[Veronica De La Cruz, Cnn Anchor:] From presidential candidate to hostage in the Colombian jungle, then suddenly free. Ingrid Betancourt relives the moment.
[Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] And what about the three Americans who were freed? Two are suffering from jungle sickness. How can doctors help?
[De La Cruz:] And brand-new video from Zimbabwe. Terrified opposition supporters seek refuge at the U.S. Embassy. Can they escape the wrath of Robert Mugabe?
[Lemon:] Hello, everyone. I'm Don Lemon, live here at the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta.
[De La Cruz:] And it's nice to see you. I'm Veronica De La Cruz. You're in the
[Cnn Newsroom. Lemon:] Three American men hostages no more, and back on American soil. Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, they and their families have a lot of catching up to do now that their five-year ordeal in Colombia is finally over. They were rescued yesterday, dramatically, along with 12 other people held by a leftist militant group. Among them, former Colombian senator and presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, snatched by leftist rebels more than six years ago. Well, today she is with her children in Bogota. And that's where we find CNN's Harris Whitbeck. Harris, there is an emotional reunion there, no doubt.
[Harris Whitbeck, Cnn Correspondent:] Don, absolutely. One of the most emotional scenes I have ever been a part of or witnessed, that scene on the French plane that brought Ingrid Betancourt's kids to Colombia to meet her after her six years in captivity. She boarded that plane, bounded up the stairs of that plane, and saw the now grownup young people, a young man and young woman who are her children. She referred to the fact that during her six years of captivity, it was thinking about her children that kept her alive.
[Ingrid Betancourt, Fmr. Colombian Presidential Candidate:] These children, they are my pride and my reason for living. My son, my moon, my stars. Because of them, I continued the wish to leave that jungle because I wanted to see them again.
[Whitbeck:] Ingrid Betancourt's former husband and the father of those kids and her son visited Colombian President Alvaro Uribe today to thank him personally for the efforts, the Colombian government's efforts on behalf of Ingrid Betancourt. They then attended mass this afternoon. They will be delivering a press conference at the French Embassy, then they will be boarding that plane and heading back to Paris. Ingrid Betancourt has dual French and Colombian citizenship. And she says she wants to go to France and personally thank French President Sarkozy for his efforts in obtaining her release Don.
[Lemon:] OK. So, Harris, she's going to go to France. But, you know, she was a presidential candidate in Colombia. Do you know if she is going to stay in that country?
[Whitbeck:] Well, they haven't said if she's going to stay here permanently, but she has said already that she wants to continue to work towards finding a peaceful solution to the Colombian conflict. And she has said that she has not determined yet how that fight or how that effort will express itself. But she definitely is...
[Lemon:] That was CNN's Harris Whitbeck reporting. Apparently we lost the signal there Veronica.
[De La Cruz:] Well, we haven't heard yet from any of the freed American hostages. They're still talking to doctors and U.S. officials about their captivity and their rescue. But we have heard from some of their family members, who are jubilant today after the news that they waited five long years to hear.
[Amanda Howes, Thomas Howes' Nieces:] I work at WHD. It's in Boston, with a local NBC affiliate, and we're in the middle of breaking news.. And we have been you know, I had been there all day. And a news alert crossed on the bottom of the screen, and I click on it, and it's this wonderful news. You know, it mentioned Bogota, Colombia, U.S. military has performed the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt, as well as the three U.S. military contractors. And I just literally screamed with enjoyment.
[George Gonsalves, Marc Gonsalves' Father:] It's been a roller- coaster ride. But, you know, I don't think I ever gave up hope. There was things along the road that gave me encouragement, and I was certainly always hopeful that this day would happen. And now it's happening. And it seems like a miracle. But it's happening.
[De La Cruz:] The three men were captured by the rebel group FARC in 2003 after their plane crashed in the Colombian jungle. You have heard the name of that rebel group that captured Betancourt and the three Americans, but let's go ahead and take a look. This is a crash course on FARC. The word is an acronym in Spanish. The group calls itself the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. It is the oldest and largest of Colombia's many rebel groups. They are Marxist, about 8,000 strong, fighting against the government for 40 years now. And the group began as a sort of peasant army fighting for land reform. But their assassinations and long history of hostage-taking has earned FARC the label "terror organization" by the U.S. and the European Union. Ingrid Betancourt embraced her son and daughter today for the first time in six years. We're going to hear from her directly about that experience. Also, not all of those freed hostages are in tip-top physical condition. We're going to be taking a look at some of the nasty illnesses hiding in the jungle. Keep it right here in the CNN NEWSROOM Don.
[Lemon:] We have some developing news, Veronica, into the CNN NEWSROOM. You know the controversy surrounding the Beijing Olympics, whether or not the president would go, go to the opening ceremonies or attend the Olympics, the games, themselves. We're getting new word from the White House. Our Ed Henry joins us now with the very latest on that. What are you hearing, Ed?
[Ed Henry, Cnn White House Correspondent:] That's right, Don. For the very first time, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino indicating that the president is, in fact, likely to attend the opening games the opening ceremonies of the Olympic games. The significance is we've known a long time the president is going to the Olympics in August in Beijing, that he's going to watch the games. He's going to support the U.S. athletes. But the White House has been dancing around whether he will go to the opening ceremonies because human rights groups have targeted those opening ceremonies, saying that world leaders should skip them to boycott China's record. Well, an ally, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has now, after first saying he would boycott probably those opening games the opening ceremonies, he's saying, look, maybe if there is some progress between China and the Dalai Lama, he would go. So Dana Perino was asked, is that an opening for the president to also attend the opening ceremonies?
[Dana Perino, White House Press Secretary:] I'm not able to announce his schedule yet. He certainly is going to be going to China. And I would certainly think that the opening ceremonies will be a part of that trip.
[Henry:] Now, as soon as reporters jumped on that, and the fact for the first time the White House was saying that they expect the president to attend the opening ceremonies, Dana Perino started trying to walk that back. And there was a humorous moment because her mom, Dana Perino's mom, was in the back of the briefing room watching her daughter brief the press as chaos ensued and those pesky reporters pounced on these comments. Take a look at what Dana Perino did to try to get some help from her mom.
[Perino:] Mom, help me! Look, I'm not able to announce the president's schedule. But he is going to the Olympics. And I expect that the opening ceremonies could be a part of that trip.
[Henry:] So, didn't here it there, but she basically then said, "Mom help me!" Her mom did not come up and help her, obviously. But the bottom line is that the news here is that we do expect the president is going to attend the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. He'll face a lot of political pressure for that decision. But what he's going to say in August is that he's just there to support the athletes. We'll see what actually happens Don.
[Lemon:] Haven't you wanted to say that on television, "Mom, help me!"
[Henry:] "Mom, help me!" Yes. Sometimes during live shots, I wish my mom was here to help me.
[Lemon:] Or at least to cry on her shoulder after a bad one. We all have them.
[Henry:] Absolutely, yes.
[Lemon:] All right. Thank you very much, Ed.
[Henry:] Thank you.
[Lemon:] Veronica.
[De La Cruz:] A tragic end to a weeklong search in Vermont. The body of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett was found in a shallow grave near the home of her uncle. Michael Jacques faces federal kidnapping charges. And authorities say if an autopsy shows Bennett was killed, there could be more charges. Jacques could even face the death penalty. He's been in custody since Sunday on charges of sexually assaulting another girl. That girl told the FBI she was forced into a sex ring, and Jacques planned to initiate his niece as well.
[William Sorrell, Vermont Attorney General:] There is nothing from this investigation that turned up, nor otherwise are federal and state authorities aware of any ongoing efforts to recruit young girls or boys here in Vermont to have sex with adults. And you can rest assured that if evidence is uncovered that we feel poses a risk to the public, we will be the first to raise alarm bells publicly.
[De La Cruz:] Authorities say the investigation is far from over. They have also charged Brooke Bennett's former stepfather with obstruction of justice. Sam Israel, on the lam for nearly a month, says he actually tried to commit suicide two days ago by swallowing pills. He told a New York judge today, when that didn't work, he surrendered. The former hedge fund manager was convicted in April of bilking investors out of $450 million. Instead of reporting to prison on June 9th, Israel disappeared. His SUV was found abandoned on a bridge. He could get 10 years added to the 20 years he was originally given.
[Lemon:] Now a story about your civil liberties. The Justice Department reportedly is considering change rules to allow terrorism probes of Americans based strictly on a set of profiles. And according to The Associated Press, such probes could commence in the absence of the faintest suspicion of wrongdoing. Triggers could include religion, ethnicity and travel to certain areas. The Associated Press reports the policy could be in place this summer even though President Bush has been opposed to targeting people based on their race or ethnicity. Now, asked for a comment, the Justice Department spokesman says, "Any review and change of existing guidelines will reflect the department's traditional concerns for civil liberties and First Amendment liberties." Now, we would like to know your thoughts. Should the FBI engage in ethnic or religious profiling in the hunt for terrorists? You can send your responses to cnnnewsroom@cnn.com.
[De La Cruz:] All right, Don, pay close attention here. I've got to tell you something, because the closing bell rang last hour with Wall Street shutting down early for the holiday weekend. Something Don wasn't aware of just moments ago. But still, there was enough time for oil to hit another new trading record. It rose just about $145 a barrel, but has since slipped a bit. He's blushing. It's OK, Don. Better news from the Big Board, where things closed on a positive note. The Dow up more than 73 points, the S&P; slightly higher as well. And one factor that influenced stocks was the Labor Departments weekly unemployment report. Sixty-two thousand jobs lost in June, just about what analysts expected there. In all, 438,000 workers have gotten pink slips this year as employers react to the sting of soaring energy costs.
[Lemon:] Payback is... you know what. Well, that's been a big problem for the troubled airline industry. Both AirTran and American reacting to record jet fuel prices by trying to pare down their payrolls. AirTran says it's looking to slash employee pay from 5 to 15 percent. The cuts will be across the board and will begin next month. The day after notifying flight attendants 900 of them may be laid off, American has announced more cuts. The airline plans to eliminate 6,800 jobs by the end of the year. That's 8 percent of its entire staff. Well, you'll want to stick around next hour for my talk with personal financial guru Howard Clark or Clark Howard. And we'll tell you how you can compress, compress your gas budget. There's, you know, a little play on words there. Plus, a whole lot more dollar-stretching ideas. That's the next hour in the CNN NEWSROOM. It's actually very interesting.
[De La Cruz:] You're very clever there. Yes. All right. Well, we're looking forward to that. Thanks, Don. A gruesome murder in the British capital. Two French students are stabbed dozens of times and then set on fire. We've got a report for you from London.
[Lemon:] And we'll find out about an exotic disease apparently picked up by two of the American hostages rescued in Colombia.