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American Morning

Tahoe Fire; Tony Blair's Last Day; Wrestler Family Deaths; Northwest's Problems; iPhone Frenzy; Surviving A Roadside Attack

Aired June 27, 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: Staggering setback.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The country sheriff's office. You're in a mandatory evacuation area.

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ROBERTS: Mandatory evacuations as strong winds breathe new life into the Tahoe wildfire.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Pray for us.

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ROBERTS: Plus, high water and high drama. The rescues and the new threat for extreme weather on this AMERICAN MORNING.

That's what it's looking like out there. And good morning to you. It's Wednesday, the 27th of June. I'm John Roberts, along with Kiran Chetry.

CHETRY: Good to see all of you this morning.

"On Our Radar" today, you remember the story yesterday, we first learned of it, wrestler Chris Benoit found dead in his home, along with his wife and son. Well now there are bizarre, new details in what's being called a murder suicide of this family. We have Alina Cho working the story overnight. She's going to be joining us with some details on the strange text messages and also what role steroids may have played in this tragedy.

ROBERTS: And the WWE is saying, no, absolutely they did not. But there were plenty of ex-wrestlers out there who were engaged in steroid use who say it's got all the hallmarks of it.

And the wait is almost over for you tech geeks. The iPhone getting closer to its debut. And this morning we're going to know how much it will cost you every month to make this hot, new little gadget work. Ali Velshi is going to be breaking down the numbers for you.

CHETRY: That's right. It depends on how much you want to be able to talk on it and listen to your music as well. First off, though, we get caught up on the latest news. And we begin with reports of a missile fired out of North Korea. South Korea's news agency said that a short range missile was tested from North Korea toward the waters to the east just a few hours ago. Now this comes the same day as North Korea gave U.N. inspectors permission to visit a key nuclear reactor. Sources though are telling CNN this morning that missile it was firing was routine testing and not necessarily an act of defiance toward the inspections.

The Israeli military is denying reports that it launched an air strike today near Gaza. A Hamas radio station says Israeli aircraft attacked a vehicle, killing a member of Hamas. The Israelis say it was not a bomb but a shell from a tank that fired at armed men in the area.

ROBERTS: Protests in Iran this morning over a new government plan to ration gasoline. State radio is reporting attacks on several gas stations in Tehran and long lines as drivers race to fill up before a midnight deadline. Drivers in Iran are now limited to just 26 gallons of gasoline every month.

Cracking down on food processing plants in China. One hundred and eighty factories shut down after inspectors found dangerous industrial chemicals being used in popular food products. According to local media reports, formaldehyde, illegal dies and industrial wax were found in candy, pickles, crackers and seafood.

A road block right in front of the controversial immigration bill. Late last night, House Republicans voted overwhelmingly to oppose the plan backed by President Bush. Earlier yesterday the Senate voted to move ahead with debate on the issue.

CHETRY: Flood waters are rising again in Texas. A band of thunderstorms swept through the state yesterday. As much as five inches of rain fell in some places. More storms are forecast today in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

And also massive flooding across Oklahoma. Two teenage sisters rescued after their car stalled in bumper deep flood waters. There you see pictures of the rescue taking place. A local TV video showing a firefighter in a raft pulling the girls out of the back window one at a time. Both of them are doing OK today.

ROBERTS: Two minutes after the hour now. There was a do or die battle going on to save hundreds of homes from the fire in the Lake Tahoe area. Winds are expected to pick up. It could drive the fire into heavily populated neighborhoods. Firefighters are making a stand at Highway 89, which divides the homes from the advancing fire. Two thousand people have been forced to evacuate the area. Here's one dramatic shot that caught our eye this morning. Some people had just minutes to run from their homes with only the clothes on their backs. AMERICAN MORNING's Chris Lawrence is live for us south of Lake Tahoe in Meyers, California.

And, Chris, yesterday firefighters were hopeful they may be able to make some progress on this. It looks like it went the other way. CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly, John. The story right now isn't so much what's happening right this minute, but what that fire did yesterday and what it may do later this afternoon.

You know, firefighters have a lot of tactics they use to try to control a fire. One of them is called setting a backfire. What they do is they create smaller fires themselves. And what they hope to do is control them so that it burns off the fuel. And when the main blaze reaches that area, it just doesn't have as much to work with.

Yesterday one of those backfires got out of control. The winds whipped up a little bit in the afternoon. It sent some embers flying over Highway 89. It set at least one house on fire and threatened hundreds more once it got to that point. As you mentioned, 2,000 people were evacuated and firefighters were really working deep into the afternoon to try to get a handle on that blaze.

So far this fire has burned between four and five square miles. And it is about 44 percent contained. But we were walking through these neighborhoods talking to firefighters all day. And although they were very much concentrated on what they were doing, you kept hearing them say things like, we've got to get the handle on it right here before those winds kick up Wednesday, or we've really got to protect these homes before Wednesday's winds get here. So there is a real feeling, I think, among some of them that today could be a very good indicator of whether this fire has done its worst or whether it will continue to put a lot of homes and firefighters' lives in danger.

ROBERTS: Chris, as we saw in the last couple of days, there were some problems with aerial bombardment because of the amount of smoke that was in the air reducing the visibility. How is the visibility looking for today?

LAWRENCE: Right now it is a little bit better than it was yesterday. Still a little bit hazy, but nothing like we saw yesterday. You know, before those winds whipped up in the afternoon, I mean, there were places where you couldn't see more than, you know, 30, 40 feet in front of you.

ROBERTS: All right. Chris Lawrence for us in Meyers, California.

Chris, we'll get back to you a little bit later on this morning.

Fire and floods, boy, what a combination. Chad Myers tracking the extreme weather from the CNN Weather Center.

Chad, it's just, you know, Sodom and Gomorrah all over again today.

(WEATHER REPORT)

CHETRY: A changing of the guard in the U.K. today. This is Tony Blair's last day as Britain's prime minister. In the next two hours, he'll be visiting the queen at Buckingham Palace to officially resign. CNN's Robin Oakley is outside of 10 Downing Street in London right now. A lot of people talking about what's next for the future, not only of Britain, but also the United States when it comes to Iraq.

Hi, Robin.

ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.

Well, certainly when Gordon Brown takes over, we shouldn't expect any very dramatic changes as far as the policy in Iraq is concerned. Remember that as chief finance minister, the chancellor of the exchequer, Gordon Brown has provided the money for the British operations in Iraq. He's been asked a series of questions by the readers of the independent newspaper in Britain today about Iraq. First one was, with hindsight, did he regret the war in Iraq? A one word answer from Gordon Brown. No, he didn't.

But he knows that Tony Blair has been forced out of office early largely because of policy in Iraq, so the tone is changing. He does say in answers to these questions that, for example, the planning for Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein was wrong and that they need to learn lessons from that.

But as for any early return of British troops, well, Mr. Brown, himself, went to see the British troops in Basra two or three weeks ago. He said then that it was not the time to talk about numbers. Britain had made promises to its allies and to the people of Iraq and to the United Nations and those promises would be kept. He talks about bringing the troops home after their job has been done.

Kiran.

CHETRY: What about Tony Blair's future now. Expecting to be named Middle East envoy. How's that being received?

OAKLEY: Well, I think there's some question marks about Tony Blair as a Middle East envoy, because a lot of Arab nations don't rate him very highly because of the Iraq War, because of his slowness to condemn the Israeli bombing of Lebanon last summer. He doesn't get on with all Arab leaders, by any mean, but people do respect his long- term commitment to the idea that peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis is the key to any wider peace in the Middle East. And certainly Tony Blair has devoted a lot of effort to that up until now. And that seems to be what his future is going to be.

Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. Sounds like a lot going on behind you. Are those helicopters?

OAKLEY: Those are helicopters indeed. They'll be watching him in the car going all the way to Buckingham Palace to hand in his resignation. And Gordon Brown, afterwards, to take up his new job.

Kiran.

CHETRY: All right. In a couple of hours from now, Tony's heading to Buckingham Palace.

Robin Oakley, thank you.

ROBERTS: Time now to check on some other big stories with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents. We begin with Alina Cho and some bizarre, new details in the deaths of professional wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their young son.

Alina.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Bizarre is right, John.

Authorities say Chris Benoit suffocated his wife and their seven- year-old son, placed Bibles next to their bodies, and then hung himself a day later. He also sent a series of bizarre text messages. We will have all the details on this story, John, in our next half hour.

ROBERTS: Alina, thanks. We'll see you then.

More trouble for Northwest Airlines today. More flights canceled. Ali Velshi is watching that story.

Ali.

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John.

Northwest has canceled more than 825 flights since Friday. It canceled more than 200 yesterday. Look at this chart. Friday, 7 percent of flights were canceled. All the way to yesterday, 14.3 percent of flights canceled. It says it's because of delays caused by bad weather earlier in the month because flight crews have reached their legal flying limits. The pilots say that's not the case.

The bottom line is that if you're flying Northwest this week, you're out of luck. Northwest has refused to do the right thing by waiving fees and penalties for people who want to change their flights.

John.

ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Ali.

CHETRY: Just unbelievable.

And another story we're following right now. Jacki Schechner, she's following all the buzz about Apple's iPhone. It's coming on sale on Friday.

The anticipation is huge, but is it all hype? What are you hearing, Jacki?

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the early reviews, Kiran, are in and it seems to be like this thing is living up to its reputation. We're going to check in online with the people who have time to wait online and the people who are figuring out other ways to get their hands on one of these coveted iPhones without having to give up that valuable work time, Kiran. So we'll show you what people are doing right there in New York where you are and elsewhere around the country.

CHETRY: That's hilarious. You have a countdown clock right there on the iPod. Two days, 11 hours 40 minutes and 53 seconds.

SCHECHNER: And this wasn't the only one, Kiran. We found several of these online. So people are definitely anticipating the iPhone. We'll show you the crazy stuff that people are doing for it.

ROBERTS: Who's campaigning more for the iPhone demo, Jacki or Ali? We've got a competition going on.

CHETRY: A dead heat right now. They should have countdown clocks on their laptops.

All right. Thanks, Jacki.

ROBERTS: Another Republican senator is breaking ranks from the White House and calling for a change in policy over the war in Iraq. Ohio Senator George Voinovich says he sent a letter to the president urging him to start removing troops.

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SEN. GEORGE VOINOVICH, (R) OHIO: We're running out of time. And I don't think it's fair to the next administration to say, hey, by the way, we're leaving this baby for you guys to figure out. And I don't think the American people are going to put up with it.

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ROBERTS: Voinovich's appeal came just a day after Indiana Republican Senator Richard Lugar called for change. Both serve on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

CHETRY: The wife of a presidential candidate defending her husband on national TV. Elizabeth Edwards confronting conservative commentator Ann Coulter during a TV appearance last night. Edwards asked the political pundit to "stop the personal attacks." She was referring to Coulter's comments the day before when Coulter said she wished Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards had been killed by terrorists. Coulter responded to Edwards' request with a laugh.

ROBERTS: CNN is devoting the day to our "Uncovering America" series with a focus on gay Americans. A new CNN/Opinion poll has just been released. Fifty-six percent of those polled say homosexuals cannot change their sexual orientation. That's up from 46 percent in 2001 who said sexual orientation cannot be changed. In 1998, only 36 percent said it couldn't be changed.

The poll also asked what caused homosexuality. Forty-two percent said upbringing and environment, 39 percent said it was something that you're born with. Nurture wins out over nature in this CNN poll.

CHETRY: A waiting game for Lewis Scooter Libby topping your "Quick Hits" now. The former chief of staff to Vice President Cheney could learn as early as today if he's headed to jail. Libby has asked that his two and a half year sentence in the CIA leak case be put on hold during the appeals.

And an air and sea search taking place off the coast of Oregon for the pilot of an F-15 fighter jet. It went down in a training mission over the Pacific. That plane was from the Oregon Air National Guard and the pilot was the only one on board.

A Humvee filled with U.S. troops comes under attack. And it's all filmed by one of the soldiers. It's as close as you'll probably ever get to the dangers of Iraq and we're going to see it and hear it next on AMERICAN MORNING.

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CHETRY: Well, we have some amazing video out of Iraq and the soldier who took that video is here to explain it. First of all, let's take a look. This is what it shows -- really what it's like to live through an IED attack. There you hear it. Soldiers from Fort Richardson in Alaska were driving in their Humvee, this was south of Baghdad, when it happened. And amazingly, nobody was seriously hurt. Army Specialist Randall Townsend was the man behind the camera. Specialist Townsend joins us now from Baghdad.

Thanks for being with us this morning.

SPEC. RANDALL TOWNSEND, U.S. ARMY: Hi, Kiran. Thank you for having me.

CHETRY: Well, you guys were lucky because we've seen this end tragically on so many different occasions when these IEDs take the lives of our troops. What happened there?

TOWNSEND: We were real fortunate. We were traveling into the Arab-Debor (ph) area. And as we got outside of Camp Token (ph), we came across the IED. When the IED hits, it just took a second of instinct for all of our training to come back to us. And the driver started calling out "IED, IED." The passenger on the other side was calling it up to headquarters, just letting them know what happened. And a cloud of smoke came through the Humvee, kind of like a heavy fall (ph). And we realized we were all OK and we just sprang into action after that.

CHETRY: Now, were you able to see it -- when you say he was calling out "IED," could you see it before it actually went off?

TOWNSEND: No. No, we couldn't. Unfortunately, we didn't get eyes on it. And it just hit us without notice at all.

CHETRY: And are you guys trained -- obviously you're trained to try to spot these as best you can, but the tactics of the insurgents, of course, change as well as it goes. Do you feel like you're getting everything that you need to be able to defend against these types of attacks?

TOWNSEND: Oh, exactly. We were so fortunate that we were in an up armored Humvee that it was probably able to absorb the majority of the blast. We had our body armor on, our Kevlar on. I know we were all wearing our eye-pro, our protective glasses, our earplugs and gloves and extra equipment. We were just fortunate to have all that stuff on when we were out there. We wear it every time we go, but it's just a good thing to have.

CHETRY: So if you guys do have all of that, and your vehicles and your Humvees have been retrofitted, why do we see so many casualties with the improvised explosive devices and the new ones, the EFPs that are possibly coming from Iran?

TOWNSEND: Well, as I suppose, unfortunately, they're starting to catch on to how much our Humvees can withstand and they're just making their IEDs and homemade explosives a little bit bigger and with more power behind them.

CHETRY: Yes. Well, thanks for showing us the video. We get a look at what you guys go through every single day, putting your lives on the line there every single day. And we're glad that this one turned out OK.

Thank you so much for joining us, though. Army Specialist Randall Townsend from Baghdad.

TOWNSEND: Thank you very much, Kiran.

ROBERTS: An unruly airline passenger is facing federal charges this morning. A Delta Comair flight from New York to Greensboro, North Carolina, made an emergency landing in Philadelphia on Tuesday afternoon. Authorities say the passenger was angry about service on the plane and went after a flight attendant.

Connecticut's governor has vetoed a bill that would have granted in-state college tuition rates to children of illegal immigrants. The measure would have helped some 200 students who have been already accepted to college.

The final countdown is on. The iPhone mania, it's everywhere. But if you want one, are you going to run into a busy signal? We're taking a look next on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. The most news in morning is on CNN.

Coming up to 23 minutes after the hour.

Some new video from London this morning. Tony Blair leaving number 10 Downing Street for the last time, going over to the British parliament to take questions for the very last time. It's his last day as prime minister. Gordon Brown is going to take over by the end of this day. And we're going to check back in throughout the morning.

From London, we go to South Carolina and you're "Quick Hits." He's still not an official candidate, but Fred Thompson sure looks like he's on a campaign swing. These are pictures from an event in Nashville tonight. Thompson headlines have sold out fund-raisers for the Republican Party of South Carolina.

Barack Obama is backing off from some comments that he made about his rival Hillary Clinton. Obama says he was not questioning her qualifications to be president when he said, the only person who was probably prepared to be president on day one is Bill Clinton, not Hillary Clinton.

And a new poll shows that America's youngest voters are paying attention to the presidential race and are favoring the Democrats. "The New York Times" poll found that 54 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds said they would vote for a Democrat in the '08 election. Fifty-eight percent said they're already paying attention to the race.

CHETRY: You know what else people are paying attention to and that's looking to Friday when the iPhone finally, finally makes its debut.

ROBERTS: There are a number of people here at this desk who are looking forward to that.

CHETRY: Yes, exactly. And one of them is actually at the desk in D.C. It's Jacki Schechner. We're 48 hours away now from the debut of this iPhone, Jacki. And a lot of people are asking, will I be able to get one? And is it all it's cracked up to be? So what's the buzz?

SCHECHNER: Well, the reviews are that it's good. That it's really good. So that's a good thing to know.

As for whether or not you're going to be able to get one, you're going to have to wait in line. The stores are going to open for them at 6:00 p.m. But people have already started.

I want to show you Greg Packer (ph). He is not only the first guy online, but he's also online with a blog. He is waiting in New York, not far from you guys. You can go check him out.

What's also interesting to note is that -- this is Greg right here, right, and here's his friend, the second guy in line. The third guy in line is a guy named David Clayman (ph). He, too, has a blog and he and Greg have become friends. I know this because on his inventory list he says he's borrowed a lawn chair from Greg Packer. So they're all keeping tabs on their progress online.

There's also another website we found where you can plug in what the wait is like where you are. So where you are in line, what the weather's like, what city you're in and Greg Packer's actually on that list. So you can check it out before you go and wait in line. If you don't have time to wait in line, go to domystuff.com and get people to bid on waiting in line for you. We also found . . .

CHETRY: Oh, Jacki, this is hysterical.

SCHECHNER: Oh, I'm sorry. Go ahead.

CHETRY: No, I'm just -- I can't believe it. First of all, a lot of these people are so Internet savvy. Why wouldn't they order the iPhone online instead of sitting there.

SCHECHNER: Oh, I think that people really just want to be the first in line. I don't know that you can order it online, frankly. I don't know that there are reserve copies. But what I wanted to tell you, that people definitely on Craig's List, all these community sites are willing to wait in line if you want to pay them for that. So your money's put to good use.

And, Kiran, I just want to show you real quickly. I thought this was the funniest thing. The guy doesn't want an iPhone. He wants the box. He says for a good prank. Is this the worst friend ever?

CHETRY: That is funny. You know, I'm checking on the website to see if you can -- I thought I heard you could get them online as well. But you probably have to wait a lot longer than if you just head to the store to get one. Hopefully no stampede.

ROBERTS: These, of course, are all the same people that stand in line for "Star Wars" films, I'm sure.

SCHECHNER: Definitely techies. Definitely techies.

ROBERTS: Thanks, Jacki. See you soon.

One of the more popular stories on cnn.com this morning. More than 40 years after police in Mayberry, Andy Griffith is the star of an independent film. Griffith is getting rave reviews for his portrayal of a cranky diner owner in "Waitress" starring Keri Russell.

Bizarre new details in a triple murder tragedy -- or triple tragedy, rather. This morning we're learning more about the death of a professional wrestler who hanged himself after killing his own wife and child. The big question, though, why? AMERICAN MORNING is coming right back.

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CHETRY: Well, these are some chopper shots. Remember out of London today when we were talking to Robin Oakley about Prime Minister Tony Blair's last day, we heard the sound of the choppers over top of him at 10 Downing. And now we're seeing some of the beautiful pictures, including Big Ben there in the bottom right of your screen, the 316-foot clock tower.

ROBERTS: Yes, they're following Tony Blair from number 10 Downing Street over to parliament, where he will have his last question and answer session of his prime ministership. So a big day for him.

CHETRY: Then to Buckingham Palace after parliament for two hours from now, meeting with Queen Elizabeth as well.

Well, it is Wednesday, June 27th.

I'm Kiran Chetry, along with John Roberts.

Thanks so much for joining us this morning.

ROBERTS: Good morning to you.

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Time now to check on some other big stories with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents.

Alina Cho has the bizarre new details in the deaths of professional wrestler Chris Benoit, his wife and their son.

Alina, what are police saying?

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they are saying that just a day after we told you about the deaths of Chris Benoit and his family, we are learning that Benoit apparently asphyxiated his wife Nancy and their 7-year-old son Daniel. Authorities say he then placed bibles next to their bodies and waited a day before hanging himself with a pulley on a weight machine in his basement.

Now, Benoit was known as the "Canadian Crippler," one of the stars of professional wrestling, and a family man. Authorities found his body and those of his wife and son on Monday afternoon.

Police went to Benoit's home in Fayetteville, Georgia, after he missed two World Wrestling Entertainment events. Authorities tell CNN they found a lot of prescription drugs in his home, including anabolic steroids.

Now, authorities also say the son, who may have had some form of dwarfism, was taking growth hormones. Autopsies show all three died of asphyxiation.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will tell you that the wife was bound on her feet, and I think also on her wrists, that there was some blood under her head. As far as I know, those were the only signs of a struggle.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHO: Authorities are looking into whether Benoit lashed out as a result of taking steroids. But the WWE released a statement saying there is no evidence suggesting that, and took the media to task for speculating that the deaths could be the result of so-called roid rage.

But John, I can tell you that a source close to the investigation -- we've literally just gotten off the phone with them, and they did confirm to us that Benoit bought shipments of anabolic steroids and human growth hormones from a clinic in Orlando. Now, whether this played a role ultimately in what happened is still an open question.

ROBERTS: The next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING we're going to be talking with an ex-wrestler who took steroids, who does believe that they're involved. We'll get his take on that.

But no suicide note left at the scene, but all these bizarre text messages.

CHO: That's right. At least five of them, some sent to co- workers, possibly some sent to acquaintances. Most of them contained his address, but at least one talked about how the dogs were in the pool area, John, and about how the garage side door was open.

ROBERTS: All right. Thanks, Alina.

CHO: My pleasure.

CHETRY: Well, the Lake Tahoe fire continues to burn, and more rain in the forecast for Oklahoma and Texas. Our Chad Myers is tracking the extreme weather from the CNN weather center in Atlanta.

(WEATHER REPORT)

ROBERTS: Google is now putting its map service to good use. It wants to use it to help nonprofit groups help people around the world.

Internet reporter Jacki Schechner has got more on that.

Good morning, Jacki.

JACKI SCHECHNER, CNN INTERNET REPORTER: Good morning, John.

Recently we saw Google Earth partner with the U.S. Holocaust Museum to give us a really good look at the crisis in Darfur, to really bring this home and to put some faces, some video, some images, some stories behind the facts and figures that we're hearing. Well, now what they're doing is reaching out to other organizations and making it easier for nonprofits.

So coming up, I'm going to give you a little bit more information on who is using Google Earth for more than just looking at your own home -- John.

ROBERTS: All right, Jacki. Thanks. We'll see you soon.

SCHECHNER: Sure.

CHETRY: Jacki also covered the iPhone hype a bit ago, but now Ali has the bottom line about not just the phone of the phone, but the privilege to be able to use it.

Ali Velshi is here to explain this now.

What are we talking?

ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't know. But why is Jacki talking about Google? Can't she go back to those pictures of those nerds who are in line 60 hours ahead...

CHETRY: How hysterical, right? VELSHI: I mean, seriously. Now, clearly, they don't need to be listening to this, so those people can tune out.

For the rest of you who are regular humans, who might be considering why you want this iPhone, they've come out with the price plans for this thing. It's going to start at $59.99 for 450 minutes, $79.99 for the next one, which is 900 minutes. And then 1,350 minutes for $99.99. That gets you into a two-year contract with AT&T.

All of the plans come with the same stuff. Other than the minutes, they all have unlimited data usage, 200 text messages, rollover minutes, blah, blah, blah, visual, voice mail. Walter Mossberg from "The Wall Street Journal" says it's, you know, like a breakthrough computer. Others are warning that, you know what? There is no removal battery, it's got -- it's got some drawbacks.

Before you drop $500, $600 on the unit, plus the monthly fee, give it some good, hard thought. If you're already in line, it's probably too late to talk to you.

CHETRY: It's like a movie review. It's getting three and a half stars...

VELSHI: It is.

CHETRY: ... in "USA Today".

VELSHI: Very strange.

CHETRY: It is pretty odd.

And then the other question, can you get it online? I mean, when you go online to look for it, it says "Coming up." Can you not order until Friday?

VELSHI: There are offers -- people are offering money and people are offering to sell you their iPhone after they've got it. No one is getting it before 6:00 p.m. in every time zone on Friday afternoon.

There are a few models that have been given out to people for review. I suspect those are people who Apple was pretty sure was going to give it good reviews. And that's where it is right now.

I think if you were going to buy one in the early stages, just wait until there are more of these blogs and more reviews about how it's actually working.

CHETRY: Not bad. All right, Ali. Thanks.

VELSHI: OK.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Coming up to 44 minutes after the hour. There's been some controversy in the past about Google's mapping and satellite service, about who's using it and why. But the Internet giant is now launching a campaign to help nonprofit groups use Google Maps to help people around the world.

Internet reporter Jacki Schechner joins us now live with more.

I've seen some of this, Jacki. It looks terrific.

SCHECHNER: It's a really fabulous idea. We saw recently where Google Earth partnered with the U.S. Holocaust Museum to help document genocide in Darfur, and we thought this was really powerful at the time, to really give people some insight into what was going on on the ground.

If you see behind this photograph, the images that you're seeing there are actually the villages that have been damaged or destroyed. Well, now what Google Earth is doing is making it easier for other nonprofit organizations to really document their causes using satellite imagery.

They create these overlays, and what they're doing is using it to tell the stories in a more powerful, more engaging sort of way. The -- some of the examples that we have -- for example, a senior writer at "Nature" magazine was using it to document the cases of Avian Flu that were popping up across the world. You can see there the imagery as it shows. You can see how many cases are reported.

Another example, of course, the crisis in Darfur which was highly publicized, to really give you the faces, the imagery, the video, the on-the-ground perspective of the crisis. They're offering tutorials, they're offering guides. And for nonprofits, they're offering the chance to apply for a $400 grant which will give you more technical support, specifically from the people at Google Earth.

ROBERTS: And Jacki, it's not just people that Google is helping. Animals as well?

SCHECHNER: Well, the Jane Goodall Institute is using this. You can get a chimp's eye view of a chimpanzee reserve in Tanzania. It's also being used by the World Wildlife Federation to give you views of the Amazon, to give you a view of a giant panda habitat.

So it's all sort of imagery being used to show you what's happening all over the world, really from a top-down perspective, but to give you some insight -- John.

ROBERTS: All right. Jacki Schechner, thanks very much.

SCHECHNER: Sure.

ROBERTS: We'll see you again soon.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Welcome back to AMERICAN MORNING. Some "Quick Hits" now.

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Fifty minutes after the hour.

Bruce Willis hits the big screen today in "Live Free or Die Hard". This is number four in the "Die Hard" series. This time around Willis' character John McClane battles a computer-age villain bent on virtual terrorism.

Our own Lola Ogunnaike is here with her take on the film and with a look at some other aging action heroes.

So, was this just a paycheck for the new 52-year-old Bruce or is it a good movie?

LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You would think it was just a paycheck because you're thinking, what is he -- why is he doing another one? But it was actually so good. I'm telling you, this is going to be one of the biggest hits of the summer.

ROBERTS: Really?

OGUNNAIKE: I believe it. The action sequences are amazing. People were in the theaters cheering, clapping after all these moments.

ROBERTS: So as the Eagles reunion concert was for them, is this the start of a new franchise for Bruce Willis?

OGUNNAIKE: You know what? I predict a "Die Hard Five".

This -- this was really good, John. And I know -- maybe I'm not give you the energy that you need to let you know how good it was, but there are moments when cars are crashing, people are crouching in the theaters, waiting -- like, whoa, cars coming at me. It was -- it was really intense.

ROBERTS: OK. So as we said, Bruce Willis, 52 years old, but there's a couple of other action heroes out there. Sylvester Stallone is making a new movie.

OGUNNAIKE: He's a young buck.

ROBERTS: He's 60. Yes, Willis is the young one. He's 60. Harrison Ford doing another "Raiders of the Lost Ark". He'll be 65 next month.

OGUNNAIKE: He'll be AARP, eligible for Social Security. But you know...

ROBERTS: You start getting that mail when you turn 50. Let me tell you.

OGUNNAIKE: You don't look a day over 35, my love.

But you know what works? They have a built-in audience, people love these films. The first I heard was filmed in 1988. So, you know, people have grown up with these action heroes.

And what's so funny about this "Die Hard," they have Bruce Willis, a picture of him from the 1988 film. So he's got his hair back then. Now he's bald.

So it's kind of funny. He tweaks himself. He pokes fun at himself the entire time throughout the film. And I think that's -- that's what's great about this.

ROBERTS: This is great. You grew up with these action heroes, now you can grow old with them.

OGUNNAIKE: Exactly.

ROBERTS: Lola, thanks very much. We'll see you back here in a few minutes -- Kiran.

CHETRY: All right.

Well, a rare sit-down with two musical legends. That's what CNN's Larry King treated viewers to last night.

He talked to the surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, about the first anniversary of "LOVE," the Vegas show that's set to their music.

Larry asked them where they were when they learned that John Lennon had been killed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARRY KING, HOST: Where were you when John passed?

JOHN MCCARTNEY, MUSICIAN: When John passed, I was in Sussex, in my home in Sussex. That's where I was.

KING: Did somebody call you?

MCCARTNEY: Yes. My manager at the time called me, and it was just a shock of all shocks, you know.

RINGO STARR, MUSICIAN: I was in the Bahamas, and the kids called and they said, "We've heard something like John's been hurt." "What?"

And then we got a call that John had actually been seriously hurt. And we just got a plane to New York, said hello to Yoko. You know, you don't know what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Last night, McCartney and Starr attended a special dedication ceremony at the Mirage in Las Vegas in honor of John Lennon and George Harrison.

And a reminder. Tonight Larry King will have the first interview with Paris Hilton since her release from jail, 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

ROBERTS: Police say that steroids were found in the home of wrestler Chris Benoit. Coming up, we're going to talk with Dr. Sanjay Gupta about the link, possible link, between steroid use and violence.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Fifty-seven minutes after the hour.

The Fed meeting today to decide whether or not to adopt wholesale use of the iPhone.

Ali Velshi here "Minding Your Business".

Good morning, Ali.

VELSHI: Good morning.

ROBERTS: Did I get that right?

VELSHI: That was very good. That was very good, because you might think that the only story out there this week, or at least the big business story, is the iPhone.

There is actually one of them Fed meetings starting today. It's a biggie. It's a two-day meeting.

They're going to sit around and talk about interest rates for two whole days. And tomorrow afternoon, at about 2:00 Eastern, they're going to come out with some sort of decision.

No one really thinks that that decision is going to be to raise interest rates. You know, the Fed has to balance concerns about inflation and housing and all sorts of things.

Housing is not doing so great. I mean, we're six months into this year, we've not seen this recovery. Prices are lower than they were.

And the consumer, the almighty American consumer, those of you who are going to be in line for that iPhone, the consumers are starting to lose confidence.

You know, John, I know you tend to sort of take the things might be half empty sometimes with the economy view.

CHETRY: No.

VELSHI: Well, you've got some good company.

ROBERTS: I'm telling you, if you're a pessimist, things usually turn out better than you expected.

VELSHI: That's right. And that's what's happening. So I think this week is going to be interesting.

You know, you're going to see people waiting in line to spend $500 or $600 on an iPhone. And then you're going to see the fact that some people are a little concerned about the economy. Remember, this economy survives on the back of the American consumer. So we have to watch this very closely.

CHETRY: We will. And you will for us.

VELSHI: I totally will. But I'll be watching the iPhone a lot, too.

CHETRY: Yes, I know you will.

Poor BlackBerry, so ignored. No one loves you anymore.

VELSHI: So sad.

CHETRY: Ali, thank you.

The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.

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