war, but we heard from the L.A. County sheriff yesterday who said under the 10 percent early release program, Paris Hilton shouldn't have spend any time in jail. How just was this punishment?
COFFEY: Well, it is a turf war. But you know, remember judges. We saw that as Judge Larry, the Florida judge in the Anna Nicole Smith case said, he's got the body.
You've got a little bit of that here, too. This judge made very specific directives that said no home confinement. Once that's in an order, you can't ignore it. You have either got to appeal it, you've got to go back to the judge. And in many ways, what happened here really was a complete disconnect between the judge and the sheriff. NGUYEN: OK, so if there was no home confinement on the table at all, which we understood from that original ruling, did the sheriff have any authority to let her go home on this mental -- not mental, but medical condition and send her to home confinement?
COFFEY: In general, I would never ignore a judge's orders. What was so unusual, almost very bizarre about this case, is that once she's in and it's supposed to be prison time, the medical reason used was completely off the wall.
Let's face it, prisoners are always depressed and stressed when they're in there. But to get out on a medical excuse, it's usually something gravely ill threatening your very survival. It isn't trying to cry your way out of jail. And I think that's what sat so badly with so many people.
NGUYEN: Well and in yesterday's hearing, it appears that the judge was trying to set things right once again saying that she must serve the term that he had ordered, that 45 days. Does this mean that 23 days on good behavior is no longer an option?
COFFEY: Well, that may be what the judge is trying to say. Obviously, this could be appealed. We're hearing about possible appeal Monday. But one way or another, I don't think the appeals court, even if they cut the days down, is going to put her back inside the mansion. I think she's going to stay in jail until the time is served, 23 days or 45 days.
NGUYEN: Really? A lot of people are saying that this appeals process is hands down going to happen and she's going to be out, some even say, by Monday, claiming that this is just excessive, this sentence was excessive.
COFFEY: I don't think she'll be getting out quite that soon.
One thing about this whole thing was really a nothing case, about a spoiled rich girl getting, in effect, some jail time for probation. But once it got this incredible specter of unequal treatment, it has really touched a raw nerve in this country and instead of an unimportant case, it's become the face of unequal justice.
That's got to be one of the unspoken things this judge was considering and certainly it's not going to be irrelevant to the appeals court.
NGUYEN: But can you blame Paris for going home when the sheriff said, hey, you can go home, we're going to monitor you, you're under home confinement?
COFFEY: Absolutely not. But what you can criticize Paris Hilton and her team for is the whole approach they've taken on this thing. Normally, when you're standing in hot water and the judge is about to throw the book at you, your strategy should be, OK, I was wrong, I'll take my medicine and try to be strong.
Instead it's been blame, blame, blame the system, it's not fair, trying to cry her way out of jail. And we all know that hasn't been playing too well so far.
NGUYEN: But there is still that argument though Kendall, when we talk about celebrity justice, has her celebrity hurt her or helped her? Some will say it's hurt her because of this -- what they are call excessive sentence, but others are saying, you know, no publicity is bad publicity for a celebrity.
COFFEY: Well, she's probably getting the same treatment that anybody else would get who's been surrounded by helicopters, dozens of paparazzi and dozens and dozens of TV cameras everywhere she goes.
The reality is that celebrities get the best of times and worst of times in our system. They have got the best resources, the best lawyers and doctors money can buy.
On the other hand, the system looks under every rock and behind every blade of grass to make sure that everything is being done right and that the celebrity is not going to be seen as getting special treatment.
And sometimes that can make it worse for the celebrity because the last thing a judge or anybody else wants to be accused of is giving a break to the rich and famous that they wouldn't give to the rest of us.
NGUYEN: Kendall Coffey, that's why we talk to you. We appreciate your time, thank you.
COFFEY: Hey, thanks, Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, we do want to hear from you this morning. Here it is and I know that you are fired up, ready to tell us how you feel about the whole situation.
Does Paris Hilton deserve to be back in jail? Has her celebrity hurt her? Has it helped her? Let us know what you think about the situation. E-mail us, weekends@CNN.com and we'll read some of those on the air a little bit later in the show.
HOLMES: And just in time for the summer vacation, but before you pack that swimsuit, you need to know where the best beach is in the country. We'll tell you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: A search for dozens of missing people after a powerful cyclone slammed into Oman, local news agencies say dozens of people were killed. Iran also got hit hard. Look at this video, 12 people were reportedly killed there and several others are still missing.
Emergency officials are trying to get a handle on the amount of damage this storm caused. One estimate said more than 1,000 villagers in southern Iran were damaged.
HOLMES: We turn back to the U.S. now. And you need to hear this if you're planning your summer vacation, what should be your destination?
There's a new best beach in America. And, no, it's not going to be in Florida. No, it's not in Hawaii, not in California. This beach is in North Carolina.
It's found in a remote section on the Outer Banks, it's called Ocracoke, lifeguarded beach. Ocracoke, it's not a drink and a nasty one it probably would be.
It wins this honor from Dr. Beach, it's a Florida professor who's been rating U.S. beaches for 17 years. So what makes Ocracoke so delicious?
Dr. Beach says its 14 miles of unspoiled, undisturbed shore line that's so remote his staff didn't even know where it was. So let's get a flight from Atlanta to Ocracoke.
NGUYEN: I just wanted to see the water, though. I wanted to see how clear and blue the water was.
HOLMES: Just trust Dr. Beach.
NGUYEN: You think?
HOLMES: Just go. Trust him.
NGUYEN: Ocracoke.
HOLMES: Ocracoke.
NGUYEN: Sign us up.
HOLMES: Well also, it seemed like a pretty good idea at the time, even a great idea, put used tires on the ocean bottom to create an artificial reef.
NGUYEN: OK, well now it's clear that it was a huge mistake. CNN's Rusty Dornin explains how scientists are trying to undo decades of damage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A dead zone, that's what marine biologists call this.
Few signs of life, just an endless sea of rubber. Two million tires dumped here in the early '70s, someone's environmental answer to recycling used tire and rebuilding coral reefs off the coast of Florida.
Good intentions, with government approval, that turned into an ecological disaster. Coral was supposed to grow here. It not only didn't, the tires killed what was.
LOU FISHER, ENVIRONMENTAL PROTEC DEPT: It's just bare rock and sediment. Everything that's underneath those tires has been destroyed. Flattened or removed and suffocated, just physical impact from the tires itself.
DORNIN: The tires have drifted with the currents and been scattered by the storms over the last 40 years. At times, washing ashore.
Finally, a clean-up fortunate by state, federal and Broward County officials has been launched.
In this pilot program, 40 military divers from the army, navy and coast guard are training about a mile off the coast. Working with marine biologists, their goal is to get as many wheels as possible off the ocean floor in a four-week period.
No matter how many are pulled out, the agencies will get an idea of how long it will take to clean up the whole mess, where the rubber meets the road here is down about 75 feet.
RYAN TRAVIS, U.S. NAVY DIVER: So you will have to dig around it. Once you pull them up, because there's so much sand in them, they're quite heavy.
DORNIN: Navy diver Ryan Travis says they can bring up 15 to 80 per dive.
TRAVIS: We string out the 50-foot piece of wire and we just start throwing tires on it, as many as we can.
DORNIN: We went off to see the operation just off the coast from Ft. Lauderdale, only things had come to a standstill.
The divers had to quit early today. The crane on the ship broke down. There's weather, technical difficulties. No one's really sure how many tires they are going to be able to remove within a month's time. Their hope is to fish out nearly all the rubber over the next two years.
WILL NUCKOLS, COASTAL AMERICA: Really, this project is about coral protection. So we'll continue to clean the coral -- clean the tires up from the coral reef as long as the marine biologists say what we're doing is making a positive impact.
DORNIN: The tires will be chipped into two-inch pieces and used as fuel in a paper recycling plant in Georgia, putting the brakes on an environmental nightmare. Rusty Dornin, CNN, Ft. Lauderdale.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: A tear in the shuttle's thermal shell, what that means for its space mission, that's coming up in two minutes.
NGUYEN: And at 8:30 this morning, Dr. Sanjay Gupta takes an inside look at what the candidates are planning when it comes to your health. You want to stay tuned for "HOUSE CALL," that's at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) HOLMES: Happening right now from the pontiff to the prime minister. President Bush is in Rome for high level meetings. We have a live report minutes away.
NGUYEN: Take a very close look at this video. You see right there, the hole in the center of the screen. Is that going to cause a problem for the shuttle's reentry? Well, we have those details straight ahead.
Plus this --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly six years later, they still come to this remote field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to see for themselves where United flight 93 crashed on that fateful day, a place where one day this memorial will be built. But nothing will happen until the land is sold.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Yeah. So what is the hold up? We'll show you the money battle over an American tragedy.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. From the CNN center here in Atlanta, this is Saturday morning. It is 8:00 a.m. here on the east coast. 2:00 p.m. in Rome, Italy, where we're going to take you live.
HOLMES: And I'm T.J. Holmes. So glad you all could be with us here. We'll get to Rome here in just a second.
But we're going to start with the space shuttle. It's safely in orbit this morning, although NASA did notice some problems during liftoff.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And liftoff of space shuttle "Atlantis" to assemble the framework for the science laboratories of tomorrow.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: The launch looked good from the ground, looked perfect even. But further review found a few things NASA might be a bit worried about. A couple chunks of foam were seen falling off during that liftoff, but none of them seemed to strike the shuttle. But the bigger issue may be a tear in a thermal blanket you're seeing there. I spoke with CNN's space correspondent Miles O'Brien a bit earlier this morning about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The video, as it clearly suggests, that the foam fell off at a time in the mission when it would not cause significant impact to the orbiter. It did not strike the orbiter itself. But as you see in that picture right there, you see what appears to be tearing or a bunching in some thermal blankets located on the upper left hand portion of the back portion of the shuttle, right near the tail. This is a piece of blanket there which, it's hard to say, but many people would say it's torn or bunched up. And it's perhaps exposing the shuttle's skin beneath. These blankets are made of silica and woven glass, actually. It's kind of like a quilt. And the blankets are put on this area right beside the tail in areas where there is less heat exposure. And so by virtue of the fact that it's blankets there, there isn't as much heat that is -- that the shuttle will be exposed to. So the concern level right now is in the moderate range.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, Miles is also telling us that NASA will spend part of today trying to get a more detailed look at that tear.
NGUYEN: The president is spending his day in Italy, a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI highlighting the latest stop on the president's post-G-8 swing through Europe. And CNN Rome bureau chief Alessio Vinci is joining us live this morning. Alessio, the president is meeting with Prime Minister Romano Prodi right now. How is that going?
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct. He just arrived at the (INAUDIBLE) which is the main office here of the Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and they're having a working lunch there. The president arriving there. I know there was a lot of concern that relations between Italy and the United States could cool down a little bit ever since Romano Prodi's center left coalition either (ph) replaced Silvio Berlusconi, who for five years was one of George Bush's closest allies here in Europe on the war on terror. But nothing of this is seen in this first encounter here in Rome between the two. You can see a very jovial atmosphere between the two as the president arrived at Palacio (INAUDIBLE), a friendly and relaxed atmosphere before the two proceeded inside for that working lunch.
Of course, the two met earlier this week in Germany during the G- 8 summit and one would imagine that during this working lunch, they would be assessing the results of that summit as well as talking about the Middle East, which is always at the center of course of international politics, especially here in Europe. Italy no longer has troops in Iraq because Prodi obviously withdrew those troops as soon as he became prime minister. But there is a sizable military presence in Lebanon, where the Italians are leading the U.N. military force there, as well as, of course, as in Afghanistan.
The president suggested perhaps that he wanted the European allies to do a little bit more. The Italians indeed did send some more military hardware in Afghanistan in recent weeks and in recent months although the current prime minister, Romano Prodi, has his hands tied by a parliament, which is also in the government, which is also made of members of the communist party who actually oppose even the military presence in Afghanistan.
And earlier today, of course, the pope -- the president went to meet with the pope at the Vatican. He arrived there accompanied by the first lady Laura Bush. The two leaders then sat down in the private library of the pope and that is where Pope Benedict got straight to business, asking the president about his meetings there with the G-8 leaders. The president said they were very successful meetings, he said mentioning progress towards combating AIDS and poverty in Africa, something, of course, both sides are working very hard on.
And then the pope asked the president about his meetings with President Putin of Russia, a lot of controversy there over the missile defense shield and the president caught a little bit off-guard perhaps, seeing a lot of reporters waiting for his answer. The president answering the pope that he will tell him later, basically when the two move behind close doors. And the topic of those closed door meetings, we understand from Vatican officials, Middle East again, in particular, Iraq, where the Vatican is very much concerned about the Christian minority there, 2 percent of the 26 million people there, half of them have already left, fled the country ever since the U.S. invaded Iraq. Back to you, Betty.
NGUYEN: Alessio Vinci for us this morning. Thank you, Alessio. T.J.?
HOLMES: Defending a big arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia. The deal was done more than 20 years ago, but some of the previously unknown back room details now being questioned. At the center, a Saudi prince with deep ties to the Bush family. CNN's Brian Todd has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A wealthy Saudi prince with deep connections to America, an estate in Aspen worth $135 million, tutor on foreign affairs to George W. Bush before he became president, confidant of George Bush Sr., Dick Cheney, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, a crucial broker in the first Gulf war. Now questions about another deal he brokered, "The Guardian" newspaper in the BBC report Prince Bandar bin Sultan, former Saudi ambassador to the U.S., may have gotten up to $2 billion in secret payments from a British defense firm. The payments they say took place over 20 years and were sanctioned by the British government in return for Bandar's help in negotiating a multi-billion dollar deal to sell British war planes to the Saudis in 1985. The British firm BAE denies wrongdoing, but Prime Minister Tony Blair admits he supported a decision to quash an internal British investigation.
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: I don't believe the investigation would have led anywhere except to the complete wreckage of a vital strategic relationship for our country in terms of fighting terrorism, in terms of the Middle East, in terms of British interests there.
TODD: Through his attorney, Prince Bandar issued a statement denying taking what he called backhanders. He says he was authorized to handle the money, channeled to the now defunct Riggs Bank in Washington, that the accounts were audited by the Saudi government and at no stage have the ministry of defense and aviation or the Saudi Arabian ministry of finance identified any irregularities in the conduct of these accounts. But that too leaves questions.
THOMAS LIPPMAN, MIDDLE EAST INSTITUTE: Who is the ministry of defense? The ministry of defense is Bandar's father, Prince Sultan, who is also next in line for the throne.
TODD: Thomas Lippman, who covered Saudi Arabia for the "Washington Post," says payments like these are standard with the Saudis and often justified by western governments and companies.
LIPPMAN: This has been a relationship that has helped both sides, but it's also one in which business is not done the way it's done in Austria or Canada.
TODD: Prince Bandar says he's consulting with his attorneys regarding these media reports, but analysts say they likely will not affect his current standing as Saudi Arabia's national security adviser and may never be reported in the Saudi media. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: There is another beef recall to tell you about this morning. Some 40,000 pounds of ground beef are being pulled off the shelves at Wal-Mart stores in 12 states. The beef from Tyson Foods may be contaminated with e. coli bacteria. So take a look. Here's a list of the states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas. This is not related to an earlier beef recall by United Foods in which 11 western states were involved.
HOLMES: Paris Hilton, she's waking up in jail this morning. That home confinement she got only lasted a day.
NGUYEN: Not long at all. Apparently looking at this picture, not long enough. A judge sent Hilton back to lockup yesterday to serve the rest of her sentence for violating probation. She left the court sobbing, as you can see, and then screaming out for her mom.
HOLMES: The L.A. County sheriff let Hilton out on home confinement on Thursday citing unspecified medical reasons. Now he's defending his actions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERIFF LEE BACA, LOS ANGELES COUNTY: The city of Los Angeles County and the sheriff is charged with the exclusive responsibility for operating the jail system. Operating the jail system under the current Federal consent decree e allows me to release inmates on an early basis who are county sends as well as put them on electronic monitoring system. I was dealing with this as the most responsible way, in weighing whether or not having this woman incarcerated or sending her home under an electronic monitoring system is, in fact, the better solution. In my opinion, obviously, it's been overruled. We'll accept that. We will keep her in the county jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP) NGUYEN: Hilton is now undergoing physical and psychiatric testing in jail. This leads us to our morning question. I know that you are ready to speak out about the situation. Whether you support what has happened that she deserves being back in jail or you just think her celebrity has got her a harsh sentence, something more than what a normal person would get or maybe the opposite. Let us know what you think. E-mail us weekends@cnn.com, and we will read those on the air.
HOLMES: Talk show host David Letterman may be a little uneasy this morning. Montana prison officials say a man once accused of plotting to kidnap his young son, Letterman's son, has escaped. Kelly Frank was arrested in 2005 for the alleged scheme, but kidnapping related charges were eventually dropped. Frank was sentenced to 10 years in prison for overcharging Letterman for painting work. Montana prison officials say Frank and another inmate got away yesterday while working at a state prison ranch.
NGUYEN: Well, there were many flight delays yesterday, but can't blame the weather for this one.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: No, you can't. We are looking at some fog right now for parts of Connecticut. But the good news is the fog advisory has expired for New London. I'll have your complete forecast coming up.
HOLMES: Thank you, Bonnie. And now we want to take a look ahead to "House Call."
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: T.J., thanks. You've probably read the headlines. Men's magazines do a lot of stories on testosterone. This morning we've got the facts on waning hormone levels in men.
Plus your vote could impact your health this election cycle. We're bringing you the candidates' plans in their own words, how this plan to fix the struggling health care system. You're going to want to hear this. That and much more of course coming up on "House Call" at 8:30 Eastern.
NGUYEN: And how do you cut down on riff raff? How about playing sugary sweet songs? Confused? We'll explain.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, morning after jitters at the nation's airports and for good reasons. Airport travelers were hit by huge delays on Friday after a computer glitch quickly spread throughout the system. Now, the problems began in Atlanta Friday morning, and they were fixed by 11:00 a.m., but by then flights across the east coast were either canceled or delayed. At one point, flights into New York's La Guardia airport were delayed for nearly four hours.
HOLMES: We don't need equipment issues. We've got enough issues with the weather, don't we Bonnie, to cause us headaches while we're flying around. Bonnie Schneider of course standing by with a look at the weather. Good morning to you, ma'am.
SCHNEIDER: Good morning, T.J., Betty. Fog has been a concern for areas in Connecticut earlier this morning. Luckily the dense fog advisory, that has now expired for coastal Connecticut. We can show you new London at this hour. You can catch a ferry here to Fisher Island. That's a look at the Long Island sound kind of in the distance there, not such a bad day. It looks like we'll see some rain kind of mixing in with clouds, but overall temperatures will be nice and mild.
As we come back to our maps now, we'll show you that we're also watching for rain across New England. You can see plenty of rain up towards Vermont into New Hampshire and back down further to the south across Suffolk County in New York. We're also watching for some wet weather into New York City, but really the worst has pushed further to the east. So if you're in Manhattan right now, I think you'll find that things are improving.
Now elsewhere across the country, we are also tracking lots of moisture coming up into Florida. Here's our cold front, this cold front actually produced quite a bit of severe weather. We knew about the tornadoes that we had on Thursday but this is yesterday's weather. All the dots you see here indicate reports of either wind or hail damage. Just to show you what it looks like in Virginia Beach, for example, there was a lot of lightning. Check out this video. It shows you the flashes of lightning, incredible pictures taken near Virginia Beach, Virginia. That is a dangerous storm for sure. It doesn't look like we'll be seeing that intensity today in terms of our weather today.
What we are going to be watching for kind of cloudy, cool, and wet conditions across the eastern seaboard particularly for the northeast into Boston. Even if you're heading up towards Maine, you'll be seeing some cloudy weather for the beaches there. High temperatures across the country will be pretty warm. We're looking at hot numbers all the way into the 90s for Memphis, for Dallas and then back out towards the desert southwest, where highs will be in the upper 90s to about 100 degrees. And incidentally, we do have the risk for fire danger right here into parts of Nevada and New Mexico, and into Arizona. Betty, T.J.?
NGUYEN: Thank you, Bonnie.
Well, nearly six years after the tragedy of September the 11th, there is still a legal battle over a memorial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICK WHITE, COUSIN DIED ON FLIGHT 93: If there is a price for it, the down payment has been paid. Forty lives were given for this land.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And the land is in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Some say the owner of that land wants to profit. He says it's a matter of livelihood.
NGUYEN: And Dr. Sanjay Gupta has a preview of today's "House Call."
GUPTA: Betty, thanks. We've got a busy show on tap this morning. We've got the candidates telling you in their own words how they plan to solve the health care issues in this country. From universal health care coverage to letting the market determine prices. They'll have a broad range of ideas. Plus did anyone stand out above the rest? We'll let you know. All that and the latest medical headlines coming up this morning on "House Call" at 8:30.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Olympian and world class runner Jeff Galloway has been called the marathon man. He's been running for nearly 50 years and says he's helped coach more than 200,000 people.
JEFF GALLOWAY, "THE MARATHON MAN": I've now run over 128 marathon marathons.
COSTELLO: What's Jeff's best running secret for people who want to go the distance? He says run, walk, run, which will erase fatigue and reduce injuries.
GALLOWAY: When people put walk breaks in early and often, they actually have faster times in races like the half marathon and the marathon.
COSTELLO: Another important tip to success is to commit to training.
GALLOWAY: You only need three days a week, but you do need to get out there and spend that time. Minimum, 30 minutes, and then have a little bit longer one on the weekend.
COSTELLO: He also suggests you train with a running group, which will keep you motivated and keep a running log. Jeff says the biggest mistake runners make is they start out too quickly on their run. It is always better to start slow on your run and warm up your legs.
GALLOWAY: People every week tell me that they've done a lot of things in life, but they haven't found anything that has given them the satisfaction and sense of accomplishment as finishing a marathon. It's only 1/10 of 1 percent of the population that finishes one each year.
COSTELLO: Carol Costello, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, a serious dispute is brewing in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. It centers around a field where United flight 93 crashed on 9/11.
NGUYEN: At issue, how much is hallowed ground worth? CNN's Alina Cho takes a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly six years later, they still come to this remote field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to see for themselves where United flight 93 crashed on that fateful day, a place where one day this memorial will be built. But nothing will happen until the land is sold.
PATRICK WHITE, COUSIN DIED ON FLIGHT 93: If there is a price for it, the down payment has been paid. Forty lives were given for this land.
CHO: Patrick White's cousin Joey Matthew (ph) was among the victims. He says the man who owns the land wants to profit to the tune of $10 million from what is now hallowed ground, a figure far above market value. The families say they offered to buy the land for more than a half million dollars, but were rejected by land owner Mike Svonavec.
MIKE SVONAVEC, FLIGHT 93 LAND OWNER: I can't afford to give it away. It's an asset of my corporation.
CHO: Svonavec says he never demanded $10 million and just wants to settle on a fair price. If anything, he says he's losing money. Three months ago, when Federal funding ran out for security, Svonavac says he began paying $10,000 a month for his own security guards. So this week, he set up a donation box which further angered the victims' families and the National Park Service which manages the temporary memorial and put a plastic bag over the box.
JOANNE HANLEY, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: We didn't feel it lent itself to the dignified setting and the solemn setting we were trying to convey to our visitors.
CHO: Family members, like Debbie Borza, who still wears her daughter's ashes around her neck, call the donation box and Svonavac's desire to make money on the land offensive.
DEBBIE BORZA, DAUGHTER DIED ON FLIGHT 93: I don't think there is a dollar figure that would ever satisfy him.
CHO: Svonavac owns 273 acres in all, including the most critical piece of land, the four acre crash site. He has maintained from the very beginning that he will not accept money for the actual crash site. It's the surrounding land that's in dispute. And nothing will be done here until that land is sold. A $58 million memorial is planned with a ribbon cutting ceremony scheduled for the tenth anniversary of the attacks. Alina Cho, CNN, Shanksville, Pennsylvania. (END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: All right. You can't move. Don't move because you're going to miss Dixie. And we're going to tell you why because Dixie is a treat for you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is the Tupperware party. I want to you think outside my box.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: The oddest off-Broadway show you will ever see. This is not your mother's Tupperware party, oh no coming up in the next hour.
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UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I'm going to turn the cube like this and try to get the F2-l, which is the first two layers into a series of algorithms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... what?
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: ...series of algorithms.
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HOLMES: A Rubik's cube master prepares for the world championship. Didn't even know there was a world championship.
NGUYEN: How can he do it behind his back?
HOLMES: That's just too much.
NGUYEN: Smart kid.
HOLMES: But can he take on the spelling bee champs?
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NGUYEN: OK. So is your business bothered by riff-raff? The British have just the thing for that. Yes. The music of veteran pop singer Cliff Richard apparently is like nails on a chalkboard to hooligans.
HOLMES: A carnival operator in London found trouble makers stay away when he plays Cliff Richard tunes on the ride. Sir Cliff pretty much unknown in the U.S., but he's been a superstar, seriously, in Britain since before the Beatles.
NGUYEN: He sure can sing pretty high.
Well, here is a must have for the fashion forward business woman. Check it out. A laptop tricked out in the hello kitty motif. Don't know if you'd get a raise with that, but yours for just $1,650. You'd need a raise to buy it. Still not enough? Well, there's also a hello kitty computer mouse and a hello kitty mouse pad to complete the ensemble if you're into that kind of thing.
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