Knoxville, Tennessee, Shooting Kills Two Congregates; Qantas Defends Its Safety Reputation; New Clues on the Massive Hole of a Qantas Aircraft
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Killer clues. Police looking for the motive after a gunman kills two at a gay-friendly church during a children's play.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please pray for this congregation.</s>ROBERTS: And back in town.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I admit we did it really well.</s>ROBERTS: Barack Obama gets a boost and takes the hits. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL) NARRATOR: It seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.</s>ROBERTS: For a trip spanning to globe, on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning. Thanks very much for joining us. The beginning of a brand new week and the last one in July as well. It's the 28th already.</s>KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. August is just around the corner.</s>ROBERTS: How fast these things go by when we're having fun.</s>CHETRY: It's summer. Certainly we are having fun. Well, we want to bring you some top stories this morning. And breaking, Iraqi officials are now saying it was three female suicide bombers who blew themselves up in front of thousands of Shiite pilgrims. At least 29 people were killed, more than 85 others wounded. The worshipers, all men, were taking part in an annual march to a holy shrine. To the north in Kirkuk, a gunman and a suicide bomber killed at least 36 people at a Kurdish political rally. Two explosions going off in a suburban neighborhood in Turkey. Now, at least 17 people confirmed killed. More than 150 others wounded. It happened at about 10:00 at night on a crowded street in Istanbul. So far, no claim of responsibility but Istanbul's governor calls it "an act of terror."</s>ROBERTS: Qantas Airlines is defending its safety record after an enormous hole tore through a 747 fuselage. Investigators believe one of the oxygen cylinders aboard the Qantas Airline exploded in midair. The company's chief executive saying that more likely the blast was out of their control. Months earlier, the United States Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines to check oxygen bottles aboard the jumbo jets. A Knoxville, Tennessee, church congregation is mourning two of its members who were killed when a man armed with a shotgun opened fire inside the church on Sunday. Seven other people were injured. The suspect, 58-year-old Jim Adkisson, has been charged with first degree murder. Both local and federal officials now searching for a motive. CNN's Rusty Dornin is in Knoxville for us this morning.</s>RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John and Kiran, investigators kept many of the church members here for hours interviewing them, trying to piece together the timeline. Nearly, 200 people were watching a performance, a children's performance of "Annie," when the unbelievable happened.</s>DORNIN (voice-over): When parishioners at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church first heard the crack of gunfire, some thought it might be part of the children's play they were watching. But confusion gave way to panic as many church members dove under pews or tried to flee as a man continued to fire a 12-gauge shotgun into the congregation. Witnesses say when a white male first appeared at the door, he fired a shotgun point blank at one church member and then began firing randomly. According to witnesses, the suspect now identified as 58- year-old Jim Adkisson, paused to reload his gun, then he was tackled by two church members. Less than five minutes after the 911 call came in, Knoxville police had the suspect in custody. Reportedly Adkisson never aimed at the children.</s>STEVE DREVIK, WITNESSED SHOOTING: We found everyone. There was a little panic at the end when we couldn't find three of the kids. We had to run out by the time I got in there to help search in the woods for the kids. But we located them. They went to one of the church's next door.</s>DORNIN: Investigators say the timeline of the shooting may get a boost from several people who were videotaping the children's play.</s>CHIEF STERLING OWWEN, KNOXVILLE POLICE DEPARTMENT: For those of how you had some experience and as you know, oftentimes, you believe that a video camera captures more than it actually does but we're going to review each and every one of them.</s>DORNIN: Adkisson reportedly was not a member of this congregation, leaving the nagging question of why. His bail has been set at $1 million -- John and Kiran.</s>ROBERTS: Rusty Dornin reporting for us this morning. One of the victims fatally shot 60-year-old Greg McKendry. He is being hailed as a hero for shielding other congregates. The FBI now assisting in the investigation. It's looking into the possibility that the church shooting was a hate crime.</s>CHETRY: Now to the "Most Politics in the Morning." Republican presidential candidate John McCain taking to the airwaves, blasting Democratic rival Barack Obama for canceling plans to visit members of the U.S. military when he was in Germany last week. (</s>BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, CAMPAIGN COMMERCIAL) NARRATOR: And now he made time to go to the gym but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras.</s>CHETRY: Obama's spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama is comfortable with his decision because he did not want to make troops part of the campaign event. And today, Barack Obama turning his attention to issue number one, the economy. Before he leaves for Washington, Obama had to defend his trip at the unity conference in Chicago for minority journalists. Obama said his trip was no different from what John McCain did in March.</s>SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing wasn't in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates had done in the past. Now, I admit we did it really well, but --</s>CHETRY: McCain was invited to speak at the convention as well but declined. It's now a nine-point lead, 49 to 40 percent in a new Gallup poll just released. More registered voters favor Barack Obama than John McCain.</s>ROBERTS: Other stories that we're following this morning. The Coast Guard suspending the search for a young girl who disappeared in the waters off of New York's Coney Island. Authorities say 10-year- old Akira Johnson is one of three swimmers still missing after encountering strong ocean currents at New York City in Long Island Beaches over the weekend. Four other people drowned. Authorities in New Mexico are searching for two people reportedly swept away by flash floods in a resort town of Ruidoso. Some 300 people were evacuated from homes, camp grounds and an RV park after flooding caused by the remnants of Hurricane Dolly. More than six inches of rain fell in the area causing a river to overflow its banks. In California, wildfire burning out of control near Yosemite National Park, has destroyed a dozen homes and is threatening some 2,000 others. Fire officials say it was sparked by someone target shooting in the area and then fueled by extremely dry timber.</s>CHETRY: This morning new evidence an oxygen tank may have ripped a massive hole in a Qantas Airlines' fuselage. Investigators say they found fragments close to where a missing tank should have been. Geof Parry from Australia's Seven News reports.</s>GEOF PARRY, SEVEN NEWS REPORTER (voice-over): Australian investigators examining the hole in the jumbo have made an important discovery.</s>NEVILLE BLYTH, AUSTRALIAN TRANSPORT AND SAFETY BUREAU: There's a number of cylinders in that location. There is one cylinder which is not present. It is not accounted for in that area, in the area associated with the damage.</s>PARRY: Why it's not there is a mystery.</s>BLYTH: We're obviously looking for evidence of where that cylinder may have gone, for fragments of the cylinder, all the top engineering aspects we should expect to be part of the investigation.</s>PARRY: The Civil Aviation Safety Authority has now ordered Qantas to check every oxygen bottle on all 30 of its 747s.</s>PETER GIBSON, CIVIL AVIATION SAFETY AUTHORITY: We think it's prudent to put safety first to get inspections done now rather than waiting any longer.</s>PARRY: The investigation may be extended to include the airlines' entire fleet.</s>GIBSON: Some of these bottles may well be in some other Qantas aircraft, obviously, doubt we were getting due course. But because this section involves the 747, we'll start there.</s>PARRY: Passengers on board QF-30 have also questioned the condition of the oxygen masks. They were forced to use during the rapid descent.</s>DAVID SAUNDERS, PASSENGER: The mask was falling away. It was starting to black out. We sat back up and held the mask and tried to tighten it again. The more I pulled it, the looser it got.</s>PARRY: Mr. Saunders says some children turned blue as parents struggled to give them oxygen.</s>SCOTT ROBINSON, PASSENGER: If you didn't have that oxygen on and you did go over, no one's going to be able to help you.</s>PARRY: The condition of the masks will be checked as part of the overall investigation.</s>PARRY (on camera): Aviation experts say even though the cause isn't known, it's unlikely 747s will be grounded. There are more than 1,000 of them in service around the world. To take them out of the skies would bring an already troubled industry to its knees. In Manila, Geof Parry, Seven News.</s>CHETRY: And coming up this hour, just how safe are U.S. jumbo jets and should America's airlines be checking their oxygen tanks? We're going to talk to a former NTSB crash investigator</s>ROBERTS: Courting young voters. We know Barack Obama is connecting with them, but how is John McCain doing? We asked a prominent college Republican about McCain's youth appeal.</s>CHETRY: Also, one housing group fighting to help homeowners back from the brink of foreclosure. We'll tell you how.</s>ROBERTS: And is the mustache making a comeback? Yankees slugger Jason Giambi grew one and started hitting the cover off the ball. We take a closer look at the power of the stache. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."