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American Morning
Tornado Warning Issued in Brownsville, Texas; Barack Obama on His Way Back to Israel; Pirates Grab Another Ship Off Of the Coast of Somalia; Stocks Set for More Gains This Morning; President Bush Caught in a YouTube Moment; John McCain's Campaign Going on the Offensive
Aired July 23, 2008 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Pirates grab another ship off of the coast of Somalia. It is a Japanese-owned vessel. 20 Filipino sailors were on board. The owner says that he's been in contact with them and they're OK. The government of the Philippines says it will not pay a ransom to free the hostages since that would contravene state policy.
Hurricane Dolly gaining strength, battering the Texas-Mexico Coastline with 85-mile-an-hour winds. But the hurricane, itself, only moving toward shore at about 8 miles an hour. That means more rain, flooding and concern for levees along the Rio Grande.
We've got another breaking weather story right now associated with these hurricanes. Very often the threat of tornadoes. And we've got a warning right now in Brownsville.
Let's go to Rob Marciano tracking it in Atlanta.
Good morning, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, John. This watch in effect until 11:00 a.m. And now, we have our first warning that's out. By the way, 85-mile-an-hour winds, this will be on the coastline, at least the northwestern quadrant of it will be on the coastline here in the next couple of hours.
All right, this particular warning is posted until -- for the next 15 minutes for Cameron, Hidalgo, and Willacy County. It's a storm that has the potential for having a tornado in it. Radar indicated heading toward the Harlingen Airport. It's about 18 miles from there. It's moving southwesterly at 46 miles an hour. So, tornado warning out just to the north and west of Brownsville, just inland from Corpus Christi.
And I suspect that we'll see a number of these pop up from time to time today as this storm continues to make its way inland. Heavy rain, also expecting a lot of wind which Reynolds Wolf has been experiencing throughout the morning.
John, we'll throw it back to you.
ROBERTS: Yes. In fact, Rob, let's check in with Reynolds Wolf. He's live on South Padre Island, Texas this morning. Just 20 miles east and a little bit north of Brownsville. Reynolds, we see that the track of the storm does seem to be jogging a little bit more to the north. Are you feeling the effects of that there?
REYNOLDS WOLF, CNN METEOROLOGIST: John, I'm just hearing bits and pieces of you. I apologize, the wind is actually -- the real fury of the storm has really picked up just the last couple of minutes. We've been hearing noises that sound like tiled on some of the roofs close by. We think they're about to give way in just a little bit.
I can tell you, it is really picked up in terms of not just the wind but also the rain. The rain is one of the real big fears that we have in this area. In fact, for a good part of South Texas we already have a flood watch that is in effect.
There is the anticipation of anywhere from say 6 to 10 inches of rainfall, some places could get well over a foot of rain especially in areas like Brownsville, where in Brownsville, they had sandbagging efforts for the last say 24 to 36 hours trying to reinforce some levees in that area.
The anticipation of the rain, the anticipation of flooding is so great that Governor Rick Perry of Texas already declared 14 counties disaster areas. Already. Even before the storm has made land fall. Also, National Guards staging areas have been set up in Houston and San Antonio, as well as Austin in preparation as to what this storm could possibly break and what it could mean to people in parts of South Texas.
Now, we are situated, as you know and our viewers across America know, on South Padre Island, which is really just a small strip of sand right off the Texas Coast. Behind me, you've got the Gulf of Mexico. A very warm body of water.
And as Rob has been telling you, this storm is making its way right towards parts of the Rio Grande Valley. Now, as it enters closer, the storm, we do expect the intensity to really begin to pick up. We are staying on this island as the storm comes closer. We can't leave. There's no way to go off the island because they do shut down the bridges that are connected to the mainland once winds exceed 39 miles per hour.
I can tell you, winds have exceeded 39 miles per hour in this very spot. We do anticipate they are going to get stronger, and while we sit here and observe these winds or feel them, we're going to send it back to you in the studio hopefully wind-free. I know those air conditioning vents do get strong from time to time.
Back to you, John.
ROBERTS: Certainly, nothing compared to what you are experiencing. Reynolds Wolf there, South Padre Island, as daybreak begins to happen there. And unfortunately, it is a little bit of a rough one today.
Kiran? KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Thanks, John.
Well, prosecutors say Osama Bin Laden's former driver was an insider, someone who knew the target of the so-called fourth plane involved in the September 11th attacks. Salim Hamdan is being tried by a military commission at Guantanamo Bay in what will be the first war crimes trial in the United States since World War II.
CNN's Jamie McIntyre is live at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba with more for us.
Jamie?
JAMIE MCINTYRE, CNN SENIOR PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kiran, it's been a fascinating couple of days of testimony here in this historic first military commission trial. As you said, Salim Hamdan is the defendant. The prosecution is trying to make the case that he's not just some low-level driver but on the inner circle of Osama Bin Laden.
Testimony yesterday that his car was stopped with two surfaced to air missiles in it with a passage note from Mullah Omar showing that he was on the inside. An interesting side like the prosecutors also said that he was in a position to overhear a conversation that indicated on September 11th, the fourth plane was supposed to hit the U.S. Capitol.
But the defense is also being able to score some points here. They're able to show that so far they have not been able to connect Hamdan directly to the car with the missiles or directly to that note giving permission to carry those missiles.
And it underscores how difficult it is in these trials to actually assemble the evidence to make the case beyond a reasonable doubt. And that's the standard here to this military commission. The trial is going to go on probably for another week or so, perhaps even longer than that. And it will be the first test really of whether these military commissions can produce a verdict, and, one probably more importantly, that can be seen in the eyes of the world as something that is just an impartial.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Yes. It is being watched and observed from around the world, no doubt. Jamie McIntyre for us in Cuba. Thank you.
ROBERTS: Five minutes after the hour. John McCain's campaign going on the offensive, releasing a new ad describing the media's apparent love affair with Barack Obama. Does he have a legitimate gripe? We're going to get both points of view from popular liberal and conservative radio hosts.
Stocks set for more gains this morning. And markets rallied again on Tuesday and oil prices dropped.
Our Stephanie Elam breaks it all down for us. Fish out of water.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One, two, three!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: A dance team with a twist and a jiggle.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, they want to see what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My gut.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: President Bush caught in a YouTube moment he was trying to avoid. It happened at a closed-door fundraiser in Texas last week. The President told everyone to turn off the cameras as he talked about the economic downturn. The video was obtained by KTRK and then posted on the Web site.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Wall Street got drunk. It's one of the reasons I asked you to turn off your TV cameras.
(LAUGHTER)
It got drunk and now it's got a hangover. The question is how long will it sober up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: This happened about a week after President Bush said he feared YouTube moments like that one.
Well, Stephanie Elam is in for Ali Velshi this morning. She's talking about the economy as well. And you said, hey, that's not a bad characterization. It was drunk, it has a hangover.
STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN BUSINESS NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And probably won't have any YouTube moments here but yes, that's actually how he characterized it. And I think maybe some other people probably feel that way.
But overall yesterday we're taking a look at the market. And at first, I didn't know what they wanted to do. Pretty much hung around the flat line. Last hour, we had a nice literally on our hands. So, let's take a look at where the markets closed out for the day.
All three of the major averages adding on more than one percent. The percentage gainer being the S&P 500 up -- the leader there, up 1.3 percent yesterday.
There was also some news that came out from Washington Mutual after the bell yesterday. Reporting that they had a $3.3 billion loss for that quarter here. And that was actually because of bad loans. We are not too surprised to hear about that. But that was also way worse than what Wall Street was expecting to hear. So, yet another big bank showing that they are having problems there. That's one stock we'll be watching today.
Also we have to take a look at oil. More good news. Oil continues to slide. In fact, as of yesterday, now down $17.23 from the high that we hit on July 14th. There you go -- $127.95. That's where we were. It's off three more dollars yesterday.
Oil taking a little bit of a breather here as it's been declining. But also because it seems Hurricane Dolly that we've been talking about here all morning, it looks like it's going to miss some of those rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. That's allowed people to kind of give a little sigh of relief. So, that's about it, Kiran.
CHETRY: Good news -- at least for now.
We'll take back, we'll take good news when it comes to oil anyway we can get it. Thanks.
ELAM: Sure.
ROBERTS: You know, as you saw there with T. Boone Pickens a little while ago, he says he thinks that this price slide is only temporary and 10 years from now, it could be $300 a barrel, Stephanie.
ELAM: Yes. And you know, there's a lot of people who think that this is just a temporary little blip here. But, I guess, with all these things it kind of gives a little psychological breathing point for the markets, maybe a little bit of correction here. But I don't think anyone thinks this is the way things are going to continue to go.
CHETRY: Plus, we still have time to build those -- that wind farm, you know, we have some time.
ELAM: We have some time.
ROBERTS: And dig your bomb shelter as well. All right. Thanks.
Hurricane Dolly battering the Texas and Mexico coastlines right now. She's getting stronger, and now a tornado warning for Brownsville right in Dolly's path.
Rob Marciano has got the very latest on the hurricane track and the other warnings surrounding it.
Morning, Rob.
MARCIANO: Good morning, John. You've got that hurricane warning and I have in my hands the latest vortex message. That is the technical data message from the Hurricane Hunter aircraft, just in this thing. And the pressure continues to drop. This storm is strengthening. Details coming up when AMERICAN MORNING comes right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Back to our breaking news at 14 minutes after the hour this morning. A tornado warning issued in Brownsville, Texas as the eye of Hurricane Dolly approaches land. Outer bands pounding the coastline right now. Let's go to Rob Marciano at the Weather Center in Atlanta with the very latest on the storm's track and these tornado warnings.
Rob?
MARCIANO: Yes, John. This is a tornado watch in effect until 11:00 a.m. But the more immediately, we have a couple of freshly issued tornado warning now in effect until 7:45 local time. Basically parallels the other one which we talked about just about 10 minutes ago for three counties, Cameron, Hidalgo and Willacy County.
There you see these purple polygons showing the tornado warning. This is radar indicated. Tornadoes within a hurricane, you rarely see because they are rain-wrapped but they do move quickly. This one is moving southwesterly at 46 miles an hour.
So, you can imagine what that can be. Definitely, folks who even live inland, it's a good note to make that even though if you're not along the coastline, immediate shorelines, you're certainly in danger when these hurricanes come on shore. Tornadoes along with the other threats which include heavy rain as well.
All right. Look at this eye pop out of here as it heads towards Brownsville. As you mentioned before the break, Hurricane Hunter aircraft in there. 972 millibars, what we saw an hour ago. It's down to 967. That's a pretty significant drop.
So, I wouldn't be surprised in the next our or two when they update these winds that may very well bump this, John, from 85 to maybe 90 or even 95 miles an hour. There's still a threat for this to become a Category Two storm before it makes land fall within the next couple of hours.
Back to you.
ROBERTS: Rob, am I reading your satellite image right? That it looks like just in the last couple of hours, that tornado hit the eye, has taken a little bit of a jog to the north and now looks like it's going to hit South Padre Island directly?
MARCIANO: Yes, yes. I would say, you know, at this point if it remains on that course it would hit South Padre or just to the north of South Padre. And that would be ideal because honestly there's not a whole lot between South Padre and Corpus Christi, a decent amount of farmland.
But these things will take jogs and will take jogs south. So, north and south jogs typically can happen. Hopefully, will keep going north and maybe spare Brownsville and South Padre island all together. But we just have to wait and see at this point.
John?
ROBERTS: That little jog to the north certainly explains why Reynolds Wolf is getting it so bad. Rob, thanks very much. We'll get back to you on that soon. Thanks. Appreciate you watching it.
Kiran?
CHETRY: Breaking our independence on foreign oil. Many say that's the key to solving the energy crisis. But it may not be that easy. We're trying to figure out what to do about it, coming up.
The big boys of dance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If it -- no, if it bothered me I'd be skinny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Meet baseball's first all-male dance team. All two tons of them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good for the big guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: All right. Well, proof that WNBA has all of the action of the NBA with a brawl that broke out at the end of the game between the Los Angeles Sparks and the Detroit Shock. L.A.'s Candace Parker and Detroit's Plenette Pierson got tangled up, actually took each other to the ground and everybody else got involved. You're going see it here in a second.
Detroit's Cheryl Ford actually hurt her knee breaking up that fight. When Shock coach Rick Mahorn knocked down Lisa Leslie that prompted DeLisha Milton-Jones to punch another player in the back. So, there you see it. A brawl at the WNBA.
ROBERTS: Wow. It's amazing video.
CHETRY: Not your average pick-up game, John. ROBERTS: No, no, they're duking it out there. My goodness.
And the Springfield Isotopes had Dancing Homer. But now a real life baseball team has hired a band of even fatter male cheerleaders. And they're working up a sweat in one of the most humid areas in the country.
CNN's John Zarrella introduces us to -- the Manatees?
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, you go to a baseball game to see athletes with great hand-eye coordination, maybe a 90-mile-an-hour fast ball. When you come to a Florida Marlins' game, you see a lot more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): They stand in the tunnel. Game faces on. Big Red, Chocolate Thunder, Mister Mantastic. They are part of the first all-male dance team in Major League Baseball.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, good crowd. Here's to a good performance. Ready?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sure. One, two, three -- manatees!
ZARRELLA: But you'll never mistake them for Chippendales. They are like their sea creature names sake -- well, to be kind, let's just say rotund.
If you don't have any problem, you decided to take this job.
STEVE BAUER, MR. MANTASTIC: No. If it bothered me, I'd be skinny.
ZARRELLA: Steve Bauer, a.k.a. Mr. Mantastic is one of the dozen of guys who want Friday and Saturday nights entertained at Florida Marlin baseball games and some community events. All the entertainment has a sea creature theme from Billy the Marlin to the mermaids.
The team wanting to add a new dimension to entertainment -- several dimensions, in this case, came up with Manatees.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, one more.
ZARRELLA: Unlike the mermaids and Billy, these guys don't get paid. They come from all walks of life -- a lawyer, a teacher, retail, school administrator, and Mr. Mantastic.
BAUER: Who wants some peanuts? Ooh! Ooh!
ZARRELLA: He's a peanut vendor when he's not dancing.
So, they want to see what?
BAUER: My gut. ZARRELLA: And?
BAUER: My muscles.
ZARRELLA: Which is bigger?
BAUER: My gut. And my gut's real.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here we go, here we go!
ZARRELLA: The Manatees, all two tons of them, are serious about their performance, practicing with their choreographer before games. For some fans there's an instant bond.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's good for the big guys.
ZARRELLA: They are a proud bunch. Nothing lightweight about these triple-X sized dancers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: The Manatees all say they intend to try out again next year for the squad, but they're all concerned that the competition is going to be a lot heavier.
John?
Kiran?
ROBERTS: John Zarrella this morning in the Rolling Stone's logo on the abdomen, just really kind of puts the icing on the cake there. Doesn't it?
John McCain says Barack Obama would rather lose a war than lose a political campaign. Did the charge against his rival cross the line? We'll discuss it with popular radio hosts on the right and the left.
And breaking this morning, Senator Obama on his way back to Israel after meeting with Palestinian leaders. We'll take a look at what Obama said while he was in the West Bank.
Breaking the habit.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, with addictions, whether it is cocaine, nicotine, or oil, money talks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: The science of oil addiction and how it might actually help us break our dependence on oil. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH JON STEWART": Wow! He is inexperience to foreign policy. If I'm not mistaken, I think they're supposed to wear the flap jacket. Not just hold it like it's carting your suit.
Of course, after a quick meet and greet with King Abdullah, Obama was off to Israel where he made a quick stop at the manger in Bethlehem where he was born.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Well, that was Jon Stewart of "THE DAILY SHOW," having a little bit of fun with Senator Obama's Mid-East trip. And his last line there seemingly a comment in the way that Obama wants to cover. He said, "He made a quick stop in Bethlehem to visit the manger where he was born," or something along those lines.
Well, it is an issue that the McCain campaign is now tackling head-on. Is there really this media love affair with Barack Obama?
Joining me now with that and other top political issues today, conservative radio talk show host Steve Malzberg and liberal radio talk show host, Laura Flanders, who also host grittv.org.
Thanks to both of you for being with us.
So, the McCain camp, they're using the Internets to their advantage and they release this Web ad which highlights the claim that the media is just in love with Barack Obama.
Let's look at a little tiny bit of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE SCARBOROUGH: The media's love affair with Barack Obama is all consuming.
CHRIS MATTHEWS: The feeling most people get when they hear Barack Obama's speech. My, I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don't have that too often.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: What do you think, Laura?
LAURA FLANDERS, LIBERAL RADIO/TV TALK SHOW HOST: Oh, I mean, who's whining now? I mean, this is an unattractive posture by a guy who really needs to get beyond complaining about the attention the other guy is getting to getting his own act in order. What's he going to do now? Complain that the world likes Barack Obama too much? It is not going to fly.
STEVE MALZBERG, CONSERVATIVE RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: Well, I think it's been proven by the polls. It's been proven by the people like NewsBusters that count up the stories that are done on McCain versus Obama.
I think this is a great effort by McCain. It shows in their own words what the mainstream media is saying about Barack Obama. And by the way, I think we should point out, McCain is doing so poorly. His campaign is so poorly run, he's so desperate, he's tied with Obama, with the great Barack Obama right now, which is amazing. And nobody's talking about that.
FLANDERS: John McCain should be glad the media on giving him the scrutiny they're giving Barack Obama. If they were, the public might have heard what he said last week about social security that it's disgraceful. They might have got it that he doesn't know where Iraq ends and Pakistan begins. He confuses Sunni and Shiite. He should be glad the media aren't listening to him.
MALZBERG: And you mean, when Barack Obama said that he's been to all 57 states and when Barack Obama proved he didn't know the difference between Memorial Day and Veterans Day. When he said our fallen heroes are in the audience today? Come on!
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Well, John McCain did say that he called the media coverage of Barack Obama fun to watch. He was trying not to be whining about it. He actually said he's enjoying it. But one thing that he did say that's gotten a little bit of attention is the way that he characterized his criticism of Barack Obama's Iraq policy. Listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: I had the courage and the judgment to say that I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Steve, were those comments over the line?
MALZBERG: No, how were they over the line? The guy spent ten minutes on CBS last night with Katie Couric -- Barack did -- not admitting that the surge has worked. He says if he knew now what he knew or knew then what he knew now he wouldn't have voted for the surge.
I mean, it is very obvious that Barack Obama will not say "The surge has worked. I was wrong. We're winning this war. We can win this war." And I think John McCain is exactly right.
CHETRY: Is there a political mischief not to acknowledge that the increase in troops there has helped quell the violence.
FLANDERS: Well, John McCain has made a huge misstep in understanding the role of the surge (INAUDIBLE), and you were talking about that earlier. That's huge. That's the news of the day. If you want to talk about courage and good judgment, let's not forget the big picture.
Barack Obama had the courage and good judgment not to get this country into a war.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: But McCain didn't get this country into the war in Iraq either. But Barack Obama is not willing to say that he would have supported the surge now. Is that a misstep?
FLANDERS: No, he says he didn't support the surge. It's not --
CHETRY: And then he wouldn't now if he could go back.
FLANDERS: No, I think he's absolutely right.
MALZBERG: Well, of course, John McCain is correct when he says that it was after the surge, after our commitment to send more troops that these village and tribal leaders said -- OK, you're going to stick around? We're going to go against al Qaeda. That's exactly how it happened.
FLANDERS: The schedule is going the other way around. It was three months after the Anbar awakening that you're talking about that the surge was even announced.
MALZBERG: Absolutely not. Absolutely wrong.
(CROSSTALK)
MALZBERG: These leaders themselves have said that when we saw the U.S. was going to stay around, we were absolutely (INAUDIBLE). And let's talk about General Petraeus. General Petraeus -- what's a fact finding mission that Barack Obama's on when the week before you go on it, you announce your policy. And when you get there and you learn of what's going on on the ground, you refuse to change? What kind of fact finding mission is this?
FLANDERS: Talk about change. I mean, this whole conversation about John McCain's campaign, and you mentioned just a second ago -- you know, at a sudden point, people have gone to realize, it is not the campaign that's making these missteps. It is John McCain with the judgment that he is exposing on the choice of leadership that he's put in charge of his campaign and the statements that he is making that are just flat-out wrong.
At a certain point, you have got to say it is not the campaign, it's the candidate that has the problem.
MALZBERG: His side. What's he doing that's so bad? What's wrong with the leadership of his campaign? He's tied with the great Barack Obama.
CHETRY: We'll have to leave it there. But let's pick it up again. You guys are great. It was wonderful talking to you both. Laura Flanders and Steve Malzberg, thanks. MALZBERG: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Coming up to the half hour now and back to our breaking news this morning. A tornado warning issued in Brownsville, Texas as the eye of Hurricane Dolly approaches. As Rob Marciano just told us, Dolly's pressure continues to drop meaning that the storm is getting stronger. 85-mile-an-hour winds right now and rain battering the coast. Officials are worried that flooding and storm surges could break Rio Grande levees.
President Bush said in his State of the Union address that America is a nation addicted to oil. Our Elaine Quijano speaks with an addiction expert and gets some answers as to whether that's true or not and how it is affecting us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELAINE QUIJANO (voice-over): To borrow from that famous song - "gonna have to face it you're addicted to love."
- to oil.
PRES. GEORGE W. BUSH, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: And here we have a serious problem. America is addicted to oil. Addicted to oil.
QUIJANO: Politicians love the analogy.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Each and every year we become more, not less, addicted to oil.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We must be bold in our plans to break our strategic dependence on oil.
QUIJANO: Technically though, oil dependence isn't an addiction, says Professor Jack Henningfield of Johns Hopkins University, but it's similar.
JACK HENNINGFIELD, JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY: With the case of oil, our brain isn't wired but our nation has been rewired. Our national infrastructure has been wired by cheap, plentiful oil.
QUIJANO: That's obvious from the ripple effect of high gas prices.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Gas prices, it's ridiculous!
QUIJANO: Among President Bush's ideas --
BUSH: We need to explore for more oil and gas here at home.
QUIJANO (on-camera): The idea behind more oil drilling is kind of like a nicotine patch for a smoker first trying to cut back, and then eventually quit. In the same way, the Bush administration argues that America needs a steady oil supply in the interim in order to wean ourselves off it in the future.
QUIJANO (voice-over): But democrats call that enabling.
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D), HOUSE OF SPEAKER: The president said we were addicted to it. And what does he want to do? He wants to reinforce the addiction.
QUIJANO: Henningfield says based on the science of addiction, both arguments have merit, that a near-term fix can help, but -
HENNINGFIELD: It might make people forget that we need long-term solutions.
QUIJANO: He says no matter what the substance, kicking a habit often boils down to the bottom line.
HENNINGFIELD: The most important single driver to get people to quit smoking is the rising cost of cigarettes. So with addictions, whether it's cocaine, nicotine, or oil, money talks.
QUIJANO (on-camera): And we've already seen that with people driving less and using public transportation more. All as Washington searches for answers. John. Kiran.
CHETRY: Thanks and we fast forward now to some stories that will be making news today. Congress expected to vote on an estimated $25 billion plan today to rescue mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson says it is crucial the two companies have access to the money they need.
President Bush heads to the Pentagon to discuss plans to send more troops to Afghanistan where there's been an increase in violence of late. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that he'd like to see more boots on the ground sooner rather than later.
And Congress will review the military's don't ask-don't tell policy. This will be the first hearing on it since it was enacted 15 years ago. Former military personnel on both sides of the issue will speak.
And John McCain is in Pennsylvania this morning where he'll be holding a town hall meeting before heading to Louisiana to meet with New Orleans Governor Bobby Jindal. Barack Obama is on his way back to Israel after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
And right now, let's bring in our Candy Crowley who joins us live in Sderot this morning. Candy, this is certainly a Palestinian conflict, certainly a political mine field. But can Barack Obama really please both sides?
CANDY CROWLEY, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. Because here's what they plan to do. This is not going to be one of those trips where you hear Barack Obama saying too much of substance. Here's what we know that he's said so far in advance of coming to Israel - that he thinks both sides in the Israel-Palestinian conflict will have to give a little, that he thinks the United States can help but that they have to be willing to want peace. These are not controversial plans. And so what they're trying to do here is to have him be seen on the international stage but not to make any waves. So are you not going to hear too much of substance coming out of here, and certainly you will not hear anything too controversial or controversy at all coming out of Barack Obama while he walks through Israel.
As you know, he was in Ramallah speaking to Palestinian leaders. He has met with nearly every Israeli political leader available. They, for their part, are talking about Iran which is a huge concern here. What they want to do is to first of all sort of size up Barack Obama, try to figure out where he is on certain issues important to Israel, and what they want to put on his front burner is Iran and what they believe is Iran's quest to get nuclear weaponry. Kiran.
CHETRY: Candy Crowley for us this morning in Sderot, thank you.
CHETRY: From walking the red carpet to walking into a police station. The star of the biggest movie in the country is accused of hitting his mom and sister.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): Burning mad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as he reached the rubber mats, he screamed.
CHETRY: Parents on fire over play grounds that are sending their kids to the burn unit. This doesn't have to be a scorcher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, not at all. Not at all.
CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
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ROBERTS: Coming up now 38 minutes after the hour. Welcome back to the most news in the morning. A big day here at CNN, because our special series "Black in America" kicks off tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Joining us now is Soledad O'Brien who has literally been working on this project for more than a year. What can our viewers expect to see tonight, Soledad?
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, one of the things we wanted to do was really take a look at the whole range of experiences for black people in this country 40 years after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. So, what people will see is really everything. Some of the tougher stories that exist for African-American people in this country, and also some of the successes, some of the opportunities that people have had and some of the obstacles, too, that still exist today. We went out to cover the whole range. One thing we did not do was focus on Barack Obama. We really felt that while he is kind of an umbrella to what's happening currently in Black America, to a large degree he's not the story of Black America. There are many other stories to tell.
ROBERTS: You know, you had that fabulous program on Dr. Martin Luther King not too long ago -
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And I asked you. When we're talking about that what was the most surprising thing that you learned when you were doing that documentary. So, let me ask that question again. What's the most surprising thing you learned with this series.
O'BRIEN: Well, I would say, it's two fold. And the first one is you get scared if I say I have two answers to the question but the first one is the number of people across all socio-economic boundaries who would tell the story of what they tell their 12-year-old.
Most black people sit down with their 12-year-old sons to tell them how to deal with police, same conversation whether you're talking about a single mom in dire poverty in Detroit or a Hollywood millionaire, they all say, I told my son. If you were confronted by police, here's what you do, and white people, I don't think for the most part have those conversations with their children but on the other side of that. What was really exciting to see was the number of people who have committed to making a difference in their community. People who succeeded even in small ways and some in really big ways who then go back to their communities and ways, we can fix some of the problems that we see here. We can it ourselves, John.
ROBERTS: Wow. It's going to be an eye-opening experience for a lot of people.
Soledad, thanks so much.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
ROBERTS: And a reminder, part one of Soledad's series, "Black in America," kicks off tonight at 9:00 p.m., right here on CNN. And after you watch it, take some time and send us an I-report. Soledad is going to share some of your reaction tomorrow at noon Eastern, live on CNN.com.
CHETRY: Well, trying to get his message to stick. Take a look at this. A protester by the name of Dan Glass actually super glued himself to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Glass was there to receive an award. He reached in for a handshake and he grabbed the Prime Minister's forearm with his other hand which was covered in glue. This morning on our sister network CNNI, he explained why.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID GLASS, PROTESTER: The first thing I said to him is that you can't run away from climate change. You may be able to shake my hand but you can't run away from communities affected by climate change. I said this is a nonviolent protest in line with commitment to nonviolence and also that we're going to take campaign from the roots of Parliament which we were a few months ago, inside 10 Downing Street.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CHETRY: Well, Brown was able to wiggle free after about 30 seconds. The protesters affiliated with a group called Plane Stupid, P-L-A-N-E. It campaigns against airport expansions and global warming. And by the way, police did not file any charges against him.
The star of the new "Batman" movie says he did not hit his mother. Christian Bale explains himself to London police and says those assault allegations, not true.
Remember the old debate tom-a-toe versus tom-ah-toe? Well, actually, many of us don't know anyone that really says tom-ah-toe. Do we? Now it's the candidates' turn.
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JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Senator Obama says it one way, Senator McCain says it another.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: ... including the Pakistan situation.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Pakistan as a safe heaven.
MOOS: Sure, it is subtle.
MCCAIN: Pakistan.
OBAMA: Pakistan.
MOOS: But Senator Obama puts a more native twist on words most Americans pronounce Paki-stan and Tali-ban.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Our Jeanne Moos takes a look at how the words roll up John McCain and Barack Obama's tongue.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, HOST, "THE LATE NIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Saw another line for "Batman" today. It was the police lineup for Christian Bale.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Jay Leno taking a quick shot at Christian Bale at the top of last night's show. Bale is denying accusations that he assaulted his mother and his sister. Bale who plays Batman in the new movie "The Dark Knight" was arrested in London. He ended up spending four hours answering police questions before he was released without being charged.
Our Lola Ogunnaike joins me now. When we were first talking about the story, he was still under police questioning. So they were taking it seriously.
What happened?
LOLA OGUNNAIKE, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: They were taking it seriously but they decided not to formally charge him. He's out, he has to return to London in September to meet with the police officers pending further investigation. But for now he's free to promote his film. He's on his way to Madrid and then after that to Tokyo. And then once he's done promoting the film, he starts shooting the "Terminator."
CHETRY: Yes. Well, apparently his sister, Jenny Bale, and his mother, Sharon Bale, actually filed these allegations against him. What went down?
OGUNNAIKE: Well, they are alleging that he assaulted them on Sunday night. They went to the police on Monday night. And then on Tuesday he formally turn himself in. He's denying all charges but they're maintaining that something happened. No know ones exactly what happened but they're maintaining that something did happen and they're not stepping away from this at all.
CHETRY: And so "The Dark Knight" taking in almost $160 million. Smashing records all over the place for a movie. Ill-timed or the cynic in you says perhaps good timing?
OGUNNAIKE: I don't know, Kiran. This is making me say, look as of last week no one was even talking about Christian Bale. It was all about Heath Ledger and the Joker. Heath ledger and the Joker. And now Christian Bale is all anyone can talk about. I'm not saying that he planned this but I don't think it can necessarily hurt him. It's all we're talking about today. He was all over the news yesterday and now finally the camera's on Christian Bale. I mean, people forget he is the star of this movie, is he Batman.
CHETRY: You wouldn't know it from the movie posters.
OGUNNAIKE: Go to Times Square, and it's all about Heath Ledger on the billboards. You didn't even know that Christian Bale was in it. He's like the best supporting actor.
CHETRY: All right. We'll see what happens. As you say, he has to go back in September for more questioning. Hope he works it all out.
OGUNNAIKE: Me, too.
CHETRY: Thanks, Lola.
ROBERTS: Fighting for top billing there.
CNN NEWSROOM just minutes away. Heidi Collins now at the CNN Center with a look at what's ahead. Good morning, Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you, John. That's right. Here's what we're working on in the NEWSROOM. Boy, it's getting closer and getting stronger. Forecasters say Hurricane Dolly could grow into a category 2 storm before making land fall today.
Drivers looking up as pump prices drop again. Six straight days of declines now.
And mourning the loss of a loved one. Sea turtle visits memorial for another sea turtle. Isn't that sweet?
Tony Harris joins me when we get started at the top of the hour right here on CNN. John.
ROBERTS: We will see you soon, Heidi. Just about 13 minutes away now.
A tornado warning for Texas. We're live as Hurricane Dolly pounds the coastline with winds and rain right now. The big storm getting stronger.
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CHETRY (voice-over): Burning mad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as he reached the rubber mats, he screamed.
CHETRY: Parents on fire over play grounds that are sending their kids to the burn unit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So it doesn't have to be a scorcher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, not at all.
CHETRY: You're watching the most news in the morning.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Kids like to head out there and have fun at the play grounds, especially in the summertime. But there could be some dangers out there because those rubber mats designed to break you child's fall can turn to blistering hot in the sun. In fact, hospitals in New York City have seen up to 18 cases a year of serious burns. Alina Cho explains. But we do want to warn you that some of what are you about to see is quite disturbing.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The danger was right below Will Cassen's feet.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As soon as he reach the rubber mat he screamed. He was on the rubber mats maybe five seconds. My wife picked him up, looked at the bottom of his feet and the skin was hanging off of his feet.
CHO: Oh, my gosh! The two-year-old landed in a hospital burn unit by doing something seemingly harmless at a New York City playground. He kicked off his shoes and ran right on to these scorching hot mats, meant to protect kids in a fall. Instead, Will suffered second degree burns, suffering so much, his dad says, he was convulsing.
CHO: (on-camera): Even on a moderately warm day like today these black mats can get extremely hot. So hot that one New York hospital says it only takes a couple of seconds for a child with bare feet or bare hands, for that matter, to get burned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, it can be in the low 80s. This stuff heats up every day.
CHO: So it doesn't have to be a scorcher.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE:: Oh, not at all. Not at all.
CHO: Parents say the solution is cover the play grounds with canopies, replace the black mats with a lighter color, or at the very least, post more detailed signs near the mats explaining the potential danger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The sign says no bare feet but it doesn't tell you why.
CHO: The Consumer Product Safety Commission tells CNN the number of children burned from that is small, saying "our number one playground issue is children falling off apparatus. That's our main concern, because that's where the deaths occur." New York's parks commissioner says it's not practical to replace the mats at a cost of $150 million.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It hurts me that it can get burn, but it hurts a lot worse when they crack a skull. And you can't recover from a cracked skull. So, there is a relatively simple solution, which is to wear shoes.
CHO: Some parents say it is not so simple. They want changes so a trip to the playground doesn't end with a trip to the hospital.
Alina Cho, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Eight minutes now to the top of the hour. Breaking news here on CNN, the House expected today to pass a housing bill.
Yesterday President Bush had renewed his threat to veto that bill. Well, today it appears he has had second thoughts. And he has rescinded that veto threat saying that if the house passes this bill in its current form the President will sign it. There had been a disagreement between Congress and the White House over a provision of $4 billion to go to municipalities to buy up foreclosed properties to prevent urban blight. The President thought that was going to be an unfair bailout for lenders. So that's why he had threatened to veto it. The White House says it believed it could have won the veto fight. But today in a conference call, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino says "we believe now is not the time," and this really just sort of rough quotes here, not exact. We believe now is not the time for a prolonged veto fight. Risk of not having the bill until September is not a risk worth taking in the current environment. So when the House passes the bill today it is expected to soon go to the President for his signature. Again, the White House and President Bush rescinding their veto threat over the housing bill.
We're also following breaking news right now in Texas. A tornado warning in effect for Brownsville as Hurricane Dolly bears down on the coast. The storm's pressure is dropping, the storm is strengthening. The latest update just minutes ago. The storm now with up to 95-mile- an-hour winds.
Our Reynolds Wolf is live with the very latest. He is on South Padre Island, Texas. Probably not hearing me very well.
So, take it away, Reynolds.
WOLF: Well, John, the wind is still just roaring on through. The rain has actually let up a little bit in intensity. You know, all morning long you and viewers across America have been listening to me tell this story but you've been seeing this story unfold through the eyes of CNN photo journalist Stewart Park. Stewart will pan the camera so you can see what's behind me as the sun has been coming up, you can get a better view of the ocean.
And yesterday the water line was about 100 yards off in the distance. Right now it is right up to these dunes. And you can see the water coming in and white caps as far as the eye can see. We do anticipate the winds will get a bit stronger as the eye approaches closer to shore. We've been telling you of course about the wind. Certainly - it's been very tough. But something else, if you come back to me, you can notice that rain is now coming right back in again. We anticipate, John, the rain anywhere from six to ten inches possible but in the inland areas we could see isolated amounts approaching over a foot. Say 15 inches of rainfall possible as far as Grantsville. Because of the potential for flooding, Governor Rick Perry of Texas has already declared 14 counties - 14 counties - disaster areas. There have also been staging areas that have been set up by the National Guard at Houston, San Antonio and Austin to help deal with the aftermath of this storm as it rumbles closer to shore. That's the latest we've got for you. Let's send it back to you in the studio.
ROBERTS: Reynolds, I'm hoping hope that you can hear me here. I know there is an awful lot of wind noise. But give us some idea, you're on a barrier island, South Padre island, one of those barrier islands. What's the elevation where you are? What's the expected storm surge when Dolly comes ashore, and in relation to that, just how much dry ground may you be on by the time this storm finally comes?
WOLF: Great question, John. Storm surge looking at storm surge anywhere from say six to eight feet. The island itself, flat as a pancake. We're talking about a sliver of sand that separates the Gulf of Mexico to the shore of Texas. There is not much protection here. It is not like parts of topography that you've seen in places like the Dominican Republic or Haiti where you have a high-mountain change. You obviously don't have high elevations like you have in parts of Cuba so you're not going to deal with things like, say, mudslides, that's not going to be a threat here, however there is a potential for flash flooding on this island. The real threat of flooding is going to take place back towards the Rio Grande Valley. That is the real, that's the spot where you could have rain really cause some catastrophic effects.
Now, John, you got to remember, too, back in parts of the Rio Grande Valley, back in 1967, you had a storm that came through. That storm dumped over three feet of rainfall. Three feet of rain. And the big concern now are the levees in that area, can they withhold that kind of shower activity? Can they withhold that volume of water?. And that's the big question. They've been working very hard in that area to reinforce those barriers with the sandbags. That's been something they've been working on for the last say 36 hours or so. They're just hoping it is going to be enough to keep those levees strong. Let's send it back to you.
ROBERTS: You know, Reynolds, we're seeing a very, very slow forward movement with this storm only at eight miles an hour. As it gets close to the coast there and you get the interaction between the land and winds of the hurricane, what might that do to the track? Might it take it a little further northward and perhaps take some of the pressure off Brownsville and South Padre?
WOLF: Well, there's always that possibility. The problem with these storms, is they're not, they don't move from point to point. They aren't linear things. It is not getting a bowling ball and rolling it down a lane. These storms tend to wobble. They tend to wobble. There's always the potential this thing could take a quick jog. You'll remember as we go back to -- in memory, say 2004 where you had Hurricane Charlie going right up the west coast of Florida, and it looks like it's going towards Tampa and made that sharp turn right at Punta Gorda.
ROBERTS: Yes.
WOLF: And you know the rest of the story. There's always a chance that the storm could make a quick turn.
ROBERTS: All right, Reynolds Wolf, there in the thick of it for us this morning, on South Padre Island. Thanks very much, Reynolds. We'll keep checking back to you. Stay safe. Kiran.
CHETRY: All right, thanks, John. We're going to take a quick break. And we'll be right back.
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