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American Morning
Obama Meets With High-Profile Advisers; Is Iraq Extending an Olive Branch?; The Future of Affirmative Action: Where do Candidates Stand?; New Concerns About John McCain's Health: Skin Growth Removed; Tim Kaine High on Obama's Short List for VP; FDA Warning Consumers to Avoid Tomalley in Lobsters
Aired July 29, 2008 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Olympic threat. Islamic militants burn a symbol of peace.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have video material of them conducting vehicular bombings, execution. There much like we have seen groups in Iraq and Afghanistan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: An expert tells us whether China should pay attention.
Plus, poll position.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are now in a position where the odds of us winning are very good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Brand-new numbers show Barack Obama pulling ahead as John McCain pulls out all the stops. It's the "Most Politics in the Morning."
And good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on this Tuesday. It's the 29th of July. Only three more days left in the month.
ALINA CHO, CO-HOST: And 99 days left till the election.
ROBERTS: It goes by so quickly. Kiran Chetry is off today, by the way. Alina Cho here. Alina, it's great to see you this morning.
CHO: Great to see you, too. Nice to be here as always.
ROBERTS: And we get off to a rocking start this morning. U.S. and Iraqi forces launching a new military offensive in northern Iraq against insurgents in Diyala province. An Iraqi commander says operation Omens of Prosperity is aimed at driving al-Qaeda in Iraq out of the last major insurgent stronghold near Baghdad. Defeating al-Qaeda will require a shift in U.S. strategy. That's according to a Washington think tank. The Rand Research Center says the administration should rely more on intelligence and policing and less on brute force. It also urges the U.S. to drop the war on terror label, suggesting that terrorists should be described as criminals and not holy warriors. The group studied more than 600 terrorist groups.
Singer Amy Winehouse out of the hospital. She was rushed to the emergency room last night after suffering what her spokesperson called a reaction to medication. Winehouse was hospitalized last month after collapsing at home. At the time, her father said she had developed early stage emphysema from smoking cigarettes and crack cocaine.
CHO: The "Most Politics in the Morning" now. Whether it's John McCain or Barack Obama, one thing is for sure, the next president will be swimming in red ink. Both McCain and Obama slamming the Bush administration's fiscal policy. It comes after a government report showed the budget deficit will soar to nearly a half trillion dollars. At the same time, the candidates are criticizing each other's plan for rescuing the economy.
Here's Candy Crowley with more on Obama's meeting with more than a half dozen high-profile advisers.
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CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's not the wall in Jerusalem, the Elysee Palace in Paris, or 10 Downing Street in London. But this picture is where the voters are.
This is Barack Obama flexing his economic muscle, or as an aide put it, a demonstration to voters of who will be advising him on the economy. It's a room full of brain power, from businessman Paul O'Neill, who served as George Bush's first term treasury secretary, to labor leader John Sweeney, to former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: -- so that the market is driving so that hard work is rewarded.
CROWLEY: It's a meeting to help Obama pivot from a trip designed to show his agility on the world stage to the home front where he needs to show a steady hand to steward a flailing economy.
OBAMA: And this is an emergency that you feel not only just from reading "The Wall Street Journal" but from traveling across Ohio and Michigan, in New Mexico and Nevada, where you meet people day after day who are one foreclosure notice or one illness, or one pink slip away from economic disaster.
CROWLEY: Every state mentioned is a fall battleground. With polls continuing to show voters trust Obama more than John McCain on the economy, the McCain campaign welcomed Obama home trying to rough him up. Advisers called the Obama meeting just another photo-op while the candidate toured an oil field and slammed Obama for refusing to support the kind of thing that will address one of the major issues troubling voters -- the cost of energy. SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So Senator Obama opposes offshore drilling. He opposes reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. He opposes storage of spent nuclear fuel. And so, he is the Dr. No of America's energy future.
CROWLEY: Even before Obama left Europe at his final press conference in front of 10 Downing Street, he knew this trip might seem off point back home.
OBAMA: We've been out of the country for a week. People are worried about gas prices. They're worried about home foreclosures.
CROWLEY: It's hard to top pictures with the city of Amman in the background or 200,000 Europeans in the foreground. But Monday, a standard Washington photo-op did just fine.
Candy Crowley, CNN, Chicago.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Well, photo-op or not, the latest CNN poll of polls show Senator Barack Obama with a five-point lead over Senator John McCain. And Obama sounded quite confident when he spoke to reporters after a fundraiser in Arlington, Virginia, last night.
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SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We are now in a position where the odds of us winning are very good, but it is still going to be difficult.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Later today in Washington, the senator will brief House Democrats on his trip to the Middle East and Europe last week.
And John McCain addressing questioning about his health after he had a mole-like growth removed from his face during a routine checkup. The campaign says there is no need to worry. But McCain has a history of malignant melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. He told CNN's Larry King that this time it's not serious.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you look at it and you be careful, it's fine. I had one. I had one serious bout with it and that was frankly due to my own neglect, because I let it -- I let it go and go and go. In fact, I was running for president at the time. I'm not making that mistake again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: McCain said the spot would be by biopsied just to make sure that everything is OK -- Alina.
CHO: All right, John. Iran's president seems to be taking a new tone with the United States. Or is he? In a TV interview, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad talks as if he wants peace, not war. But his new moderate language is also raising some new questions. Here's CNN's Brian Todd.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Good morning, John and Alina. On one level, Iran's president does seem to be extending an olive branch but his comments bring a familiar question in Washington. Does he really mean it this time?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TODD (voice-over): On the surface, a striking hint by Iran's president. He might be willing to reach common ground with America and its allies over his country's nuclear program. In an interview with NBC News, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says if sending its own diplomat to the latest round of talks signals a change in America's approach to his country --
PRES. MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD, IRAN: We will be facing a new situation and the response by the Iranian people will be a positive one.
TODD: In Washington, there's skepticism.
DANA PERINO, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESWOMAN: I think we have to approach this with a big grain of salt. President Ahmadinejad said one thing to the Iranian people on Saturday and another thing to an American journalist on Monday.
TODD: A reference to Ahmadinejad's claim over the weekend that Iran now has 6,000 centrifuges for enriching uranium. Weapons expert say that may be an exaggeration but they say if it's true it could put Iran just months away from having the ability to produce a nuclear weapon. Why would Ahmadinejad say that then talk about diplomatic options 48 hours later?
KARIN SADJADPOUR, CARNEGIE ENDOWMENT FOR INTL. PEACE: What the Iranians are trying to do is essentially create facts on the ground to send the signal to the West that our nuclear program, as Ahmadinejad once described it, is a train with no brakes. That Iran is moving forward, that they cannot be stopped, but that they are willing to have a more conciliatory negotiation session with the West.
TODD: But that doesn't mean Iran's ready to concede anything. Repeatedly in that interview, Ahmadinejad is asked, will you meet Saturday's deadline by the major powers to agree to not add any new centrifuges in exchange for a freeze in sanctions? Repeatedly, he sidesteps.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TODD: At one point, Ahmadinejad did say that nuclear bombs belong in the 20th century. And he said his country is not working to produce a nuclear weapon. It's a claim that he and other Iranian officials have made several times in recent years, a claim that U.S. officials still don't believe. John and Alina, back to you.
CHO: All right, Brian, thank you.
And coming up in the next hour, we're going to be talking to Richard Haass. He's the president of the Council on Foreign Relations, and he'll be talking to John about whether Iran's so called olive branch is sincere, or just another political tactic -- John.
ROBERTS: 7 1/2 minutes after the hour. The House and Senate could vote as early as this week on the biggest overhaul of product safety laws in almost two decades. Congressional negotiators struck an agreement on the bill yesterday that mandates new safety testing for toys, increases fines for safety violations and beefs up funding for the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
The number of Americans who have died from a drug overdose at home has exploded by 700 percent during the past two decades. That's according to researchers in the state of California. The study also found the number of deaths resulting from a combination of pills and alcohol soared from 92 in 1983 to more than 3,700 in 2004. And take a look at this video.
A New York City police officer reassigned to desk duty pending an investigation after a video posted on YouTube shows him attacking a bicyclist during the so-called critical mass demonstration in Times Square. Boom. There it is. The body check.
Officer Patrick Pogan seen moving toward cyclist Christopher Long and knocking him to the ground. Take a look at it again in slow motion there.
Witnesses say Long was startled and shaken and the officer was being violent, but Officer Pogan says Long rode straight into him. He was charged with attempted assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
CHO: Certainly a lot of debate about who's at fault there. Moving along now, stocks spiraled downward. More bad news on the economy.
So what does it mean for you money? Gerri Willis is going to break it down for you.
And the presidential candidates are talking about affirmative action. We'll take a look at where they stand and whether they're tweaking or downright changing their positions. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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CHO: John doing his best air guitar at 11 minutes after the hour.
ROBERTS: I saw nothing. I saw nothing. Did you guys see anything? No. CHO: One of my favorite songs in my childhood or my teen years or my early 20 years. Depending on what I'm willing to admit at this hour.
All right. Gerri Willis here with some -- making a hard right turn -- economic news.
GERRI WILLIS, PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: You know, I'm looking for the happy news here. Having a hard time finding it. It looks like about the markets yesterday.
The Dow Industrial average closed down 240 points. Ouch. Led by the financials. Look at those numbers. Nasdaq down. S&P 500 down here. This is a bear market going on, led lower, of course, by the financials. We still got those credit fears out there.
Citigroup down 7.5 percent. Bank of America down five percent. You could see real pain in the banking and financial sector. As a matter of fact, Merrill Lynch yesterday said much against what it said all along, it's going to issue new stock in the amount of $8.5 billion, raise a little cash, a little capital here to cure its ailing balance sheet.
That's something the CEO, John Thain, said he did not want to do, by the way, but he's being forced to do it. I want to show you the new numbers here. The White House out with new numbers on the budget deficit.
Again, in the red. Not pretty. $482 billion for fiscal 2009. They're ratcheting that number up. And we have a chart, but I don't think we are able to get it up right now. $482 billion. The full cost of the wars in Iraq if you factor that in, it's $500 billion, which would set a new record. And deficit for 2008 actually fell to 389 billion from 410 billion. And my job for the rest of the morning now is to go out and find some good news. Something happy.
CHO: Gas prices are down again. A relative bargain at $3.94.
WILLIS: That's right. We're under --
Right. We're under $4, so don't be complaining to me.
CHO: There's a silver lining there.
WILLIS: Hey, can I just say one other thing? You're thinking that stocks are really cheap here. If you really look at the numbers, crunch the numbers, look at earnings compared to those stock prices, not so cheap. Unless you're looking at the financials, not so cheap. So we'll be looking at solutions for consumers out there today.
ROBERTS: You know, you better find some good news here. We're going to start calling you the B pod.
WILLIS: The what?
ROBERTS: The B pod. You know, Ali Velshi is the H pod, the hairless prophet of doom.
CHO: Oh, OK.
ROBERTS: Maybe the blonde prophet.
WILLIS: OK.
ROBERTS: Find something good to talk about.
WILLIS: All right. Well --
ROBERTS: Thanks, Gerri.
CHO: Get to it, Gerri.
WILLIS: Got my word cut out for it.
ROBERTS: All right.
He's had four bouts with melanoma. Now, John McCain faces a slew of new questions about his health after doctors removed a mole-like spot from his face. We're going to look at the possible political fallout from that.
And thousands of firefighters battling a growing wall of flames in the Yosemite area this morning. Four thousand homes now threatened. We'll check the weather and see if conditions are improving for exhausted fire crews. Stay with us.
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ROBERTS: Picture this morning of Los Angeles International Airport. LAX there, where it's 65 and cloudy but expected to be in the high 80s, and lots of brilliant sunshine in the Golden State today. So a lovely day in store --
CHO: Another beautiful day in California.
ROBERTS: It's going to be beautiful here in the East Coast as well.
CHO: Yes, you can be out on the golf course. So, I hope you bring your sun block. It's going to be 90, at least, we hear.
ROBERTS: Yes, I'm looking forward to that. I don't get to play off very much.
CHO: That's right.
16 minutes after the hour. Rob Marciano watching the weather for us. Some extreme heat in the South Central U.S., Rob?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Golf? You want a strike, John? Since when do you play golf during the week? The guy slugged a cake. Kiran takes off and you're on, like, a holiday. Come on, Alina, crack the whip. Let's get this guy going. CHO: Hey, listen, you know, his off time is his off time.
MARCIANO: I hear. Listen, lazy days of summer. You got to take it easy once in a while.
Hey, guys. Check this out. It is 85 degrees right now in Dallas. With the humidity it feels closer to 90. I mean, that is just disgusting. 78 degrees in Shreveport, 77 currently in Houston, 82 degrees in Oklahoma City.
You bet we broke a few records yesterday. Wichita Falls, Texas, 110. Lawton, Oklahoma, 109. That's not a record but Dallas did set a record at 105. You'll be close to that again today.
Oklahoma City, 105 as well. And, again, these measured in the shade and they don't include humidity. So definitely some startling numbers.
Some video out of Arkansas to highlight. This is always a great local reporter trick. Throw some sort of baked good in a car, close the doors and see how long it takes to cook the Toll House cookies. So that's what they did.
In Little Rock, Arkansas, we'll see what they do today to exemplify the heat. Meanwhile, heat of a different story out west. Let's take a look at the Yosemite fire there in California. Boy, I tell you what, 46 square miles burned over 26,000 acres. They didn't really get a good handle on it.
Made another run yesterday, 25 homes destroyed. Four thousands homes threatened and only 10 percent containment at the moment. So they're still struggling with that critical fire danger more towards Nevada and Montana today. But nonetheless, they're not going to get any sort of rainfall.
This is rainfall from, believe or not, was left over from Dolly that's going to help cool off Oklahoma and some severe thunderstorms rolling just northeast of Minneapolis towards parts of northern Wisconsin.
Hit them long and straight today, John. You've got another 2 1/2 hours left so put in a good day.
ROBERTS: I have a lot of work to do, Rob. It's a busy day today.
MARCIANO: All right.
ROBERTS: Good thing about Texas heat, though, it's a dry heat, right?
CHO: You know Rob is a scratch golfer.
MARCIANO: My dreams.
(CROSSTALK) ROBERTS: -- particularly when the mosquitoes are bad. Thanks, Rob. See you soon.
MARCIANO: All right.
ROBERTS: Affirmative action. It's long been controversial. And now, the presidential candidates are talking about it. We're going to take a look at where they stand and whether they are changing their positions.
CHO: A new terror tape shows the Olympic symbol engulfed in flames and the Turkistan Islamic Party vows to attack the summer games.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a chance to sort of elevate their profile.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Terrorist threats in Beijing. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: 21 minutes after the hour. The future of affirmative action has made it on to the campaign trail. Senator Barack Obama sees room for improvement while John McCain, well, he's changed his view. So where exactly do the candidates stand on the controversial issue? Here's CNN's Carol Costello.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Affirmative action is, shall we say, a political hot potato. Once touted as a surefire way to help rectify discrimination based on race and gender, it's now considered by some no more than a quota system that actually promotes reverse discrimination.
TODD GAZIANO, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: There is no justification for forward-looking racial preference policies that have no timetable, will never end, and amount, in fact, to quotas.
COSTELLO: Gaziano says times have changed. Look at the man leading the Democratic charge for president and the woman who was his main rival. Others say it's a stretch to use them as an example that equal opportunity abounds.
WARD HENDERSON, CIVIL RIGHTS COMMISSION: These are extraordinary individuals and their success cannot be attributed, of course, to all the advances that we've made as a country. Their personal accomplishments have to be taken into account as well.
COSTELLO: In fact, experts say minority enrollment at major universities has fallen, and it would be difficult to say discrimination on the job has disappeared for ordinary people. But despite this, and despite pro-affirmative action rallies in states like California, voters have limited the scope of affirmative action in at least three states, seeing it as a quota system that is anything but fair. A measure which would eliminate affirmative action is in the works in Arizona, John McCain's home state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, ABC'S "THIS WEEK")
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS, ABC NEWS ANCHOR: Opponents of affirmative action are trying to get a referendum on the ballot here that would do away with affirmative action. Do you support that?
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Yes, I do. I do not believe in quotas, but I have not seen the details of some of these proposals. But I've always opposed it.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But the one here in Arizona you support?
MCCAIN: I support it, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: In the past, McCain has voiced opposition to hiring quotas while supporting the principles of affirmative action. As for Barack Obama who's long supported affirmative action, opponents point out even he is approaching the topic gingerly.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I also think that we have to think about affirmative action and craft it in such a way where some of our children who are advantaged aren't getting more favorable treatment than a poor white kid who has struggled more. That has to be taken into account.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: It is important to keep in mind there's a difference between a quota system and an affirmative action program. Quota systems are against the law. Affirmative action programs are not and have been successful in promoting diversity -- John, Alina.
ROBERTS: Carol Costello reporting for us this morning from Washington.
Just under 100 days now until the presidential election and Barack Obama apparently likes his chances. Here why the presumptive Democratic nominee is so confident.
And neighborhoods underwater, homes destroyed, and this morning one person dead as the remnants of Hurricane Dolly push their way through New Mexico. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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JAY LENO, HOST, "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Only 100 days left. Oh, God. 100 days. I don't know what's less likely, Barack Obama getting enough experience in 100 days, or John McCain living another 100 days? I don't know which. I don't know which.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Jay Leno offering his take on the countdown to November. This morning, there are some new questions and concerns about John McCain's health. If elected, he would be the oldest first- term president in U.S. history.
Mike Allen is the chief political correspondent for "Politico" and he joins us now from Washington. The latest issue with John McCain's health as we found out yesterday he had this mole removed from the right side of his face. He said on Larry King last night, Mike, it's not much of a problem. Let's listen to what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If you look at it and you be careful, it's fine. I had one. I had one serious bout with it and that was frankly due to my own neglect, because I let it -- I let it go and go and go. In fact, I was running for president at the time. I'm not making that mistake again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Mike, they're going to do a biopsy out of an abundance of precaution here because he has had malignant melanoma in the past. He says it's not an issue, but with presidential candidates, particularly a presidential candidate who is 71 years old, health becomes an issue, doesn't it?
MIKE ALLEN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "POLITICO": Well, sure it does. And Senator McCain turns 72 the day after Senator Obama accepts the nomination at that huge stadium in Denver. So that's going to call even more attention to this right as he's going to his own convention.
Now, you saw there Senator McCain was joking about it. He even did a little PSA reminding people that if they see a little discoloration, they should get it checked on. And there's no indication this is anything more than what he said it did. But it puts something in the news that he doesn't want in the news. He'd rather be talking about the economy or national security.
ROBERTS: No, he hasn't had malignant melanoma. But President Bush gets things taken off of his face all the time. I've had a couple of basal cells carcinoma myself. So a lot of people are getting this stuff but I guess more of a concern for Senator McCain because he has had that malignant melanoma in the past.
Let's switch over to the Democratic side of things, the latest on the VP stakes. We're hearing that things might happen soon and that Tim Kaine, governor of Virginia, may be very high on the list. What do you know about that? ALLEN: Well, Governor Kaine would create a very unusual combination in the White House, which is that both members of the first couple, the president and the first lady, the vice president and his wife, would all be Harvard lawyers. You're not getting any diversity there. But Governor Kaine fits a very important criteria that Senator Obama spelled out this weekend and that is that it'd be an outsider. Somebody who can take on Washington.
People are taking that as a big hint. That it's not a current senator who has sort of been at the top of the list.
ROBERTS: Right.
ALLEN: Virginia is a state that the Obama ticket is very focused on.
ROBERTS: Right.
ALLEN: Of course, it's been red forever. They hope they could flip it blue.
ROBERTS: Yes. I mean, this may be the first time since 1960 that a vice presidential running mate if he chose Tim Kaine may be able to actually deliver a state. If he could put Virginia in the wing column, that would really be a big one.
What about John McCain? We thought last week maybe to counter all of the publicity that Senator Obama was getting on his trip to the Middle East and Europe that John McCain might pull the trigger on a vice presidential nominee. Now, when does it look like that's going to happen? And who are we thinking about might be the nominee here?
ALLEN: Well, John, the McCain campaign has a clear plan. And if they deviate from this, it will be a sign that there's panic, dissension. I think that will lead to disagreement. They have a clear plan to announce their pick very shortly after Senator Obama does.
They want to know what they're dealing with, what the other ticket's going to be, and then they want to do it right away. They call it the bounce suppression strategy, step on whatever excitement or mojo comes out of that.
There are others, though, that are now saying look we need an attack dog now. We need someone credible out there every day taking on Senator Obama. This race increasingly is dominated by the Obama team. They set the narrative. The McCain campaign is responding to it every day. They need to get out of that cycle.
ROBERTS: All right. Well, we'll see who he picks. Odds on favor, Mike?
ALLEN: Governor Romney is the one that everybody is talking about. But, John, you know Senator McCain. Personal chemistry is very important to him. That Romney and McCain chemistry is not one that's going to go down in history. ROBERTS: Not so much there in the early going at the very least. Mike Allen from Politico. Good to see you, my friend. Thanks for being with us this morning.
ALLEN: Have a great day, John.
ROBERTS: All right. You, too.
CHO: Disgraced former NBA referee Tim Donaghy will be sentenced in a couple of hours in the New York courtroom. And he could get as much as 33 months in prison. Donaghy, you'll recall, admitted taking thousands of dollars from gamblers in exchange for inside betting information on NBA games.
The outgoing U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus says overall violence in the country has declined dramatically. There have been six U.S. combat deaths in July. The lowest monthly number was eight back in May of 2003. And what's happening on the ground, of course, in Iraq is a key condition for allowing a further drawdown of U.S. troops. But Petraeus warns the progress can be reversed. Dozens of Iraqis were killed Monday in four separate suicide bombings.
The Department of Homeland Security stepping up counterterrorism efforts. The federal government responding to several high profile events in the coming months including the Olympics, two political party conventions, the election, of course, and a months of transition to a new administration.
During this time period of heightened alert, government employees will be asked to redouble efforts to study terrorism leads. But at this point, there are no plans to raise the nation's public threat level.
And today Republican Senator Sam Brownback will release documents that he says shows the Chinese government is pressuring U.S. hotels in Beijing to monitor their Internet traffic during the Olympic Games. His warning comes as disturbing new video from a terrorist group has officials on alert about a possible attack at the Olympics.
Here's CNN's Jeanne Meserve.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN HOMELAND SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Alina, John, a little known Jihadist group in China is making threats against the upcoming Olympic Games. But there is debate about how seriously to take them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE (voice-over): In a recently released video, the Olympic symbol is engulfed in flames. An explosion is superimposed on the image of a stadium and the leader of the Turkistan Islamic Party threatens to conduct violent military actions against the upcoming games.
T.I.P., which is believed to have links to al Qaeda is fighting for a Muslim State in Western China. It has claimed responsibility for several bombings in China. And while those claims have not been verified, its videos do show the construction of a truck bomb and a martyr message.
IntelCenter, a private intelligence firm that monitors terrorist groups uncovered the videos and released them to the media. It says the threats should be taken seriously.
BEN VENZKE, INTELCENTER: We have video material of them conducting vehicular bombings, executions of security force members, attacks on security force convoys, and other types of operations. Very much like we see groups in Iraq and Afghanistan.
MESERVE: U.S. Intelligence officials described T.I.P. as dangerous, but question whether it has the capability to mount a spectacular attack on the Olympics in the face of a massive Chinese security operation.
But as the 1996 bombing in Atlanta demonstrated, even a small device can have a huge impact when amplified by the prism of the Olympics. The T.I.P. may be calculating that its threats, whether carried out or not, will be noticed.
VENZKE: Most people in the world are not aware that there is a Jihadist group operating in Sichuan Province or anywhere in China for that matter. So, this is a chance to sort of elevate their profile.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MESERVE: In earlier statements, the T.I.P. threatened an attack with biological weapons. That is not repeated in their new video and there is considerable doubt about their capability to do that.
John, Alina, back to you.
ROBERTS: That's Jeanne Meserve for us this morning with that story. New this morning, residents in Central New Mexico are waiting for the go ahead to return home after fast moving floodwaters forced more than 350 people to evacuate. That's the scene that you would not expect to ever see in New Mexico.
The water swollen from Hurricane Dolly lifted at least two homes from their foundations. More than 300 other homes along the Rio Ruidoso were also damage. At least one person was killed in the storm.
Don't eat the green stuff. The FDA warning consumers today to avoid the soft green substance found in the body cavity of a lobster because it may be contaminated with the toxin. A substance known as tomalley access the lobster's liver and pancreas. And as any lobster lover will tell you that's really almost the best part. Health officials say it's still OK to eat the white lobster leaving the claws and tail, though.
Fed up with rising gas prices? A new government study shows a dramatic shift in our driving habits. Americans drove 9.6 billion fewer miles in May compared to a year earlier. It was the largest ever decline for May when driving generally increases because of the Memorial Day holiday.
9.6 billion miles. How far is that?
CHO: That's far.
ROBERTS: We'll check it out. We'll get you a comparison, coming up.
CHO: All right. Oil edges higher this morning after days of decline. So, how will that affect gas prices? Gerri Willis will be along. That's ahead.
Plus, nearly a year since the deadly Minneapolis bridge disaster. Are there other bridges and roads on the brink of collapse? Details of a new surprising report. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
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ROBERTS: We're taking the money and running this morning. Gerri Willis here "Minding Your Business" for the vacationing Ali Velshi, who is --
CHO: Put it in your pocket and save it to buy gas.
ROBERTS: I think he's on the Croatian Coast today.
CHO: Yes, he is.
ROBERTS: Then we need to go to cool satellite checking with him. Hey, by the way, we're mentioning we drove 9.6 billion fewer miles last May? And how far is that? Three times the distance --
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: The two of you?
ROBERTS: Collectively as a country. Three times the distance from the sun to Pluto. That's 3 billion miles. So, it's like three times that distance.
CHO: John bikes that in --
ROBERTS: That's a lot of driving.
How much gas would that take and how much would that cost?
WILLIS: A lot. My financial analysis, a lot.
ROBERTS: Although a little less today?
WILLIS: A little less today. Let's talk about oil and gas prices. This is a mixed report. Good news, bad news. Let's start with the bad. Oil higher today closed at $124.73. It's now over $125 a barrel this morning, almost $126. The reason for this is sabotage of two oil pipelines by militants in Nigeria. These were Royal Dutch Shell pipelines. And of course, it's the latest in a two-year campaign of attacks on the oil industry. Some crew production was shut down. We really don't know how much. Not a lot of details coming from Royal Dutch Shell this morning. But the good news --there is good news out there. AAA reporting this morning that the average price of a gallon of gas, $3.94. That's better than yesterday at $3.95.
CHO: Almost two cents. Almost two cents.
WILLIS: Yes. You got to take what you can, where you can. And, of course, we keep seeing these changes in the price of oil feeding through following about 12 days later. So, if prices remain high, well --
CHO: I guess the big question is, is this the beginning of a trend, you know. Hopefully, it will be lower by Labor Day, even lower.
WILLIS: Well, you know, we see these prices higher right now. So, perhaps not. But we'll wait and see. Maybe we'll get more good news.
ROBERTS: Well, this is pretty good. Half an hour ago, you were all bad news. Now you're 50/50.
WILLIS: I don't know if I can go 100.
CHO: You're moving in the right direction, Gerri.
ROBERTS: That's what it's all about -- moving in the right direction.
CHO: We're counting on you, girl.
ROBERTS: Gerri, thanks. We'll see you soon.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHO: It's been almost a year since the deadly Minneapolis bridge collapse. So, we're rating the conditions of roads and bridges across the nation now. Stay tuned for that.
And remember this story -- our Drew Griffin? Well, he's trying to get his name off a terror watch list. Yes, you heard me correctly. The TSA is now asking the airlines for help in clearing Drew and thousands of others to fly. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It's 43 minutes after the hour. Let's fast forward to stories that are going to be making news later on today. A report that found companies owe the IRS $58 billion in Medicare and Social Security taxes takes center stage at a Senate hearing today. A report by the Government Accountability Office says the IRS is being too lenient on businesses who have substantial payroll tax debt. The House is expected to pass a resolution today apologizing for slavery and segregation. The vote coincides with the 60th anniversary of President Harry Truman's executive order ending racial segregation in the military.
And at 10:00 a.m. this morning, the National Resources Defense Council releases its 18th annual report on the quality of America's beach water. We're going to break it down for you today on CNN and CNN.com.
Alina?
CHO: Who could forget the devastating bridge collapse that brought Minneapolis to a standstill? It made everyone wonder, what else could be on the brink of falling apart? Well, CNN's Bill Tucker reports on the real condition of our bridges, our roads, the very ground underneath us today.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BILL TUCKER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Little has been done since the collapse of this bridge on Interstate 35 in Minneapolis shocked the country into an awareness of an aging and crumbling infrastructure.
One quarter of our bridges structurally deficient. The average age of a bridge, 43 years, according to a report from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Pennsylvania's Governor Ed Rendell, who also now chairs the National Governors Association, used the report's release to call for a renewed focus on the national infrastructure.
GOV. EDWARD RENDELL (D), PENNSYLVANIA: A report released by AASHTO makes it abundantly clear that America has to get going and seriously consider all of its transportation infrastructure, but particularly the repair and revitalization of its bridges.
TUCKER: According to the Federal Highway Administration, the bill to repair just the bridges would be $140 billion. But it is not just the bridges that need attention. Many roadways are overcrowded, many in desperate need of repair, and new roads need to be built.
The entire national infrastructure system is a mess. The head of infrastructure for the Government Accountability Office offered the Senate Finance Committee this blunt assessment in early July.
JAYETTA HECKER, GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE: It doesn't have clear goals. It doesn't have clear roles for different levels of government. It doesn't have performance built in. It doesn't have accountability. And it's not sustainable.
TUCKER: The states receive federal highway dollars to maintain their roadways. But those federal dollars are insufficient. The report from the State Highway and Transportation Officials calls for increased revenue options including higher taxes, toll roads, road user fees and more private investment. Bill Tucker, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: It's coming up on 46 minutes after the hour. They say that breaking up is hard to do. Well, what about the so-called love affair between a presidential candidate and the press corps? Jeanne Moos has her take on Barack Obama and some not-so-secret admirers.
Hard foul. Gambling on the game.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was part of a pattern of behavior that is illegal.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: And accusations of other crooked refs.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would like to tell you that they don't engage in the criminal conduct which Mr. Donaghy has accused them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Today could be the day disgraced NBA official Tim Donaghy gets sentenced to prison. You're watching the "Most News in the Morning."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Well, that's the kind of the ultimate break up song.
CHO: Yes, it is. It's the "I'm going to hit you with a baseball bat" song, right? As you said --
ROBERTS: For leaving, Alina. Well, they love him, they love him not. Is Barack Obama's relationship with the press on the rocks?
CHO: That is the big question right now. And CNN's Jeanne Moos tells us the people who follow Obama the closest aren't feeling very close to the candidate these days.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Smitten, smitten, smitten -- that's all you hear. Foreign leaders seem smitten. John McCain claims the press is smitten.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: There's a throng of adoring fans awaits Senator Obama in Paris. And that's just the American press.
MOOS: Senator McCain sure cracked himself up. But something else is cracking up. Gabriel Sherman wrote an in "The New Republic" entitled...
GABRIEL SHERMAN, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW REPUBLIC: "End of the Affair."
MOOS: Not this one.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The End of the Affair is being hailed as the year's great romance --
MOOS: Yes, well, 2008 great romance between the press and Obama seems to be on the rocks.
What are some of the words that struck you that the press used to describe the campaign?
SHERMAN: Some of the words that came up was arrogant, controlling.
MOOS: It sure still seems chummy.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: What are you guys going to do in Berlin?
MOOS: But photos aren't the only thing snapping.
OBAMA: All right, guys, one of those must work.
MOOS: Reporters started snapping after being trapped on a plane while Senator Obama met secretly with Hillary. They asked Obama's communications director who do we complain to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That guy looks like me.
MOOS: Spokesman, laughed alone.
(on camera): Reporters who cover Obama say he covers his snippy swipes at the press with a smile.
(voice-over): Whether ordering ice cream --
OBAMA: These people are not helpful.
MOOS: Or being asked for the (INAUDIBLE) time about the surge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're not going to ask you whether to change your position here.
OBAMA: You're not going to ask me, but go ahead.
MOOS: Of course, Senator McCain gets annoyed at the press. After "The Wall Street Journal" did a story or two that irked him, he dissed their reporter.
ELIZABETH HOLMES, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL REPORTER: Senator McCain, Elizabeth Holmes from "The Wall Street Journal."
MCCAIN: Who else has a question? Yes. Go ahead, please.
MOOS: The funny thing about the end of the affair with Obama is that it comes to light just as the McCain campaign puts out an Obama love video mocking the press.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The media's love affair with Barack Obama is all consuming.
MOOS: The break up comes after all that "Saturday Night Live" rousing of the media.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is there anything we can get for you?
MOOS (on camera): In love, out of love? Sort of reminds me of something. Something Alicia Keys sings about.
ALICIA KEYS: My first teenage love affair.
MOOS (voice-over): Teenage love affair launched when she heard him speak.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We can change this world. Will you help us?
CROWD: Yes.
MOOS: Yes, we can, end an affair. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Car bomb. The movie. A new film by an ex-CIA agent. Why he says a truck packed with explosives is more dangerous than a nuke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It works. And it's easy to make. And it's unstoppable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Plus, John McCain, one-on-one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCCAIN: I would not risk the wrath of Larry King.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Taking heat on his health. McCain tells voters, stay out of the sun.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHO: Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning." Checking our "Political Ticker" now. Barack Obama may be getting close to choosing a running mate. "The Washington Post" is reporting that Virginia Governor Tim Cane has told people he has had, quote, "Very serious conversations with Obama about joining the ticket."
The tables may be turned on documentary filmmaker Michael Moore. David Zucker who's films include "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun" is reportedly making a new political satire with a main character loosely based on Moore. "An American Carol" it's called is due out later this year and features cameos from Dennis Hopper, Jon Voight, and even Paris Hilton.
ROBERTS: A New Jersey State assemblyman resigns as reports say he's under investigation for possession of child pornography. Neil Cohen's resignation letter was only one sentence long and did not offer an explanation. The investigation reportedly started when people who share an office with Cohen noticed pornographic images on his computer and a printout of a young girl. Cohen has not been charged with any crime.
And John McCain angered some conservatives by refusing to rule out a tax increase. While talking about the need to fix social security, McCain said he didn't want to increase payroll taxes but, quote, said "there's nothing that's off the table."
And for more up to the minute political news, just head to CNN.com/ticker.
CHO: Republican presidential hopeful John McCain sat down with CNN's Larry King last night for an exclusive interview. He talked about his health, Obama's international trip, and the new wrangling between the candidates over troop withdrawal timelines. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY KING, HOST, LARRY KING LIVE: Is it fair that voters should be concerned about your health though? I mean, you've had -- you've had four melanomas surgically removed. It's, if not an issue, it's certainly a concern isn't it?
MCCAIN: I don't think so, Larry. I mean, as I say, melanoma is something if you look at it, and you be careful, it's fine. I had one serious bout with it and that was, frankly, due to my own neglect because I let it go and go and go.
KING: Senator Obama has taken flack for a recent overseas trip. Your campaign called it a premature victory lap. He was asked about such criticisms yesterday at a Unity of Journalists of Color Conference in Chicago. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I was puzzled by this notion that somehow what we were doing was in any way different from what Senator McCain or a lot of presidential candidates have done in the past. Now, I admit, we did it really well --
(APPLAUSE)
OBAMA: -- and that -- but that shouldn't be a strike against me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KING: Senator, you criticized him for the trip, a trip that you told him to make.
MCCAIN: Actually, I was glad that he went to Iraq. I was puzzled and befuddled by the fact that he announced his policy towards Iraq and Afghanistan before he went. I had hoped that he would go, and for the first time, sit down and get a briefing from General Petraeus.
KING: You said Friday on CNN that you thought 16 months might be a pretty good timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. And that sounds a lot like what Senator Obama has been saying. So, what's the difference there?
MCCAIN: I love these days of -- has to be based on conditions on the ground. Senator Obama said it's a hard and firm date. That's why the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that it has to be conditioned base and said that his approach would be very, very dangerous.
KING: Would you go into Iraq, you're going to go back?
MCCAIN: I think that the world is better off knowing what I know at the time and the fact that Saddam Hussein was bent on acquiring weapons of mass destruction. I don't think there's any doubt. I think we did the right thing.
I think that it was a colossal intelligence failure on the part of the United States and every other country as to whether he had them or not. But, again, I would remind you, I said we would have an easy victory. We did.
KING: We have a history on this program that whenever the vice presidential nominee is announced, he or she appears on this show the next night. It's been going on for quite a while. We hope that Senator McCain follows that tradition since I have a hunch he will not announce tonight who that candidate is.
But how close are we?
MCCAIN: I want to say that that vice presidential candidate will be on your show. I will not risk the wrath of Larry King. I want to assure you.
KING: How close are we?
MCCAIN: We're in the process. We're in the process. As you know, if I comment on it in any more detail then it causes a flurry of speculation. We are blessed with a large number of people who I think would serve not only as vice president but as president.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CHO: And Larry sporting a tan from a well-deserved vacation. McCain, by the way, will be back on the campaign trail today, with events in Nevada and Colorado.
