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American Morning

Raw Politics; Million Dollar Deal: Rumors Over Paris Hilton Interview

Aired June 22, 2007 - 06:00   ET

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

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: New clues.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: Hello, 911.

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ROBERTS: Newly released 911 tapes from a massive furniture store fire.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a big fire in the back of the warehouse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: What might have sparked the flames that killed nine firefighters. Their final salute on this AMERICAN MORNING.

And good morning to you. It is Friday, the 22nd of June. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Roberts.

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

"On Our Radar" this morning, talk about a big mystery. This one in South America where a lake literally vanished, almost overnight. It is really confounding scientists who can't believe that it went from a body of water to what you're seeing there. We're going to tell you what scientists are thinking about where the water may have gone.

ROBERTS: Yes, and here's a clue, got nothing to do with global warming either.

The Senate working late into the night. Members passed a new energy bill just minutes before midnight. It's going to make changes as to how far cars can go on a gallon of gasoline. This is changing what are called the CAFE standards, Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency. That hasn't happened since the 1970s. So this could be a very big deal.

CHETRY: Meanwhile, though, we start with the 911 tapes and the clues that they may hold about what happened to nine firefighters who got trapped inside of a furniture store in Charleston, South Carolina. We hear a 911 dispatcher as she tries to guide firefighters to someone trapped inside. AMERICAN MORNING's Alina Cho has been listening to the tapes and she joins us now with more on this.

They're just trying to find some clues into exactly what went wrong.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. And no official cause yet, Kiran.

You know, we are just now hearing those 911 calls. And we've also obtained dramatic amateur video of that Sofa Super Store and warehouse when it was fully engulfed in flames. That fire, as we all know by now, killed nine firefighters. The biggest loss of firefighters since 911.

It broke out on Monday night. Witnesses say it was like a tornado of flames. An employee of the furniture store told the Associated Press the fire broke out near a loading dock where workers sometimes took smoking breaks. Investigators won't comment on that just yet.

Now here's one of the 911 calls. A dispatcher and an officer on the scene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: Units be advised, patrons (ph) are trapped inside sofa superstore.

OFFICER: We copy.

DISPATCHER: They're saying more to the back.

OFFICER: And where at are they in the back of the building?

DISPATCHER: OK. He is beating on the wall with a hammer to try to get someone's attention.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: It all happened so quickly. And within five minutes, there was a rescue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OFFICER: Control, be advised, a firemen just came out and told me that they got one guy out and they were going back for another.

DISPATCHER: Copy. More (ph) still inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: It's certainly a huge tragedy within this community. In fact, they're expecting thousands to show up to a memorial service that's taking place today.

CHO: And that's right. And just in a few hours, the processional, Kiran, starts at 8:00 a.m. The memorial will start at 10:00 a.m. Thirty to 40,000 firefighters from all over the country and Canada will attend. Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee also expected today. As are Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Chris Dodd. After the public memorial, there will be private funerals, nine in all, as you well know, Kiran, and those will take place over the weekend.

CHETRY: Alina Cho, thank you.

ROBERTS: Vice President Dick Cheney has faced a lot of questions about the secrets that he has kept. Now it looks like he has a solution. Abolish the office that is asking all the questions. Cheney has refused to submit classified documents to the National Archives, claiming that he is exempt from an order signed by President Bush.

Congressman Henry Waxman says Cheney has retaliated by moving to have an office of the National Archives dissolved. Waxman challenged Cheney in a letter saying, "I question both the legality and wisdom of your actions." Cheney's press secretary fired back saying, "we are confident that we are conducting the office properly under the law."

Back in 2003, President Bush ordered all offices within the executive branch to report their top secret documents. Cheney insists he's not a part of the executive branches.

Some of the skeletons deep inside the CIA's closet are finally coming into the light. The agency has released documents detailing illegal and otherwise questionable activities from more than 30 years ago. They include the wire tapping of muck-raking journalist Jack Anderson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, and the two-year confinement of a Soviet defector during the 1960s, as well as kidnappings and warrantless searches. CIA Director Michael Hayden says that the documents are unflattering but they are part of the agency's history.

CHETRY: So how close is the Bush administration to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba? Well, the White House hurriedly canceled a meeting that was scheduled for today on the detention center after the Associated Press reported that they were close to a decision on shutting it down. Last night, the administration denied that AP report and portrayed the canceled meeting as one of only a bunch of regular meetings that take place on how and when to move the 380 terror suspects out of Guantanamo and take them to trial.

ROBERTS: U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill is back from North Korea overnight and very positive about achieving nuclear disarmament. Hill arrived in South Korea about three hours ago after his two-day surprise visit to the North. He said P'yongyang is committed to an agreement to shut down its nuclear reactor. Progress has been hung up by $25 million worth of North Korean funds that were frozen by the United States. A report out of Russia about two hours ago said the Russians expect to see that money today and are going to take charge of it on behalf of North Korea.

CHETRY: Well, just minutes before midnight, the Senate passed a new energy bill that would raise the average fuel mileage standard to 35 miles a gallon for all cars, trucks and SUVs by the year 2020. Now that standard has not changed since 1989. It was a compromise that was approved without floor debate and it now moves to the House and then later the president's desk. So how will this affect the industry? We're brining in Ali Velshi now for a little bit of insight about that.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, the CAFE standards, Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards, are kind of interesting because they're average. That's average across the fleet that a car maker manufacturers. The car makers are really against this.

Here's what this bill proposes. An increase to 35 miles per gallon for cars, trucks, light trucks and SUVs by 20. And It requires 36,000 gallons of biofuels, gasoline made from things that are not oil, to be used in gasoline by 2020.

Right now the fuel economy standards are 27.5 miles per gallon for cars, 22.2 for SUVs and light trucks. The auto industry says these new rules will crush them. Ironically, they have proposed something that's even higher, even tighter, 36 miles per gallon, but only on cars. They want a lot lower for SUVs.

Now this got through the Senate. It may not get through the House. There's a different type of bill in the House. And there has been some hint that the president might actually veto this bill.

And what the Democrats didn't get was some incentives, some tax breaks and incentives for people who generate more of these alternative fuels. That's the really big thing that's going to generate fuel savings over the next 15 or 20 years. They tried for that. The Republicans said, absolutely no.

Why? Because it would have been up to utilities and oil companies to pay that. It would have been the taxes. And the Republicans said, if you tax the oil companies, they'll leave America. It's not a particularly sound argument, but it's one that's used all the time. So, once again, the oil companies getting off free and alternative fuels are not being promoted in the United States.

CHETRY: You know, it's just interesting if the whole tenor of the debate will change. I mean we're talking about hybrid cars that can get 51 miles per gallon.

VELSHI: Gas prices will change it and the fact that people are worried about the environment will change it. You know, this may not be the bill that finally sees law, but it will happen.

CHETRY: Ali, thanks.

VELSHI: OK.

CHETRY: A live look at Capitol Hill now where House Democrats say they want to make this 19th century building -- there it is -- a 21st century example. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants to unveil a broad, new energy plan next week that would include Capitol Hill carpooling, hybrids replacing limos, organic foods for congressional cafeterias, and low-flow showers in the lawmaker's gyms. The plan is expected to cut energy consumption in half over the next 10 years.

ROBERTS: Though as we have pointed out in the last couple of weeks, they will continue to maintain the coal-fired plant that heats the Capitol building.

NASA is going to try again today to bring the space shuttle Atlantis home. Clouds and showers in Florida yesterday forced the Atlantis crew to spend another night in space. Today's forecast is not that promising either. There are five landing opportunities today. The first is at 2:18 p.m. Eastern at the Kennedy Space Center. Edwards Air Force Base in California is an alternative landing site. And, obviously, because of the time change, can stay open a little bit later.

CHETRY: Here's some new video of a water rescue just in to CNN. It happened in Bakersfield, California. Firefighters were conducting a water rescue class in the Kern River yesterday when one of the students fell off of an inner tube. And you can see her fighting to keep her head above water there. One of the guys in the class, as you just saw, threw a rope. She was able to catch it, despite that running river around her. And she was able to pull herself safely to shore. There you see it. So training and it turned into a real life rescue. She is fine.

ROBERTS: Wow. Incredible. Real world experience there.

An update on that E. Coli outbreak last year linked to California spinach. It tops your "Quick Hits" now. Federal prosecutors say they didn't find any signs of negligence and so won't file any criminal charges. Three people died. About 200 got sick during that outbreak. Civil suits by some of those folks are still pending.

A brush fire in Phoenix, Arizona, spread to a nearby apartment complex on Thursday. Several buildings were engulfed with flames shooting through the roof. A burned out RV sent thick, black smoke up into the air. Firefighters were able to get it under control and, thankfully, there were no serious injuries in that.

A dramatic spike in U.S. deaths in Iraq as al Qaeda puts up fierce resistance in Baquba. What is going on there? We'll run it down with General Spider Marks next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Charges against a graduate student who was behind the wheel for Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Halberstam's fatal crash in April. That tops our "Quick Hits." A California prosecutor says 26-year-old Kevin Jones made an illegal turn into the path of the oncoming car. The car crashed into the passenger side where Halberstam was sitting. Jones will be charged next week with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter.

Former House Republican leader Tom DeLay calling Michael Moore a plus sized publicity hound and a chicken for pulling out of a TV debate. According to "Variety," Moore said he was scheduled to debate someone from the pharmaceutical lobby this weekend on ABC. He dropped out when DeLay was substituted because he says DeLay is not directly involved in health care, which is the subject of his new film, "Sicko."

And there's a move to make video game addiction an actual mental disorder. The American Medical Association will debate the issue at a meeting in Chicago this weekend. The goal is to get the American Psychiatric Association to add it to its official manual. The last time that was significantly updated was 13 years ago.

ROBERTS: Thirteen minutes after the hour now. It has been a particularly deadly week for U.S. troops in Iraq. Roadside bombs and other attacks have claimed 15 American lives. And military officials predict a long, hard summer ahead. Joining us now from Washington with more on this is Retired Brigadier General James "Spider" Marks, a CNN analyst.

General, good to see you.

BRIG. GEN. JAMES "SPIDER" MARKS, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Good morning, John.

ROBERTS: So this is a significant uptick in the number of U.S. deaths in just the last couple of days. I mean it's been averaging about three and a half a day. It's up to about five now.

MARKS: John, there are tremendous opportunities for the U.S. soldiers and the U.S. presence on the ground to make a difference, and that's what they're doing. It's very sadly the cost of increased operations and poking bad guys in the eyes that you're going to have casualties like this.

ROBERTS: Right. Well, let's take a look at the deaths last year compared to this year. 2006, there was a total of 822. This year so far, 2007, 542. We'd be on track for probably one of the deadliest years so far in this war. That would mean probably more than 1,000 soldiers and Marines would die this year. You know, are we making the amount of progress to justify this casualty level?

MARKS: John, you always have to balance what it is you're trying to achieve against the risks that you put your soldiers and your Marines, all your service members at when they're conducting these operations. And, clearly, progress is being made. And I know there's a real appetite to see immediate results as a result of what's being called the surge.

Again, this increase in U.S. presence. These five additional brigades, these additional 20,000 troops that are on the ground. What you see right now is a real concerted effort to make a dent in AQI, al Qaeda in Iraq, in their ability to conduct these heinous attacks against citizens and civilians and families in Iraq, as well as U.S. service members.

ROBERTS: Al Qaeda in Iraq, apparently there are fierce fire fights raging in Baquba, north of Baghdad, in Diyala Province, as the U.S. military and the Iraqi military try to put down al Qaeda forces there. What's -- this is all part of Arrowhead Ripper and some other operations that are going on across the country. Can you really make a dent, General Marks, in al Qaeda or would you just push them out to live another day in a different area?

MARKS: Well, what you see right now is a operation being conducted by Lieutenant General Odierno, the core commander in Iraq. And these are subordinate divisions and brigades conducting these operations. And they are going after the very specific locations where AQI has now held up as a result of the increased presence that's occurred in Baghdad.

In other words, troops poured into Baghdad. As a result, bad guys moved out into other areas and have gotten a pass, so to speak. Full strength of the U.S. forces are on the ground right now and so General Odierno is going after those targets that ring Baghdad and he's doing it in a simultaneous fashion so that as you push in one area, you cause movement in another and there is U.S. presence there to catch those guys. You want to cut down on the movement so they don't have the ability to reinforce each other.

ROBERTS: All right. General Spider Marks, our CNN military analyst.

General, thanks. Good to see you.

MARKS: Thanks, John.

CHETRY: Sixteen minutes past the hour now. We head down to Atlanta where Chad Myers is keeping an eye on the weather for us from the Weather Center.

And it's going to be really cool. You want to stay tuned for this coming up in the next segment. We're going to be talking about this lake in Chile, I believe it is, that it disappeared in a month.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Hacking the Pentagon. That tops our "Quick Hits." The hacker managed to penetrate the Defense Department's e-mail system, forcing a shutdown to about a third of its employees. As of yesterday afternoon, e-mail still had not been fully restored.

News on the island of Iwo Jima this morning. A U.S. search team is there right now zeroing in on a cave where a Marine combat photographer, who filmed the iconic flag rising 62 years ago, was stationed.

A mystery in South America. That large lake in southern Chile gone. You heard Chad talk a little bit about. We'll have more for you on why it happened, next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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ROBERTS: A challenge to the president on abortion topping our "Quick Hits" now. The House voted last night to send aid for contraceptives to groups that also promote abortions overseas. President Bush has not allowed U.S. funds to help any group that promotes or performs abortions. In fact, that was one of his first rulings after becoming president.

Possible hope for Parkinson's suffers. It looks like an experimental gene therapy is improving symptoms without causing side effects, so far, anyways. The treatment involves slipping billions of copies of a gene into the brain to calm overactive circuitry.

"Harry Potter" and the evil hacker. A computer hacker posted what he claims are plot details from the seventh and final book in the "Harry Potter" series. He says he broke into the publisher's computer. The publisher says, don't believe anything you read on the web. Wait until July 21st and you can read the book for yourself.

CHETRY: Well, a shocking discovery in South America to tell you about. Veronica De La Cruz has been looking into the mystery of a large lake that vanished almost overnight.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Into thin air. It's absolutely an incredible story. And it's one of the top stories right now on cnn.com. It's at number seven.

Like I was just saying, this lake, it was there. It literally disappeared. It was there in March. But when scientists returned in May, the lake had mysteriously vanished. We're going to use Google Earth right here and zoom in from space to show you what the lake like looked like. It was called Lake of the Ice, and it's in a remote mountain region of southern Chile. It covered about five acres and was about 100 feet deep.

Now a few months ago, scientists said everything was fine. But the next time they came back on a routine visit, this is what they saw. They saw a huge, empty crater with big cracks or fissures in the bottom. And they're not 100 percent certain what happened, but whatever it was happened quickly. The large chunks of ice, which had been floating in the lake, were still intact.

And the best theory is, the water drained out of the cracks, possibly from an earthquake, although no quakes, Kiran, had been reported in the area. So, in any case, the scientists say this part of the world is constantly changing and they know that the lake wasn't even there 30 years ago.

Now a lot of people are quick to say, hey, this might be global warming. But if you think about it, if the water was there in March, global warming couldn't have impacted the lake that quickly in just a couple of months.

CHETRY: Right. Plus they say they still have the big ice chunks.

DE LA CRUZ: Right. Right.

CHETRY: So what they believe was a really deep underground earthquake some how just . . .

DE LA CRUZ: Like a sink hole, just straight down into the earth.

CHETRY: Right. So there's the water. And so that's just it, the lake's gone now or do they think it maybe would fill back up?

DE LA CRUZ: The lake has vanished. The lake -- well, for now, there is no water in that lake.

CHETRY: Pretty cool, though. But it really is interesting and a lot of interest in that, as you said, on our website.

Thanks, Veronica.

DE LA CRUZ: Of course.

ROBERTS: Four people arrested in Mesa, Arizona, accused of kidnapping and branding. A woman reported to police that she had been taken to a hotel where her head was shaved and her face branded with the word snitch. Police people the woman had reported two of the suspects to child protective services last year.

Eighteen hundred volunteers will be back out again today searching for a pregnant mother missing in Ohio. The search yesterday turned up a patch of freshly dug earth about a mile from Jessie Davis' home, but that patch of earth turned out to be just a marijuana plot.

Chaos at an amusement park in Kentucky. Once witness says he thought people were screaming because they were frightened. Instead, something had gone terribly wrong on one of the rides. That story next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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CHETRY: Check that out this morning. A beautiful shot from Atlanta, Georgia, this morning, where right now it's 65 degrees. But it's shaping up to be a scorcher. Ninety-four degrees and bright sunshine in Atlanta today.

ROBERTS: Living up to the name hot-lanta this morning.

CHETRY: That's right.

And welcome back. Thanks so much for being with us. It is Friday, June 22nd. I'm Kiran Chetry.

ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you. Thanks for being with us.

Some stories on our radar this morning.

Validation for all those big brothers and big sisters out there. Only children, I would expect, are probably included in this as well. Scientists saying that the first born does usually have a higher I.Q. than the next one that came.

CHETRY: Well, I must interrupt since John is the youngest of four. So you buck the trend.

ROBERTS: You are so close. Genetics, apparently, are not responsible. We'll tell you all about the new study sure to spark a little sibling warfare ahead this week.

CHETRY: Yes. In fact, we found the story because one of our producers, their older brother sent it to them and said, ah-ha, proof I'm smarter.

Also, the big money fight over Paris Hilton. Reports that NBC is going to pay the heiress more than $1 million to get that first jailhouse interview. Now Paris' people saying, no, no, there's no cash involved. But is there? So we're going to try to get to the bottom of that coming up as well.

ROBERTS: A thrill ride at Six Flags in Kentucky is shut down this morning after a truly horrific accident. A teenagers legs were severed just above the ankle while she was riding the Superman Tower of Power ride yesterday afternoon. The ride picks passengers up and then drops them more than 150 feet at a speed of about 50 miles an hour. Investigators are trying to figure out exactly what happened, but several witnesses say that a cable snapped and then whipped across the ride at lightning speed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS WILLIAMS, WITNESS: We seen the cable break loose as soon as it got to the top on the right-hand side. And as the ride came down, the wire swung left, hit the one - struck the young lady.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When I got up here, the lady, she was just sitting there. And she didn't have no legs. She didn't have no legs at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Unbelievable. The girl is now in the hospital.

Coming up in the next hour, we're going to take a closer look at what might have happened here on this ride and the broader issue of amusement park safety.

CHETRY: Some dramatic 911 tapes out this morning giving us a look at the early moments of the deadly furniture store fire in Charleston, South Carolina, that took the lives of nine brave firefighters, making it the worst tragedy for firefighters since September 11th.

This is amateur video of firefighters just starting to take on that massive fire. Imagine running into that. And that's what they do every day. In one of the tapes, a dispatcher can be heard guiding firefighters to one who is trapped inside.

Let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: Units be advised, we have someone on the floor trapped inside Sofa Super Store.

OFFICER: We copy.

DISPATCHER: Please send more to the back.

OFFICER: Whereabouts at the back of the building?

DISPATCHER: OK. He's beating on the wall with a hammer to try to get your attention.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

CHETRY: City fire officials have told The Associated Press the fire started in a trash bin, in an area where employees took smoke breaks. Federal investigators though are not confirming that.

We are just a few hours away from a memorial service that will be taking place for the firefighters. They are expecting thousands and thousands to come from all over the country in a show of solidarity to remember these firefighters.

They're going to be taking part in a procession this morning. It will start at 8:00 Eastern Time and last about two hours. The memorial service will get under way at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and CNN will carry it live.

ROBERTS: This morning, the Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital in South Central Los Angeles is in danger of losing its license. The hospital has had a history of trouble. Just last month, Edith Rodriguez died after writhing in pain for 45 minutes on the emergency room floor without treatment. Her husband called 911 in disbelief.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DISPATCHER: OK. What do you mean she's dying? What's wrong with her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's vomiting blood.

DISPATCHER: OK. And why aren't they helping her?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're watching her. They're watching her and they're not doing anything. They're just watching her.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ROBERTS: There was that incident. And then back in February, a brain tumor patient apparently went untreated for four days at King Harbor Hospital before his family drove him to another facility for emergency surgery.

State health officials say the goal is not to shut the hospital down but to get the county to improve the quality of care there.

CHETRY: Well, we have more now on a story that we've been following closely for you all this week. The wife of a missing soldier in Iraq who is in this country illegally and was worried that she would be deported is now getting a reprieve from the head of Homeland Security.

Secretary Michael Chertoff says that Yaderlin Hiraldo will be allowed to stay in the country and apply for permanent residence status. Chertoff was responding to pleas from Massachusetts Senator John Kerry on behalf of Hiraldo's case. Her husband, Army Specialist Alex Jimenez, has been missing in action since his unit was ambushed by Iraqis insurgents last month.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Thirty-seven minutes after the hour. And welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING, the most news in the morning.

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: Well, time to take a look at the good, the bad and the ugly in the political world.

Here's Anderson Cooper.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, Kiran.

Today in raw politics, something for everyone -- Paul Simon, seersucker suits, and a big win for big oil.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Senate Republicans blocked an attempt to tax oil companies to help pay for alternative fuels. One Republican called the oil tax an attempt to stick it to the big boys.

Do you think?

On the same bill, senators agreed to an increase in fuel economy standards to 35 miles a gallon, the first major increase demanded of car makers in two decades.

Hell hath no fury like a Ron Paul supporter. The head of Iowans for Tax Relief says he's been inundated with mostly out-of-state phone calls protesting Paul's exclusion from a forum next week. The beleaguered director says the Paul people posted his home phone number, and calls are running 60-40 -- 60 percent "relatively polite," 40 percent harassing.

The little-noticed campaign of Chris Dodd is hoping star power will bring some shine. Singer-songwriter Paul Simon will be along for the bus ride through Iowa July 4th. The Dodd campaign says Simon has been tireless in the service of the country and the two are longtime friends, loves him like a rock.

No, this is not a tryout for "Music Man". It is Seersucker Thursday on Capitol Hill, a celebration of summer Senate style.

Don't ask.

Also on Capitol Hill, Senator Robert Byrd cast his 18,000th vote today. Talk about a paper trail.

First, Rudy Giuliani's Iowa state chairman quits to take a job in the Bush administration. Then his South Carolina chairman gets busted on cocaine charges. Then Giuliani gets hammered for failing to show up to meetings of the Iraq Study Group. And insult to injury, the New York mayor who's getting all the great press is Michael Bloomberg.

And now this: taken to task by the patriarch of Iowa's political coverage.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: You can catch the latest, greatest raw politics every night on "360" at 10:00 p.m. Eastern -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Anderson, thanks.

And remember, you can submit your videotaped questions to our CNN-YouTube presidential debate. To participate, just log on to youtube.com/debates. Scroll down the page and then upload your video by clicking on the "Submit Your Question" button.

Also, watch the CNN-YouTube debates. They're going to be hosted by Anderson Cooper, Monday, July 23rd, only on CNN.

(WEATHER REPORT)

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: News about the crash that nearly killed the governor of New Jersey. Jon Corzine tops our "Quick Hits".

A state police report found the trooper driving the governor's SUV violated division rules and regulations and could have taken precautions that would have avoided the crash. The SUV was going 91 miles an hour when it crashed into a guardrail.

Firefighters in Kansas City, Kansas, have some explaining to do. On Father's Day, police spotted a three-person father crew hooking their hose into a hydrant and using it to fill someone's swimming pool. Now they could be suspended or fired for violating department policy.

And you're going to have to go to Los Angeles to see Woody Allen's latest work as a director. Allen is taking to the stage. He'll direct his first opera this fall for the Los Angeles Opera. The opera's director says it took him nearly four years to convince Woody to head west and give it a shot.

CHETRY: Good thing he did.

Well, rumors are still swirling this morning. NBC paying big bucks for the first TV interview with Paris Hilton since she gets out of jail. Well, NBC is flatly denying that there is any million dollar deal on the table. So to help us sort it out, our own Lola Ogunnaike is here with more on how the rumor got started and who's saying what.

NBC insisting that they don't pay for interviews. What do you think?

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Insisting it's not true, but it appeared in "The New York Post" at first. They're saying that NBC did indeed pay $1 million or is going to pay $1 million for the interview, outbid ABC, who paid -- who suggested that they would pay $100,000 for the interview.

Again, as you said before, NBC is flatly denying that. And let's read what NBC had to say about that.

CHETRY: Sure.

OGUNNAIKE: "NBC News has not and will not pay for interviews," according to their spokesperson, Allison Gollust.

CHETRY: Now, see, the interesting thing, though, is that you can get around saying that you paid for interviews because the money can be used for something else, which I guess the talk was that it would be these "licensing fees" for the pictures and video of Paris Hilton.

OGUNNAIKE: Exactly, the licensing fees -- it's called production costs. So it's for videos, maybe old pictures of her, various things to make the production look complete. And that's the way to get around it.

CHETRY: Well, you see, people laugh at this because they say, hold on, Paris Hilton's photos are everywhere. She's one of the most photographed ubiquitous celebrities out there. So would it really cost a million dollars to get a ton of pictures of her?

OGUNNAIKE: Maybe not, but, you know, Paris Hilton's camp is also denying that there is a deal in place, as well. And let's talk about what she had to say, as well -- or her camp had to say, as well, about this.

"Paris Hilton is not being paid for any television interview, nor is Paris being paid for any collateral, including video and photographs related to any television interview," a Hilton spokesperson said.

So everyone is denying this. But interestingly enough, Barbara Walters told "The New York Times" that, you know, she was in talks with the Hilton family. You remember she was the one to first score the interview with Paris Hilton.

CHETRY: The collect call that was made to Barbara.

OGUNNAIKE: The collect call from jail on a Sunday.

But yes, Barbara is saying, look, I had this interview, but I was outbid by NBC. They paid in excess of $750,000 she's telling -- she's saying, but...

CHETRY: Well, so they were willing -- ABC was going to pay for the interview?

OGUNNAIKE: They were willing to pay for production costs for the interview.

CHETRY: OK. Once again, we're talking production costs.

OGUNNAIKE: Production costs. We're not talking for the interview. You have to make that very clear.

CHETRY: And then definitely it's going to NBC? They're definitely interviewing to her?

OGUNNAIKE: NBC's entertainment division and their corporate division are -- their news division are denying that there's an interview in place yet. So...

CHETRY: Oh, OK.

We'll see what happens. She does get out of jail Monday.

OGUNNAIKE: Monday. Freedom day.

CHETRY: She's been in jail since June 3rd.

OGUNNAIKE: Exactly.

CHETRY: We'll see exactly what happens. I know there are people camped out there with their MREs waiting for her to get out.

Lola, thank you.

OGUNNAIKE: Thank you.

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CHETRY: Five minutes till the top of the hour. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business" right now.

And of course the big news among all the business types was the initial public offering of Blackstone. How did it go?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. It's going to happen today.

It got priced last night at $31. So here is the thing. If you want to make a big return on the fist day of something, what do you on do? Do you buy Blackstone stock today, or do you buy an iPhone next Friday when it comes out?

I did some research on this. All right?

Now, take a look at this. If you buy an iPhone, it's going to cost you $500. We know you can sell it for $1,000. We've seen that on Craig's List. Your profit in one day is 100 percent.

Now, I'm just telling you. Let's be clear. This is hypothetical. I have no idea what Blackstone is going to do.

It's going to price at $31 and probably going to start higher than that. But the average return on an IPO last year was about 13 percent. So if you buy your IPO $31, and let's say it goes up to $35, you sell it at 13 percent, which looks like a better fist day deal?

CHETRY: And the only thing is, you could buy...

VELSHI: Your iPhone runs out of batteries.

CHETRY: Right. Well, if you had a lot of money, you could buy a lot of Blackstone IPO.

VELSHI: Yes, but you -- true. You'll have more money, but you profit more...

CHETRY: But you can only buy -- you can't buy that many iPhones, right?

VELSHI: Yes, they are putting a limit on how many you can buy.

CHETRY: I mean -- see?

VELSHI: Yes. So, good point. If you've got a lot of money -- it actually speaks to the point entirely, right? The folks with a lot of money are probably the ones buying Blackstone, those of us who are good consumers.

The thing is that the bosses of both companies are going to get very rich, depending on -- regardless of which choice you make. Steve Jobs is already a very rich man. And Steve Schwartzman, the CEO of Blackstone, is set to make about $7 billion from this deal.

CHETRY: See, when you do that, it carries so much more weight.

ROBERTS: You do that very well.

(LAUGHTER)

ROBERTS: Did you get your demo iPhone yet?

VELSHI: I have not gotten my demo iPhone. There's a week to go.

ROBERTS: Keep plugging it.

VELSHI: Apple, if you're listening, I'm ready.

I'll keep you posted. We've got the Blackstone IPO coming out. We have a lot of news happening later on today.

ROBERTS: All right. Look forward to that.

CHETRY: Thanks.

ROBERTS: An airline in Ecuador is hoping that the real way to a man's heart is with models in lingerie. Icaro Airlines has hired models to walk up and down its aisles during flights wearing little more than their underwear.

The airline industry in Ecuador is extremely competitive. Five airlines all there vying for your business. Models in lingerie on an airplane, that's what you'd call hot wings.

(LAUGHTER)

CHETRY: Wow. All right.

Well, coming up at the...

ROBERTS: She's speechless. Mark down the date.

CHETRY: We're coming up on the top of the hour. Here is Chad with a look at possible severe weather today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

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