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CNN SATURDAY MORNING NEWS
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Wins Re-Election in Iran; North Korea Saying They Will Weaponize All Their Plutonium; Finding a Way to Reform Health Care; Space Shuttle Endeavor's Launch Delayed Due to Leak
Aired June 13, 2009 - 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: Just in our ear? We had a microphone issue, I do believe.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: We're having a microphone issue.
HOLMES: We're getting it worked out. Meanwhile, we're getting it worked out. I think you can hear me OK. So, I'll say hello. And I'm T.J. Holmes with Betty Nguyen right here.
This Saturday, June 13th, a lot of stuff is going on. We're going to be talking a lot about what's happening in Iran right now.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: We've been watching the election there. We'll go ahead and show you some of this video. This is becoming a breaking story here for us now.
The incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been declared the winner of the presidential election there, but, of course, that is not the end of it. A live picture we can show you here now of what's going on. What you're seeing there is the interior minister talking about the election results.
Let's take a listen here. We do have the English translation.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
SADEQ MAHSOULI, IRANIAN INTERIOR MINISTER (through translator): Out of 46, 200,000 people who were eligible, we witnessed an 85 percent turnout. Out of this number, Mr. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, got 24,527,516 votes which means 16 -- 62-63 percent of the total votes. He ranks first.
Mr. Moussavi, I'm reading this alphabetically, 676,240 votes which means 1.73 percent of the votes (INAUDIBLE) 336, 365 votes which means 0 -- actually .85 percent of total votes, Mr. Moussavi, 13, 216,413 votes, 33.75 percent of the total votes.
Therefore, in order Mr. Ahmadinejad ranks first and with the votes he has secured, he is elected as the tenth president of the Islamic republic. Mr. Mir Hossein Moussavi (INAUDIBLE) is the second person, Mr. Moshen Rezaie (ph) third and Mr. Medhi Karrubi (ph) fourth. The number of 409,389 votes were cast but they were not accepted. Therefore, there is 1.04 percent of the total of the votes are the votes that are not cast. They're null and void, less than 1.5 percent. I should mention two or three more points and then answer your question.
The first point is, as the respected (ph) people of Iran are aware, respecting the peoples' rights indicates the respect for law and respect to religious democracy, fortunately in Iran after the Islamic revolution, this has been institutionalized.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
NGUYEN: All right. We have been listening to the Iranian interior minister as he lines out how the votes played out in this election there in Iran and it appears that Ahmadinejad has won re- election with 62 percent of the vote. The nearest challenger, Mir Hossein Moussavi with 33.5 percent of the vote.
And we have our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour on the phone with us today. Christiane, there's been a lot of protests in the streets because many people as of yesterday thought that Moussavi would have been the clear winner in this.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, yes. Today the people's frustrations, the frustrations of Moussavi supporters has spilled out into the streets. What we know is that interior ministry has just issued the final results as you've just reported, giving President Ahmadinejad practically a two to one victory over his main rival Mir Hossein Moussavi.
Now, many of the supporters and many of the analysts had expected this to be a very, very tight race, if not Moussavi having a clear lead in the first round. So many of the supporters are angry and they've now been in the streets for the last several hours and we've been following and watching and there have been sort of peaceful, very loud and raucous marches down the main artery of Tehran linking north to south, people chanting Moussavi, Moussavi get our vote back for me.
There have also been truck loads, bus loads of riot police which are being bussed into the town and we've seen them on the sides of the road and indeed charging some of the protesters as well. We have not seen a huge amount of violence. We've seen a heavy presence, but not yet a huge amount of violence. At one point, protesters burned garbage cans and the police charged them. They charged back and back and forth. That was a little bit of cat and mouse.
Now, there seems to be a greater police presence. We also know that the supreme leader, the religious authority here, Ayatollah Khamenei (ph) has come out and issued a televised statement congratulating as he said the vote of the people, the record turnout and saying that they had voted in their new president with 24 million votes. So it remains to be seen how this is going to play out. But that's the situation at the moment. NGUYEN: Well, Christiane, I know a lot of people, especially with such a high turnout, a record turnout as you mentioned, 24 million people, some 85 percent voter turnout there, a lot of people waiting to hear what Mr. Moussavi has to say today, following the announcement of the official election results saying that Ahmadinejad has won re-election. Any indication as to when we could hear from him?
AMANPOUR: Well, we thought that there was going to be a press conference several hours ago. We were told that. We went to the location only to be told that no, it's been canceled. We were told by an official-looking security type outside the building.
That, I think, is where it all started because there was a crowd of supporters outside and we watched as they were dispersed and we moved along with them and now this sort of spontaneous protest kind of grew as more and more people came out to join and more and more -- it got more and more raucous and then the riot police and other security forces came out.
What we know, though, is that Mr. Moussavi has issued an open letter, it's on his Web site, to the people of Iran in which he's again congratulated them for coming out, but basically complains that the vote of the people has been manipulated by the establishment. He called it cheating.
And so, this is adding to the very charged atmosphere here as people come out and say that we do not believe the results that we've been given officially. Another of the candidates, one of the reformist candidates, the only cleric in the race, Medhi Karrubi, also came out with a statement questioning in his words the strange election and the results.
NGUYEN: You were reporting a little bit earlier, Christiane, about this election that many people are calling those strange results or even Moussavi saying outright that there were some blatant violations, that there were some claims that even the ink used to mark their ballot, some people really a little worried that maybe that was invisible ink, true?
AMANPOUR: Well, that was certainly one of the rumors on the day before, the day or two before the election and you know, there was a great deal of worry and fear that there might be cheating and rumors were swirling to the extent that the interior ministry election officials had to broadcast advice on the eve of election day for people to bring their own pens in order for them to have peace of mind.
And so, we certainly saw that at the polling stations that we were at, both Ahmadinejad supporters and voters and Moussavi voters brought their own pens to the polling booth. There was also some confusion at some of the polling booths certainly where we were as to whether people were meant to write down an official code number for their candidate or the name of their candidate. At the station we were, they were told to write down the name. But suffice to say, that because of the massive rallies that had preceded this election day and the huge momentum that has built, not just in Tehran but in many of the other big cities for Mr. Moussavi, people had expected this to be much, much closer, if not that he would win in a first round. Since the vote has turned out precisely opposite, the majority of his supporters and not many believed it would, that is what is leading to the frustration.
NGUYEN: It will be interesting to see what comes of these claims of blatant violations. As we heard from the Iranian interior minister, the votes have been counted and it appears Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the new president, has been re-elected there in Iran. Chrisiane Amanpour joining us live and of course, we'll be checking in with Christiane throughout the morning as we continue to follow the developments in this story.
HOLMES: And our other major international story we're keeping an eye on this morning, North Korea. That country promised a strong reaction to new U.N. sanctions over their nuclear and missile tests. So here is the reaction. North Korea now saying they will weaponize all of their plutonium, also saying they will enrich uranium. Now that sounds serious, it is. It should also sound familiar.
Our international correspondent, senior international correspondent, John Vause joins us now from the region, joining us from Beijing to tell us what this warning really means. John, I guess that's what we're trying to figure out here. Some of this does sound so familiar. So what is new? What part should we really be paying attention to here?
JOHN VAUSE, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, T.J., there's not a lot new in this. Back in January the North Koreans made it known that they're weaponizing the stockpile of plutonium. In April this year, they let it known that they actually had this uranium enrichment program. We've always known about that plutonium program at the (INAUDIBLE).
In April they said in response to a condemnation by the U.N. Security Council after that rocket launch, that they would begin this uranium enrichment program. And also, there's been threats of acts of war if their vehicles are intercepted by U.S. or Chinese ships and inspected for material which could be used for their missile or nuclear program.
The key point in all of this though, T.J., just because North Korea says they're going to do something, doesn't actually mean they're going to be doing it or that they're even capable of doing it. In 2006 they said that their rocket launch was a complete and total success. The reality is, it went straight back down to ground about 40 seconds after liftoff. It was a complete and utter disaster.
And even in April this year, the rocket launch which they say was a satellite being put into space, once again claimed it has been a complete success, a U.S. intelligence never detected another orbit, another satellite rather in orbit. So the North Koreans tend to guild the lily about these things, tend to over exaggerate their capabilities. This is what intelligence officials will be looking at. Now, what they're saying, what they're capable of and what it actually all really means in the long run.
HOLMES: And John, one thing here if you can, kind of sum this up for our viewers. They're hearing plutonium. They're hearing uranium. Both of these can be used to make weapons, we know, but we've been knowing about the plutonium program. They're talking about the uranium, but why with that that they can enrich uranium cause any more alarm?
VAUSE: Well, because it just gives them another outlet to make nuclear weapons, the stuff that they need to put into nuclear bombs. It gives them another outlet for it. It's just another factor which destabilizes the Korean peninsula and it's just another concern.
The other thing we should be concerned about, if they actually have this uranium enrichment program, is that it's the same program that the Iranians have. They're enriching uranium as well with the centrifuges and all that kind of stuff. That's why it's different to the plutonium. And so they could be getting technology for this from the Pakistanis, from the Iranians. And so, it's just another destabilizing factor in a very volatile region.
HOLMES: John Vause, our senior international correspondent, thank you so much.
VAUSE: OK.
NGUYEN: We're going to turn to some other news today, finding a way to reform health care. That polarizing issue at the top of the president's agenda all week long. He announced a proposal on his web address this morning that could cover some of the cost of insuring the 46 million Americans who currently live without health care.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now live from the White House. And Elaine, how will the president's proposal this morning help fund health care reform?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Betty. President Obama announced today in his web address that he wants to cut $313 billion from Medicare and Medicaid over the next 10 years, but he really wasn't very specific on just how he wants to do that. The president talking about the government's two biggest health programs, Medicare and Medicaid. Together they cover millions of elderly and low-income Americans.
Again, without going into real detail, the president basically said he's mainly looking at cutting back on payments to prescription drug makers, hospitals and other health care providers. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These savings will come from common sense changes. For example, if more Americans are insured, we can cut payments that help hospitals treat patients without health insurance. If the drug makers pay their fair share, we can cut government spending on prescription drugs and if doctors have incentives to provide the best care instead of more care, we can help Americans avoid the unnecessary hospital stays, treatments and tests that drive up costs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: So, the White House says basically this proposal combined with other cuts that the administration has announced previously, would basically mean the government would save some $950 billion, Betty, in health care costs and that's money, to answer your question earlier, that could be used to offset the costs of overhauling health care.
Now the problem, experts say, outside experts, say that really to reform the health care system, it's going to cost upwards of a trillion dollars. So, Betty, that is why we are hearing the president talk about ways in which he wants to pay for health care reform.
NGUYEN: Gotcha, all right and I know that you're going to be talking with your sources there at the White House. We do want to get some reaction on the latest developments with North Korea and the Iranian elections.
So, we'll be checking in with you for that throughout the morning. Elaine Quijano joining us live from the White House, thank you, Elaine.
QUIJANO: Sure.
NGUYEN: Well, it is a no go for the space shuttle "Endeavour" this morning. It was supposed to launch last hour, but a hydrogen leak forced NASA to change plans. A similar problem delayed "Discovery's" launch in March and NASA will meet tomorrow to decide what to do next. They have seven astronauts waiting to go to the international space station.
Also still ahead, severe storms, a sweep across the southeast.
HOLMES: Damaging winds, we got hail, heavy rain. More could pop up today. Reynolds Wolf keeping an eye on all things weather related. He'll have details coming up in just a second. Also, Josh Levs playing some video games here this morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: You know those living in Memphis are cleaning up this morning after thunderstorms knocked down trees, power lines all across the city.
HOLMES: The storms blew through right around rush hour. So a lot of folks there were in their cars for the worst of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tree came down right on top of my car. I was in it and I jumped up and a big limb, you see how large it is, came across it. Got me on the shoulder and I jumped up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: And we got reports of at least 32 storm-related car accidents. Reynolds, let's bring you in now. We talked about we saw this yesterday. It's a new day now.
(WEATHER REPORT)
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Don't you just want to get away from it all, sometimes the rough weather? During the summer we've got some great hints for you especially in San Diego and it could be a great place to escape the rough weather we've been talking about this weekend.
Take a look and enjoy.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WOLF: San Diego is considered a great family weekend getaway, even on a budget. All ages can enjoy Balboa Park's gardens and performing arts events.
MARK ORWOLL, TRAVEL + LEISURE: It has museums, it has restaurants. There's an incredible array of things to do.
WOLF: Balboa Park is also home to the San Diego zoo. One ticket can get you into 13 museums and the zoo where a popular exhibit is the elephant odyssey.
ORWOLL: It's a seven-acre habitat with a family of Asian elephants. If you're lucky you're going to get to see the zoo keepers and the vets working with the animals in the management center.
WOLF: Another piece of a family weekend is just 30 miles north at Legoland where toys portray history.
ORWOLL: In honor of the Obama inauguration, the builders at Legoland recreated the scene along with hundreds of onlookers like Aretha Franklin and Oprah. It's accurate right down to the red tie that Obama wore.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Looks good.
NGUYEN: Doesn't it?
HOLMES: You a video game person?
NGUYEN: Back in the day I've played my fair share of Pacman and Donkey Kong and Frogger.
HOLMES: I'm kind of a Gallag (ph) guy myself. We're going to be talking about one of the most addictive games ever. Coming up.
NGUYEN: Which would be Tetris. Coming up on the 25th anniversary. We've got the latest. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. We were talking about video games before the break. Now we're talking about one of the most addictive of all time and it is now 25 years old.
NGUYEN: It's hard to believe, Tetris 25. Our Josh Levs is here to tell us about it and there's even talk of Tetris being entered into the Olympics, are you kidding me?
JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's what I thought, but the people who are pushing this game, the brains behind it, they actually want that. They're pushing for a Tetris cup, this whole worldwide thing. What I wanted to know is what is it that happens in the brain that makes this so addictive?
So, I got a little taste of the magic. I spoke with the creator of it and I asked him when he knew he was on to something big.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALEXEY PAJITINOV, TETRIS CREATOR: Very first time when my program game start working, I couldn't stop playing myself. I understand it's a really good game but I can't imagine that it would be that deep (ph).
LEVS: So you got addicted the first time you started playing?
PAJITINOV: Yes, very much.
HENK ROGERS, BLUE PLANET SOFTWARE: When I first found it at the consumer electronics show in 1988 I kept on coming back and playing more and that was a sure sign this was going to be a good game.
LEVS: There are stories of people going into work on the weekends just to sit at their computer and play a video game for hours. They even dreamed the Tetris shapes that they played for too long. How did this happen? Could one of you explain to me why it's so addictive and what goes on when you play it?
PAJITINOV: First of all it's a very simple game and it has really strong creative things (ph) in it. So instead of just throwing something, you kind of deal the file out (ph) (INAUDIBLE) and enjoy doing it and that's probably the very important addictive factor.
LEVS: I think I hear what you're saying. The simplicity and also the immediate satisfaction, right? You have to build again. So you get the satisfaction and then immediately it's time to work on the next one. We have some videos that we're going to be showing of takeoffs of Tetris, the things people have done, turning buildings into Tetris games or human Tetris.
You all have put something into your news release. We have a vision of the future where people all over the world can become friends without speaking the same language, you go on to say because they'll be connected through the universal language of Tetris. Are you guys being sarcastic about that or is that an actual hope?
ROGERS: No, I think that's a real dream for us. You know, games are a universal language and Tetris breaks all culture, language and age and gender barriers.
LEVS: Have you all had any complaints from people out there who are trying to say that Tetris is a drug, that it's more addictive, that there should be some kind of warning with it?
PAJITINOV: It happens to me all the time. People approached me and say you know I spend so much, my college time on Tetris. I almost blow my exams or so-and-so on. But I usually ask, was it good hours which you spent on Tetris and everybody say, yes. It was really good hour. So I say, I not waste it. I gift it to you.
ROGERS: I think that Tetris is the first virtual sport and we'll see, yes, we'll see Tetris cup in the future and competition, international competition. Hopefully we'll be part of the Olympics some day.
LEVS: The actual Olympics, like the Olympics?
ROGERS: Why limit the Olympics to physical sports? Why not mental sports?
LEVS: Wow, that would open a whole new realm.
Let's talk about the future. I know you have a lot of plans for building this. What will we be seeing when you envision the future of Tetris, will I have a 3-D Tetris right in front of me, like in Star Trek kind of thing where I can just put my fingers in the air, and you're going to put on goggles and have 3-D virtual? What's ahead in the future? Give us a sense.
ROGERS: Tetris is the ultimate casual game. So we need to keep it simple. So if going 3-D means you're taking it out of the realm of simple to understand games, then it probably won't go there. We make sure that Tetris is playable by as many people as possible always.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LEVS: Lots of people still playing it around the world, which is why we got this incredible number of i-reports, when we set the separate i-report.com. And for more on all of this, you can see my stories on the main page right now of cnn.com. Tetris turning 25. We encourage you to check it out. And quickly show from the graphic where you can weigh in with your stories, our blogs. Cnn.com/newsroom. Facebook.com/joshlevscnn, twitter.com/joshlevscnn.
There you go. Lots of people sharing Tetris memories and Tetris stories, guys, including some of the things that they missed because they were busy glued to their computers for hours without realizing how much time they were spending/waiting.
NGUYEN: Twenty-five years old.
LEVS: Amazing.
NGUYEN: Seems just like yesterday. All right, thank you, Josh.
LEVS: Thanks, guys.
NGUYEN: All right, there is new hope for GM workers. Why hundreds may be getting their jobs back.
HOLMES: Also, where can you find Prince's guitar along with the emancipation proclamation in the same exhibit, among some other things? We'll explain. New exhibit, America I am, coming to a city near you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: Well, this morning, many GM auto workers have something they haven't had for a little while and that is reason to hope. Hundreds could get their jobs back. GM now plans to reopen one of its 14 factories that it recently closed right after it emerges from bankruptcy. And three cities are being considered, Jamesville, Wisconsin, Orion Township, Michigan, and Spring Hill, Tennessee.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: When a difficult decision has to be made on matters like where to open a new plant or what type of new car to make, the new GM, not the United States government, will make that decision.
NGUYEN (voice-over): And one decision is expected soon, GM's CEO Fritz Henderson says the company will announce within weeks where it's going to build a subcompact car. Originally the work was going to China, but GM decided to keep the jobs home as a concession to the United Auto Workers. Now factories in Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin are in the running. Workers there have been on edge for weeks.
WILL BARNES, SPRING HILL, TENN. RESIDENT: My father-in-law works for GM. He's worked for GM ever since the day he graduated from college. You know, and he's got his yard five times this week because he doesn't, you know, this is the level of uncertainty for him. And so -- and I hate to see him in that situation.
NGUYEN: By next year, GM is expected to close 34 factories. Last year, it shut down 47 plants. Workers in Spring Hill, Tennessee have already lived through one rebirth. Brenda Carter remembers the launch of Saturn.
BRENDA CARTER: I was there at the beginning where they experienced. I loved Saturn with all my heart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Well, in 2007, the Spring Hill plant quit making Saturn. It underwent a $600 million overhaul financed in part by state tax credits and started building the eight seat Chevrolet Traverse. I want to introduce you to Michael Dinwiddie. He is the mayor of Spring Hill, Tennessee. The city is about 30 miles south of Nashville with a population of roughly 24,000 people. Well, he joins us by phone this morning. And mayor, the first thing I want to ask you about is why do you think GM should keep the plant in your city open?
MICHAEL DINWIDDIE, MAYOR: Good morning, Betty. Do we have half an hour?
NGUYEN: If you could give it to me as quickly as possible, we'd appreciate it.
DINWIDDIE: I can give you the run down.
NGUYEN: OK.
DINWIDDIE: There's a whole host of reasons why financially, but the cost to retool the plant is hundreds of millions of dollars less than the cost to retool the plants in Michigan or Wisconsin. They've just recently retooled the plant. And so I think that moving that, I think the cost to retool it for a new car would save the taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars just to put the product here.
Geographically, we're well located. We're about eight hours away from 75 percent of the United States population. So I think we can get the product to the marketplace a whole lot faster. And I would hope that GM doesn't want to desert the loyal, you know, the loyal customers of the South.
NGUYEN: Well, you're up against plants in Michigan and Wisconsin, but mayor, your city is the smallest in the running. Does that put you at a disadvantage?
DINWIDDIE: No, I would hope not. I would hope that they look at the benefits of the plant. And I think that we have one of the best economic situations from a city to city standpoint and from a state to state standpoint. Our taxes are fairly low. I think our cost of living is affordable, if not lower than the other two states. So I think that from an economic standpoint, we should have the advantage on that as well.
NGUYEN: Well, let's talk economy for a second. Need specifically, Spring Hill may have to raise taxes, even lay off some city employees. How important is GM to your local economy?
DINWIDDIE: Well, I think it's incredibly important to the economy. I think that it's going -- I think that if this plant were idled for a long period of time, it would certainly hurt the sales tax revenues for the entire region. Everybody's in kind of a budget crunch right now. It's not just the city. It's the state. It's, you know, everybody in this situation, so it would definitely have an impact on us.
NGUYEN: How many jobs could be lost if the plant does shut down?
DINWIDDIE: Well, I would say it would probably be between $20,000 and $30,000 when you look at all the secondary markets that it effects.
NGUYEN: And just last question here, is there a sense of nervous anticipation? Or are the people in your town, Spring Hill, hopeful that this is going to happen and that GM will keep that plant open?
DINWIDDIE: Well, I definitely think that they're hopeful. I mean, I guess it's both. They're nervous about the decision. There's a lot of tension because of the uncertainty. They don't know what's going to happen, but they are hopeful as well.
We're hopeful that the governor is going to continue the negotiation process with the -- with General Motors and bring home the best deal that he can. We've got to keep in mind that it's not GM that owns this company anymore. It's the taxpayers that own this company.
NGUYEN: Yeah, that is true.
DINWIDDIE: It's the United States taxpayer that put up billions of dollars to keep this company afloat. And so I think the taxpayers need to be the ones that make this business decision. And we've put together a Web site to put -- to compare and contrast the benefits of this plant versus the other plants. It's saveourplant.org. And I think that American taxpayers can go to that and take a look at why our plant is advantageous to the company that they now own.
NGUYEN: Well, mayor, we appreciate your time. I know you're up against two other cities, all of you wanting to keep your plants open. And we wish you the best of luck.
DINWIDDIE: Thank you so much for having me, Betty.
NGUYEN: Sure.
HOLMES: You know, we wish them all the best.
NGUYEN: Yeah.
HOLMES: Wish they were...
NGUYEN: They all need it.
HOLMES: ...all could be all right. But saveourplant.org.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: That's interesting. And the mayor making his sales pitch.
NGUYEN: He did it quickly. And you know what? He did it quickly, but he got to the point. I do appreciate that.
HOLMES: And we'll try to give him a half an hour next time.
NGUYEN: We'll see. HOLMES: Well, of course, the recession being felt all around the world. But one small company heating up the bottom line from the edge of the Arctic Circle. Richard Lui shows us how they're turning cold weather fashion into a hot commodity.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RICHARD LUI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Inspired by the beauty of her native Iceland, U.S. educated designer Steinunn is trying to set the fashion world on fire.
STEINUNN SIGURD, DESIGNER: Nature inspires me more than anything else.
LUI: After working in New York and Europe for designers such as Calvin Klein, Steinunn returned home to start her own clothing line.
SIGURD: One of the components that I cannot find other than in Iceland is the intimacy with the art, with the music, and with other designers. I needed to find my roots.
LUI: She is now considered part of the fabric of Iceland, designing uniforms for Iceland Air and opening a store in Racivic (ph), that's a cross between art gallery and boutique.
SIGURD: To actually have a store in this environment that's going on right now in Iceland is probably in the worst financial crisis ever is extra challenge. You scale down tremendously.
LUI: Steinunn is succeeding by promoting her label online and showing her clothes in Paris, Copenhagen, and New York, but she is staying true to her understated Nordic style.
SIGURD: I don't want to make Steinunn a huge commercial collection. I would like to keep it more focused and intimate because that's kind of who I am.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Still ahead, you do not want to miss this. Caught on tape, what a wind gust did to a plane.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
HOLMES: All right. Let's talk about one of Betty's favorite topics. Now NASCAR, their big race, a big race they're having tomorrow is happening in the shadows of the GM headquarters. It's happening up in Michigan, not too far away from Detroit. And for generations, NASCAR and the car industry have been so closely linked, which meant great things during the boom times. But now that GM is in bankruptcy and the other companies running on fumes, could NASCAR's best days be in the rear view mirror?
Our sports and business analyst Rick Horrow, who's also an attorney, a Harvard law grad as well, throws that into it, joins us now from West Palm Beach this morning. Rick, always good to see you, sir. Explain to us with the fortunes, I know they're a little in the tank right now, hurting a little bit NASCAR. Explain that to us first, but just explain how these two things are inextricably linked, NASCAR and the car industry?
RICK HORROW, CNN SPORTS BUSINESS ANALYST: First of all, good morning to you, thanks for the added promo, I don't know what you want, but I'm sure I'll hear from you later about it. And as far as what's linked, it's the clear sign that GM is the symbol of what's gone wrong with the economy in the backyard of a race that's happening now, and another race a couple months from now.
NASCAR itself, attendance down 15 percent to 20 percent. The industry has a 20 percent, 25 percent reduction in television ratings. They were the fastest growing sports for a long time. Now General Motors, $125 million invested in all types of NASCAR. 12 tracks, 20 drivers. They've won the championship for the best car, Chevy, six years in a row, in ten of the last 14. So that is a symbol of what the problem is there.
HORROW: So now are the car companies -- is NASCAR going to be hurt because the car companies are going to have less to invest? And I don't know if it's possible to promote -- so you know, I mean, NASCAR is famous for plastering, you know, promotions and decals all over the cars and what not. So is it possible that the car companies would want more bang for their buck?
HORROW: Yeah, of course it is. And bottom line is that there seems to be a little bit of tension. On the one hand, General Motors and others understand that NASCAR is the most brand loyal of any sport. So if you're back in business as the ad seems to suggest, you got to advertise. If you advertise, then you got to do it in the places you're comfortable with, which is NASCAR.
On the other hand, the more money spend you're up to scrutiny and people are saying, well, criticism, why are you spending money on naming a race or being involved? Well, you got to stay open. That's the tension.
HOLMES: All right, the last topic we're going to discuss here, something that could help save the sport of NASCAR. One woman, one 105 pound woman, I believe she is. We're talking about Danica Patrick who drives the open wheel cars as we see here. Totally different type of car. Talking about now possibly going to NASCAR. Could she help the sport?
HORROW: Well, let's remember that there are a lot of open wheel drivers that have made the transition to NASCAR. Some have made it successfully, some have not.
HOLMES: They don't want swimsuits.
HORROW: Danica Patrick -- hey, now look, she won, she won in Japan. She hasn't won enough. And she is on the top 100 worldwide celebrity list, not just as sports person. So could she help the sport? Of course she could. Could she win? I'm not Cresskin (ph), I don't know. So you're clearly not her agent and you're not negotiating that contract, but she can command T.J. Holmes type numbers. She has significant leverage.
HOLMES: OK, but that's the feel. That's the thing there. She could help them just because -- not because of -- nobody's saying she's not talented in what she does, but nobody's saying she could necessarily make this transition and leap to the front of the class here in NASCAR. It's a lot about, you know, some of the outside things she does. I mean, she looks great in a swimsuit and fine and dandy, but that's what we're talking about here, Rick?
HORROW: Well, we're talking about a very talented person...
HOLMES: OK.
HORROW: ...who has generated a lot of money in the endorsement world of swimsuit.
HOLMES: OK.
HORROW: Can she win in an asbestos suit? Time will tell.
HOLMES: All right, you don't want to talk real talk.
HORROW: I'm not going there now. We'll go there another time.
HOLMES: OK.
HORROW: No, I have a lot more credibility on this one.
HOLMES: Oh, wow, Rick, always good to see you. Isn't it good to see Rick?
NGUYEN: I love how he says credibility with a laugh.
HOLMES: Yeah. As the viewers did as well.
NGUYEN: We give him such a hard time.
HOLMES: We love the guy.
NGUYEN: Thank you, Rick. Yes, we do. We know there is the coat once worn by slave turned statesman Frederick Douglas.
HOLMES: Yes, that's one item you can see at a new exhibit. Also, the diary that belonged to Malcolm X is there, a ton of other items you'll recognize, but may not expect to see them at the American I am exhibit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's face it, the bottom line is Prince's guitar is pretty cool. It's just pretty cool.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Prince's guitar is pretty cool.
NGUYEN: Yeah, I mean, look at that thing.
HOLMES: But when you think about Prince's guitar, you might not think of it as being a part of the American experience, the African- American experience. Well, that guitar and so many other items that lent to this country being what it is on display. We'll tell you about a new exhibit that might be coming to a town near you.
NGUYEN: All right. And later at 10:00 this morning Eastern, it is costing you more to fill up at the pump. So find out why you are paying more than just gas.
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(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Coming up, we'll show you an exhibit that has Ali's gloves, but also the 13th Amendment in it. We'll explain the connection. Stay here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is lights, and cameras, and people shining cameras in other peoples face, and all these lights and other stuff, who have been like 1977, and all that stuff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: That is so long ago, 1977.
HOLMES: Preston was pretty impressed with everything going on. That was the opening of the new exhibit. But yeah, like you said, 1977.
NGUYEN: Right.
HOLMES: It wasn't that long ago.
NGUYEN: Like the dark ages or something.
HOLMES: But that was a long time ago to him, but the new exhibit goes back some 500 years. It really spans 500 years, talking about America I am. It's the name of the exhibit. Brain child of PBS journalist Tavis Smiley, TV, and radio host. I caught up with him at the opening yesterday here in Atlanta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Frederick Douglas, WEB Dubois, be disappointed in how this generation, our generation, young black people today, have continued or taken that torch and carried it maybe not as far as we should have, would they be disappointed to this day, do you think? TAVIS SMILEY, "AMERICA I AM" EXHIBIT CREATOR: I'm always careful not to put myself in a position of speaking for these great icons. They're much brighter than I am, much deeper than I am.
And yet I think that there was a level of expectation. I always make the distinction, T.J., between the hope and optimism. Optimism suggests there's a particular set of facts or circumstances or conditions that give you reason to believe that things are going to get better. There's something you see, feel, or touch that says things are going to get better. And so you say I'm optimistic.
That's not what these icons you just referenced ever lived. They didn't live on optimism boulevard. Rather, hope, the bible that I read says that faith is the substance of things to hope for, the evidence of things not seen. They lived on a street called hope and they were not optimistic.
Harriet Tubman didn't go back 19 times to free slaves because she's optimistic. Dr. King didn't put his life on the line because he was optimistic. These folks weren't optimistic because there was nothing to be optimistic about. They were hopeful what they did would one day make it better for us.
I would hope then, that they'd be appreciative of the progress that we have made, but I would also fully expect some chastisement about some of the travails and troubles that black America has to wrestle with that we need to get better about, quite frankly.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: All right. That exhibit I've been describing to you this morning, I just -- it all is pretty much a must see there. It opened in Atlanta, it will be here until September 6th, opened first in Philadelphia. It was there right around inauguration time.
But President Obama is when it opened. It will go to Los Angeles. It's on a four-year tour. These items are on loan from museums and other places around the country, but also individuals who have some of these artifacts. So some 300 items in there. It's unreal. It really takes you back. Like I said, the doors ...
NGUYEN: Yes, because it said 500 years right here, exhibit span 500 years in history. And my question to T.J. was what's the first item there?
HOLMES: One of the first items you will see, doors from the chambers from the cells that held slaves in at the slave ports in Ghana.
NGUYEN: Wow.
HOLMES: It is unreal. But takes you right up like we said, talked about all morning, to Prince's guitar, takes you through the history and the contributions of the African-Americans.
NGUYEN: Fascinating. If it does come to your city, check it out. You definitely want to see that one. We do want to tell you about one program though, CNN continues its black in America series. Watch stories of people stepping up, taking charge, and creating solutions. "Black in America 2" premiers July 22nd and 23rd only on CNN.
From the CNN Center, this is CNN SATURDAY MORNING for this June 13th. Hello to you all, I'm T.J. Holmes.
NGUYEN: Good morning, everybody. I'm Betty Nguyen. Thanks for starting your day with us. Boy, we have a lot of breaking news to tell you about. Let's start with Iran where incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has officially been declared the winner of the presidential election there. Thousands of people are reacting, many angrily to the presidential election results.
Hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been declared the winner as we mentioned over his reformist challenger, and CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is in the middle of the action right now. We spoke with her just a short time ago. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANPOUR: There was a crowd of supporters outside and we watched as they were dispersed and we moved along with them and how this sort of spontaneous protest and it grew as more and more people came out to join and more and more -- they've got more and more ruckus and the riot police and other security forces came out.
What we know, though, is that Mr. Moussavi has issued an open letter, it's on his Web site, to the people of Iran in which he's again congratulated them from coming out, but basically complains that the vote of the people has been manipulated by the establishment.
He called it cheating. And so this is adding to the very charged atmosphere here, as people come out to say that we do not believe the results that we've been given officially. Another of the candidates, one of the reformist candidates, the only cleric in the race, Medhi Karrubi, has also come out with a statement questioning in his word the strange election and the results.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: And that was our chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour with us just a few minutes ago. But we do have her on the line right now. She is, again, in the middle of the action right there, right now in Tehran and, Christiane, let me ask you this, earlier you talked about the protests in the streets. What are you seeing right now?
AMANPOUR: Well, we've moved back a little bit now and the protests as far as we know are still going on. They are mostly street marchers as we've seen. What we saw was this small crowd really grow with people gathering on the streets, with people looking from their balconies and roof tops and from the sidewalks and then a huge number of riot police being deployed on the street in this one section of town that we were at.
It was a square in the center of Tehran which links the main artery from south to north of the town. And people were shouting. They were shouting that they wanted their vote back. They were shouting Moussavi, get me my vote back. They were shouting down with the dictators. They were shouting that they wanted freedom and democracy and they kept rushing the police and the riot police would rush them back.
By and large, it was not too violent. It wasn't that we didn't see bloodshed, we didn't hear shots. Although there was a report of a shot downtown but we have not been able to confirm that. We did see them throw rocks and we saw the protesters burn all the garbage cans along the side of one of the streets we were at. But in the end, the thousands of people who we saw gather, started simply to march down the main thoroughfare chanting their slogans, wearing the green of Moussavi's campaign colors.
Now this at a time when, as they were marching, the interior ministry came out with their final press conference and announced the final results of this election. And they said that with all the votes counted, President Ahmadinejad had won 24 million votes and Mir Hossein Moussavi had won 13 million votes.
So they have given a clear almost two to one victory to President Ahmadinejad. And this was very surprising. The fact that he would be awarded a landslide in Friday's election, given the huge outpouring and the real -- the way that the Moussavi campaign had really ignited and taken fire some week or so before the polls opened -- Betty.
NGUYEN: Well, Christiane, Moussavi has come out claiming blatant violations in this election. And my question to you is, looking back through history and looking at the legality of this, anything -- can anything be done to contest the election results?
AMANPOUR: Well, you know, a lot of people were wondering would that be in the back workings of what was going on today, because it took a long time for the interior ministry to come out and officially announce the results. People were asking why.
But once they did, Ayatollah Khomeini, the Supreme Leader of Iran also came out and congratulated the people of Iran on what he called their historic turnout which the election officials say is 85 percent. He congratulated them on electing their president with 24 million votes. So as far as the authorities are concerned, now the word has come from on high that this is the result that is being -- that's being officially put out there.
There doesn't seem to be in recent experience a way to challenge this anymore. On the other hand, as you say, Mir Hossein Moussavi, and indeed one of the clerics who ran as a reformer, have put out statements and open letters to the people of Iran congratulating them for turning out, but questioning the legitimacy and the veracity of the results and saying that clear manipulation and cheating had taken place. That's what Moussavi said. NGUYEN: All right. We are watching very closely and of course, we'll be checking in with you for any new developments there as people have taken to the streets in Iran. Christiane Amanpour, joining us live by phone. Thank you, Christiane.
HOLMES: And the other story we are watching of major international concern, North Korea. Another warning from that country. Well this is what they're saying now, they're saying that they're enriching uranium, also that they're planning to weaponize all of their plutonium. The plutonium claim is something we've heard before, but they've come out and said that they are enriching uranium.
It's something that had been suspected but now they've come out and said this is what they're going to do. This coming in response to new sanctions approved by the United Nations yesterday. North Korea had said they would react strongly if they were punished for nuclear and missile tests.
A missile test, several of those took place last month along with a nuclear test. Months ago we also heard reports that North Korea was going to start its enrichment process, but like I mentioned now they have come out and admitted they are going to do as such. We also have to remember that North Korea has no proven effective way to deliver nuclear weapons right now, even if they were able to develop one.
NGUYEN: Now, let's talk about this for just a second because as much as we wanted to see liftoff, no go for the space shuttle "Endeavor" this morning. It was supposed to launch last hour, but a hydrogen leak forced NASA to change the plans. Now a similar problem delayed "Discovery's" launch in March. NASA will meet tomorrow to decide what to do next. They have seven astronauts waiting to go to the International Space Station. We'll stay on top of this story for you as well.
Still ahead, those severe storms they sweep across the southeast.
HOLMES: Yes, and Memphis got hit pretty hard. Damaging winds, hail, rain all of that and we could see more of that stuff pop up today. Reynolds Wolf will have details for us in just a second. Also, our Josh Levs following the Iranian elections on-line.
Good morning, Josh.
LEVS: Good morning to you, guys. Yes, you can learn all about these candidates, whose names you're going to be hearing a lot today. Also, we're going to check out how Facebook is playing a big role in this election inside Iran, plus your chance to weigh in. We're going to show you.
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NGUYEN: Getting back to one of our top stories. The election in Iran. Many angry over the results at this hour.
HOLMES: Josh Levs following the story on-line for us. Josh? LEVS: Yes, I want to show you guys some things that's really interesting. First of all, we're going to be hearing a lot of names in particular throughout the day. Let's zoom in right in. Our main story on cnn.com, gets you up to speed on what this election is all about. Now a lot of our viewers familiar with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and we explained some basics here.
Fifty-two-years-old, former mayor of Tehran and when elected back in 2005. Over here you can learn a little bit more about the man you may be less familiar with, Mir Hossein Moussavi, who we're hearing a lot about today. We explain here a painter and architect withdrew from the political front for two decades, emerged with promises and goes on to talk about his push for more freedom of speech in Iran.
Now, let's take a look over here at Facebook, he has a very big Facebook presence wit more than 40,000 fans and that has played a role in the election. There was a time for several days when Facebook was inaccessible inside Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he had absolutely nothing to do with that. But it did come back.
And now, you can also see, Ahmadinejad also has a presence but his presence is a lot smaller. Now before I go here, I want to show you guys a series of iReport photos which is really interesting. Still shots taken inside Iran submitted to CNN through iReport. You can take a look at some of these interesting ones. There's one I'm going to land on right here.
Take a look at that. Now Betty, T.J., you guys remember last year during the U.S. presidential election we talked about the fact that change is not a brand new slogan. It's been used lots and lots of time. What this iReport notes is that this was put up by someone, who is another opponent of Ahmadinejad. The iReporter said it's very rare to see English used in this context in a political race inside Iran.
So you got change which succeeded so well in America, it's in English in a lot of places in Iran for one of those candidates there. So, an insight and an interesting perspectives we're getting from our iReporters. Keep them going. We're going to keep an eye on this all day long, cnn.com getting you up to speed on the elections.
NGUYEN: Yes, absolutely especially since the opposition disputes the election results.
LEVS: Definitely.
NGUYEN: You can weigh in as well. We're hearing from you already this morning. I'm going to take you first to my twitter page and James from Dallas says, watching this on the Iranian election right on CNN, how did a landslide occur? Well, that's what a lot of the opposition leaders are asking right now.
And people have, indeed, taken to the streets. But if you go to my Facebook page. Bonny Irwin (ph) says, who didn't see this coming. Then Jonathan follows up saying I'm 6,700 miles away and I could see this coming. But again, a lot of controversies surrounding this throughout this hour.
HOLMES: Right. You can stay connected with us every weekend, check us out, iReport, Facebook, twitter, tell us your thoughts any time. You can find us up.
NGUYEN: In the meantime, the utility crews are working right now to get the lights back on in thousands of homes across Memphis. Severe thunderstorms yesterday knocked out power to more than 100,000 people.
HOLMES: Yes, damaging winds, rain, took some trees down. As you see in some of this video. Dozens of homes were damaged. There are also reports of at least 32 car-related crashes. What you're seeing here is a live picture being given to us by our local affiliate there, WREG. We do thank them for that.
Bringing in our Reynolds Wolf now while we keep a look at this live picture. Reynolds, we see some of this damage often times in storms, but it's, I don't know, it seems like you can't ever get used to it. It's what we've come to expect to see but still dramatic and you know certainly -
NGUYEN: Especially if that's your home.
WOLF: Absolutely. You know, I mean, as people look out the window and they can see the clouds building up, you hear the thunder, you see the lightning, you see the rainfall, but the sheer violence of these storms are still shocking. We're never quite prepared for that and this morning, people in Memphis are waking up, seeing the damage. There is a slight chance they could be dealing with more of this action later on today in much of Memphis on both sides of the river.
Now at this time we have Austen Onek with us, he is a reporter from WRED, he's got the latest on the story. Austen, what are you seeing there on the ground?
AUSTEN ONEK, WREG REPORTER: Well, the good news is we're seeing people out cleaning up things, neighbors helping neighbors. Damage has been pretty widespread across the entire area. And as you just saw from the house back behind where I'm standing at this time, some of the damage was absolutely incredible.
Some trees in the midsouth that have stood for decades, even a century, some of those trees were toppled by this very fast-moving windstorm and causing, again, possibly more severe weather throughout the area later on this afternoon and into this evening.
Trees block and they're blocking some of the roadways in the mid south area, and that's we're seeing some of the problems this morning. This is what's going to take the longest amount of cleanup and also lots of power outages being reported.
WOLF: Austen, great job this morning. We certainly appreciate your help and best of luck to the folks in Memphis who are trying to get things back together, so to speak, in the wake of yesterday's strong storms. Let's go right back to the weather computer. And as we do so we're going to show you the storms erupting across parts of Alabama and Mississippi. Some of these just violent.
At this time nothing severe, but we are still seeing some heavy rain moving right through downtown Birmingham. This is Birmingham's actually second shot. They had one blast producing some damaging winds, some heavy rainfall. Here's the second installment just due west of Gardendale. You're tuning in from Terence City in Huey town and you're going to be getting the bulk of that rainfall coming through in due course.
Meanwhile out to the west, we're seeing the focus of some rough weather, especially in the central, southern and even parts of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains later on today. We could be dealing with some rough storms. We're going to keep a sharp eye on that for you.
You're watching CNN SATURDAY MORNING. Stay tuned.
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HOLMES: Well, a lot of states still waiting to receive their stimulus funds, and that money trickles down for various local projects including schools. And speaking of schools, I caught up with the guy in charge of a lot of schools right now. He is the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, trying to see how the process of improving the nation's schools is coming along and how that stimulus money, how much has gone out so far.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES (on camera): You got to give me the update on -- give me the update on stimulus money. How much of it has gone out for education?
ARNE DUNCAN, SECRETARY OF EDUCATION: We've put out to states over $20 billion already, to 25 states. We're getting applications from states almost on a daily basis. Those numbers are going to continue to go up significantly. This is unprecedented resources going to states and to districts. I want to be really clear, the goal is not to maintain the status quo. With unprecedented resources, we need unprecedented reform.
Now if all we're doing is maintaining the status quo that's not going to get us as a country where we need to go. So we're really looking for leadership from our governors, from our state school chiefs, from districts to use this one-time influx of money, this opportunity to drive a very strong reform agenda and take our school systems around the country to the next level.
HOLMES: Is this money coming with restrictions?
DUNCAN: It's coming with a set of principles that we think are very important to continue to drive student achievement.
HOLMES: And what does that mean? A set of principles, do they have to use it for what you all say it has to be used for or they can use it for -- and you don't have any say for what they're using it for.
DUNCAN: We're saying a couple things are very important to us. And we also have unprecedented discretionary resources coming and we're going to reward those states and those districts that are investing in those strategies that we think make a difference. There are four of those.
First is what we talked about common, college ready, career ready international benchmark standards, raising the bar. The second is comprehensive data systems, so we track children throughout their educational career so they don't get lost. We want to track children to their teachers and we want to track teachers back to the schools of education so we know which schools of education are producing the teachers that are producing the students that are doing the best job.
Third, we really want to think differently about talent. How do we get the best and brightest teachers into our most underserved communities, understand the urban, rural. How do we reward that talent? I think we need to pay teachers who do a great job more money. A little controversial. I think we need to pay Math and Science teachers more money. We have a shortage of math and science teachers. We need to invest there.
And then finally we want to think very differently about the schools at the bottom nationally. Schools that have dropout rates was 60, 75 percent of students are dropping out each year. We want to fundamentally turn those schools around.
HOLMES: What should be the average salary for the teacher in this country?
DUNCAN: I think our teachers around the country are dramatically underpaid. I think we under invest in education. But let me be clear I don't want to invest more in mediocrity, I want to invest a lot more in great teachers.
And our great teachers, our great principals are desperately under paid, under valued. They are the unsung heroes in our country and we can't do enough to shine a spotlight on them, to reward them, to learn from them, and let them know how much of the country we appreciate what they're doing to shape our next generation.
HOLMES: Should they be six figure jobs?
DUNCAN: Absolutely. We can't pay enough for a great teacher or a great principal. You can't put a dollar value on the difference that they're making in our children's lives. It is literally invaluable.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Well, if you build it, they will come. You hear that often times. That was certainly true out in Las Vegas during the housing boom.
NGUYEN: Absolutely. But now, that housing bubble, well it has burst and there are some deals to be had, folks. I'm going to tell you how Las Vegas is one of the best places in the nation to find a good foreclosure deal. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NGUYEN: All right. So Las Vegas has one of the worst housing markets in the nation. Foreclosures, they are up while home prices are down and some say you can even get a house for the price of a car. That's right. So to find out I took a trip to Vegas to see if these deals really exist.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): This is no ordinary tour bus.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was originally listed at $152 ...
NGUYEN: These prospective home buyers are looking for some of the best deals in the country. Realtor Jennifer Martin is their tour guide.
JENNIFER MARTIN, REALTOR: It's been on the market for 142 days.
NGUYEN: Martin calls this her foreclosure safari, it's a hunt through one of the nation's worst housing markets. Las Vegas. First stop, an 1,800 square foot home in a gated community, now priced at $93,000.
NIKKI CORDA, PROSPECTIVE BUYER: I really love the high ceilings. It's amazing that places are going for such steals right now. It's really amazing.
NGUYEN: Better be or Jessica Thomas isn't interested. Check out her price range.
JESSICA THOMAS, PROSPECTIVE BUYER: Cheap. Car cheap.
NGUYEN: Car cheap? What does that mean?
THOMAS: It means I'm not going to pay more for a house than I would pay for a car right now.
NGUYEN: By that, she's talking $25,000 or less. Might be difficult. Next stop a home that was once listed for $255,000. House hunter Ciara Byrne is impressed by today's price.
CIARA BYRNE, PROSPECTIVE BUYER: This place here is $109,000 and you know it's almost 1,400 square feet. There's no way you can get that. I don't think anywhere in America, not in the big city.
NGUYEN (on camera): There were a lot of reports saying that Vegas is the best market, the cheapest market to buy a home. Is that a reality?
MARTIN: It is. Because we're number one in the nation for foreclosures. Banks are in competition with themselves so they have to keep reducing and reducing until you know, until somebody buys it.
NGUYEN (voice-over): And that's made some places dirt cheap. Even car cheap. Remember Jessica? Well this is what she can get for $25,000.
(on camera): I wasn't sure what we were going to find, but this is a pretty big place.
THOMAS: Yes. This place is huge.
NGUYEN: Is it better than what you imagined it would look like?
THOMAS: Yes. As far as -- especially as far as size goes. This is like double what I thought it would be.
NGUYEN: Do you think you could see yourself in place like this?
THOMAS: Oh, for sure, yes.
NGUYEN: It needs work, but Martin says with a 7,000 square foot lot, you could even tear down the house and eventually make money on just the land. Still, when it comes to real estate, location is key. Last stop, a condo complex near the Vegas strip called the Meridian.
MARTIN: From $400,000 to $700,000 down to, you know, $60,000 to $90,000 two blocks from the strip, no. This is it. This is best value in Vegas by far right now.
NGUYEN (voice-over): Martin says these condos are selling faster than she can write offers. But there is one catch.
MARTIN: It's cash only.
NGUYEN: So if you want a good deal, it's best to come to Vegas fully prepared to put your money on the table.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Can't stress that enough. While you can get a real steal in Vegas, Martin says she thinks the housing market is starting to bottom out. So she's seeing multiple offers on properties which creates a bidding war and then, obviously, drives up prices. So if you want a good deal you better make it quick and have cash.
HOLMES: So you had to take your cash, put it on the craps table or you can buy a house.
NGUYEN: Right. I don't know. Which are the better odds, you decide.
HOLMES: All right. A couple of major stories we're keeping an eye on today. Iran and North Korea, of course, Betty and I will be back at the top of the hour.
But right now, "YOUR BOTTOM LINE" with Gerri Willis starts right now.
