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CNN Saturday Morning News
Chelsea Clinton's Wedding Day; Deadly Flooding in Pakistan; Investigation Into Leaked Military Documents; Delay in Permanently Sealing Damaged Oil Well In Gulf of Mexico
Aired July 31, 2010 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello everybody, from the CNN center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for July 31st, the last day of the month. Glad you could be here. I'm T.J. Holmes.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kate Bolduan. Thanks for starting your day with us. It's been a good day so far and good day for Chelsea Clinton.
HOLMES: It's a big day for her.
BOLDUAN: It's a wedding day for her, a big day.
HOLMES: This is just last night, the pictures we're showing you here of the parents arriving and some people think it might have been the actual rehearsal dinner last night. But this tiny town in New York being taken over. We'll tell you the details we think we know. But again, the former first daughter having a big day today. Details about that, other big stories we'll be bringing your way as well.
But we're going to take you now to a story that's happening in Pakistan, a natural disaster, one of the worst in that country's history. The Pakistan military helping out in this disaster right now. We're talking about flooding. Flooding has hit and hit hard in the northwestern part of that country. The death toll has gone up. It has gone up dramatically.
Our Reza Sayah is en route to the flood zone. He joins us now on the phone. Reza, hello to you once again. We saw this death toll double this morning.
REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Yeah, it did, T.J. and things are bad. Over the past few hours, we've been driving our way to the flood-ravaged areas in northwest Pakistan and we're starting to see glimpses of how bad this is. Let's tell you where we are. We're in the city of (INAUDIBLE) at a bridge that used to go over the Kabul River, the Kabul River, a major river here in northwest Pakistan.
That bridge is now demolished and that's an indication of how powerful these floodwaters were when they came through parts of northwestern Pakistan. These floods have just been catastrophic for many areas here in northwest Pakistan. Again the latest death toll, 800 people killed. The hardest hit region is where we are right now, the region (INAUDIBLE) province. This is the aftermath of three days of record breaking monsoon rains. Anyone that's been to Pakistan in this area of south Asia, you know how powerful these monsoon rains are. These were record breaking rains. Officials say several districts in this province have been swept with floodwaters, hundreds of homes swept away. Many of these homes made of mud. oftentimes unable to withstand these heavy floodwaters.
Officials say scores of businesses, government buildings and also bridges destroyed. What stands out where we are right now is that there is no relief crews here. What I'm seeing right now, literally thousands of people, many of them covered in mud, oftentimes whole families walking with their belongings to, who knows where. It is a very sad scene.
Again no rescue crews here. That's what they're trying to do is to get to these areas. But because of roads being blocked, because of bridges collapsing, it is very difficult to do at this point.
HOLMES: Reza, one more thing before we let you go and that is, have the rains stopped? Has the weather that came down on them at least for now, for the time being, stopped and there is no more rain?
SAYAH: Yeah. The good news is for the past 24 hours, they have stopped. Today is relatively clear, but the bad news is those monsoon rains are coming again tomorrow, the next several days. How severe they're going to be we don't know but monsoon season doesn't end until September, T.J..
HOLMES: All right, Reza Sayah for us on the road on the way to the flood ravaged regions. Reza, we appreciate you. We'll be checking in with you throughout the day here on CNN.
BOLDUAN: And the flooding that Reza's talking about caps an already deadly week in Pakistan. Authorities still trying to determine what caused a passenger jet to crash just outside of Islamabad Wednesday. It killed all 152 people on board. The crash happened during a heavy rain storm. A government official today announced the plane's flight data recorder has been found.
Getting a check of your top stories, more of our top stories. In California hundreds of firefighters are trying to put down a trio of wildfires that have already charred 30,000 acres near Los Angeles. Beyond homes and property, the fire threatens to disrupt electricity as the flames approach nearby power lines.
A Federal appeals court has denied Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's request for an expedited hearing on the state's controversial immigration law. The case is scheduled to now be heard in early November.
Meanwhile, the Phoenix police department says 45 people were arrested Thursday during widespread protests of SB 1070, the immigration law we're talking about. A U.S. district judge has blocked enforcement of the more controversial provisions of the law. HOLMES: We saw some updates this week about the story of all those thousands -- tens of thousands of pages of military documents that were leaked to a website. The prime suspect is an Army private by the name of Bradley Manning. He is now in solitary confinement in Virginia. Authorities believe he forwarded thousands of classified documents about the Afghanistan war to the website WikiLeaks.
CNN's Sandra Endo Washington for us with the very latest. Sandra, good morning to you.
SANDRA ENDO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.. Military officials are investigating who leaked 76,000 pages of U.S. documents pertaining to the war in Afghanistan to the website, as you mentioned, WikiLeaks. Now private 1st Class Bradley Manning remains their prime suspect so far.
According to a military spokesperson, the 22-year-old from Crescent, Oklahoma was transferred from Kuwait to Quantico, Virginia where he got a physical exam and medical screenings. He's charged with leaking air strike video and downloading documents from classified military systems back in 2007. Now in this case a former computer hacker came forward to military officials pointing to Manning as a possible suspect.
HOLMES: All right. Sandra, pointing to him as a possible suspect here, a lot of people had questions about this young man, 22-year-old, how he was able to have access to so much of this stuff. Even though he is a 22 young man and even though it was classified as secret, secret doesn't always mean so secret. There are so many different levels here.
But what exactly is going to happen to this young man now? He was being held in Kuwait, now he's over in Virginia. What is he sitting and waiting on to happen next?
ENDO: We know T.J. he's in solitary confinement. He is granted a appointed lawyer who we have not heard from so far despite attempted -- attempts to reach him, rather. And according to military officials, they say that he could face a military court hearing based on those initial charges, what he's being held for, as early as next month.
But, because of this investigation into the WikiLeaks investigation, that may be delayed. So so far, it is really an uncertain court time line in terms of what he faces legally next.
HOLMES: Sandra Endo for us in Washington, Sandra, we appreciate you as always. Thank you so much.
Also other big news we're seeing out of Washington this week, a lot of talk about ethics investigations, trials even. First of course we were talking about New York Congressman Charlie Rangel who is in all kinds of problems. And now we're talking about that lady, California Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters.
She has now chosen to undergo an ethics trial, much like the one Rangel possibly facing instead of accepting a possible reprimand. Waters has been scrutinized as to whether she violated rules when she helped arrange a meeting between Treasury Department officials and a bank she and her husband were connected to financially.
Also authorities in Oregon say former Vice President Al Gore will not face prosecution in the alleged sexual assault of a massage therapist. The masseuse claims Gore groped and fondled her years ago in a Portland hotel room. The district attorney says there is a lack of credible evidence in the case to go forward.
So static kill. We're hearing a lot about now. It's now delayed in the Gulf. BP is tweaking its time line to permanently seal and kill the damaged oil well. CNN's Reynolds Wolf is in New Orleans with the latest. So what is the latest, Reynolds? What does this mean, this delay in static kill? We follow this process. What does it mean for the end goal of killing this well finally?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's going to be I'm thinking a little bit of a hiccup, a little bit of a delay in the process. What's happening is that they have detected a little bit of silt and sand and it's gotten into one of the two relief wells. The relief wells of course are crucial to employing what they refer to as the bottom kill that will kill off the well all together.
But before they can get to what they refer to as the static kill which was expected to take place possibly later tomorrow and then into Monday, that's now been pushed back to probably Tuesday at the earliest. The reason is they first have to remove that sand and silt out of the relief well before they get to that process. They think that should be a fairly easy endeavor.
Then they'll proceed towards the static kill, the static kill basically, what they plan on doing is going into that containment cap and injecting a combination of both mud and cement. That should seal off the top of the cap permanently.
Then the idea is to go to the secondary procedure called the bottom kill where they actually go down into one of the relief wells and then inject just horizontally again the combination of both mud and cement and actually kill off the well all together and that's basically what they want to see happen.
But this is definitely going to cause some delay. I will tell you though, with these minor complications, there is again that question people have had, is there any chance that people are going to drop the ball in this situation? Retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen mentioned yesterday that they're definitely in this for the long haul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADM. THAD ALLEN (RET), NATIONAL INCIDENT COMMANDER: Let me restate to the American public and the people on the Gulf coast that we are here to see this thing through to the finish. Our forces are ready to deploy. We are going to make sure this well is killed and make sure the oil on the surface is responded to and make sure the shores are clean.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WOLF: So they're certainly not done yet. Of course there's been the big story with regard to the oil. Where is it? I've certainly had a tough time finding it out in the open waters.
But I can guarantee you that if you talk to the people in parts of southern Louisiana especially near some of the pristine grasslands, the marshes just to our south of this point, there are still places that are definitely inundated with that oil. Certainly not seeing it on the open waters, but in some places it is still there. It's still thick and it still poses many problems.
Back to you guys.
BOLDUAN: There are still things to be -- right now while they're capping the well and trying to kill the well finally, now there seems to be quite a bit of debate as you just mentioned between the various people in charge and involved in this, where is the oil, is there oil? And depends on who you talk to and how well they're doing on cleaning it up and keeping it offshore. Reynolds, thanks so much. We'll talk to you a little bit later. Thanks so much Reynolds.
WOLF: You bet.
HOLMES: It seems like there are a ton of apps out there for your cell phones, apps that help you with a lot of stuff, GPS, calorie counters, thinks that can help you out. But there are some that can actually save you money. Our tech guy, Mario Armstrong, he's going to be along to show you exactly how this works.
BOLDUAN: And we've been talking about it and you're talking about it. Chelsea's big day is here. We think. Will it go off without a hitch? I can bet it will. We'll be back right after this and talk more about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Chelsea Clinton is tying the knot today with fiance Mark Mezvinsky. But the details of this wedding extravaganza are being in large part kept top secret, but a few tidbits have leaked out. We know now it is taking place in an estate in the tiny town, beautiful little town of Rhinebeck, New York.
HOLMES: And despite the song you're hearing, it is not exactly a chapel. They're going to a mansion to get married. We're sharing this with you. Let me just say ahead of time, we have no idea what we're talking about.
BOLDUAN: We don't like this admit this normally but I feel like we have to have full disclosure.
HOLMES: Just on this one though, but the wedding price tag -- reportedly that's out there -- you saw it there, $3 to $5 million. Again these are just some of the speculative numbers that people have put out. We just thought we'd share for the fun of it here only, $750,000 possibly for the caterer, $11,000 for a cake, $600,000 for air conditioned tents?
BOLDUAN: (INAUDIBLE)
HOLMES: And then $15,000, this is the one that got me, porcelain port-a-potties. Again some of this is according to TMZ, some of this is just out there. Now I'm sure Miss Chelsea Clinton is probably sitting at home right now laughing at us.
BOLDUAN: Exactly. I promise she -- I don't like to admit this ever, but I think Chelsea might have better things to do than watch us.
HOLMES: This morning she does. But again, those are just some fun numbers we wanted to show you that are kind of out there about the possibilities for how much the wedding is costing.
BOLDUAN: So in Rhinebeck, Clinton watching has become a spectator sport for some. Last night you see the video. To the cheers of the crowd, the former first couple arrived for the traditional rehearsal dinner, we think. The two waved and smiled looking very happy before heading into the Beakman (ph) Arms Inn.
A few other notables showed up, friend and former Clinton advisor Vernon Jordan and former Secretary of State Madelyn Albright. Chelsea's big day is being covered by media outlets from all over the world. Beth Croughan is one of those journalists covering it all. She's a reporter with YNN and joins us live from the Beakman Arms Inn in Rhinebeck, New York.
So this, Beth is where a cocktail party took place last night in honor of the young couple? What can you tell us about last night's event?
BETH CROUGHAN, YNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kate. At about 9:00 last night guests started arriving behind me at the Beakman Arms Inn for a cocktail party. We were told they were told not to bring in any cameras or cell phones, that they wouldn't be allowed in with them. But before that at about 7:00, security started tightening up, barricades all along the sidewalks.
People were escorted away from the surrounding sidewalks on the Beakman Arms and pushed back across the street. Now what you're seeing behind me is the sleepy town of Rhinebeck waking up. This scene is much different this morning than it was last night.
BOLDUAN: We know very little about all of the guests that are coming. That's one of the biggest kept secrets is who is on the guest list. Did you see any sightings? Did you see any guests coming in?
CROUGHAN: Well, what I can tell you is I saw Bill and Hillary Clinton entering the Beakman Arms. Also Steve Bing who lent Bill his jet to go to North Korea. We had Vernon Jordan and Madelyn Albright. But mostly we saw young couples who I'm assuming are friends of the bride and groom.
BOLDUAN: All right, thanks so much, Beth Croughan outside in Rhinebeck, New York, hopefully enjoying the beautiful little town. Who knows? Maybe get a glimpse of the bride and groom. Thanks so much Beth.
HOLMES: Probably not. Chelsea Clinton, of course, we think getting married today. Keeping it very private and you can understand that. But not all of the first daughters or former first daughters actually kept it so quiet for their weddings.
Let's look back at Teddy Roosevelt's daughter Alice. She got married, she married to an Ohio congressman, got married at the White House. That was back in 1906. Then in 1966, LBJ you can see there walked his daughter Lucy down the aisle of her wedding in Washington. Also a lot of people might remember this image, Richard Nixon walking his daughter Tricia down the aisle at the White House in the rose garden. That was back in 1971.
Jenna Bush tied, she the knot at the family ranch in Crawford. I guess hers was comparably as secretive as Chelsea's because they were on that ranch, a lot of space. You can't get on the ranch. You can't get close so we had very few pictures of anything happening outside. They released a few pictures afterwards.
BOLDUAN: She looked beautiful. Can't get close. It's their wedding day. They don't need us there.
HOLMES: That is the way it should be.
BOLDUAN: That is the way it should be. That's the way it was for your wedding, my wedding. Admittedly there probably were -- we know there were not people hanging out outside trying to get into mine.
HOLMES: Speak for your wedding. I'm teasing. I'm teasing. It wasn't like that. I'm teasing.
BOLDUAN: Anyway, OK. Other big stories we're watching, are you trying to save a little money? Maybe you should just check your app.
HOLMES: Our digital lifestyle expert -- don't know when we started calling him that, but Mario Armstrong, he is going to show us how you can save some money on your phone with just a few apps. It's 20 minutes past the hour. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Twenty one minutes past the hour now, taking a look at some stories that are making headlines. We are seeing some dramatic photos out of Pakistan this morning. Flooding there that has been triggered by some record rainfall has killed at least 800 people across that country. The hardest hit areas got swamped by about 12 inches of rain. Waves of water washed hundreds of mud houses, businesses and schools away.
We turn to Iran now where a second earthquake in as many days has hit. This one has hit in the southern part of the country after one in northeast Iran killed 170 people yesterday. Today's earthquake measured 5.3 in magnitude. No immediate reports of injuries. Also, you all remember this story of that eight-year-old Russian boy who was sent to Moscow alone by the Tennessee woman who had adopted him? He's back in a Russian orphanage. This incident which happened back in April caused an international uproar. She said the boy was violent and mentally unstable. Now a new Russian-American agency is forming to oversee future adoptions.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right, 24 minutes past the hour. A lot of people have those cell phone apps, have to let Kate know that stands for applications. But they're cell phone apps. A lot of people think they are just cool things do. Everybody wants an app to do this or that. You got GPS apps. You got apps that can help you count calories, things like that. But if you have the right app, it can actually save you some money.
Our tech guru, Mario Armstrong, a friend of the show here on CNN Saturday and Sunday morning, good to see you as always, my man. So we can save some money on day to day essentials. So one of the essentials you need food. You can save money on food.
MARIO ARMSTRONG, DIGITAL LIFESTYLE EXPERT: I can save you some money on food. There is -- so the app is called grocery gadget. There are several different grocery type of apps out there. I've tested the grocery gadget application. Really like this one T.J. for a couple of reasons.
Number one, you can create your own grocery list. So as you go down the aisle and do your shopping, it will calculate the items that you're buying and it will also match those up with coupons from the store to help you find out exactly what items can get you that discount.
One thing that I know that many people like you and I, we're both married, that you may have a problem with, is when that spouse goes shopping for you and she may not remember the exact favorite item of yours to get. One of the things that I like is that it can actually take photos. This is my favorite set of doughnuts. This is my favorite box ...
HOLMES: That's great to know, Mario.
ARMSTRONG: But the bottom line is, my wife now she has the image of those box of doughnuts in her phone so she doesn't misplace and get the wrong doughnuts.
HOLMES: OK, we get you doughnuts. We got you some doughnuts. But if you are in the store, how do you get the coupon? If it turns out, it just lets you know something is actually on sale and you should make sure you get the coupon before you buy it? Is that kind of the idea?
ARMSTRONG: So the idea is that it works with a company called coupons.com. So you can work with them to print out those coupons or just know that information in advance of what you are planning to purchase.
HOLMS: The other thing, people have to get food every day. Just about every day or every week you have to get gas as well.
ARMSTRONG: Yeah, you got to get the gas. This application searches the cheapest gas prices nearest you. It uses your GPS of your phone to kind of say, you're in this zip code, you're in this area, here are the gas stations that are around you and here are the prices.
What's really cool about this T.J. is the fact that you can also do this for different cars, because it also tracks your mileage. It's very hard for us to really get a gauge as to how much we're spending and how much fuel efficiency we're getting from our vehicles. This app not only helps us find the cheapest gas but also helps us keep a better log of our mileage.
HOLMES: Now how much are these apps? These first two you told me about. Are they free?
ARMSTRONG: Free -- the grocery gadget has a free version but the full version is $4.99. The gas app is free.
HOLMES: Again, the key on here -- because everybody's ears kind of perked up when you said the gas one. Everybody's interested there. You actually don't have to plug anything in. I don't have to put my zip code. I just go to that app and it lets me know where the cheapest gas is.
ARMSTRONG: That's right. If you want to help another family friend out, you could search on a zip code, you could search on these things but you don't have to. It will automatically know. Maybe you are in a town and you're visiting somewhere, you don't know the area. It doesn't matter.
You pull up the application and it will tell you on a map visually what stations are near you, what brands, maybe you have a favorite brand. Maybe you have a gas station you don't want to patronize. It can do all of that filtering for you as well.
HOLMS: What's the name of that app?
ARMSTRONG: That app is called gas book. I was going to say a different name. Gas book is the name of the app.
HOLMES: Gas book. And this will work with all of our phones or specific phones we got to have for these?
ARMSTRONG: This one is iPhone only. They are coming out with Android and Blackberry versions though.
HOLMES: OK. Can I still work the app even if I have my finger over the antenna on the new iPhone? I'm just kidding.
ARMSTRONG: Oh, that was tough. Ooh!
HOLMES: One more here, let's get to this, a lot of New Yorkers and people in big cities will be more interested in this -- sharing taxi rides.
ARMSTRONG: Yeah, sharing taxi rides. So this is an application called weeels. And it's spelled w-e-e-e-l-s, weeels and the idea is that on this application, you say, here's my location, here's where I am, here's where I'm trying to go and it will renegotiate the price for you, arrange the pick-up and the coolest thing is that it will search to find other people that are going in the same direction so that you could partner up and share the cost of that ride.
HOLMES: How long is that going to take to partner up and negotiate, how long before you actually get a ride?
ARMSTRONG: Great question. So it's really quick. The partner part takes a minute. If you really just want to get a ride yourself and you just want to get a cab yourself, it happens they say 10 to 15 minutes they can get you transportation. However if you are a little bit bit more flexible with your time, they can look to see who is around your area. Then it is just between the two of you meeting up at a central location, then getting that ride.
HOLMES: Mario, good stuff this morning that can actually save some money. And we know your favorite doughnuts now. They are on the way. Mario, good to see you, as always, young fellow.
ARMSTRONG: Hey, I'm hungry this morning man! I'm hungry.
HOLMES: Enjoy your breakfast. We'll see you. Mario, always a pleasure. Kate?
BOLDUAN: More than three months after the explosion of the oil rig in the Gulf, families are still trying to cope with really all of the fallout. Coming up this hour, our Josh Levs will bring us the stories of their daily lives now.
And later, pulled from the tracks of an oncoming train. We'll tell you about one woman's amazing rescue and hear from the heroes who saved the day, 29 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, taking a look at some of the stories making headlines this morning, a federal court denying Arizona's request for an expedited hearing on the state's controversial immigration law. Instead the case has been scheduled for November.
Also at least 800 people are dead in Pakistan's flooding. Many of the victims died when floodwaters washed away their homes. Pakistan's meteorological department tells CNN almost 12 inches of rain has fallen in parts of the northwest. It's the most ever recorded in Pakistan.
Also, a memorial service happening today in Germany for the 21 people crushed to death at the Love Parade Music Festival last weekend. German Chancellor Angela Merkel -- you see her there -- joining with the thousands of mourners at the service. BOLDUAN: And the head of the EPA has got really a firsthand look at the oil spill in the Kalamazoo River and she says she's confident the oil won't seep into Lake Michigan.
Thousands of barrels have leaked from a burst pipeline and oozed into the river. And you're seeing some video right there between the towns of Battle Creek and Marshall. The spill covers about 25 miles. Environmental Protection Agency Chief, Lisa Jackson, Governor Grant, and Jennifer Granholm and Senator Debbie Stabenow flew over the river yesterday.
An estimated 20,000 barrels of oil have leaked, clean up workers have recovered about a third of that. And that pipeline by the way belongs to a Canadian company.
HOLMES: Well, 103 days now since the DeepWater Horizon oil rig explosion. Families of those 11 workers killed still dealing with some issues.
BOLDUAN: Now, Josh Levs is here with a bit of a remembrance.
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes a bit -- this is really good you know. It's just to stop and think about the horrors they experienced and what their lives are like now. We have a video that we're going to be bringing to you now of families, all this month later and what their lives are like.
This is from CNN.com. Let's take a look. Well, we don't have it? Ok. Actually we don't have these guys right now.
Let me do this instead. I'm just going to tell you we do have a video. Unfortunately something has gone wrong technically at CNN.com.
Let me tell you quickly, I want you to take a look at this, CNN.com/impact. This is a way if you hear about this and you want to help the families who have been impacted by that crisis, just go to CNN.com/impact any time. You can help the families of the Gulf oil region, not only the families of the 11 victims at the time but also the families of those -- well also the families of those who are impacted in other ways, losing their jobs, struggling with the economy, all at CNN.com/impact.
This is really an important video and we want to bring it to you this hour. We're going to work out some the technical issues and we will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it's 36 minutes past the hour. We're taking a look at some of the stories making headlines.
Out in Arizona, the Governor, Jan Brewer, will not get what she wanted which was an expedited hearing. The state was asking a federal appeals court to hear the state's appeal early. That's not going to happen. The state was appealing of course the injunction that blocked part of SB 1070. The appeal is now going to be heard the first week of November. Many experts think this fight will eventually make its way to the Supreme Court.
Also out in California -- southern California in particular, three wildfires are still burning. The biggest is what's called the crown fire and this is just outside of Los Angeles. Right now it's about 20 percent contained. 30,000 acres in all have been burned.
However, some good news, the mandatory evacuations have ended and a lot of people are returning to their homes.
Also in Pakistan, the devastating flooding there and at least 800 people are dead. Heavy rains triggered these floods. A lot of the homes washed away were made out of mud. Several businesses washed away as well.
Our Reza Sayah is on the scene, he is headed to the devastated region. Live reports from him throughout the day here on CNN.
A quick break -- we're right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Here is why some were looking for higher ground in the desert southwest. Back-to-back evenings of heavy rain in parts of Arizona turned retention ditches into raging rapids as you can see there. A flash flood watch remains in effect for southeastern Arizona until later tonight. Another round of heavy rain is also possible.
HOLMES: And a lot of places is dealing with some triple digit temperatures.
Our Reynolds Wolf is standing by for us in New Orleans doing double duty and covering what's happening there with the Gulf oil disaster but also covering weather for us.
And Reynolds, some of this weather can be downright dangerous. Yes, its summer and it's hot, but some of this can be dangerous.
WOLF: No question about it. And what a wide variety of weather we're dealing with. I mean, out toward the west you have not only the rain over across parts of the four corners, but in California you of course have the fire you guys are talking about the crown fire.
But in the southeast you've got a combination of two things: you've the heat, you've got the humidity and with that you've got watches and warnings across ten different states in the southeast, including here along the Gulf Coast.
Take a look at this map showing you the high heat index that we have already this morning. And it feels like it's approaching the century mark in many locations. It's going to feel like it's well above 100 in many locations.
It is going to be a brutal day for you. So, word to the wise -- if you don't have to get out in the elements you don't have to go outside during the peak heating hours of the day, say, especially by mid to late afternoon. Stay inside, stay in the shade, certainly the best endeavor.
I know I'm out here but just do as I say and not as I do. That's one of my old dad sayings.
All right, let's go from there to show you the national perspective and you can see the heat is going to be not just limited to parts of the southeast but into the central and southern plains. Northeast kind of warm for you, a little bit cooler though, up towards the possible Clinton wedding -- we hear some rumors about some big wedding taking place up there -- highs in the 80's, with again some sunshine.
And back through the west the situation is all rain. And it's going to be very heavy for you in Utah, in parts of Colorado. Obviously New Mexico and back into Arizona the rain will continue to come down but then just a few hundred miles more to the west you get into California, the story is going to be dry, the heat is going to continue there.
The thing that's interesting about this, Kate and T.J., is with that area of low pressure that's bringing the rain to parts of the four corners, the back half of that system is creating a lot of wind. That wind going through parts of Sierra Nevada Mountains and back into these mountain rains of southern California.
It's actually one to cause that -- that air as it goes through the high elevations to actually compress heat up and help further dry out much of that dry (INAUDIBLE) out of that vegetation in Southern California which of course provides more fuel for those fires.
So certainly rough times in many spots and certainly be careful out there. But again, what an odd mix we have weather wise around the nation.
Let's send it back to you in the studio.
HOLMES: All right, Reynolds with the odd mix for us.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
HOLMES: Buddy, we'll be talking to you again plenty throughout the morning, thanks so much.
BOLDUAN: Thanks Reynolds.
So disaster averted. Yes, definitely. One woman's amazing story of how she was saved from being hit by a commuter train. We'll hear about the moments before and after this incredible rescue straight from the man and the woman who are now her heroes.
HOLMES: Also the debate continues. The law went into effect, kind of, sort of, this week. A lot of people say it was watered down. But this just means we will have this immigration debate, in particular the Arizona immigration debate, for some time to come.
Our conversation about immigration starts at the top of the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You remember last week, we brought you the story of selfless bravery. We brought you the video as well. Take a look. You'll remember this.
You see her there, a visually-impaired woman walked right off the platform, fell into the tracks in an Atlanta train station earlier this month. A man rushed in to save her as the train pulled into the station. Others hurried to help as well. The train stopped four feet from the woman.
Her name is Addie Norfleet, she's 57 years old. She and her niece has talked about this experience.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Had it not been for god's grace and mercy and that young man, we would be doing a whole different story.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just want to show appreciation, because that -- for him to get down on the tracks like that ...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I was rich I would give him my money.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: And yes, if we want to meet them we would just thank them and you can do that right now. Joining us now are Samuel White, the man who jumped in to save her and Ayana Dunlap-Bell, the woman behind the wheel, I guess we could call it.
Thanks so much for being here, you guys. First off, Samuel, what did you think when you're clearly just down on -- waiting near the tracks and you see this happen. Clearly you had zero time to think. What did you think when you saw this woman walk straight off the tracks?
SAMUEL WHITE, PULLED WOMAN OFF TRACKS: I did not think at the time. I just reacted. If I was to think it would have cost her, her life. So I just reacted. After I seen the shadow of her falling over towards the train and I just jumped into action.
HOLMES: Did you both see if the train was coming first?
WHITE: Yes, I did. First thing I did was I immediately ran down closer to the train to get Ayana's attention and motion to stop and let her know that there was someone down on the tracks. Ayana then proceed to stop the train and then -- with that, when I know the train was totally stopped, I proceed to jump down on the tracks, remove the lady from the train and put her on my shoulders and then I handed her over to two co-workers after I got to the edge of the track. BOLDUAN: And Ayana, you're just doing your job going about your work. I mean you stopped four feet before Miss Norfleet. That doesn't sound easy and can't be. How did this all transpire for you? What did you see and how did you pull this off?
AYANA DUNLAP-BELL, MARTA RAIL OPERATOR: When I was coming into the platform I saw a lot of people on the platform waving a lot. But what caught my attention was Samuel pointing to the tracks. So I had already begun to slow the train down. And then we have emergency procedures that we use for situations that are abnormal situations. I just followed it to the letter.
HOLMES: You said you had already started to slow down. What does it take to slow that down? How many feet do you need even?
DUNLAP-BELL: I can't give you an exact but the platform is about 600 feet and the train is about 450 feet. So, you know, I can't give you all the numbers, but ...
HOLMES: But for you as you were getting closer and you did the emergency procedure, did you still think in your mind, oh, my goodness, I'm going to hit this woman?
DUNLAP-BELL: Yes, yes. Actually -- because like I said before, machines fail. And I did everything I could do on my part to get the train to stop. And I've made this statement, that there was more than just me operating that train that day. It had to be somebody else there to give me the strength to do everything I needed to do and just to get the train stopped.
And when he jumped down on the tracks, I was like, oh now it's two people on the tracks.
BOLDUAN: Have either of you had a chance to speak with Miss Norfleet? We heard in the -- some of the sound we were playing she would just thank you. I could only imagine she has so much to be thankful for. Has she had a chance to speak to you?
DUNLAP-BELL: No.
WHITE: No. But I would sure like to meet her. I wondered about it after the incident and how, you know, she was being cared for.
HOLMES: When you got down there on the tracks did she seem disoriented or injured; confused about what was happening? What she was like when you got to her?
WHITE: She was despondent. Like she was in -- she was in shock. She was in shock because the train was coming up on her.
BOLDUAN: So this whole group of people together, you stopped the train, did you get out? How did it -- once you stopped the train, thank God, the immediate problem is solved. But how did you then -- did you all have to pull her out? It's a pretty big drop down on to the actual tracks. WHITE: Well, not actually. You got to be like maybe 2 1/2 to 3 feet. So once I got to the edge of the platform I was able to get so close where I had -- there were two co-workers of mine who then had grabbed her.
BOLDUAN: I can only imagine this is something you train for but something you've never experienced before, Ayana.
DUNLAP-BELL: Never. Never. And it was the scariest moment I've ever had because to know that you're not in control of something all the way and have someone's life and you're watching it unfold before you, it's not even words to put it into. I could never tell you exactly how I felt at that time. No way.
BOLDUAN: I was thinking about this. Because we were talking about the story last week, about just the view, the perspective you must have had as you're approaching and you're doing everything. I mean that must have been terrifying.
DUNLAP-BELL: It was. To see the distance get smaller and smaller and smaller as I was coming towards her, that was -- it was incredible -- very incredible.
WHITE: Then I might add, the fact that the reason why I had to really remove her, it's 750 volt on the third rail of the tracks, which I had to remove her because I know if she had at any time touched the tracks, if the fall hadn't killed her it would have been electricity.
DUNLAP-BELL: It was a double threat.
HOLMES: Where did you go afterwards? A lot of people are like, who is this guy? We even said it on air last weekend. If you're out there listening, give us a call. You kind of disappeared and everybody wondered where you went.
WHITE: Well, I was just getting off from work at North Side Hospital which I'm fortunate to be working there with a great group of doctors and nurses. I then went home from there because I wasn't trying to glorify it. I wasn't trying to, you know, get the recognition. I just did a Good Samaritan thing.
BOLDUAN: You need a moment to regain your composure, I can only imagine.
WHITE: No, that was never an issue. However, I don't know how I was -- I had my wits about myself. I'll never know.
BOLDUAN: That's amazing. And we now know you are actually on your way back to work right now.
DUNLAP-BELL: Yes, I am actually on my way back. We work 24 hours and that's why I'm in uniform today. I'm actually on my way to class to learn more things about the train and different things like that. And the one thing that I do need to say is that I do work with a great group of people at MARTA. And we are represented by ATU local 732 and all the members of this local and the employees at MARTA all do -- we do our jobs every day.
This just happened to be one of those experiences where doing your job happened to save a life. But we do our jobs every day.
BOLDUAN: There are going to be several people wondering, is Ayana by any chance on this train today because that's the train I want to be on.
HOLMES: Well, Samuel White, Ayana Dunlap-Bell as well, guys, great stuff you did. I know neither one of you were looking for recognition but glad we can give you a little and say hello to you this morning.
BOLDUAN: I'm glad we're smiling today about it.
HOLMES: Thanks guys.
DUNLAP-BELL: Thank you.
WHITE: Thank you. Thanks for having us.
BOLDUAN: Yes, good luck today.
HOLMES: Both of you, going back to work.
WHITE: Right.
(CROSSTALK)
BOLDUAN: An uneventful day is what we're hoping for the two of you.
HOLMES: Well, coming up -- about ten minutes to the top of the hour. Say you are being pulled over for speeding. That's pretty stressful. Now imagine thousands of people actually hearing every word between you and that police officer.
BOLDUAN: Yes. That's actually what happened to a U.S. Congressman. We'll hear the play by play in a moment. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BOLDUAN: Talk about the excitement of live radio. A California congressman was driving on the George Washington Parkway outside of D.C. And doing a live radio interview on his cell phone. That happens a lot. Well then some blue lights started flashing.
Listen to what happens next. This happened on the air.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are talking specifically this morning about the passage of the International Megan's Law. Can you tell folks about it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can you hang up the phone, sir?
REP. DAN LUNGREN (R), CALIFORNIA: I have to get off the phone just a moment here. I can call you back just a second? I'm sorry. Talking to the police officer here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes. Yes. Nope, you go ahead and go take care of your business. We'll let you go.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BOLDUAN: Take care of your business. Turns out it was a little too much multi-tasking for Congressman Dan Lungren. He called the station back a short time later and joked that he was driving slightly over the speed limit because he was so excited to be on the radio. He didn't get a ticket. He said he got a warning.
Let's get a check of some of the top stories we're watching.
Arizona governor Jan Brewer will not get an expedited hearing as she had hoped. She had asked a federal appeals court to hear the state's appeal earlier because she wanted to deal with an injunction to block SB-1070, that controversial immigration law. The appeal will now be heard the first week in November. The fight is expected to eventually make its way to the Supreme Court.
And that immigration law we are talking about took effect Thursday. Protesters immediately took to the streets. Phoenix police say they arrested at least 45 people but no word on how many people were arrested breaking the new law.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says the state is throwing everything it has against the wildfires in southern California. The largest of the fires, the crown fire, is outside Los Angeles; only 20 percent contained at this time. Mandatory evacuations though have ended. Most people have returned home. The three fires have burned 30,000 acres so far.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. JAN BREWER (R), ARIZONA: We want our border security. As the governor of the state of Arizona, I took an oath to uphold the laws and protect the citizens.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're against the SB 1070 and we're against the police state. It affects white people. It affects black people, native people, brown people, Mexicans.
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: We just arrested 15 to 20 people.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are all these people in jail. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is one of the most outrageous battles that's ever occurred in modern history; the federal government suing the states over state's inherent authority to protect its citizens.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And that battle goes on today.
Welcome back, everyone, to this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. I'm T.J. Holmes.
Like we do every Saturday at this time, we dedicate this 9:00 Eastern half-hour to one hot topic that's been in the news this week.
Can't get much hotter than the immigration debate in Arizona; this was the week the controversial immigration law went into effect, kind of sort of. A judge stepped in on Wednesday and issued an injunction the day before the law was supposed to go into effect; issued an injunction on parts of that law, the most controversial parts.
So this is what did not go into effect. Police cannot question a person they stop, detain or arrest about their immigration status based on reasonable suspicion. That was the most controversial part of this bill. Also people can't be required to carry immigration papers like the bill originally said. Also it is not a crime for an illegal immigrant to apply for or perform work.
However, that's what was blocked. But a number of things still did go into effect this week, including a crackdown on harboring and transporting illegal immigrants, also a ban on the so-called sanctuary cities. Cities where it's relatively safe for illegal immigrants to seek refuge. Also, it's a crime for state officials to refrain from enforcing federal immigration laws and day laborers can't hold up traffic trying to get work.
Well, the Arizona Governor Jan Brewer, she is not going to get what she wanted which was an expedited hearing to move the appeal forward quicker. She asked the federal appeals court to hear the state's appeal early. That is not going to happen. The state court now going to hear it later in the year in November.
Of course, the state is appealing the parts that were struck down this week by a judge. They are appealing that injunction. Appeal again the first week of November, it's going to be heard. This fight so many say is going to eventually make it to the Supreme Court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I support Arpaio. Throw all these people in jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Meanwhile, this was the scene that played out in Phoenix. Police there arrested 45 protesters on Thursday. However, they're not saying how many of those they actually arrested under the new immigration bill.
So now we know the appeal is on some three-plus months away. So exactly what is next in this immigration battle. Beth Karas joins us now. She's with our sister network TruTV. Beth, good morning to you. Joining us live from New York City, we thank you for being here. Are we just now in a wait and see approach. Can anything really happen between now and when the appeal is heard in November?
BETH KARAS, TRUTV CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, T.J.. Probably not. The argument is scheduled for November 1st. Each side will submit briefs before then. Several seconds of the law are in effect, as you said. Judge Bolton in district court still has a motion filed by the U.S. government before her challenging the constitutionality. She has not ruled on that yet.
This is just an appeal on her injunction. The state of Arizona wants to have that injunction lifted so that the controversial parts can go into effect. That's really the battle on constitutionality. So she still has that motion which will probably wait until the November 1st hearing.
HOLMES: So likely not a ruling. Make sure I'm hearing you right. Not a ruling likely on the constitutionality before the appeal is heard down the road.
KARAS: Well, I would imagine that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule on the injunction, which means they have to look at the constitutionality. Then it may go to the U.S. Supreme Court. The judge at the district court level would have a trial on the constitutionality. So why not let it wind its way up through the courts first.
HOLMES: Well, Beth, that winding up through the courts. We're hearing so many people talk about eventually the Supreme Court is going to have to take this up. So if you can, walk us through. How do we get from where we are today in the courts and the appeal we hear in November, how does it then make its way up to the Supreme Court?
KARAS: Well, depending upon what the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals does with the injunction, one side or the other may end up appealing that. And then the court will decide whether or not federal law preempts, is supreme, over the immigration matters at issue in the sections that are on hold right now, that are block.
Right now Judge Bolton has the constitutional matter. She may end up having a trial and that will wind its way up as well through the courts. But, she has found that federal law is likely to prevail -- federal law preempts these particular sections governing, stopping and verifying immigration status.
However, keep in mind, T.J., that police can still do it for anyone that's arrested. They do it in Maricopa County and it is entirely lawful. It is discretionary. This law made it mandatory, not just for people arrested but you can stop people. And that was the problem. HOLMES: Well, on the issue of racial profiling, there are other lawsuits -there are seven all together that were challenging the Arizona law. There were some that challenged -- the Justice Department challenged on the grounds of the constitutionality. But then you had others suing because they thought it would lead to racial profiling. What happens to those lawsuits that are still sitting?
KARAS: Well, the judge may have some hearings on those but those will probably be in a holding pattern at this point because a number of those do challenge the constitutionality as well, same as the U.S. government's motion. There is one of the cases recently filed -- the most recent, July 9, does say that this is going to lead to racial profiling.
Right now, the racial profiling aspect is on hold. That is where you could stop someone just because they don't look the same as a lot of residents in the city. You can stop them if they look Mexican and check their immigration status. That is on hold. One of the lawsuits is based on that. But the lawsuit was filed before the judge's injunction.
HOLMES: All right. Beth Karas, again from our sister station TruTV, good to have you with us this weekend.
KARAS: My pleasure.
HOLMES: We certainly needed some legal expertise this morning. We do appreciate it. You enjoy the rest of your Saturday.
KARAS: My pleasure. Thank you.
HOLMES: Well, a lot of people right now frustrated over the ruling. But up next, we're talking to two sheriffs on opposing sides but at the same time, kind of fighting the same battle there in the state of Arizona. It's five minutes past the hour. Quick break. We are right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Well, it's about nine minutes past the hour now here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Again, taking this half-hour and dedicating it to one topic like we always do on Saturdays, during this half-hour. We're talking about Arizona's controversial immigration bill. A bill that an injunction was issued this week by a judge that put a stop on parts, the most controversial parts, of that bill but some other parts did go in to place.
When law enforcement, citizens, just about everybody, even in the country, not just Arizona, kind of split on what to do with this bill. This hour or this half-hour, we're having some opposing views from law enforcement, the guys who are on the front lines there in Arizona, who are responsible for protecting the citizens and enforcing law there.
One of them is Sheriff Paul Babeu. He's in Pinal County. He is with us this morning. Sir, we appreciate you getting up early here and being with us. You know, we talked at the top here. We know about the controversial things that were kind of cut out of the injunction that was put in place. The things that are now in place, what do you like now about this bill that went into play on Thursday?
SHERIFF PAUL BABEU, PINAL COUNTY, ARIZONA: T.J., well, you eliminate any sanctuary policies that a city or town could have and that oftentimes was the case. So now you have uniformity with all local officers and deputies. There's no longer a policy, say a police chief could have that forbid their officers from calling the border patrol or I.C.E..
So Pinal County, when I took over as sheriff, we were no longer a sanctuary county. So the law was really, even if the whole law made it through, there really wouldn't have been any change. So there are some good aspects that still made it through. It also criminalizes transporting, smuggling illegals or also picking them up for employment.
So there are some additional positives that come out of it but this is going to be a series of legal battles that will go on for some time.
HOLMES: Well, sheriff, you have kind of an interesting position here in that you disagree with what the judge did with her injunction this week on certain parts.
BABEU: Yes.
HOLMES: But at the same time the law itself you wish you didn't have to pass one in the first place. Reconcile kind of those two views, if you will.
BABEU: Well, in the end the whole basis of President Obama and Eric Holder was the supremacy clause. They came in their brief and said inherently this is our job to enforce immigration law and quite frankly, we couldn't agree more with them. We just wish that they would enforce the law and actually do their job because 250,000 illegals that were apprehended here, the border patrol says that's just a reflection of one out of every 2.6.
Many other people say it is far greater than that. So literally, imagine if you will, we have a million people coming in to the state of Arizona and we don't even know who approximately 700,000 of them are. Of that 250,000, we know 17 percent of them have a criminal record in our state.
HOLMES: Well sheriff, if you were writing -- I don't know who has been or if they even want your opinion or would be listening to you, but if they were listening right now and if you had a chance to write that law in the state of Arizona, what would you put into it? What would you give law enforcement officers like yourself the power to do in that state that you don't have the power to do right now that would help you with your illegal immigration problem?
BABEU: Well, if I had the power to talk to the president, I'll tried to invite him out here to Pinal County to see for himself, separate and apart from all of his advisors. And I think he'd get a greater sense of literally the public safety issue, the threat to national security that we face as a nation, because they're not just Mexican nationals. A lot of people who do want to work here albeit illegal, we have people from foreign countries, countries of interest, from nation states that do sponsor terrorism that are coming in to the United States.
So the border is not secured and I think the president would really get to see 80 miles north of the border where my county is, every night we have armed gunmen that are transporting these drugs, foreign-born criminals. And the response was a few months ago to put up billboard-size signs warning our own citizens in America to stay out, danger. We have armed gunmen, smugglers in this area.
This is not OK to have that happen in America. And to Mr. President, to not sue us we need your help because the next lawsuit the attorney general had said is against my own deputies or an officer if they make a mistake or there's the accusation of racial profiling. And we know that accusations are going to come. So we have even established a legal defense fund that bordersheriffs.com to prepare for that lawsuit.
HOLMES: Sheriff, last thing if you can quickly, because you kind of hit on it there in the end. Are you finding your officers are being even more careful about what they do and possibly are letting some thing, some people even slip through the cracks because they're so scared they might get sued?
BABEU: Well, to put it in perspective, over 200 of my full-time staff are Hispanic. A quarter of our population in Pinal county is also Hispanic. We enforce the law. We profile criminal activity not race, color, national origin. We could have never stopped somebody just because of the color of their skin.
Yes, there is a fear among officers because there's been that warning. I've never seen this before that literally our own government is saying that they're going to use now an officer -- they're waiting if this law is eventually enacted fully, they're waiting for an officer or deputy to trip up or to make a mistake and the accusation to be made. That's an awful position to put some of us in, a job that's already very difficult.
HOLMES: Well, sheriff, we know you guys, law enforcement around the country, have tough jobs. We appreciate you guys out there in law enforcement and what you do.
BABEU: Thank you.
HOLMES: But you guys are put on two different sides of this issue, unfortunately.
BABEU: Yes.
HOLMES: But still more legal wrangling to come. But Sheriff Babeu, we appreciate you being with us this morning. You enjoy the rest of your Saturday.
BABEU: Thank you, sir. You too.
HOLMES: We got another sheriff come up. He is actually relieved over how the ruling went this week. Why he says he feels a little redemption and where we should go from here. Quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: You just heard from one sheriff in Arizona who is actually a bit disappointed with what a judge did out there striking down parts of the controversial bill. You're going to hear from another sheriff right now who actually is overjoyed with what the judge did.
Sheriff Tony Estrada -- don't know if "overjoyed" would be the right word but he is joining us on the line now. Sheriff Estrada, we appreciate you being here with us, the sheriff of Santa Cruz County. Sir, do you wish the judge would have issued an injunction on the entire bill instead of just these parts?
SHERIFF TONY ESTRADA, SANTA CRUZ COUNTY, ARIZONA: Yes. I certainly do. I think this bill would have done nothing to deal with the issue that we have with illegal immigration. You know, this is a phenomenon that has been with us for a long time. A history, you know, has shown that to be the case and it's no way for local law enforcement to be doing that.
As far as I was concerned, of course, I've been criticized for it and I've also been commended for it but we have no business doing the federal immigration work. We don't. We don't have the budget. We don't have the resources. We don't have the training now. You look at a border patrol agent that goes through maybe six to eight months of academy training, continuous training. They have the resources to be able to do it. They have the numbers to be able to do it.
We have none of that. We have none of that. We have 1 1/2 hours of a video training that's supposed to prepare us to be expert on doing immigration work. That's ludicrous.
HOLMES: Well sir, is it fair to say though you wouldn't suggest that even though the government is supposed to be doing it, has the resources to do it, but you wouldn't say they're doing a good job at it, would you?
ESTRADA: I would say they're doing a good job. I think they need to do a better job.
HOLMES: But they're doing a good job right now?
ESTRADA: As far as I'm concern. You look at Santa Cruz County, for example. Out of the four border counties here in Arizona, bordering with Mexico, we are the smallest and we are the poorest and we have about 50 miles of border. A lot of them is rough terrain that's very difficult to go through. And we have approximately about 1,000 border patrol agents down here.
Now, we have a very active border here in Santa Cruz County.
HOLMES: Yes, sir.
ESTRADA: You have drugs that are coming through here and you have illegal activity that's going through, including human smuggling. So, you know, it's going to continue. What's happening is this -- number one is the biggest problem that we have here in the United States is that over 50 percent, about 60 percent of the illegal drug consumption in the world is here in the United States.
HOLMES: I think a lot of people would give you that, that the U.S., we are part of the problem here. But I think you would know that a lot of people would disagree with you if you say that the federal government is doing a good job. I'll give you a moment here to explain to people who certainly disagree with you, even big -- even the president says we always need to do better on the border.
So what do you see that shows you that the federal government is doing a good job of enforcing on the border?
ESTRADA: Like I indicated and you mentioned, they do a good job, and they can do a better job, obviously. They can do a better job. But the reason I made that point before is that it is a very active border and people will continue to come through here and they do that on a regular basis.
Now they'll do it coming through the ports of entry, either with false documents or I.D. or they'll make false claims. Now they'll go under the ports of entry. Now since 1995, we have had over approximately about 50 drug tunnels that have been discovered here as a result of all of the presence, law enforcement, here in the urban zone of Nogales, Arizona.
People have gone through the ports and continue to go through the ports. They've gone under the ports. They have gone over the ports, over the fence and they've done around it. So, you know, they will find ways to do that. So border patrol definitely, definitely has a major challenge trying to deal with that.
HOLMES: Well, Sheriff Estrada, we certainly know you have major challenges out there on your hands and a lot of court challenges, quite frankly, continue as well. Sheriff Estrada, we appreciate you hopping on the phone with us and being a part of our discussion this morning. Always good to hear from the guys who are out there in Arizona, on the front lines of this. Sir, we appreciate you.
Well, coming up here, critics calling it inhumane, calling him inhumane but for Maricopa County sheriff, he says he's just doing things the way he always has. We'll get a firsthand look at how he is trying to battle the illegal immigration.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Now, experts predicting now the fight over Arizona's immigration law will eventually land at the U.S. Supreme Court. Attorneys preparing now for an appeal hearing coming up in November after a judge struck down the most controversial provisions of that law this week.
Our Gary Tuchman reports now on the other side of this battle, the one that's playing out on the streets.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They're very mad. Hundreds of demonstrators on the streets of Phoenix with people being arrested for disorderly conduct, angry about the new Arizona immigration bill, and particularly angry at this man who they feel is inhumane.
SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA: It doesn't make any difference with me. I'll always continue to do what I've been doing.
TUCHMAN: What Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has been doing for years is trying to determine if many of the people his department arrests are illegal immigrants, and then shipping them to federal authorities for possible deportation.
ARPAIO: So every day they're out in front of this building. For two years, calling me Nazi, Hitler, every name in the book they have been doing against this sheriff. If they can't make you stop one way, they have to throw the race card at you. That doesn't bother me.
TUCHMAN: So why does Arpaio have the right to ask people if they're illegal immigrants? If that portion of the new law has not been allowed to take effect yet. Well, it's a little known fact that dozens of counties, including Maricopa County, Arizona, have a partnership with the federal government that has permitted them to make those determinations. Arpaio revels in his reputation as a tough guy.
ARPAIO: I'm turning off activists who probably don't like what I'm doing. I'm probably turning off some employers who hire illegal aliens for the cheap payment, money. So I turn off some people. But you know what? I serve the four million people that live here.
TUCHMAN: On the day part of the new immigration law went into effect, Arpaio and his department went on a crime sweep, deputies driving into the city's neighborhoods, in this case pulling over a Mexican-American driver for an expired registration tag. Because the driver had a proper license though, he was only ticketed, not taken into custody.
This man though wasn't as fortunate.
(ON CAMERA): So they arrested you for not having a registration?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN: Did they ask if you were legally in this country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't ask me that. They just -- nothing. They just get me out of the car, right here on 35th Avenue. I mean in the middle of the street. Right here.
TUCHMAN: Are you legally in this country?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm legal.
TUCHMAN: Do you think they pulled you over because they think you are an illegal immigrant?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just because of the color like everybody.
TUCHMAN: Like the color of your skin?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
TUCHMAN (voice-over): Arpaio says he nor his department are racist and he insists they're doing what they're supposed to be doing.
ARPAIO: You sound like a cowboy.
No, yes, I do act like a cowboy. But instead of going after horse thieves, I go after car thieves. Thieves have changed. So we have my deputies and we go in certain areas where crime is prevalent and during the course of our -- maybe only 15 hours -- we arrest many violators of the law. Just by chance about 60 percent that we arrest happen to be here illegally.
TUCHMAN: The sheriff says that the controversial elements of the new immigration law are eventually enacted. The only major change for him would be keeping the illegal immigrants at his jail instead of giving that to the feds. His opponents will be fighting him every step of the way.
ARPAIO: All right. Let's do the right thing.
TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: We'll be taking a look at the stories making headlines right after a quick break. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: Death toll rising in Pakistan with three days of monsoon rains to blame now for the death of at least 800 people.
Also in California, hundreds of firefighters trying to put down a trio of wildfires that have already charred some 30,000 acres near Los Angeles.
Also, Democratic Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska says he does not support Elena Kagan's Supreme Court confirmation. However, he says he will not stand in the way. We'll be back with more live news at the top of the hour.
"YOUR BOTTOM LINE" starts right now.
