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American Morning
Ingrid Betancourt Awarded the Legion of Honor Award in France; Arnold Schwarzenegger Blasting the Bush Administration on Global Warming; Obama Campaign slamming "The New Yorker" Magazine Over its New Cover
Aired July 14, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ALI VELSHI, CNN SENIOR BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: They are involved in the conforming loan business. That traditional sort of loans that stay within certain limits unlike IndyMac, which is a completely separate story.
So this is going to be -- it's meant to keep liquidity in the system. Now, both Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have suggested they don't need the loan part of the deal that the federal government is offering.
But this is really just the government stepping in. The Treasury Secretary has heard from House leaders who say they'll get in on this and they'll support this motion to make sure that Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae stay in business. And that keeps the mortgage business in the United States moving along nicely.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: They don't need another hit.
VELSHI: They don't. That's basically what it is.
CHETRY: All right. Ali, thanks.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: And on the subject of IndyMac, your money is safe. That's what the government is saying this morning after one of the biggest bank failures ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BOVENZI, CEO, INDYMAC FEDERAL BANK: We understand the uncertainty and concern people have. And the message I want to get across is that, if you have insured accounts, you have nothing to worry about.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The federal government seizure of IndyMac Bank is deepening worries among people that their bank could be next. In fact, the FDIC says there are now 90 banks on its so-called problem list. Our Personal Finance Editor Gerri Willis joins us now.
So, if you're one of these banks that's on the problem list, what should you do?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Well, you don't know if you're on the problem list. That's part of the problem right now. Unfortunately, they're not sharing that information. But if you are worried about your bank, here's what you need to think about.
You need to move your money only if your bank is not, not, not FDIC-insured. That's the main protection for consumers out there. But there are limits to those protections. Let's talk a little bit about that.
Individual accounts are insured for up to $100,000. Retirement accounts generally speaking insured up to $250,000. So, if you're in a situation where you have more money than that in a single bank, you might want to think about moving it around. That's what a lot of the big money folks out there do. They make sure they've got their money in a lot of different pots out there.
Keep in mind, though, that if you have questions, there is a phone number you can call -- 877-ask-FDIC.
But, John, I got to tell you, at the end of the day for most folks, this will actually be a non-event. Even people at IndyMac, it's not going to make that much of a difference, unless you're one of those people out there who had more than these limits in your bank account. Then, you've got to be worried.
ROBERTS: So, we talked with Senator Chris Dodd about this earlier.
WILLIS: Right.
ROBERTS: That IndyMac was not even on this so-called problem list.
WILLIS: That's right.
ROBERTS: How did it get missed?
WILLIS: Well, and that points out the whole problem of even getting a list of 90 banks, right? It's not very meaningful at this point. I don't think.
At the end of the day, you have to make sure, as an individual consumer. You're not going to go out and read all the analyst reports. You're not going to go out and analyze your bank's profit and loss statement. You have to make sure that you have your money in the right place in terms of how much money you have protected under the FDIC guidelines.
And I should mention here, if you're in a credit union, there's a similar organization that does the same kind of thing, collects money from the big credit unions called NCUA. It also provides insurance for depositors.
Now, as far as how the lenders might have missed. IndyMac, the regulators missed a whole lot of things over the last couple of years. IndyMac is just one of those things.
ROBERTS: All right. I assume that you'll be talking more about this.
WILLIS: Absolutely.
ROBERTS: Don't forget, by the way, to join Ali, Gerri and the CNN Money Team for a special edition of "Issue # 1" today at noon Eastern, right here on CNN.
CHETRY: Right now, freed Colombian hostage Ingrid Betancourt is being awarded with one of France's highest civilian honors. A live picture now from Paris where the ceremony is taking place.
There you see President Nicolas Sarkozy speaking at the microphone. He is presenting Betancourt with the Legion of Honor during today's celebrations for Bastille Day.
Betancourt was freed 11 days ago after being held captive for six-and-a-half years in the Colombian jungle.
Well, Miss U.S.A. falling down on the job for the second year in a row. America's beacon of beauty and grace tripped over her gown at the Miss Universe pageant. There you see it. Poor thing. That's got to be a girl's worst nightmare there. The slip coming just after the judges named Crystle Stewart one of the top 10 contenders for the crown.
Last year, Rachel Smith also fell during the Evening Gown portion of the pageant. And despite the fall, Smith did manage to make it into the top five. I think there's a conspiracy going on at the Miss Universe pageant.
ROBERTS: Maybe there's just grease on the heels or something.
CHETRY: Of just Miss U.S.A.'s.
ROBERTS: There you are.
Major buzz this morning, that Jesse Ventura may be making a political comeback. The former Minnesota governor is going to be Larry King's guest tonight. He is expected to announce that he's going to run for the Senate against incumbent Norm Coleman and Al Franken.
On Friday, I talked with Ventura about the challenges of making a run as an independent.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE VENTURA, FMR. MINNESOTA GOVERNOR: People don't realize what it's like to hold these offices today. It's not a special thing today to do that. It's a brutal thing to do it. So, it's a very difficult task to undertake to be an independent in our two-party dictatorship that we have in this country. It's a six-year commitment, and that would take me into my 60s. And, you know, that's the dilemma I'm facing right now. Do I want to commit for six years of my life to this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Ventura is going to answer that question live tonight only on CNN. "LARRY KING LIVE" starts at 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
Arnold Schwarzenegger blasting the Bush administration on global warming. Why California's Republican governor is talking about a possible position in a Democratic Obama White House.
CHETRY: Also, they were responsible for big changes in rules about carrying liquids on planes. Now, three men on trial for plotting to blow up jets on international flights using liquids and gels have suddenly changed their pleas.
ROBERTS: Plus, stunning video that you'll see only on CNN. A secret undercover trip into cyclone-ravaged Myanmar.
Our Betty Nguyen slips into the country two months after the killer storm and what she captures on hidden camera is truly shocking.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Eight minutes now after the hour. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is at it again attacking the Bush administration's climate change record and its stance on global warming.
Joining us now from Washington to talk about that and other hot topics, John Dickerson, CNN political analyst and chief political correspondent for Slate.com.
Let's listen, John, to a little bit of what Governor Schwarzenegger told George Stephanopoulos on ABC's "THIS WEEK" yesterday regarding global warming and the Bush administration.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R), CALIFORNIA: If they would have done something this year, I would have thought it was bogus anyway.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, HOST, "THIS WEEK": Why?
SCHWARZENEGGER: Because he don't change, you know, global warming and you don't really have an effect by doing something six months before you leave office.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You know, it's a pretty harsh slam of the Bush administration and the President in particular. Why do you think the Governor is going that far on him?
JOHN DICKERSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, from a political perspective, there's nothing to lose. President Bush's approval rating in California is at 25. That's in the basement. So, Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't going to hurt himself. And also, Schwarzenegger's a politician in the middle now. He won in his last election by running on this global climate change initiative that he signed into law with Democrats, that's the most sweeping in the country. And he won a big share of independents, a quarter of Democrats.
So, this is where he is as a politician and he's the Republican's or he's sort of the big national spokesman for this issue because of what he's doing in California. So, he has standing and pays no penalty for thumping the President.
ROBERTS: And what about this idea, John, that he might offer his services up to an Obama administration, should Senator Obama be elected president, as an energy czar?
DICKERSON: Well, again, he's -- it's his signature issue. He also talked in the interview that we would become a kind of Al Gore if he weren't in office, that he kind of keep advocating on these issues long after he was out of political life.
I think he's luxuriating in the idea that he is a politician who is courted by both sides, sort of a West Coast version of Michael Bloomberg, the Mayor of New York. So, he said he was open to it, although, also in that same interview, he gave a very strong defense and support of John McCain.
ROBERTS: You know, another story that's going around this morning is this new cover of "The New Yorker" magazine. The editor insist that this photo on the cover which depicts Barack Obama in traditional Muslim dress, Michelle Obama with an AK-47 swung around her neck, picture of Osama Bin Laden on the wall of the oval office with the American flag burning in the fireplace there, is simply satire, meant to poke fun at how Republicans are trying to portray Senator Obama.
However, both the Obama campaign and the McCain campaign have said that this is just a terrible bad taste. It's offensive. You know, is "The New Yorker" magazine out of bounds on this one?
DICKERSON: No, it's not out of bounds. This is satire. Now the question is, you know, in the campaign is doing they're within bounds, too, as well, saying it's outrageous and tasteless and so forth.
The question is how does satire works in the political conversation. And one of the things that's been a problem for the Obama campaign is the people's willful stupidity about a lot of these rumors that are out there.
People still believe things that are unproven. That he's a Muslim. Here you have a man who talks about Christianity, his path to faith, Jesus, more sort of fulsomely almost than George W. Bush. And yet, people still believe or think in some percentages in the polls that he's a Muslim.
So, "The New Yorker" is playing with these notions. It's a real problem and a pain for the Obama campaign but, you know, campaigns are complicated and have uncomfortable moments like this.
ROBERTS: But again, you think the satire is legitimate in this particular case?
DICKERSON: Sure. It's a legitimate satire. I mean, "The New Yorker" campaign while supporting Obama probably is in the business of being provocative and thought provoking. And, again, the editor of "The New Yorker" said holding up a mirror to lots of these rumors and this narrative to use an overused phrase, that's out there about Obama in some quarters.
ROBERTS: Interesting perspective. John Dickerson for us this morning. John, good to see you. Thanks.
DICKERSON: Thanks, John.
CHETRY: Hurricane Bertha causing dangerous and deadly conditions here at home. Right now, the storm is churning near Bermuda but the waves pounding the shore rip currents killing swimmers and lifeguards making dozens of rescues. Where it is now and a new threat that could also be moving through the Atlantic, ahead.
ROBERTS: Devastated.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The water was this high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Deep inside Myanmar. The scenes that the government doesn't want you to see. Betty Nguyen sneaks in past military checkpoints.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NGUYEN: It's really the only way to get down there.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Extreme weather across the country right now from a wall of flames to a river of mud in California.
Heavy rain is actually complicating the fire fight there. A fire department spokesman says a horrendous amount of rain in the Sequoia National Forest has washed out some roads and triggered a mud slide that damage about 50 homes.
Meanwhile, cars at a stand still for hours after a monsoon hit Tempe, Arizona. The water was two feet high in some places forcing police to close part of a freeway yesterday. Also, a deadly rip current. Many of them actually from tropical storm Bertha. Hitting the Atlantic Coast blamed in the drowning of two swimmers on the Jersey shore over the weekend. A third swimmer is still missing and feared dead. Other surfers say they are lucky they're still with us.
Bertha is expected to slam Bermuda with high winds and as much as 4 inches of rain today.
So, at quarter past 8:00 here on the East Coast, Rob Marciano is in the CNN weather center, that's now moved to the set.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: It's kind of like church, it's more about the people than the place, you know.
CHETRY: Exactly.
MARCIANO: So, where I or anybody else in the weather department is, that's the weather center.
CHETRY: Well, we're glad you're with us, because we have a lot to talk about. The flooding on the West Coast complicating the fire fight and also what's cooking in the Atlantic.
(WEATHER REPORT)
ROBERTS: It's 18 minutes after the hour. The blog is all abuzz this morning about something that was said yesterday by John McLaughlin, as he hosted his program "The McLaughlin Group," Sunday morning talk television. Saying that Senator Obama fit the stereotype of what blacks used to refer to as an Oreo.
Let's listen to how he put it yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN MCLAUGHLIN, "THE MCLAUGHLIN GROUP": Question: Does it frost Jackson, Jesse Jackson, that someone like Obama, who fits the stereotype blacks once labeled as an Oreo, of black on the outside or white on the inside, that an Oreo should be the beneficiary of the long Civil Rights struggle which Jesse Jackson spends his lifetime fighting for?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: That was John McLaughlin yesterday. Demand he put the question to Peter Beinart, call that a completely unfair depiction of Senator Obama.
Let's bring in our Roland Martin now who's got more on this for us.
Roland, what do you think of those comments, out of bounds, inbounds?
VOICE OF ROLAND MARTIN, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think if you listen to what John McLaughlin was saying, he was qualifying it saying that Obama fits a particular stereotype.
Keep in mind, the outfit of his campaign, you have people in the African-American community who was saying that Obama wasn't black enough. Other people who is even saying that -- well, I remember reading a piece in saloon.com, I believe, from Debra Dickerson who stated that -- well, he doesn't necessarily come from the West African slave tradition of African-Americans who came from that area and who are slaves.
All of that real stuff going on. The reality is he also had white. His mother is white, his dad is from Kenya. And so, I think that that is the qualifier there.
And again, this is a debate that you have heard take place inside of the black community that while you also have people who question someone like Obama, where does he stand, is he black enough, why is he taking white positions.
Keep in mind, Reverend Jackson made the comment in South Carolina where he said that Obama was acting white in response to his -- his response to Jena, Louisiana.
ROBERTS: But, you know, this is also being portrayed in the liberal blogs. The discussions on those blogs is another example of the media trying to portray Senator Obama in the most unflattering terms possible and, therefore, derail his candidacy. What do you think about that?
MARTIN: Well, I mean, look, I mean, what you have here is a situation where I think McLaughlin was trying to explain his whole issue of how he sees Jackson having a problem with Obama and, as he said, being a beneficiary of the Civil Rights struggle.
Look, you don't even have to have a white mom for some African- Americans to label other African-Americans an Oreo. Keep in mind, there were African-Americans who called Michael Steel when he was running for the United States Senate in Maryland.
There was some who was saying he was an Oreo because he was a Republican. And so, you know, that's what this boils down to. I think people need to -- what is happening here, John, is that Obama's candidacy is bringing to life some of the internal conversation that you see taking place in black America and taking place in white America.
And I think a lot of people are uncomfortable with the dialogue. I will also say this here that if John McLaughlin was an African- American, who had made that comment, people would have said -- well, he probably understands what he's talking about. He's privilege to the conversation. It's not a problem.
That's what I actually see here. The issue, frankly, if not, well, is he an Oreo, is he -- does he fit the stereotype. It points to are we operating in a different mind, certainly different generation than what we saw 30, 40, 50 years ago.
ROBERTS: Roland Martin on the phone for us this morning with his perspective. Always appreciate it. Roland, thanks very much.
MARTIN: Thanks, John.
CHETRY: Well, it's being called the deadliest attack on U.S. troops in Afghanistan in three years. There are new details on the sudden increase in violence there.
ROBERTS: Also ahead, a CNN exclusive. A secret undercover trip into cyclone-ravaged Myanmar.
Our Betty Nguyen slips into the country two months after the killer storm and captures on camera what they do not want you to see.
CHETRY: Also ahead, uproar over this. That's the new cover of "The New Yorker" magazine. Two top talk radio hosts do not see eye to eye about the controversial causing a major stir. We're going to talk to them, still ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm Brianna Keilar at Nashville Super Speedway. What do Johnny Rutherford, three time Indy 500 champ, and Cindy McCain, potentially the next first lady of the United States, have in common? I'll tell you, coming up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The Obama campaign is slamming "The New Yorker" magazine over its new cover, which shows a caricature of Obama and his wife, Michelle. The magazine says it's a satirical lampoon of the images that Obama's critics have tried to create, but Obama's campaign is calling it tasteless and offensive.
Joining me now to talk about this is conservative radio talk show host, Joe Pagliarulo. He's in Saginaw, Michigan. And live from New York, liberal radio talk show host Laura Flanders. She's also host on grittv.org.
Thanks to both of you for being with us.
Let's put up a shot of the cover that we're speaking about right now. It shows Barack Obama in a turban. And he's doing a fist bump. Michelle Obama has a gun around her neck. And then, there's an American flag, of course, burning in their fireplace.
And again, they say that they're lampooning some of the criticisms and some of the fear tactics that have come from the right. Do you agree with that, Joe?
Actually, we can't hear you right now. Let's let Laura weigh in and we'll try to get your audio sorted out.
Laura? LAURA FLANDERS, LIBERAL RADIO/TV TALK SHOW HOST: Well, you know, I think the Obama campaign made a misstep. They should have come out strongly endorsing this cover. I mean, this is not a jab at them, terrorist or any other kind. This is a jab at the media.
They said it would be candy for cable news, it is. And it should (INAUDIBLE) conversation to focus on the kind of fear mongering that the medial and people on the right have engaged in.
The cover is called "The Politics of Fear". It's about the media. It's not about Obama and his wife. So, you know, while some people may not get the joke and they may not appreciate having that image out there, I would have -- if I was on the Obama campaign, embrace this, and initiated a conversation about that politics of fear.
CHETRY: Can they embrace it, Laura, when you take a look at some of the polling. In fact this "Newsweek" poll that's just out this week shows that 12 percent of voters still think that Obama was sworn in as the United States senator using the Koran. 39 percent believe that he attended an Islamic school as a child. And about a quarter believe he was raised Muslim. None of which was true. So how does he counter that perception?
FLANDERS: Well, I think that's exactly right. So he takes it on and he says where are people getting these ideas from? They're getting these ideas from the very media that this cover is trying to get at, you know. And I think it's unfortunate also.
I mean, if I was going to be on the Obama campaign today, which I'm not, I would say, you know, can we focus on what Barack Obama is saying about Iraq, in the "New York Times" today. Can we focus on what inside "The New Yorker," which is about his history as an organizer in Chicago that I think a lot of Americans would resonate with. If the cover gets all of that coverage, that would be a problem.
CHETRY: All right. Let me get Joe to weigh in on that. You saw the cover, Joe. What do you think?
JOE PAGLIARULO, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: In looking at this, actually, I don't disagree with Laura. I think this could be a positive thing for the Obama campaign. I think they've got to embrace this and say -- look, there are rumors out there.
I talk to people every day like Laura does. That people really do believe what those poll numbers say. I mean, people do believe that he's a Muslim. They believe that he has sworn on the Koran. They believe that his wife is unpatriotic and so is he. That they believe that he's afraid of the national anthem or the Pledge of Allegiance. So, I think that this --
CHETRY: Joe, aren't there many on the right who want to perpetuate that and want to make those false beliefs true?
PAGLIARULO: Well, I got to tell you something. I take offense to that. As a conservative radio talk show host, I've never ever spun anything like that. I would never say that he's anything other than what he is.
I have a problem with Barack Obama because I think he's a socialist. I have a problem with him because of his religious background. Because, frankly, I believe him when he says he's Christian. And his wife being unpatriotic or the fact that he won't wear a flag pin. That doesn't bother me as much as how much he wants to raise our taxes or how much money he wants to spend -- or pulling out of Iraq prematurely without ever saying the words we want to win there.
He just says we want to leave there. So, no, it's not being spun by people like me. I don't think so. No.
CHETRY: All right.
FLANDERS: Well, except right there that he won't wear a flag pin. I mean, this is silly stuff to be talking about, but of course, he will wear a flag pin.
CHETRY: Yes. He does now.
PAGLIARULO: Right.
CHETRY: We want to remind our viewers that Joe is coming to us on a Web cam, that's why it looks a little grainy, but we can still see you here. So, that's a good thing.
Laura, I want to ask you speaking of Barack Obama's Iraq plan. He has an op-ed today in the "New York Times" and he talked about it. He also talks, though, about committing $2 billion to a new international effort to support Iraqi refugees and also more money for troops, helicopters, veteran intelligence, so on and so forth in Afghanistan.
So, doesn't it hurt his argument that we've spent too many resources fighting a foreign war when he's talking about essentially doing the same thing just somewhere else?
FLANDERS: Oh, no. I mean, I think Americans get it that it's shameful how few Iraqi refugees we've putted into this country. And that's what he's talking about.
His plan -- though I agree with all his analysis as laid out in the "New York Times." No. If you want a real plan that talks about immediate withdrawal, with no residual troops, and no permanent bases, or money for recovery in Iraq, well, then, you should look at the green party plan announced this weekend.
But in terms of setting a contrast between him and John McCain, he does it. He lays it out there. And I think it's also good for democracy that here's a guy who feels under attack with these claims of flip-flopping. Putting his message out there, clearly is consistent, the same thing he's been saying. It's on the record. I think that's good for democracy. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is flip flopping though.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN, ANCHOR: Well, Joe is that going to help stamp down some of those criticism? In that article that he laid out in the op-ed today he did stick with the 16-month plan for troop withdrawal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he also captures it by saying he's going to talk to the generals on the ground, something that he never said from the very beginning. I love that Barack Obama keeps saying that I've been against this war from the beginning. He was not a U.S. Senator when this vote even happened. He didn't have a vote. He didn't vote up or down on this war. He talks about redeployment. And he talks about ending the war. He never once, Kiran, mentioned let's win this war and then he goes on to say we're not going to have any sort of strategic bases there like what we have in South Korea or Japan. I think it's a big mistake. I think he's barking up the wrong tree and he's trying to cover his flip-flop by saying look, I felt this way the entire time. I don't buy what he has to say about the war. And I guess, McCain - he's not going to win when it comes to the war. He has no chance there.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we have to leave it there. Hopefully we'll see both of you back in our studio next week. Thanks for being with us, Laura Flanders as well as Joe (Pecs).
ROBERTS: 31 minutes after the hour. New this morning, the Fed hoping to calm fears on Wall Street this morning by announcing sweeping plans to prop up the nation's mortgage giants, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says the plan, if approved by Congress, would expand the credit line of the two companies and if needed the Treasury Department would even buy stocks in the firms.
Brand new this morning, the International Criminal Court at the Hague has filed genocide charges against Sudan's President Omar al- Bashir. The U.N. says as many as 300,000 people have died since the Darfur genocide broke out five years ago. President Bashir has long denied accusations of genocide.
New details this morning about the attack on that U.S. base in Afghanistan yesterday that left nine U.S. soldiers dead and 15 wounded. Officials say insurgents overran an observation point at the small base. CNN's Barbara Starr live at the Pentagon with more on that attack. And what the military is doing in response to the increasing insurgent violence in Afghanistan. Good morning, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. As you say, new details now available. A U.S. official confirming to CNN that on Sunday, this attack in Kunar province out in the eastern edge of Afghanistan near Pakistan was very nasty indeed. Perhaps as many as 200 insurgents involved in this attack on a U.S. and Afghan outpost. They did not get inside the outpost but, indeed, now being told that some number of insurgents did over-run a small U.S.-led observation point outside the base. It is believed that it is where most of the U.S. and Afghan casualties and fatalities occurred. This was a very large attack, as it was going on the fighters, we are told, were melting back into a nearby village, making it very tough for the U.S. to respond. This was just one of two major attacks over the weekend. Another one down in Helmand province in the south. U.S. commanders now, John, are asking for hundreds of more MRAP vehicles, those heavily armored vehicles that have done so well in Iraq. Hundreds more to be sent to Afghanistan. And they are continuing to say they need more troops in the Afghan war. John.
ROBERTS: Barbara, how quickly can they get those MRAPs over there and we had seen in recent weeks, Jamie McIntyre was reporting problems with the MRAPs because they didn't have the spare parts to service them.
STARR: Well, indeed. That is a problem that the Pentagon is working on every day, they tell us. Those MRAPs are coming off the line and I think what you can expect to see first is the ones that were going to Iraq to be redirected to Afghanistan and the way they're going to get more troops into Afghanistan, look to Iraq. Again, the possibility of an accelerated withdrawal perhaps from Iraq getting all the troops they can, freed up from there. The equipment they get freed up from there and getting it shipped to Afghanistan, John.
ROBERTS: Very complicated situation over there. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon this morning. Barbara, thanks.
CHETRY: Well, we have some breaking news that we're following this morning. Three men accused of a plot to bomb trans-Atlantic flights have entered a guilty plea. You may remember this alleged terror plot is what led to a ban on liquids on planes. Paula Newton joins us live from London. So, why did they plead guilty at this point, Paula?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on-camera): Kiran, a lot for the jury to chew on what they pled guilty to, Kiran, were lesser charges. Three main suspects, five all together but three main suspects including the ringleader said, yes, OK, we admit it. We were plotting explosions. They were going to be based on political demonstrations.
What is left here, Kiran, are the main charges. The reason you and I can't take any liquids on the airplane. That's because the prosecution on the case is still trying to prove that these suspects were going to blow up several airliners cross the Atlantic using soft drinks. Those are the charges that are left.
The speculation here today, Kiran, is that what they have done is try to take some of the evidence off the table. And what you're left with is the bare bones of two things. Were they planning to blow up all those airliners over the Atlantic and could they have actually done it a soft drink bottle? What the defense perhaps is hoping is that by really laying in the seed of reasonable doubt with the jury, that perhaps even though they pled guilty to these still very serious charges they can get off on the most serious ones, conspiracy to murder. Kiran.
CHETRY: And then, what does it change for the trial going forward, Paula?
NEWTON: It's incredible in terms of what the jury has to chew on. You're talking about months of testimony, Kiran. And a lot of the things that both the CIA and the FBI follow up on in the United States in terms of evidence, things like wiretap, things like the martyrdom videos that were presented, shopping lists for different kinds of chemicals, these are the kinds of forensic details that the jury now could chew on. The question is can they really pin it on them or does the reasonable doubt still stay in the jury's mind as to whether or not they were actually planning to blow up as many as seven airplanes over the Atlantic two summers ago. Kiran.
CHETRY: Paula Newton for us, live in London with an update on this case. Thank you.
ROBERTS: 36 minutes after the hour. This bud's for you, or is it? Anheuser-Busch, the family-run American beer maker sold to Belgian-based Inbev. What that means for the taste of your beer and how much you pay for it.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Under the cover of darkness.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's really the only way to get down there and bypass the checkpoint.
CHETRY: Betty Nguyen sneaks into storm ravaged areas of Myanmar to show you the images the government doesn't want you to see. You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: 38 minutes after the hour. We're all learning how to say this Bud is for you in Flemish this morning.
VELSHI: How do you do that?
ROBERTS: I got it from our London bureau. Somebody who is a Flemish speaker -- This bud is for you.
CHETRY: So it sounds exactly like English with - but maybe -
VELSHI: It may roll off the tongue.
ROBERTS: You know what is the same, though in Flemish and English?
VELSHI: What?
ROBERTS: What's that?
VELSHI: What won't roll up the tongue?
CHETRY: And then the Bud Bowl - VELSHI: We're talking about Bud being sold to Inbev. And the new name of the company is going to be Anheuser-Busch-Inbev, which isn't all that smooth. But it's a $52 billion deal. When it was $46 billion Anheuser-Busch said forget it. At $52 billion, they're shaking hands on this.
Inbev is a Belgian-based company. It's a Belgium, Brazilian company. They make Stella Artois. They make Bass, They make Hogaarden. They make all sorts of beer. It's going to be the world's largest brewing company after this. It does still need to be approved by shareholders and regulators. But Warren Buffett is one of the shareholders. He signed on. I don't know if any large groups of shareholders who are opposing it.
The government is going to have to look at this. South African brewers bought Miller and that went through. So, we're not sure that there'll be any problem there and that the company Inbev is saying that it is not going to close any of the 12 breweries in North America that are run by Anheuser-Busch. The issue of course is whenever there's a takeover of a company, fundamentally that company owns the shares or controls the shares of the company. This will only be two Anheuser seats on the board. So, if they decide to change their mind on that they might just - remember when Chrysler was taken over by Daimler and it was going to be an evenly-run company that lasted about three months or something like that. So -
ROBERTS: So, you suggested before that the sort of thing happens all the time. So and then I asked you the question, why the governor of Missouri and the mayor of St. Louis so adamantly against this.
VELSHI: I think of two issues. One is that there's probably no greater American icon than Bud and the Clydesdales horses and Anheuser-Busch. So, obviously the governor's concern about an American icon are now going to be owned by a non-American company but secondarily I think the jobs is the big issue. Will they really make a commitment to keeping all of those jobs in America. And while they say they will, again once a company takes control you don't know that they will.
ROBERTS: Well, it sort of came to discovering an American icon like Ali Velshi was actually born in a different country.
VELSHI: Crazy. It couldn't happened. Some things couldn't happen. We do our homework on that sort of thing at CNN.
CHETRY: I think all three of us here at the table. No one was born in the U.S.A..
VELSHI: That's great. Now, mail comes in. We'll open up the inbox.
ROBERTS: But we have all adopted the United States as our new home.
VELSHI: There we go. ROBERTS: 40 minutes after the hour. Exclusive pictures of cyclone-ravaged Myanmar. Pictures that military leaders do not want you to see. CNN's Betty Nguyen gained secret passage into the country. We'll have her story, ahead.
KEILAR: I'm Brianna Keilar at the Nashville Super Speedway. What do Johnny Rutherford, three time Indy 500 champ and Cindy McCain, potentially the next first lady of the United States, have in common? I'll tell you coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: The United Nations says it needs at least $300 million in additional donations to help Myanmar recover from the effects of cyclone Nargis. Myanmar's military junta has made it almost impossible for foreigners to reach the devastated area.
So CNN's Betty Nguyen secretly made her way into the country to bring the reality of the devastation home to you. CNN is the only place that gets you this close. And Betty now joins us live from Bangkok. Good evening to you there, Betty.
Good morning from here in the United States. What an incredible journey you made.
BETTY NGUYEN, CNN ANCHOR: No doubt. And I would tell you, as you mentioned, it was nearly impossible for us to get down to the cyclone devastation. All foreign journalists are banned from the country. In fact, the junta government has set up military checkpoints in every major city leading down to the delta. So after some very careful planning we decided to go in search of what they want to keep the world out. That we will tell you. The scenes you are about to see are graphic.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN (voice-over): The landscape is still littered with the remnants of lives swept away by cyclone Nargis. This is not what Myanmar wants reported some two months after the storm. The only way for us to capture these images was to sneak into the Irrawady Delta under the cover of darkness. It's really the only way to get down there and bypass the check point. I can't reveal how we made this journey because it would jeopardize the safety of the locals who helped us.
And once we arrived, it's easy to see why the junta government doesn't want us here. Devastation is everywhere. This lab is all that's left of a monastery. The village's only monk says the tidal surge was up to his neck and barely made it out alive, but many did not.
This farmer forces back tears describing how he lost his wife and only daughter. He says if it weren't for his two surviving sons, he would have no reason to live.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I have nothing, no food, no property, no companion.
NGUYEN: It's a place where the living still walk among the dead and the thick vegetation that lines the narrow canals, the cyclone's horror is hard to ignore. This is what the Myanmar government doesn't want you to see, bodies still rotting along the delta some two months after the cyclone hit. And you can still smell the stench of death.
Villagers say there are simply too many bodies to bury. They believe this was a child. No one knows for sure. In fact, most are trying their best to forget the painful past. Perhaps that's why rice was planted in fields just a few feet away. These poor farming communities don't have time to linger over the lost, especially when cyclone survivors are still struggling to stay alive.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NGUYEN: Now, very little aid had reached the villages that we were able to tour. Some rice, made a total of two tents. But the situation may be different in the larger cities along the delta. That's where aid organizations have set up their camp.
But John, we couldn't get to those larger cities because they were crawling with the junta and had we gone there, we would have been caught.
ROBERTS: What an amazing look at the areas that you were able to get into. Betty Nguyen for us from Bangkok. Betty, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: And CNN "NEWSROOM" is just minutes away. Tony Harris at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead.
Good morning, Tony.
TONY HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Kiran, good morning. What a story there from Betty. "Issue number one" at the top of CNN NEWSROOM run down for you this morning. Big bank back in business. The feds take over failed lender and seek to comb customers nationwide.
And driving around world without using a drop of gas. The solar powered car could be coming to your town. Randi Kaye is with me in the NEWSROOM. We get started in just a couple of minutes, at the top of the hour, right here on CNN. Kiran, back to you.
CHETRY: Tony, thanks.
Coming up, we're racing with Cindy McCain at the CNN exclusive, inside an Indy pace car with the wife of a candidate. How she handles the other thrilling race in her life, just ahead.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Living the dream.
MARCIANO: I love my job kind of day.
CHETRY: Rob takes a spin on the track where dreams come true, if you're willing to pay the price.
MARCIANO: Nice.
CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: The best song just driving up the road with the windows down, nowhere to go, nothing but time on your hands. Driving the car of your dreams, a Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari. Well, one race () in New Jersey is giving you the keys to some of the world's most exotic cars for a small price. CNN's Rob Marciano hit the speedway. As you say, it was part of your in-depth investigation.
MARCIANO: Yes, we wanted to do an investigative piece that this place actually existed. You know, if you wanted to drive a Porsche, Lamborghini, Ferrari, and you don't have a million dollars to throw around. Well, there's one race track down in south Jersey that has an all inclusive solution.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO (voice-over): What are we going to be driving?
JAN OTTO, FOUNDER, "SUPERCAR LIFE": First, we got a Porsche 911 turbo. Second we've got the Lamborghini Gallardo, Superleggera version. We've got the Mercedes Benz AMG black, Ferrari F-430, the standard and last and certainly not the least is the Aston Martin DB9.
MARCIANO: I'm feel like Speed Racer. And complete the pass. Nice. To drive a Lamborghini.
OTTO: Pit lane.
MARCIANO: Can I get a double-decker cheeseburger, biggie size, please.
What kind of clientele do you have?
OTTO: People who never have a chance to drive a car like this. People who maybe own a car like this or is thinking about buying one of these cars and you have a group of people that are just in it for the thrill.
MARCIANO: Definitely an I love my job kind of day. That feels so good. Whew! Time for the Porsche. I'm told there is no substitute, thank you. 140. Not bad. Oh, baby, come home with me, just for one night. Just for one night, come home with daddy. That is almost better than - you know what.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MARCIANO: Baseball, it's almost better than baseball.
CHETRY: I was going to say your mom's lasagna. I was trying to bail you out. MARCIANO: My mom's lasagna is pretty darn good as well.
CHETRY: Which one did you like the best?
MARCIANO: You know, the one the most fun was the Ferrari. They all have the formula one paddle shifters. The easiest one to drive was the Porsche. So it definitely was smooth. The Lamborghini had some horsepower under the hood.
CHETRY: But you didn't fit in the Lamborghini.
MARCIANO: I'm a little too tall for the Lamborghini. Ashton Martin was nice and smooth. James Bond has to be one heck of driver though. It's a little bit more heavy. So $5,000 and you get a one- day all inclusive deal of test driving all those cars. A lot of spouses, your husband will thank me for this, actually give them to their husbands as gifts.
CHETRY: So, it's not as popular with the ladies?
MARCIANO: Once in a while they'll come out. But yes, it's definitely more of a guy thing.
CHETRY: So even though we're talking about tough times in the economy, people are still coming out there and paying $5,000 to drive fast cars?
MARCIANO: There you are. It's a bit of a niche market. By the way, those cars can get about 20 miles to the gallon if you drive you know 40, 50 miles an hour.
CHETRY: Why the heck would you want to do that?
MARCIANO: No. Eight miles to a gallon but there's a heck of -
CHETRY: Well, the Ferrari looks good on you, Rob. Maybe, they'll let you test drive it.
MARCIANO: Thank you. Feel free to buy me one.
CHETRY: All right. I'll but that on your Christmas list.
MARCIANO: OK.
CHETRY: Thanks, Rob.
ROBERTS: Well, from Rob in the cockpit to Cindy McCain as you've never seen here before. Forget the tailored suits and the perfect hair. Our Brianna Keilar is inside an Indy pace car with Cindy McCain.
CNN's racing with the candidate's wife ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Cindy McCain that paragon of refinement riding shotgun in a race car with three-time Indy 500 winner. And only CNN is racing along with the candidate's wife.
CHETRY: That's right. Our Brianna Keilar inside the pace car with Cindy McCain. A Nascar fan herself, she's getting ready for the ride of her life. Hey, Brianna.
KEILAR: Hi there, John and Kiran. I am a huge Nascar fan and Cindy McCain is a life-long fan of all racing, Nascar, drift racing, drag racing and Indy racing which is where I caught up with her this weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): One of Indy racing's biggest fans who would have thought is Cindy McCain. And she's out for a spin with me, another rabid racing enthusiast.
CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF JOHN MCCAIN: I was the only child of a western cowboy, to be honest with you. I mean, he was a very successful businessman, true western cowboy and loved to do things, loved to be in cars was one of his passions. Of course, that wore off on me.
KEILAR: Racing is pure Americana and Cindy McCain has loved racing since she was a girl.
MCCAIN: The first years I started going to Indianapolis, women were not allowed in the pit, or in gasoline alley, so I had to hang on the fence.
KEILAR: What did you think of that?
MCCAIN: Well, I didn't know any better in those days because of course, that's the way it had always been.
KEILAR: Nashville Super speedway is not your typical campaign stop for a candidate's wife, but the McCain campaign is trying to show voters another Cindy McCain, different from the impeccably dressed mega millionaire always at her husband's side. Do you think that maybe this makes you seem more accessible to voters?
MCCAIN: Oh, I don't know. I - you know, I - I'm just like everybody else, certain things excite me, racing is one of them, and I loved this all my life.
KEILAR: It's working with some voters.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She likes the same things that I like. She believes in the same things that I like. I hear that she owns and runs a beer distributorship, which I like.
KEILAR: But not everyone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who is she?
KEILAR: And that's the point. The McCain campaign wants more people to know who Cindy McCain is, and sometimes that means riding shotgun in a pace car next to a three-time Indy 500 winner.
JOHNNY RUTHERFORD, THREE-TIME INDY 500 WINNER: My pleasure.
MCCAIN: It's much fun for me.
RUTHERFORD: And you've got my vote.
MCCAIN: Thank you. Thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: A vote there from Johnny Rutherford. And Cindy McCain will also be at a Nascar race next month. Still to be announced which one. And you've heard at the Nascar dad voting demographics that candidates are wooing at these events but racing actually has a large female fan base as well. And we see Cindy McCain lately trying to help her husband court those women voters, John and Kiran.
CHETRY: Oh, we know, Brianna is an objective reported but I know you have a favorite Nascar driver as well. Go ahead give up yours and I'll tell you mine.
KEILAR: Jeff Gordon all the way. My desk is a shrine to him.
ROBERTS: So, you said, Brianna, that Cindy McCain likes Indy car racing, like Nascar, likes sprint cars, and what was the other one? The drift cars.
KEILAR: Drift racing. And she's actually done it herself. Gotten behind the wheel. Really amazing.
ROBERTS: Does she have a favorite?
KEILAR: Her favorite in Indy is Dana Kirkpatrick. And her favorite Nascar driver is Dale Jr. and Kiran, your favorite?
CHETRY: I have to say Kevin Harvick. We're all closet Nascar watchers.
KEILAR: He's a bad boy.
CHETRY: He is.
ROBERTS: And for me, it hasn't been the same since Richard Petty retired.
KEILAR: I know. He's amazing.
ROBERTS: Brianna, thanks so much.
KEILAR: You bet.
ROBERTS: And thanks so much for joining us on this AMERICAN MORNING. We will see you back here bright and early tomorrow.
CHETRY: And right now, CNN NEWSROOM with Tony Harris and Randi Kaye.
HARRIS: And good morning, everyone. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Tony Harris.
RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Randi Kaye. Heidi Collins is off today. You'll see events come into the NEWSROOM live on this Monday morning, July 14th. Here's what's on the rundown.
