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On the Story

Correspondents Discuss News Behind the News

Aired August 20, 2005 - 19:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL LIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Friday's attempted rocket attack on U.S. warships. A senior Jordanian official says the arrests might lead to people responsible for those attacks. Three rockets missed two American ships docked in Aqaba. One hit a warehouse killing a Jordanian soldier and wounding another.
In Ramadi, Iraq, thousands protest against the process of trying to develop a new constitution. The latest deadline for a draft constitution is Monday, but religion and the role of the central government is remaining as a stumbling block.

Now, Pope Benedict today told Muslim leaders it would be difficult, but not impossible to defeat terrorism. The pope is on a trip to his native Germany. Yesterday, he told Jewish leaders he sees renewed signs of anti-Semitism.

And authorities in Philadelphia say they have found the body of LaToyia Figueroa, a 24-year old pregnant woman who has been missing since last month. Police also announced they have arrested Figuerora's former boyfriend in connection with her death.

Home from space, but not quite home. Space Shuttle Discovery is on a stop over in Louisiana, waiting for the weather to improve. A modified 747 is giving the shuttle a ride home from California to Cape Canaveral.

That's what's happening in the news right now. I'm Carol Lin. Now back to ON THE STORY.

JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR, ON THE STORY: This is CNN and we're ON THE STORY. From the campus of the George Washington University in the heart of the nation's capital, our correspondents have the stories behind the stories.

Ben Wedeman is on the top story of the week, Israel's historic pull out from Gaza and the emotional toll it's taking on all sides.

A mother's mission, Dana Bash is on the story of anti-war protester Cindy Sheehan and her demand to meet President Bush.

Alex Quade imbedded with U.S. Marines in Iraq. Their target, the bomb makers.

Plus our Baghdad bureau chief Kevin Flower shows us what it's like living in the danger zone.

Justice correspondent Kelli Arena answers a help wanted ad at the FBI academy. She's on the story about the agency that's changing with the times.

Rising pump prices squeezing your wallet. Business reporter JJ Ramburg is looking for ways you can save money on gas.

And casting a spell over Hollywood. Our entertainment correspondent Sabila Vargas goes to camp to learn how to be like Harry.

Welcome. I'm Joe Johns. Joining me in Washington today, correspondents Kelli Arena and Alex Quade and Baghdad bureau chief Kevin Flower. Our reporters here and all over the globe will be taking questions from the studio audience drawn from visitors, college students and people across Washington.

We begin in the Middle East where by all accounts it has been a gut wrenching week. Israel is in the midst of its historic pull out from the Gaza strip. The Israeli military is removing settlers and others who are protesting the pull out.

Meanwhile, the Palestinians await the chance to build a new life. Here's Ben Wedeman's notebook.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Palestinian interior ministry has warned Palestinians not to act rashly as the Israeli Jewish settlers pull out of the settlements in the Gaza strip. They've warned Palestinians not to go anywhere the settlements, to avoid any sort of confrontation or clashes with the Israeli army. Now many people here in Gaza, especially here in (INAUDIBLE) looking forward to the Israeli pull out. I spoke with many people who literally live on the front lines. (INAUDIBLE) is happy to see the Israelis go.

Let them leave this area to its owners, he says and to build on it, to plant it and most important, to let us live in peace.

This is the (INAUDIBLE) front door, but when the fighting got too intense, and you can easily see the signs of that, they had to find another way to get out of their home. So they knocked a hole in the wall into their neighbor's house so they could escape.

What they're looking forward to is a possibility to resume what before the Palestinian uprising approximated a normal life. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from (INAUDIBLE) the Gaza strip.

JOHNS: Ben Wedeman, you have been in fact there with the Palestinians now for about two weeks or so, right? Can you sort of give us a sense about the mood there among the people?

WEDEMAN: People have mixed emotions. They're in fact very happy that they see the Jewish settlers leaving, that they know that the settlements that have been here since the 1970s are going. But there's also a certain amount of uncertainty, because they don't really know what the future brings. You've got competing political factions. Hamas, Islamic jihad, the Fattah movement. Everybody is sort of entering what is going to be an opening up vacuum, a power vacuum and they're going to be rushing in. So there's a certain, a bit of concern that the future may not be as bright as they imagined once the Israelis pull out of the Gaza strip.

JOHNS: We really have powerful pictures coming of course from the Gaza strip and all the people being moved out. But is that the whole story? Is there a sense that a lot of this is not getting told, because there are some people who are going peacefully.

WEDEMAN: Yes, in fact, more than 60 percent of the Jewish settlers accepted the compensation package offered by the Israeli government. And a lot of the people you see on television, in those settlements aren't even residents. They're people who sympathize and support the settlers. They've gone there because of their ideological convictions. But as I said, a majority of people have left peacefully. Many of these settlements in fact were completely empty without any incidents at all. It's just a couple, a handful where you have the really committed, the ideologically committed settlers who insist that they are going to stay until they are literally dragged out.

JOHNS: We have a question from the audience. What's your name? What's your question?

QUESTION: My name is Mike. I'm from Nashua, New Hampshire. What is expected of the PLO after the Gaza evacuation completes?

WEDEMAN: Well, what is expected of course, there's the PLO. Then there's the Palestinian authority and it's sort of all of mix up. But what in theory is going to happen is that the Palestinian authority is going to take over that land that is currently occupied by the Jewish settlements. They say 95 percent of that territory is state land, so they have projects to build apartment buildings, to build port facilities and whatnot. Only 5 percent belongs to private, individual Palestinians. But the big worry here is of course that if you look over the last 10 years as the Palestinian authority has managed the Gaza strip and the West Bank, they don't have a very good history. There's been lots of corruption, lots of mismanagement and the worry is that when the Palestinian authority takes over those areas that will soon be free of the Jewish settlers, they may just repeat the same unfortunate experiment again.

ALEX QUADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ben, it's Alex. You have covered this story, the bigger picture story for years. I don't know if a lot of people know that you had been shot. You even took a bullet covering this story a few years ago during the Intifada (ph). This is a very personal story for you. What is it like to actually see this pull out happen?

WEDEMAN: Well, it's of huge historical significance. You have to remember that Israel has been present in the Gaza strip since 1967. Most of the people you speak to don't even remember what life was like before. And it really does represent sort of a historic reversal of a trend that's been going on since the 1967 war as settlements were being built, more and more into West Bank and in Gaza. And now all of a sudden, we see that this trend is reversed. Settlements are being dismantled and the Jewish settlers sent back to Israel. So for the people in the Gaza strip, this is many ways -- some people tell me we just can't believe it. We never anticipated that this would happen and it's take a while really for it to sink in, but certainly when they are finally able, the Palestinians to enter those areas, it's going to be a pretty dramatic moment in itself.

JOHNS: Indeed, another question from the audience then.

QUESTION: Hi. I'm Sam from Boston, Massachusetts. My question is, after Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza strip, is there now more pressure on it to end its occupation of the West Bank?

WEDEMAN: Certainly, that is what the Palestinians tell you. In fact there's guys walking, hundreds of people have this T-shirt that says today, Gaza, tomorrow the West Bank and Jerusalem. And certainly the feeling among the Palestinians is that now that this historic trend has been reversed, that it will carry on into the West Bank. The Israelis will tell you that that's not the case, that there's no connection between the two and if anything, they plan to expand those settlements. But given that there really is this changing of the tide, you cannot rule out and most people, many Israelis, not just Palestinians, think that eventually Israel is going to have to give up much of the West Bank, not necessarily all of it eventually.

JOHNS: How likely is that though?

WEDEMAN: I wouldn't bet on anything in the immediate future. It's going to take time. There's lot of political factors involved. You have to remember that in Gaza, there was somewhere between 8,000 and 9,000 Jewish settlers in the West Bank, not counting Arab East Jerusalem. There are more than 230,000 and that politically is dynamite for any Israeli leader who even suggests that there should be a partial pull out or a significant pull out from any of these large settlements in the West Bank.

JOHNS: Our thanks so much to Ben Wedeman. Stay safe. Coming up, a grieving mother captures the world's attention and ignites passions over the war in Iraq. Dana Bash goes behind the scenes of Cindy Sheehan's protest. Her notebook is next. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Welcome back. Cindy Sheehan is still waiting for a presidential RSVP. The mom who lost her soldier son Casey in Iraq wants to meet with President Bush and only left her vigil outside his Crawford, Texas ranch because of a family emergency. She's evoking strong feelings in people, both for and against the war. CNN's Dana Bash is in Crawford. Let's look at her notebook.

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: One of the main reasons why Cindy Sheehan has been able to get this kind of attention is because, particularly over the past week, she has been able to fill a media vacuum.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CINDY SHEEHAN: I want to say, this is America standing in front of you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: For us, this is the last thing we expected to cover.

This whole thing started out with Cindy Sheehan, one woman, a grieving mother.

The president of the United States is in Crawford, Texas. He's got the entire White House press corps. They're here and he's not doing anything.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's got the president's ear. I'll tell you what. You guys got the president's ear too.

BASH: She is trying to have different events. She's trying to have rallies, have candlelight vigils. She's keenly aware of the fact that the press corps is here. She has their attention and she's trying to (INAUDIBLE).

Do you really think there's any chance at this point he's actually going to come meet with you?

SHEEHAN: Well, nothing's impossible.

JOHNS: Dana Bash joins us now from Crawford. Dana, thanks for coming in. Look, from a reporter's standpoint, when I look at this thing, I do have to wonder how much she's controlling this protest and how much the PR people are controlling it. Do you have any sense of that behind the scenes?

BASH: You know what Joe, since I got here last weekend, that has been really the number one question that I wanted to have answered and essentially, what I've been able to gather just primarily by talking to her and being around the people that are around her is that she did come here as somebody who wanted to sort of make a statement. She was very angry and once she got down here and people who had been long- time anti-war activists saw that she was down here, they sort of jumped on her story because they saw in her somebody they've been looking for for a long time, somebody who they thought could really break through with the mainstream media. So that's when, sort of the PR people came on funded by anti-war groups.

JOHN: Dana, we have a question from the audience. What's your name? What's your question?

QUESTION: I'm Grant from (INAUDIBLE) Minnesota and obviously Cindy Sheehan is a politically sensitive issue. How do you know when you're reporting the spin or just the facts or is the spin part of the story?

BASH: That's a very good question Grant. Essentially, with this kind of story, it's maybe less about spin, less about facts and more about emotion and what Cindy Sheehan and the people who have come here to support her and people who are supporting her around the country really want and that is to get the president to listen to them and to sort of again, make their voices heard. What's really interesting in talking to Cindy Sheehan is that she said to me, look, I have been an activist for some time. I'm very well known and have been in through the liberal circles. I've done the (INAUDIBLE). I'm on the liberal's (INAUDIBLE). I was on the cover of "Nation" magazine and she was even surprised that she was the first person to come here to Crawford, Texas and that was the way she was able to break through to the mainstream.

KEVIN FLOWER, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Dana, there's been some criticism that this story is -- wouldn't be a story if it weren't in August, if it weren't the presidential vacation. Do you think that's a factor, the timing of this protest and there are plenty (ph) number of protestors outside the White House who probably do the same thing and we never hear anything about it.

BASH: All the time and the answer to that is, there's no question about it, absolutely and the White House gets that. I've talked to Bush aides this week who were frustrated because they understood that she was filling this vacuum, that the White House press corps was here. The president did not do anything public all week. There was nothing they could do about it. But you know what's interesting Kevin, is that Cindy Sheehan completely gets that. She says, look, I know that I'm the story now. I know that there's something else could happen. When you all leave, probably you're not going to pay that much attention to me. That's why her schedule is, has been frenetic, getting up at 5:00 in the morning, doing morning drive time radio, doing interview after interview after interview. She gets that likely -- we don't know, but likely her window could be small and she's trying to really take advantage of it.

JOHNS: We have another audience question. What's your name? What's your question?

QUESTION: David from Jacksonville, Florida. Ms. Bash, while Ms. Sheehan's protest is certainly newsworthy, don't you believe it's a disservice for the extensive news coverage to the men and women, thousands of men and women, serving in Iraq who believe in the cause?

BASH: You know, here's how I tried to address that and as a matter of fact, late in the week I did a couple of stories trying to get the other side. Look, we do have the other side here. As a matter of fact, one of the president's neighbors just got back from Iraq and he is not very happy about the fact that there are anti-war protesters right outside of his house, right outside of his yard, because he still very much supports the war and I talked to him about why, because he actually had first-hand experience there. So really the way that I've been trying to address it and I know my colleagues have is by telling her story, but also making clear that she is not the only side of this story. There are other sides, that there are actually real life illustrations of that, especially here in Crawford, Texas. It's a very conservative area. Most people support the president and support the mission in Iraq.

QUADE: Dana, you've spent a great deal of time with her. What realistically is her expectation?

BASH: You know, she -- since sort of the week or maybe more than a week has sort of taken over what she really thought would happen. Her expectations I think have gotten a little bit higher. She has started to say over and over that at this point, she thinks that perhaps this issue is bigger than her. It's bigger than one person. It's her expectation, maybe that's her hope. Certainly that's her hope. But in terms of the president, her expectation is not to meet with him. She knows she's not going to meet with him. She knows and he knows that she met with him one time and that he sees her as an anti- war protestor, even more at this point than a grieving mother. But the White House is very, very careful to be polite about it, to be gentle about it and to say they understand that she is in pain and that they believe they say over and over, that her son served the country well.

JOHNS: Thanks so much for that Dana Bash. We'll be watching your reports. Coming up next, putting your life on the line for a story. Our Baghdad bureau chief Kevin Flower gives us a taste of life in the Iraqi capital. Plus, a ride along on a dangerous imbed with the U.S. Marines in Iraq. Our Alex Quade is up next and has some incredible pictures to share when we get back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: We're on the story here with our studio audience at the George Washington University. We see the pictures almost every day, another roadside bomb going off in Iraq. The U.S. military says the insurgency is more sophisticated than ever and that attacks number about 30 a week. CNN's Alex Quade imbedded with the U.S. Marines assigned to the dangerous job of hunting down the bomb makers and the explosives they used. Here's her notebook.

QUADE: ... vehicle becomes a bomb.

UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: It is a bomb.

QUADE: The Marines call this a vehicle-borne IED, improvised explosive device. The translation: car bomb.

They've had cell phones and garbage and carcasses, animal carcasses, soda cans, anything can be converted into something that can be detonated remotely.

The blast threw CNN cameraman David Albriton (ph) back 12 feet. You OK?

DAVID ALBRITON: Yeah, it knocked me down (INAUDIBLE)

QUADE: I'm doing an interview with you right now. I saw he was OK and picked up my mini cam to help record what was happening right in front of us. Marines climbing into flaming Humvee to get ammunition out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty close (INAUDIBLE) lucky.

QUADE: That lucky Marine, Lance Corporal Jason Hutt (ph) told me he thought he was going to die. Then he walked by me to immediately call security while his fellow Marines continued to deal with the smoking Humvee. They were all (INAUDIBLE) patrol, hunting for improvised explosive devices again tomorrow.

JOHNS: And Alex Quade joins us right now. We have a question for you from the audience. What's your name?

QUESTION: Hi. My name is Anna from Chattanooga, Tennessee. I was just wondering what are the restrictions on journalists in Iraq as issued by the United States military? And what do you think the parameters should be?

QUADE: Well, whenever we are with the military, we are traditionally doing imbeds and we go along with the guidelines. We actually sign guidelines, things where we cannot report about if somebody dies, if somebody is injured right in front of us, there's next of kin issues. So they want to make sure that the family at home is notified before we broadcast it to the world. So we agreed to these kind of guidelines. But otherwise, this is all your right to know. If we see something going on in front of us, where no one has been killed, this is your right to actually see this video.

JOHNS: So who was the photographer?

QUADE: Yes. The photographer is cameraman David Albriton, who is also my husband, who has been getting stuck going to Iraq with me the last few times.

JOHNS: How long have you been married?

QUADE: Just now 12 years.

JOHNS: And you do this often.

QUADE: Well, this past year we've been back and forth to Iraq quite a few times and I think he's ready to go somewhere a little more fun.

JOHNS: How did you -- you just pick up the camera and not miss a beat. That's kind of hard to do I would think.

QUADE: Oh, he's mad at me for this one actually, because as you saw, it went off and I was in a Humvee and the driver in my Humvee said, ma'am, do you know that your cameraman is in the kill zone? And I said, well, you know, he likes to be where you Marines are. And what ended up happening and of course you saw, it exploded right in front of us. It threw him back 12 feet. He had a little bit of shrapnel burns, things like that. I saw that he got up. It's like, OK, he's fine. I grabbed my mini cam and tried to help out a little bit.

JOHNS: We also have of course a different perspective on Iraq. Kevin Flower is our Baghdad bureau chief. He can tell us what it's like to be living and working in the middle of an active battle zone and you're here. That's right. You want a vacation in the United States.

FLOWER: I am and I'm very happy to be here.

JOHNS: For sure. So what is it like? I mean do you have a sense that it's anywhere near normal?

FLOWER: It's not a normal place. Violence is sort of the backdrop for lots of areas within Iraq. Baghdad, especially, Baghdad is one of the more dangerous areas within the country. That's not to say that every part of Iraq is undergoing insurgent activity. There aren't car bombs going off in every part of the country all the time. But like I said, violence is pervasive. It's -- there's violence by the insurgents and there's a general -- it's not quite lawlessness, but the infrastructure, the government infrastructure to maintain security is not there. So there are rampant kidnappings, just crimes of all sorts that aren't all -- that aren't always associated directly with the insurgency. But it contributes to this general sense of insecurity, fear and angst in many parts of the country.

We're very careful about how we get out. We're there to do stories that first and foremost, my responsibility and our network's responsibility is to keep our employees safe. So it's a balance. We have to think long and hard and plan very carefully when we go out on stories. But we try and get out as much as possible.

JOHNS: We have a question for you from the audience.

QUESTION: My name is Elise. I'm very Stoneybrook, New York. I wanted to know, do the troops hear the Pentagon briefings that come out in D.C. and if so, how do they respond. And having worked on the ground, both of you in Iraq, how do you feel the Pentagon briefings that we hear on the war stack up to the reality on the ground?

FLOWER: Alex can probably speak to some of the soldiers she was with directly. I think the soldiers probably don't see it on a daily basis. A lot of the soldiers have access to the Armed Forces network where they show lots of news shows. They get reports from various news organizations, that sort of thing. So...

QUADE: Another thing, another source of information on some of the forward operating bases where these various troops are located or based out of, some of them even get the "Stars and Stripes," which is one of the military newspapers. So if they're on a big enough forward operating base, they may actually get very timely news. But otherwise, it might be a few days late.

JOHNS: One of the things that always gets said around here in Washington is that the positive stories aren't getting out. Do you think that's true? Are the positive stories about Iraq not getting back to the United States (INAUDIBLE)

QUADE: Why don't you talk about Iraq and I'll talk about the troops.

FLOWER: Sure. Iraq is a very difficult place to report from, so there are dozens and dozens of stories that are not being told, positive stories about what's happening there, reconstruction work, the efforts of the U.S. military to build bridges with the Iraqi people and then there's stories that are not good news that are not being told. The fact is, that the real problem is our ability to travel around the country is greatly -- it's great -- we're greatly restrained.

Two years ago, we were able to travel around the country. We could drive to the flash points that you hear about now. We could drive to Fallujah and we do that three times a week. We'd drive to Mosul. We'd drive all over the country. That is something we cannot do now. It's simply too dangerous for us to do that so we end up going on lots of imbeds to tell more stories, which Alex can speak about.

QUADE: Yeah, I mean, that's the thing, it is very difficult to get around Iraq. As Kevin has said, there is so much of a threat of kidnapping. I think that 52 journalists have been killed since the Iraq war began, and I think this year, it's 14. So really, the only way to get around, unless you take a huge risk, is to do a military embed.

And one of the things with trying to get these stories out, I've had soldiers and sailors, airmen, Marines, they've said to me, oh, why aren't you reporting some of the good things that we're doing? Why aren't you -- why are you just showing every day the car bomb? And I say, well, you know, I'm trying to get out here and spend time with you, and try to humanize all of this, try to get the stories -- get a little bit more personal with you all, try to get what they are -- what they are all about. So that you don't just hear the "yes, ma'am," "no, ma'am," so you don't just see every single day the, you know, who's been killed in Baghdad.

JOHNS: Question from the audience. What's your name? What's your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Samas (ph) from Queens, New York. At what point did you feel, if any, that you were compromising your safety for the sake of the story?

QUADE: Actually, we do take precautions. You probably saw the very attractive -- we have anti-ballistic eyewear protection on, goggles. We've got helmets, we've got vests, this type of thing. We take every precaution.

But when this happened, the main concern was, OK, cameraman is OK, we just keep working on the story, keep documenting what's happening right in front of us, and meanwhile, also trying to stay out of the way of the Marines. Let them do their jobs. We don't want to interfere with what they're trying to do as well, which was secure the area, make sure that there is no incoming fire, make sure that there is no other -- a secondary device out there that might blow.

JOHNS: Alex, Kevin, thanks so much. And obviously, you'll stay with us here through the rest of the show.

Just ahead, the Federal Bureau of Investigation puts up a help wanted sign. Kelli Arena visited the academy to find out just what kind of person the bureau was looking for. Could it be you?

Plus, a check of what's making headlines this hour. We are ON THE STORY.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: CNN is back ON THE STORY here with our audience at the George Washington University. The war on terror is causing the intelligence community to turn the microscope on itself, to keep pace with the times. Big changes are under way at the FBI Academy. New kinds of recruits, new equipment. Kelli Arena made a rare visit. Here is her reporter's notebook.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FBI, get back!

KELLI ARENA, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: For 18 weeks, you've got this intense, vigorous training that has to go on, not only for, you know, the prevention of terrorism and learning about al Qaeda and so on, but just law enforcement basics.

We were told to, when we were doing interviews, to sort of, you know, do it from the shoulders, maybe look at their feet, their hands, you know, anything but a direct, you know, facial shot.

We went to (INAUDIBLE) with some of the agents there, and saw them on the firing range, and saw them when they had to learn self- defense techniques, and saw them in the classroom, and talked to some of the agents about why they were there and what they were hoping to accomplish. One thing that they all said was that after 9/11, they sort of looked at what they were doing with their lives and sat down and they really thought about what they could do to make a contribution that really counted. And for them, at least, the answer was the FBI.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: I would imagine, Kelli Arena, that security has tightened substantially since 2001, and just trying to get into a place like that to shoot video -- did you have trouble getting in? And I also hear that you couldn't shoot the people's faces?

ARENA: Right, well, it's always been an issues to get on to the academy. Obviously, all around Washington and that whole area, everything is much more secure. But once we made the arrangements, they let us in. We did have to be escorted, though.

The reason we could not show the new agents' faces is because some of them may ultimately work undercover, and so you compromise that for their future employment. So for that reason alone, we just stayed away.

JOHNS: All right. Is recruiting up or down? You know, you look at the military, they've had some problems, but that's a completely different question, because they're going to Iraq. Are they getting a lot more people who really want to do this?

ARENA: They say they are meeting their quotas. The FBI has people applying each day, it's just that they're looking for a very special type of person. They are looking for scientists and people with computer skills and engineers and CPAs, and they're looking for people with diverse backgrounds, with language skills. So they are being a little more picky about, you know, what they bring to the table.

JOHNS: We have a question for the audience before we go to you, Kevin. Go ahead, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, I'm Marshall (ph) from Reno, Nevada. What I'd like to know is, after your stay at the FBI Academy, what was your biggest surprise?

ARENA: I guess that there is -- there is a whole lot of patriotism out there. I mean, each -- each one of these people that I spoke to said that they really felt -- some of them left very lucrative jobs in the private sector to come and work for the bureau, and they said that they really felt that they wanted to make a difference, that they wanted to do something that they felt if they (INAUDIBLE), they could feel good about at the end of the day. And we had people who came from all walks of life, and they were older than I thought they would be. I mean, these are people that made this decision in their 30s, rather than right out of school and in their early 20s. So a real commitment to the cause.

FLOWER: Kelli, what changes have been made in the training for FBI agents post-9/11? Are there things that they're doing differently in a changed world, a changed environment?

ARENA: Well, first of all, the training is longer, first of all. It's two weeks longer. It used to be 16 weeks; now it's 18 weeks. They are definitely learning more about al Qaeda and terrorism, learning how to think more creatively, outside of the box.

But of course, you know, the academy must -- some of these guys have come in and women, they've never even held a gun. So you -- you have to start from ground zero. You have to learn law enforcement basics on top of everything. So they're -- there are plans under way to build a Middle Eastern village so that they can learn how to react if there were a chemical or a biological explosion, and how to deal with that. So very much changes in progress, but they're not all done yet.

JOHNS: A lot of us who see those movies see the mock village...

ARENA: Right.

JOHNS: ... right there, and now we're going to have some type of a Middle Eastern village as well.

ARENA: Right, that's it. That's the plan.

JOHNS: All right, a question from the audience.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, I'm Eric from Pocatello, Idaho.

ARENA: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I understand that new FBI agents are now studying the Koran as part of their curriculum. What do you think the FBI is trying to accomplish by incorporating this into their curriculum?

ARENA: Well, they have to be -- one of the goals is sensitivity. One of the goals is, if you're working with a specific community, that you should understand certain rules and certain values systems, so that you can be effective. As you probably all heard, the FBI is also very much in need of Arabic-speaking agents, and people who are Arab- American or from that background. So obviously, that's where they -- they had identified a certain threat, and so they need people who can work well within that community.

JOHNS: Did you have a question?

QUADE: I just have a very quick question. This felt a bit like boot camp, as a journalist going there and seeing how intense the training is that all these men and women are going through, how many journalists that you know would be able to -- or how long would we (INAUDIBLE) kind of training?

ARENA: I (INAUDIBLE) survived at least a day. It was so hot. I mean, that was the thing -- I saw people jogging and stuff, and it was just -- it was just sweltering out there. But you know, it is -- it is vigorous, but they are committed, they go in knowing that it's 18 tough weeks. I probably couldn't do it, but God bless them, right.

JOHNS: Thanks so much to Kelli Arena.

Gas prices are hitting new highs. Up next, our business correspondent, JJ Ramberg -- she's also an MBA -- is ON THE STORY of how to beat high prices at the pump. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Gas prices keep going up, but you probably know that already from your trip to the gas station this week. Our JJ Ramberg is on that story. She spent some time filling up on ways to save money. Get out your notebook. Here's hers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JJ RAMBERG, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: If you just start throwing a bunch of numbers at people, their eyes are going to roll up -- or some people's eyes are going to roll into the back of their head and they're going to start yawning.

I think one of the most useful things I've done this week would be tips on how to save money at the pump.

Use your air conditioner sparingly. I know that might be hard to do, but when you use your air conditioner, your gas mileage goes down.

When it comes down to it, people are watching these gas prices, they're watching these oil prices, but what they're most concerned about is, how am I not going to spending more money, right?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think prices are excruciatingly high right now. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's got to change. With this much of a jump, that's a huge chunk of your budget.

RAMBERG: One consumer, I was asking him how do you feel about these gas prices? He dragged me over and he showed me that screen where the numbers start flowing, when you see -- when you start putting in gas. He goes, "look at how fast those numbers are going up. Have you ever seen anything like this?" But literally, he dragged me over. That was his reaction.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: JJ Ramberg joins us right now. We have a question from the audience for you, JJ.

RAMBERG: All right, Joe.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi. Hi, I'm Frank Lee (ph) from Tyler, Texas. JJ, I want to know, do you think the current increase in gas prices is going to hit the same levels as gas prices of the 1970s?

RAMBERG: You know, that's a good question, and one that I ask my analysts every single day. I think they start to roll their eyes back of their head when I start asking them.

The thing is, nobody knows exactly what's going to happen, because there are so many other factors in play right now. The problem is, demand is so high, and the supply is -- we can't pump any more oil right now. And we can't build refineries fast enough. And so, one small thing that happens in the market can really raise those oil prices and really raise those gas prices.

Now, there is always this conventional thought that when the summer driving season ends on Labor Day, gas prices go down. This year, there are some questions as to whether that's going to happen or not, because then we get into heating oil season, and because refineries have been pumping out so much gas, they haven't been able to concentrate on heating oil as much as they need to. And so, that's going to cut down supplies of gas and may keep the price up, even though demand is going to go down after the summer.

ARENA: JJ, very selfishly, my husband is driving an Excursion, and I want to kill him. So I'm interested in those tips that you have for saving money. What are they?

RAMBERG: First, you go tell him to go put that car away, or go get a new one. But assuming that he's not going to -- and actually, these are good tips for everyone. There are all sorts of things you can do to increase your fuel efficiency. The first time I asked about these, I was kind of saying, oh, really, is this going to make that big of a difference? It turns out these tips really do make a big difference.

Now, one of the things is, don't drive too fast, because you get the best fuel efficiency when you're driving if you're in a car between 50 and 55 miles per hour. Once you get up to 75 miles per hour, your fuel efficiency drops by 24 percent. Now, that's pretty significant.

Another thing you shouldn't do is jerk. Don't, you know, push on your gas and then put on your brakes -- and if my dad is out there listening, this is for you: No jerking! But when you do that, your fuel efficiency goes down by 15 percent.

And then a couple of other little things really quickly is, don't have your windows down, because that puts drag on the car that lowers fuel efficiency, and don't turn on the air conditioning, because that does as well.

(LAUGHTER)

RAMBERG: Seems you might be kind of hot...

(CROSSTALK)

ARENA: Wear your bathing suits, you guys, in your car. JJ, which one...

JOHNS: Another question from the audience. What's your name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My name is Seth Bergman (ph). I'm from Sherano (ph), Ohio, and my question, JJ, is how long do you think it will take for consumers to actually start severely reacting to the inflating gas prices?

RAMBERG: That's a great question, because surprisingly, we haven't really seen it, right? I mean, there is a certain group of people, those on the lower end of the economic spectrum, who are having to make choices right now. But what they're choosing to do is not buy other things, or not do other things. They are still buying gas. I have asked analysts so many times, what is that magic number at which people stop buying gas? We haven't hit it yet, right? Demand is up this year from last year, about 1 percent, or even over 1 percent if you just take the last month, and so it's hard to say at what point people start changing their behavior. There are so many other good things going on in the economy right now that we're able to sort of weather these gas prices. For how long? I don't know.

QUADE: JJ, it's Alex. I want to get back to those tips, because I know I want to save money, I know our audience wants to save money. You had earlier this week, you also talked about, you know, keep the windows rolled up, because it keeps from the aerodynamic drag or something like that, but what was the most surprising of all of these tips that you learned? What was really new for you?

RAMBERG: You know, I got to say, it was that window one for me. It wouldn't have occurred to me that just to have your window down a little bit would cause that much drag on your car that it's putting -- that it's making your fuel economy worse, but that was a big one.

QUADE: So windows up.

RAMBERG: Windows up, and air conditioner off.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNS: Thanks so much, JJ.

Just ahead, we go to Hollywood, where we'll find Sibila Vargas on the story of Harry Potter and all the kids who want to be just like him. Stay with us.

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JOHNS: We go out to Hollywood now. Entertainment reporter Sibila Vargas got to have some fun this week. She did what a lot of us still wish we could do: She went to summer camp. Here is her reporter's notebook.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIBILA VARGAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Sometimes, we actually go to the wrong place, and that's the case today.

When you're reporting, you've got to go with the flow, and that's what it's all about.

Let's talk to some of the little wizards.

Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi.

VARGAS: Sibila Vargas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE). We have Milo the Great (ph), who is the guest magician with us today, and he's teaching some tricks, if you want to come and take a look.

VARGAS: When we went to pitch meeting, and one of the producers mentioned that we're going to Harry Potter camp. And it made me feel really good, and I said, I want to be part of that story. I'd like to be around some kids.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ronald Weasley, he was Harry Potter's best friend in the movie.

VARGAS: Hey, wait a minute. You do look like Weasley.

It doesn't matter if you're interviewing someone, you know, an adult or a child. You're going to have challenges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Say the magic words.

VARGAS: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Te droto day (ph).

VARGAS: Te droto day (ph).

He kind of inspired children to, like, really have fun, and expand their minds. And enjoy camp, the way these kids seem to have enjoyed it.

One, two, three.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And as you can see, you did it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHNS: The wizard outfit is great. Kevin, you had a question? Sibila Vargas joins us now.

FLOWER: Hey, Sibila, this is Kevin Flower. Just curious, the Harry Potter books are incredibly popular, obviously. I tend to see more adults reading them in airports and everywhere. What was the oldest person at this camp, beyond, let's say the instructor?

VARGAS: No, the oldest was -- they were 7- to 13-year-olds, but definitely the parents were into it, the parents that I spoke to, and the camp director was into it as well. So absolutely, I mean, I don't know about you, but you know, I haven't read a Harry Potter book, but I've seen all of the films, all of the movies. In fact, that's one thing that you have to do as a reporter. I was -- the night before, I was watching "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban." Now, I had a really long day, I was really tired, but you have to watch the movie. And it was good, though.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, tough work, Sibila.

(CROSSTALK)

JOHNS: Question from the audience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, my name is Jamie (ph) from Brownsburg, Indiana. And I was just curious, speaking of those parents, in the recent Harry Potter book -- I know you said you've seen the movies, but Harry Potter has done a lot of growing up. How are the parents dealing with the new coming-of-age issues, like snogging, which is mentioned a lot -- it's a British term for kissing -- and the dating that's been going on, with the younger children in particular?

VARGAS: Well, the parents that I spoke to, I mean, and most of the kids were very young, but the oldest were 13, but most of them were in about the, I would say the 8- to-9 age range. And I think because of the books, they are designed to go in age groups, and Harry Potter gets older. So I'm not sure that they're even up to that part yet, at least these kids weren't, didn't seem that way to me.

JOHNS: Expectations. You really had some different expectations going in, didn't you?

VARGAS: I sure did. I sure did.

JOHNS: Talk about that.

VARGAS: You know, I'll tell you, when I first heard about the story, I thought we'd go to the camp and the kids would be dressed in black and that it would be very dark and they'd have their wizard caps on. And it was absolutely different, but -- because it was just regular camp. But as a reporter, I mean, at least the lesson that I learned was, you just don't go into something with preconceived ideas, and it doesn't matter -- the story wasn't about how they were dressed, the story was that these kids were learning, and that there was a character, Harry Potter, a fictional character, that was inspiring them to learn. They learned confidence, they learned magic tricks, they learned how to bond, and so that really was the story.

But it reminded me of one time when I was out here in Hollywood, there was a "Star Wars" story that we were doing, the fans were camped out in front of the Grumman's Chinese Theater, where the original "Star Wars" played, and unfortunately, the last episode was not going to play there. So the fans were out there for days. There were so many of them. And I was thinking, OK, this would be a great story, let's go out, let's play. They'll have light sabers, maybe we'll do like a little light saber duel. I thought we were going to have a great time.

Well, I go out there, and not only are they tired, but they're completely just sitting around, nobody wants to say a word. They're dressed up. They're kind of stinky, because they had been around for -- to be honest with you, and nobody wants to talk! But you know, the wonderful thing is that, you know, again, as a journalist, as a reporter, you have to bring that energy out, and you have to make sure that you can draw people out. And I think that's -- that's something at least that I hope I have, and I think I do have, and I think that -- I love people. And it doesn't matter, you know, it's always a challenge, again, talking to little people, big people, you know, "Star Wars" fans that don't want to talk, whatever.

But you have to bring -- you have to bring something out in them.

JOHNS: Thanks, Sibila.

We're back with what our panel is expecting ON THE STORY next week right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

JOHNS: Keep yourself ON THE STORY at cnn.com. Our Web site tells you about the panel, the topics, and how to get tickets to join our audience.

A quick look ahead ON THE STORY, starting with you, Kelli. What's coming forward on your beat?

ARENA: Well, we are working hard on the California investigation. Either law enforcement has stumbled on a home-grown terrorist cell, or just a criminal enterprise. We're trying to figure it out, and when we do, we'll let you know.

JOHNS: Kevin?

FLOWER: Monday is the new deadline for the passage of a constitution for the Iraqi -- for the Iraqi government. They've missed the last deadline, and we'll be watching Monday to see if they come up with a document.

JOHNS: Alex?

QUADE: Putting together a lot of stories that we shot in Iraq with the troops, from all over, with every member -- with every branch of the service.

JOHNS: And we will certainly be looking forward to those. Thanks to all three of you. It's been a great show.

Thanks to my colleagues, the audience here at the George Washington University, and thank you for watching ON THE STORY. We'll be back each week, Saturday night and Sunday morning. Straight ahead, a check on what's making news right now.

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