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American Morning

Immigration Bill Stalled; Kansas Teen Murdered; Paris Hilton Due Back in Court Today

Aired June 08, 2007 - 06:59   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Knockout punch. A stunning setback for a landmark immigration bill. What happened?

We hear from both sides of the aisle.

Plus, neighborhood watch.

CAMERON MIGUES, SUSPECT'S NEIGHBOR: I saw the picture. It looks just like our neighbor.

ROBERTS: The tipster who led police to the man now accused of killing a Kansas teen.

Who was this stranger next door? Clues revealed in his chilling MySpace page on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And it's Friday, June the 8th. Good morning to you.

I'm John Roberts.

KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

So glad you're with us this morning.

Some stories "On Our Radar".

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: We start on Capitol Hill though, where the immigration bill, backed by the president, is all but dead this morning. It was described as the "grand compromise" when it was introduced three weeks ago, but supporters were never able to rally the votes needed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On this vote, the yeas are 45, the nays are 50. Three-fifths of the Senate has duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative. The motion is not agreed to.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Not agreed to. Sixty votes needed to do end the debate and move on to a final vote. As you heard, though, the bill fell short by about 15 votes.

Andrea Koppel live on the Hill this morning.

And I think a lot of people are asking, is this really the end of the line? Or can we see this resurrected down the road?

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It absolutely could be the end of the line, Kiran. Certainly at least for the foreseeable future.

Remember, you had the so-called Gang of 14, the conservative Republicans, liberal Democrats who had bonded together and formed this bipartisan alliance to get this agreement, at least on paper. They had said this was going to be the best chance, at least for months, perhaps even for this president to get something through. That, said leaders from both parties last night, were still holding out at least a glimmer of hope they might be able to get something through in coming weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: I have every desire to complete this legislation. And we all have to work, the president included, to figure out a way to get this bill passed.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R), MINORITY LEADER: We weren't there yet. We could of finished this bill in a couple of more days, in my judgment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KOPPEL: Right. But Harry Reid was playing hardball. He refused to give them even another day to get this thing through. And in the end, Kiran, you had 38 Republicans, 11 Democrats who voted against any debate.

CHETRY: You know, and you mentioned Harry Reid. Does this again call into question the competence of the Democratic majority, who were not able to build consensus and not able to get this through?

KOPPEL: Actually, this really calls into question the ability of President Bush to get this through. Remember, this was one of his top domestic priorities.

It was for Republicans to carry the water on this one. And many are saying, certainly Democrats are saying, it was the Republicans who failed and President Bush who failed on this.

Also, remember, he called that big press conference the day that the Gang of 14 announce thad they had forged an agreement. He was so excited, he could taste it. And in the very end, at least right now, it fell through.

CHETRY: Andrea Koppel live for us on Capitol Hill this morning.

Thank you. Also, by the way, we're going to be talking to some senators coming up to see if there is any hope left or how they can move on. Ken Salazar coming up in just a couple of minutes, as well as Senator John Cornyn.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: We're learning some disturbing details about the 26- year-old suspect accused of kidnapping and killing a teenager in Kansas. Some of the details coming courtesy of his MySpace page.

Edwin Hall of Olathe, Kansas, appeared in court yesterday via closed-circuit TV, charged with first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the death of 18-year-old Kelsey Smith. The arrest shocking her family and her friends, and even people who knew the suspect.

Jack Weinstein is on the crime beat for "The Olathe News," and he joins us this morning.

Jack, good to see you.

JACK WEINSTEIN, "OLATHE NEWS": Thanks for having me, Kiran.

CHETRY: First of all, why was he on closed circuit?

WEINSTEIN: That's just the way that the Johnson County Courthouse operates. They have two detention centers, and they just -- they have inmates who appear for their first appearances via that closed-circuit TV system.

CHETRY: I got you. All right.

It was a neighbor who called police after recognizing the pickup truck that was in that surveillance video. Let's hear from Cameron Migues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIGUES: Exactly what she said. "I saw the picture," and she goes, "And it looks just like our neighbor." And we both just kind of laughed it off at first, and then when I saw the picture of the truck and she mentioned it, then it was like, well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Jack, what's been the reaction in the community from those who knew this guy, Edwin Hall?

WEINSTEIN: Well, a colleague of mine yesterday went out and spoke with a number of the neighbors who live where Edwin Hall lived, and they were shocked. They couldn't believe that a man who lived so close to them was capable of committing a crime that he had been accused of. They said he was a nice, normal guy.

CHETRY: Well, you know, it's interesting that you say that, because the MySpace pages tell a different story. This is believed to be his MySpace page, where he talks about his general interest, including eating small children and harming small animals, and also describing himself as a "sweet, troubled soul".

What are they saying about that MySpace page?

WEINSTEIN: Well, we didn't ask any residents specifically about the MySpace page, because we actually didn't find it until after we spoke with them. But you're absolutely right. Some of the things that he indicated on that MySpace page would indicate that he is a troubled soul.

WEINSTEIN: And even more disturbing, I think, to the community, you know, he has a wife, he has a 4-year-old son. Any thoughts right now on the motivation behind this alleged killing?

WEINSTEIN: No. Not at this point. The Johnson County district attorney, Phil Kline, gave a press conference following -- following Edwin Hall's hearing yesterday, and he declined to comment specifically about any sort of motive or whether or not there was a connection between Hall and Kelsey Smith prior to her murder, or if there were any motivation. He declined to comment on any evidence, the condition of the body when it was found, or anything specifically relating to the ongoing investigation.

CHETRY: All right. Jack Weinstein, a reporter with "The Olathe News".

Thanks for joining us this morning.

WEINSTEIN: Thank you.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to nine minutes after the hour.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: "Quick Hits" now.

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: The immigration bill all but dead this morning. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid summed it up last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REID: There's lots of support for this bill on the outside. The problem was in the inside of this Senate chamber.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Well, Reid insists that the bill isn't dead, but the Senate will move on to other business for now.

So, what happens next? And is there really any hope? Joining us is Democratic Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado, who fought hard to try to get this bill passed.

Senator Salazar, what is your take on it? Is this bill dead?

SEN. KEN SALAZAR (D), COLORADO: No, it's not dead. Defeat is not an option on this very serious issue.

We need to secure the borders and we need to enforce the laws of the country, and a problem that's been festering and growing over 20 years needs to be addressed. So the Congress has to get back to it. The president needs to exercise some leadership here, and we'll bring it off together.

This was a bipartisan bill. It addressed immigration in a comprehensive way. And we need to get it across the finish line.

ROBERTS: The question, Senator Salazar, that people are asking this morning is, why did Harry Reid keep on forcing a cloture vote? Republicans have been asking for some more time, but why did he force the vote, and then when he couldn't get the votes, pull the bill?

SALAZAR: The fact is he gave numerous opportunities. People knew from two months ago they were going to be on this bill for two weeks. There was nothing but amendments that were offered.

He tried many different configurations yesterday, trying to get an agreement on how to move forward. And there were just some Republicans that didn't want this bill to pass.

Not all Republicans. There were some wonderful Republicans who worked very hard on this bill. But there's a group of Republicans that said they wanted to kill the bill. And under the Senate rules they were able to do that. What Senator Reid was trying to do was to get the decision.

ROBERTS: Well, there were some Republicans who at least gave the appearance of wanting just to have more debate and get a bill that they could support.

Here's what Senator Mitch McConnell said about all that yesterday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCCONNELL: There are a number of Republicans who are prepared to vote for cloture just as soon as they feel that their colleagues here on this side of the aisle have had a reasonable opportunity to have offered and voted upon amendments that they think would improve the bill. I don't think that's asking for too much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Senator Trent Lott, Senator Salazar, said he just asked Harry Reid for 12 more hours to try to round up some more votes. He wouldn't give it to him. SALAZAR: Yes, those are just dilatory tactics. You know, they kept asking for six more hours or 12 more hours. It's been going on for two weeks. The fact is, there were some members on the Republican side that didn't want the bill.

I don't say that's necessarily true about Trent Lott and Mitch McConnell. The fact is that I think there are some people who do want a bill -- Jon Kyl from Arizona, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Mel Martinez, and others.

And I think what we can do is to come back to the bill, try to narrow down the number of amendments, and try to get the bill through. But what needs to happen is that the people who care about national security and fixing the border, the people who care about enforcing our laws within our country and dealing in a realistic way with these 12 million people who are here today, they need to step up to the plate and get it done. Otherwise, it's an abdication of their responsibility to the American people.

ROBERTS: Do you need more help from President Bush? Did he do enough on this?

SALAZAR: You know, his people did, but I think when it came down to the final end, to the nut cut (ph) end of this thing last night, it would have been useful for him to have weighed in as president of the United States. He had his people involved, and Secretary Chertoff and Secretary Gutierrez did a masterful job. But I think at that point we did need to have the president here.

Unfortunately, he was out of the country. Maybe when he comes back we can put Humpty Dumpty together again.

ROBERTS: All right. Senator Salazar, thanks for joining us this morning.

And coming up in our next hour, we're going to be speaking with Senator Cornyn from Texas. He was one of the original negotiators of the deal, walked away from it and did not vote to invoke cloture last night.

CHETRY: There will be no plea deal for a woman accused of trying to sell her child to pay for a wedding dress.

Your "Quick Hits" now.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Some "Quick Hits" for you now.

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: Well, 24 past the hour now. Ali Velshi is off. Carrie Lee is here "Minding Your Business".

Good to see you.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you as well. Thank you.

We are talking about mortgage rates which keep on creeping up. And now for the fourth week running.

Freddie Mac reports the 30-year fixed-rate loan now stands at 6.53 percent. That's up a bit from last week and last year. The rate was 6.62 percent. So we are down a little bit from early last summer, but still, rates have been creeping higher.

Economic strength is what's really pushing rates higher. Despite the housing slump, we've strong job numbers, among other things.

Now, the higher rates though have been affecting the stock market. We've seen stocks lose ground for three days running. The Dow Industrials down nearly 200 points yesterday, down over 400 points over the past three days. And it is looking like a weak start for stocks once again this Friday morning.

Finally, Kiran, remember earlier this week we talked about piggybacking, people basically getting on somebody else's credit card to basically take advantage of a positive credit history?

CHETRY: Trying to get a bigger score to borrow?

LEE: And that way it increases their FICO score, exactly. Kind of a loophole. Third-party companies can help you do this.

Well, now FICO, Fair Isaac the company behind credit reports, is fighting back. So, starting September, if you put somebody's name on your credit card or vice-versa, that credit history is not going to apply. So a lot of stories about this. FICO now fighting back. And...

CHETRY: That was quick.

LEE: I know, exactly. So if you want to take advantage of this, you better act before September.

CHETRY: All right.

Carrie Lee, thanks.

LEE: Sure.

CHETRY: And coming up ahead, fighting nature's fury with technology that takes us right into the eye of a storm.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is the closest you'll ever get to be inside of an actual tornado. I'm Chris Lawrence in Ames, Iowa, with that story coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: A shot of the Empire State Building this morning. The town perpetually under construction.

CHETRY: Yes.

ROBERTS: Yes. The national bird of New York City is the construction crane.

CHETRY: Right. And the national sound or the city sound is the jackhammer. That's all you hear.

ROBERTS: A lovely view though this morning, because it's going to be a beautiful day here.

Welcome back. It's Friday, June the 8th.

I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry.

So glad you're with us this morning.

Some stories "On Our Radar".

Extreme weather in the Midwest: lightning, hail, even tornadoes. We have some new pictures coming into us right now. Ireports of right out of somebody's front yard there. You can see hail coming down. They held a couple of those hailstones up. They are about the size of baseballs.

We're also going to be checking in with O'Hare airport. What a mess. They actually had to bring in cots -- people stranded overnight because of high winds. Chad says there wasn't even a drop of rain that fell but the winds were so severe they had to ground 400 planes.

ROBERTS: They're trying to get back on track again today.

New technology that we're going to show you this morning to help us build better to survive tornadoes. Chris lawrence is at an Ames, Iowa -- at Iowa State University -- where they actually have a tornado machine. Take a look at this. They can create a tornado inside a laboratory and check various construction methods to see how they can make homes that are better able to withstand those enormous winds that come with a tornado.

CHETRY: And there's a lot of outrage this morning, Paris Hilton, just three days into her jail sentence, is -- she could be doing that. It's a pretty big house and she is under house arrest now, her own. She has an ankle bracelet but other than that, she was let out and there are a lot of people who are saying she should probably head back to the slammer. Reverend Al Sharpton is one of them. He's going to be joining us live. We're talking about why he's getting involved, what he thinks should happen.

ROBERTS: And I think the reverend speaks for a lot of people when he expresses outrage over the fact that she was let go and other people continue to stay in jail. We begin on Capitol Hill, where the immigration bill appears to be stalled and all but dead. After months of negotiations and two weeks of debate, the bill fell 15 votes short of moving to a final vote last night. Republican Senator Jon Cornyn of Texas is going to join us at the top of the hour to talk about the bill's prospects now.

And President Bush feeling better today but he is still not quite 100 percent. He missed some meetings at the G-8 summit in Germany this morning dealing with a bad stomach. Now after some extra rest, he is planning to go on with his regular schedule. The G-8 wraps up today and then it's off to Poland and Italy for the president.

Paris Hilton is out of jail. Not out of the woods yet, though. She is going to be hauled back to court for a hearing this morning to determine whether she should go back to jail. She served three days of a 23-day sentence before being released. Some say it's a blatant abuse of the justice system. Reverend Al Sharpton served nearly three months in prison in 2001 for protesting U.S. naval bombing exercises on a Puerto Rico island. No early release for him. He joins us now. Do you think if you cried hard enough, though, and had your psychologist come talk to you, you could have gotten out?

REV. AL SHARPTON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: I don't think we have those options. I think the real case that National Action Network and many groups and people are outraged about is the difference in how justice is handled. I mean, I don't have any particular ill will to Paris Hilton and nor am I Paris Hilton watching. What I'm looking at is our criminal justice system doesn't behave the same for everyone. I'm convinced that if Paris Hilton was the daughter of a white worker in West Virginia in the coal mines or a black millionaire rapper, she would not have gotten treated like this. There are class issues here and there are race issues here, just normal everyday people. I've never had as many calls at the National Action Network by just average people say this is outrageous. I think that the system of justice, how it's dispersed, is the issue that we're dealing with here.

CHETRY: Some are arguing the other side of this. In fact defense attorney Mark Geragos took up for Paris, disagrees with what you said. Let's hear what he said last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK GERAGOS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If you do what Paris did where you turn yourself into the jail, then they will - they'll just turn you around and release you immediately. So when people say was Paris getting special treatment, I say yes, she got double or triple what everybody else in LA County gets.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: What do you think about that? Some say look, if you got a DUI, your first-time offense and then you violated your probation, you likely wouldn't actually serve jail time.

SHARPTON: Well, first of all, she was sentenced to jail by a judge, so we're not talking about some theoretical case. The judge sentenced her. The judge that said she cannot get work release. She cannot get anchor which is why a judge has called the hearing this morning. The second part here is that many in jail that went through the same situation over parole violation and has not been released. I'll be in California tomorrow. I was already scheduled. We're going to ask people to come to our National Action Network office there that are similarly situated and I'm going to the sheriff and say why don't you release them? So I think that it's always good to set up scenarios if they happen. There are scenarios (INAUDIBLE) a judge said jail.

CHETRY: So technically he did give her more than a slap on the wrist. So she did -- the justice system ended up doing the right thing in your opinion by giving her jail time?

SHARPTON: And everyone said it's time to show celebrities are going to have to pay, the rich are going to have to pay. This judge in his sentencing, specifically said she could not get what she ended up getting. I think that is what the sheriff's office is going to have to convince the judge of today.

CHETRY: The thing is, you're one person. You only have so much time. Why take up this case? There is a lot of injustice that's going on in the court system, including the case of Jenarlo (ph) Wilson who is actually into a two-year prison sentence for what people are calling a consensual oral sex.

SHARPTON: I am interested in that case. We take up many cases. The reason why we're taking up this case is there are many people in Los Angeles and we have an office there that are concerned about the disparity of justice. I had nothing to say about Paris Hilton until it appeared that justice works for some and not others. That's a civil rights issue. It has nothing to do with Paris Hilton. I think that any time you have a case that seems to be unfair, then civil rights organizations have the right to come in and address it.

CHETRY: We'll see what happens today, so she could end up back in jail.

SHARPTON: She could. We'll see.

CHETRY: Reverend Al Sharpton, great to see you, thanks.

ROBERTS: Thirty five minutes after the hour. President Bush with a little stomach bug overseas. Vice President Cheney headed to the doctor today. Some quick hits now. The vice president is having a routine heart checkup. He survived four heart attacks, you'll remember and has been taking blood thinner since March to treat a blood clot in his leg.

In suburban New York, police arrested a teenager who drove right through the glass doors of a shopping mall and kept on going too once he got in, finally got out of the car and began talking to customers before the police could grab him.

And keeping people and property intact during ferocious tornadoes. Chris Lawrence is checking out the technology that's trying to do just that. Chris, what do you got behind you? CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, John. This machine can create tornadoes but the researchers are going to use it to save homes, not destroy them. I'll have that story coming up live after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Thirty eight minutes after the hour, extreme weather topping your quick hits. Baseball-sized hail, tornadoes and heavy rain slammed the Midwest. At least five twisters touched down across Wisconsin, including one that tore apart a resort. Kayaks there thrown more than 30 feet into the trees like javelins.

We're taking in some i-Report images. This is hail in Wisconsin Rapids. Look at that, look at it come in and explode on the ground when it hits. Some of the hail chunks were the size of baseballs. Look at that one.

And some spectacular shots of lightning in Kansas. Take a look at this, pictures from Cherokee County on the Kansas/Missouri line driving down the road, lightning strikes lit up the sky there throughout the night last night. The lightening so bright that it actually affects the little CCD in the camera and sort of overloaded there and that is why you get the black bars.

CHETRY: Chad cannot tell us that is not real lightning because that is for sure is.

One of the most destructive and powerful forces on earth is a tornado and it's now in the hands of science. Researchers are doing something very cool. They're actually making a tornado and they're hoping to learn how to save lives and homes from that. Chris Lawrence is live at the lab where they're doing this at Iowa State University with a pretty incredible machine behind you. What does it feel to be there, Chris?

LAWRENCE: Yeah, Kiran, it's like lightning in a bottle here. Right now, we can't design homes and churches that can stand up to a tornado. We don't know how the wind load acts on the building, but this machine can simulate tornadoes all the way up to the most powerful F-5.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE (voice-over): They form within minutes, but leave behind months and years of destruction.

BILL GALLUS, METEOROLOGIST: I chased tornadoes for about 20 years and I'm always in awe of the power.

LAWRENCE: Only now, meteorologist Bill Gallus can turn a tornado on and off. He is with a team of Iowa State engineers who can create their own tornadoes and test what it takes to withstand those winds. This machine is the only one in the world that produces moving tornadoes big enough to perform structural tests. Unlike other simulators that work from the ground up, this one moves the vortex entirely from above, just like a real tornado. A family's home, the local shop, a typical town and the swirling debris barreling down on top of it. These models are being blown around and battered so that one day, real towns might be saved.

PARTHA SARKAR, IOWA STATE AEROSPACE ENGINEER: They will be damage but not as much as is happening now because we are not designing for tornado at all. So everything is getting wiped out.

LAWRENCE: Partha Sarkar says current building codes are designed to withstand straight line winds. He created the simulator to help design buildings that can survive tornadoes with wind speeds up to 135 miles an hour.

SARKAR: Even if the sirens go off, we don't have to worry about it because the homes are supposed to protect us.

LAWRENCE: Just outside the lab, real winds are already whipping up.

GALLUS: We're still right in the heart of tornado season in this part of the country.

LAWRENCE: And unlike the simulator, there is no simple switch to stop them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: But these Iowa State researchers hope that one day, maybe we won't have to. They've only been up and running now for a few years, but when the research is done, they hope that their results can maybe help to improve some of the building codes here in tornado country. Kiran?

CHETRY: And what does it feel like when you were standing inside of that vortex as it was going around?

LAWRENCE: Well, fortunately, they had it on one of the lowest settings possible which is the only way I would be able to stand near and you would be able to hear a word I could say but they have the ability to adjust anywhere from like an F-0 to an F-1 all the way up to an F-5 so they can test how different types of tornadoes impact some of these structures.

CHETRY: Clearly, they wouldn't let a reporter stand in the middle of an F-5 setting?

LAWRENCE: No. And I wouldn't want to be that guy either.

CHETRY: All right Chris, pretty neat look at that. Thanks so much.

It's 42 minutes past the hour now. We are going to check in with Chad Myers and I want you to be able to get a look again at that lightning video. It was so impressive, Chad, to be able to actually capture that. CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: One strike after another. We call them C and G's, cloud-to-ground lightning. That was a cloud-to-cloud strike there but that one making it all the way to the ground. It's interesting what John was saying how that camera can't handle that big flash at the time. You see those black bars just can't handle that bright light. Look at that good one. There is one. You need to probably slow down a little bit if you're seeing that kind of stuff.

We still are seeing some severe weather this morning, at least watches and a couple of warnings but most of that weather is down from St. Louis right on down through Ft. Smith and into north Texas. Some of this weather will slide across Memphis today, through Tennessee and all the way up even to the Ohio valley. The next best chance of severe weather will be actually be up here in Ontario, Buffalo, western New York, western Pennsylvania and Ohio. This is where most of the energy is for today. We're seeing a couple of airport delays now. This morning, Chicago doing well, 35 planes out of O'Hare already this morning. They're getting planes in the air, slowing down Atlanta though this morning. This from our affiliate WSB. You should be able to see the tops of the buildings but you can't and the pilots can't either so the airport now slow by about 30 minutes or so. Kiran back to you.

CHETRY: Chad, thanks.

ROBERTS: Some people it seems will do anything on a dare or for a bet. Quick hits now from Tulsa, Oklahoma. Clerks at convenience stores there have been reporting sightings of this man wearing a diaper! He has been apparently telling clerks that he lost a bet. People say they are not amused and they say that they will arrest him if they see him again.

CHETRY: For what?

ROBERTS: Wearing a diaper. I didn't know that it was illegal to wear a diaper actually.

Kids in Holland have figured out how to get drunk but stay dry. They made a powdered alcohol called booze to go. Add water and you get a bubbly drink that's 3 percent alcohol and it can be legally sold to minors, by the way.

The boys are summer are back. "Oceans Thirteen" hits the theaters this weekend, a sneak peek at the summer's next sequel ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: The prognosis is in for a controversial "Grey's Anatomy" star, your quick hits now. ABC now renewing Isiah Washington's contract. He'll be off the show. Washington checked into rehab earlier this year for using a derogatory term to describe a gay cast member.

Will Tony survived the swan song of the "Sopranos" this weekend? Online gambling sites are taking bets on what will happen in the final episodes of HBO's hit series. Right now bettors are laying odds that Tony will make it while his nemesis Phil Leotardo (ph) swims with the fishes. After all he did (INAUDIBLE)

And Sean Connery says he won't come out of retirement to make another "Indiana Jones" movie. He has high praise for the Indiana Jones films but says at 76 years old, quote, retirement is just too damn much fun.

CHETRY: Sean Connery may not be back on the big screen, but George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon are. They're in theaters now with "Oceans Thirteen." Check it out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

"OCEANS THIRTEEN," COURTESTY WARNER BROS. PICTURES:

Get inside that glass case and switch in the replicas.

How are we supposed to get in the room?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: This is the third edition and it opens in theaters tonight. Is it worth the hype? Well, AMERICAN MORNING's Lola Ogunnaike has seen it and she's here with a preview. A lot of ladies would say just staring at those three leading men is worth it. But what did you think?

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, I have to say, the boys do look good. George Clooney looks so good. Matt Damon looks good, Brad Pitt looks really, really good. Ellen Barkin looks good, too. So a little eye candy for the girls, a little eye candy for the boys.

CHETRY: She said it was a blast because she was the only female in a lot of the scenes and she got to hang out with all of them.

OGUNNAIKE: She has a really, really close scene with Matt Damon so watch out for that, too. I personally did not love it, though. I have to say. I felt like I was watching the cool kids having a conversation and I was on the sidelines, couldn't really dive in. But it's gotten rave reviews. People loved it across the board so I'm in the minority here. Check it out this weekend. I think it's going to be a huge hit.

CHETRY: Better than "Oceans Twelve"?

OGUNNAIKE: I think it was better than "Oceans Twelve." I think "Oceans Twelve" was a mess actually, so the bar was really low. It's obviously better and a lot of people are saying (INAUDIBLE) one of his better works in years.

CHETRY: That was PG-13, but if you're taking the kids, at least some of the slightly older ones, "Surf's Up" a new animated film out.

OGUNNAIKE: You know Hollywood loves a penguin movie. "March of the Penguins," you had "Happy Feet" and now you have "Surf's Up." It's about a penguin who wants to surf his way out of Antarctica and compete in a surfing contest.

CHETRY: They are really cute.

OGUNNAIKE: They're adorable and all of the films do well so I think Hollywood's like, look, penguins work, dogs work. Penguins are the new dogs.

CHETRY: Exactly. And they're actually doing a rattatouie (ph) that's coming out too, that's with mice.

OGUNNAIKE: Is that right?

CHETRY: That is supposed to be an interesting one.

OGUNNAIKE: What was that mouse from back in the days?

CHETRY: (INAUDIBLE) You got it.

OGUNNAIKE: It's about penguins now. We don't care about mice.

And then if you're in for a little bit of a creepy feel to your weekend box office, "Hostel: Part II." Critics are saying it's not as good as "Hostel: Part I" but it's definitely gross, so if you're feeling like you want to see blood and gore, you got to check out "Hostel: Part II"

CHETRY: If you want to spend your weekend seeing people get tortured.

OGUNNAIKE: Dismembered, tortured, blood, guts, yeah, "Hostel: Part II" is the movie for you.

CHETRY: Lola Ogunnaike, thanks.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to 51 minutes after the hour. The first shuttle mission of the year topping our quick hits now. The weather is good and "Atlantis" is ready for launch tonight at 7:38 Eastern. The shuttle was damaged in a hail storm back in February.

You've heard of Jesus and the virgin Mary popping up on everything from tortillas to trees but here's a new one. Folks living in a Chicago suburb say this is the image of the town's late mayor, Donald Stevens. They say Stevens saved this particular sycamore tree from the chipper twice and that now he's watching over it.

Ringside seats for a knockout fight in the Senate. We will show you what brought down that landmark immigration bill late last night and tell you what happens next. You're watching AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in the morning is on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: You've heard of a one-eyed one horned flying purple eater but how about a two-tone purple frog? It tops our quick hits. Researchers say the creature is among two dozen new species discovered in the South American nation of Suriname. CHETRY: Isn't that gorgeous?

ROBERTS: Isn't it beautiful? The frog's skin is covered with fluorescent lavender loops, but they're concerned that the creatures may croak soon because they are threatened by illegal gold mining.

These warty (ph) piglets made their debut at the San Diego zoo this week. The piglets are wild - look at them -- and native to only two small islands in the Philippines. These little guys are part of a breeding and conservation program. A face only a mother could love.

CHETRY: How cute! They look -- yes. Kiss a pig. How about that? All right, 55 minutes past the hour. Ali Velshi is off. Carrie Lee is here "Minding Your Business." I'm sorry. I can't get over the faces.

CARRIE LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Are those cute little things. They're going to get really big really soon and they're not going to be so cute.

OK, we're talking about a passport backlog and you may have heard stories about this. The State Department has been flooded with requests for passports because laws changed in January. You need a passport to go to Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and the Caribbean. Since there's been such a backlog, the Bush administration approved a plan yesterday. It's expected to be officially announced today. You will no longer need a passport to go to those four places from now through September 30th. So the plan is to get the State Department time to catch up and get passports out to people traveling to maybe Europe and other places. So from now through September 30th you no longer need a passport. You can show a driver's license or something to that effect just like the pre-January days.

CHETRY: You had to have a passport application pending so how do they figure that out?

LEE: That's right, that's right. You have to have one pending. And by the way, the State Department now recommends 12 weeks in advance. They had been recommending 12 weeks in advance to actually apply for one and that is about twice the level from last year. So that's the latest there.

Quickly, the excuse me, Toyota Prius went on sale a decade ago in Japan. It's been on sale here since the mid 2000. Today or this week, they have passed the million sold mark. They've sold over one million of these Prius. Early out of the gate certainly helped the company because other names like the Honda Accord Prius haven't been doing well. The Toyota since then, Toyota since then has also come out with Camry and Lexus hybrid models so Toyota has been doing very well with this model.

LEE: However, if you're buying this, they did roll back being able to get a tax refund.

LEE: Those incentives and the refunds have been rolled back as they've sold more cars but 55 miles per gallon, that's a pretty good deal when you look at gas prices these days.

CHETRY: Thanks Carrie.

LEE: Sure.

ROBERTS: Talk about your wild rides, a Michigan man has lived to tell one really incredible tale. Ben Carpenter is 21 years old, wheel-chair-bound. As he was trying to cross the street on Wednesday, the light changed and a semi stopped to the crosswalk, pulled forward, lodging his wheelchair in its front grill. Ben was pushed several miles at a speed of about 50-miles-an-hour while he was stuck to the front grill in the wheel chair. He says he was terrified. A driver saw what was going on and called 911 and a couple of undercover police cars wound up pulling the trucker over. Ben wasn't hurt and in fact, he's going to join us live in our 8:00 hour to talk all about it.

CHETRY: Absolutely. We are going to hear more of that have 911 tape. It is unbelievable. He is unscathed and he is going to join us to talk more about his adventure, whether he wanted it or not. Clearly, he didn't.

Well, the next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts now.

ROBERTS: Wait until next year?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEN SALAZAR (D) COLORADO: The president needs to exercise some leadership here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: The chances of ever bringing immigration reform back to life after a late night death match on the Senate floor.

Hail, high water and tornadoes across the heartland. Hundreds of flights grounded. The extreme weather threat and your weekend plans on this AMERICAN MORNING. Good morning to you. It is Friday, June the 8th. I'm John Roberts.

CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. So glad you're with us today.

Some stories on our radar. As we said, it was unexpected but President Bush coming down with a bit of a stomach bug at the G-8 summit. It ended up sidelining him. He couldn't join some of the initial ceremonies and events.

ROBERTS: Insisting it's not the food.

CHETRY: Well, I think in some cases, they actually bring in the president's food for his own cooks prepare it when he travels. His dad had a highly publicized situation.

ROBERTS: When he threw up in the Japanese minister's lap?

CHETRY: At least he stayed behind and they recovered from the stomach bug nothing's happened in public but he is feeling much better this morning.

ROBERTS: Apparently Laura was feeling a little under the weather a couple of days ago so maybe he caught it from her.

We're fast approaching peak air conditioner season. We're going to share some tips with you for making your home more energy efficient, so that you don't spend a ton on utility bills this summer.

After months of negotiation and weeks of debate, the immigration bill is all but dead this morning. Sixty votes were needed last night to move to a final vote. The compromise bill got just 45. Earlier, on AMERICAN MORNING, I asked Senator Ken Salazar from Colorado if President Bush could have done more to help pass the bill that he had backed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. KEN SALAZAR (D) COLORADO: I think when it came down to the final end, to the nut cut and the end of this thing last night, it would have been useful for him to have weighed in as president of the United States.

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