National Park Authorities Continue Search for Missing Climbers; 'Vagina Monologues' on Michigan Capitol Steps; Elections in Egypt; Looking at Greek Vote
KAYE: Good morning, welcome back, everyone. Thanks for starting your morning with us. I'm Randi Kaye. It is about half past the hour. National park authorities continue searching for missing climbers on Alaska's Mountain McKinley. Four Japanese men feared dead following a massive avalanche. One climber survived and was able to climb out with only some minor injuries. The climbers were coming down the mountain when the avalanche hit. Tomorrow, the Michigan State lawmaker who was punished after saying "vagina" in a speech will join in a special performance of "The Vagina Monologues" on the Capitol steps in Lansing. "Detroit News" report she'll be joined by the award-winning playwright Eve Entsler and several other female Democratic lawmakers. Lisa Brown was giving an impassioned speech against a bill that would restrict abortions when she shouted the word. Take a listen.</s>LISA BROWN, (D), MICHIGAN STATE HOUSE: I have not asked you to adopt and adhere to my religious beliefs. Why are you asking me to adopt yours? And finally, Mr. Speaker, I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina, but no means no.</s>KAYE: Michigan Republicans said she wasn't punished for saying "vagina" but for violating House decorum rules and acting unprofessionally. And the U.S. Air Force's unmanned space plane successfully completed its mission Saturday. The plane, which is about a fourth of the size of the space shuttle will allow experts to continue sending up experiments. The 11,000 pounds state of the art vehicle had been in orbit for more than a year. A Primeville, Oregon, man is in critical condition this morning after being diagnosed with the plague. Health officials say the man contracted the rare disease from an infected stray cat that has since died. That cat's body was sent to the Centers for Disease Control so they can test it. In Saudi Arabia, the royal family is preparing for the funeral of Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz. His burial is expected Sunday afternoon. President Obama praised the prince's hard line stance against terrorism in his country. The world's eyes are on Greece. The country is voting in a pivotal election that could have huge consequences for the struggling U.S. economy and for debt-ridden Europe. Greek voters are picking a new parliament, but they are also deciding between parties who favor and oppose an international bailout. And if the anti-bailout party wins, well, that could push Greece right out of the Euro zone, sending shockwaves through the financial markets and Wall Street. We'll continue to watch what happens. Another closely watched election is underway in Egypt right now. Voters are heading to the polls for a second straight day to pick a president. CNN's Ivan Watson joining us this morning from Cairo. Ivan, good morning to you. You're seeing everything firsthand on the ground there. So, what's the turnout been, what's the mood like?</s>IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESONDENT: Well, good morning, Randi. In this polling station, as you can see, it's small but it's pretty crowded. People in some cases voting behind this sheet over here, in some cases behind that barrier, filing through despite the [AUDIO GAP] the afternoon heat here. Now, this is day two of this presidential election. Someone saying the first time in thousands of years that Egyptians are getting to choose their leader and they don't know what the outcome of the vote will be. One of the representatives of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is fielding one of the two candidates actually slept outside this polling station last night to ensure that nobody tampered with the votes that had been cast yesterday in this ballot box. I'm going to show you one of the ballots, Randi. There are two candidates here. They're Ahmed Shafiq, a former air force general and handpicked prime minister of the deposed dictator Hosni Mubarak, and Mohamed Morsi, the candidate [AUDIO GAP] from the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood. Many Egyptians I'm talking to feel with this stark choice ahead of them, their vote can help determine the very future of this country. Randi?</s>KAYE: And Ivan, we've been talking about Greece and Egypt this morning. And like Greece, this election is bigger than Egypt, as well. I mean, Egypt's been a critical ally for the U.S. in the Mideast where we've seen so much turmoil. How do you think this election might impact that?</s>WATSON: Well, I mean, Egypt is a crucial American Middle Eastern ally. It's on the border with Israel. It was long considered the cultural and political leader of the Arab world. It's a -- it's a populist country, too, with more than 90 million people. And it's been in turmoil for the past year and a half. The transition from dictatorship has been a messy one and a difficult one, and it's far from over. Just two days ago, the ruling military council here dissolved the recently elected parliament, which was dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood. That was viewed as one of the big achievement of this difficult and sometimes bloody transition since the revolution. And it's been called by some critics a soft military coup. So, there are a lot of questions ahead for this strategic country in the heart of the Middle East. Randi?</s>KAYE: Ivan Watson reporting for us in Cairo. Ivan, thank you very much. It has been nearly 40 years since the most notorious political scandal in American history began to unfold. We're talking about the Watergate break-in. And now, we are hearing new information that connects President Nixon to the Mafia.