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CNN SATURDAY MORNING NEWS

Petraeus Begins New Job in Afghanistan; Day 75 of Gulf Oil Spill Disaster; Beach Conditions Along the Gulf Coast; News Laws Around the Country Go Into Effect

Aired July 3, 2010 - 08:00   ET

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

T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Hey there. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING as we kick off this holiday weekend. It's 8:00 in the east, 5:00 a.m. out west wherever you may be. Glad you could be here. Good morning to you all. I'm T.J. Holmes.

Take a look at this picture. Wouldn't you be just loving to wake up to that this morning? That is Pensacola Beach, Florida. Well, the party is on its way for this weekend. They are hoping. This beach is not closed. However, like many of the beaches along the Gulf, it is under what they call a health advisory right now.

We'll explain exactly what that means and if those kinds of warnings really are affecting tourism on what people are hoping is going to be a big weekend for the bars and the restaurants and the beaches and the hotels along the Gulf coast this holiday weekend.

Also, we're used to hearing a Republican criticize the president. But when this Republican did it, now some Republicans are calling for him to step down as the head of the Republican National Committee. Yes, we're talking about the chairman there, Michael Steele. He's been under fire before and under fire once again maybe like no other time before.

Also, a story you have just got to hear to believe. Look at this. This is dash cam video. When we talk about dash cam, we're usually talking about cops. This was a fake cop who was so good at being a fake cop he even had his own dash cam video. You know what else this fake cop did? He called for real backup. We'll explain that story here in just a bit.

But first, let me give you a look at some of the stories that are making headlines. First, just a horrific story. The Democratic Republic of Congo this morning, at least 230 people are dead after an oil tanker flipped over and exploded. Again, this is the DRC in central Africa.

Now, officials believe what happened here, it exploded because of a lit cigarette. It may have started this whole thing because after the oil tanker wrecked, many people then began to gather around it to try and recover some of the spilled oil and somebody they believe had a cigarette and set off this explosion. Congolese authorities say they expect that number, 230, to actually go up. We'll continue to keep an eye on what's happening in the Congo. Also in Tampa a four-day man hunt for the suspect in the fatal shootings of two people, two police officers. The search is now over. Twenty four-year-old Dante Morris (ph) now in custody. You see him there. Morris is suspected of killing two officers during a traffic stop early on Tuesday morning. Both officers being laid to rest a little later today.

Also in Colombia, police there say eight people are dead after a shooting at a night spot. This is near Medellin early yesterday. One of the dead identified as a man with dual U.S. and Colombian citizenship. Police say they believe the shooting was drug related. They are looking now for two gunmen.

We're going to turn to Afghanistan now where there is a new man on the job. That new man David Petraeus who was just approved by the Senate this week and he's already in Afghanistan and on the job. He of course replacing General Stanley McChrystal who was in charge but resigned last week in the wake of that whole magazine article flip.

Our Atia Abawi is there for us today. She's in Kabul. Atia, hello to you once again. The general is on the job now, back in Afghanistan, so what is his message? I know he's meeting with some of the troops on this 4th of July weekend. What message is he bringing them on his first couple of days back on the job there?

ATIA ABAWI, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, hi, T.J.. It is the first day on the job for General David Petraeus as the top NATO commander here in Afghanistan. His day started out as any top NATO commander's would. He went to the morning ISAP (ph) briefing. It's a daily briefing and a NATO spokesperson said that he was actively engaged, asking questions, trying to get a lay of the land.

That followed with him going to the U.S. embassy for 4th of July celebrations for him and the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Carl Icanberry (ph) were greeting 1700 dignitaries, that's Afghan, American and international dignitaries. That's also where he spoke. He said that they need to show a united front to have success in Afghanistan.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS, U.S. COMMANDER IN AFGHANISTAN: I'm reminded that this is an effort in which we must achieve unity of effort and common purpose. Civilian and military, Afghan and international, we are part of one team with one mission. In this important endeavor, cooperation is not optional. This is a tough mission. There is nothing easy about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABAWI: T.J., as you mentioned he is meeting with troops this 4th of July weekend but most importantly a NATO spokesperson said that after the embassy event he was to meet with the top NATO commanders on the ground here to get their understanding, their assessment of the situation in Afghanistan and his most important meeting of the day will be with the president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai. Karzai had a very strong relationship with General Stanley McChrystal who was dismissed as you mentioned just over a week ago and General Petraeus's tough mission ahead is not just the war in Afghanistan. It's building a relationship with President Karzai so they can have some sort of unity with the coalition forces and the Afghan government and bring back some sort of hope for the Afghan people because that seems to be dimming as the war continues.

HOLMES: And Atia, you talk about the relationship building that has to be done between the two men. He has really a more immediate problem which is the spike in violence we have seen. We're coming off a deadly, the deadliest month we have seen in quite sometime or we've ever seen there in this war.

ABAWI: Absolutely, 101 NATO service members killed in the month of June. That's the highest amount since the war began in 2001. Some people do expect that it will get worse as the summer fighting continues. And it wasn't unexpected, T.J.. General McChrystal, himself, last summer as he introduced his new strategy, it was McChrystal's strategy before it became President Obama's strategy.

He did say at first there would be more ISAP casualties but as they started gaining momentum and winning the war here in Afghanistan, those casualties will fall. But unfortunately, that's not where it's at yet. T.J.?

HOLMES: All right Atia Abawi for us in Kabul this morning. Atia, we appreciate you as always.

We want to turn now to the Gulf coast and day 75 of this Gulf oil disaster. The live picture hasn't changed much over the past 75 days because oil continues at this moment as it does and has been for the past 75 days gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. So where are we now? What's happening today?

Scientists plan on meeting with the EPA to talk about these chemical dispersants. The first study of these dispersants showed that the chemicals alone are not impacting marine life. However, you'll find plenty of people who argue with that theory. Meanwhile, researchers still estimating between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil have been gushing into the Gulf every day since the April 20th explosion aboard that deepwater Horizon rig.

Also, the remnants of hurricane Alex still affecting cleanup efforts. Rough waters caused a cap to wobble down there. The cap that's on top of the oil. And that is causing more of the oil to escape. They had been capturing more but an estimated 20,000 fewer barrels were collected as a result of some of that wobbling. That's the situation there under water.

What's the situation on the beaches? Supposed to be a big beach weekend this weekend. It's the 4th of July. This is when a lot of those businesses make their money, but some tourists, they are not going to the beaches. Some still are despite the reports of tar balls that we have been seeing showing up. Meteorologist Reynolds Wolf, he is joining us live from Gulf Shores, Alabama today. We see the light out, beautiful as always but just the shot behind you doesn't tell the whole story at least in the minds of many people, potential tourists.

REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: That's right, T.J.. You know, when you step back from things, it does look pretty appealing. It's a beautiful stretch of beach. I mean 32 miles of pristine beaches, some of the best you have on the planet. But if you take even it farther back of a step, not just physically but in time, in memory, a year ago we're talking about beaches where hotels were filled to capacity. You couldn't get a room in any of the hotels here.

But now you get places that are only about 70 to 50 percent full, rooms that last year were selling for $225 now are down to $150 a pop. They're having a really difficult time bringing people in, certainly hoping for the best.

You know, you have to think it's not just the hotels we're talking about. It's restaurants; it's gas stations; it's places where you buy souvenirs, charter fishing all impacted by not only things like the economy or even the high unemployment but, of course, the oil. The oil is going to be a tremendous issue.

So what do you do? Well, you do the very best with what you have and that's what they've been doing here. I can tell you that we've seen crews out here, in fact we've got some video showing you many of the tractors that have been coming through here during the really a time before the sun came up and certainly as I speak we saw some people out there on tractors.

They've been going up and down the beach trying to remove the oil as it's been coming onshore and doing a pretty good job, all things considered. Things are looking the very best they can. But a $1.1 billion industry. They need it and this is certainly a desperate time. T.J.?

HOLMES: Reynolds, I know a lot of these beaches aren't closed, but they have different ways of warning people. If you come to the beach at least you need to be looking out for this or that. Some areas as well you can't get into the water. What's the situation at least at the beach where you are right now?

WOLF: Well, what you see is not only the activities, but you're going to notice that some parts of the beach double red flags. Not one but two red flags. What it means basically is that the beach is open, but you can't get in the water. The reason why you can't get in the water is obviously twofold. Obviously, one, because of the oil but second is because we've got some very rough surf out there, too.

One thing that's interesting about the surf, it kind of has some positive aspects. Negative, too, because it's going to help push some of that oil toward the coast, but at the same time, that heavy wave action will help break up some of that emulsified oil. So there is a benefit. You got to like it. Of course the side effect of bringing more oil towards shore not at all what they want to deal with. HOLMES: All right. Reynolds, we appreciate you as always. We'll be checking in with Reynolds plenty throughout the morning. Thanks so much.

We want to check in with Bonnie Schneider as well. She's keeping an eye on the maps here. The maps, we'll see the fireworks map here in a second which I am such a fan of this morning. Still, these are not the right kind of fireworks we're seeing right now. Some people need to be watching out for some tough weather.

(WEATHER REPORT)

HOLMES: We here at CNN just love it when you send us an e-mail. But whatever you do, don't do it while you're driving. We'll tell you where it's now against the law. Some new rules just went into place. Also, imagine what it's like seeing your parents on the news accused of being Russian spies. What's going to happen to the kids in this true life saga? Twelve minutes past the hour here on this CNN SUNDAY (sic) MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Well, 16 minutes past the hour here now on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. A lot of you do it. You'll be doing it today and it will probably be illegal wherever you are. You can't text and drive anymore in a lot of places. You need to stop. Josh Levs here to tell you which states this went into effect. And some of these laws, some stuff you might not even think about, but you can't even do it while you're stopped sometimes at a red light.

JOSH LEVS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What they're talking about, a lot of these things, they're cracking down pretty big time and that is a change. We're seeing more and more states and what just happened is that we got some video of people doing it, but as of this week July 1, four more states have enacted their laws, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan and Wyoming banning in various ways and establishing various kinds of penalties texting while behind the wheel at all.

And Kentucky and Nebraska are jumping into it as well later this month. In some cases you have states that have already had various kinds of laws and are making them more stringent or adding new penalties. But what we are seeing is more and more all over the country authorities are cracking down on this.

Then there are questions raised about how are they going to manage to enforce it. In some cases you could still if you're stopped make a phone call as long as you're going to use your speaker phone. How does a police officer know if you're looking at a text or making a phone call? So in various states, there are various questions. Let me give you some statistics here and then show you how to find out what's going on in your state.

Here you go. This is according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and they are saying it's now banned, texting while driving banned in 29 states and DC. It's banned from novice drivers in nine more states. They also say at least 200,000 crashes a year are caused by drivers texting. I have placed a map for you at my web page. I'll show you this in a second.

But here you go. This is it. It shows you, it's from the Institute for Highway Safety, it shows you right here you can click on your state. It will show you what the laws are in your state and will give you a full breakdown right there. So, T.J., what we are seeing here is more and more states taking some action because of the seriousness of all this.

HOLMES: Does anybody take this stuff seriously, though, Josh, quite frankly? I don't know a single person who has frankly been stopped because they were texting or e-mailing.

LEVS: It's tricky and that is a big question. A, what you're going to do about enforcement. And in addition to that, there are now questions about whether even in the big picture it makes the kind of difference that it should make. Take a look at this. This is from the Highway Loss Data Institute. They looked at this study. It finds no reductions in crashes after hand-held phone bans.

They looked at various states with various bans on using hand- held phone and they found no reduction in crashes. When this study came out and this was a report earlier this year, the government got really upset about that. They called it irresponsible because what they said is that these things are new. They take time. This is only the beginning and they need to be heavily enforced.

In fact, here is a statement from the Department of Transportation. They said, we know that by enacting and enforcing tough laws, states have reduced the number of crashes leading to injuries and fatalities. T.J., you're really on to something there. How seriously do people take it? How do people enforce it? How can police enforce it that well? Ultimately, big picture, will it do much to reduce crashes in America? The truth is we don't know.

HOLMES: Just don't know. It went into effect in Georgia this week as well. We saw the signs up. They had them on the highway that in fact you can't do it anymore. A lot of people probably didn't even see that because they were looking down and texting at the time.

LEVS: That's true.

HOLMES: Josh, thank you so much. We'll talk to you again this morning.

Coming up on 20 minutes past the hour now. If the menu says Gulf shrimp, what you going to do? You going to go for it? A restaurant owner is having to help his customers make some decisions. He's going to be joining us live, next.

Also, we couldn't believe this one. Really our whole show team, we were scratching our heads as we were looking at this and reading this story today. That's a fake cop there but he's a good fake cop because he even has his own dash board camera and that's what you're looking at. He had his own dash cam as he was pulling people over. This is the trick now. The bogus cop is calling in real backup when he needed some help. Stick around for this one folks. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Taking a look at some of the stories that are making headlines this morning, at least 230 people are dead after an oil tanker flips and explodes in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Officials believe a lit cigarette may have ignited the inferno as local residents gathered around and tried to recover the spilled oil. Congolese authorities say they expect the number of dead at 230 now. They expect that to go up.

Meanwhile, we'll turn to Afghanistan now and General David Petraeus has arrived. He's on the job now. He joined U.S. diplomats today at an American embassy in Kabul marking Independence Day. Authorities at the time when he is arriving there of course at a time when we have seen increased violence and even last month was the deadliest there for U.S. and NATO forces in that nine-year war.

The same day that General Petraeus arrived, militants attacked a U.S. aid agency killing five people, wounding 20. No Americans among those dead there. Last month again was the deadliest since the war started.

Also, Mogadishu, six people dead in fighting there on Friday. This was the fighting between hard line Islamists and government forces. At least 32 people killed there in three days. Government forces fighting members of a militant group there. About 200,000 Somalis have fled their homes this year. Eight journalists at a news conference were critically wounded as well.

We are on day 75 now of this Gulf oil disaster. A lot of people out there love their Gulf seafood. You may have noticed if you've been dipping into some of those restaurants along the Gulf, some of the things on those menus may be a little different. Some of them may be gone all together. BP oil leak isn't just affecting restaurants along the shore, however. You don't have to be right on the water to be affected.

Frank Stitt owner of several restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama. He knows about all the changes and what you have to deal with now in this oil disaster. His Highlands bar and grill described as showcasing Gulf seafood. Frank, are you still showcasing Gulf seafood? Are you able to do that still?

FRANK STITT, CHEF/PROPRIETOR: Well, we are, but it's on kind of a day-to-day, week-to-week thing. And I'm still working very closely with my purveyors that are everywhere from Apalachicola to New Orleans and so we're still getting great seafood but, you know, some things are not as available like oysters and crab meat is getting a little iffy, too.

HOLMES: Give us an idea here. I know you told me about this oyster bar you have set up at the Highlands restaurant, restaurant been there 27 years I think I have that right, been there for a while. But everybody loves this oyster bar. Give me an idea before this spill ever happened. Let's go back some 76 days ago. What percentage of those oysters did you have in that restaurant that were from the Gulf? What percentage now are you serving from the Gulf?

STITT: T.J., we've always had our Apalachicola oysters and occasionally we'll have Louisiana oysters on the raw bar, but we always also have east coast oysters and as you say Yankee oysters but the oysters from Prince Edward Island, from Massachusetts, from New England. But it's our, the gallon Gulf oysters that we also use for our (INAUDIBLE) and things like that, those are what's in short supply right now.

HOLMES: Are people still coming to the restaurant in as great numbers as they used to but when they come, are many of them asking questions about where your seafood came from and are they in some ways concerned about the seafood you are getting from the Gulf?

STITT: Well, certainly, certainly. You know, I think everybody needs to be tuned into the origins of their food, but as far as our seafood, we're buying from people that their seafood is inspected. It's coming from waters that are clean, and you know these boats that go out into the Gulf, they have a monitor on them. It's like a GPS. So that everyone knows where they are when they're fishing.

So they're going to the clean parts of the Gulf to get fish now. So they can go straight down from Apalachicola and even on the west side of Louisiana towards Texas and there is still wonderful, open, clear water there. But we don't know what's going to happen in the future because this is really one of the biggest disasters ever.

HOLMES: To that point you just made, Frank, I talked to a chef down here in New Orleans and he said in fact, yes, we track this stuff from exactly where it's caught to the time it gets on somebody's plate. Right now this is the safest seafood you can find anywhere if it comes out of the Gulf because of the way it is having to be tracked. What do you see week to week to week and where are we going with this thing as it continues? Is it going to be tougher and tougher for you to continue to be serving Gulf seafood?

STITT: Well, you know, that's a big unknown. Right now so many of the fishing boats are not going fishing because BP is paying them so much money to do some work for them. I anticipate things like crab meat and shrimp and oysters it's going to be tricky. We are going to have to source from the east coast, you know, right now we do have seafood flown in directly to us, say wild king salmon from the northwest.

But it's our Gulf seafood that I love and that I feel like has been such a big part of our life as southerners. You know, I think maybe if there's one thing that can come from it, maybe we'll learn that we can take a little bit better care of our seas and our land and be a little bit more conscious about conservation.

HOLMES: Frank, the menu hasn't changed yet. Right?

STITT: Not yet. Even though I haven't had any pompano lately.

HOLMES: All right. Well, Frank Stitt again, he is owner of Highlands bar and grill and several other restaurants as well. Next time I'm in Birmingham I will stop by and see you guys. Frank thanks so much. Good luck to you down the road. We'll continue to check in with you.

STITT: Certainly. Come see us.

HOLMES: Thanks so much.

Coming up on the bottom of the hour here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING and some people at his own party starting to turn against him. Trouble, I should say more trouble for the Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele. Will he be able to weather this storm?

Also, World Cup fans out there, I know a lot of people may not be watching because the U.S. is no longer in it, but let me tell you what you missed yesterday, folks. You missed what was the most heart wrenching, heart breaking loss I have ever seen in a sporting event ever. And on top of that, another big story out of the World Cup, the powerhouse Brazil team is going back to Brazil. They're out already. We are going to be going live to Johannesburg, South Africa. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Welcome back to the CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

And on this Saturday, the RNC chief Michael Steele once again under fire for some comments this time about the Afghanistan war. He essentially said it was unwinnable. He said it Thursday night at a fundraiser.

Let's bring in our deputy political director Paul Steinhauser joining me live to talk about this one. And it seems like we are always talking about something Mr. Steele has said. And he has said something else that set people off. Tee this up for us by just letting us know exactly what were these comments?

PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes T.J. you're right though, it is a year and a half as the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, it seems Michael Steele finds controversy or controversy finds him. And here we are again.

Ok, as to what he said on the war in Afghanistan he said this specifically, this was a war of Obama's choosing. This was not something the United States actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in. In describing the war and the conflict he kind of suggested maybe it was unwinnable. He said one thing you don't do is engage in a land war in Afghanistan. All right? Because everyone who has tried over a thousand years of history has failed.

T.J., as you can imagine these comments of course they were recorded, of course they hit YouTube ...

HOLMES: Yes.

STEINHAUSER: ... and of course they went viral. The Democrats had a field day on this as early as yesterday morning. It was a gift for them. The RNC T.J. they put out a statement reaffirming that of course Steele supports the troops and that Steele was merely making the point that the responsibility for the war now stands solely on President Obama.

Steele himself later in the day said that he supports the war on terror but, boom, it was trouble, T.J.

HOLMES: Ok. And now this seems like ever since he got that post people have called on him to resign. Are we hearing that once again people want him to step down and also explain to people why it's not that simple for him to just be removed?

STEINHAUSER: Yes, there were calls yesterday for him to resign from a couple of top conservatives right here in Washington, William Kristol the editor of "The Weekly Standard" who is pretty influential here in Washington. Liz Cheney the daughter of the former vice president as well and a guy called Katon Dawson, who used to be the head of the Republican Party in South Carolina and a rival of Steele.

They all called for it but, T.J., there was no ground swell and no chorus of calls for his resignation from Republicans in Congress or more importantly members of the Republican National Committee. Because that's really the only way he can be ousted. The committee members would have to vote or he himself would resign. None of that happening as of right now -- T.J.

HOLMES: This one feel any different? He has weathered a few storms before but this one feel any different from the others?

STEINHAUSER: Yes. Here's why. Because his initial comments before the -- before he corrected some of them -- and -- his initial comments seemed to put him out of whack with the Republican Party. T.J., every poll that's taken just about suggests Republicans support the war in Afghanistan. They did under President Bush. They do under President Obama.

And Republican lawmakers in Congress are actually President Obama's biggest allies when it comes to the war in Afghanistan much more so than even members of his own party so his initial comments seemed to put him a little out of whack with his own party -- T.J.

HOLMES: All right.

Paul Steinhauser. Again, Michael Steele, it seems like you have done this story plenty of times and we've had this conversation plenty of times but we appreciate you as always. I'll talk to you again soon, buddy.

STEINHAUSER: All right, thank you.

HOLMES: All right. World Cup fans out there, ok, maybe you're not a World Cup fan but you missed something special yesterday. And it was special in the worst of ways for the continent of Africa. The last play of the game, if you make it you win, if you missed it you lose. This was incredible and one of the saddest things I have ever seen in all of sports. You'll see it in just a second.

Also in sports, a different type of story. The sweepstakes continue for that man, the Akron hammer, Mr. Cleveland himself, the Cavalier, the king, might be leaving. The sweepstakes continues. I haven't seen as much hype over one person since our business and sports analyst Rick Horrow, got people all aflutter. There he is. We'll check in with our guy here in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right, $750 million -- that is the number that is being thrown around about how much Tiger Woods would have to pay his wife in a divorce settlement. We'll get more to that number in a bit. It's probably, I'm pretty sure it's not accurate but we'll tell you what he might be looking at.

Also the big sports story this weekend is about NBA free agency. That's something you normally wouldn't think that much about but it's a big deal because each of these guys wherever they end up, they are going to take a whole lot of money to their individual cities with them. This is one of the biggest free agent classes in history and in that free agent class is the man himself the two-time MVP Lebron James.

Joining us this morning: another guy who knows a bit about being sought after, our Rick Horrow, our business sports analyst. Rick good morning to you kind sir.

This is not just about basketball anymore and people need to understand that. This is not just helping a team win. But it could help a city recover.

RICK HORROW, CNN BUSINESS SPORTS ANALYST: Good morning. And thank you for being so nice to me and happy July 4th weekend. Keep that up. It'll serve you well in upcoming segments by the way.

I just also want you to understand that this is a walking, talking, free-throw shooting, one-man stimulus plan as we've said before.

The bottom line is the President wants him in Chicago. Governor Strickland wants him in Ohio. Mayor Bloomberg says we may change the name of the Borough to Lebronx. Oh wait we want him in Brooklyn. Yes, we want him in Miami; billions of dollars potentially over time and a feel-good issue. This person is sought after. He's an industry.

HOLMES: He's an industry but other guys in this free agent class as well, can they still, can they have the same type of impact as Lebron can? We're talking about the Dwayne Wade, the Chris Bosh's, the Dirk Nowitzki, all those guys.

HORROW: You put the graphic up. It is the biggest free agent class as you said ever. NBA is a $4 billion industry itself and it's based on superstars. That's the bottom line of all of this. And when you take a look at those people, yes they can be a supporting cast that helps Dwayne Wade if a second one of these players goes to the team that Dwayne Wade signs with.

And for Dwayne Wade and all of these guys it's not so much about the money. Yes they can get $16 million a year and they get a five- year deal. Dwayne Wade can get an extra year, excuse me, Lebron James can get an extra year if he stays in Cleveland. All of these guys get one extra year if they sign with their existing team.

That's what the NBA structure does, but if they go with Lebron it may help win a championship and that's what it's all about as well.

HOLMES: Last thing on this topic. Is it fair to say Cleveland needs him more than any other city?

HORROW: Well, it depends on -- on who else you're talking to. Cleveland certainly needs him to sustain the momentum and have a chance to win a championship but the other cities would say we need him, too. Brooklyn needs urban revitalization. New York Knicks have been bad for so many years. The Miami Heat needs a complement to Dwayne Wade and on and on and on. He is so important that everybody needs him. It feels good to be needed, doesn't it?

HOLMES: And I wouldn't know what it feels like.

Last thing here though, Rick. On this Tiger Woods story that came out today.

HORROW: Yes.

HOLMES: This sparked all of this debate once again. You know people have these conversations. How much did a woman get when she divorces a super rich husband? People have those conversations at dinner tables, with your friends, talk radio, all that stuff.

But the number itself first of all, $750 million, I don't know where that number came from. But Tiger is not worth $750 million according to "Forbes" at least. So what could we possibly be looking at in a split and would that definitely take the top spot do you think in most expensive celebrity divorces?

HORROW: Well, you know a lot of questions here. First of all, some say he's worth over a billion. Certainly Elin's lawyer said so. And then the half of it, that's the $750 million. Not just today but future earning power. Where that ranks in top athlete and celebrity divorces, you know, next was Michael Jordan about $180 million. Behind that Greg Norman, you have Michael Strahan, Jeff Gordon, Mike Tyson, Lance Armstrong, the $15 million, and $20 million range. Nothing -- nothing comes close to that.

So we'll see what the final number is but it is prolific. It is huge.

HOLMES: All right. This was a -- good talking to you today, Rick. Really, I appreciate it.

HORROW: Yes. I'm coming away today warm and fuzzy. I can't wait for next week.

HOLMES: That is outstanding. You enjoy your 4th of July. All right, I'll talk to you soon.

HORROW: And you, too, my very good friend. Good-bye. See you next week.

HOLMES: All right, thanks, buddy.

Well, the World Cup continues. A big game about to happen in South Africa; it's happening in about an hour. This is going to be a classic showdown with some World Cup royalty.

Alex Thomas is joining me again from Johannesburg, South Africa.

We're talking about Germany and Argentina. Now, put that in context. Anywhere besides the U.S., you probably wouldn't have to put the game in context. People just hear these two teams and they know this is a big deal.

So put it in context for our American viewers.

ALEX THOMAS, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, they are the New York Yankees aren't they of world soccer, let's face it, two massive brand names in terms of the sport globally. Germany won the World Cup three times, Argentina twice in their history. They're both, you know, provided with massive players down the years, especially for Germany, a chap called France Beckham Bauer has won the World Cup both as a player and as a manager, the only one to do that.

Brazil's Dungo (ph) was hoping to do the same until Brazil crashed out against Holland in Friday's quarter final actions.

And Germany and Argentina T.J., met twice in the World Cup finals, in succession in 1986 in Mexico and in 1990 in Italy. In 1986 it was Argentina's year led by Maradona who's the coach of the current team but back then he was simply a genius player bursting onto the scene. He's now compared with the likes of Pele and four years later Germany got their revenge beating Argentina in the final at Italy in '90.

So we are not necessarily looking at the most thrilling game although on the tweets today I've been proved wrong by some people watching -- watching there who claim it could be a real thriller.

So we had two very exciting quarterfinals on Friday. It's going to take a lot for Argentina versus Germany. But they both certainly have the pedigree, T.J.

HOLMES: All right. Let's go ahead and turn to those two quarterfinals you talked about. One was heart-breaking for everybody who was watching. The other was heart-breaking for folks in Brazil. Let's start with what we saw with Ghana. This was the last hope for the continent of Africa; the only team still alive in it out of six who actually got in. But it's not just that they lost. Alex, it was the way they lost.

THOMAS: Absolutely. They had so much pressure going into the game. It was taking place at Soccer City Stadium in Johannesburg. And it's where the final is going to be played. Ghana would have loved to have been there. No African side has ever reached the semifinals or better at a soccer World Cup.

Ghana really had a chance to get there against Uruguay. Because of the (INAUDIBLE) was altered in this World Cup there was no big, big nation with all due respect to Uruguay (INAUDIBLE) from the years gone past. And it was Ghana leading 1-0 at halftime after Sully Muntari's goal; they got back into it when Diego Forlan scored in the second half. The scores were still tied after 90 minutes. We have 30 minutes of extra time.

And in the dying, dying seconds at the end of the game one of the Uruguayan players, Luis Suarez handled the ball, stopping a certain Ghana goal. Suarez was sent off, Ghana given a penalty kick from six yards away. It was poor old Asamoah Gyan (ph), who's been Ghana's top scorer who missed the penalty and in the penalty shootout that resulted, Uruguay won and went through.

Heartache for the whole of Africa, they were really holding their breaths over that one -- T.J.

HOLMES: Yes, Alex. And you were right. You were talking through it you were following along with the video there almost exactly as you were describing it. It was a tough, tough way to go out and tough to watch that.

Alex Thomas, we appreciate you there. I know another exciting day there in South Africa. You enjoy it. We'll talk to you again soon, buddy.

THOMAS: Thanks, T.J.

HOLMES: Well, the news for the Gulf Coast not all bad. Take a look at New Orleans there. It's probably hot as all get out in New Orleans. It's 90 degrees at like 6:00 in the morning. The sun doesn't play down there.

This is Super Dome. A lot of people are going to be gathering there this weekend not just, you know, to celebrate the 4th but they're going specifically for an annual festival there. And among those attending, Janet Jackson.

It's a quarter until the top of the hour. We'll be telling you about that here in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hey there. Welcome distraction from the oil disaster in Louisiana. They're going to be rocking out in the Super Dome. Take a look now live for the 16th Annual Essence Music Festival taking place there; the perfect opportunity maybe to bring cash into the struggling city.

Something Janet Jackson agreed with when she spoke to our Richelle Carey of our sister network HLN.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHELLE CAREY, HLN CORRESPONDENT: What does the Essence Music Festival and everything else about it, everything else that goes with it, the seminars, the talk about family relationships, what does it mean to you?

JANET JACKSON, SINGER: I think it means a great deal, a great deal to the community especially here in New Orleans with everything that's gone on, all the devastation that they've had. It brings money into the city. People from all over the country are coming to the festival and for it to happen here I think that's important for New Orleans. And I think it gives people the opportunity to really see what New Orleans is really about.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: You know the Essence Festival has contributed in that way for years and years to New Orleans. Back in '07 it was the festival returned to that city after Hurricane Katrina and now here it is having its first festival since the latest disaster, the oil disaster.

Other headliners that will be there this weekend, among them, Janet's there, (INAUDIBLE), Alicia Keyes, a little Earth, Wind, and Fire action for you as the festival goes on this weekend.

Well, no better time to become a citizen of the United States than on the weekend that America celebrates a birthday.

It's ten minutes to the top of the hour here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: This weekend hundreds of people making their allegiance to the U.S. official. In Indiana, take a look, 90 people from 37 countries sworn in as new American citizens yesterday; elsewhere hundreds of military personnel also taking the oath.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just wanted to serve this country that's given me everything I got today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Some 300 service members representing all branches of the Armed Forces took the oath in San Diego yesterday. That was the largest all military naturalization ceremony in history.

The story we've been telling you a bit about this morning, all you fake cops out there, ok. I don't know if fake cops watch this show. I don't know how many are out there. If you were a fake cop the last thing you want to do is call real backup.

This actually happened, folks.

Fifty-two minutes past the hour. We'll explain it right after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. About five minutes to the top of the hour now here on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

We've been telling you about this guy accused of being a fake cop. Louisiana police have arrested a man they say posed as an officer. They say he had a badge, he had a gun, everything he need when he made a traffic stop.

Kiran Chawla of our affiliate WDSU picks up the story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERIFF NEWELL NORMAND, JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA: The fact that he's driving around, he's stopping people, impersonating an officer, carrying this kind of weapon.

KIRAN CHAWLA, WDSU CORRESPONDENT: Shortly before 3:00 Friday morning 56-year-old Herman Justice pulled a woman over. He says for changing lanes improperly. But this was far from a routine traffic stop. You can see from the dash camera on Justice's vehicle he approached the woman with a gun, demanding she get out of her car. Then he called state police for help with the traffic stop.

While he waited for backup ...

NORMAND: He goes back to the car, gets a pit bull, and is standing guard of an unarmed young lady with her hands on the back of the car with an ASP in one hand and a pit bull in the other.

CHAWLA: When state troopers arrived, they determined Justice was not a police officer and called Jefferson Parish deputies. Deputies searched his car and found an arsenal of weapons including a rifle, shotgun, assault weapons, knives, and 446 rounds of live ammunition.

HOWARD ROBERTSON, WDSU CRIME AND SAFETY EXPERT: A police officer is not going to pull his gun out on a traffic stop. He is going to walk up to the car cautiously.

CHAWLA: WDSU crime and safety expert Howard Robertson says there are signs to look for to help you distinguish between an officer and an impersonator. Uniform or not, every officer has three forms of ID on them -- a badge to where you can see it, ID card, and a formal ID. If an unmarked car is signaling you to pull over, Robertson says stop in a well lit area and call 911.

ROBERTSON: If it's not a marked car and you aren't sure don't stop. Keep going. The reason I tell them to call 911 is so that they will radio the car and the police car is not going to think they're trying to get away.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: The man's name is actually Herman Justice. That is his name. He is now facing charges of false impersonation of a police officer, also aggravated assault.

Can't make this stuff up, folks.

They are the children of alleged Russian spies and we are told they never knew what was going on. A lot of people worried about what happens to those kids now.

Also just in time for this weekend -- vampires. Can somebody please -- you know what, I need help understanding this "Twilight" thing. I'm not up on it. Please, somebody. Help me out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SCENE FROM THE MOVIE, "TWILIGHT")

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: "Twilight"; I'm not there yet but apparently this thing is huge. The "Twilight" phenomenon we can call it now continues to grow. The third installment in this blockbuster franchise hit theaters this weekend. Actually hit I think on midnight Wednesday people started going to see this thing.

Our Kareen Wynter now, checking in to see how this one, this "Eclipse" stacks up against its competition and also what lies ahead for this franchise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KAREEN WYNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: More like an empire. Thousands of fans are packing into theaters to watch vampires battle werewolves in "Twilight: Eclipse" the third film in the hugely popular saga that's already earning millions at the box office, adding to what has quickly become a blockbuster franchise.

LACEY ROSE, FORBES MAGAZINE: The "Twilight" empire really includes so many things.

WYNTER: Lacey Rose from Forbes magazine says the four books in the series have sold roughly 100 million copies. And the first two films "Twilight" and "New Moon" have earned more than $1 billion worldwide.

RHODES: What I think makes this movie or this franchise quite unique is just how cheap it was to make and how it took these stars who were little known before they started with this into household names.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doesn't he own a shirt?

WYNTER: Household names and wealthy heartthrobs. Stars Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, and Kristen Stewart have all taken a bite out of the "Twilight" phenomenon. According to "Forbes" Stewart and Pattinson earned $12 million and $17 million respectively in the last year. A majority coming from the "Twilight" movies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have to realize who you are.

WYNTER: If a billion dollar book-to-film franchise about supernatural teenagers sounds familiar that's because it is. "Harry Potter" also went from a book series to a massively successful string of movies but as Rose explains, there is a big difference between these love-struck vampires and the boy wizard.

ROSE: The first three "Twilight" movies cost less than $170 million to make. And just for comparison's sake the last "Harry Potter" flick "Half Blood Prince" cost a reported $250 million. So with the "Twilight" movies, it's a real big bang for the buck.

WYNTER: But no empire would be successful without its loyal subjects. In this case it's the "Twilight" fans or twi-hards. Many of whom camped out in Los Angeles days before the "Eclipse" premiere and lined up outside theaters just to get tickets to midnight showings. Dedication, Taylor Lautner still finds astonishing.

TAYLOR LAUTNER, "JACOB BLACK": It's just hard to believe. It is. I mean, I do believe it when I see the fans and see their passion but it's unreal so we wouldn't be here without them.

WYNTER: Fans still yearning for more. Many wonder how much more gas is in the "Twilight" tank.

ROSE: They'll continue to extend it in every way possible. You'll see two more movies. You'll see multiple sponsorship deals and you'll see that many more opportunities for the stars, themselves.

WYNTER: And more opportunities for audiences to sink their teeth into another of Hollywood's ever expanding franchises.

Kareen Wynter, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Hello there, everybody. Top of the hour here now. Want to take a look at some of the stories that are making headlines including a horrible story out of the Democratic Republic of Congo. 230 people dead there after an oil tanker explodes following a traffic accident.

Congolese authorities say people after this tanker wrecked were actually gathering around it and trying to collect the spilled oil from that tanker. They believe that someone there was smoking a cigarette and that lit cigarette may have ignited this explosion. General David Petraeus is the new commander over in Afghanistan. He is on the job now meeting the troops. Petraeus takes the reins following the ousting or the retirement, I should say or the resignation, I should say, of General Stanley McChrystal and also following what has been the deadliest month in the nine-year conflict for U.S. and NATO forces.

Also, police in Tampa say a third party helped turn a suspect in who was wanted in the fatal shootings of two police officers. Dante Morris was a suspect of an intensive, four-day long man hunt after the Tuesday morning shootings. Funerals for the two slain officers set for just a little later today.

Well, we are on day 75 now. You're seeing a live picture once again of what we have been seeing for the past 75 days. This, the oil continue to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists, what are they doing today? They're meeting with the EPA to discuss chemical dispersants. There was a study done on some of these things which have been a little controversial but they found in the study that the chemicals alone don't impact marine life.

Researchers estimate between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels of oil have been gushing into the gulf every day since the explosion back on April 20th. The remnants of Hurricane Alex still causing a problem for these cleanup efforts. Rough waters actually caused the cap to bounce around that's on top of the oil spill down there on top of the leak. Made it difficult to capture all the oil they had been capturing. So some 20,000 fewer barrels of oil were captured.

Now, one of the biggest issues this weekend now is tourism. This is a big beach weekend. A lot of people down there with the restaurants, the bars, the hotels, Reynolds, have been affected. Some people starting to gather there on the beach as always but what are folks down there, Reynolds, where you are, in Gulf Shores, what are they expecting of this weekend?

WOLF: Well, they're expecting -- they're definitely expecting a turnout. You know, it may not be as big as we've seen obviously over the last couple of years. Last year, you know, things were filled to capacity, all the hotels were sold out. This year not quite so much.

It is a $1.1 billion industry, tourism here along the gulf coast. Here in Gulf Shores, you've got 32 miles of pristine beaches, obviously it's taken a hit from some of the oil. But you know what they've been working around the clock to make sure things are picture perfect. Now, thankfully we've got Grant with us. He's the Gulf Shores Director of Recreation.

And Grant, it has been very busy. Maybe not a lot of tourists out there but we've had a lot of activity behind us, haven't we?

GRANT BROWN, DIR. OF RECREATION, GULF SHORES, ALABAMA: We've had activity all night long as normal. We got a little bit of rain last night and the night before which slows it down a bit but the crews have been out all night long making sure that the beaches are as clean and smooth as possible. We are expect a big weekend this weekend. WOLF: Now, what exactly are these guys doing behind us specifically?

BROWN: Well, when the material comes in it comes in as globular tar balls. And the screens go through, sift the sand, and then put the sands back on the beach and take the material off the beach, cleaning the beach behind them.

WOLF: I mean, it seems it works pretty efficiently. These guys come in, they knock it out, they leave pristine sand. It's pretty good. Is this one of the things that should encourage people? I mean, what would you tell somebody thinking about coming here?

BROWN: I would sure invite them to come down and see what's happening. We've got tourists that have come for years and years and families. We still need you to come down. What you'll see here at the beach, you'll see generally clean beaches. Some days there will be material, some days there will be cleanup crews working on the beaches.

Some days you may not be able to swim but you can sure come down and enjoy the seafood restaurants and enjoy all the other activities that are to do in town and if you're here for tomorrow the 4th of July we will have a spectacular fireworks display.

WOLF: What time does that get under way tomorrow?

BROWN: 9:00 Central here in Gulf Shores and we'll have a barge south of the beach 9:00 sharp. Also it will be simulcast with our local radio station so you can listen to the patriotic music and have fireworks at the same time.

WOLF: You know, it's a patriotic time, it's an important thing you're doing out here. These guys have been working really hard. Back to what we were talking about in terms of the clean-up efforts, what's interesting about that is not only they're cleaning up oil but they have to keep their eye out for globs of oil but they also have to watch out for animals like turtles, don't they?

BROWN: We do. And this process happens at night generally. And at night is when turtles come out of the gulf, they lay their eggs onshore and then turtles go back into the water and so if there aren't watchers ahead of these machines, they can't see where the turtles are laying their eggs in their nests.

And so save the beach turtle watchers accompany these cleanup crews and then when they find the nests, they identify the nests and at some point they will actually take these nests and relocate them to make sure that the baby turtles have a good chance of survival to relocate them some place else along the coast.

WOLF: OK. And then coming from a guy who's a great golf that would be kind of like keeping your eye on the ball. You're watching everything in terms of the cleanup, watching out for the animals, doing the best you can for the tourists. BROWN: Yes, we sure are. We got not only the machines at night, during the day, we have people that help us clean out the tide pools. When you get high surf conditions, you get tide pools and when these machines aren't effective in the water, they actually have to be on smoother sand and so between the people with the hand tools and the e machines at night, there are hundreds, literally thousands of people here along the coast cleaning these beaches on a daily basis.

That's good for the environment. We don't want this material to get down into the sand too deep. We're going to have to come back at the end of this process and continue to keep sifting to make sure that the materials are removed.

WOLF: Well, Grant, in TV we call that a wrap. Thank you so much for coming by and talking to us. Good luck to you guys.

Again, T.J., they're working awfully hard. Come on down to the beach, folks. If you're thinking about it, things are still beautiful down here. They certainly could use you and your business and they'll have quite a show for the 4th of July. Let's send it back to you in the studio.

HOLMES: And you talked about this being a very patriotic time. A lot of people say the most patriotic thing you can do right now is support your fellow American. Get down to the gulf and support those folks just by visiting, having a meal, staying in a hotel.

WOLF: Absolutely.

HOLMES: Reynolds, appreciate you, buddy. We'll talk to you again soon. Reynolds giving us an idea of things there along the coast in Alabama. Well what's happening in Florida as well, particularly Panama City Beach? It's an important time for them there as well.

Let's turn to a man we had on a couple of weeks ago and talked to us about how they're doing. We want to check back in with Dan Rowe is his name. He is the president of the Panama City Convention and Tourism Bureau, joining us now on the phone.

Sir, we had you here. Thanks for being here again. We had you a month ago. Tell me the difference and how things are in Panama City as far as oil, tar balls, and what not. What difference has the month made since we talked to you?

DAN ROWE, PANAMA CITY CONV. BUREAU: Well, T.J., we've had a few tar balls start washing up on the beach just about exactly two weeks ago. But we have escaped most of the major impacts from the oil spill. The winds have been predominantly coming out of, you know, coming out of the southeast which is continuing to push the oil away from Panama City Beach. So our beaches are absolutely beautiful.

And I can attest to the guys from Gulf Shores that the cleanup crews, when any product comes on the beach, are on it and pick it up and make sure there is minimal impact to the vacationers who are enjoying the beach. HOLMES: Dan, tell us what this weekend the 4th of July weekend, this holiday, means to that area as far as money making throughout the year, as far as tourism goes?

ROWE: Well, about half of our tourism revenues come for the entire year come during the months of June, July, and August, but the 4th of July is absolutely the most important weekend that we have in our entire travel schedule. This is the weekend where the hotels and condos absolutely just completely fill up and, I mean, it's very, very important to our industry.

HOLMES: Well, Dan, just there on that point I wanted to stop you. You said this is the weekend they fill up normally. How is it right now though?

ROWE: Right now, we're going to have a very good weekend at the beach. You know, because the beaches are clean. We don't expect that we'll sell out. So if there is anybody who is on the fence whether they need to get away for a few days I encourage them to get in their car, get on an airplane, and get down here. Because it is a gorgeous beach weekend.

Right now just isolated thundershowers in the afternoon but right now sunshine, blue skies, and emerald green waters.

HOLMES: Well, I love that you're able to make a pitch there. What about any restrictions on the beach right now? We know there are several different reports on beaches even though they're not closed, there are tar balls and there are some advisories and at some places you can't get into the water. What about there in Panama City?

ROWE: Panama City Beach, the beaches are absolutely wide open, there are no restrictions. We've had some rough surf for the last couple days. So there are some rip currents. So, you know, our swimmers need to make sure they check the flag system before going in the water. But it is, I'm standing on the beach right now and it is glorious here.

HOLMES: Glorious. All right. Well, Dan, one last thing here. Do you think, what kind of headway have you made in that psychological battle? You've been putting out campaigns, several other beaches have as well just trying to get at people's heads, that hey, we are open and you can still come here but a lot of people just turned off by the idea of a couple of tar balls showing up. What kind of headway have you made in that psychological battle you're trying to win?

ROWE: Well, I have to tell you, I am so appreciative of the visitors that have made Panama City Beach and the gulf coast their beaches of choice because visitors are coming and they are hanging in there with us and I think that we are getting the word out and we are, you know, it is a battle and I think that we are staying ahead of it. I think that it really goes back to the visitors.

I mean, they're the ones that are making those decisions for their hard earned vacation dollars and when they continue to bring them to the Gulf Coast, we all win. I am so thankful to them. HOLMES: Dan Rowe, we appreciate you being with us once again. We will continue to check in with you but we appreciate you joining us once again here on CNN SATURDAY MORNING.

Go ahead.

ROWE: I hope all of you guys have a happy 4th of July.

HOLMES: Thank you so much. We're hoping you all have a happy one and a successful one as well. Thanks so much. Again, Dan Rowe with the visitors bureau down there, Panama City Beach.

Well, more on the efforts to bring tourists back to the beaches next hour. Taking you back to Gulf Shores, Alabama where they're counting on of all people Jimmy Buffet to save the day. One of the top marketing guys for the Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau. He's going to be talking to us about that and a whole lot more.

We'll see that and we'll see you back here at 10:30 Eastern. But for now, it's 13 minutes past the hour. We're coming back right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: All right. In Bonnie Schneider's space right now.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Welcome.

HOLMES: Yes. I thought I'd come over and say hello. Now, we're still talking about this Alex.

SCHNEIDER: Right.

HOLMES: Alex is nothing anymore but it's still having an effect.

SCHNEIDER: It is. You can see all the rain and thunderstorms right here just north of Dallas into Oklahoma. That's all Alex. All of this moisture coming up from Mexico is still creating showers and thunderstorms and a flood threat. But T.J., we're also watching this, which is something completely different, an area of low pressure that's developed just about 150 miles to the southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River.

This is really kicking up some showers and thunderstorms towards New Orleans and also particularly towards Florida. That's where we're watching for development there. Now, for those of you that are heading to the beaches I can tell you that a lot of the storms are staying offshore. But here is a look at some of the advisories for Alabama.

You've been hearing from Reynolds Wolf reporting from there. We do have a little bit of activity in terms of some significant oiling where Terry Cove, for example, is closed completely but some of the other beaches are open and they just have advisories for swimming. And the weather is holding so far which is good news.

Panama City Beach, you heard earlier from our guest, that is open but there are some scattered tar balls that people are looking certainly to clean up as soon as they are onshore.

Take a look at the 4th of July forecast. It is a hot one for the northeast and the mid-Atlantic. The heat will build. We're talking about high temperatures in the mid to upper 90s for cities like New York, into Philadelphia, Washington, D.C.. It will be a scorcher tomorrow. Today not so bad, just below 90 degrees. But get ready that heat will build for the 4th and for the 5th. T.J., a lot of people have vacation coming up on the 5th so if you're extending your holiday it will be a hot one.

HOLMES: It will be a hot one, the 5th. Is that a company holiday here at CNN, the 5th?

SCHNEIDER: I don't know. I'm working. It'll be nice and cool inside.

HOLMES: Inside. All right. Bonnie, thank you, as always. We'll talk to you again shortly.

Another twist in that Russian spy ring story. Some of the accused agents actually have children. Our Brian Todd is ahead. He's going to tell us what will happen to the kids. It's 18 minutes past the hour. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: 21 minutes past the hour now. At least two of 11 suspects in an alleged spy ring operating in the U.S. are revealing their real names now. The accused deep cover Russian agents were living as a married couple.

Our Brian Todd has more on their case and the concerns about what is going to happen to the suspects' children.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Emerging from what authorities say was a deep cover operation, three accused Russian spies appear in federal court. The judge calls each a danger to the community and a flight risk, orders them held without bail.

They include a married couple Patricia Mills and Michael Zottoli who have separate lawyers and don't even make eye contact with each other in court. Mills' face showing clear signs of strain. Authorities say she is trying to get their two children ages one and three sent to Russia to be with her relatives.

There are at least seven children among four married couples in this alleged spy operation, children struggling not only with sudden separation from their parents -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They are both of them innocent.

TODD: But also the accusation that their parents weren't who they said they were. The government's complaint says illegals, spies who don't have diplomatic cover, sometimes work under the guise of married couples and "will often have children together. This further deepens an illegal's legend."

I asked child protection advocate Terri Braxton about that.

(on camera): Now, the children might question whether their parents were ever even married, where their parents actually felt an emotional bond with each other, because they could be spies, they could be set up to do all of this. How bizarre is that?

TERRI BRAXTON, CHILD WELFARE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: Well, you know, I don't have any precedent on which to base an opinion so I think that it is certainly something that I've not experienced before. And I can't imagine that any of the kids in this situation are going to feel good about it.

TODD (voice-over): The kids may not have even known their parents' names until now. Prosecutors say suspect Patricia Mills told investigators her real name is Natalia Pereverzeva and that her apparent husband Zattoli said his name is Mikhail Kutzik. I spoke about that balancing act with Eric O'Neill, a former FBI operative who helped catch Russia's FBI mole Robert Hanson, a case dramatized in the Hollywood film "Breach."

(on camera): How hard is it to be a spy when you've got kids of any age?

ERIC O'NEILL, THE GEORGETOWN GROUP: It has to be incredibly difficult because when you're a spy, the focus of your life is to be a spy, to accomplish the operation, to accomplish your objectives. When you're a parent, you're supposed to take care of your kids. You are supposed to put them first in your life. And a spy can't do that.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Well, experts say despite the bizarre nature of this case the children of all of these spy suspects will likely be handed over to whomever the parents choose for guardianship unless there is evidence of abuse. Also keep in mind any children who are born here in the U.S., because of the 14th amendment, no matter where your parents are from and what their legal status is, the Constitution says you're born here on U.S. soil, then you are a U.S. citizen.

Well, less than 24 hours to go until the country's birthday. We'll introduce you to some soldiers coming home in time to celebrate the 4th of July.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HOLMES: Hey, you see this crowd. Family and friends. Check it out. Don't you just love these moments? They were cheering as the troops arrived in Ware, Massachusetts, this was yesterday. Soldiers were greeted, lots of hugs and kisses, as you see, a few tears all around. Several people of course can't help but shed some tears. They haven't seen these guys and girls in some time. They were happy to be reunited with their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's been very emotional. Just happy he's home.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Today is just a wonderful, thankful answer to prayer. All the men came home safely and women.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Home safe.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We will enjoy her.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're proud of you. Great job.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks. Thanks for the support. Thanks for coming out. Appreciate it.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're pretty happy.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, very happy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: That is awesome. Troops returning home after a year long tour of duty in Iraq. Welcome home, guys and gals.

We're going to have more on the efforts to bring tourists back to the Gulf Coast beaches. We're going to have that for you next hour. We'll take you back to Gulf Shores, Alabama. They're counting on of all things Jimmy Buffet to help them out, one of the top marketing guys for the Gulf Coast Convention. Also going to be talking to us in that hour. You can see us right here at 10:30 Eastern when all of that is coming up.

But we will be back here at the top of the hour with more live news as we continue on this CNN SATURDAY MORNING. But for now I'm going to hand this thing over to "YOUR BOTTOM LINE," our show about your money. And a lot going on with your money these days.

Again, I'll see you right back here at the top of the hour.