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CNN Saturday Morning News
Chinese Refugees Flee Earthquake Area; Frustration Growing in Myanmar Over Aid Crisis; Were President Bush's Words Aimed at yes?; Search Continues for Survivors of China Earthquake
Aired May 17, 2008 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALINA CHO, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news in China: fears of a massive flood sparked by that deadly earthquake triggered a stampede. Thirty thousand people all raising to higher ground. CNN is live on the scene.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: And a heartbreaking search for missing family members in China. We are with a couple as they desperately try to find their young son.
Hello to you all from the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Saturday, May 17th. I'm T.J. Holmes. We have a whole lot to get to you this morning.
CHO: Hey, there. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho, Betty has the weekend off.
HOLMES: We want to head to that breaking news first out of China, there are fears that two newly-formed lakes near the epicenter of this week's quake are about to burst.
CHO: Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area, all search and rescue efforts now abandoned.
On the phone with me now is CNN's Diego Laje. Diego, I know you were among those evacuated, just utter chaos there. Explain to me what happened when you were told to leave.
DIEGO LAJE, JOURNALIST: Yes, Alina. We were working of course, covering the search and rescue effort and a man in army uniform came to us and said we have to abandon the place immediately because our lives were in danger because the dam had burst.
We immediately (ph) started walking away and while walked, the stampede started. Everybody started running away -- rescue workers, members of the army, survivors, and so on, and we all went for higher ground. So, we had to climb uphill, up there is Beichuan. That's what happened when we were there.
Back to you.
CHO: Diego, just incredible because I know amid all of this chaos and devastation, that there are still some miracles. In fact, a 52-year-old German tourist, the man was among those pulled from the rubble after being trapped for more than 100 hours. So, tell me and update our viewers on the relief effort, on the rescue effort as you work this story.
LAJE: Yes, Alina. The relief effort is massive. It's well- organized. It's coordinated by the army. The army has, for example, as we went into (INAUDIBLE), we saw army posts with even (ph) power to recharge cell phones. They had tables with a connection to a generator where people could go and recharge cell phones. They had communication stations to make sure that cell phone networks were up. They had all types of camps...
CHO: But, Diego, let me interrupt you for a moment because how critical do you sense the situation is right now? These early days are so critical.
LAJE: Yes, yes, the situation is critical because the search and rescue efforts have been abandoned. And, you know, the hope was getting slimmer with more time. We were getting reports of diminishing people being pulled alive from the rubble. And well, with this search and rescue operation currently suspended, we can expect probably the worst.
Back to you.
CHO: Diego Laje -- I know that 29,000 people are confirmed dead and the death toll is expected to rise -- possibly to 50,000. Thank you so much for your report -- T.J.?
HOLMES: All right, Alina. We turn now to that other tragedy in the region, Myanmar. The frustration there over that growing aid crisis. It's been more than two weeks now since that killer cyclone devastated the country formerly known at Burma. Aid workers say even now, Myanmar's military is stopping many relief shipments from getting inside that country.
We want to head now to our correspondent who is there on the ground. Tell us, please, the situation there, is it improving? We've been waiting two weeks for everybody on stand by. Every country in the world wants to help here, waiting on a flood of relief to get there and get to the people who needed, is that happening faster at least now?
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., it certainly isn't a flood of relief that's coming in but there are some more aid flights at least coming in. What we've heard is that five American aid flights came in here yesterday and another nine are scheduled to come in over the course of the weekend.
Now having said that, the frustration among the aid workers here on the ground is still gigantic. They say they're seeing those planes being unloaded, the aid is being carried off and they don't know where the aid is going because still, western aid experts are not allowed into the area that is most devastated by that cyclone Nargis, and area that we've actually been able to visit in the past couple of days.
We have had to sneak our way in there, and still, even days after the cyclone, we saw dead bodies still lying around there and we didn't see aid reaching the people that it supposed to reach. Now, another big concern among the aid workers here on the ground is visas for their people trying to get them in here. Because, you know, a lot of the aid that's coming into this country, it's not only rice, it's not only water, and it's not only medication, but it's also things like water purification plants. And those water purification plants, they need the experts with them to run those plants and to set those plants up.
And apparently, we've heard from one aid agency that the situation here had gotten so bad, that some of the foreign aid workers are thinking of actually training Burmese to run those water purification plants just to get them working in any way, shape or form. But, of course, that could still take weeks, T.J.
HOLMES: Well, how much give has the Myanmar government, the military junta there, how much have they, I guess, lax there, really stern position that they didn't want anybody in here, they didn't want aid workers in, they didn't some these aid to come in to the first place -- they're going to be in-charge of how it's being handed out. Has there been any give and take, I guess, on both sides that is helping to speed up this process?
UNIDENTIFIED CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they have given a little bit on the fact that they were allowing some of the aid in but they haven't it all on who's actually distributing the aid. Of course, there is a big sort of international effort that could go on. Those people who are very professional at distributing aid, but they're just not being allowed into the country.
And let me tell you, when you drive up to that area, you go up to that area that's hardest hit by that storm, the Myanmar government is still making a massive effort of keeping westerners, keeping foreigners out of that area. There's a lot of boats patrolling the rivers, there's helicopters in the air, there's checkpoints everywhere, doing nothing but trying to prevent western aid workers and then generally, foreigners from getting into that area.
So, certainly, in that sense, they haven't given at all really, and when you get into those areas, into that high -- almost devastated areas, people are badly in need of aid. They will tell you we need aid, we need help, we need international help, our country is in a lot of trouble here. This is a crisis for our country and they do, it seemed to me, expecting aid to come in at some point. But most villages that we were able to visit had not received any aid or very, very little, T.J.
HOLMES: All right. Well, thank you for the story. Again, we are not identifying who our correspondent is there on the ground. As you just heard him say, our viewers just heard, him say he's had to sneak into certain areas trying to get this reporting, trying to get the story out of that region.
We had another reporter that was actually and being hunted by police there, the military. So, certainly, a dangerous situation to try to even get reporting and actually reporting out of this region.
So, we thank you for what you do. Please be safe, be careful, but thank you so much for what you're bringing to us and our viewers.
And many of our viewers, we know you may want to help in this situation, also the situation in China -- CNN.com, we have a special page on the devastation in Myanmar, also China -- complete with the links to agencies offering help for the region. Your chance for you to Impact Your World and we would like to be your guide.
CHO: So many people need help.
HOLMES: And not getting it, unfortunately. We keep hearing that same thing.
CHO: That's right. Well, hopefully, the government will start letting this aid flights back in.
In the U.S., three unusual overnight accidents causing injuries. A double decker trolley bus crashed at a popular Los Angeles mall. Authorities blamed brake failure. Seventy-two people were on board, a couple of people were taken to the hospital, five children were treated at the scene.
And west of San Francisco, a spinning carnival ride collapses, injuring at least 17 people, three of them severely. The incident at the Calaveras County fair, the annual event draws thousands to the fair grounds, witnesses describe what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All I heard was a bit of clunk and then dust were just flying everywhere, and I'm like, whoa, what happened?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All the slings were just laying there, and people were kneeling on the ground crying and stuff, people walking away crying. It's kind of nerve-racking actually.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Nerve-racking is right. There is no word yet on what caused the ride to collapse.
HOLMES: And another collapse to tell you about here: a section of bleachers at a sports complex in Union Grove, Wisconsin. This happened at a youth baseball tournament. Five people injured here, had to be treated for minor injuries.
CHO: Let's turn to politics now. The focus has switched, for now, away from the Democratic race to foreign policy and President Bush -- let's rewind to earlier this week and remarks made by the president in Israel.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals. We have an obligation to call this what it is -- the false comfort of appeasement which has been repeatedly discredited by history. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Well, that was seen as a not-so-veiled swipe at Barack Obama who has talked about holding direct talks with Iran's president. So Obama struck back.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA, (D-IL) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: On a day when we were supposed to be celebrating the anniversary of Israel's independence, he accused me and other Democrats of wanting to negotiate with terrorists and said we were appeasers, no different from people who appeased Adolf Hitler. That what George Bush said in front of the Israeli parliament.
Now, that is just the kind of appalling attack that's divided our country, and that alienates us from the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. Enter John McCain now, the presumptive Republican nominee picks up the fight, speaking to members of the National Rifle Association.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN, (R-AZ) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have some news for Senator Obama, talking not even with soaring rhetoric unconditional in unconditional meetings with the man who calls Israel a stinking corpse, and arms terrorists who kill Americans, will not convince Iran to give up it's nuclear program. It is reckless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: A small problem though, McCain is having to defend himself over his own comments. In an interview two years ago, he suggested he'd talk with Hamas. But he says he made it clear at that time that Hamas would have to abandon terrorism and meet other conditions first.
Well, keep it here, because CNN's deputy political director, Paul Steinhauser, will join us in the next hour with more on this back-and- forth political rhetoric. Plus, he'll preview the upcoming Kentucky and Oregon primaries.
Be sure to tune in on Tuesday. The best political team on TV brings you the primary results. Live coverage begins at 7:00 Eastern from the CNN Election Center in New York.
HOLMES: And also coming up, a family's tragedy puts a disaster into personal perspective.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA BLOCK, NPR CORRESPONDENT: "Please let us pass," they're crying. "We have the excavators so we can save people. Our parents and our child are buried." (END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A quake story you will not forget.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I'm Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider.
We're also tracking extreme heat in California along the west coast. Take a look at these pictures of fires burning in Ventura and Los Angeles County. The fires are now under control but we'll be watching for more heat to break out in this region. I'll have more on that coming up.
CHO: All right, Bonnie, looking forward to it.
And, cleared for take off. You're looking live there at the Blue Angels covered in tarp. They're starting an air show today. We'll have more on the goodwill ambassadors next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: And just about 15 minutes after the hour and we have some breaking news just crossing the wires now.
We have word that the U.S. House of Representative Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, has just landed in Baghdad for a trip and meeting with U.S. and Iraqi officials there. Of course, Pelosi opposed the president's plan to send an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq, otherwise known as the surge. Republicans, of course, argued that that surge is working, but Democrats are calling, some of them, at least are calling for an immediate drawdown of the troops.
We have our correspondents and producers in Baghdad working this story very closely and we hope to have much more in the next couple of minutes.
HOLMES: And meanwhile, we do have a quick look at some other stories that are making news this morning. President and Mrs. Bush arriving at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, the president has held talks with his host, Egyptian president there, Hosni Mubarak a short time ago. And President Bush wrapping up his Middle East visit by meeting Arab leaders today and tomorrow.
We will get a live report from the meeting site in our next hour.
CHO: A minister at a Dallas-area megachurch gets caught in an Internet sex sting. Joe Barron, a pastor (ph) of Baptist Church is charged with online solicitation of a minor. Police say Barron drove nearly 200 miles to meet a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl he chatted with on the Internet. He'd actually been talking to undercover police officers.
HOLMES: A sense of relief for a grieving husband whose wife's wedding rings were stolen, now, he has them back. The rings were taken from his Katherine Armstrong's finger as she lay dead in an Atlanta hospital emergency room. The man charged with stealing them is now in custody. Well, that's little comfort to a family is coping with anger as well as loss.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALAN ARMSTRONG, HAS WIFE'S WEDDING RINGS BACK: My mom asked me today, she's like you must feel good. I'm like, I don't feel good, I'm not going to feel good for a long time. But, I mean, I feel better.
And the fact that I mean, I think this was such a despicable, disgraceful, you know, sort of desecration and you know the right thing happened. And, you know, I think the individual who did it, finally made one good decision in, you know, in the past two weeks, and when faced with overwhelming compelling evidence that he's going to be convicted, decided look if all (ph) this help, and you know, still gave these rings back. And I appreciate that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Well, the alleged ring theft is a social worker at Atlanta's Grady Hospital where the woman was taken after a car crash. We will hear more from Alan Armstrong about the ordeal of getting his wife's rings back. He will join us live here next hour.
CHO: I'll look forward to hearing from him. That's a new low I have to say. But it is great news that he got those rings back with his two little children.
The search for survivors of China's massive earthquake is still yielding some positive results and some heartbreaking discoveries.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLOCK: You're worried about this building over here? You're worried about this building falling down?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Still to come, one couple's desperate story -- desperate search for their son.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Students paid to study. A controversial program has now come to an end. Did it pay off? I'm Josh Levs, I'll have that coming up right here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. You might remember a few months ago, we told you about a radical program, at least some call it radical, here in Georgia to pay students to study, controversial to say the least.
CHO: Yes, the bold experiment has now come to an end. And Josh Levs is here to tell us whether it passed or failed. So, I remember New York did something like this where they paid kids for performance. It actually was quite controversial. So, what's going on here? LEVS: So, that was paid for performance. But what they did here was actually paid them to show up. All they had to do was show up and for that to get money. And now the school is being praised on the program. But that does not mean it's going to quiet the critics.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS (voice-over): A celebration for kids under a national microscope. They completed a 15-week program created by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who sends a video.
NEWT GINGRICH, (R) FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: You are now a part of history.
LEVS: And controversy. A private foundation paid these students in Fairburn, Georgia near Atlanta, $8 an hour to show up for four hours of tutoring a week in math and science. The program was aimed at low income families. Some area parents wrote to the "Atlanta Journal Constitution" condemning the program. One called it "unfair to kids who work hard to begin with."
Some experts worry it could make kids less interested in learning if they're not paid.
ALFIE KOHN, AUTHOR, "PUNISHED BY REWARDS": The rewards aren't just ineffective, they're counter productive and we've seen this over and over again.
LEVS: The school says the Learn and Earn program brought ...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of academic both.
LEVS: Junior Khamylle Meeks was feeling that.
KHAMYLLE MEEKS, JUNIOR, CREEKSIDE HIGH SCHOOL: I came for the money.
LEVS: She says it worked.
MEEKS: And I'm paid each and every (INAUDIBLE) one of junior high graduation (ph) fees.
(APPLAUSE)
LEVS: As for the money, she tells us later ...
MEEKS: I used it for my hair. I used it for my hair, like accessories and stuff. That is about all it could pay for.
LEVS: Fourteen-year-old Jailyn Brown signed up partly to help his mom pay bills. But he says now ...
JAILY BROWN, STUDENT: I would do it if the money wasn't involved.
LEVS: His mother, Alanna Taylor wants him to continue without being paid.
ALANNA TAYLOR, JAILY BROWN'S MOTHER: He is motivated by the learning now.
LEVS: To determine the program's success could prove tricky since some students like Alexis Yarger say they never cared about the money and just wanted good tutoring.
ALEXIS YARGER, JUNIOR, CREEKSIDE HIGH SCHOOL: My math grade was like a 30 something, and now it's A (ph).
LEVS: Of the 40 students selected for the program, officials say 34 stuck with it. One moved away, five quit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Of the ones that dropped out, we do know anecdotally that ones that dropped out simply felt like it wasn't enough money for the amount of work they were doing.
LEVS: One teacher says the program is a sign of the times. He says parents are busier than when he was in school and society more materialistic.
DAVID MACKEY, TEACHER, BEAR CREEK MIDDLE SCHOOL: Willing (ph) of alternative measures to try to save (ph) the children, just try to invest in the children, just try to give them that extra edge.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: Now, the school plans to have an official report this summer analyzing how the program affected the kid's grades and also how important the money was overall. School officials are saying that if this program is declared a big success, guys, then they might expand on it and encourage other schools over the country to do the exact same thing.
CHO: All right. But one thing that you pointed out while we ran the piece is that these kids are actually making money just to show up. It doesn't matter how well they do.
LEVS: That's true and that's one reason why it's going to be hard to tell in a way whether the money even made a difference or not because some kids might do well without it, some kids are just go in there more the money. Maybe they did try and didn't get the grades as good as they wanted to. What we do know is that in the past, there had been some rewards programs like you mentioned in New York, well, they did give money for rewards.
CHO: No, I mean that at least, I'm a biased New Yorker, but at least, it was tied to performance, right?
LEVS: Right, you had to get a certain grade; you have to get a certain score. That's what made this program in some people's view radical and that's what there's going to be a lot of analysis before they can get other schools do it. Other schools aren't exactly dying to have this kind of controversy.
CHO: I know you'll be watching it.
LEVS: I will be all over it.
HOLMES: Josh, we appreciate you.
LEVS: OK.
HOLMES: And we do have new fears this morning to tell you about from the earthquake zone in China.
CHO: That's right. The threat of flooding forces thousands to head for higher ground. We'll have an update just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLOCK: She called out her son's name (INAUDIBLE) and said, "Mom is coming for you." And as the excavator works its way through the pile of debris that is just devastating to look at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And the reporter's emotional account of the horror and heartbreak, the desperate search for survivors of the quake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Good morning, everybody and welcome back. I'm T.J. Holmes.
CHO: Hey, T.J. Good to see you. Good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho, Betty has the weekend off. Thanks so much for starting your day with us.
And we begin with breaking news: running from high water. A short time ago, Chinese officials ordered tens of thousands of people to evacuate an area near the epicenter of Monday's devastating quake. There is growing concern now that two nearby lakes could burst at any time. All search and rescue efforts in the area had been called off.
And here's the very latest on the crisis. The death toll stands at nearly 29,000, that's the official number. Another 200,000 people are injured. But officials say that death toll is expected to rise possibly to 50,000.
HOLMES: The numbers are pretty much just unfathomable about the quake. Here I am at the international desk. This is where our editors and producers are working on many of those international stories. Certainly, the big stories we've had for the past couple of weeks, Myanmar, also, the earthquake in China. It's really taking up a lot of time and effort and energy over here at the international desk.
But, the numbers from the earthquake in China, just pretty much unfathomable. But they'd really sometimes don't even tell the story though. You know, that kind of blur what's been happening there because the truth is, out of everyone of those dead, that somebody's mother, father, son, daughter, those are very personal stories to everyone, each individual.
Well, NPR's Melissa Block, as you're going to see in this story, recently filed about the search a couple had, desperately, for their son and the grandparents who had gone down, who had been lost in the rubble of what had been an apartment building.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BLOCK (voice-over): More than 600,000 people lived in the city of Dujiangyan before the earthquake. Now, there is no telling how many are dead. Much of the city lies in ruins -- hospitals, schools, apartment buildings were flattened by the force of the earthquake.
We end up driving through the city behind the rumbling excavator and we find two people, a woman and a man, stumbling alongside it. They're clinging to the machine's laggard boom (ph) as if they could pull it by sheer human force to speed it through traffic.
"Please let us pass," they're crying. "We have the excavators so that we can save people. Our parents and our child are buried.
Fu Guan Yu (ph) and Wang Wei (ph) hopped back in their tiny Suzuki, which they abandoned in traffic. They leave the excavator on its way and they climbed in with them. She is 26; he's 34. It's Mr. Wang's parents who are buried along with the young couple son, Wang Ja Lu (ph), he's two months shy of his second birthday.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): He's a lovely boy. And about 10 minutes before the happening of the earthquake, you know, he's calling, "Mom, please stay with me and don't go."
BLOCK: This past Monday afternoon, Mrs. Fu dropped her son off with his grandparents so she go to her job at a department store. Then, just minutes later, the earthquake hit. She rushed back home and saw their apartment building in ruins. She says soldiers came right away to help but they had no equipment. Now finally, the heavy machinery is on the way.
It's has been two days now and they haven't been able to get any machinery to your house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): I still don't want to give up. I firmly believe he's still alive.
BLOCK: Finally, we pull up at the end of the alley that leads to the family's apartment building.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING CHINESE)
BLOCK: You're worried about this building here? You're worried about this building falling down? There goes the excavator. You are worried that the shaking will harm this building and this building here, this 10-story building could collapse if the excavator goes by. We'll be careful.
We're running down the alley to get by the building (INAUDIBLE) of collapse. The 10-story building is still standing. We are going kind of down toward (INAUDIBLE) part of the building behind the excavator.
But there is still one more delay. There is a covered gateway that's too low for the equipment to drive through. The claw of the excavator starts smashing the gate to bits.
Here, the top of the gate is almost completely down. The whole 15-foot structure, it's the man and wire, whoa. And down it comes in a huge crash. But this gate is down. Once they clear it away, then the bulldozers can come in and the crane just start picking through what's left of this family's building and try to find their child and the grandparents.
The family rushes towards six-story collapsed building at one end of the courtyard filled with trees.
Cement, bricks and rubble. The pile about three stories high of what's left of this building. All around there are buildings that are perfectly fine and that building is not at all fine, that building is gone.
"We lived on the fourth floor," Mrs. Fu says. That's our furniture up there.
She called out her son's name and said, "Mom is coming for you." The excavator works its way through the pile of debris that is just devastating to look at.
When the excavator has cleared a path, Mrs. Fu and Mr. Wang run up to the debris pile. Mrs. Fu is climbing up through sharp pieces of metal. She's calling out her son's name. Wang, she's peering through the bricks.
The dad is now crawling deep under the mezzanine (ph) that's not safe.
She is doubled over, shaking her fists, stumbled (ph) over in terror, begging him to come out so that he wouldn't get hurt or crushed by the piles of debris.
The young couple climbs back down. There's so much heavy wreckage. It's useless. Work crews are brought in with torches to cut through rebar. The excavator starts back to work and the bulldozer and the crane. And after a long while the workers stop. They have found some bodies.
OK, we're standing on the edge of the rubble pile now where there's clawed (ph) a big hole in to the debris. There are flies buzzing around. People who were digging in here with the machinery came running out with their hands over their mouths. They have found a body and I can see the hand now.
I can see the hand now in the rubble. There is a ring on the right finger. And there is no -- there are no air pockets in this pile of rubble. This is a mass of debris. And anyone in there has been crushed.
From the description of the ring, the Wang family can tell this is not their relative, it's a neighbor. There is some relief, but also now even deeper fear that this day will not end well. We are 50 feet away from rubble pile and now the smell of death is unmistakable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING CHINESE)
BLOCK: These women have just brought Mrs. Fu a white sheet. They told her, "We hope they're still alive, but in case they're not, you can use this to cover their faces." It's a local tradition that others shouldn't see the faces of the dead. And now these women are tearing the sheet into three pieces for Mrs. Fu's family if they're found dead.
Mrs. Fu is trembling and a friend wraps her in a tight embrace, "Don't cry, don't cry," the friend reassures her, "maybe they didn't die."
Mrs. Fu is just limp (ph) of grief in her neighbor's arms. They want her to sit down and try to relax. She wants to stand right here and watch.
With the discovery of the bodies, about 30 members of the military police are brought in to dig by hand through the rubbles. But these soldiers seem to have come with no equipment. Mrs. Fu and Mr. Wang rushed out to buy supplies for them; they come back with packs of cut and gloves and face masks. Neighbors scrambled to find shovels. And the soldiers head toward the pile.
Mrs. Fu started this day, saying she had great hope that her son was still alive. But the discovery of these bodies -- now, and the army is here to pick through the rubble, the shrouds that are being brought in, you can tell that hope starts draining from her. She is limp and her face is completely blank.
Hours crawled by, there is no news. Mrs. Fu and Mr. Wang fall into each other's arms.
It's now noon. We've been here for several hours. Mrs. Fu has lost hope of finding her family it seems. She's saying, "My son, I should have taken you to work with me. You were asking me to take you to work." Her husband is telling her, "There's nothing we can do about it now. I need you to stay strong. I can't lose you anymore." She has just collapsed in grief in husband's arms as they both wept for what they've lost.
Then the police walkie talkie crackles with the glimmer of hope. They're trying to bring in sniffer dogs, they're trying to find sniffer dogs to bring in to see if they're might be who are still alive.
But soon enough, that hope is dashed, too. So, some soldiers have just came in and have reported that they could not find any sniffer dogs. At 4:40 in the afternoon, nine hours later. A worker comes out with news. A worker just came out and said they found the bodies of a child and two old people. And Mrs. Fu asked if the boy was about two and the worker nodded, yes. They now know that their family has been found and they're all dead.
(CRYING)
BLOCK: Mrs. Fu just cried out her son's name and she said, "Mama is here."
(CRYING)
BLOCK: The mother just called out to the worker asking whether he had called out to the child that maybe he'd just fainted.
(CRYING)
BLOCK: The family was told later was found in his grandfather's arms with the grandmother closed behind, holding on to her husband's back.
There had been so many, so many deaths here in Dujiangyan that the crematories are full. People are being asked to take the bodies of their loved ones out to the countryside for burial. But Fu Guan Yu (ph) and Wang Wei (ph) managed to get a local crematorium to come collect the bodies, they're driven away in a white van.
Later, the family will burn paper money to usher the dead into the afterlife. They'll light incense and set off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits. Down the street, another family has begun the same ritual.
This scene is repeating itself countless times here in Dujiangyan, throughout Sichuan province and beyond.
I'm Melissa Block in Dujiangyan.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Wow.
CHO: And amid all of that, you know, some tales of -- it's just miracles. You know, a 52-year-old German tourist was actually rescued after being trapped for 117 hours. So, and those rescuers are still hoping miracles.
HOLMES: It's unfortunate there was few and far between (ph), but we need to hear those stories every now and again as well.
CHO: Yes, I think it keeps people going.
HOLMES: Yes, a lot of emotional stories coming out of that disaster zone.
CHO: Stay with us throughout the morning for much more on China and the struggle to cope in the aftermath. Of course, both in China, we're also watching things here in the U.S.
We're going to have another live report from the quake zone at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back. The west coast has fire dangers and heat warnings out today. Meteorologist Bonnie Schneider is in Reynolds Wolf this morning. Hey, Bonnie, good morning. Are they going to get any hot (ph) in the weather department today?
SCHNEIDER: Not today, maybe late tomorrow. But temperatures are still warm now. Of course, it's still early in the morning in California. But I want to show you some pictures of brush fires that broke out in southern California yesterday. Some of these are pretty far and wide. Others were smaller of 45 acres. The largest was in the San Gabriel mountains, about 460 acres.
Firefighters say most of these are now under control but the problem was, the soaring heat really helped to ignite the flames. What we're looking at now are temperatures that are cooler. Take a look at what we are looking at here. We got them into the 60s and 70s, but more heat is on the way as we have heat advisories in place.
Not so much for southern California, but more inland areas. Well, into central and northern California. You can see in and around the San Francisco area, up toward Santa Rosa, down toward San Jose, further inland we'll have the influence of -- the flow coming down from the mountains.
So, this is where temperatures will be in the 90s for today. And that's not the only place where temperatures will be above normal. Look at this. Once you start heading up into Washington and to Oregon states, we'll be looking for temperatures 20 to 25 degrees above what they typically are.
Now, on the flip side of that, it's rainy, cool and kind of raw out there in New England. Look at this, we're getting some wet weather into the Boston area and windy weather on the cape (ph).
So, quite the contrast, T.J. and Alina, depending on where you are -- hot and dry in California; wet, cool, and windy in New England. Back to you.
CHO: Yes, I witnesses that wet, cool, windy yesterday in New York. Just as I was flying down.
HOLMES: Glad you made it.
CHO: I'm glad I made it, too. It's delayed a little bit.
All right, coming up. Thanks, Bonnie. A shot at animal immortality: Big Brown, take two.
HOLMES: Yes, the Kentucky Derby winner will have a chance to move one step closer to the Triple Crown. And our "Pretty Ricky" is coming up next, whether you want to see him or whether you don't.
CHO: Pretty Ricky.
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: Hey.
HOLMES: Don't say anything. Just wait there. We'll see you in a second.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Trying for number two: Big Brown running the Preakness Stakes today, trying to move closer to that elusive Triple Crown which (INAUDIBLE) captured in some 30 years. It's a big deal in sports, it's a big deal in business.
And our sports business analyst, Rick Horrow, is joining us now from West Palm Beach, Florida. Good morning to you again, sir.
Horseracing is not the most popular sport out there but still Big Brown is going to end up being big business, why?
HORROW: Big Brown may capture our hearts. Well, UPS did a deal in anticipation of maybe him winning the Preakness and then the Triple Crown to Belmont, three weeks from now. So, we'll have to see what happens today. Personally, I like the idea of dressing in brown, as you can tell, it he's the official horse of UPS, maybe I can be the official sports business analyst.
HOLMES: Oh, my goodness. Stop. OK, stop tempering (ph) yourself, Rick.
HORROW: Hey, I understand. Bottom line is, OK, 10 percent decrease in corporate sponsorship at the Preakness and a 50 percent decrease in corporate tents (ph). So, the real issue is how do corporations deal with the economy as well?
HOLMES: OK. How's the UPS going to get paid off this horse? If he wins, if he doesn't win, I mean, how is that going to work out for them?
HORROW: Well, if he doesn't win, they had a week's worth of mentions and took them a little while to do that marketing deal after the derby. They wanted to see what the horseracing industry would be like after euthanizing Eight Belles as you know, that was another issue.
But the second piece is, if he wins, obviously, it's Smarty Jones (ph), it's Secretariat (ph), it's Barbaro, it's all of those horses. Listen, it's about six minutes of fame, three races times about two minutes but all of America watches especially if there's a Triple Crown candidate. We haven't had one of those in years and years and years.
HOLMES: Now, UPS just one of the number of corporations, certainly, many of them get into the big sports, big business, but not getting into it maybe as eagerly as they once did. HORROW: Well, remember, there's $6 billion in naming deals that have been done. That's the way buildings are built today. But Time Warner Cable just did a deal for the new arena in Charlotte. When I say new arena, two and half years it opened. Philips, next door to you in Atlanta, did their deal seven months after they opened American Airlines in Dallas six months. So, it's taking longer. There's little confusion.
You know, Safco was bought by Liberty Mutual. There's a stadium in Seattle called Safco Field, a 20-year $40 million deal, they're going to keep the name but it is confusing. The CEO of the Yankees just saying, "We don't name Grant's tomb, we don't name the White House, we're not going to rename the Yankee Stadium."
A lot of it is because corporation may take a while to step up.
HOLMES: And there just, and some are just being a little more careful about where they're putting the dollar these days?
HORROW: Yes, of course. And there's lot of competition. Recent studies says, because of the tight economy, that 60 percent of us will go out to eat and 30 percent go to movies, only 10 percent really go to sporting events -- pro-sporting events if it's a choice with the tight dollar.
So, corporations, a lot more competitive in their marketing deals. LeBron James by the way, 23-cent pizza in Cleveland, if you talked about LeBron James appreciation -- remember the run they had (INAUDIBLE)? So, there are a lot of these examples of real creative marketing, some work and some don't.
HOLMES: Well, we will see and certainly curious to see what happens as well, Rick, with this Preakness. I mean, some people, certainly me, it's just something doesn't feel right. So nervous about, you know, because of what happened to Eight Belles. It's just doesn't feel right about watching the Preakness. Hopefully, Big Brown can inspire folks like you say it, Rick.
But we will see, I think somebody even said that they're losing the few horseracing fans that they had after that. So, we'll see how that turns out. But we appreciate you as always, Rick. And I think we might see you here next weekend in the studio with us, possibly.
HORROW: Absolutely, Indy 500. We'll talk about that. Take two minutes out of your life and watch the Preakness later.
HOLMES: OK. I'm a busy man, though, but thank you. See you, Rick.
CHO: There's been a lot of talk that synthetic turf actually would be better for the horses, to, because it provides a little cushion.
HOLMES: That as well. But it's just something doesn't feel right.
CHO: I know, it was sad for a lot of people, horseracing fans when that happened.
All right. Coming up, stay with us. Still ahead: a husband's grief compounded by an unthinkable crime as his wife lay dead in the ER.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARMSTRONG: This is something that's -- I think I'm going to keep them close to me for a while. I think I'll probably put them on a chain (INAUDIBLE) a wedding ring and I'll just wear them and I'm going to hold on to them for my boys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Just minutes from now, we'll talk live with Alan Armstrong right here on studio about getting his wife's stolen wedding rings back.
HOLMES: And also just ahead, a U.N. official joins us with an update on international efforts to help cyclone victims in Myanmar.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: The suffering continues in Myanmar following that devastating cyclone. Hunger and despair are setting in, just as aid workers say, Myanmar's military junta is stopping relief supplies from reaching areas that needed most. And if that doesn't change, there will be an outbreak of disease.
On the phone with us now, United Nations representative, Mark Rapaport. So, Mark, give us an assessment of the situation right now.
VOICE OF MARK RAPAPORT, SR. REPATRIATION OFC. UNCHR: Yes. Well, basically as far as a dignitary is concerned, we focus our efforts on emergency shelter assistance. So, what I can say from that sector of need, is that elsewhere the needs are enormous. The global affected population, you may now already, is 1.5 million persons.
And all the players that are trying to provide emergency shelter assistance are an objective of 130,000 households with emergency shelter assistance. So you can imagine, this is a big challenge given the logistical and other constraints.
CHO: You know, there has been so much talk, Mr. Rapaport, about the government there hoarding the best aid and also not allowing relief flights in. I know some U.S. aid flights are expected to arrive there soon. And I know there's a French Navy ship with 1,500 tons of supplies just waiting to get in. Are you getting a sense that this relief is getting into the people who need it most?
RAPAPORT: All I can say is that the air cargoes, that's UNCHR has received, we had no problem to get the clearance. I know that's maybe other cargoes are arriving. So, what happens with the goods, we are receiving unit share. I mean, we take position of the goods with no problem and given the emergency, we distribute them through NGO's immediately. So from that angle -- no, I cannot say that the goods or unit share assistance has been confiscated or other. However, I mean, there is the issue of international access, I mean, international aid workers for the time being, do not have access to the affected areas. And all of us, I mean, U.N. or NGO's, I mean, do cover the needs and our presence in this field with national staff.
CHO: Well, we certainly hope that those people, up to 2.5 million survivors affected most immediately, we certainly hope they get the aid that they so badly need. Mark Rapaport of the United Nations, we thank you for joining us from in-country there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ARMSTRONG: She would have expected me to go through what I had to go through here to try to get these back for the boys.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: A young mother killed in a traffic accident. Her wedding rings are taken from her hand while she was in the hospital. We'll hear from the husband about his emotional ordeal. That is coming up live this hour.
From the CNN Center here in Atlanta, Georgia, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
CHO: And good morning, everybody. I'm Alina Cho, Betty has the weekend off.
HOLMES: We do want to start first with breaking news out of China this morning, fears that two newly formed lakes near the epicenter of this week's massive quake are about to burst.
CHO: That's right. Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate the area. All search and rescue efforts in that area now abandoned, the devastation in China just staggering. Officials now put the death toll at almost 29,000 and they say they expect that number to rise.
Our Eunice Yoon following the developments from Chengdu, China. That's near the epicenter there. Eunice, talk first about this real tense situation, where we had 30,000 people evacuating because of the concern about the high waters there. What is the very latest on that?
EUNICE YOON, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, people there are very concerned about the situation over there and it's really a problem that we're seeing all over the region. I just came back from a town called Yingshu (ph) in (INAUDIBLE) County which is an area very close to the epicenter of the earthquake and there we were seeing thousands of refugees who were making a very harrowing journey to get out of that region.
They were crossing over landscapes, landslides rather. They're scrambling over some very dangerous, unstable mountain passes. They were carrying their parents. Some people were carrying the injured as well as babies. They don't -- they're walking along these paths with very little food, very little water.
They are wearing very flimsy shoes, jumping from one slippery rock to another slippery rock, just because they told us that there really isn't anything left for them in their villages. They said that except for the possibility of disease. So these people really are trying to get out of the area because they are quite concerned about the situation in their hometowns, Alina.
CHO: Up to 29,000 people confirmed dead at this point. That's the official number. It could rise to 50,000, 200,000 people injured. The numbers are just staggering, Eunice, I know you've covered the region for quite some time.
You know, China allowing the relief aid in is quite a departure, a diplomatic departure from what they've done before. They're actually working with longtime rivals like Japan and Russia, the U.S. Talk a little bit about that. Are they getting the aid that they so badly need right now?
YOON: Well, some of the survivors are getting some aid. The bulk of the aid, though, is still being given out by the Chinese military in that particular town, Yinshu (ph). There were tens of thousands of soldiers marching around, helping to pull people out of the rubble. They were also handing out a lot of food aid, getting out water to some of the people there.
The people there are now living in tents. They're living in -- they're living under a makeshift tarps. They're also sleeping in plastic. They're sleeping on the ground. They're sleeping in their cars, anything that is away from the city.
These people are rationing their food. They have about one to two meals a day. They tell us, they also said that, of course, most of that food is coming from the military, but that they sometimes need to forage for food on their own, actually going into the town and going to the stores ...
CHO: I just wanted to ask you very quickly, because you talked about them living in tents and so forth, sort of makeshift shelters, what are the concerns there now about aftershocks and the stability of the infrastructures there, because so many buildings collapsed in the wake of the quake?
YOON: Well, there are definitely a lot of aftershocks. And when we were there, we felt the aftershocks. So there was one that was really quite big. And actually, afterwards, we heard a landslide that had occurred because of that aftershock. Even when we made our way back to one of the bigger cities and made that journey across some of that very difficult -- those difficult mountain passes.
We felt another aftershock and when we did, there were rocks that were falling along the way and a lot of the villagers, and of course, we as well, had to scramble and get out of the way.
CHO: Well, Eunice Yoon right in the center of it all covering this earthquake in China. Eunice, thank you -- T.J.? HOLMES: Alina, a few people are keeping a closer watch on the earthquake and its aftermath than the people in San Francisco's Chinatown. There banners hang in the streets calling for aid to help people devastated by this quake.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Depending on what kind of condition they're in, they can last quite a while. The biggest problem with someone that's trapped, basically unhurt, for a long period of time, is lack of drinking water. And that's what will get to them first is dehydration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Fundraisers are scheduled in cities across the United States to help send aid to quake victims.
CHO: Fact-finding farce? A U.S. envoy to Myanmar describes today's government tour of cyclone-hit areas as a show designed to impress the world. Sixty diplomats and U.N. officials were taken by helicopter to three camps. While Myanmar's junta is accepting aid, it is not allowing international aid workers into the country and that ban has prompted concern over whether the people in greatest need are getting the help they so desperately need.
The U.S. is now giving some of its aid to private relief groups already operating inside Myanmar. We know you may want to help in the wake of this disaster and you can at cnn.com. We have a special page on the devastation in Myanmar, complete with links to aid agencies offering help for the region. It's a chance for you to impact your world, as we're calling it and let us be your guide.
HOLMES: We turn now to an unannounced visit to Iraq from U.S. representative, Democrat Nancy Pelosi. She arrived in Baghdad this morning.
CHO: That story just breaking within the hour. The House speaker is an outspoken critic of President Bush's Iraq policies and her arrival there comes just two days after the House defeated a $160 billion Iraq spending bill. Pelosi is expected to meet today with Iraq's prime minister. She was leading a congressional delegation to Israel before that detour.
HOLMES: Hearing from the other side, President Bush holding two days of talks with Arab leaders in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh. The president shook hands with his host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Egypt's state-owned newspaper is criticizing the president, President Bush, criticizing the visit to Israel earlier this week. One photo of the president hugging Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was captioned "lovers."
President Bush wading into the presidential race here in the U.S. His comments in Israel sparking some back and forth between Barack Obama and John McCain. CNN deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is with the CNN Election Express in Frankfort, Kentucky this morning. Paul, with all this back and forth and everything that has happened since West Virginia, we kind of forget, oh, yes, there's a primary in Kentucky coming up on Tuesday.
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: yes. We've got three days to go until people vote here in Kentucky and in Oregon as well, but you know, T.J., you're right, for the last couple months, really since about Christmas time, the economy has been issue number one on the campaign trail, but in the last couple days, foreign affairs, the war in Iraq, the war on terror, that's taken center stage.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: It is good to be back in Oregon. I love this state.
STEINHAUSER (voice-over): Barack Obama campaigning across Oregon this weekend, involved in a firefight with President Bush and John McCain.
OBAMA: If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate that I'm happy to have any time, any place and that is a debate that I will win, because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.
STEINHAUSER: Obama struck back after President Bush, in front of the Israeli parliament, made what was viewed as a veiled slap at Obama, criticizing those who would talk with Iran and other nations hostile to the U.S. The fight over talking with Iran and Hamas now rages between Obama and McCain.
MCCAIN: I have some news for Senator Obama. Talking, not even with soaring rhetoric, unconditional -- in unconditional meetings with a man who calls Israel a stinking corpse and arms terrorists who kill Americans will not convince Iran to give up its nuclear program. It is reckless.
OBAMA: John McCain has repeated this notion that I am prepared to negotiate with terrorists. I have never said that. I have been adamant about not negotiating with Hamas.
STEINHAUSER: Hillary Clinton is on the sidelines in this battle and out of the political spotlight. She is also taking on President Bush, who failed Friday to convince Saudi Arabia to increase its oil production.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I were president, I wouldn't be holding hands with the Saudis or having tea with them, I would be trying to deal with our immediate problem and then try to deal with our longer-term.
STEINHAUSER: This weekend she campaigns in Kentucky.
CLINTON: Kentucky always picks the president, and I know that and I know ...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STEINHAUSER: Well, I'm right here on the campus of Kentucky State University, got the CNN Election Express right behind me. Hillary Clinton is spending all weekend right here in Kentucky. She's favored in this state. Public opinion polls have her up by double digits. Barack Obama, he's in Oregon all weekend. That's a state where he's favored. So we could have a split decision come Tuesday, T.J.
HOLMES: Oh, well come Tuesday, things should be crystal clear, Paul. Paul Steinhauser, deputy political director for us there in Frankfort, Kentucky. We'll see you again here shortly buddy. Thank you so much.
And be sure to tune in Tuesday night for the best political team on television. They'll be bringing you the primary results. Live coverage begins at 7:00 p.m. Eastern from the CNN Election Center.
CHO: I'll tell you what's crystal clear, what's crystal clear is our best political team on TV will be tired, continue to be tired for another month.
HOLMES: Oh, yes. For another month at least. They'll get rest maybe, what, next January or so?
CHO: After the fall election, you're right.
All right, coming up, glimmer amid the grief. A ring set stolen from a dead woman is returned to her husband. We'll talk with him live, next.
HOLMES: Also coming up at the bottom of the hour, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Here now, a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, guys.
We have a very special edition of "HOUSE CALL." If you're a woman or you care about one, you're going to want to watch. New research finds the gender gap is alive and well when it comes to heart disease, which is the number one killer of women. A lot of people don't know that.
Best selling author Dr. Christian Northrup (ph) talking about her keys to health.
Plus, find out what you should be asking your doctor for at your next exam.
We got it all, "HOUSE CALL," 8:30.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: The outrage factor here is off the charts. You will be outraged as well when you hear this. A young mother killed in a traffic accident. While her body was at the hospital, someone took her engagement and wedding rings from her finger.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ARMSTRONG: It's great. I mean, this is something that I think I'm going to keep them close to me for a while. I think I would probably put them on a chain. I don't even own a wedding ring. And I'll just wear them and I'm going to hold onto them for my boys.
HOLMES (voice-over): Alan Armstrong just wanted to give his little boys deeply personal keepsakes to remember their mother by. The engagement and wedding rings that she designed would have been perfect. The problem was, they disappeared after Katherine (ph) Armstrong was taken to Atlanta's Grady Hospital after a car crash two weeks ago.
Who would do such a thing? Police have now identified a suspect, a 54-year-old hospital employee. Police say security video shows Takuma Jawara (ph) with a property bag containing the rings and that he eventually cooperated, providing information through his attorney about where the rings were taken.
Police say they then recovered those rings at an Atlanta pawn shop where they allegedly were taken by a family member. On Friday, police returned the rings to Armstrong.
ARMSTRONG: Only sort of had these in my hand one other time and that's when I put them on her, you know, her finger. And I know that she would be -- these were so special to her and she would just be mortified to think that they're sitting in some pawn shop somewhere that some scum had taken them from her finger. So you know, I think it's a great thing for the boys to have.
HOLMES: While Armstrong is relieved to have the rings back, he still harbors a lot of anger toward Grady Hospital.
ARMSTRONG: Grady had just been completely inept. They weren't responsive. They just didn't want to focus on a monetary recovery.
HOLMES: But for Armstrong, money was never the issue. We asked Grady for a response but haven't heard back from them yet. They did tell CNN earlier before the rings were recovered that quote, "We have not been able to determine exactly what happened to the property. The investigation of this matter will continue as well as our diligent attempts to recover the rings."
To Armstrong and his sons, getting the rings back offers little more closure to a very painful experience, one that touched police as well.
DET. P.J. ROBERSON, ATLANTA POLICE: I'm just glad that we could do it for him. I mean, he's gone through a lot these weeks and we've all gone through times before when we've had problems and if we can give him any type of something to cling on to. I'm glad Atlanta police were able to do that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We can update you now. We actually have gotten a statement from Grady Hospital, released a short time ago to our affiliate WSB. And they say, "We are pleased that the rings have been recovered and returned to Mr. Armstrong. We stand by our actions and take all matters related to loss of property seriously."
And Alan Armstrong joins us right now on the set with us, with the rings as well. Good morning to you, sir. Thank you for giving us some time here. This is just an outrageous story. How did you get the news and how did you take the news that your wife's rings were gone?
ARMSTRONG: I got the news, actually, the day that I went to the hospital. So I was at work, got this phone call from the police officer and found out what happened. Never had been to Grady Hospital before, I couldn't talk, had barely -- probably shouldn't have been driving.
And I was heading down to the hospital and after I got there and met with this social services worker, who ended up stealing the rings. He's actually the only guy that I interacted with from the hospital staff when I was there. And I saw him.
I spent about 15 minutes with my wife and then came out of that and asked him very pointedly, I was like, I've got to get the rings. What's going on? And he told me, oh, well, we don't do that. There's actually no way you can get the rings today, those go ...
HOLMES: Did something there not sit right? Did you get a weird vibe or feeling from that social worker?
ARMSTRONG: I don't know. It's such a confusing, emotional time, but I had a friend of mine with me who verified this and I pushed him three or four times, saying I have to get this property. And he basically invented a protocol that doesn't exist for Grady, where, oh, all the property goes to the medical examiner. It gets to the medical examiner. It could be 72 hours before you get it.
So he (INAUDIBLE) the fact that it was 24 hours before we were sure that a crime had been committed and because of that lie, I knew it was him.
HOLMES: When you knew a crime had been committed, how do you take that news? You got two little boys, one and four-years-old. They just lost their mother. You just lost your wife. How tough is that? That's unbelievable. Most people can't fathom that, but then on top of that, to know that someone stole these rings that are special, that she designed herself, how in the world did you react to that on top of everything else you were going through?
ARMSTRONG: It was difficult. Unfortunately, I was pretty much a puddle for the first five or six days and I didn't have the band width to deal with it too much. We notified Grady, tried to get that process in gear, which was pretty ineffective for the first six days or so. Then I had to focus on taking care of the boys and making our arrangements with the town. And it wasn't until we got back into town, six days after the accident that I really could focus on this.
HOLMES: And your focus turned to the rings. Did you have high hopes that you would get them back? In that process it turns out, yes that, social worker took them. But still, you were lucky to even get them back. They had gone to a pawn shop. They could have gone who knows where.
ARMSTRONG: Absolutely. I'm a pragmatist. I knew that -- put it this way, I know there's 0.0 chance I would get them back if I didn't push hard, so that's all I could do. And my wife would have expected me to do that.
HOLMES: What do you want to do with those rings now? You said something you wanted your boys to have.
ARMSTRONG: yes, absolutely. These rings were for a lot of reasons I talked about before, they were very, very special to my wife. She designed them. She's a very artistic, creative person. Like I was, she would have been incensed to know that some scum took them from when she was at her most vulnerable and they're sitting in some pawn shop. And you know, it's something I think my boys will cherish and they'll know that these were very important to her and she wore them every day.
HOLMES: How are those boys, one and four-years-old, I think the younger I think you said 20 months. It's hard to really understand what happened for a child that young. How are you going about dealing with those boys now and explaining to them what has happened?
ARMSTRONG: It's difficult. The 20-month-old, I know he knows something's wrong. He understands everything you say, but he just can't communicate. So there's not much I can do there. My four year- old just asked a lot of hard questions. It's life. What can you do?
HOLMES: Mr. Armstrong, a lot of people cannot believe what you've had to go through, a beautiful woman, beautiful family, so sorry for your loss. Good to meet you, glad you could be here, sorry under these circumstances, but good luck to you and glad you got the rings back at least.
ARMSTRONG: And I appreciate everything (INAUDIBLE) and getting the media to help facilitate that.
HOLMES: Mr. Armstrong, thank you so much, sir. Good luck to you.
CHO: A lot of memories in those rings.
Coming up, Josh Levs keeps it real on the campaign trail. Hey Josh, good morning.
LEVS: Hey to you, good morning. So, were the president's remarks in Israel really aimed at Barack Obama? How the White House is answering that question. That's coming up right here, CNN SATURDAY MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: The end of an era for wine connoisseurs. The man who put California wine on the map, Robert Mondavi, has died. Mondavi made Napa Valley a must-see for wine lovers. He opened his vineyards back in the 1960s when California really was known for its cheap jug wine. Robert Mondavi was 94-years-old, a long life.
HOLMES: And a beautiful vineyard out there, if no one's ever been. Those grounds are beautiful.
CHO: President Bush meanwhile, he made some comments this week, as many of you know, in Israel, that quickly resonated back home on the campaign trail. So were the president's remarks about appeasement of terrorists really a dig at Barack Obama?
HOLMES: Also, where is Hillary Clinton? She won big in West Virginia but hasn't been seen since. Josh Levs here now with some answers.
Good morning to you, sir.
LEVS: Good morning to you.
I know, she must feel like, what do you have to do to get some attention around here? You know the best way to get the answers, cnnpolitics.com. I'm going to take you through (INAUDIBLE) where you can get a lot of answers to all we were just talking about.
Let's start off right here. I was speaking with our Ed Henry yesterday. This is his story you can see on cnnpolitics. Let's answer that first question. Was this a dig at Barack Obama?
Here's his story. White House officials denied Obama was a target of Bush's remarks, but privately, White House aides indicated the criticism was aimed at Democrats, including Obama and former President Jimmy Carter. So there's politics for you. We can go on with the official statement from the White House, but aides are saying privately, yes it was a dig at Democrats, including Obama.
Meanwhile, let's take a look over here at how "Time" magazine is calling this. They say, look, today in front of a supportive audience in Israel, Knesset, Bush went right at Obama. So clearly, this is how it was read very widely.
Now, let's talk about Clinton for a minute, because what ended up happening here, she's coming off this huge victory in West Virginia, right? Here are the final results with everything tallied at cnnpolitics.com, 67 percent to 26 percent, massive blowout in West Virginia.
Yet by the end of the week, that story's gone. Let's not start to think that this race is over. I want to show you what's still coming up here. We've got these remaining races. Three days until Kentucky and Oregon, as we were hearing earlier from our Paul Steinhauser.
We're going to be following these races really closely. And you can over here follow the calendar for the rest of the month. There's a series of more races that go through the very beginning of June. So don't start to think the race is over. Voting does matter, obviously. And yet, if you look at what's dominating the headlines, it's no longer inside the Democratic race.
Now, it is a lot more about Obama versus Bush and McCain. Now, some people, like "Time" magazine said, you know what, Bush managed to do something no one else has done, united the Democrats on this front. So there you go guys, all the answers you can possibly want right there at cnnpolitics.com. We'll keep it coming to you all day.
HOLMES: My goodness, slow down, Josh! Slow down!
CHO: I mean, since when do we talk about the Puerto Rico primary, too? I mean, Michelle Obama, Chelsea Clinton campaigning there.
HOLMES: It matters.
LEVS: I know. It's amazing.
HOLMES: I'm going to cover it, Puerto Rico, I'm there.
LEVS: No way!
CHO: He's willing it to happen, Josh, is what's going on here.
HOLMES: Thanks, Josh.
CHO: It's a bird, it's a plane, it's one crazy dude with a winged jet pack.
HOLMES: yes.
CHO: Take a look.
HOLMES: Buzz Lightyear's got nothing on this guy.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're everywhere. They're up and down the sidewalks, all over my front porch.
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CHO: Well, people in Houston are facing an alien invasion of sorts. We're talking about ants here. Take a look at that, the way they scurry around has earned them the name crazy ants. You know, these things are so tiny, they can actually eat fire ants. Can you believe that?
HOLMES: What?
CHO: So these ants eat other ants.
HOLMES: Bad ants. They are believed to have arrived aboard a cargo ship a few years ago. Getting rid of them, obviously, has proven to be a little difficult here, so it means the problem is actually going to maybe get worse in the coming years.
CHO: How would you like to deal with that this summer?
HOLMES: I've got enough issues.
CHO: Just as it starts to get hot.
HOLMES: Look, as soon as you put your hand down.
CHO: And how cool is this? Yves Rossi (ph) is a real-life Buzz Lightyear. Look at that.
HOLMES: He's a nut.
CHO: No way I'm doing that. He straps some wings and a jet engine on his back and then swoosh (INAUDIBLE) valley for an awe- struck crowd.
HOLMES: This is a 48-year-old, again, I call him a nut, some people call him a daredevil. He got up to seriously, 190 miles an hour with this thing on his back. He performed a barrel roll at one point, something he had never done before.
Now, landing with a jet pack is still a bit tricky, so he relies on a parachute to get him safely back to earth and he did. I think he went about nine minutes or something they say, and he did finally release the parachute. He landed ...
CHO: Well, I mean, he does have some experience. He's not a novice, he's a military pilot in Switzerland, so he ...
HOLMES: They don't fly those.
CHO: No, but he's -- he's comfortable in the air, so. Cost -- that thing $190,000. Can you believe it?
HOLMES: Oh wow, that's an expensive habit.
CHO: Yes, it most certainly is. And he says his dream is to fly over the Grand Canyon.
HOLMES: Oh.
CHO: So, maybe we'll see him over in Deep (ph) Park.
HOLMES: We'll be there to cover that.
CHO: That's right.
Coming up, college students graduating deep in debt. Coming up, our Gerri Willis has tips to help you manage your student loans, how to keep your payments low and your credit clean.
HOLMES: But first, "HOUSE CALL" with Dr. Sanjay Gupta starts right now.
