President Bush, Prime Minister Gordon Brown Hold Talks at Camp David
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM, everybody. Good morning to you. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris has the day off. Watch events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Monday morning. It's July 30th. Here's what's on the rundown. Mr. Brown comes to Camp David. Will the new British prime minister keep his country a strong ally on Iraq? A seemingly normal neighborhood, a disturbing secret. Exorcism in Phoenix. And do you know where that bottled water really comes from? You might be surprised. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Shoring up a key alliance. President Bush and new British Prime Minister Gordon Brown meeting face to face this morning at Camp David. CNN's Ed Henry is with us now live from the White House. Ed, what are the administration's goals exactly today?</s>ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning, Heidi. They obviously want to talk about a lot of issues -- trade, Darfur, Iran. But the biggest issue of all hanging over these two days of talks, of course, will Mr. Brown be a strong an ally on Iraq as his predecessor Tony Blair was? There's anxiousness at the White House, because obviously the president doesn't need anymore headaches right now. He's already dealing with the pressure of having to show progress in Iraq in advance of this big September report from General Petraeus. Now, the early signs have raised eyebrows. There have been leaked reports out of Britain suggesting there may be more troop pullouts from the British. There's also been the fact that Mr. Brown appointed a cabinet minister who has had some -- has been critical of the Bush administration and has also suggested that the U.S. and Britain will no longer be joined at the hip. Mr. Brown, himself, though, has been clear about saying he prizes this alliance, and in fact this morning in "The Washington Post" he has an op-ed, Mr. Brown does, calling it a "partnership for the ages." But with the fact that Mr. Blair fell so far in popularity back in Great Britain because he was perceived as being too close to Mr. Bush, called even Bush's poodle, you have to wonder whether Mr. Brown will feel the pressure domestically to distance himself from this administration -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right. So what are the chances then of the president's relationship with the new prime minister being just as chummy, if you will, as they were with the former prime minister?</s>HENRY: Well, the White House certainly is hopeful. And there's a good reason for it in the fact that if you think back to February of 2001, when Tony Blair first went to Camp David, a lot of us in the media were predicting that there's no way that Bush and Blair would have a strong alliance because, as you remember, Tony Blair was such a close ally of former president Bill Clinton. And here was this Texan from the other party, there's no way that he and Tony Blair will hit it off. But instead, their chemistry was evident right away. They joked about the fact that they both used Colgate toothpaste. They also talked about serious issues. And you saw the chemistry calling each other "George" and "Tony" from that very first day in February of 2001. That's why a lot of people have their eyes on the chemistry or lack thereof this morning a couple of hours form now, when there's a first joint press conference between Mr. Brown and Mr. Bush -- Heidi.</s>COLLINS: All right, Ed. It will be interesting to watch, that's for sure. Thanks so much for that.</s>HENRY: Thank you.</s>COLLINS: And the president and prime minister speaking out this morning about their talks at Camp David. We'll have live coverage for you on that, 11:25 Eastern. In Iraq today, violence overshadows celebrations. This scene Sunday, jubilant Iraqis pouring into the streets. Their national soccer team won the Asian Cup. But gunfire meant to celebrate the victory proved deadly. Bullets killed four people and wounded 17 others. In central Baghdad this morning, a bomb aboard a minibus ripped through a market. At least six people killed, 28 wounded. Also this morning, the U.S. military announcing the deaths of three more American soldiers. They were killed while fighting in Anbar province last week. That pushes the U.S. death toll in July to 72. Inside Iraq, is Washington's new strategy making progress? One prominent critic says yes. And he'll tell you why. That's going to be coming up in the NEWSROOM. Meanwhile, though, all eyes on Wall Street. In just a few minutes, a new week of trading gets under way. Stocks took a beating last week. The Dow dropping more than 4 percent. The S&P; 500 almost 5 percent. Part of the tumble blamed on problems in the financial and housing sectors tied to subprime lending. We have been talking a lot about that. That's where borrowers with poor credit are able to get mortgages. Just ahead of today's opening bell, stock index futures point to a weak start. But we will be tracking it all for you, of course, right here in the CNN NEWSROOM. Well, gas prices are down. The Lundberg national survey shows a drop of more than 17 cents over the past two weeks. The average cost for a gallon of self-serve regular now, $2.88 a gallon. A bigger supply, increased imports and refinery repairs all getting the credit for that.</s>COLLINS: This morning, questions about the safety of news choppers. The concern is coming after two Phoenix news choppers crashed Friday. All four men aboard the two craft were killed when the choppers fell to the ground in a public park. No one was on the ground at the time. And the man being chased could actually now face charges in connection with those deaths. The FAA is of course investigating. A joint memorial service is planned tomorrow for two of the victims. Services are planned later this week for the other two. In just a few minutes we'll go live to our Jim Acosta. He is talking about safety regulations governing news helicopter flights. Another news crew and another chopper down. Happening just a little while ago near Dallas. The chopper made an emergency crash landing. No serious injuries. Aboard, the pilot and two traffic reporters for Dallas news stations. The chopper apparently lost power in Grand Prairie. That's northwest of Dallas. One of the reporters aboard says the craft made a hard landing and skidded to a stop. A major development this hour in the government's case against NFL star Michael Vick. Happening now, a court hearing for one of Vick's co-defendants in the dog fighting case. Tony Taylor (ph) expected to plea guilty as part of a deal with prosecutors. That means he could become a star witness against Vick. We should learn more on that today. Meanwhile, Vick supporters are rallying in his defense. They picketed outside the Georgia Dome yesterday, accusing the Falcons, the public and the media of rushing to judgment against him. Vick has entered a not guilty plea to the charges. Green waves of Mary Jane. Millions of dollars worth of marijuana. Police on patrol, finding a treasure trove of pot farms. Exorcism or abuse? Police say a seemingly inconspicuous setting hid a bizarre, bloody scene. A 3-year-old girl attacked. Stirring up a wind storm of controversy.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I guess I'm a pioneer and I've got a lot of hours in my back from it.</s>COLLINS: He's gone green, but some of his neighbors are seeing red. From one coast to the other, water wars.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think that what we're trying to do is make people aware that tap water is really wonderful water and a great bargain.</s>COLLINS: Getting citizens off bottled water. It's coming up next in the NEWSROOM.