Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Merits Weighed for Driving Versus Flying
Aired May 25, 2007 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These jackasses, they did it again. After all that BS that happened a year ago, and it happens again. They didn't learn. They didn't learn.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: American soldiers lash out, saying troop shortages are having deadly consequences in Iraq, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
Good morning to you, it is Friday, May 25th. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks so much for joining us on this Friday morning. Some stories on our radar. Of course we know vacation season is kicking in officially, Memorial Day weekend coming up. Millions of people are going to be hitting the roads, but with sky high gas prices is it actually cheaper to take the family on a flight instead of driving for your summer vacation?
ROBERTS: We're going to be taking a look at that and make the case for you on both fronts.
Also, two new books out on Hillary Clinton if you're looking for a little bit of summer reading. Look at the painful parts of her life from her husband's infidelities to her plan to get even with him, maybe by running for governor of Arkansas in 1990. We have a sneak peek of the new books coming up for you.
CHETRY: We're also going to begin with drama in Washington after months of holding out, Democrats did give in and yank the troop withdrawal deadlines from that $120 billion war funding bill that was passed last night. It now heads to the president's desk today, including 18 benchmarks for the Iraqis to meet, only thing is President Bush is allowed to waive them. Democrats say, though, they will mount another fight in September when the money runs out.
As for the candidates for president, senators Joe Biden, as well as John McCain voted in favor of the bill. Senators Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd and Barack Obama all voting no. Former senator and presidential candidate John Edwards, obviously not voting, but did blast the bill last night, calling it a blank check for the president.
In one dramatic moment during the debate on the House floor, Republican congressman and minority leader John Boehner actually got moved to tears. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JOHN BOEHNER, (R) MINORITY LEADER: I didn't come here to be a congressman. I came here to do something and I think the top of our list is provided for the safety and security of the American people. That's at the top of our list! After 3,000 of our fellow citizens died at the hands of these terrorists, when are we going to stand up and take them on? When are we going to defeat them? Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you, if we don't do it now, and we don't have the courage to defeat this enemy, we will long, long regret it.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: House minority leader John Boehner, obviously, very emotional about all of this. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House with a little context and perspective. This could be seen by many people as a victory for the White House Suzanne, but a real chance that it could be short lived if there isn't some real progress in Iraq.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: John, they're certainly not toasting yet here. They say this is a victory because there are no timelines for withdrawing those troops, but, really, there's going to be a big fight that's going to come in the months ahead. That is when the Democrats and those moderate Republicans that this White House desperately needs are going to take on this administration, again, for the funding for the wars in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan. So they're not gloating here, they're very sensitive about this. The other thing is we heard yesterday the president saying they expect more violence. This is going to be a very bloody summer, that's what they're expecting. So we're not going to see some public signing ceremony from the president. We're told that they're going to quietly get this bill. He will sign it behind closed doors. They'll put their heads down and they'll get to work. John?
ROBERTS: Not only did he warn about more violence in that press conference, but he also seemed to signal a real shift in attitude by the White House embracing now the Iraq Study Group. But he said what he was looking at plan "b" he said I'm actually looking at plan BH for Baker Hamilton. What has prompted such a significant shift on that front?
MALVEAUX: It really is amazing, John, when you listen to that press conference because you're absolutely right, you have this reconfiguration that sounds an awful lot like the Iraq Study Group report, from reaching out, of course, to Iran and Syria, as well as focusing on the political efforts here. We are going to see, starting on Monday, one of those things the Iraq Study Group had recommended is direct talks. One-on-one talks. We're going to have a U.S. ambassador, Iranian ambassador, talking about Iraq. So, obviously, they realized that initially what they were doing before wasn't working so this reconfiguration certainly looks a lot like what was presented to the president about six months ago. John?
ROBERTS: Do we know, Suzanne, when the president is going to sign the bill? MALVEAUX: I'm told this morning that he was going go sign it as soon as he gets it. That it's going to be rather quickly, that it has not gotten to him yet. They expect that it might take a day or two. But they said as soon as Congress sends it his way, that he will quietly go ahead and put pen to paper and make this thing happen.
ROBERTS: Suzanne Malveaux for us, live at the White House, Suzanne thanks.
Red tape prevented troops in Iraq from getting critical equipment to fight the war. That according to an internal document prepared by Marine Corps officials at Camp Pendleton. The report blasts the Pentagon for failing to deliver life saving mind resisting vehicles and hand-held lasers to troops in the field. The 32-page report was obtained by the "Associated Press." No response yet from the Pentagon.
CHETRY: This morning Shiite leader Muqtada al Sadr appeared in Iraq for the first time in four months. The military says he went into hiding in Iran when the U.S. announced a new security crackdown back in January. His supporters claim he never left Iraq. Al Sadr resumed his anti-American rhetoric in Kufa today, saying, "The occupation forces should leave Iraq."
To Beirut now where three U.S. military supply planes are handing out ammunition to the Lebanese army. The army battling Islamic militants linked to al Qaeda near the port city of Tripoli. Dozens are barricaded inside of a Palestinian refugee camp. U.S. officials say the military aid has been agreed to before the fighting broke out earlier this week.
There's some new evidence that could blow apart the lone gunman theory in the John F. Kennedy assassination. There are new tests showing that bullet fragments taken from President Kennedy's body could have come from different guns. The new tests were done by researchers at Texas A&M University. Conspiracy theorists of course believe that all of this points to the possibility that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone.
ROBERTS: California drivers are getting some relief today just in time for the Memorial Day weekend. The stretch of I-580 in Oakland, it melted last month after a gasoline tanker crashed and caught fire there, is now open. You might recall what it looked like just last month. It only took 25 days to fix the raised roadway. Some had expected it to take months and the construction company responsible for it got a pretty hefty bonus for doing that, as well.
Heavy rain slamming Central Texas. Police in Killeen say every intersection in town was flooded. Storms knocking down power lines, as well. Vehicles were floating in the streets, creeks, spilling out over their banks there.
Coming up, rooting out the enemy in some of Iraq's most dangerous places. A massive search operation going on right now for two missing U.S. soldiers in the area south of Baghdad known as the triangle of death. This is not the first time that our troops have had problems there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lessons are not getting learned in this war.
(END OF VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Some of the battles that our troops are facing on and off the field. Jason Carroll with their story next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes now after the hour and some stories that we're following this morning. The elusive Reggie the gator finally behind bars this morning. He's a 6 1/2 foot alligator finally captured on Thursday after hiding in a lake in Los Angeles, not Florida, for two years. Police say that Reggie was an illegal pet tossed into the lake when he got a little too big for his cage at home.
CHETRY: Here's a look at downtown Atlanta at 63 degrees right now at 10 past the hour. That's where Rob Marciano is, if we actually had the ability to zoom right in on you from there. How hot are you guys going to get down in Atlanta today Rob?
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: A massive search operation going on right now in the area south of Baghdad known as the triangle of death. Thousands of troops hunting day and night by air, ground and water for two missing soldiers who were abducted in an ambush nearly two weeks ago. Last year a very similar incident occurred in almost the same area. Could this latest incident have been avoided? Jason Carroll joins me now with this story. This is really extraordinary, Jason.
JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And John, you know there certainly are soldiers who were involved in that first incident who feel as though lessons have not been learned and perhaps this second kidnapping could have been avoided.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL (voice-over): This search for two missing soldiers from the 10th mountain division believed kidnapped after insurgents attacked their eight man squad, at their observation post. The story of what happened to them is a familiar one. Last year in the same area another search for kidnapped soldiers from the 101st airborne, whose three men observation post had been attacked. One was killed instantly, the mutilated bodies of the others were found bound together.
DAVID SHELDON, ATTORNEY: Lessons are not getting learned in this war.
CARROLL: David Sheldon and James Culp a former infantry man himself, are lawyers for a soldier in the 101st. During an investigation last year they heard repeated complaints from soldiers about too few men on the ground in the triangle of death, an al Qaeda stronghold.
JAMES CULP, ATTORNEY: The guys who were down there, the squad leaders, the platoon sergeants, were screaming out, hey, we're underhanded.
CARROLL: Audiotaped depositions never publicly released before show frustration within the unit that three men, the number assigned to the ill-fated mission a year ago fell far short of what was needed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many times if at all, did you ask for a larger force?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, constantly. We never had enough people the whole time we were there and that was evident from day one.
CARROLL: The staff sergeant says the platoon routinely operated with too few men and felt attack was imminent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's extremely dangerous. I would say that if I was an insurgent, I would attack.
CARROLL: A squad leader, whose identity we concealed because he fears repercussions, says he routinely operated with seven men for observation missions, still, he says, not nearly enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We do not have enough personnel and you're frustrated because no one is listening and these jackasses, you know they did it again. You know, after all that BS that happened a year ago, and it happened again, they didn't learn. They didn't learn.
SHELDON: I think that there's a reticence from the command level up the chain of command to ask for and demand more troops.
CARROLL: When asked about criticism surrounding this year's kidnapping a spokesman from U.S. Central Command in Baghdad issued a statement saying, "The multi-national force is assessing the incident and drawing conclusions at this point is speculation." But for these two men, it's not too early to draw conclusions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're trying to win this war without enough troops, without enough support.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
CARROLL: With regards to that first kidnapping incident a year ago an internal military investigation concluded among other things there were too few soldiers assigned to that observation post. Disciplinary action was taken against a platoon leader and a commander. The unit was also directed to change its operating procedures.
ROBERTS: As far as that discipline goes, there's a real ironic twist to it here, isn't there as well. CARROLL: Absolutely because the same men who were disciplined were the same men who were complaining all along, look, I don't have enough guys down here. I don't have enough boots on the ground to complete these missions safely.
ROBERTS: Extraordinary. Jason Carroll, thanks very much.
We want to turn now to retired army brigadier general David Grange for some insight on whether or not the military learns from its mistakes. General Grange, good morning to you.
BRIG. GEN. DAVID GRANGE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Good morning, John.
ROBERTS: Is this a case where history repeated itself despite the efforts as Jason Carroll was pointing out of some people to point out that there is a real problem here?
GRANGE: Could very well be. What normally happens in cases like this that for sure every time there is an incident or fight there is a debrief that takes place. After action report items are shared. And then what they do is they go ahead and they assess, ok, what did we do right, what did we do wrong, what should we do to fix it? Quite often though, as units rotate in and out of a combat area, lessons are not passed between forces.
ROBERTS: But this was a case that went up to fairly high levels here at the Pentagon. How would it be that the lessons learned did not get passed down so that the 10th mountain division fell prey to the same problem that this other group did?
GRANGE: It could very well have been passed down. That does not mean it was adhered to with all the stuff that's going on, was this a priority to those on the ground, who knows. It probably got passed down and it was just not followed.
ROBERTS: So how is it determined, how many people, how many men you put out on a patrol like this? Particularly an overnight patrol in as dangerous an area as they were operating in?
GRANGE: Well, yeah, that's really the point. What you have, is you have what they call METT, mission, enemy troop, enemy forces that are there, the terrain and your troops that are available, METT. What happens is you do an analysis of that situation. What's the threat, what do you have available, what kind of terrain, what kind of weapons can be used, etcetera. What your mission is. Is it a controlled point are you defending it, etcetera. And then you decide which troops to put to that task. What happens quite often is your area of operations that has many of these missions within it, you run out of troops quite quickly before you can cover all the tasks.
ROBERTS: If you were in charge of that brigade or that battalion, would you have put seven American soldiers and an Iraqi translator out in that area in the middle of the night without more backup?
GRANGE: It's hard to say not being on the ground. It would be unfair. But, here's the thing, it's not just getting the information from those on the ground saying, hey, sergeant, hey, sir, we don't have enough troops. It's also the leaders walking around. In other words, walk around by command. In other words, you must check constantly and get feedback from the corporals, the sergeants, the privates, as well as the officers to determine, is my analysis, my plan of action working? Does it fit as conditions change where I have to adjust to that? That's an ongoing leadership responsibility. But seven guys may be tough for that area. You want more, not less. You want to be able, you get a guy wounded, it takes a couple to take care of one person down.
ROBERTS: Real quick general, we have about 170,000 troops there, is that enough yet?
GRANGE: Oh, probably not, probably not. Now, if we would have had 170,000 earlier on when we went down to a very low number at one point, it may have made a difference, but right now, probably not.
ROBERTS: General Grange, as always, good to see you. Thanks very much for joining us. Have a good weekend.
GRANGE: My pleasure, same to you.
CHETRY: There are two books out next month leveling some new charges against Hillary Clinton and painting a portrait of a woman driven by a tortured relationship. The "Washington Post" got an early look at the books. One, "A Woman in Charge," the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton by Carl Bernstein of course of Watergate fame. And the other book called "Her Way," the hopes and ambitions of Hillary Rodham Clinton. That one written by "New York Times" reporters Jeff Gurth and Don Van Natta, Jr. Bernstein revealed that Clinton considered running for governor of Arkansas in 1990 after learning that her husband wanted to leave her for another woman. And the book "Her Way" includes a third hand report that the Clintons hatched a secret plan after the '92 election in which both of them would have eight years as president. Some other sources later disputed that claim. But they also claim that Clinton did not read the national intelligence estimate on Iraq in 2002 before voting to authorize the war.
ROBERTS: And her campaign doing its best to try to knock down any potential repercussions from those books as well.
CHETRY: Right. Saying there's nothing new and it's the same people trying to sort of bring her down. We'll talk a little bit more about that later.
Also, the father of St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Josh Hancock is suing the restaurant that served his son drinks before his son was killed in a drunk driving accident last month. Dean Hancock claims bartenders kept serving him even though he was already intoxicated.
Two families in Maryland are suing McDonald's claiming that it didn't disclose allergens in its food. Both children have severe milk allergies and had to be taken to the hospital after suffering severe reactions to milk ingredients in the French fries. There are several similar cases pending throughout the country, including a class action lawsuit in federal court.
Coming up with sky high gas prices, is it actually a better deal to fly than to drive for your summer vacation? We'll find out ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Twenty-four minutes now after the hour, welcome back to the most news in the morning here on CNN. How about this to make you feel old? The Osmonds are having a 50th anniversary celebration. Seven Osmonds, including Donnie and Marie, will perform together in Las Vegas in August. Jimmie Osmond says they're not old, it's just that they just got started when they were so very young. Are you kidding, look how old he is, he has to have a brace hold up his neck.
CARRIE LEE: What happened to his neck there? I didn't know there were seven, I knew Donnie and Marie, but another five?
ROBERTS: The lucky seven.
LEE: More than the Jacksons.
ROBERTS: Absolutely.
CHETRY: But those are the two famous ones, of course.
ROBERTS: Dell computers, you used to have to buy them online, now you'll be able to buy them at retail outlets.
LEE: For years Dell has used their build to order model to keep inventories and costs low, you order a computer online or call the company and they build one to your specifications, no inventory. Well, Dell is changing that after over a decade of doing the direct build order model. Starting June 10th they will sell two Dell dimension personal computers in Wal-Mart stores for under $700 apiece, Wal-Mart and Sam's Club stores. Now Dell is hoping to build this brand with consumers. Also, though, in recent years the company has seen sales slow down and also profits slow while other names like Hewlett-Packard have done very well. Now, there are some challenges to the retail end, it's a more expensive way to sell computers because you do have to build and keep inventory levels and then there are some analysts saying that it could erode Dell's build to order model in the first place. But Dell is doing this, really, because they have to. You know it was the golden child, the stock was a golden child in the internet boom of 2000, has lagged lately and they've been doing this direct sales model since 1994.
CHETRY: What I found annoying about it is, that when you have trouble with the computer you have to go through a really crazy process. I think they outsource a lot of their technical help to other countries.
LEE: That's a really good point, as well. They used to have great customer service in the '90s and then that fell off as well in recent years. So that's a very good point, that's another challenge the company has faced, too. CHETRY: Carrie thanks so much. The top story on cnn.com right now this morning, war funding bill gets the ok, Congress approving the $120 billion bill. It goes to the president today, not including those timelines that many Democrats were hoping to get in there for troops to leave Iraq.
Also on the most popular list, smoking is a big no-no in most U.S. households. Three quarters of U.S. homes are smoke free, according to the CDC. It doesn't necessarily mean smokers don't live there, it's that people in the house that don't smoke, kick them out, make them go outside to light up.
Well here's something to consider for your summer vacation, is it cheaper to drive or should you actually fly? Our Greg Hunter us on the case. Hi, Greg.
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Kiran. Well, that's the big question with sky-high gas prices, should you drive, should you fly? Well, we're going to do the math for you. We attempt to answer that as AMERICAN MORNING continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: What a beautiful shot. This comes to us from our St. Louis affiliate KSDK. There you see the arch, pretty morning. Don't know what the high is going to be there yet, but, most of the country can expect a little bit of rain, unfortunately, over the Memorial Day weekend. The barbecues may be getting a little soggy, but hey, we can all make the most of it any way. Good morning to you, it's Friday, May 25th, I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts.
Some stories on our radar this morning, millions of Americans packing up the car and heading away for the holiday weekend. They're probably getting an early start right now despite the price of gasoline, too. A lot of people more than last year expected to be driving. We're crunching the numbers about those sky high gas prices. And we're going to ask the question, would it be cheaper for you if you're traveling a certain distance to fly to your vacation destination or drive? Some interesting results coming out.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR, AMERICAN MORNING: Also a police chief from Illinois, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease at a very early age and he's not handing over his gun or handing back his badge. He's going to remain on the job and he has some very unique challenges ahead of him. He's going to talk to us about it a little bit later.
Also do you watch "Gray's Anatomy?" Everybody (INAUDIBLE) does.
ROBERTS: (INAUDIBLE)
CHETRY: There he is, Isaiah Washington. Of course he gained more notoriety for a slur that he said to the fellow the cast member than the actual show. Well, now he's in a public service announcement talking about the importance of watching your words. ROBERTS: The standoff is over this morning. The war funding bill is on the president's desk. It's a defeat for Democrats who had to pull troop withdrawal from the original bill, deadlines to get the $120 billion bill passed last night. They did include 18 benchmarks for the Iraqis to meet. But President Bush is allowed to waive those benchmarks. Democrats say that they're going to mount another fight in September when this money runs out.
Last night's vote forced many of the presidential candidates to take a stand. Senators Joe Biden, a Democrat and John McCain, a Republican both voted for the bill. Democratic Senators Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd and Barack Obama voted against it. Former senator and current presidential candidate John Edwards blasted the bill, calling it quote, a blank check for the president. And tacked on to the Iraq spending bill the first minimum wage increase in almost 10 years. Workers now making $5.15 an hour will make $7.25 an hour, but not until the summer of 2009. The raises are going to be phased in. The first 70 cents kicks in by the end of the summer.
CHETRY: And as we've mentioned, it is the first big travel weekend of the summer and many Americans are going to use that three- day weekend to get away, 38 million to be exact traveling somewhere this weekend. High gas prices aren't really slowing anyone down. More than 80 percent will drive to where they're going and millions of other Americans will be taking planes and trains. AMERICAN Morning's Greg Hunter has more on the great holiday travel debate. Is it cheaper to drive or to fly? And Greg, this really wasn't a question in year's past really, was it?
GREG HUNTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's always been kind of a question with the price of fuel going way up, Kiran, that's become a really big question. I'm at an Exxon station in Great Neck, New York and it's really convenient to drive when you're on vacation. You got your car there. You got your kids there, but is it cheaper with the price of gas going sky high?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER (voice-over): When should you fly versus drive? One general rule of thumb, if your destination is less than 300 miles, travel experts say it's generally cheaper to drive. Other considerations --
MARK ORWOLL, TRAVEL + LEISURE: How many people are traveling with you? If it's just yourself, it might be cheaper to fly. But if you're traveling with a family of five, that's really going to bump up the cost of flying.
HUNTER: Senior travel editor Mark Orwoll says before booking anything, spend at least an hour on the computer comparing prices.
ORWOLL: Hotels, cars, cruises.
HUNTER: And check out more than one travel site, such as kayak.com, AAA, expedia,.com. Flying may be faster, but there may be hefty ticket prices and delays. Driving now means high gas prices, wear and tear on your car, insurance, hotels and meals.
ORWOLL: Driving can really cost a lot of money, so you have to really figure out all of those little additional costs to make sure that you can still afford it.
HUNTER: To find out whether driving beats flying, next week we're driving from Columbus, Ohio, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. And like others driving this holiday weekend, we'll try to save money where we can.
ORWOLL: Some people will actually make their vacations a few days shorter just so they don't have to pay as many hotel nights. Instead of eating at a four-star, five-star restaurant, maybe you're going to be eating at a coffee shop.
HUNTER: Maybe not eating out at all. And there may be some considerations that have nothing to do with money.
ORWOLL: You get on the road, you get in the car with a good buddy, you're with your family, there's a sense of adventure. There's the bonding. There's the companionship. It's a romantic sounding concept, but a lot of people really prefer to drive for that reason.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER: So, next week, Kiran and John, we go on the road. We do the driving, we do the traveling and we do the math to help you navigate your summer vacation. Back to you guys.
CHETRY: All right, it's a road trip for Greg Hunter and we look forward to the results. Thanks so much.
ROBERTS: No matter where you're headed, Rob Marciano has got you covered. We're going to take a look at the holiday forecast just as soon as we come back. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Beautiful shot of Central Park this morning, as we listen to DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.
ROBERTS: It's going to be a hot one today, up to 93 degrees, right now 65. So if you're in New York, get out there and enjoy it now, (INAUDIBLE) because this afternoon it will be typically --
CHETRY: How hot is it going to go?
ROBERTS: 93.
CHETRY: Get the AC.
ROBERTS: Torrential rains meantime causing massive flooding in Texas. Officials in Killeen say every intersection in town was flooded. CHETRY And it is 38 past the hour and we're going to head over to Rob Marciano. He's going to give us an outlook for this -- this is when you re so important to people, not that you aren't always, but it the Memorial Day weekend and people want to be able get out there and barbecue.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: They're going to have that opportunity in many spots, but there's some weather moving across the area. So one of the three days, a lot of folks will have to maybe dodge a few rain drops. You'll be dodging the heat today across the northeast. These are some of the numbers from yesterday, 90s in Toledo, South Bend and Fort Wayne, even upper 80s across parts of upstate New York and the New York City area today is going to see some near record-breaking high temperatures as you mentioned, 65 right now in the big apple, 72 in Boston. You may break a record. So, everybody in the 60s right now.
There is an air stagnation advisory out for the New York City area. You saw that haze across central park just kind of be a yucky day feeling more like July or August today certainly than the end of May, 93 for a high in New York. Meanwhile, it'll be cooler in New Orleans. It'll be cooler in Atlanta and in Memphis and Orlando, so, kind of flip-flopping here. The dry air continues across the southeast.
It will cool down somewhat across the big apple as we head towards Sunday and Monday. There may be a thunderstorm in here Sunday night or Monday some time, but, generally speaking, weather not all that bad. This front's going to be sliding across the Midwest today from Chicago to the east across the lower Michigan. There may be some thunderstorms and flooding rains will continue also across parts of Texas. Back to you guys in New York.
ROBERTS: Hey, you were talking earlier about your favorite movie being "Top Gun" right.
MARCIANO: That's right.
CHETRY: We asked some of our e-mailers to tell us what theirs were, summer blockbuster. "Back to the Future." remember that one back in 1985? That was from Jeff in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. That's a good one.
ROBERTS: It is. "Star Wars." That was one of my favorites, too. That came out two years after "Jaws." And somebody wrote in and said "Gone with the Wind" was their favorite summertime movie.
CHETRY: I love that one too.
ROBERTS: I assume they're talking about the 1998 re-release of "Gone with the Wind" because the original one was not a summer movie. It was released January 1st, 1939. So you would have it be "A" old and either be in the southern hemisphere.
CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) all new Technicolor and everything like that. So a lot of people also said "Independence Day." That was a huge summer blockbuster back in 1996.
ROBERTS: It was. Interesting movie.
CHETRY: Thanks for writing in.
ROBERTS: Some quick hits for you as we go to commercial here, a minister who changed sexes from woman to man is back in the pulpit as pastor of a Baltimore United Methodist church. The denomination banned sexually active gay clergy, but does not have any rules about transgender pastors.
Marine biologists in California trying something new in their attempt to save those two humpback whales. They'll use fire hoses today to spray water near the whales. It's never been done before and they're pulling everything out of the bag that they possibly can. The whales remain about 50 miles from the ocean.
And living with Alzheimer's when you're a police chief. His startling revelation and why he says he doesn't need to give up his badge or his gun, next on AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Some of the stories that we're tracking this morning. U.S. military aid began arriving in Lebanon today. Supplies are headed to the Lebanese army in the northern part of that country around Tripoli. The army is still battling with militants barricaded inside a Palestinian refugee camp.
A scathing internal Pentagon report says red tape is keeping gear from Marines in Iraq. Requests for mine resistant vehicles and hand- held lasers apparently went unanswered. The Associated Press got a hold of a 32-page document prepared by a Marine unit returning from Iraq. So far, we have not heard from the Pentagon about this.
CHETRY: Spencer Johansen is chief of police in Lexington, Illinois. He's been on the force for 18 years and he recently disclosed that he is living with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease. So, can he juggle the incurable disease and also a job where he is required to carry a gun? Chief Johansen joins us now from Lexington, Illinois to talk more about that. Thanks for being with us.
CHIEF SPENCER JOHANSEN, LEXINGTON, ILLINOIS POLICE DEPT: Thank you. Nice to be here.
CHETRY: One of the first things people always say is, should you be carrying a weapon given that you have Alzheimer's disease?
JOHANSEN: Well, I guess my answer to that is, no matter how long you've been on the job as a police officer, whether you're a rookie or been doing this 18, 19 years, you should always, every morning you put that on put it on with a bit of caution and I have been doing that for the years and I understand peoples' concerns, but I think the misconception about Alzheimer's is that it's not, I'm not at that stage where I'm an elderly person in a nursing home, I'm at the early stage. I'm still able to continue to do my job.
CHETRY: In fact it's almost like a pre-early onset. It is called the mild cognitive impairment to be exact. When did you notice some signs that maybe you should go get yourself checked out by your doctor?
JOHANSEN: Well, a couple years ago I started noticing some things and mainly my wife and I would be talking maybe for instance at dinner about something my daughter was involved in and the next day I just wouldn't recall us talking about that and there was a number of things that led me. My speech at the end of the day starts to get a little -- I have a hard time finding the words and I was at the doctor for an unrelated issue and this runs in my family on my mother's side and so I thought I'd bring it to his attention and I did and we did the testing and then got the results back.
CHETRY: Yeah, quite an early diagnosis. Just talking to you right now no one would ever know. You didn't have to make it public. Why did you decide to do that?
JOHANSEN: Well, this is a small community and rumors travel fast. I've always been open to the community and the community has been open with me. And I thought the best way to face this was to let them know, hear it from me instead of somebody else and I decided to work with the Alzheimer's association and I thought I wanted the citizens to hear it from me first before we went with the Alzheimer's association.
CHETRY: How has the community support been for you when you disclosed it?
JOHANSEN: Pardon me?
CHETRY: How has the community support been when people found out you were living with Alzheimer's, what was their reaction?
JOHANSEN: I've been overwhelmed. The people have been supportive. As I said, this is a small community, a tight community. They stick together and not only the community, but everybody that I've heard from has been positive and it's overwhelming at times.
CHETRY: You're also getting a lot of support, right? You feel that you will reassess down the road when it comes to having a weapon, having a firearm?
JOHANSEN: Yes. I've got strong family support, a lot of strong law enforcement support and my doctors are monitoring this and I think I'll know probably first when I don't feel comfortable doing this and know when to hang it up.
CHETRY: Chief, there's a lot of hope out there, experts are - there's 50 new medicines that are currently in clinical trials that could start to be used earlier and earlier for people with Alzheimer's that may be able to, you know, prolong a great quality of life for decades. JOHANSEN: Yeah and this is part of why I want to bring more attention to this. You know, probably a lot of people out there my age that attribute some of the memory loss to just turning 50. And, to be honest, had I not had a family history of this, I probably wouldn't have brought it up to the doctor. So I'm hoping that we can bring some awareness out to the people that, hey, maybe this is something I should talk to my physician about.
CHETRY: Because right now you just turned 50?
JOHANSEN: I'll be 50 in August.
CHETRY: Fifty this summer. Well, it's great talking to you, best of luck with everything, police chief Spencer Johansen, thanks for being with us.
JOHANSEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Forty nine minutes now after the hour. Yet another problem this morning with an import from China, the FDA warning consumers to steer clear of imported fish labeled as monk fish from the company Hongchang (ph). Now listen closely to this, because that monk fish might actually be puffer fish, which has a potentially deadly toxin in it, monkfish again, Hongchang Company.
Get ready to ride the wave of summer blockbusters. This year it's all about the sequels like the third "Pirates of the Caribbean." The real treasure, though, is not found at the box office. We'll explain that, coming up next
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Wow, there's a live picture from Miami Beach, but, if you're like most of us, chances are you're going to be making it to the beach this summer. What would you think though if they said, hey, there's a beach, sure, but the sand's disappearing? It's a problem that is happening in Miami Beach, as well as other places, because of erosion. We're going to talk more about some of the creative solutions they want to put into place to make sure the beach has sand.
ROBERTS: Always good for a beach to have sand.
One of the summer's biggest blockbusters is sure to be "Ocean's 13." The star-studded cast, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, George Clooney made an appearance at an AIDS research benefit at the Cannes film festival and George Clooney became the star of the show with host Sharon Stone started an impromptu auction. Up for bids? A kiss from George. A lucky lady, here's the auction here. This lucky lady won the auction. Her boyfriend picked up the bill. Guess how much? $350,000 to have George Clooney kiss your girlfriend.
CHETRY: Biggest sucker of all. One of the hottest guys in Hollywood.
ROBERTS: And he kissed her, all right.
CHETRY: It was over in the blink of an eye.
ROBERTS: Fifty four minutes after the hour Carrie Lee minding your business and more business about the movie business.
CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. We've been talking about the blockbuster summer "Shrek," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Spider Man 3," all expected to rake in a lot of money. And it's not just box office dollars we're talking about. Merchandising, DVD sales, all those extras can really bring movie studios a windfall. In fact one analysts says DVD sales alone can add $500 million to the ultimate money that studios take in and some of these names are really getting creative this year. First of all we have "Shrek." Now that company tied in with Burger King over the past two years for "Shrek" one and two. Well, this year "Shrek" and happy meals with McDonald's working together, although this has had a little bit of backlash because "Shrek" kind of a big ogre. He is with an anti-childhood obesity campaign, but then happy meals, well some say fast food not exactly all in the same vein. But "Shrek" is doing this.
Also we have video games for "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Shrek" coming out for the first time for both of these third running movies and then "Spider-Man 3" has $100 million promotional web, you might say, with Kelloggs, General Mills, Burger King and Comcast. The Comcast thing here is particularly interesting. They have a commercial featuring a man in a "Spider-Man" suit and then also they have a "Spider-Man" channel on Comcast and they go into these different segments talking about how some of the villains became villains. You get the general idea here. It almost seems like anything goes trying to think outside of the box, get creative, anything that can bring more viewers in and make people more aware and of course, ring up some sales. Well, if they think it will work, then they will do it.
CHETRY: And they take the kids to go see "Shrek" and they take them to McDonald's for a "Shrek" happy meal.
LEE: Exactly.
CHETRY: Carrie Lee, thanks so much. Some quick hits now. Could her fight with Elisabeth Hasselback (ph) be the last straw in a bumpy year for Rosie O'Donnell on "The View?" Well Rosie had a day off yesterday. The show was on tape today but on Monday, Rosie may not be back or Tuesday? On her blog Rosie said she had no idea if she'd be back. If she does come back, it will only be until June 21st. that's of course when her contract expires. She does these almost real-time blogs where people write in questions and she answers them back and of course the question is, what was it going to be like because the two of them are not speaking come Monday morning.
ROBERTS: That would make for a difficult talk show, wouldn't it?
Maybe your parents taught you that sticks and stones could break your bones, but words could never hurt you. Bu that's evidently not what Isaiah Washington learned in rehab. The "Gray's Anatomy" actor is in a new public service announcement sponsored by a gay rights organization. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ISAIAH WASHINGTON: Words have power, the power to express love, happiness and joy. They also have the power to heal. When you use words to demean a person because of a sexual orientation, race or gender, you send a message of hate, a very powerful message.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He ought to know. You'll remember Washington got in trouble for using a derogatory term to describe a gay cast mate and then caught more flack when he said I never called him a -- and used the word again.
CHETRY: Some relief for the parents of a 10-year-old Ft. Lauderdale boy. He was just sleepy apparently, but boy, a frantic search that included a police helicopter, and dozens of cops and there you go, a sharp-eyed police officer pulled the little sleeping 10- year-old out of a tree. He climbed up there and then felt he needed a nap. He barely even woke up after he got pulled out of the tree and sat down on the grass for a little while. But there he is, all is well that end well, he's still a little confused where the heck am I and who are you? But he's safe.
ROBERTS: I think there's probably going to be a diagnosis of narcolepsy.
CHETRY: Poor thing.
ROBERTS: And a cat named Lucky is living up to his name in Parma, Ohio. The eight-year old cat staggered home on Saturday with, look at this a cross bow yarrow sticking right through his neck. His owners rushed him to the animal emergency room where a surgeon removed the arrow. He is home now because he's not out of danger yet. He's going to need to fight off infection and kidney damage.
CHETRY: I'm also wondering how they took the time to take a photo of the cat with an arrow in its back instead of just getting it to the vet. All right, but hope that Lucky is OK.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
ROBERTS: Double trouble. Two new books on Hillary Clinton's past. Will it hurt her run for president?
Mission accomplished. The president gets the war funding bill he wanted and Democrats promise a new fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. HARRY REID, MAJORITY LEADER: Senate democrats will never give in, never, never, never.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Plus, summer sequel. The fight for box office supremacy from the oceans to the seas on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And it's Friday, May 25th, the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start to summer. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for joining us. We're going to be talking a lot about that including whether or not it makes more sense to actually fly on your family vacation for Memorial Day than drive, of course because of the high cost of gas right now.
Also some other stories on our radar, alarming new realities for the U.S. military, the growing number of officers that are choosing to drop out after they serve their five years. What that brain drain could mean for the future.
ROBERTS: And extreme weather down south. Look at this, new pictures in overnight from Texas. Firefighters having to rescue people after flash flooding there. Look at that. That's not a river, that's a road. More nasty weather expected today but will it clear up in time for those weekend barbecues? We'll tell you coming up.
We begin in Washington. Democrats swallowing a bitter pill as they deliver a war spending bill to President Bush. After holding out for months they dropped those timelines for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux is live at the White House. How loud was the cheering there yesterday, Suzanne?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, you would think it would be very loud, but it really wasn't. They are not gloating here at the White House. They're being cautious about this for a good reason. Now it was a victory for the president in the sense that he didn't have those timelines for a troop withdrawal.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com
