Clerk Uses Faith to Stop Robber
DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: All right Kiran and John, good morning. Thank you very much. Good morning, everybody, I'm Don Lemon. Kyra's off today. I want you to take a look at three stories that we will have for you. That just gives you an idea right there of what life and death are like in Juarez, Mexico, the murder capital right next door. Drug cartel killers get more sophisticated and threaten at least one American lawman. The robber has got a gun, the clerk has got her faith. Clerk wins. We're talking to her about this life-altering experience. And you'd know if a man's role model is Tony Soprano, some bad things can probably happen. It could explain why this man is accused of killing up to 10 people. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Boy, it is August and it is a meltdown. Much of the nation baking in triple-digit temperatures. We've seen record-setting heat already this week. And more of the same right on the way. Break out the sunscreen, pump up the air conditioner, keep a bottle of water handy. Of course, when the sun beats down like this it's not just uncomfortable it is downright dangerous. Tennessee is among the states that are really sweltering and sweating under all of this blanket of oppressive heat. It's so stifling in Memphis, in that area, a man actually died while mowing his lawn. And the Health Department says the high temperatures certainly played a role.</s>KEITH MCGOLDRICK, NEIGHBOR: And I tried CPR and I wasn't successful. The paramedics came within probably less than five minutes. I did -- I only got about 60 compressions in. He was a good man. He was a man of god.</s>LEMON: That man, 66-year-old Stuart Evans, is the ninth person to die of heat-related complications in the area so far this summer. Heading west now to Arkansas, high temperatures and no water. Faucets are running dry in parts of Van Buren County after a man -- after a main water pump and a backup pump both failed. So the Arkansas National Guard is trucking in thousands of gallons of water for thirsty residents there. CNN's Rob Marciano tracking all the extreme temperatures for us. Rob, what's on tap today?</s>ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I think similar to what we saw yesterday, Don. Check out these high temperatures. These are record highs and they are striking. And again, I say this all the time but it bears repeating. All these numbers are measured in the shade and they don't take into account humidity. So you go out in the sun, you include that humidity, and these numbers feel a lot worse than they are right here. Nonetheless, 108 degrees was the record-high temperature yesterday in Wichita, Kansas, Joplin, Missouri, 102, Portsmouth, Arkansas, 107, Little Rock got 106, 106 in Monroe, Louisiana. Memphis, Tennessee hit 100. Jackson, Mississippi, 105. And all the way into Alabama as well. So across the border, we're seeing some serious heat air and it continues today with the heat indices here going up at maybe as high as 118. Again, you factor in that humidity and that really limits the amount of evaporation off your skin, so you heat up real quick. And a lot of states not only under heat advisories but pink areas that excessive heat warnings and that is just dangerous, dangerous heat. So take the necessary precautions you need in order to get that wet. We're going to see a little bit of a cool-off but not really until the end of this week and the weekend. So the heat, I think, is going to be here to stay for a couple of more days.</s>LEMON: All right, Rob, thank you very much.</s>MARCIANO: You got it.</s>LEMON: There's some developing news to tell you about. New York City's Landmarks Preservation Commission votes today on the fate of a building set to become an Islamic center and mosque. There's been a lot of heated debate leading up to this day. The issue is its proximity to ground zero in Lower Manhattan, two blocks from where the World Trade Center once stood. CNN's senior correspondent Allan Chernoff is at Pace University. This is a few blocks from ground zero where the commission will vote. Allan, walk us through what's supposed to happen today.</s>ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Well, Don, let's talk about first what's at stake here. Now what is at stake is the future of the building, not its actual use. So this morning the Landmarks Preservation Commission here in New York City is going to vote on whether to grand landmark status to that building on Park Place, two blocks north of where the World Trade Center used to stand. The developer intends to create an Islamic center there including a mosque. And as you know that has generated a tremendous amount of controversy. Now if the Preservation Commission does grant landmark status that means the exterior of the five-story building is protected. The developer would have to work with that exterior would not be able to touch it. However, if the commission votes against landmark status, the developer can just knock the building down and create whatever he wants. The plans have called for a building at least 13 stories high for this Islamic center. The takeaway here, the most important thing for people to recognize is that this Islamic center is going forward unless the developers and the people behind this initiative decide to listen to the protesters and do it elsewhere. But for now, they are planning to move forward. And Don, what's really interesting here is the fact is that for weeks now that building actually has been hosting Muslim prayers every single day during the workweek, from Monday to Friday. People today will be gathering there and praying, peacefully, two blocks north of the World Trade Center site -- Don.</s>LEMON: Allan, can you talk a little bit more about what developers have in mind for this Islamic center? It will be more than just a mosque, right?</s>CHERNOFF: Exactly. Their basis -- their idea is to create an Islamic YMCA, which also, they say, would be a place to reach out to all the religions, other people, to basically make people understand what Islam is all about. They want to have a community center, a pool, perhaps a gym, and of course a mosque as well. But it's based upon the YMCA concept, they say.</s>LEMON: All right, CNN's Allan Chernoff in Lower Manhattan. Allan, thank you very much. We'll follow up on this story throughout the day. You know it is day 106 of the Gulf oil disaster and this could mark a turning point in shutting down the ruptured well. BP plans to carry out a test that will decide whether it can move ahead with the static kill operation that is the first phase of a two-step process to permanently seal the well. The static kill operation was delayed yesterday when a small leak was found. Scientists now say some 4.9 million barrels -- 4.9 million barrels -- of oil poured into the Gulf of Mexico. That new estimate is pretty close to what had been called the worst-case scenario. Mexico says it will sue BP and possibility the U.S. government even though no oil has been found in Mexican waters. Mexico has spent about $35 million monitoring the spill. A secret weapon that scared away a would-be robber.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What?</s>NAYARA GONCLAVES, STORE CLERK: The Jesus I got before you leave.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: God bless you for that.</s>GONCLAVES: I'm Christian.</s>LEMON: That woman you hear there, she came face-to-face with a gun and pulled out her own arsenal of faith. We talk live with the store clerk who credits her survival to a divine intervention.