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American Morning
Did Alberto Gonzales Lie to Congress?; What Happened to Heroes?; Drunk in Space; Clinton/Obama Verbal Sparing Continues
Aired July 27, 2007 - 06:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Capitol grill. Democrats in Congress demand an investigation into Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Did he lie to lawmakers?
SEN. CHARLES SCHUMER (D), NEW YORK: He's done this over and over and over again.
ROBERTS: Can he survive?
Market drop. Overnight, stocks tumble overseas. Will it trigger another big sell-off on Wall Street today? And what can you do to safeguard your money?
The sports world storm of scandal. A quarterback in court. A ref betting on games. And sluggers and cyclists under suspicion for drug use.
Are there any sports heroes left on this AMERICAN MORNING?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: And good morning. Thanks very much for joining us. A lot to talk about today.
It's Friday, the 27th of July. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks so much for being with us.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales at the center of a major new controversy this morning, raising some questions about whether or not he can survive as attorney general.
Four Democratic senators are now calling for a perjury investigation over his testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Gonzales told the senators that a late-night meeting at then Attorney General John Ashcroft's hospital bedside did not involve any discussions about the controversial warrantless wiretapping program.
Well, then, yesterday, before the House Judiciary Committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller was asked about that very same meeting and appeared to directly contradict Gonzales's testimony.
Let's listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. SHEILA JACKSON LEE (D), TEXAS: Would I be comfortable in saying that those were the items that were part of the discussion?
ROBERT MUELLER, FBI DIRECTOR: The discussion was on a national -- an NSA program that has been much discussed, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, White House Correspondent Elaine Quijano, as well as CNN senior legal correspondent and analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, are with us now to discuss this.
Thanks to both of you for being with us.
You know, at this point, Elaine, it looks like there have been at least six Republicans who have called for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to be investigated, possibly even resign.
How much longer can the White House continue to stand behind Gonzales?
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've seen is that the White House continues to do just that, despite the fact that there has been harsh bipartisan criticism leveled at Attorney General Gonzales.
We heard from Tony Snow yesterday, saying once more, the White House believes that what the attorney general said in his testimony on Tuesday was truthful in the White House's view. What's interesting, though, there certainly seems to be a parsing of words.
Snow also saying yesterday, telling Wolf Blitzer, that what Robert Mueller said was not using the words "the terrorist surveillance program," talking about NSA program, a National Security Agency program. So certainly, it just opens up the door to a lot more questions, is there more than just the warrantless wiretapping going on -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Right.
And Jeff, you know, now we have Democrats that are tossing around the word "perjury" and calling for an investigation.
Can there be a criminal aspect to this?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Absolutely. I mean, now the hot seat goes to Paul Clement, the solicitor general, the number three person in the Justice Department. Obviously, the first two are recused from this decision.
He has to decide whether there is enough to ask for a special prosecutor to look into what -- whether perjury took place. And if you recall...
CHETRY: So he is deciding this about his own boss in a way?
TOOBIN: About his own boss. I mean, it's an incredibly awkward situation, but, I mean, the way the law is set up, there is almost no other way of doing it. The last time there was a special prosecutor, it was Patrick Fitzgerald, who investigated Scooter Libby, which turned out to be a very serious case.
If Clement includes that a special prosecutor is necessary, that may be the one thing, short of impeachment, that will get -- that will force Gonzales to resign.
CHETRY: And quickly, Elaine, has there been any reaction from the White House about the possibility of a criminal investigation into Alberto Gonzales?
QUIJANO: Well, you know, we heard from the White House yesterday basically saying, look, the Democrats are more interested in making headlines, they say, than necessarily doing the people's business. And what was very telling, though, is that even though these Democrats were calling for this investigation, Arlen Specter, a Republican who has been very critical, didn't sign on to that effort and said, look, I think that's precipitous, I think the Democrats are looking to make headlines here.
So, the White House at least got some backing from Senator Specter on that front.
CHETRY: Elaine, thanks.
And Jeff, you say he might have an out just by the nature of being able to say, hey, some of this is classified?
TOOBIN: Absolutely. I mean, the fact that the NSA program has never been defined in detail, that, you know, what people are talking about is somewhat vague, that may save him from certainly a perjury case and perhaps even a perjury investigation.
CHETRY: Jeff Toobin, thanks.
ROBERTS: New this morning, charges dropped today against a suspect in the failed British car bomb attacks. Dr. Mohammed Haneef was arrested trying to leave Australia three days after the failed attacks in June, but the case against him fell apart when prosecutors found out their main piece of evidence, a cell phone memory card found in the burning jeep in Glasgow did not belong to Haneef. Haneef's cousin was one of the men in that jeep.
Late last night, the Senate approved a homeland security bill based on the 9/11 Commission's recommendations. It sends more money to high-risk cities and states and requires that within five years all shipped containers must be scanned for nuclear device before heading to the United States. The bill also proposes the screening of all cargo on passenger planes within three years.
We're following breaking news for you this morning out of Montgomery, Alabama. Police say an SUV traveling in the wrong highway lane collided head-on with a Greyhound bus. It happened about 2:00 am this morning. The driver of the SUV, who was the sole occupant of the vehicle, was killed.
We spoke with the mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, in the last hour of AMERICAN MORNING. Mayor Bobby Bright said at least 13 people from the bus were taken to a nearby hospital with moderate to serious injuries. He also said several passengers had broken bones, bloody noses, cuts or bruises, but nothing at this point appears to be life- threatening.
We will bring you updates this morning as we get them.
An explosion at an airport in California's Mojave Desert kills three people and critically injures three others. The blast happened at the Mojave Air and Space Port during a rocket motor test involving nitrous oxide. The site is used by Advanced Composites, which is the aerospace firm that built the first private manned rocket sent into space.
The FAA is trying to clear the air over confusing no-fly zones around Washington, D.C. Right now, the map looks like kind of like a picture of Mickey Mouse, the circular head, and then ears indicating restricted zones. Pilots complained about it, so the feds are now changing the map, making the no-fly zone one big circle, 30 miles around Ronald Reagan International Airport.
CHETRY: I thought you were going to say it looks like Mickey Mouse, now they're changing it to Goofy.
ROBERTS: No, it was Mickey Mouse and it was goofy, so they changed it.
CHETRY: Exactly.
Well, there are now other important stories we're following for you this morning with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents.
The Dow falling 300 points yesterday, having investors wondering what is coming next.
Our own Ali Velshi, though, says he doesn't care what happens in the market today and neither should we.
Hi, Ali.
ALI VELSHI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Kiran, good to see you.
This is exactly what I'm saying, that the problem is that folks are getting sort of caught up, and it's easy to do that when you see 300, and yesterday at 149 (ph) points lower on the Dow, it does instill a sense of panic in some people. And I think in the average investor, there is the sense of, what am I supposed to do about this?
Well, the average investor shouldn't be buying or selling individual stocks for their own portfolio unless they are prepared to put a lot of time into managing that. And if you are managing it, you have got no one stock in your portfolio that's more than 5 percent. So, no major move is really going to cripple you going forward.
If you look at the returns on the market to date from January to now, even after yesterday's plunge, the Dow is still up 8 percent on the year. The S&P 500 up 7 percent on the year. The Nasdaq is still up 4 percent on the year.
It's actually -- I think we've got those inverted. But as you can see, all three markets are higher on the year. And as a result of that, it's still July. You've got the rest of the year to make up for that if you rebalance and you invest properly.
So, this is not a crash. If anything, it's a correction. It might not even be a correction. It might just be a stop on the way. Most people we're talking to are still expecting that markets will continue to climb this year.
As we've discussed, there are some clouds on the horizon. We'll talk more about those later. And when I come back in a half an hour, we're going to talk about some specific steps that you can take to make sure that these kind of -- this volatility on the market doesn't affect your date of retirement, as it were -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, Ali. Thanks so much.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Earlier in the week we had two bizarre incidences. One, a coach was killed in a baseball game. Now we're hearing that a young girl was killed after she was hit playing softball.
Elizabeth Cohen is taking a looking at what is going on with these fatal head injuries that you just don't think you're going to talk about when you talk about a game like softball.
ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Oh, absolutely. Obviously, that ball is not soft, and this is a very tragic and unusual occurrence that happened to 12-year-old Margaret Hillbrands in Michigan.
She was struck in the head by a softball during a game. She immediately lost consciousness and she died the next day. Doctors say that the ball caused an artery to tear, and that she suffered a hemorrhage.
Now, we spoke to a neurologist who is completely unrelated to this case. He said it is possible that she had some kind of preexisting problem, maybe even one that her parents didn't even know about that made her more vulnerable to that kind of hit, or he said, for example, maybe she had suffered concussions before, because sometimes that can make someone more vulnerable to have something tragic happen like this.
Now, of course, most children, when they're injured in sports, they're not injured to this extent, but three million children are injured in sports every year. And as school starts, the Centers for Disease Control is sending out packages to coaches to talk to them about how to play safe -- Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much for that -- John.
ROBERTS: Coming up to 10 minutes after the hour.
It used to be that there was no shortage of sports figures for kids to look up to, but today it seems that scandal rules. The NFL's Michael Vick is in court facing federal dog fighting charges.
In baseball, Barry Bonds is chasing the home run record, but all the talk is about drug use and how his shoes went from 10.5 to size 13.
In the NBA, it's gambling, and a referee charged with betting on games that he called.
And scandal is nothing new at the Tour de France, but this year it really seems to be falling apart. One local paper declared it dead, even refusing to post daily results until the tour is over.
So, what do kids think about all of this? It used to be that they could look up to their sports stars. But how are they looking at them these days?
CNN's Keith Oppenheim talked to a few young sports fans. He joins us now live from Chicago.
What are you hearing, Keith?
KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's right, John. We really set to find out how these allegations of bad sports behavior are affecting kids and the little leagues. And for sure, there are some kids out there who are paying little to no attention to any of this stuff, but there are others who are keenly aware and sometimes seriously turned off by what they're hearing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OPPENHEIM (voice over): Fourteen-year-old Emily Roberts (ph) is working her bank shot at the University of Chicago summer sports camp. The athlete in her family, Emily loves soccer, swimming and basketball. But her emotions change when she talks about professional athletes and scandal.
(on camera): Do you feel like when you hear these stories about Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, or a ref in the NBA, that it hurts your trust?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think definitely it does. I think, you know, sports is supposed to be a love of the game, not having to worry about who is taking steroids, who is betting on stuff. It shouldn't really be about that.
OPPENHEIM (voice over): Emily's father also worries that sports idols who behave badly are bad role models.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It may encourage them to try some of these things to try to excel.
OPPENHEIM (on camera): To cheat?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, because they see it and they don't see people getting punished. I think that's the serious part of it at this point.
OPPENHEIM (voice over): Outside, 12-year-old Colin Minor (ph) scores a touchdown on the football field. He's been unhappy about accusations he's heard about the Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If someone is your hero, you don't think they can do anything wrong, but when -- with the dog fighting, a lot of kids whose hero was Michael Vick have essentially had their world put upside down.
OPPENHEIM: Some coaches here worry that type of disappointment might turn kids away from sports.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're not going to have as many heroes or look up to professional athletes the way I did when I was a kid.
OPPENHEIM: Another coach, Tom Mitchell (ph), says parents should be aware kids get dejected when they hear their idols are not infallible.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They're definitely taking it in, and that's where I think the parents need to step in and talk to their kids about it. And just a conversation they have around their dinner table.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OPPENHEIM: But as a parent, what can you tell your kids? Some of the coaches we spoke to emphasized that you should tell your kids that high-profile athletes are humans who sometimes make bad choices, and try to explain to them these are people, not superstars to be mimicked -- John.
ROBERTS: But, you know, well, is it society's fault then, Keith? Because, you know, these people are always held up as role models, they're on the covers of magazines. We marvel over their statistics, and sometimes they're not all they're cracked up to be.
OPPENHEIM: Exactly. And it's really amazing to see just how many of these kids are just sports freaks out there.
They're paying attention to ESPN, they're reading the paper. They know the facts really well. And sometimes I was taken aback how well they knew the details of the Michael Vick story better than I did. So it really shows you that there are kids out there who are taking this stuff in.
ROBERTS: Well, let's hope that they keep it all in perspective.
Keith Oppenheim for us this morning.
Thanks, Keith. We'll check back with you later on.
And coming up in our next half hour, nine time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis joins us live. He went through his own sports scandal.
How does he feel about what's been going on in sports lately? We'll ask him about that.
CHETRY: There's a report out that astronauts were allowed to fly drunk and flight surgeons knew about it.
Up next, with all of NASA's caution and security, how in the heck could something like that happen? We're going to be talking to a former NASA flight surgeon coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Drunk in space. On at least two occasions, astronauts were permitted to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned that they were so drunk that they posed a flight safety risk.
That information comes from an "Aviation Weekly" report. It supposedly comes from a NASA behavioral study.
NASA is going to be talking about this later on today at a press conference.
Right now, former NASA flight surgeon Dr. Jonathan Clark joins us from Houston.
Dr. Clark, what do you make of this report of heavy drinking before space flights?
DR. JONATHAN CLARK, FMR. NASA FLIGHT SURGEON: Well, good morning, John.
First of all, I haven't heard the story until just yesterday when it was released on the Internet. And, you know, as a NASA flight surgeon, you always hear rumors, but this is one rumor I had never heard. So, in my eight years there, I was never -- never heard that story. So I really think it's important to wait and see what the report actually says.
ROBERTS: Does it even seem plausible to you?
CLARK: Well, I'll be candid here. There are times when I've seen crew who were extremely tired from the preflight, pre-mission fatigue. Their schedules were just oversubscribed, and many of them took sleeping pills to try to get into some normal sleep state. And there were times when crew were pretty -- were groggy.
ROBERTS: Right. What about preflight parties? CLARK: Well, there's certainly some celebrations that go on.
The night before a launch, there's a kind of a classic legacy event which is the beach house barbecue. And selected family members are there with the crew.
ROBERTS: Right.
CLARK: And there are celebrations and toasting, but, you know, the times that I was involved, they are either as a flight surgeon or as an astronaut spouse. There were, you know, beer and wine, but there wasn't any heavy drinking.
ROBERTS: Right. But it might be possible for someone to overindulge. Not saying that it's rife throughout the organization, but it could be possible for one, maybe two people to do it. So not out of the realm of possibility?
CLARK: It's not out of the realm of possibility. But remember, too, that the shuttle has been flying since the early '80s. And, you know, in that time frame, alcohol use in the general population and certainly in the military was much more abundant.
ROBERTS: Right.
CLARK: So I could see that happening perhaps in the early shuttle program.
ROBERTS: Sure. And going all the way back to Mercury, too.
CLARK: Sure.
ROBERTS: I mean, those guys were almost seen as cowboys to some degree.
When it comes to these behavioral issues which will probably be addressed in this NASA press conference, does it go beyond this idea of just alcohol use? I mean, look at the Lisa Nowak story. Is that a complete aberration, or might that be something that happens with some frequency?
CLARK: Well, as I've said before, there's a lot of stress that goes on in being an astronaut. Not just the public image, but also the requirement that they really have to know their stuff. And so the stresses can build, and one way to get out of that is to -- you know, is to drink.
ROBERTS: Right. But what about marital infidelity? You were suggesting that that might be an issue?
CLARK: Sure, marital infidelity is something that's -- you know, it's a problem in our society in general, but it might be a problem in the high-profile astronaut case because these folks are like heroes and rock stars, and there's a lot of groupies out there.
ROBERTS: Well, we will wait to see what NASA has to say at their press conference a little bit later on today.
But for now, former flight surgeon Dr. Jonathan Clark, thanks for being with us. Good to see you, sir.
CLARK: Sure thing, John.
CHETRY: Well, a family pet is keeping his stride thanks to some high-tech surgery. Your "Quick Hits" now.
This Belgian shepherd recently lost a paw because of a tumor. But vets were able to keep him moving by attaching a prosthetic one.
The vets say that it is good for life and that is it's pain-free. The interesting part about it, it's this carbon fiber paw, and they say that it may be possible to benefit humans not far down the road when they can see how well it works for the dogs.
There he is getting some occupational therapy in the pool.
ROBERTS: Oh.
CHETRY: Cute guy.
And folks are going ape over this owe orangutan in Indonesia. How adorable is this little guy?
His name is Elmo, and he's only four days old. Nurses say he needs full-time care. There he is crying. He needs to eat every three hours.
He was rejected by his natural mother. So far, they say he's doing very well. There are no plans though to return him to the wild.
How often do you check your e-mail? Are you checking it right now? Are you going to check it before we get to the next commercial break?
Well, there is a new survey that shows a whole lot of Americans are e-dicted. A closer look at what it means and what can you do about it, which cities rank highest. And is there any difference between guys and gals on the e-mail addiction?
Coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Is Phillipe Ryans (ph) e-mailing you again?
Oh, that story is coming up, yes.
CHETRY: By the way, do you suffer from e-dicction? Well, if you're not sure what that is, then how about this? Answer the question, how often do check your e-mail?
I bet you it's more often if you have a BlackBerry or some sort of handheld than if you don't. ROBERTS: Absolutely. The results of a new survey are going to shock you when you hear this.
AMERICAN MORNING'S Alina Cho here now with the details.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm sorry. Did you say something?
ROBERTS: Yes. Get off that thing.
CHO: Good morning, guys.
CHETRY: I know you're always on it. That's for sure.
CHO: I am always on it. We'll talk about that later.
You know, as you well know, we didn't exactly need a study to confirm this, but some of the details are really surprising. Even for the 15 percent of Americans, like all of us, who consider themselves e-mail addicts.
Now, this study was conducted by AOL. It surveyed a little more than 4,000 people. So it was a small study, but the shocking finding, people are checking their e-mails at all times and all places.
Consider this. Of those who have portable devices like BlackBerrys, 59 percent say they check their e-mail while in bed in their pajamas. That seems pretty innocuous. But listen to this one.
Kiran, 53 percent check for messages in the bathroom. You've got to get that BlackBerry out of the bathtub.
Thirty-seven percent check while they drive. And talk about sacrilege, 12 percent say they check e-mail in church.
How about the cities? Well, Washington, D.C., tops the list a as the most e-mail addicted city. A big reason -- John, you know this very well -- so many people working for the government.
Atlanta is next, followed by New York, San Francisco, Houston, Los Angeles, Seattle, Orlando, Denver and Miami. Not many surprises there.
CHETRY: A lot of big cities.
CHO: A lot of big cities.
CHETRY: Does it differ, by the way, male and female? Do women do it more than men?
CHO: Well, it's close, but 16 percent of women consider themselves e-mail addicts, compared to 13 percent of men.
ROBERTS: Yes!
CHETRY: Because guys will never admit they have a problem. That's why. CHO: Well, but here's the thing -- women are the great communicators.
Right, John?
ROBERTS: Oh, absolutely.
CHO: Now, this is anecdotal, but...
ROBERTS: That's because women get an endorphin release when they're communicating with people. We learned about that the other day.
CHO: That's right. That's right. But the other thing...
ROBERTS: Does this make you feel good?
CHO: The other thing is that this is anecdotal, but we're hearing that men care less about spelling and grammar than do women.
ROBERTS: I don't know about that.
CHO: It certainly doesn't apply to you, John.
CHETRY: I knew I had a problem when my -- when my 4-month-old baby, the first thing she did was this.
And by the way, you have 825 unchecked messages on here. So maybe you don't check it as much as I check mine.
ROBERTS: There you go.
CHO: That's right.
ROBERTS: I don't care so much.
CHO: Well, I don't know.
ROBERTS: Alina, thanks very much for that.
CHO: Sure. You bet.
ROBERTS: Hey, have you got a Hill hottie?
CHETRY: No. Not in my pocket or anything like that. But apparently there are many beautiful people in the nation's capital.
That's probably why you came up here. You didn't want to compete anymore.
ROBERTS: So who on Capitol Hill do you think is cute?
CHETRY: I think Tony Snow is a handsome guy. I think that perhaps our House speaker.
You were pointing to yourself -- John Roberts. ROBERTS: No, no, no. I was saying why don't you ask me?
CHETRY: OK. Who do you think is?
ROBERTS: I think Marsha Blackburn from Tennessee. She's a very pretty woman.
CHETRY: She is pretty.
Nancy Pelosi. How about her?
ROBERTS: Nancy Pelosi is a very beautiful woman as well, yes.
CHETRY: Well, we have many of them. In fact, they ranked the 50 hottest on the Hill, and we're going to let you know. Maybe your congressman or congresswoman is on this list. We're going to find out when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
ROBERTS: I wouldn't be pointing to me. I'm not on the Hill.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Wow. That's a beautiful shot this morning coming to us from Kansas City. KCTV this morning. The sun is coming up, a beautiful pinkish hue to the clouds.
A nice day there. I'm not really sure what the temperature is, but we'll ask Rob Marciano in a couple of minutes and find out.
ROBERTS: That's what he's here for.
CHETRY: Well, it's Friday. Welcome back. July 27th.
I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROBERTS: And I'm John Roberts. Good morning to you.
We begin in Washington this morning.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales is at the center of a major controversy yet again, raising new questions about whether he can survive. In dramatic testimony to Congress yesterday the FBI chief directly contradicted a claim that Gonzales made earlier in the week. Robert Mueller says Gonzales' 2004 visit to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft hospital was, in fact, about the president's domestic spying program. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT MUELLER, DIRECTOR, FBI: The discussion was on a national -- a -- an NSA program, that has been much discussed, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Here is the big problem. On Tuesday, Gonzales told lawmakers the complete opposite story. He said the White House's controversial eavesdropping program never came up at the meeting with Ashcroft. Four Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are already calling for an investigation on whether Gonzales committed perjury. The White House is downplaying those claims saying Gonzales and Mueller are talking about two completely different intelligence operations.
CHETRY: Well, the war of words between Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama heating up yet again this morning. New name-calling and new return fire. CNN's John King ahs the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SINGERS: Think about what you're trying to do to me --
JOHN KING, CNN SR. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Early morning in New Hampshire, Barack Obama serves notice he isn't about to back down.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It is no longer sufficient for us to trot out the old formulas, the old tired phrases. If we want fundamental change then we can't afraid to talk to our enemies.
KING: Then he ups the ante in a Democratic campaign turned suddenly raw, comparing Hillary Clinton to the president and vice president Democrats love to hate.
OBAMA: I don't want a continuation of Bush/Cheney. I don't want Bush/Cheney like, I want a fundamental change.
KING: It was pointed, personal, and guaranteed to draw return fire.
SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, this is getting kind of silly. I've been called a lot of things in my life but I've never been called George Bush or Dick Cheney, certainly. You have to ask, what's ever happened to the politics of hope?
KING: Team Clinton suggests Obama is abandoning his promise of a new polite brand of politics because being nice hasn't sliced into the frontrunner's healthy lead in the polls. Whatever the reason, this dust up has turned the democratic contest caustic. Since Clinton suggesting her challenger is naive about the ways of the world.
CLINTON: But I don't want to see the power and prestige of the United States president put at risk by rushing into meetings with the likes of Chavez and Castro and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
KING: Obama firing back that every day Americans want to rewrite the way Washington does business.
OBAMA: I'm not afraid the PR war to dictators. I'm happy to look them in the eye and say what needs to be said.
KING: It all began at the CNN YouTube debate Monday night. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you be willing to meet separately, without precondition, during your first year of your administration, in Washington or anywhere else, with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Obama?
OBAMA: I would.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator Clinton?
CLINTON: Well, I will not promise to the meet with the leaders of these countries during my first year.
KING: The Clinton camp promoted the exchange as a clear a smackdown and that suggested the 45-year-old Obama did not understand that making such a promise up front would undermine U.S. leverage in any sensitive diplomacy.
But when asked directly, Thursday, if Obama lacks the necessary experience to be president, Mrs. Clinton was more careful.
CLINTON: Well, the voters are going to have to draw those conclusions. Where we disagree, I think it's fair to draw that difference.
KING: It's also fair to say that tensions are mounting and at least for now, forget that water cooler talk about a Clinton/Obama or an Obama/Clinton ticket.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: There you go. So it continues. The war of words today. Of course, all the days' political news available anytime, day or night, at CNN.com/ticker.
ROBERTS: And of course, we're just so enthralled with this whole little dust-up between Hillary and Obama that we're going to run it past the guys from Red State Update, in our next hour here on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: You might remember. They asked a very interesting question during the YouTube/CNN debate and they were a real hit. So we're going to bring them back one last time today.
ROBERTS: We hope to make it a regular feature here on AMERICAN MORNING.
New this morning. Charges dropped today against a suspect in failed British car bomb attacks. Doctor Mohammed Haneef was arrested trying to leave Australia three days after the attacks back in June. But the case against him fell apart when prosecutors found out their main piece of evidence, a cell phone memory card, found in the burning Jeep in Glasgow, did not belong to Haneef. Haneef's cousin was one of the men inside that Jeep. Another deadline come and gone with no word of fate of 22 South Koreans being held hostage in Afghanistan. The Taliban kidnappers had threatened to kill the hostages if Taliban prisoners were not released by 3:30 a.m. today. One hostage was killed earlier this week. He was the pastor and leader of the church group. They were kidnapped last week while doing very volunteer medical work.
CHETRY: Well, the heat wave in southern Europe is touching off new fires today. Fires burned several tourist spots in Italy. Major fires also burning in Greece, Croatia, Bulgaria, as well. Dozens of deaths are being blamed on the heat. The temperatures, though, are lower today but they're expected to spike again on Monday.
ROBERTS: Sixty families in Helena, Montana have been told to pack up and get out fast. Fire crews say a massive wildfire is burning within a mile and a half of those properties. The new evacuation orders coming just one day after dozens of people nearby were asked to leave the area. Late last night the fire wiped out more than 4,000 acres. Forecasters say dry windy weather is expected to fan the flames.
Shockingly, personal information about travelers could soon be used to keep the skies safe. That's the idea behind a new security deal agreed to by the United States in European Union. The plan allows the EU to share information about air travelers inbound to the United States things like race, ethnicity, religion and political opinions. The deal lets Washington keep the information and supposedly only use it in extreme circumstances.
CHETRY: It's 35 minutes past the hour now. Ali Velshi is "Minding Your Business". And of course, all of us really perking up and paying attention to the big drop in the Dow yesterday, but you're going to help put it in perspective for us.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL CORRESPONDENT: I want to help you disaster-proof your portfolio starting with the fact that -- it's not a disaster.
A 300-point drop on a market that is over $13,500 (sic) isn't on a percentage basis not very big. Look at that Dow over the last year. There's no other way to interpret that except -- up. You can see it's not -- it's a squiggly line. It goes up and down and some days it goes down ore. But this market has been on a tear for a long time and it means have you to pull back. As John, will tell you, pull backs can sometimes -- mean?
ROBERTS: Buying opportunities!
VELSHI: Buying opportunities. So, disaster-proofing your portfolio means, No, 1, invest in reliable companies. Good companies are good management and good product. They don't go dumb because the market decided to sell some stock. These things happen on trends. Keep your investments in reliable companies. If you're investing in stocks directly nothing should be more than 5 percent of your portfolio. If you're not interested in going down that road, just invest in mutual funds. There are lots of them. No. 2, venture aboard. Almost everywhere in the world is enjoying better growth rates. Somebody will get me in trouble for saying that. Lots of countries are enjoying growth rates than the United States is right. It's not the only place to keep your money. Diversify because that means things will work differently as some countries go up, others will go down.
No. 3, don't ignore real estate. Everybody is talking about the problems in real estate. The slowdown in housing, everybody is waiting for it to turn around. You want to be in there when it turns around. And there are ways of investing in real estate, by buying stocks, mutual funds. And, frankly, real estate if you want to because real estate, over time, has always increased.
Short-term is bad thinking. That's the problem. What happens today is not the issue.
ROBERTS: Somehow, New York seems to be immune to this housing slump.
VELSHI: It is unusual. But New York is not tied to the normal trends in the rest of the country. New York is tied to the Wall Street bonuses. Wall Street has been doing very well and demand in New York continues to increase. If Wall Street and financial services have problems you start to see soften.
ROBERTS: You can get $1 million for your closet these days.
VELSHI: Listen, we're going to talk a lot about this on "Your Money" this weekend. Saturday at 1, Sunday at 2 (sic). We'll give you tips to disaster-proof your portfolio, we'll talk about housing "Your Money" Saturday at 1, Sunday at 3.
CHETRY: All right, Ali Velshi, thank you.
ROBERTS: All right. Looking forward to that.
We've got a dramatic rescue caught a tape. A KPHO news crew, covering flooding problems around Phoenix was rolling -- look at this -- when a pickup truck hydroplaned and flew off the road. Vehicle rolled over and landed upside down in a drainage ditch. Two teenagers and two toddlers were trapped inside.
Witnesses jumped into the water and after a few terrifying moments got the doors open and managed to pull everyone out. Police say all of the occupants in the vehicle were wearing seat belts and no one seriously hurt.
There is a clear-cut example, and demonstration, of why you need to go slow when the roads are covered with water, because those tires act just like water skis. You get on top of that water and your control is gone instantaneously.
CHETRY: It looks like you can clear it and you can't. I mean, just even under a foot of water. I think it's half a foot can wipe a car away. But all is well that ends well there. I'm sure the little kids were shaken up, but everyone is doing OK, thanks to those good Samaritans also that jumped in there and rescued them.
There are allegations of dog fighting, gambling, of illegal doping. What happened to sports? Where are all of the heroes? Up next, nine-time Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis joins me. He's going to try to answer that question for us coming up next on AMERICAN MORNING
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ROBERTS: Some post-op complications top your "Quick Hits" now. Legendary blues singer Etta James is in stable condition this morning this morning. She was admitted to a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday. Doctors say the 69-year-old suffered complications from abdominal surgery that she had last month. James had to cancel some upcoming concert dates with B.B. King and Al Green.
Coming up to 43 minutes past the hour.
A new view at "The View", Whoopi Goldberg and Shari Shepherd are reportedly set to become new co-hosts of the view. "The L.A. Times" say the two are in final negotiations and ABC expects to announce their hiring next week. Goldberg and Shepherd have each made numerous guest appearances on the show.
Time for a trip to Atlanta now. Rob Marciano at the Weather Center down there.
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CHETRY: Even if you're not a big sports fan, this week's revelations of doping, gambling and animal cruelty are making a lot of people wonder are there any sports heroes left? Nine-time Olympic Gold medalist Carl Lewis, one of my heroes growing up, joins us from Los Angeles this morning.
Great to see you.
CARL LEWIS, OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST: Thank you. Great to see you.
CHETRY: I know you've been following a lot of these cases. It just seems each week we're coming out with something new. The latest being the Tour de France situation. Are there any heroes left in pro sports?
LEWIS: Oh, yeah, there are plenty of them. If you saw the all of the hoopla when Dave Beckham came here, you'll understand that.
I think, here, again, it really reflects society. You're going to have people that are good, people that are bad. Bad but we need to focus on the great athletes because there are in every single sports still.
CHETRY: You were one of three gold medalists back in the 1988 Olympics who faced allegations of taking banned substances. You were then later cleared, but how did that affect the way you were viewed, and the way you viewed yourself at a role model?
LEWIS: The reality is you have to make sure someone like myself who stood out so much against drugs, and still do. You understand you are always going to be under the most tight scrutiny. For me, everything that happens in terms of drugs, whether it affects me or it affects the athletes that I compete against, gave me a platform to speak out against it more, because I talk to kids all the time about it.
CHETRY: You know, Ben Johnson, of course, also in the 1988 Olympics, tested positive for steroids. And you then were awarded, and deservedly so, but how does it feel that your names will always be linked in the sports world?
LEWIS: Well, to be honest I think it's a great thing because when I speak to kids, like next week I'm at the Hershey's Track & Field Games. When I talk to those kids about sports I have a situation where I can be real clear about. I competed and did the right thing against an athlete that did the wrong thing, and I ended up with the gold medal.
CHETRY: Let's talk about Barry Bonds home run chase. Because this is a little bit different. It gets murkier when it comes to baseball, because of the records that last so long. I mean, when it comes to track and field you're disqualified and it's over. But with baseball it's a little bit different. Is his record-chasing tainted by these allegations?
LEWIS: Well, really, the bigger picture -- first of all, we know Barry is a tremendous baseball player. And I think that's where it starts. And I've known him a long, long time. It's very interesting watching him go after this record. But I think the biggest problem is that we don't have consistency of the drug testing and the programs in sports.
If you were in an Olympic sport you get two years, if you tested positive, whereas, in like football you get four months. I think that what we need to do is have consistency in our testing, and then consistency in the way we treat the athletes. And I think there will be more credibility.
CHETRY: What do you think about celebrities and pro athletes who say, look, I'm not a role model. I just play a game. I don't want to be a role model. Is that a fair out?
LEWIS: No, it really isn't. Honestly, you're given the deck that you're dealt. And reality, when you're out there performing, it's a tremendous honor for me to represent my Olympic team, and represent the United States doing it. So you take the good with the bad. You can't say, well, I want to get all of the gold medals and make the fame and all the kids back away. Have you to take it both ways.
CHETRY: Carl Lewis, it' certainly a pleasure to talk to you this morning. Like I said, I watched you and just awed by your abilities. Great to have you with us this morning.
LEWIS: Really appreciate it. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Tremendous athlete and a great role model.
Health concerns topping your "Quick Hits" now. Some stores across the country may be ignoring last week's massive botulism recall. Health workers in North Carolina and Montana visited 100s of stores over the past two days. And they say some stores are still selling canned products produced by Castleberry Food Company.
Food safety officers are right now in the process of removing the items from supermarket shelves.
And Pepsi says labels on its Aquafina bottled water will now make it clear the water is from a public water source. Essentially, saying tap water in a bottle. Water producers are under fire. Environmental groups have stepped up pressure on the entire industry, saying the bottles take a lot of energy to produce and then they clog up landfills when they're thrown away.
The stories of tainted food exported from China are nothing new, but this morning we are learning about another big health threat inside that country. Dr. Sanjay Gupta is in China. He exposes the "Filthy Reality" next on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Nine minutes now to the top of the hour. This morning we return to China and shine the spotlight on another big problem in that nation. It has nothing to do with the tainted food that's being exported to America and other countries. The real threat to most Chinese citizens is what comes out of their faucet. CNN's Sanjay Gupta is in Beijing investigating for us.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): In China, having a glass of water could be hazardous to your health. That's because China is in a water crises. In fact, according to researchers, about a third of the country's supply is contaminated. Now, the government says water management is a national priority.
WEN JIABAO, CHINESE PREMIER (through translator): We must never let people drink polluted water.
GUPTA (voice over): Following a series of algae outbreaks, in lakes across China, the prime minister Wen Jaibao, is revamping drinking water policies. Promising to clean up filthy lakes and rivers and to hold companies accountable for their output.
Research from the Woodrow Wilson International Center finds 63 billion tons of heavy metals, industrial runoff, and untreated sewage are dumped into China's water supply every year. And according to the World Bank, 54 percent of the water in China's seven main rivers was not drinkable between 2001 and 2005.
Poor drinking water means poor health. And 20 percent of all new cancer cases come from China says the International Agency for Cancer Research, with considerably higher death rates from stomach, liver and bladder cancers in rural areas.
(on camera): To be clear, factories and water suppliers have until 2012 to meet these new government standards, hopefully making all tap water safe. In the meantime Chinese are encouraged to boil their water before taking a sip. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Beijing.
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CHETRY: Tough situation there with that.
The Dodd campaign's new health care proposal tops your "Quick Hits" now. Senator Chris Dodd is proposing an insurance package where premiums for businesses and individuals and will be based on their ability to pay it. Dodd is in Iowa today campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Rudy Giuliani says the Democrats are losers. The Republican presidential candidate say the Dems are wrong for wanting to pull out of Iraq. And that they've declared that we have already lost the war. Giuliani said this during a campaign stop in Houston.
Congress and sexy. They are two words that usually don't go together, do they? Well, there is a Capitol Hill newspaper out with its annual list of the 50 most beautiful people on the Hill. Who is on it? Did anyone from your state make the list? And what is going on with all this campaigning?
If you're in Washington, I guess you just have to feel the need to campaign, so apparently some were campaigning to get on it. Did it work? We're going to find out next on AMERICAN MORNING
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SINGER: I'm beautiful, no matter what they say.
ROBERTS: Well, yes, it's a lovely shot of a lovely building and it is beautiful, but it's not the architecture that we're talking about this morning. It's what is inside. "The Hill", a Washington newspaper focused on politics, is out with its annual list of the 50 most beautiful people inside the capitol building.
CHETRY: All right. So, who won? Well, at No. 1, Representative Brad Ellsworth. Let's see a picture of him. There he is. Not bad. He's a Democrat out of Indiana. Ellsworth is 48 years old. Yes, single ladies, yes, he is married.
ROBERTS: No surprise there. Check out No. 4. Here is number 4. That is Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker. She's 67 years old, a mother of five, and grand mother of six and beautiful in anyone's books. She came in No. 4.
There are also other competitions going on for sexiest or hottest media types on the Hill. Do we have that picture? Do we have that one available? Let's put it up. Felipe Rines (ph). CHETRY: Hillary Clinton's press secretary.
ROBERTS: Is in the running here. Apparently the voting not going so well, so he has appealed to people, according to some blogs, to vote for him. The MediaBistro web site is the one that is taking these votes. So let's all make Felipe feel better and go ahead and cast your vote for him today.
A good-looking fellow.
CHETRY: He just said I don't want to come in last. That's the one thing I don't want to happen. So, there you have it. The most beautiful people. And you can check out the magazine, what is it? Thehill.com? To go to, to --
ROBERTS: "The Hill" had the 50 most beautiful people. It's Media Bistro that has the -- oh.
CHETRY: No, if you want to check if your congressman was on the list?
ROBERTS: Yes, that's "The Hill" newspaper, you can get that online by the way.
CHETRY: Some other stories on our radar this morning. Boy there was a big controversy after this report came out, when it comes to astronauts and some of the activities that they may be taking part in before they launch a mission into outer space. Really shocking, when you think about it.
ROBERTS: We talked last hour with a former NASA flight surgeon who reminds us that before launches, there are sometimes parties. This new report on behavioral aspects of astronauts in the space program suggests that -- do you see this picture here in "The New York Post"?
CHETRY: They're poking a little bit of fun at it this morning.
ROBERTS: This may in fact be what's happened, that astronauts have gone into space -- drunk. That they've been at these parties the night before and when they took off they were still drunk. Or at the very least, hung over.
CHETRY: Right. There is supposed to be a certain amount of time between --
ROBERTS: Twelve hours, bottled to throttle.
CHETRY: Bottle to throttle, that's how they put it. We find out how often this happened and if it really is as big a problem as some of these reports have claimed.
ROBERTS: NASA is addressing it in a press conference later on today so, obviously, some concern here.
The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
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ROBERTS (voice over): Capitol grill. Democrats in Congress demand an investigation into Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Did he lie to lawmakers?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's done this over and over and over again.
ROBERTS: Can he survive?
Market drop. Overnight, stocks tumble overseas. Will it trigger another big sell off on Wall Street today? And what can you do to safeguard your money?
Drunk in space. Shocking new claims NASA ignored warnings and let astronauts blast into space while drunk. The story on this AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Welcome back. It's Friday, the 27th of July. Thanks for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. I'm John Roberts.
CHETRY: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Glad you're with us.
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