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American Morning
Rove To Resign; Church Shootings; One Week Underground; Market Watch; Dirty-Bomb Threat
Aired August 13, 2007 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news. Karl Rove is out, leaving the White House and the president he served for 14 years. Why now and what's next?
Church shooting spree. What led a gunman to take hostages and open fire inside the sanctuary?
And uphill climb. Overseas markets gain ground overnight. Can it breathe life back into Wall Street and your portfolio, on this AMERICAN MORNING.
And, welcome. Glad you're with us. It's Monday, August 13th. I'm Kiran Chetry.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN ANCHOR: John Roberts has the day off, several days as a matter of fact. I'm Rob Marciano.
CHETRY: Good to see you this morning, Rob.
Well, you know, we could have missed it, but right here in "The Wall Street Journal," an article talking about Karl Rove, the president's long time advisor, calling it quits.
MARCIANO: Big news out of the Bush administration, for sure. He's been with him a long time, since '83, back when he ran for governor in Texas. We'll see what it means for the administration itself.
CHETRY: Yes, we're going to break it down with several political folks coming up here on our show. But President Bush called him the architect. He is the man who crafted his campaign victories in 2000, as well as 2004. Well now the president will finish his presidency without Karl Rove. The president's chief political strategist from the very beginning will resign August 31st. Joining us on the phone from Washington, White House correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Good morning, Suzanne.
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, good morning. This is obviously . . .
CHETRY: What do you make of the timing of this announcement?
MALVEAUX: Well, this is very, very big news, as you know. I mean you really can't overstate Karl Rove's significance to the administration. But he's been having a number of conversations -- I talked with Dana Perino, one of the folks with the White House this morning -- he's been talking with the president over the last year or so about what an appropriate time would be to leave.
You may recall that it was when the new chief of staff, Josh Bolten, came in, there was quite a shake-up, a lot of speculation in terms of whether or not Karl Rove would be able to survive. Clearly he's been involved in a lot of the domestic policy, as well as Iraq, immigration reform being a real item that he was in the middle of. And just talked to Karl Rove last week, was very much involved in trying to get legislation before Congress went on its recess. But Josh Bolten recently told his staff, sat down at them with them and said, look, if you plan on leaving past Labor Day's announce time to leave, otherwise you're going to stay for the remainder of the term. And that Karl Rove decided that there was never a right time, but that perhaps this was the time to go, that he would be going back to Ingram, Texas, with his wife, with his son.
I spoke with Dana Perino who said this morning -- she said, "obviously it's a big loss to us. He is a great colleague, good friend and a brilliant mind. He will be greatly missed, but we know he wouldn't be going if he wasn't sure this is the right time to be giving more time to his family, his wife Darby and their son. He will continue to be one of the president's greatest friends." And we expect that we will see the president and hear from him today, as well as Karl Rove. They're both going to be walking out to Marine One before they head off to the Crawford ranch.
CHETRY: All right, Suzanne Malveaux following those developments for us today, as we expect to hear from the president about the departure of his closest political advisor.
Thanks, Suzanne.
MALVEAUX: Thank you.
CHETRY: Also joining us from Washington right now is politico.com executive editor Jim Vandehei.
Jim, thanks for being with us.
JIM VANDEHEI, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, POLITICO.COM: Great to be here.
CHETRY: So what changes now at the White House.
VANDEHEI: Well, first off I've got to say, count me among the people who's a little bit skeptical about the timing. This idea that the , chief of staff says, well, if you're going to leave at all, leave before August. I mean this is Karl Rove. This is President Bush's right-hand man. He's been able to do what he wanted to do in this White House since the beginning. So if he wanted to stay and leave on his own terms in six months from now, he'd have be able to do that.
Remember, Democrats have a big old target on his back and they're looking at him as part of several inquiries. They'd love to get him before Congress to testify about the firing of the attorneys and then several other episodes where they're pretty upset with the White House's behavior.
As for what's next to him, he's always said that he wants to go back to Texas and most likely would like to write a book and to teach. I take him on his word on that. I've asked him several times if he'd ever work for another campaign and it's clear that he wouldn't. I mean this really takes a toll on you, especially being through two of these political wars and he's really been central to all of them, everything that's ever happened in this White House. So I assume he will go back, write his book about the Bush presidency and teach somewhere in Texas.
CHETRY: You know you write -- you just mentioned your skepticism when it comes to the timing. And he responded to that in this article in "The Wall Street Journal" saying, "I know they'll say that, but I'm not going to stay or leave based on whether it pleases the mob." And he also says he feels he'll still be a target even though he's not at the White House anymore.
VANDEHEI: He will be a target. And I'm not suggesting that he's leaving now because, you know, he's afraid he's going to get dragged up there and have to say something because he's going to be a target no matter what. But it does start to take a toll. You know he's been in some ways a lot of people in the White House have told me a distraction for some time, you know, because of what happened with the Scooter Libby trial where instead of focusing on policy, you're talking about a political and potentially a legal defense.
So, again, I think that just wears on you so much as an advisor. And the truth is, when you get into the last year of a presidency in the second term, there's not a whole heck of a lot that can be done. It's going to be all about the 2008 presidential election. The idea that President Bush is going to do anything big and bold on the domestic side sort of strikes me as very, very unfathomable because Democrats in Congress have no interest whatsoever in working with him on anything large.
CHETRY: You know it's interesting because he also weighed in on the '08 election, saying about the Democrats "they're likely to nominate a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate by the name of Hillary Rodham Clinton. He went on to say he believed that while it's hard to take a third term with one party, that if anyone can do it, this is the climate for the Republicans.
VANDEHEI: I mean, again, I mean, he's always taking some decisions on politics that strike other people in politics as a little off base. I mean this is a very bad climate for Republicans and a lot of people point the finger at Rove because they pursued a policy that was really sort of divisive and it made it -- gave very little room for error for Republicans. You know, most Republicans I talked to think it will be very difficult.
Now clearly he's not going to consult for Hillary Clinton and he's always been an optimist. And I think he is genuinely an optimist. He does think that Republicans could win next time around. And certainly they could win next time around. But he's leaving at a time when the Republican brand is very damaged. I mean President Bush's poll numbers have gone up a little, but they're still in the low 30s. People do not like the Republican Congress. And if you just think about the ideas that Republicans are supporting right now, it's not as concrete and popular as it was when Rove-Bush came into town.
CHETRY: Yes, well they don't like the Democratic Congress right now either. It's a tough time for everyone in Capitol Hill.
But Jim Vandehei, thanks so much.
VANDEHEI: Good to be here.
MARCIANO: Police in Missouri have a man in custody accused of shooting three people to death inside a church. It happened in Neosho, in the southwest corner of Missouri. Police say the gunman stormed the church, ordered children to get out and then opened fire on everyone who was left. Sean Callebs is live in Neosho this morning.
Sean, what are we learning this morning?
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we can tell you that the suspect still remains in the Newton (ph) County jail. He has not been identified. And authorities last night told us that he is not cooperating with the investigation. However, they do have a wealth of eyewitnesses who are providing information to the police here.
A significant Micronesian population here in this small, rural Missouri town. And the police tell us that the gunman was from the Pacific Islands and the church service that was going on was also held every Sunday afternoon from 1:00 to 3:00 for the people from Micronesia. Apparently the gunman burst into the church carrying two, small caliber handguns, as well as a 9 millimeter handgun with a large magazine. After ordering the children out, he then began firing. The police chief explains who was in the gunmen's targets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF DAVE MCCRACKEN, NEOSHO POLICE: We had two of the worshipers and an assistant pastor, yes, were killed. Approximately five other people were wounded.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CALLEBS: Now police aren't providing any kind of motive. However, the police chief last night did say that there was an incident involving the suspect on Saturday night. We don't know what that incident was. And it apparently was a family member of at least some of the people who attended this church.
Now right now behind you can see the church is still reigned in police tape. I had a chance to go up a little bit ago, try and talk with the officers who remain outside this church and have been for some time. And you can see actually some blood on the steps and also those markers, Rob, that are used to mark evidence also on the porch leading into the church.
MARCIANO: Sean Callebs live for us in southwest Missouri.
Thanks, Sean.
CHETRY: Now to the latest developments at the mine collapse in Utah. They've started drilling yet again on a new hole, this one into another part of the mine. The first two holes did not find any signs of life when it came to the six miners who have been trapped now for one full week. CNN's John Zarrella is at the command center at the entrance to the mine with the latest details.
Hi, John.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kiran.
Well, you know, based on the timeline, it should probably take them two to three days to get this third hole drilled. We expect, and believe, that they've probably begun already based on the timeline that they have laid out. Should be very close or have started drilling of that third hole. They've got to go down about 1,400 feet.
Now over the weekend, they did release some images of the 8 5/8 inch drill equipment, the apparatus that they used to drill the second hole, which is also being used to drill this third hole. And at the same time they showed images of the camera that they used to put down into that second hole, which will also be used in this third hole.
Now they had some problems with the camera and visibility. They were only able to see about 15 feet because of the lack of so much darkness down there, the light was just absolutely absorbed by that darkness. So they're trying to enhance the capabilities of the camera with some additional lighting.
Now during the news briefing yesterday afternoon, they were asked, now we're moving into the second week here, these guys have been down there a full week now, trapped below the earth. You know, why do they still hold out hope?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD STICKLER, ASST. SECRETARY OF LABOR, MSHA: And our attitude is that we always have to have hope. And that's a position we're taking, is that we're hoping and we're praying. And it would be a terrible mistake to ever give up hope until you know for sure. So that's the only choice we have, is to press ahead with hope and, you know, in time we will know the answer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZARRELLA: Now as far as digging the miners out through the horizontal tunnel, the work is going painfully slow. They've backed off the estimate of four or five days they've given us over the weekend on how long it's gong to take to reach the miners. So, Kiran, still no estimate on how long human can get -- human rescuers can actually get into that cavity to find those miners.
CHETRY: John Zarrella, thank you. Well, here's a look at some of the other stories that are new this morning.
The Republican presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson dropping out of the race now. The Iowa straw poll apparently the last straw. He finished sixth in the vote this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY THOMPSON, (R) FMR. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It didn't come out the way I thought it was going to, but that's life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me make sure I'm hearing you correctly, you're out of the race?
THOMPSON: I'm out of the race.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee finished a surprise second in the Iowa straw poll. We're going to be taking to him live coming up at 8:15 Eastern Time.
It's an urgent decision for NASA this morning, whether or not to send astronauts out to fix some damage on the space shuttle Endeavour. NASA says that a chunk of insulating foam tore a deep hole in the shuttle's protective tiles during liftoff last week. We're going to be talking to a former astronaut about the potential for a repair job and what it would entail, coming up in our next hour.
And divers pulled another body from the murky Mississippi River Sunday, 11 days after the I-35W bridge collapse. Nine people now confirmed dead and four are still missing. Workers also removed the school bus off the bridge. It was carrying 52 children from a field trip to a water park. All of them got out OK.
MARCIANO: Nineteen people died this morning in a bus crash in Malaysia. The bus ran off a major highway, flipped over and landed in a 20 foot deep ditch. The impact ripped the roof off the bus. The crash was 125 miles north of Gualampur (ph). Ten people are in the hospital. The government says it's the worst traffic accident in modern Malaysian history.
And another bizarre twist this morning in the controversy over Chinese imports. A state run newspaper in China says the CEO of a Chinese toy manufacture has killed himself. And the report claims he apparently was upset after nearly a million of the company's toys were recalled here in the U.S. because of excessive amounts of lead.
Well, gas prices are falling again. Checking the CNN gas gage. The price of self-serve regular is now 2.78 cents a gallon, down more than 10 cents in the past two weeks. And that's down from $3.06 just a month ago. Gas was at $3.01 a year ago.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Rob, thanks.
Time now to check in with our AMERICAN MORNING team of correspondents for other stories new this morning.
Stocks could be poised for a rebound after a volatile week on Wall Street. Ali Velshi is following that for us.
Hi, Ali.
VELSHI: Good morning, Kiran.
I could be poised to get lunch today, actually, because I may not have to worry about these markets all day. Right now we've got futures pointing to a higher open across the board in the United States. European markets are trading higher. Asian markets, with the exception of Japan, were all higher. Japan has some specific issues going on today that are driving its markets lower.
But, you know, after all that volatility last week, after all the sky is falling, take a look at how these markets did in the United States over the last week. The Dow was actually up. In fact, all the major indices were actually up last week because these swings have been so big to either side. We had that record breaking day on the Dow.
Now for markets to this point this year, in August, we are looking at a Dow that is up more than 6 percent so far for the year. That's not terrible. The sky's not falling, actually. The S&P is only up about 2.5 percent and the Nasdaq is up above 5 percent.
But I want to talk to you a little later on about who's gaining and losing in this market specifically. And particularly in the mortgage market. Who's in trouble and who's not. And I'll be back with that in a little while.
Kiran.
CHETRY: Sound good. Ali, thanks so much.
Bonnie Schneider at the CNN Center tracking Hurricane Flossie in the Pacific.
Hi, Bonnie.
(WEATHER REPORT)
MARCIANO: Kiran, well it's not a hurricane, but quite a sight off the Florida Gulf Coast. Check this out. Crowds gathered on the beach in Pensacola on Sunday. Check out this large water spout. Wow, that is cool and amazing. By the way, a water spout is just a tornado that's over water. That's why it looks so clean. It's just picking up some water. When it rolls over land, then it becomes a tornado. No word of any damage, but certainly got people all riled up there in Florida.
Well, in New York City they were on terror watch over the weekend. All of it over a threat deemed not credible. What was the appropriate response? We'll look into it next on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Well, it was quite a show on Captiva Island, Florida. That's a look at a plane. A pilot and his passenger crash landed on a beach in front of about 500 people. They say that the plane had some engine trouble. And then after it flipped over, after the landing gear ended up hitting the sand. This was a 75-year-old passenger. He was taken to the hospital, not hurt. They say non-life-threatening injuries. And no one on the beach was injured.
MARCIANO: Sand certainly a lot softer than pavement, that's for sure.
Well, the New York City Police Department is easing its alert this morning after an online threat over the weekend of a possible dirty bomb attack. The NYPD sent extra officers to the streets and set up security checkpoints around the city. Terrorism officials are now calling the threat unsubstantiated or not credible. Was New York's response appropriate or just a knee jerk reaction. CNN's Kelli Arena is live for us at our Washington bureau with more on this.
Good morning, Kelly.
KELLY ARENA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Rob.
You know, New York officials say that they acted out of an abundance of caution. And no one here in Washington is criticizing what they did. You know, there are several factors at play here.
First, we are approaching the 9/11 anniversary. And although a lot of experts say that anniversaries don't really mean anything to groups like al Qaeda, it certainly doesn't hurt to be extra cautious. And we can't forget, Rob, that New York has been hit twice, back in 1993 and then obviously back in 2001. And al Qaeda does seem like to return to targets that it's familiar with. Also, there were those surveillance reports that were found of some financial buildings in the New York area. So the city does have a legitimate reason to be concerned.
Rob.
MARCIANO: Kelli, you know, people get freaked-out on the streets when they see the heavy artillery showing up. Now are there any discussions on, you know, a more appropriate protocol? Maybe, you know, keeping the heavy artillery maybe away from the public and just kind of in the background?
ARENA: Well, you know, it's really up to each locality as to how it will react to any threat information. Again, federal officials here in Washington are not being critical at all, nor are they laying in any mandates. New York City officials obviously believe that that show of force was appropriate to ease the mind of the people who live there.
I mean, you know, every expert that I speak to say that there's no rule book here. I mean there's no right or wrong way to respond. It's very difficult. You're mixing politics, public relations, law enforcement. So you're bound to be criticized either for doing too much or for not doing enough.
But I'll tell you, Rob, you know, I have a lot of family in New York City and they were more -- you know, they were actually happy with the show of force. Weren't feeling too freaked-out. Said, you know what, at least we know, you know, that they're doing what they have to do.
MARCIANO: There's something to be said for that feeling of security, that's for sure.
Kelli Arena live for us in Washington D.C.
Thanks, Kelli.
ARENA: You're welcome.
CHETRY: Well, snakes on a plane, as well as crocodiles and chamaeleons inside of a man's carry on bags in Cairo. The 22-year-old Saudi passenger learned, well, you know, it's illegal to carry reptiles out of Egypt and he was sent back home to Saudi Arabia. Apparently security officials became suspicious when they opened the bags and discovered a large number of reptiles, including at least one cobra, all trying to escape. They say that this is actually popular apparently because back in May they caught another Saudi man at the Cairo airport with 700 live snakes on his carry on luggage. They say that they're often kept in Saudi Arabia by store keepers as pets, so they're very popular.
MARCIANO: Even if you don't travel a lot, I mean, carrying 200 crocodiles on an airplane, that's got to, you know, go in your head kind of -- how many . . .
CHETRY: Right. Think about it. As long as it's in a quart Ziploc bag, you're fine.
MARCIANO: Right, as long as it's only a quart.
CHETRY: Oh, goodness.
All right. Well, lucky number 13 for Tiger Woods. Your quick hits now. Tiger picked up his 13th career major title Sunday in the PGA championship in Tulsa. It was Tiger's second straight PGA championship victory and fourth overall.
Also a major upset in the world of tennis. Top ranked Roger Federer defeated at this weekend's Roger's Cup. He lost to Novak Djokovic. The two have faced off five times and this is the first match that Federer has lost.
And the passing of an icon. This morning, we're remembering Merv Griffin, the talk show host and game show creator. That's coming up ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: It was a terrific life. Merv Griffin said that once about himself about two years ago. The legendary entertainer died in Los Angeles on Sunday after battling prostate cancer. Griffin's career began as a big band singer. His gift of gab earned him his own television talk show and he later built a game show empire that included "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune." Merv Griffin was 82.
Man, he had so much talent, it was almost unfair.
CHETRY: He really did. And I think a lot of people didn't realize because they knew him for his work in the game show's. How much -- he was a mogul behind the scenes as well. Our Lola Ogunnaike was one of the last people to talk to him, so she's going to be coming up a little later to share some of her thoughts.
In the meantime, here's a couple of stories coming up that you can't miss.
Nissan has a new smart car. Now this one is supposed to be loaded up with the technology that they hope could end up eliminating drunk driving. It's not a breathalyzer on board that you breathe into. Wait until you see how this car can tell if you're driving under the influence.
MARCIANO: And nothing like some boozing video in the morning to get you going. Somebody chugging a beer. We'll show you more of that video if you didn't get enough.
And, well, you've hard about going to the dogs. You've certainly heard about, you know, crazy cat ladies. But wait till you see just how many cats are roaming around this house (ph) of this woman who lives in Russia.
CHETRY: That looks like a scene from a horror movie.
MARCIANO: It almost looks like it's computer animated.
CHETRY: Oh, that's great. She makes them like fight each other for a few scraps of food. It's like pigeons in the park. Anyway, we're going to talk about what her neighbors hate the most. And it's actually not the smell, apparently.
MARCIANO: I can just imagine the litter boxes or litter lawn, probably, is what she has going.
CHETRY: Yes. So we're going to have much more on those news coming up on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MARCIANO: Good stuff. A live shot for you of central park from high atop the Time Warner Center here near Columbus Circle. A little bit of haze in the air, but certainly there will be some action in the park later. Summer in the city. CHETRY: It's 70 degrees, shaping up for a high of 87. We will get some rain so bring your umbrella. We will get a verification from you, the meteorologist.
MARCIANO: I changed gears this morning. You can refer to me as Mr. Anchorman. We'll go to Bonnie Schneider.
I'm Rob Marciano, in for John Roberts. It's Monday, August the 13th.
CHETRY: Good to have you with us. And I'm Kiran Chetry.
We start off with some breaking news this Monday. From the White House today, the president's chief political strategist Karl Rove announcing he will resign at the end of the month. Without him, there might now have been a second Bush term. What does this mean for the rest of the president's time in office?
Joining us now is White House Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux.
Good morning, Suzanne. Did this come as a surprise this morning?
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, this is something Karl Rove had floated out a year ago with the president, when would be the right time to leave? It comes as a surprise in the sense that there is never a right time for administration officials to leave. But he did let the president know. Josh Bolten, the chief of staff, said, if you're going to leave, don't be here beyond Labor Day, you're here for good. So now is the next window here if you want to take a break. Karl Rove decided that is exactly what he wanted to do. The White House reacting, putting out this statement. Dana Parino saying, "Obviously, it is a big loss to us. He's a great colleague, a good friend and brilliant mind. He will be missed greatly, but we know he wouldn't be going if he wasn't sure it was the right time to give more time to his family, his wife Darby and their son. He will continue to be one of the president's greatest friends."
And as you know, Kiran, he was one of the most powerful people in the administration. He has his hands on just about everything. I spoke with him just before Congress went on recess and he was still trying to push forward on domestic legislation.
But, Kiran, it has become very clear, as we know, since the Democrats took over, a number of investigations pointing to Karl Rove, in some ways, it would be a good thing for him to leave at this time, with 16 months left in office, an immigration policy that didn't go through, a lot of problems with Iraq. This is a very, very big move. We expect the president as well as Karl Rove to come to the cameras before they leave for Texas to talk more about it -- Kiran?
CHETRY: Was it an understated way to do it? He gave an interview to an editorial director of the "Wall Street Journal." The headline doesn't even say he's leaving.
MALVEAUX: Probably a smart way to do it, a way of understating the significance of all of this. We have been told and it's not surprising this would be a voluntary move on his part. He is a very powerful man.
Also, the Democrats are looking at Karl Rove's role in a number of investigations, including the firing of U.S. attorneys, his relationship with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He was under a cloud when it came to Scooter Libby, the CIA leak investigation. And many people when you talk about a year ago, when he was considering stepping down, that was about the time when a lot of people started to think he was perhaps somewhat a liability or at least a distraction to the White House agenda.
CHETRY: Suzanne Malveaux at the White House with this breaking news. Thank you.
One note, by the way, the president as well as Karl Rove are expected to speak as they head out to Marine 1, to Crawford Texas, around 11:15 to 11:30 eastern time. CNN will carry that live.
MARCIANO: Other headlines this morning, we are hearing for the first time from one of the miners who escaped the collapsing Crandall Canyon mine a week ago. He said he never felt a thing as the mine was caving in.
This morning, rescuers plan to drill a 3rd hole into the mine where six miners are still trapped. Rescuers have yet to spot them using a camera lowered into the mine. They're also trying to dig through the debris but only a third of the way through that.
Family members are still hopeful the men will be found alive.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSE SANDOVAL SANCHEZ, COUSIN OF TRAPPED MINER: The slow process, definitely a time of grief of highs and ups and downs, but we're hanging in there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: The trapped miners are more than three miles from the mine entrance.
Police in Newark still searching for three suspects in the schoolyard shooting of four college students. Police have arrested three people but still looking for a 24-year-old, Rodolfo Gadinez (ph) and two juveniles. Officials say the one surviving victim is improving and her condition is no longer life-threatening.
Bangladesh is facing a medical crisis from two weeks of monsoon rains and devastating floods. More than 400 people have died and thousands treated for water-borne diseases.
Forecasts are watching Hurricane Flossie. Right now it's about 500 miles from Hawaii with 135 mile and hour winds, a major hurricane. It's expected to weaken as it passes over cooler waters and passes south of the islands as early as tomorrow. It could stir up strong winds and a 12-foot surf.
CHETRY: NASA is facing an urgent decision this morning. They need to decide whether or not to send astronauts out on a spacewalk to try to repair some deeply damaged tiles, on the belly of the space shuttle "Endeavour."
Here's CNN's Miles O'Brien.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It happened 58 seconds after launch, a chunk of insulating foam fell off "Endeavour's" external fuel tank, ricocheted and scraped across heat resistant tiles. There are four gouges in all, first spotted in picture snapped by the space station crew as "Endeavor" back flipped Friday. It was enough for engineers to order a closer look that gouges with a laser device which generates a three-dimensional picture of the damage.
MATT ABBOTT, LEAD FLIGHT DIRECTOR: We got all the data we expected from the engineering teams and it is being analyzed as we speak.
O'BRIEN (on camera): Engineers will conduct a blast furnace test on tiles with similar damage and a computer simulation to see what might happen when that gouge is exposed to the 2,300 degree heat of reentry.
(voice-over): The largest and deepest gouge may go all the way to "Endeavour's" aluminum skin, but say it is below a sturdy strut in the wing. And they point to these damaged tiles from "Discovery" in 1988. Even though the damage was more extensive then, the orbiter's skin was unscathed. The jury is still out.
JOHN SHANNON, DEP. SHUTTLE PROGRAM MANAGER: I don't have an idea whether a repair would be required, or if so, which type would be required.
O'BRIEN: The crew can paint the gauge with a heat-resistant liquid, fill it in with some high-tech Bondo or cover it with a plate. Astronauts have practiced doing the repairs. Managers have never staked the safety of the shuttle crew on them.
Miles O'Brien, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Global markets up are up this morning. Japan's NIKA (ph) closed two-tenths of a percent higher today. European banks are trading higher now. The Bank of Japan and European Central Bank both pumped billions into the European money market today to calm investors from turmoil coming from the mortgage market.
Ali Velshi has been one busy man the past couple of weeks.
ALI VELSHI, CNN FINANCIAL ANALYST: I'm so relaxed today. (CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: The futures numbers are up. A lot of people have been saying you're really good at calling the open of the market. It's not me. There are numbers that tell ugh us exactly where it will open. The Asian market closed higher. if you've been worry about the markets and got a bit of a break today, look at your credit score, not to see that you've been a victim of identity theft, look at it to see what the number is, the FICO score, main one used, If you have a number above 620, you're probably okay. Below 620, you start to fall into that subprime category which means you will pay more.
CHETRY: How do you look up your credit score?
VELSHI: It's free to every American, go into search engine and write credit score, it will show you how to get a free credit score. Be careful because a lot of offers do want you to pay for something called credit watch. If you're above 620 and you're safe and you miss a mortgage payment, it could drop 50 points to 100 points just for missing a mortgage payment. If you're close, you need to know. If you're 700 or more, don't miss a mortgage payment and you won't be subprime and you should be safe.
MARCIANO: Is it true the more you check your credit score, the more you could decrease it?
VELSHI: No. The more you request credit or sign up for credit, you can lose credit. The more other people check your credit, you lose credit, you are allowed to check as much as you want. Other people can't make inquiries into your credit because it looks like you're looking for more credit.
CHETRY: That's a good differentiation for us. Thanks, Ali.
I don't know. You're looking like you don't believe him.
MARCIANO: He said it's not him calling the markets in this morning. I'd like to know if he can call where it will close in the afternoon. That would be the big money maker.
VELSHI: Much bigger challenge.
CHETRY: Thanks, Ali.
Police in Missouri in the town of Neosho are trying to find out what led a man to go on a violent rampage inside a church, killing three people, including a pastor. Several people were hurt when they walked into a Sunday service help for parishioners, many from Micronesia. There was a brief stand off when police arrived, but they got the shooter to surrender. We know he is Micronesian, and a family member of some of the churchgoers.
MARCIANO: A dramatic decline in the number of terror attacks in Iraq. The U.S. military says truck bombings and other al Qaeda-style attacks are down nearly 50 percent since the start of the so-called troop surge six months ago. The attacks hit a high of 130 in March, and last month, down to 70.
This morning the White House is distancing itself from the talk of reinstating the draft. It follows comments by the president's key military advisor, Lieutenant General Douglas Lute. He told National Public Radio the draft could be a way to relieve the demands of Iraq and Afghanistan are putting on the all volunteer force. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. DOUGLAS, LUTE, U.S. ARMY ADVISOR: I think it makes sense to certainly consider it. I can tell you, it has always been an option on the table. But ultimately, this is a policy matter between meeting the demands for the nation's security by one means or another. Today, the current means, the all volunteer force serving exceptionally well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: The White House says the all volunteer force serves the country exceptionally well and there are no plans to return to the draft.
CHETRY: L.A.'s mayor is demanding answers after a weekend meltdown at Los Angeles National Airport. More than 20,000 travelers were delayed when a Customs Department glitch caused a computer to crash and stranded international passengers on the ground.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We sat for three hours on a plane and sat for two more hours in an aisle and sat for another hour in the room and then we stood in line.
CHETRY: A lot of passengers describe the situation there as pure chaos and very frustrating. The system that crashed allows Customs agents to access information about incoming international passengers, including arrest warrants.
Virginia's new abusive driver fees are tough. Even a pregnant woman speeding to the hospital with labor pains got nailed with a huge fine.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA HODGES, FINED FOR SPEEDING: I was speeding and rushing to the hospital because I didn't know if I was going to go into labor or not. The cop pulled me over. They gave me a fine plus several penalties, which is $350 for the next three years.
UNIDENTIFIED CORRESPONDENT: A thousand bucks.
HODGES: Right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: She had proof. She's carrying the baby around. She's up and on her feet pretty fast. Wow. The fees are meant to punish people who commit severe traffic offenses. Jessica Hodges is not the only Virginian protesting those fees. More than 170,000 people have signed a petition to repeal them.
MARCIANO: Rappers are talking trash and it could be the end of 50 Cents' career. The rapper told sohh.com that if his next album doesn't sell better than Kanye West's next album, he will hang it up, retire. His real name is Curtis Jackson and West's "Graduation" album are due out September 11th.
CHETRY: He's retired several times now.
MARCIANO: He can always come back.
A desperate race for rescuers, an SUV plunges into a canal with a woman still inside. We'll show the pictures and tell you how it all ended. That's coming up next on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Some scary moments this weekend for a woman in Grand Junction, Colorado. Check out what happened to Virginia Northup's Lexus SUV. Emergency crews rescued her from the nearly submerged vehicle. It careened off the road and plunged into a canal. There's the SUV. It looks like it was almost completely submerged. How did she get out okay? We'll show you a couple more pictures. There, you see her making her way up the ravine. She doesn't even look wet.
MARCIANO: She probably saw Rick Sanchez' piece on how to get out of a car going under water. Useful information.
CHETRY: The fact of the matter is if she did it without getting wet, we should get her on the show. She's doing all right this morning.
46 minutes past the hour, Bonnie Schneider at the CNN Center, watching extreme weather conditions for us this morning.
Good morning, Bonnie.
BONNIE SCHNEIDER, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Kiran. We are tracking a major hurricane in the pacific. This is Hurricane Flossie, now a category 4 storm. That means winds are as strong as 135 miles an hour. Gusts stronger than that, up to 160. The movement of the storm is north/northwest and all of Hawaii is in that cone of uncertainty, one of the major concerns. Cooler waters are likely to come in, not going to be a category 4 too long. Tuesday and Wednesday, it should be downgraded to a Category 2.
The biggest concern is the island of Hawaii, where we will be seeing the roughest surf and heavy rain, possibly up to 10 inches of rain. Coming back to the Atlantic, miles away, we're tracking a strong area here, a wave we've been watching off the coast of Africa. This is likely to become a tropical depression, as soon as we get the next advisory and could possibly come in later this afternoon or tomorrow. This is something we'll be watching in the days to come. As you know, Rob, this is the time of year the Atlantic gets very active.
MARCIANO: What is the timeline before it gets to the Caribbean and threatening the U.S.?
SCHNEIDER: As we look at the model, 5 days ahead. It's still near the Windward Islands. But you know how these storms can suddenly change track and move quickly. It's something we will be tracking closely.
MARCIANO: Good stuff, thanks, Bonnie Schneider.
Protests at Heathrow Airport tops our "Quick Hits." Protesters arrived a day early to begin manning the Climate Change Camp this morning. It's located within sight of planes taking off. Activists say Heathrow's planned expansion will damage the environment around the airport.
Adulterers, beware, your easy pass could give you away. A Pennsylvania divorce lawyer says easy pass records helped her catch her husband in a lie. He said he was at a business meeting in Pennsylvania but the easy pass showed that he was really in Jersey. The handful of states that use easy pass system will hand over records if asked to do so by a court.
When you drink, it finks. A smart car that could save your life. That's coming up next on "AMERICAN MORNING." Stay with us.
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CHETRY: How about this for a Monday morning? Two cases of cross-dressing robbers to tell you about in our "Quick Hits." Orlando, Florida, surveillance video showing a man dressed as a woman helping himself to accessories in a T.J. Maxx store. Hopefully, we'll get better shots. There's the mug shot. He pulled a knife on them and still managed to hold him until police arrived. There he is.
In New York, three men robbed a bank also dressed as women. They wore wigs, carried purses and guns and stole something from a local basketball star.
That pants lawsuit just will not end. Judge Roy Pearson, who sued his dry-cleaners for losing his pants, is now refusing to pay their attorney's fees that amount to $83,000. A D.C. Superior Court ruled in favor of the dry-cleaners and ordered him to pay their legal bills.
MARCIANO: I have a solution for him. Why doesn't he put on a skirt and go rob a bank. The guy doesn't know when to quit.
CHETRY: He really doesn't.
MARCIANO: Crazy stuff.
Speaking of crazy, technology in cars have a way to detect if drivers have had one too many at the bar. CNN's Kim Lau has the story from Tokyo. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KIM LAU, CNN NEWS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's as Japanese as sushi, the nightly communion of Saki and beer. They believe the custom is contributing to a national problem, drunk driving. A string of accidents where children were killed is disturbing the social psyche.
Enter Japanese innovation, a concept car being developed by Nissan, conceptualizing the end of drunk driving.
It's not aimed at the celebrity offenders, like Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan or at the repeat offender, but the repeat offender and average consumer.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Be careful. Don't drink. That kind of soft reminder.
LAU (on camera): Here's how it works. An onboard computer detects any erratic driving. Facial recognition technology detects the driver is becoming sleepy. A number of sensors mounted around the car detect alcohol in the air or on the driver's sweat.
For demonstration purposes only not to drive, Nissan is allowing us to test out their drunk-driving prevention system. After a few sips of beer, the car sensors go to work.
CAR VOICE: The censor has detected alcohol. You have become impaired. Please stop your car in a safe place.
LAU: If I drank even more, the transmission would lock.
UNIDENTIFIED NISSAN SPOKESPERSON: The technology isn't quite ready now but we're very hopeful it will be tested in various ways and literally hold the promise of eliminating drunk driving in the united states and other countries beginning in about ten years.
Kim Lau, CNN, Tokyo.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Some growing pains for Drew Carey. A CBS spokesperson says the new "Price is Right" host was injured on the set of "The Grocery Game." He apparently got his arm caught on the revolving turntable on stage. He went to the hospital and came back to continue rehearsing, this time with his hand in a splint.
Still to come, the house that's gone to the cats. We'll take you inside and tell you how many felines call this place home. Plus, the one thing that drives the neighbors crazy. There's only one, Rob.
MARCIANO: Just one?
CHETRY: Next on "AMERICAN MORNING."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: We know firemen can get a cat out of a tree but how do you get a cat out of a wall? A landlord in Colorado is trying to figure that out. Her tenant left and she found the house damaged. There's little Freddie. He's been living in the wall behind the bathtub. They tried everything to get little Freddie out -- catnip, traps, even a screen door on his hole. Freddie always manages to come out at night and go back into the wall during the day. There he is.
What about a nice big can of tuna fish? Wouldn't he crawl back in for that?
MARCIANO: He seems pretty happy. Maybe he likes it in there.
Come on out, Fred. Come on.
CHETRY: Maybe he's used to living in a New York apartment. All the room you want.
A feline feeding frenzy in Siberia. Check out this woman from the Russian outpost. She has 130 cats. They all have names and despite a full house, she says the smell is not bad.
The biggest complaint from neighbors is the late night meowing. I hope we could just keep talking so we could get -- there she is. She comes out and just starts tossing food at them like she's feeding pigeons. That's a different shot.
MARCIANO: I hear pigeons don't smell that bad either. She looks completely sane. We're happy to have that video of 130 cat, cat lady.
CHETRY: Count them all. They all have names.
Here's a stories you can't miss coming up. Will Wall Street gain any ground this week?
Ali didn't point out though -- even though it's been a very volatile market because of the mortgage and the lending problems, we are up 6 percent on the year.
MARCIANO: We are up 6 percent. And Friday was an encouraging day because we got hammered off the start, down like 200 points, and then closing close to zero. That's was not bad.
CHETRY: We'll talk about that. Are they warning the economy is in danger of tanking and also what does it mean for you and your portfolio? We're speaking with Lou Dobbs, coming up in about 15 minutes.
MARCIANO: He'll talk about what the markets mean for your pocket book, may be the economy in general and, of course, retirement. A lot of IRAs and 401Ks are counting on the market doing well.
Stay tuned for that. The next hour of AMERICAN MORNING starts right now.
CHETRY: Breaking news. Karl Rove calls it quits. The president's closest adviser announcing his resignation overnight. Why now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is leaving when the Republican brand is very damaged.
CHETRY: And what's next?
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