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American Morning

Immigration Vote Today; Forty and Fit: Four Steps to Healthier Heart; Reaction to Paris Hilton; Edwards vs. Coulter

Aired June 28, 2007 - 07:59   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Storm zones. Wild weather and power outages in New York. Destructive flooding in the plains. The National Guard moves into Texas overnight as new storms threaten new trouble today.

Plus, the great bargain's last breath. The new fight that could kill a controversial immigration bill on this AMERICAN MORNING.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: And welcome. It is Thursday, June 28th.

I'm Kiran Chetry, along with John Roberts.

Glad you're with us today.

JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you.

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Back to that do-or-die vote on immigration, Brianna Keilar is live in Washington now and joins us with more on this.

And Brianna, this vote, I think more important than the one that was taken a couple of weeks ago which saw the bill temporarily die.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, John.

This vote in the Senate today, this is a make-or-break vote for immigration reform. It's not the final vote there in the Senate, but if proponents of this bill do not get the 60 votes they need today to keep immigration reform alive there in the Senate, it's entirely possible that this issue will be dead in the water, at least as far as this Congress is concerned.

But, you know, so far this bill has cleared quite a few hurdles. For instance, some amendments that would have stripped it of some of its key provisions like a path to legalization for an estimated 12 million immigrants here in the U.S. So we're going to be biting our nails ahead of this 10:30 vote this morning to see if immigration reform lives to see another day -- John.

ROBERTS: Senator Jeff Sessions told our Lou Dobbs last night that the vote is going to be a real squeaker. But let's say that it passes. Let's say they get the 60 votes. What's the next step?

KEILAR: Well, senators today, they would continue to duke it out over more amendments to the bill. Then it would go to a final vote. That could be tomorrow or Saturday.

But just to reiterate, if this reform package clears today's hurdle, it does not mean that it's a shoo-in to make it through the whole Senate. But say that the Senate does sign off, then immigration reform is off to the House, and, John, that is, of course, a whole other can of worms, because there is so much opposition in the House to this immigration reform package that's backed by President Bush, and that could very well scuttle the whole deal in the end -- John.

ROBERTS: Yes, definitely. If it manages to pass the Senate, it will have the stuffing beaten out of it in the House.

Brianna Keilar in Washington.

Brianna, thanks.

CHETRY: Well, some news for your health now. Taking four simple steps can save your life.

Our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, shows us how. We're talking about people in their 40s and 50s. Maybe they don't have a six pack, maybe they're carrying around the whole keg.

Is it too late?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: What are you trying to say here?

CHETRY: Not you. You're trim and slim.

GUPTA: Well, Kiran, this is possibly very important news for people who are in their 40s, around 45 particularly. You've got to pay attention to this.

You get to that age and you figure, you know what? The ship is sailed. I'm never going to get to that healthy lifestyle that everyone talks about. Well, you can get to that healthy lifestyle and it makes a difference, a huge difference, as it turns out.

There's a new study coming out trying to figure out whether some of these healthy lifestyles that we've talked about, what sort of difference they make longer term. They followed 15,000 people for about four years and asked them to adopt four specific things. I want to tell you what they are.

Number one -- you've heard these before -- eat five fruits and vegetables a day. Exercise for 2.5 hours a week. That's not too bad. Keep your body mass index under 30. Now, that still, incidentally, puts you in the overweight but not obese category. And stop smoking.

Now, what they found is that people who adopted these four things over a period of a couple of years started to dramatically reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by about 35 percent. So, if you're someone who has really never paid attention to your exercise or your diet and you think, you know, I don't know if it's going to make a difference now, it can and it does. Four pretty simple things, I think -- Kiran.

CHETRY: Yes, it's not bad. And it seems pretty easy, five fruits and vegetables a day, I mean, not counting French fries, of course. And stopping smoking.

And the exercise, it's not really that much exercise. But it still seems like it's hard to motivate people. If you're telling them that just small changes can make a difference, do you think that may be the tipping point?

GUPTA: Yes. You know, I think there's a couple of things.

First of all, to your point about not many people really adopting these things, in fact, that's what sort of struck me as well. Only about 8.5 percent of people right now actually do those four things, things that we've been told since we were kids to do.

I think what causes that tipping point is that people actually recognize that, hey, I do these things, they're not that hard, and I reduce my chance of having a heart attack or a stroke by close to 40 percent. I think that turns out to be pretty significant for a lot of people.

CHETRY: Wow.

GUPTA: And even as you get into your, you know, mid-40s, early 50s, you haven't done a lick of exercise your entire life, you've never really watched your diet, you start doing these things today, within a few years you dramatically decrease your risk of having any of those health-related problems.

CHETRY: Wow. So that just shows there is still help on the horizon.

Now, also, when it comes to smoking, if you're in your 40s and 50s, you've smoked for years, there are some people who say maybe it is just too late.

GUPTA: It isn't. And I think that's a very important point. Three things with regard to smoking: lung cancer risk, heart disease risk and stroke risk.

We know that as soon as you stop smoking, your risk of cancer starts to drop. Within a few years, you could actually make it so that you had actually never smoked. You can decrease your risk essentially back down to zero.

With regards to heart disease risk, after a year of not smoking you cut the heart disease risk in half. And within a couple years you completely eliminate your risk of stroke from smoking-related causes. So, it makes a difference the first time you quit, and as long as you just stay quit. CHETRY: That's the -- that's the challenge.

GUPTA: It's not easy sometimes. But yes, it's important.

CHETRY: Well, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thanks.

GUPTA: Thank you.

CHETRY: A reminder, by the way. This is Thursday. So we're going to turn to Dr. Gupta's mailbag.

You write in questions about some of the medical stories we cover and he answers them. So if you have is a question for Dr. Gupta, go to cnn.com/americanmorning. E-mail us your questions. And Sanjay will be coming back in the next half hour to answer some of them for you.

ROBERTS: What did Hollywood think of the new improved, more mature Paris Hilton?

Our Brooke Anderson talked to some people as they were watching Larry King's exclusive interview. Here's what she found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BROOKE ANDERSON, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Paris Hilton arrived for her Larry King interview a changed woman.

Her hair was longer. She added extensions to her blond locks the day she got out of jail. But she told King the changes were more than physical.

PARIS HILTON, RECENTLY RELEASED FROM JAIL: I have a new outlook on life.

ANDERSON: Along one L.A. boulevard where Paris is known to shop, many people remain skeptical.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Paris Hilton is not going to change nothing. Paris Hilton is Paris Hilton. And she's not going to change at all. I don't think so.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, she doesn't have to change. She can afford not to.

ANDERSON: At this Hollywood eatery, they kept the monitors tuned to the interview. Some of what Paris said was greeted with disbelief.

HILTON: I suffer from claustrophobia.

ANDERSON: Others were impressed with her demeanor.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Se looks kind of humble. She's playing the role just fine.

ANDERSON: The folks at "People" magazine got their own interview with Paris, but even they were watching Larry King.

MIKE FLEEMAN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: She described jail as like a bad summer camp -- the food wasn't so good, the room was too small, she got really upset at first, but then she got over it.

ANDERSON: Back at the Hollywood eatery, some patrons were not wowed when Paris read from her jailhouse journal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sure the first 24 hours was, oh, my god, I can't believe this is happening to me.

ANDERSON: But at the Hollywood premiere of "Transformers," her fellow stars responded well to Paris' pledge to do charity work.

JON VOIGHT, ACTOR: I'm rooting for her. And I think that's a very exciting thing.

ANDERSON: But with Paris promising to change the focus of her life, what about the paparazzi, who have made a living following her around town?

(on camera): Are you worried that you won't get that money shot of Paris going to clubs or going to shop at a certain store if she's -- if she's not doing that anymore?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, because I'll get her doing the charitable stuff.

ANDERSON (voice over): It seems the photographers' motto may be, we'll always have Paris.

Brooke Anderson, CNN, Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And what impression did Larry King get from Paris Hilton behind the scenes? We asked him, and we'll show you that just a little bit later on this hour.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards says he is very proud of his wife. Earlier this week, Elizabeth Edwards called MSNBC's "Hardball" program to talk with conservative pundit Ann Coulter. Coulter has made several controversial remarks about John Edwards in past.

Here is a bit of the exchange from the other day.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANN COULTER, COMMENTATOR: The wife of a presidential candidate is calling in and asking me to stop speaking?

ELIZABETH EDWARDS, JOHN EDWARDS' WIFE: Wait until I finish talking, please.

CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST, "HARDBALL": Let her finish the point. Let her finish the point.

COULTER: You're asking me to stop speaking. Stop writing your columns, stop writing your books.

MATTHEWS: Ann, please.

COULTER: OK.

EDWARDS: You had a column several years ago which made fun of Charlie Dean's (ph) death and suggested that my husband had a bumper sticker on the back of his car that said, "Ask me about my dead son."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTS: Well, Mrs. Edwards joins us this morning from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Elizabeth, good to see you.

The first question here, and I'm curious, why did you make the call and not your husband?

EDWARDS: Well, because it wasn't a campaign call. It was a call as a citizen, as a mother.

I didn't talk to John about -- about calling Ann Coulter. I got on the phone when I was watching her. I knew to suspect that she was going to say something, because she said something the day before or the day before that on ABC.

So I was listening to see. It was a call-in show. And I thought, I'll get the number. And if she does it again, I'm going to do what I think a lot of Americans want to hear somebody do, and that is to ask her to stop doing it.

It debases our political dialogue.

ROBERTS: So this was a surprise to him. You called inaudible (ph) on this one. But I'm wondering, was it a mistake to...

EDWARDS: Well, the campaign knew because I got the...

ROBERTS: Oh, OK.

EDWARDS: The campaign knew because I got the number. I'm sorry.

ROBERTS: Was it a mistake to respond? Do you not elevate her by doing something like this? I mean, her takeaway from this is she knows she got to you. EDWARDS: Well, I mean, I don't think she got -- in that way she didn't get to me, except the way all of the people on the left and the right who engage in hate language get to me. But the -- it obviously -- silence wasn't making a difference with this woman. Obviously having her column pulled from various newspapers the last time she did this isn't going to make a difference.

Now -- and maybe sometimes -- people always say, when you want somebody to vote for you, you have to remember to ask them to vote for you. And maybe when you want somebody to stop, maybe you need to remember to at least ask them to stop.

ROBERTS: Mrs. Edwards, the line that put you over the edge, the one that's highlighted on your Web site, is what Ann Coulter said the other day on ABC -- "If I'm going to say anything about John Edwards in the future, I'll just wish he'd been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."

She claims, though, and if you look at the overall statement, that she was parodying something that Bill Maher said about Dick Cheney and that she's being taken out of context.

EDWARDS: Well, I don't know what Bill Maher said, and I didn't see it. I did see this, as did a number of people, because she said it on national television.

And I have to say, I listen to a lot of what Ann Coulter says, and not very much of the factual recitations are accurate. So I wouldn't put my money on her correct statement about what Bill Maher said. But she has to take responsibility for what she says. You know? And we honestly have sto take responsibility for allowing it to happen.

In the South, we made a difference when we stood up against racist language when decent people said, I want you to stop. Eventually -- it didn't happen right away, and it hasn't happened completely, but part of the civil dialogue in the South does not include racist language in the way it used to because we spoke out.

ROBERTS: Last night your husband spoke out about this. He called Ann Coulter "a crazy," said that she engages in hateful craziness.

Does he not descend to her level of name-calling when he does that?

EDWARDS: I think that he probably regrets that language, but I watched that whole show and heard the conservative radio host later -- I can't recall his name -- using almost the same language, saying that this was -- she was fringe, didn't represent people who were talking intelligently about the subjects. So, I mean, he probably regrets that exact word. But essentially, the same message was sent by someone who was, in fact, defending her.

ROBERTS: And Mrs. Edwards, one other thing I've got to ask you about here. You're both attacking Ann Coulter, complaining about what she said, but then on your Web site you are using it as a fund-raising tool.

Are you on the edge of a double standard here?

EDWARDS: Well, when we ask people to reject the kind of politicking and the kind of discussion of politics, we say, this is what we're asking you to reject and this is what we're asking to embrace -- ideas, visions, a positive discussion. And frankly, I want people to be engaged in the process.

I'd like them to be engaged with John, because I think he has the most comprehensive plans on health care and poverty and global warming, but the truth of the matter is, I want them to be engaged in the process generally, not to be repelled by this kind of language. So yes, we're asking people to make a choice. And honestly, I think the stronger we make that choice, whether it's through this campaign or by telephone calls or letters to offending speakers or stations that sponsor them, the more impact we're going to have on the political dialogue.

ROBERTS: Elizabeth Edwards, it's always good to talk to you. Thanks for taking the time this morning from Chapel Hill.

EDWARDS: It's always great to be with you, John.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: AAA is estimating there's going to be 41.1 million Americans who will leave home this week for the Fourth of July holiday.

AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho is here with some of the things you should know about making sure you have a safe trip.

It's interesting that they're going to have so many people, because it's a Wednesday this year.

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, but a lot of people are going to be out there on vacation this week, Kiran, you know. And so, with so many people hitting the roads, rails and skies this coming week, there's a lot you should know before you take off on that summer vacation.

Now, some things are obvious, like don't carry a lot of cash and dress like the locals. But there are other things you may not know, and you should. It could keep you out of danger when the goal is to have fun.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHO (voice over): It's a busy week for the Bodenstein (ph) family. Mom Liz is packing for a family of five, and everyone is going off in different directions. Thirteen-year-old twins Adam and Nathan are going to Massachusetts for summer camp. Fifteen-year-old Amanda is headed West with a tour group to see the sights. And mom and dad are traveling to Europe for a two-week holiday. They've been on family vacations together, and every time Liz has words of advice for the kids.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Think before you act. You know? And be responsible. And don't go off with anybody that you don't know.

CHO: That's rule number one. Adopt the buddy system.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Always, wherever you are, in the water, taking a walk, going to the movies, whatever you are doing, is to have a buddy.

CHO: Heading to the beach? Watch out for rip currents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People tend to panic and try to struggle against the tide. It's actually safer to swim parallel to the shore until you're free of the current.

CHO: We hear about shark attack, but sand may be a bigger threat, a death trap. A shocking new study in the "New England Journal of Medicine" says since 1985, at least 20 Americans, mostly young boys, have died from falling in holes hidden in the sand.

And don't forget this checklist. Take prescription medications with you. Refills may not be available at your destination. Bring recent photos of the family in case someone gets lost.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHO: Tell someone where you're going. And, of course, pack a sense of adventure, that's the final one.

Now, Liz says the idea of everyone going off in different directions is a little unsettling, so she's told her teenage daughter Amanda, who she calls boy crazy, to stay away from strangers. The twin boys, Adam and Nathan, well, they're at an age where cleanliness is an issue. So she's told them to make sure they shower and brush their teeth.

Now, that brushing part, by the way, is always a fight.

Soon everyone will be off. They're leaving tomorrow. And by the weekend, the whole family will be at their respective holiday destinations, Kiran. And hopefully each and every one will be prepared.

CHETRY: That's part of summer.

You have a couple of other things you may not have thought about.

CHO: That's right. You know, familiarize yourself with the area. Buy a guide book, or just walk around when you get there. That will help you, and you won't look so much like a foreigner. Also, take a business card of the hotel you're staying at, because when you're out and about, you may not speak the language. If you get lost, that will help you get back to your hotel.

And finally, something you and I don't do very often at all, wear comfortable shoes.

CHETRY: See, because, you're right...

CHO: When you're out there sightseeing and you don't have comfortable shoes, there's really nothing worse than that. You'll end up spending the money and buying shoes when you get there. So take them with you.

CHETRY: See, you're so sweet. You didn't burn me and tell everybody I have the Crocs off to the side, and I only wear the heels when we're on.

CHO: No, they look good. That's the thing.

CHETRY: But you, however, keep your heels on all day. I got to give you credit for that one.

CHO: I do.

CHETRY: Alina, thank you.

CHO: Sure.

CHETRY: John.

(NEWSBREAK)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: The immigration bill faces a do-or-die vote in the Senate later this morning. And everyone involved says that it is really too close to call right now. Republican South Carolina Senator Jim Demint is one of the senators who is hoping that the bill dies today, and he joins us from Capitol Hill. Thanks for being with us.

In about two hours, Senator, you guys are all going to take it up again. And it's been hung up right now on some of those procedural measures. Why not just let it get through, and then debate it after we see exactly what form the bill has taken?

SEN. JIM DEMINT (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: Well, this bill has become a real war between the American people and their government, and the process has caused a loss of confidence in the government. The Senate has taken something up in such a way that we don't even know what we're voting on. We voted on over a 100-page amendment yesterday that was still warm from the copiers, and there was only one copy in the chambers. So they're trying to rush something through that's not good policy, and the process is even worse. So some of us are trying to use the procedures to slow this thing down so we can see what we've got. But this is a key vote today. It's a vote to try to stop this bill hopefully for a while until the government can prove that it will enforce the law that we already have on the books.

CHETRY: So there are many of you who are adamantly opposed to it and want this (INAUDIBLE), but there were some Republicans who were on the fence. They actually did approve going to this next round of debate and now are on the fence about the situation, basically because of the amendments.

DEMINT: Yes, many have changed their mind. We got some announcements last night.

CHETRY: Were you lobbying these senators to change their mind?

DEMINT: We were talking to them. I wouldn't use lobbying. But I think they see that the bill is not going to be allowed to be changed by those who put it together. And these amendments that are being thrown at it have been regularly changed. It's been a moving target the whole time, and the legislation is just too complicated to do it in this fashion.

So I think a lot of people will vote against the proceeding today just because of the process and how unfair it has been and how much in the dark it's been.

CHETRY: This has been President Bush's top domestic priority right now. He's spent a lot of time pushing this bill. Are you disappointed that that's what his focus has been domestically?

DEMINT: Well, yes, I'm disappointed. I know the president wants to solve a problem. And we do have is a problem with illegal immigration. But we can't ask America to trade security for amnesty. People feel like we're giving our country away. And they want us to enforce the law.

The reason America is so much more prosperous than other nations that these folks are coming from is that we have enforced our law and we stand by the rule of law. People feel like we're losing that, and they want us to go back to the basics. They want us to protect what it means to be an American. And they want us to create a legal immigration system that works for the best interests of America.

CHETRY: I mean, congressional approval ratings are at an all- time low. I think they're about 14 percent at the last poll. A lot of people just feel like you guys just aren't getting it done. So if there already are laws on the books to enforce immigration, why isn't that happening?

DEMINT: Well, I think you made a good point. This is not a good time for Congress to try to push a big issue down the throats of the American people. And one of the reasons that confidence is at an all- time low is because of this immigration bill. Congress is clearly not listening to the American people. So we need to stop this process. We need to get back to the things that America wants, like how do we get every American insured with health insurance? How do we save Social Security? How do we fix our tax code? I think the American people are really frustrated that we're working on something like this, instead of the things that they know need to be done.

CHETRY: Well, we know where you stand on the issue. We'll see if your fellow Republicans who were on the fence follow suit in about two hours. But we want to thank you, Senator Jim Demint, out of South Carolina for joining this morning.

DEMINT: Thank you, Kiran.

ROBERTS: Thirty-five minutes after the hour. Time now to open Dr. Gupta's mailbag, as we do every Thursday morning.

CHETRY: He's standing by. You e-mail your questions, and Dr. Gupta answers some of them.

And our first one comes from Stacey in Nebraska. "During the piece on chronic illness in children, you mentioned ADHD. Have any specific causes for this attention deficit hyperactivity disorder been identified?"

What do you say, Dr. Gupta?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Stacey, thanks. There hasn't been a specific gene or something like that identified, or a specific brain abnormality on a scan or something. We do know that genetics do appear to play a role, though. About 25 percent of children who have ADHD also have a close relative who has it as well. There also appears to be environmental factors, certain food additives, like if your parents smoke, for example, during pregnancy, that could be a role as well. Children who live at higher levels in buildings where there's more lead, this is also something that's being looked at. So it really appears to be a combination of environmental and genetic factors.

ROBERTS: Our next question, Sanjay, is about the importance of keeping our weight down, something we always talk about a lot, but for a lot of folks it's easier, said than done, me included.

Vijay from New Jersey asks, "I want to reduce my weight and I'm doing regular exercise also. But there is no improvement. Could you please provide some advice on this."

Where's the magic pill, Sanjay?

GUPTA: Yes, I know, I wish. One little pill you could just get rid of all that weight Vijay.

You know, look, this is probably one of the most common questions we get. One thing I try to never do is sound preachy, because everyone has problems with weight from time to time. It is a simple formula for the most part -- burn more calories than you actually consume. But it is a little bit more nuanced than that as well. So, Vijay, for you, for example, perhaps if you're someone who focuses on aerobic activity, add some strength training, add some resistance training, this appears to make a huge difference, for example. This appears to make a huge difference for example. Change your diet. If you're eating, for example, a day, a lot of people eat only one or two, but if you're eating three, try and eat even more. Try to snack a little bit, but eat smaller meals in between. Try to keep those as healthy as possible.

But that strength training really seems to make a huge the difference. And I wrote the book "Chasing Life," going around the country, talking about adding some upper-body resistance training. People really love that and it seems to make a huge difference.

CHETRY: And also protecting your bones, especially for women in their 40s and 50s. When you lift weights, it helps.

GUPTA: Yes, exactly. Warding off osteoporosis, possibly warding off pneumonia later in life, improving your posture, which is something we could all use a little bit of. So that would be my best recommendation here, Vijay.

CHETRY: Well, finally, we have Beth in North Carolina, who wants to know, at what age girls should be given the HPV vaccine, the Gardisil. She writes, "I've been taking in a lot of the information that's been presented on Gardisil. If I remember correctly, your recommendations are not before 11 and usually not after 14."

GUPTA: You know, Beth, this is something I think about a lot. I have two daughters myself. The way the studies were conducted, they actually looked at girls between the ages of 9 and then up to the age of 26. What they were specifically trying to get at was to try and target women -- or girls before they become sexually active. And it's hard to believe that it is actually that young, but in fact it is.

What they sort of came down on was right around the age that your daughter is now, Beth, around the age of 11, or the best time to get the Gardisil. It protects against two strains of human papilloma virus, the HPV, and those cause about 70 percent of cervical cancer. So it's one of the best vaccines that we have. When my daughters get to that age, I'll probably give it to them as well.

ROBERTS: Sanjay, thanks for all that.

GUPTA: Thank you.

ROBERTS: And a reminder that we do this every Thursday with Dr. Gupta. So if you've got a question for Sanjay, go to CNN.com/americanmorning, follow the links and e-mail us your questions.

(NEWSBREAK)

CHETRY: Well, he got the exclusive interview and now Larry King is talking to us about Paris Hilton. We had a chance to catch with Larry to see what he thought about how it went. Straight ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Well, there you have a look at Uncle Sam, the bald eagle who is the only bald eagle licensed to travel around in between states. He's on a tour to promote the idea that the Department of the Interior is reproving the bald eagle from the endangered species list. They'll still remain threatened, but from a low of 417 nesting pairs in 1967 to now 10,000 nesting pairs, the eagle is strong enough that it can be removed from the list.

We're going to go outside down into Central Park in just a little while to meet Sam up close and personal and tell you more about this.

CHETRY: He is gorgeous. I wonder if he travels with that flag, because that's a great backdrop for him.

ROBERTS: He can do whatever he wants. You ever seen a bald eagle up close?

CHETRY: I will in a few minutes.

ROBERTS: They are not small birds.

CHETRY: Well, last night Paris Hilton gave her first TV interview since getting out of jail. Larry King had the exclusive, and afterwards I asked him to give his impressions of Hilton.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LARRY KING, CNN HOST: She was very, very nervous. And then I think she was contrite, but also perplexing. And I say that in that she's sorry she did what she did, but she doesn't think what she did was criminal. And she doesn't think the court treats her fairly, but she learned a lot from the prison experience.

You think you got a raw deal? Do you?

PARIS HILTON: Yes, I do.

CHETRY: She's not that dazzling of a creature, I guess you could say, or that robust of a personality that you would think she would garner as much attention as she does. So it's curious.

KING: Correct. I would not call her a robust personality. She's an attractive, certainly very attractive, smart, nice girl, you know.

CHETRY: Do you think you have any clearer picture of why there seems to be such a fascination with Paris Hilton? Because there clearly is one.

KING: That's a great question. The answer is, she doesn't know it, and I don't know it.

HILTON: I moved to New York when I was 16 and I started modeling. And ever since then.

KING: So you have now become used to the fact that you have no privacy.

HILTON: yes, I thing it definitely comes with the territory.

KING: Why people would run down the street to -- let's say you can't say she does nothing, because she does have successful businesses. She's recorded. She's doing movies. She's in the fifth year of a television show. She's doing something right.

But I mean, this -- it ain't brain surgery. It's unbelievable. You know what I mean? I mean, this is an example of what is pop culture. In other words, what is pop culture of the year 2007 is Paris Hilton.

Now, pop culture of the '60s were the Beatles, who I had on Tuesday night. Look at the difference. But she's the pop culture of 2007. The Beatles are explainable; Paris Hilton is not.

CHETRY: I think you really summed it up. That's the best way to put it.

Larry, it's great to talk to you, as always. Take care.

KING: Thanks. See you in New York. Bye, Kiran.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHETRY: And there you go. He said the Beatles are explainable, Paris Hilton is not. So I don't know how impressed he was after his hour-long interview.

ROBERTS: Well, she's got her own sense of allure, though, obviously because she's got a lot of fans. It was interesting to hear from her last night.

CHETRY: It was. Well, tomorrow it will be a triple play with Larry. His Beatles reunion show. That's at 7:00, 8:00, it'll be a second date with Paris Hilton, and then at 9:00, Michael Moore. He'll take your phone calls and e-mails, answer them live.

ROBERTS: Coming up now to 46 minutes after the hour. CNN NEWSROOM is just minutes away. Tony Harris at the CNN Center with the ever-present smile on with a look at what lies ahead.

Hey, Tony.

TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Don, good morning to you.

On the NEWSROOM rundown this morning,, central Texas on guard against more flash flooding today. A new round of heavy downpours expected.

Affirmative action in schools, the death penalty for the mentally ill -- two important cases expected this morning from the U.S. Supreme Court. The iPhone rings tomorrow. Today iPhone groupies are iWaiting in line, lusting over Apple's latest thinga-mahoochy.

See it all right here in the NEWSROOM top of the hour on CNN. John, back to you.

ROBERTS: All right, Tony, we'll see you then.

You know, you are a perpetually happy man and that's good to see. A man of few words, too, obviously.

(NEWSBREAK)

ROBERTS: The bald eagle, once threatened, now thriving. We'll take a look at the bald eagle's comeback and its future. There's Uncle Sam for you. That's coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROBERTS: Live picture from the Roosevelt room at the White House. President Bush officially announcing his nomination of Admiral Mike Mullen to be the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. Mullen currently the chief of naval operations.

And just to the left of his screen against Mullen's right shoulder is Marine General James Cartwright, who is currently the commander of the U.S. strategic command out there at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. There he is. He is the nominee for the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Both of these positions need Senate confirmation. Of course, Mullen replacing Peter Pace, who's stepping down.

All this year, CNN is sharing the stories of people managing a difference in their world. We call them CNN Heroes. Today we meet a woman who turned a tough life around and dedicated herself to saving others.

Tina Frundt is today's CNN Hero.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Let's go again.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Men, women and children are being sold each day for somebody else's profit.

I think when we hear about trafficking, we automatically think about what goes on overseas. However, our own children in the U.S. are being forced out every day at 9, 10, 1 and 12 years old.

"KITTY," AGE 17: They beat you. They make you go out there, make you stay out all night. They really don't care. You could be 9 years old and you could work for them.

"ANGELA," AGE 21: People are raped and beaten into submission to do it. You can get killed, and it wouldn't make a difference to other people because other people would think of you as just a prostitute. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My name is Tina Frundt. I'm a survivor of child trafficking with the United States at the age of 14. In my situation, I was a child, and a grown adult who was in his 20s started paying attention to me, telling me how beautiful I was, picking me up from middle school. I found out that he was actually a pimp by going with him to another state.

Some of the things I went through are the manipulation, the violence and the abuse. I went through it, so that's why I think I am so dedicated to helping others. I'm the director of Outreach for Polaris Project. And I fight to end human trafficking. I don't want what happened to me to happen to somebody else.

What we do is offer services to women and children who want to get out.

Basically our outreach program started 2 1/2 years ago. We go out into the street and hand out information. We actually go into the courtroom and do outreach. We take clients of all ages. Our youngest client has been 9. The oldest so far has been 40.

Get the number and call, even if it is just to talk. Our number is open 24 hours a day.

I think in this job you have to love what you do and have a passion for it, because it's not a job. To me, it's my life, and I couldn't imagine doing anything else.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: And there is more about Tina Frundt and her work on our Web site, where you can nominate your own hero for special recognition. Details are at CNN.com/heroes.

In just a moment going we'll be going outside with Kiran and Uncle Sam, talk about the resurgence of the bald eagle.

But first, a quick look at what CNN NEWSROOM is working on for the top of the hour.

HARRIS: See these stories in the CNN NEWSROOM: a risk of flash floods in central Texas again today. Heavy downpours from Austin to Dallas.

The Supreme Court -- major decision on affirmative action and the death penalty set to come down this morning.

The bald eagle gets off the endangered species list today.

And what did Paris tell Larry?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILTON: The most humiliating experience of my life.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRIS: NEWSROOM top of the hour on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Well, what a treat. We're outside right here in Manhattan's Central Park, and we have a beautiful bald eagle with us. They're really calling it a conservation success story. The bald eagle is back after years of being on the endangered species list. The bald eagle, which of course is the very symbol of our country -- and he's looking at me; I see him over there -- is ready to come off of the list.

Joining us to talk more about it is Jonathan Wood.

JONATHAN WOOD: Good to be here.

CHETRY: You're part of this Raptor Project -- raptor, bald eagle, you can use the same term.

WOOD: Absolutely, yes, they're raptors. And this guy's more popular today than Paris Hilton, let me tell you. He's gathering quite a crowd.

CHETRY: He really is. There's a on the of people who want to see him.

WOOD: And we're celebrating today. Bald eagles are coming off the threatened species list tomorrow. They're still going to have a lot of protection by federal law. There's the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act that will protect these birds. And all raptors, all birds of prey, are protected by federal law. They're also protected by state law. So this right here in New York, this bird is actually still on the endangered species list. And a bunch of layers of protection.

CHETRY: And how were they able to go from almost being extinct to where we are now?

WOOD: It's been a great group effort of conservationists, the general public falling in love with raptors. Obviously our national bird is our most popular bird. But bald eagles, peregrine falcons, ospreys, they were threatened by DDT and a few other factors. They made a phenomenal comeback. But it's been a real group effort. And we do educational programs with birds of prey. We're actually -- and a lot of corporations are pitching in and helping out. We have big companies like Nikon, that sponsor educational programs that I do all over the country.

CHETRY: You travel everywhere with him. In fact, he's the only bird that's licensed to travel through all the states.

WOOD: Every state, including Alaska and Hawaii, and he's been invited to every state. So I've done 27 states so far with him.

CHETRY: And tell us a little bit about Uncle Sam. He's 18 years old. WOOD: He's about 18 years old. Bald eagles sometimes eat roadkill. He got hit by the car. And you can see here in a second. His left wing was a little damaged. He's missing a little part of his left wing tip there. So he's a right-winger, this guy, you know. And he's been with me about 15 years, and he meets about 10 million people a year, from border to border.

CHETRY: What does he eat?

WOOD: He eats mostly fish. Bald eagles are fish eagles. But they do eat all kinds of other animals. They eat rats, squirrels, all kinds of delicious stuff like that.

CHETRY: Whoa, the wing span. And if he wasn't tethered like that, would he just be gone?

WOOD: He can't really fly too well. He might be able to make it across Ninth Avenue here, that's about it. But he only can go a few -- and that's why we have him in captivity. Otherwise we would never have a bird like this.

CHETRY: Absolutely gorgeous. Really is majestic if you see him up close in person.

WOOD: He's great.

CHETRY: It's interesting, our national symbol.

WOOD: National symbol, getting ready for Fourth of July.

CHETRY: However, Ben Franklin didn't want it to be that, right?

WOOD: No, he wanted the turkey, but picture a turkey sitting in front of that flag. It just doesn't conjure up the great...

CHETRY: Wouldn't have the same effect, would it?

WOOD: Right, we're proud of our bird here.

CHETRY: Well, we certainly are.

WOOD: And we're proud to be Americans today.

CHETRY: He is adorable, and I love the backdrop.

Jonathan Wood, thanks so much for telling us about it.

WOOD: Thanks. God bless you. Thanks for having him on.

CHETRY: Thank you -- John.

ROBERTS: Turkey would look great in front of that flag if it were roasted with all the trimmings, absolutely.

Kiran, have you ever seen a bird that big?

CHETRY: He is absolutely gorgeous. Actually, and the males are smaller, right? The female bald eagles tend to be bigger.

ROBERTS: In all the raptors, the females are one third larger.

CHETRY: See that, John?

ROBERTS: So the males are all called tersils (ph) from the word tersi (ph). They're all (INAUDIBLE). So picture this bird, six-foot wingspan, is the width of this table, and a female's got an eight-foot wingspan.

CHETRY: Just incredible, unbelievable.

WOOD: He's easier to travel with. I have three of him. He's the one that fits in the box easiest.

CHETRY: Hey, Kiran, we'll see you again tomorrow. And thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING.

CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.

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