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American Morning
Kennedy Leaving Hospital; Texas Governor's Mansion Fire; 7 Killed in Midwest Flooding; China Aftershock; Beef Protests Turn Violent in Seoul; Salmonella Scare Linked to Uncooked Tomatoes; D.C. Crime Crackdown
Aired June 09, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Did she miss an opportunity, though, to do a speech on gender. He came out with the race speech in March. It was amazing, riveting. Should she have done the same thing?
GLORIA STEINEM, BACKED CLINTON, NOW SUPPORTS OBAMA: Well, I think that -- I think she should have. But I think the pressures on her not to were enormous because people would have said -- oh, she's fetching, she's complaining, she's -- you know, the fact is that gender is still perceived as part of nature in a way that race used to be. And, you know, sometimes still is, but not as much anymore. Thank goodness.
So, I'm not sure that -- I mean, she would have been so criticized in the media. Look how criticized she's been for even raising the fact that she's a female human being.
PHILLIPS: She got up there not only as a contender but right next to him.
STEINEM: No. She has made such a huge advance. You know, this is the first time. I mean, I ran as a delegate for Shirley Chisholm, 36 years ago. Shirley Chisholm took the "White Male Only" sign off the White House door, both, you know. And, you know, we've had 50 women, you know, running over time.
It takes a long time in this -- in a country that is this big and that is this bias against female human beings. I mean, let's face it. You know, we have this kind of frontier macho thing and we've still got it.
But we are -- therefore, we're choosing our leadership talent from a tiny pool.
But what we have to remember is that men have gender, too. We have to talk about gender roles of men. White people have race, too. We have to talk about white racism.
Every time we talk about -- you know, race doesn't belong to the people who are afflicted by it. It belongs to all of us. And if we do that, this campaign really will be historic and we will have enlarged the talent pool from about six percent.
PHILLIPS: Both of them have crushed the doors. They busted open the doors. STEINEM: It's huge. We had an embarrassment of talent this year. And I'm very proud to have been part of both campaigns and we're going to elect Barack Obama.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Gloria, thanks for coming in this morning. Appreciate for sharing your thoughts.
STEINEM: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Well, Barack Obama heads to North Carolina today kicking off a two-week economic tour. What's in store for him?
And can John McCain do anything to connect with conservatives.
CNN's Candy Crowley live in Washington with a look at new challenges for the presumptive nominee.
But Candy, you just heard the discussion here with Gloria Steinem and John and me. You were with Hillary Clinton over the weekend. It was pretty emotional.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: It was and particularly on the level that you're talking about. And I know because having talked to the Clinton campaign between Tuesday, when everyone thought she should concede, to Saturday when she did.
That one of the things they said was she is very keenly aware of the history-making nature of this campaign. And she particularly did want to talk to women and put it in context of history. And you saw her say, listen, you know, we did sort of crack that glass ceiling, saying to the young people it would break my heart if you gave up now because we lost here.
So, she really wanted to write that kind of last graph of history for her own campaign because it was important. Because in the way that Barack Obama cannot avoid race, she couldn't avoid gender in the sense that, you know, it's obvious she's a woman. It's obvious that he is a man of biracial origin.
So, it is impossible to ignore and it is yet something that both campaigns didn't want to run on. So I think that final kind of bringing it together for Hillary Clinton was a really interesting way to do it and one that her campaign said was vitally important to her.
PHILLIPS: Interviewed Barack Obama last week. How was that different from the first time you interviewed him. Did you see a difference?
CROWLEY: I did. I saw a much more relaxed man. Winning does sort of relax one. And we can say that. But he's much easier in one- on-ones than the last time I interviewed him, which was early last year when he seemed ready for something that was going to attack him or -- you know, he was very tense when you talked to him.
He was laid back. He seemed to kind of mull over the question in a way that before I thought he was pretty defensive. And now he seems to be sort of on the move and moving this way, so. And we've seen that in debates, frankly, that he grew over time.
And I don't know any candidate I've ever watched from the get go to when they are elected or not elected that doesn't grow. People tend to start off a campaign looking at the people in front of them saying -- boy, I don't see anybody there that looks like a president. And by the time the process is over, people can look back and see how they've grown and it's definitely noticeable in Barack Obama.
PHILLIPS: Live from Washington. Thanks, Candy.
ROBERTS: Breaking news this morning as gasoline price has passed the dreaded $4 a gallon mark. Taking a look at the CNN gas gauge, AAA says a gallon of regular jumped two cents overnight to $4.02 a gallon. That's 33 cents over a month and 93 cents more than they were last year.
Some analysts have warned that this could be the worst week yet after oil saw its biggest price jump in history on Friday.
We're also watching extreme weather this morning from the East Coast to the Midwest. Flood warnings in effect for Indiana and Michigan until tonight. Severe thunderstorms and floods killed at least seven people in both states. Indiana seeing some of the worst flooding in 100 years.
In Illinois, six tornadoes touched down in the suburbs south of Chicago. Roofs shredded, power lines snapped. And along the East Coast, the story today is heat, heat, heat.
More advisories in effect today as the mercury in some parts could easily hit 100 degrees.
Reynolds Wolf is watching the brutal heat. He's live on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. for us this morning.
Any more gadgets this morning to describe for us how hot it is, Reynolds, or just the sweat on your brow?
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Only this morning, President Bush on his way to Europe now for what will likely be his final visit before leaving office. The eight-day trip starts with a U.S.-European Union Summit in Slovenia, then takes the President to Paris, Rome, Berlin, and London.
He actually spoke to reporters before departing the White House and addressed the need to keep European allies on board with the mission in Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The countries I'm going to have committed troops to Afghanistan. And of course, want to thank them and remind them there's a lot of work to be done.
I talked to Laura yesterday who, as you now know, took a trip to Afghanistan. I want to thank her for going. She gave me a good assessment about what she saw. She saw progress. But she also saw there needs to be a lot of work to be done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: First Lady Laura Bush made a surprise visit to Afghanistan on Sunday, where she met with U.S. troops and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
ROBERTS: The national average for gasoline passes the $4 mark. When we come back, find out where you're paying the most for gas and where you can find a relative bargain. Extreme gas prices, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
PHILLIPS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, laid off, so he tells his story online.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yahoo layoffs today. I'm impacted. I'm heading into work to pack my desk, get my severance paperwork and hand in my badge. More to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: One man's manifesto is now paying off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was getting job leads. I was getting references. I was getting introductions to people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Strength in numbers. How social networking is making a difference, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 11 minutes after the hour. Oil prices soar ever higher. What else is new? Gasoline finally crosses that threshold of $4.
Ali Velshi with more on all of this. We talked about $4 being that magic mark where people would change their habits.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Right. In 19 states of the District of Columbia are paying higher than $4 average. So for some people the fact that we're talking about a $4 average is, you know, whatever. They're already there.
But it does seem to this $3.50, $4, round numbers do tend to have a psychological effect. 139.12 is as high as oil got on Friday. That is an all time record. It was also the biggest jump we've seen in the price of oil. It was up $10.75 cents to $138.54 on Friday. We're just a little lower than that right now. We're in the $137 range. But those gas prices, by the way, the most expensive gas in the country remains -- that's not always been California. But California is usually up in the top group.
Those are the ones that tend to rotate amongst the top. $4.45 is an average in California. Which means some of you in California are paying even more than that. $4.32 in Connecticut, $4.30 in Alaska.
You want a deal on gas, it doesn't really matter, because if you don't live in these states, it's not going to help you. But Missouri is $3.82. South Carolina is $3.83. And Oklahoma is $3.84 a gallon.
There are different schools of thought now on where gas and oil prices go. Most people expect gas prices to continue to go up just to catch up with these record levels. But we've got definitely very senior analysts in the oil business saying, OK, this is enough. This is way too high. This is a bubble and it's got to stop.
And we have yet others just this morning saying we're going to see a super spike in the price of oil. I don't even know what a super spike is anymore. I mean, we --
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: 10 bucks a day. That's kind of remarkable. We're going to have full coverage on this and all sorts of other things having to do with the economy being "ISSUE #1" today. We've got our full money team all over the country talking about job retraining, how to save money on things, dealing with the price of oil and gas, all sorts of things. Stay with us for the full day on CNN with issue no. 1.
ROBERTS: Find me an analyst who says here is your new hydrogen powered car.
(CROSSTALK)
VELSHI: That's a good idea. I will look for that person.
ROBERTS: Thanks. Look long and hard.
VELSHI: Yes.
PHILLIPS: So here is a question. Can a car dealership sell big SUVs and still be green? We're going to take you to one place that's at least trying to do so.
And deadly flooding in the Midwest. Suppressive heat in the east. Rob Marciano tracking all the extreme weather for us.
Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This will be the hottest air so far this year. It could be the hottest air of the summer. And we're not even officially into summer. Complete forecast coming up when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: 15 minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano up from Hotlanta this morning, trying to escape the heat and instead finding more.
(WEATHER REPORT)
PHILLIPS: Thank you. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning." Barack Obama hopes that some Republican voters aren't sold on John McCain's economic plan. So who will appeal to blue-collar voters in the red states? We're going to talk to Carly Fiorina, point person for the McCain economic plan, coming up.
Plus, the 152-year-old home for heads of state in Texas nearly demolished. Investigators don't think it was an accident either. New clues on the governor's mansion straight ahead.
Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, laid off. So he tells his story online.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yahoo! layoffs today. I'm impacted. I'm headed into work to pack my desk, get myself severance paperwork and hand in my badge. More to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: One man's manifesto is now paying off.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was getting job leads. I was getting references. I was getting introductions to people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Strength in numbers. How social networking is making a difference, ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Logged on while being laid off. A net savvy man posting a minute by minute account of his firing. And when it was over, the audience that couldn't wait for his next update handed him his next job.
Ted Rowlands has the pretty intriguing story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TED ROWLANDS, CNN GENERAL ASSIGNMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ryan Cooter has been working in his kitchen and at a local coffee shop since he was laid off from Yahoo! on February 12th. His experience on that day he lost his job had people he'd never met glued to their computer screen.
RYAN KUDER, REBOUNDING FROM LAY-OFF: Yahoo! Layoffs today. I'm impacted. I'm headed into work to pack my desk. Get my severance paperwork and hand in my bag. More to come.
ROWLANDS: For seven hours that day, Ryan used his Blackberry to send out step by step details of his layoff for everyone to read on a social networking service called to Twitter.
KUDER: Walking around saying goodbye to some great people and some good friends.
ROWLANDS: As Ryan typed, hundreds of people were reading his updates.
KUDER: Waiting for the call from HR so I can go pick up my paperwork.
REBECCA CAVAGNARI, RYAN KUDER'S FRIEND: It was fascinating. It was engaging.
ROWLANDS: Rebecca Cavagnari, a friend, was one of the people following along as Ryan lost his job.
KUDER: Lots of whispered conversations. Like people are afraid to ask who's gone.
CAVAGNARI: Where he was going, who he was talking to, which conference room he was in, saying goodbye to friends, which is all things that people in that situation go through.
KUDER: Heading into my HR meeting. The room is called Lucy. Cute, eh?
ROWLANDS: Pretty soon Ryan's ongoing story spread to blogs and industry Web sites. And by the time Ryan was ready to leave Yahoo! for good, hundreds more were reading along.
KUDER: The HR guy is on his way over to confiscate my laptop.
ROWLANDS: Ryan's honest, detailed description of losing his job struck a cord with people. He had no idea so many people were following his layoff or what they would do for him.
KUDER: I was getting job leads, I was getting reference, I was introductions to people.
ROWLANDS: Ryan says since posting his layoff, he's been given hundreds of job leads. And two job offers later, he decided to go into business with someone who read his story.
(on camera): The real lesson here is that if you're looking for work, social networking can make a real difference. Whether it's Twitter, MySpace, Facebook or simply e-mailing friends. The more people out there that know you need a job, the better chance you'll get one. (voice-over): Remember, Rebecca? Two weeks ago, she lost her job. But following Ryan's lead, she told everyone she knew online, and now she says she has job leads at places she never would have thought of.
KUDER: There's no shame in what happened. And the more people who know what happened, you know, the more chances that you've got to find somebody who can help you figure out what that next step is going to be.
ROWLANDS: Ryan continues to update his daily life on to Twitter. He now has more than 1,000 people following along, all waiting to see what happens next to the guy most of them have never met.
Ted Rowlands, CNN, San Jose, California.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It's coming to about 23 minutes after the hour. Hillary Clinton no longer an option. Where will millions of her voters go now? How John McCain plans to flip them in November?
Plus, a tornado bears down on a Chicago suburb. And an I- reporters camera was rolling on it. More of the dramatic video ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Hillary Clinton urging her supporters to rally behind her one-time rival Barack Obama after officially suspending her campaign. Clinton's communications director, Howard Wolfson, told CNN she's not campaigning for the number two slot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD WOLFSON, CLINTON COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: She has said and she said this during the campaign that is solely Senator Obama's decision. He needs to make the best decision for him based on whatever he thinks he needs to do to get elected and govern.
Senator Clinton has said she will do whatever she is asked to do to elect Barack Obama. She's not seeking the job. And it's Senator Obama's decision, solely his decision.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Wolfson also defended Clinton's decision to wait until Saturday to make her concession speech saying it would be unfair to end 18 months of campaigning in one night.
The first proposed presidential town hall debate getting a thumb's down from Barack Obama and John McCain. Both campaigns rejected an offer by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and ABC News saying that they don't want the event limited to one network.
McCain challenged Obama to a series of ten and formal town hall debates last week with no high-profile moderators, just questions by the audience.
ROBERTS: With millions of Hillary Clinton voters now potentially up for grabs, it could come down to issue no. 1. Can John McCain claim some of her base with his plan for their money?
Joining us now from McCain headquarters in Arlington, Virginia is RNC Victor Chair Carly Fiorina.
Carly, it's good to see you.
CARLY FIORINA, MCCAIN CAMPAIGN SENIOR ADVISER: Good morning, John.
ROBERTS: John McCain trying to peel off some of these Hillary Clinton voters hoping that they might be disaffected. Gloria Steinem, who was on with us just a few minutes ago, told "The New York Times," quote, "I don't know of any Hillary or feminist supporter who isn't going to support Obama." She says they are lock for Obama. What do you say?
FIORINA: Well, I can tell you that we have been hearing from a lot of women here at the campaign and also at the RNC. Women who now are thinking seriously about their vote.
Look, I don't think any woman's vote should be taken for granted. They are 52 percent of the voting public. They start small businesses at twice the rate of men. Small business is the engine of growth for this economy. And so John McCain has always been interested in seeking their vote and continues to be.
But we've heard from a lot of them. And I think they are open minded to hear his position on issues that matter to them, whether it's the economy or health care or education.
ROBERTS: Barack Obama tried to solidify his support among people who believe that the economy is issue no.1. And that is -- it's not the majority of Americans but it certainly is the greatest number. And he's kicking it off in a non-traditional spot today. He's in North Carolina. John McCain also talking about the economy.
Let's listen to what he said about it on Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I have a fundamental belief that -- I have a great belief that the fundamentals of our economy are very strong. Very strong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: He says the fundamentals of the economy are very strong, but with the gas now crossing the $4 a gallon mark, unemployment up to 5.5 percent, foreclosures at record levels, does he risk sounding a little tone deaf here?
FIORINA: Well, had you played his entire sentence, what you also would have heard him say quickly is that he understands that Americans are hurting. And he list every time because he's well aware of it.
High fuel prices, high food prices, high home foreclosure rates. But what he's saying is that fundamentally the American worker is the most competitive in the world. Our innovative and entrepreneurial spirit is strong. And he knows that the worst thing we can do right now in a tough economy is raise people's taxes.
Barack Obama's plan basically is to raise virtually every tax out there, whether it's social security tax, payroll tax, capital gains and dividend taxes. Raising taxes when economies are hurting is the wrong formula. John McCain will make this economy grow and prosper again.
ROBERTS: Senator McCain, Carly, has admitted that the economy is not his strong suit. It prompted his then rival Mitt Romney back in February to say, I think at this time we need a president for whom the economy is a strong suit. Because this is issue no. 1 for voters, much more so than Iraq, much more so than the war on terror, is he at a disadvantage here?
FIORINA: Well, now, I've known John McCain for eight long years. And I can tell you he understands the economy very well. I would put his track record and his understanding of the economy above Barack Obama's any day.
Barack Obama has been in the Senate for three years and has voted for tax increases 94 times in those three short years. That means that Barack Obama has basically in inadequate understanding of the economy. Economies grow when small businesses are formed and prosper. Economies grow when there is innovation. Economies grow when workers and entrepreneurs can keep more of their money for themselves.
So I think John McCain understands the economy very well.
ROBERTS: Some Republicans are wondering about the strength of the McCain campaign. Bill Kristol wrote an editorial, an op-ed piece in the "New York Times" comparing Barack Obama's speech on Tuesday night to the one that Senator McCain gave on Tuesday. And here's what he said, "With the battle against Hillary Clinton behind him, everything seems to be going swimmingly for Obama. Meanwhile the McCain campaign dog battles along and almost every Republican I've talked to alarmed that the McCain campaign doesn't seem up to the task of electing John McCain." You've got some very prominent Republicans, Carly, who are questioning the ability of this team to get John McCain elected. What do you say in response to comments like that?
FIORINA: First of all, I'm sorry they are questioning in that way. I guess what I would say is I'm a business person. I always look at the facts. The facts are right now John McCain has out-raised Barack Obama as Barack Obama's campaign admitted in a fund-raising letter they just sent out to their supporters.
ROBERTS: That is if you include the committee's contribution.
FIORINA: But that counts. That's real money the campaign can spend in a general election. The facts are that John McCain despite all of the media attention on the Democratic primaries was polling even, in some cases ahead of Barack Obama. The facts are that John McCain has a very strong record on the issues. And I think the American people will get a look themselves if the Obama campaign will accept John McCain's challenge to attend town hall meetings where the American people can question these two candidates directly about their position on the issues.
ROBERTS: It's going to be an interesting run to November.
FIORINA: It is.
ROBERTS: Carly Fiorina, thanks for being with us this morning.
FIORINA: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: Always good to see you, thanks.
Kyra?
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: We're just getting word now according to the Associated Press that Senator Kennedy is expected to be released from the hospital today and head home. We're getting word now through the Associated Press that his son Patrick Kennedy is saying he will be released from Duke University Medical Center and head home to Cape Cod. It was one week ago today the senator underwent surgery to remove as much of that malignant brain tumor as possible. His son saying his father is anxious to get home, focus on health care legislation and help Barack Obama get elected to the White House.
As you remember, Kennedy had undergone almost six hours of surgery. Doctors came forward, even his son Patrick Kennedy saying they all believe that surgery went better than anyone expected. The senator headed back to the cape today.
Issue number one, the economy. Now we want for five bucks a gallon, that's what we're hearing it could reach. Average price per gallon for regular gas jumped two cents today after cracking that $4 mark for the first time over the weekend. Will it get to five bucks? We'll talk about it.
Also, arson suspected in the fire at the historic Texas governor's mansion. Federal investigators arriving in Austin to try to figure out who set that fire. Police say there's no indication the blaze was intended to target Governor Rick Perry or First Lady Anita Perry. No one was hurt in that fire. The mansion was actually undergoing extensive renovations. A lot of art, furniture, historical items, they were being stored elsewhere.
And a trip to the beach turns deadly in Connecticut. One person was killed by a lightning strike yesterday at this beach, beach and state park. Four other people were injured. The fast-moving storm hit as lifeguards were ordering people to leave that beach.
Extreme weather also inundating Midwest. Severe thunderstorms and flooding killed at least seven people in Michigan and Indiana. Some parts of Indiana are seeing their worst flooding in 100 years.
Susan Roesgen still live in Columbus, Indiana for us with an update on how everybody is hanging in there right now.
Hey, Susan.
SUSAN ROESGEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hanging in is the phase I think, Kyra. This is the parking lot of the Holiday Inn here in Columbus. Picture this. It is Saturday. There are more than 800 people in the hotel. They have gathered for three separate weddings Saturday night and then it starts to rain. And rain and rain. Then you can see what happened here in the parking lot. This is how high the water got. The watermark on the cars and all the guests had to leave. That's just one story out of thousands all across the Midwest this weekend. First the furry, then the flood.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look at all the debris in the air.
ROESGEN: A CNN I-reporter spotted this tornado as if it had spun out of the Wizard Of oz. This was near Chicago and Dorothy didn't have to deal with what came next. In dozens of cities and towns, the weekend storms brought more water than wind. Near Indianapolis, what could have been a fun school field trip was instead a real life evacuation.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There is a lot of destruction here.
ROESGEN: Homes, businesses and farmers' fields seemed to sink beneath rising rivers and lakes. Staying at one of the shelters, Oscar Legan thinks the flood took everything.
OSCAR LEGAN, STORM VICTIM: I think I pretty much did, because the water was nearly to the ceiling.
ROESGEN: Those who have homes to go home to are cleaning up now in Nebraska and Michigan and Wisconsin. But in the small town of New Hartford, Iowa, the fight to hold back a flood is over. The entire town, 650 people, finally gave up, and they are all getting out.
J.D. LUND, NEW HARTFORD FIRE DEPT.: The dike on the west end of town is lower than the surrounding. We did sandbag that a little bit. But that's pretty much a lost cause.
ROESGEN: Other people aren't giving up yet. They are getting around as best they can waiting for the water to give back what lies beneath.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROESGEN: One more reminder of the flood here, Kyra, a piece of driftwood on somebody's raft for bicycle rack. That's how high the water got here Saturday night.
PHILLIPS: Susan Roesgen, appreciate the update there. Even talked to my friends in that area and they had a lake house that was flooded, their basement. Tough times for those in Indiana.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of problems in the Midwest.
PHILLIPS: Other news also.
CHO: That's right. Good morning, guys. Good morning everybody. New this morning, there's been another strong after shock in China. It happened just a couple hours ago. The magnitude 5 quake shook for about 10 seconds. There are no immediate reports of damages or injuries. The so-called quick lake is apparently holding for now. Meantime, Chinese soldiers as you can see there used anti-tank weapons to blast holes in that dam that was formed back on May 12th when that initial massive earthquake hit. That's helping to speed the drainage and hopefully avoid another catastrophe for the 1 million plus people living downstream.
A deepening crisis over U.S. beef imports is spiking more violent protests in South Korea. Take a look there. About 40,000 people gathered in the capital of Seoul Sunday. They are outraged over the South Korean government's decision to resume beef imports from the United States. See there have been some big fears over mad cow disease. Both President Bush and South Korea's new president maintain U.S. beef is safe.
Here at home, a consumer health warning involving raw tomatoes with salmonella poisoning. The FDA says an outbreak of salmonella has been linked to red plum, red roma and round red tomatoes. The outbreak has spread to 16 states. Take a look there at the map. Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. As many as 150 people have gotten sick. Health officials have not yet identified the source of the problem.
Astronauts at the International Space Station have wrapped up their third and final space walk. The two astronauts made such good time finishing in just six and a half hours that NASA gave them a couple of extra tasks to do. One of the astronauts was carried from one side of the station to the other on that huge robotic arm. The shuttle Discovery undocks on Wednesday. That will bring the astronauts home and the shuttle is scheduled to land on Friday. I'm sorry, on Saturday in Florida.
The wildly popular I-phone is getting a faster and cheaper brother today. The much anticipated second version will be announced today by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. We're told will be even thinner than the first generation which is seen there. Maybe a bit lighter, too. The big news is that it will make use of AT&T's faster Internet network. That's something that a lot of users have been complaining about. They want faster Internet service. Best thing about it may be the cost though, $199 down from the current $4 and $500 price tags. I've been sort of fighting getting one. I don't want to learn the new system.
ROBERTS: You may not be able to resist any longer.
CHO: That's the thing at $199. ROBERTS: All right. Alina, thanks very much.
Issue number one this election season continues to be the economy. A new CNN poll shows what you think of the state of the economy and its future. Ali Velshi breaks it all down for us.
Plus, a major crackdown on crime in D.C., it's sparking new debate over safety and privacy ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Ali Velshi, how are you doing?
ALI VELSHI, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I'm good. I'm good. I've got reason to be optimistic. Part of that is because we've got more poll results from you about what you think about the economy. That's not the good news. What you are telling us is what we've known for several months. That is the economy is issue number one.
Take a look at this. Our CNN Opinion Research poll indicates 42 percent of you would say the economy is the most important issue this election, followed by Iraq at 24, health care at 12, terrorism at 11 and immigration at eight.
The bad news continues in that more of you think the economy is bad than before. Right now only 22 percent of you will say the economy or the economic conditions are good. In March, it was 25, in January it was 40, and back in September 54 percent of you thought the economy was good.
Why am I happy? Here. Because while only 22 percent of you think the economy is good and, hence, 78 percent of you think it's poor, a year from now you think things are getting better. A year from now 52 percent of you think that things will be good. Only 46 percent of you think things will be poor a year from now. That is the spirit. That is you guys bringing it. In the face of record oil prices and record gas prices and being thumped by pretty much everything, you still think it's getting better. That's why I am hopeful.
ROBERTS: The morale of the story is it doesn't take much to make him happy.
VELSHI: No, it doesn't. But that does make me happy. The reason this is actually more interesting than just the trend is that Americans will spend money and they will invest and companies will hire more people if they think it's getting better. If it showed that a year from now you think things would be worse, well then don't expect anybody to get into the economy. I'll be talking to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today 12 eastern, nine Pacific, on issue number one. Tune in to see if he's got some solutions for us.
ROBERTS: Ali, thanks.
Gasoline now above $4 a gallon. Pushing those big SUVs has become a problem for car dealers. We'll tell you what one dealer is doing to stay green. That's ahead.
PHILLIPS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, neighborhoods on lockdown.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To the best of our ability we're going to lock it down and implement checkpoints.
PHILLIPS: Does Washington's crime crackdown go too far?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nobody should really be in a position that they need to be checked or surveiled or scrutinized.
PHILLIPS: Privacy versus prevention, the battle over community checkpoints ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: Checkpoints and roadblocks getting in and out of an extremely dangerous neighborhood. You might think it's Baghdad but it's not. It's our nation's capital. Police say it's necessary to stop a spike in murders there. Civil rights groups are watching to see who is being turned away.
CNN's Kate Bolduan has got the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Even after the funeral, Anthony Mincey's family cannot believe it's real.
TAWANDA MINCEY, VICTIM'S SISTER: Disbelief. Still hoping he's going to come in. I have music of his. We have been listening to hear his voice. I still think he's here. It's unbelievable that he's gone.
SHIRLEY MINCEY, VICTIM'S MOTHER: He was just a straight outgoing guy, was never no problem to no one.
BOLDUAN: The 35-year-old son, brother, and entertainer was shot and killed in northeast Washington just over a week ago. He was one of seven people killed in a 24-hour period. D.C. police are scrambling to stop the blood shed.
CHIEF CATHY LANIER, WASHINGTON POLICE: We're just going to lock that area down. To the best of our ability we're going to lock it down and implement checkpoints.
BOLDUAN: The checkpoints are roadblocks. Anyone driving into this neighborhood must have what police call a legitimate purpose, they live here, are visiting friend, or attending a community event. If not, the police will turn them away.
LANIER: We will very quickly know when someone pulls up to the checkpoint, residents who live in the neighborhood, versus somebody who has maybe been scanning the area. We're looking for anything that doesn't look right. BOLDUAN: Police have used similar tactics in high-crime areas in New York. Some civil rights activists say the measure borders on martial law and violates residents' privacy rights.
MARK THOMPSON, NAACP POLICE TASK FORCE: Nobody should really be in a position that when they come home in the evening or go to and from or friends and relatives want to come visit them that they need to be checked or surveiled or scrutinized.
BOLDUAN: The American Civil Liberties Union is considering legal action to fight the D.C. checkpoints. Anthony Mincey's family supports the initiative saying something must be done.
MINCEY: This will be with me until I'm buried in my grave, the way they took my brother. He's now a statistic.
BOLDUAN: Kate Bolduan, CNN, Washington.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: All right. "CNN NEWSROOM" just minutes away. Tony Harris at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Tony, great to see you.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: There's that Kyra Phillips. Good morning Monday to you, Kyra.
We have got these stories on the "NEWSROOM" rundown for you. Gas $4 and hitting motorists' threshold of pain. The fuel crisis just one part of the economy, we are covering issue number one all day.
A once in a century event, flooding in parts of Indiana hits record levels. Now the water recedes to reveal a record mess.
And wrongly convicted, a prisoner is freed after almost two decades and finds new hope on the outside.
Join Heidi and me in the "NEWSROOM." We get started at the top of the hour on CNN.
Kyra, back to you.
PHILLIPS: All right. See you in a little bit. Thanks, Tony.
ROBERTS: 48 minutes after the hour. Selling big SUVs is not a very green thing to do but we'll show you how one dealership is trying to stay green while selling gas guzzlers. That's coming up.
And an unlikely bond forged by violence, a victim of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski finding friendship with Kaczynski's brother. Their story coming up.
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PHILLIPS: With gas at $4.02 a gallon this morning, many dealers are having trouble selling big SUVs. That's why one Michigan family invested $15 million in a green dealership.
CNN contributor Polly Labarre joins us now to explain.
How can you be green and sell SUVs?
POLLY LABARRE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It's a very good question. The term cognitive dissidents comes to mind. On the one hand, you've got pressed corn doors and your salespeople wear organic cotton t-shirts but you're still selling gas guzzling SUVs. How does that work? But I think what it does is it raises a tangle of issues that every business with a carbon footprint is facing.
What's going on? We have the LaFontaine Group in the heart of car country right out of Flint, Michigan just unveiled their new green dealership showcasing a lot of state-of-the-art green features, from windmills, to geo thermal power to using vegetable oil in the service station, to recycling carwash water, to lead certification, which is a building certification for green buildings. They are doing a lot to change the actual facilities to make it more energy efficient and more cost efficient. They are selling SUVs alongside a Prius here and there.
PHILLIPS: Can you tell what the impact is going to be? You taught me a new word, I didn't know this, green washing.
LABARRE: Green washing, is this a marketing ploy or is it really truly making a difference? It's part of a bigger trend among car dealerships. Toyota, for instance, has several dozen car dealerships that have lead certification. They offer incentives and they even have a little prototype kit that any car dealership can get to go green with a DVD and blueprint.
They are making an effort to make a change. What I would say, the buildings and facilities at the car dealership are kind of a side show compared to the auto industry remaking itself as a sustainable industry and rethinking vehicles for fuel efficiency and alternative fuels. That's really the big story.
PHILLIPS: It's going to be interesting to see if this family's big idea works. You never know. It could take years before we see impact.
LABARRE: Exactly.
PHILLIPS: Polly, thanks.
LABARRE: Thank you.
PHILLIPS: Coming up on AMERICAN MORNING, the Unabomber's brother and an unlikely bond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've learned things no other victim of these set of crimes will ever know. It's because of that relationship. I mean, I've been able to see things.
PHILLIPS: A brotherhood born out of tragedy. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a lot of pain for me with the word brother, a lot of emotion. I see Gary as my brother. The friendship is for life.
PHILLIPS: A riveting story of reconciliation ahead on AMERICAN MORNING.
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ROBERTS: It's a story of brotherhood, coming together after an act of violence. The brother of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski reaches out to a victim.
PHILLIPS: It actually started out as an offer of apology and quickly became a newfound friendship. Ed Lavandera gave us a chance to see the story.
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ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: For almost 20 years, Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber terrorized the country with his homemade bombs, killing three and injuring more than 20. Victim number 11 Gary Wright survived the horror. He picked up one of Kaczynski's bombs outside his Utah office in 1987.
GARY WRIGHT, VICTIM OF UNABOMBER: For some reason I thought someone had come around the corner of the building and shot me with a shotgun.
LAVANDERA: More than 200 pieces of shrapnel were lodged in his body, nerves in his arm severed but it would take nine years before Wright learned who tried to kill him.
DAVID KACZYNSKI, BROTHER OF UNABOMBER: The guy who turned in his own brother.
LAVANDERA: It was David Kaczynski who discovered his own brother was the Unabomber. He reached out to all the victims offering his family's apologies. Only a few responded but none like Gary Wright, telling Kaczynski it wasn't his fault.
WRIGHT: You can't really carry that. It's always touching to me. But he said -- I said you really don't have to carry that.
LAVANDERA: Wright said Kaczynski could call him any time. The two men didn't know it then, but it was the beginning of a lasting friendship.
KACZYNSKI: A lot of pain for me with the word brother, a lot of emotion. But I see Gary as my brother. I know this friendship is for life. We'll be there for each other for as long as we're alive.
WRIGHT: I don't take that lightly either. I don't use that word "brother" lightly.
LAVANDERA: Today Kaczynski and Wright travel the country telling their story of reconciliation. They talk on the phone weekly and describe themselves as old frat buddies.
KACZYNSKI: Do you do a lot of hills on that or go flat.
WRIGHT: Depends on the course.
LAVANDERA: Wright has pored over Kaczynski family photo albums and heard the childhood stories of the boy who became the Unabomber.
WRIGHT: I have learned things that no other victim of these set of crimes will ever know. And it's because of that relationship. I've been able to see things.
KACZYNSKI: He helped me see I could reconnect. There was hope things would get better, not worse. Gary in some sense was my psychological life line through this terrible ordeal.
LAVANDERA: Ted Kaczynski sits in prison for life and refuses to speak with his brother. David Kaczynski now knows brotherhood isn't always defined by blood.
Ed Lavandera, CNN, Miami.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Breaking news that we'll be following all day today here on CNN, we're getting word that Senator Ted Kennedy will be released from the Duke University Medical Center sometime today. You remember it was a week ago that we heard he was going into the hospital for surgery on the brain tumor he was diagnosed with. Doctors there saying there was a very good outcome from that surgery, and now the news comes that he was going to be released from the hospital, that will come later on this morning.
PHILLIPS: Typical Kennedy style, his son says he already started talking about health care legislation to get Barack Obama back into the White House.
ROBERTS: I tell you, he's a fighter, one tough guy. Also he has to undergo chemotherapy and radiation following his surgery. So still a long road for the senator. He said he is looking forward to getting back to work on Capitol Hill.
We are looking forward to getting back to work first thing tomorrow morning as well. Thanks for joining us on AMERICAN MORNING.
PHILLIPS: "CNN NEWSROOM" with Tony Harris and Heidi Collins begins right now.
HARRIS: Good morning, everyone. You're in "CNN NEWSROOM." I'm Tony Harris.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Hi everybody. I'm Heidi Collins. You'll see events coming into the "NEWSROOM" live on this Monday, June 9th.
Top on our run down today, extremes in the weather and in the economy, rising gas prices affecting your pocketbook and maybe even your health. Tips for troubled times, we're locked in on the economy all day, issue number one.
