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American Morning
Air France Tail Recovered; Obama Pushes for Health Care Reform; First Guantanamo Bay Detainee Arrives in New York to Stand Trial; Supreme Court Refuses to Hear "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Appeal; Gulfstream Responds to Charges of Safety Concerns; Iranians Appear Ready for Change With Just Days to Go Before Presidential Election; Twitter to Introduce New Verification System; Sarah Palin's Appearance at GOP Fundraiser May Have Upstaged Newt Gingrich; Hillary Clinton Seen as Consummate Team Player
Aired June 09, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome. Glad you're with us on this Tuesday. It's June 9. I'm Kiran Chetry.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning to you. I'm John Roberts. We're following several developing stories this morning. We'll be breaking them down for you in the next 15 minutes here on the Most News in the Morning.
This morning, new developments in the investigation of Air France Flight 447. Search crews recovering a huge section of the tail raising hopes that investigators will be able to find more wreckage to help determine what caused that plane to go down. A live report from Brazil just minutes away.
And a follow up to a story that we first brought you right here on AMERICAN MORNING. A Florida-based airline facing serious questions after allegations that pilots went from the classroom right to the cockpit. The CEO of Gulfstream International response to the allegations. Our Allan Chernoff has a CNN exclusive for us today.
And a lot of red meat in the menu at a big Republican fund- raiser. The keynote speaker, Newt Gingrich, taking dead aim at President Obama's approach to federal spending and national security.
CHETRY: We begin, though, with new developments this morning in the investigation of Air France Flight 447. The Brazilian navy recovering the stabilizer from the tail of the jetliner that crashed into the ocean nine days ago. That find may help investigators narrow the hunt for the plane's voice and data recorders.
This morning, the U.S. is joining the search, which is headquartered on the island of Fernando de Noronha. It's just off the coast of Brazil.
CNN is the only network on the island. Our Karl Penhaul joins us there live.
So, Karl, the fact that they were able to find the stabilizer, is that reviving hope that they will maybe be able to indeed get those black boxes? KARL PENHAUL, CNN VIDEO CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly, there's a division of labor here. And one of the Brazilians are saying is that their first priority is to recover bodies. Their second priority is to recover debris. And really that is what the buzz here is on the island this morning, because any time now we're expecting some helicopters, some military helicopters to take off from the airstrip just behind us and head out there into the ocean and pick up at least 24 bodies from the ships that have recovered those bodies.
Also, as well the mission of those helicopters will be during the course of the day to bring back parts of that vertical stabilizer you mentioned and other debris, including seats and oxygen masks that were recovered so far. The only problem is that bad weather out there on the ocean right now. Everything is on standby, Kiran.
CHETRY: And, Karl, as we understand, the U.S. joining in that search using some high-tech equipment. What can you tell us about that and how that might aid in the search for those black boxes?
PENHAUL: Exactly. The search actually for those voice and data recorders is being led by the French, and they're calling on the U.S. Navy to send in these bits of high-tech equipment which I understand will be dragged behind these Navy vessels and it's those pieces of U.S. equipment that will try to detect the ping from these black boxes.
Now there's a big problem there. Not only, yes, it is high-tech equipment. The French are also sending a nuclear sub to help in that search. But there's a problem because the water in that part of the ocean is very, very deep. In some parts, it goes beyond 20,000 feet deep, and that's too deep for this U.S. equipment to work and it's probably too deep for that nuclear sub to go, too. So there may be a way ahead on that search, Kiran.
CHETRY: Wow. You mentioned the depth of the ocean, which is vast. Certainly, also the vast search area itself about the size of Nebraska. So they are dealing with a huge area as they try to comb for clues and also the grim task of recovering the bodies.
Karl Penhaul for us. Again, the only reporter live on the island of Fernando de Noronha. We'll be following developments with you throughout the morning. Thanks, Karl.
ROBERTS: Another story developing this morning. President Obama says it's time for Congress to deliver on health care reform. Today, House Democratic leaders are set to unveil their plans for overhauling the nation's health care system.
They include the creation of a public government-run insurance program to compete with private insurers. Most Republicans, though, are strongly against the idea. And as CNN's Dana Bash tells us now, they are digging in for a fight.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do want to thank you so much for coming. DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this Virginia living room...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a time in history when there may be a chance to change things.
BASH: ... President Obama's foot soldiers recruiting grassroots help for his looming battle, health care reform.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: To get this done, I need your voice to be part of the debate.
BASH: But even as Democratic organizers start to rally, thousands of activists across the country, Republicans are firing a warning shot calling the president's push to expand health coverage with a new government insurance option a deal breaker.
SEN. ORRIN HATCH (R), UTAH: There are a lot of people in my party on the Republican side who want to work with Democrats, who want to get this done but who are totally against a public plan.
BASH: Orrin Hatch is one of nine Republicans on the powerful Senate Finance Committee who wrote the president arguing a government- run program competing with private insurers would "inevitable doom true competition." GOP senators insist that would jeopardize quality.
HATCH: There's no way that we can be for a public plan option because that will put the government between you and your doctor. It will rise costs -- raise costs dramatically.
BASH: But many Democrats from the president on down argue Americans will benefit from a public plan that gives private insurers competition.
SEN.TOM HARKIN (D), IOWA: It was a vote about coverage and cost because we believe, you know, with the public option plan, that will act as a cost check on the insurance company. And I think that's a good thing.
BASH: So far, Ted Kennedy is the only key Democrat to draft health care legislation. It will require all Americans to have health insurance and create a government-run insurance program that would offer essential benefits including doctor and hospital care and prescription drugs.
(on camera): Most Democrats like Kennedy's plan, but many also say it has no chance of getting bipartisan support. So more centrist Democrats are considering ideas to scale back the government insurance program to put assurances then that a public plan can compete fairly with private insurers.
Dana Bash, CNN, Capitol Hill.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Dana, thanks. Other stories new this morning. Republicans rally their forces and hit back at President Obama's stimulus package. At the GOP's biggest fundraiser of the year last night, keynote speaker Newt Gingrich went on to rail against the administration's stimulus efforts and bailouts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH, FMR. HOUSE SPEAKER: You can tell how badly the stimulus has failed. And let's be clear, this is not something that President Obama inherited from George W. Bush. He got his stimulus on his schedule for his amount delivered by his robots in Congress who did exactly what they were told without even reading the bill. So you can't turn around now and say, oh, gosh, George W. Bush made me have a stimulus plan.
This is his plan. And what happened? They promised we would peak at eight percent unemployment and on Friday, we were at 9.4 percent which is not in their budget, which means their budget is already wrecked because we're going to have higher unemployment, greater government expenses and less revenue than they projected because their plan has already failed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Gingrich comments the White House acknowledges that it only spent $44 billion of the nearly $800 billion in stimulus money so far. But both the president and Vice President Joe Biden came out yesterday talking more about fast tracking the stimulus. They say the number of -- those numbers are expected to rise by the summer.
Well, the families of two U.S. journalists sentenced to 12 years hard labor in North Korea are pleading with leaders in the North for their release. The families of Laura Ling and Euna Lee issuing a joint statement.
It reads, "We are very concerned about their mental state and well being. Laura has a serious medical condition that is sure to be exacerbated by the drastic sentence. Euna has a 4-year-old daughter who's displaying signs of anguish over the absence of her mother. We believe that the three months they've already spent under arrest with little communication with their families is long enough."
And you may remember they were taken as they were reporting a story about Chinese refugees along the North Korean-China border.
"Boston Globe's" largest union rejecting a package of wage and benefits cuts demanded by the newspaper's parents, The New York Times Company, to keep the "Globe" from shutting down. Members of Boston's newspaper guild will now face even deeper reductions. The "Globe" plans to impose a 23 percent wage cut. It looks to slash $10 million in annual expenses.
ROBERTS: Well, you probably recall that during the election campaign, then-candidate Obama promised that if he became president, he would repeal the military's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy. But so far, he's done nothing about it.
Coming up next on the "Most News in the Morning," we're going to talk with a man whose military career could well depend on what the president does or doesn't do in the next few months. Stay with us.
It's eight minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Ten minutes after the hour, just in to CNN, the first Guantanamo Bay detainee, the prisoner to be brought to America has arrived in New York to stand trial. That breaking from "The Associated Press" this morning.
The detainee has been identified as Ahmed Ghailani. It's an important test case for the administration's plans to close Guantanamo Bay. Ghailani was indicted 11 years ago for the deadly al Qaeda bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
FBI Director Robert Mueller defending the agency's use of informants inside U.S. mosques. Mueller said they don't investigate places. They investigate individuals. He also said the practice will continue as long as there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing. His remarks come one day after a Muslim organization asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations that the FBI was asking worshippers to spy on Islamic leaders and congregations.
And Congress on the verge of giving the Food and Drug Administration the power to regulate tobacco products. A bill could pass the Senate by the end of the week. The House already approved a similar measure. It would allow the FDA for the first time to order the removal of hazardous ingredients, restrict the marketing and distribution of tobacco products, and require stronger warning labels.
CHETRY: Eleven and a half minutes past the hour now. The U.S. Supreme Court is refusing to hear an appeal challenging the Pentagon's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. During the presidential campaign, then-candidate Obama said he supported throwing out the law, but so far, he's taken no action.
Lieutenant Daniel Choi is not part of the lawsuit, but he's a West Point grad. He's an Arab linguist. He served in Iraq and he's now facing dismissal because he's gay. Lieutenant Choi joins me now.
Thanks for coming back. We talked to you about a month ago when you were hopeful that something would change. Now we're hearing the Supreme Court saying that they're not going to weigh in on this. How -- what are your thoughts as to where you go from here?
LT. DAN CHOI, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: Well, it's extremely disappointing to see that nobody in the government is coming to support our troops in a time of war right now. And a soldier gets up on national TV and has to remind the American people that we are at war and it is not a choice to support our troops, it's a responsibility. We wouldn't be able to have any discussions or any of the priorities that we have without the soldiers that are protecting our rights and our freedoms. So, I think the number one priority that we say, look, stop firing people from their military units as we're deploying them to war because that really shortchanges the entire unit.
CHETRY: Especially in your field of expertise as well. Tell us the Arab linguist, how difficult it is to recruit and also to -- to fill the need that seems to be out there to be able to speak other languages.
CHOI: Well, it's not an easy thing to learn, the Arabic language, but it's certainly important. That's the reason why I decided that I needed to learn it because those are the things that we need. We need to be able to communicate in a counterinsurgency with the people that are our allies.
One of the things that we have to realize is there's a huge responsibility on all our parts to do the best that we can, every soldier. And there's a saying that we used to say when we go to council meetings in Iraq, we would say (speaking in foreign language). The one who leads the donkey from the rear has got to deal with the smell.
So anybody who has that responsibility needs to take it seriously. You know, if you're firing soldiers right now in a time of war, then you need to realize whatever role that you have in the government, that that responsibility is now on your shoulders.
CHETRY: And so, as we look to where this goes next, to actually overturn "don't ask, don't tell", I believe you need two-thirds support from Congress. You need members to vote to overturn the ban. How likely is that? I know you're going to the Hill today...
CHOI: Right.
CHETRY: ... to lobby for this, for this issue to become more prominent.
CHOI: Right. I don't know a lot about all the details of politics. I mean, I spent the past decade being a soldier.
My job right here, I believe it is my responsibility as an officer to let every single one of my government leaders know, congressman, senators, the commander in chief, advocacy groups, everybody needs to know that "don't ask, don't tell" is morally wrong. What it's forcing our soldiers to do is lie about who they are. And I don't know a single American family or a church or a mosque or synagogue, anybody who advocates lying. I know my parents didn't teach me that.
CHETRY: Right. And, you know, the interesting thing you talked about how the past decade you've been, you know, working in the military and that's been your focus. And, you know, if someone asked, "Hey, you went into this knowing what the policy is." You spent so much time and you put so much into it. Was it worth the risk violating the policy?
CHOI: Well, the reason why I feel that it's necessary to be in the situation that I am in right now is because I fell in love. After I came back from Iraq, I started my very first love relationship in my entire life at age 27. So when you think about the things that you get out of that relationship, support for the first time, I knew that I could commit to somebody and mature and grow. And I became a better soldier, a better citizen, a better human being. Of course, it's worth it. Yes.
CHETRY: And so you want to be able to talk about it.
CHOI: Of course, it makes it worth it.
CHETRY: And the other interesting thing is about the real hopefulness that came out in the pro -- in the community when Obama became president because he really made it seem that you guys had a partner, meaning that, you know, he was going to come out there. He said "don't ask, don't tell" is ridiculous. He needs to get it overturned. And he really wanted to advocate for that. Yet, we've not seen movement from the White House. Are you disappointed that this issue has not taken on more prominence right now?
CHOI: Yes, I'm very disappointed. I'm extremely frustrated. But it's not just an issue of the community, the gay community, being disappointed. This is an American issue.
We have our soldiers that are fighting overseas right now. We owe it to them to give them their full support -- give them our full support. And it's not just a gay issue. I see it as an American issue.
Really, when you talk about repealing discrimination, fighting for equality, making sure that soldiers and anybody that's American doesn't lie, doesn't have to hide, doesn't have to be ashamed, doesn't have to be isolated and feel alone, those are American responsibilities.
CHETRY: Well, it's great talking to you. I know you're heading to Washington to talk more about this and to bring more attention to this. Great talking to you and good luck with everything.
CHOI: Thank you.
CHETRY: And congratulations on being in love.
CHOI: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: By the way, you can read more about this story on our show blog. We also want to hear what you have to say about it. Send us your comments. Go to CNN.com/amFIX -- John.
ROBERTS: Coming up now at 17 minutes after the hour. The pilot of that Air France plane that went down off of the coast of Brazil had logged 11,000 hours in the cockpit. The flight of Colgain Air 3407 that went down outside of Buffalo had about 3,000 miles. How much is enough time in the cockpit? That's a matter of some debate particularly when it relates to the company that owned the plane that went down outside of Buffalo.
Allan Chernoff has been following this story. He's been doing an in-depth investigation into Gulfstream International Airlines. He's up with us next to tell us the latest of what he's learned about the airlines and how quickly you can go from the classroom to the cockpit. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Twenty minutes past the hour now. Here's a quick look at some of the stories on the a.m. rundown coming up in just a few minutes that you don't want to miss. We are live inside Iran with CNN's Christiane Amanpour just days before the country's presidential election. Do voters really have a voice in Iran? The answer may surprise you.
Also, Twitter is now cracking down on celebrity imposters. We're going to take a look at a new service they're launching to make sure that the stars' tweets you're following are actually the real deal.
And televangelist Pat Robertson getting a little more than he bargained for after answering a question about a hate crime's bill.
ROBERTS: Now to a CNN exclusive. It's a story that we've been following for several weeks now.
Florida-based Gulfstream International Airlines facing allegations of safety violations along with concern about inexperienced pilots in the cockpit. The company is the focus of attention because the pilot who crashed the plane near Buffalo in February was a graduate of Gulfstream Training Academy and a former pilot for Gulfstream. The company has refused to comment until now.
CNN's Allan Chernoff went to Miami to get reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JAMES BYSTROM, GULFSTREAM TRAINING ACADEMY DIRECTOR: It's not the quality of time, it's the quality of training. And what we provide is a first-class opportunity for them to get the right type of training.
ALLAN CHERNOFF, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Students at Gulfstream Training Academy arrived with as little as 250 hours of flight experience. Yet after three months of training, they'll become first officers, copilots on commercial flights. They'll fly for the academy's parent company, Gulfstream International Airlines, to gain an extra 250 hours of experience.
Veteran pilots who say the hiring standard at major airlines is a minimum 1,500 flight hours, leave that ticket to the cockpit too quick.
PAT MOORE, COMMERCIAL PILOT: But I don't know how they can justify that. When I get on an airplane, I expect a fully qualified crew.
CHERNOFF: Gulfstream differs.
(on camera): Do you think the passengers sitting in the back would be comfortable knowing that the first officer would just come out of school and has perhaps 250 hours of flight time?
BYSTROM: Right. Importantly enough, I think it's important for me to reiterate, they already have all their ratings. By the time they get here, they've already completed almost 90 days of flight training before they even step in behind the wheel.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): When they get behind the controls, the new pilots who have just paid $30,000 tuition will earn $8.00 an hour, 79 cents above Florida's minimum wage.
(on camera): The minimum wage here in Florida is $7.21. And you're saying copilots are paid $8 an hour? Is that really what a copilot should be earning?
DAVID HACKETT, GULFSTREAM INTL. AIRLINES PRESIDENT: Well, it's a career path. And this is the first step on their career. They earn a lot more money later on.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): Later on, if hired full time, the new pilots earn about $20 an hour.
(on camera): The FAA made its investigation. Current, former employees have made some allegations against the company. Are you just saying it's all a bum wrap?
HACKETT: I think there's a misunderstanding of a lot of these regulations.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): A recent FAA investigation found multiple cases of Gulfstream scheduling pilots beyond federal limits designed to prevent pilot fatigue. Gulfstream concedes there were discrepancies between pilot logbooks and the computerized system tracking pilot hours, but says, the FAA got it wrong. Only once, the company claims, was a pilot accidentally scheduled to illegally work eight days in a row.
HACKETT: When you don't understand how the proper crew paperwork was done, it appeared that each time that person flew, he might have been illegal when in fact he was perfectly legal.
CHERNOFF: Former and current Gulfstream employees claimed dispatchers would sometimes shave hours from computerized logs of prior flights so that pilots would appear to be legal to fly extra routes.
(on camera): But it is possible for somebody to go back into the system and change time, is it not?
HACKETT: It's theoretically possible. When this issue first came up, we pulled hundreds and hundreds of records to see if this was possible and we found absolutely no discrepancies other than a few clerical errors which had nothing to do with making a pilot illegal who otherwise would have been legal.
CHERNOFF (voice-over): The FAA also charged Gulfstream maintainance with using automotive air conditioning compressors in its aircraft. The company counters it purchased the correct compressors. The only issue Gulfstream says is that the FAA had not approved the maintenance manual Gulfstream was using.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHERNOFF: Gulfstream denies charges from a former employee that it tried to save money by doing maintenance on the cheap. The company is facing a proposed fine of $1.3 million, but it is challenging that proposed fine, challenging the FAA fine. And the FAA says this case will be resolved by our attorneys and their attorneys -- John.
ROBERTS: Fascinating stories, series of stories you've been bringing us. The latest installment from Allan Chernoff this morning. Allan, thanks so much for that.
It's 25 minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Twenty-seven minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the "Most News in the Morning."
As we speak, the gloves are off in Iran. There's just days now before a high stakes presidential election. The U.S. is no doubt watching very closely. The campaign to unseat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is marked by language that's really been unheard of in that country.
CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour is there, and she's taking the pulse from inside Tehran.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With just days to go before Iran's presidential election, Tehran seems to be in the midst of a giant get-out-the-vote street party. Bidding a wishful farewell to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, supporters of the leading opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi organized this human chain from the north of town all the way down to the south.
(on camera): In the last week, the election here has suddenly taken a much more energetic turn. Rallies for all the candidates, particularly the top two, are jamming the streets. Here up in the upland (ph) part of Tehran, young people, women wearing all manner of the head scarf that's required by law and it will, in the end, be the turnout that makes the difference.
(voice-over): Women appear to be leading the charge. They say they want more freedom and equal rights, even those who don't feel safe enough to reveal their faces, just their hopes.
Police watch but don't intervene. This young man, like so many, says he's simply fed up with life in Iran today.
"I can take it no more," his sign proclaims. "Go green for Mousavi." So green, some have leaves strapped to their bodies. They want jobs, better pay, more opportunities.
And when one of President Ahmadinejad's supporters strays into this opposition stronghold, the mood is raucous as the two camps try to drown each other out. Further downtown, the president's supporters are preparing a big rally in a mosque complex.
"I support Ahmadinejad," says this man, "because he built up the country. He's sincere and he's not corrupt."
"Mr. Ahmadinejad is the best man, the most powerful man. He will definitely win," says this woman. "We believe in him."
Experts believe Iran will continue its nuclear program no matter who wins, and when it comes to relations with the U.S. and President Obama --
MOHAMMAD MARANDI, HEAD OF N. AMERICAN STUDIES, TEHRAN UNIVERSITY: I think that either of the two candidates, they would respond positively to the United States if they feel that the United States makes a significant move towards improving relations.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: That was Christiane Amanpour reporting again. She is inside Iran. She's bringing us the latest of these upcoming elections and what is going on, an inside look that you will not see anywhere else. We're going to get her live back with us in about an hour.
John?
ROBERTS: Thanks, Kiran. It's 30 minutes past the hour, and here's a check of the top stories that we're following right now.
Chrysler survival on the line. But this morning, Italian automaker Fiat says it will not walk away from a merger with the U.S automaker. The company's decision to stick with the plan comes just a day after the Supreme Court put the brakes on the sale, at least temporarily, so it can consider whether it will hear an emergency appeal.
The college-bound class of 2009 is learning a tough lesson in economics. According to a survey of 658 high schools, 71 percent reported an increase in students passing on their dream school because of the economy. Researchers also found 60 percent of high schools had more students enrolling in a public university instead of a private university.
And developing news right now. The Pakistani Army dispatching helicopter gunships to help a citizens' militia fighting the Taliban in the Swat Valley. Some 1500 tribesmen took up arms against insurgents to avenge a suicide bombing at a mosque over the weekend. At least 13 militants have been killed in the fighting.
You may think that you're getting tweets from your favorite movie star or athlete or politician on Twitter, but how can you be sure that it's really them? A number of famous people have been targeted by impostors who open accounts and tweet under the celebrities' identity. And now Twitter is going to introduce a new verification system to ensure that celebrities are who they say they are. Will it work?
Joining us now is Nicholas Thompson. He's the senior editor of "Wired" magazine.
First of all, before we get into what we're going to do, how big a problem is this? How many celebrities are being impersonated?
NICHOLAS THOMPSON, SENIOR EDITOR, "WIRED" MAGAZINE: Well, in quantity, it's a huge problem. I would imagine that every celebrity has an impersonating account. Type in any celebrity name in Twitter, something will pop up and usually it's just a fan.
How big a problem is it? There are not that many celebrities that actually have damaging impersonators. There are a few, but it's not as bad as you might think from the number of impersonators out there.
ROBERTS: But some of these people can cause concern, at the very least, if not damage. There was a fellow who was tweeting under the name of Ben Roethlisberger, said he had skin cancer. You know, suddenly that started a fire around the sports world and it creates a little bit of difficulty for Ben.
THOMPSON: I mean, that's terrible. And people who tweet under somebody's name and actually appear realistic can build up a whole lot of followers and then they can do a lot of damage to the athlete's reputation or the celebrity's reputation.
ROBERTS: All right. So what's Twitter doing about this?
THOMPSON: So this summer, they're going to start a new service. You know, verified by Twitter. And if it's the real person and they contact Twitter, they put a little stamp, and it say, this account is verified, this is the real John Roberts or whoever.
ROBERTS: So how do they do the verification?
THOMPSON: Well, we don't know. They've just said they're going to do it.
(CROSSTALK)
ROBERTS: They haven't actually put the nuts and bolts in place yet?
THOMPSON: That's the problem with Twitter right now. This is a big problem. They would need lots of people to work on this. Twitter doesn't have any money because they don't have a revenue stream. So, how are they going to hire the people to do this? We don't know. They're going to get venture capital. They might actually charge celebrities for this service. So it might actually turn into a great revenue stream for Twitter.
ROBERTS: Can you imagine the first incentive to monetize Twitter.
But this is isn't for everybody either, is it? This is just for - I think the way that they describe it is it's for, quote, "public officials, publications, famous artists, athletes, other well-known individuals at risk of impersonation."
But what about regular folks? You know, the woman who's got the crazy ex-boyfriend, who may impersonate her and, you know, send a damaging information about her. Scammers, there's lot of scammers out there as well.
THOMPSON: So these are two separate problem. The first problem -- are people going to impersonate the regular people?
Yes, they will. It's a little bit of a problem, but most people who want to say follow me, don't type in Nick Thompson and search in Twitter. Because I'm not a celebrity, so there aren't a lot of random people typing in my name. The people who follow me are my friends who type in my email address which they have in their address book, and then they follow me.
So the impersonator would have to include the person they want to follow's email address. So it's slightly harder to scam the regular person.
The second question is -- Will there be other kinds of scams besides like the manic ex-boyfriend?
I think absolutely. You're going to see stocks scams. You might actually see impersonated athletes, putting out information about them -- Roethlisberger having skin cancer before it began to move the betting line.
ROBERTS: Right.
THOMPSON: I mean, Twitter moves information extremely quickly. You know, 10 times the speed and half the accuracy. And there are a lot of people who can make money out of that.
ROBERTS: I was also interested to see if Twitter does allow for parody impersonation?
THOMPSON: Right. Well, I mean, and they should. I mean this is America. You can have Tina Fey impersonating Sarah Palin. So, if you make it clear that your Twitter account is a parody, Twitter won't shut you down.
ROBERTS: So, how do you make it clear that your parody... THOMPSON: Well, you could say -- remember there was a blog called the fake Steve Jobs. You know, you could set up the fake Nick Thompson if you wanted to, you know, set up a fake account parodying me.
ROBERTS: So what's your sense of this Twitter thing? Is it going to last? And I ask this question because, you know, we do Twitter here at CNN on our AMFIX Web site. And I've got my own and Kiran's got her own.
THOMSPON: I follow you.
ROBERTS: Well, thank you. I appreciate that. I have to start following you.
But here's the thing. It's too damn much work. I don't have enough time to be sitting there tweeting everything that I do during the day. So do you really think that this is going to last?
THOMPSON: Well, this is a very interesting question. It will last in some form. But there's a lot of data suggesting that Twitter has a retention problem. People join Twitter and then they leave. And they leave for the reasons that you explain -- either there's too much information coming in or it's too much of a burden to put the information out, so...
ROBERTS: And a lot of the information coming in is like...
THOMSPON: Well, it's very hard to...
ROBERTS: Trivial would be to elevate it to a different level.
THOMPSON: Well, I think Twitter is hoping -- everybody's hope is that people become more sophisticated in the way they use Twitter. They don't just tweet that, you know, I'm eating salad for breakfast right now, or I'm eating eggs for breakfast right now.
ROBERTS: You know, I'm following Lance Armstrong. One of the tweets I've got from Lance this morning was, "I'm awake." Well, that's good, Lance. We're glad you're awake. We love Lance Armstrong but, you know, to know that he's awake.
THOMPSON: Well, the great thing is you can now unfollow Lance Armstrong if he posts too many things like that.
ROBERTS: I wouldn't do that because I want to see what he's doing for the tour.
THOMPSON: And his tweets are generally pretty interesting.
ROBERTS: Yes, most of them are. A lot of baby pictures in the last couple of days, too. But, you know, Lance is a big friend of the show, so we're going to keep following him.
THOMPSON: Great.
ROBERTS: Nick, thanks very much. It's great to see you this morning.
THOMPSON: Thank you, John.
ROBERTS: Thirty-six minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Played that song live at Mardi Gras back in February.
CHETRY: This was our -- this was our AMERICAN MORNING theme song last summer. So we need a new one for this year. Any idea?
ROBERTS: No, but let's look into it. Good idea.
Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Thirty-nine minutes after the hour. Quick look now at the A.M. rundown, stories coming up in the next few minutes.
The Midwest right now under the gun, facing a threat of tornadoes, hail and damaging winds. We're going to check in with Rob Marciano, coming up.
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin steals the show at a Republican fundraiser even though she wasn't the star attraction. So what's it say about the Republican Party?
And from a political setback to a political comeback. A look at Hillary Clinton's rise from the campaign to secretary of state, coming up.
CHETRY: I just thought of something. Since you love Twitter so much, we'll get people to tweet their ideas -- what should be AMERICAN MORNING's summer theme song? I like that one by Keith Rock because it was a "feel good," you know.
ROBERTS: Yes, it was, definitely. OK. So, Twitter or AMFIX.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: And give us some suggestions.
CHETRY: Sounds good.
Meanwhile, usually, when a politician or a newsmaker ducks an issue, they're avoiding it, right? But ducks are the issue for televangelist Pat Robinson. He's now the target of a parody music video for a comments involving sex with ducks.
Here's Jeanne Moos.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When televangelist Pat Robertson brings up a duck's love life during a discussion of sexual orientation...
PAT ROBERTSON, HOST: He likes to have sex with ducks.
MOOS: ... well, he'd better be prepared to duck.
GARFUNKEL AND OATES (singing): Duck, it takes a duck.
MOOS: Prepared for the parody.
GARFUNKEL AND OATES (singing): God, I hope he's right, because if gay marriage becomes lawful, then I'll find myself a duck and legally do something awful...
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: Awful.
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: Awful.
RIKI "GARFUNKEL" LINDHOME, ACTRESS: The first thing my mom said is, Riki, what if they don't know you're not kidding?
People think we -- we really want to have sex with ducks and, you know...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That would be weird.
MOOS: They call themselves Garfunkel and Oates -- two straight actresses who happen to be pro same-sex marriage.
GARFUNKEL AND OATES (singing): We'll find a pond, we'll find a puddle. Put your beak in mine and we'll cuddle.
LINDHOME: Last night, we played it at a lesbian baby shower, and they loved it.
GARFUNKEL AND OATES (SINGING): It's a feeling I can't name, when sex with ducks and gay marriage are one in the same.
MOOS (on camera): Actually, the singing duo didn't quite have all their ducks in a row. Pat Robertson wasn't really talking about legalizing gay marriage when he made the duck remark. He was referring to a hate crimes bill, arguing that protection based on the term "sexual orientation" could cover way too much.
ROBERTSON: If he likes to have sex with ducks, is he protected under a hate crime?
LINDHOME: That's ridiculous. Sexual orientation does not cover sex with ducks. I'm sorry. That's ridiculous.
MOOS (voice-over): But after viewing the parody, Pat Robertson's spokesman told CNN, "This video is an obvious deceptive attempt to create offense where no offense exists."
Garfunkel and Oates say they're just a parody on an argument against gay marriage they hear all the time.
For instance, from Bill O'Reilly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O'REILLY, FOX NEWS "THE O'REILLY FACTOR": He could marry 18 people, you can marry a duck. I mean...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A duck?
O'REILLY: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Quack. Quack.
O'REILLY: Well, why?
You know, if you're in love with the duck...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS (on camera): And since we're on the subject of ducks and sex, did you hear about the gay penguins?
(voice-over): Two apparently gay male penguins at a German zoo were given an egg abandoned by its parents. They sat on it until it hatched and are now caring for the baby.
But penguin or duck, there's nothing like a steamy bird bath...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALES: Ducks, sex with ducks...
MOOS: ...to ruffle feathers.
(VIDEO CLIP)
MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: Is there any documented evidence that anyone has ever had sex with a duck?
CHETRY: I think there is documented evidence unfortunately thanks to the Internet.
ROBERTS: OK, I just wanted to settle that. Forty-three minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST, "LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": This morning Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor fell and broke her ankle at LaGuardia Airport. Oh, yes. If she's confirmed, the first case she'll hear is Sotomayor versus LaGuardia Airport. Make some scratch off this thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's now 46 minutes after the hour. Let's fast forward now to some of the stories that will be making news later on today.
A broken ankle. That broken ankle with Conan O'Brien was talking about will not keep Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor from her appointed grounds today. She's going to be back on Capitol Hill to meet more senators in advance of her confirmation hearings.
It's a story that we're going to be following all day. In just a few hours' time, Democrats are expected to outline their ideas for health care reform. The plan is expected to create a government-run program to compete with private insurers and require most Americans to have health insurance.
And we're waiting to hear what the NAACP is calling a, quote, "major announcement on Barack Obama." There's a press conference scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern today in New York, ahead of the NAACP's 100th anniversary convention.
Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Well, meanwhile, it's 47 minutes past the hour.
Our Rob Marciano keeping track of things for us.
Yesterday, Rob, we have this great video from Colorado of some of the twisters there. We have more extreme weather today?
(WEATHER REPORT)
CHETRY: Yes. I did bring my umbrella. It woke us up this morning. 3:00 in the morning. The storms were so loud, and the lightning was lighting up the sky. It was pretty crazy.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Love it.
CHETRY: Yes, got to love it. Bring me umbrella, though.
Thanks, Rob.
MARCIANO: See you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: It may have been one of the first stops on the road to 2012. And Sarah Palin grabbed the spotlight at a big Republican fundraiser in Washington. But, Palin wasn't the headliner. She didn't even speak. So why did the Alaska governor get all the attention?
Here's CNN's Candy Crowley.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, John, it was an evening that began with a lot of questions. Would she show up? What would he say? What would they say to each other? Just another Republican Party fundraiser.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY (voice-over): Guess who came to dinner? They both did. Former speaker Newt Gingrich, keynote speaker in defense of conservatism, on offense when it comes to the president.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: Bowing to the Saudi king is not an energy policy.
CROWLEY: Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, star spectator.
GINGRICH: I also want to thank Governor Palin and Todd for coming tonight for being part of this.
CROWLEY: She was supposed to be the keynoter. Earlier this year, her staff accepted on her behalf, but later said they had master and Palin seemed uncertain. A staff snafu or indication of a split among the Palin image rehab team.
NANCY PFOTENHAUER, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Either you take the spotlight that you've generated and you try to amplify it or you decide it's better to kind of pull back, let things go quiet, develop a record of strong accomplishment and then re-launch.
CROWLEY: Without the certainty of a Palin appearance, organizers asked the tried and true. Newt Gingrich said yes. He's not as electric or as new as Palin, but the former speaker's party roots run deep. It can still wow a room.
GINGRICH: They promised we would peak at 8 percent unemployment. And on Friday we were at 9.4 percent, which is not in their budget. Which means their budge is already wrecked because we're going to have higher unemployment, greater government expenses and less revenue than they projected because their plan has already failed.
CROWLEY: Nobody knew until a few hours ahead of time that Palin would even come. The whole thing blew up last week, three months after Gingrich accepted. Palin told organizers she was available to speak. So they issued another invitation to the governor to be a kind of surprise speaker but that invite was rescinded last weekend. Team Palin says they were told organizers were afraid she would overshadow Gingrich.
PFOTENHAUER: It's a real shame that this has played out the way it has. I would have hope that it could have played out the way normal people on the same team resolve differences. But it's clearly got -- you've got a lot of egos involved.
CROWLEY: You think? It was pretty messy in a party that could do with a lot less messy. But all is well that ends well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CROWLEY: Party officials say the evening hall was about $14.5 million. But Palins and the Gingriches walked across the stage, if not together, at least at the same time, and never was heard a disparaging word.
Kiran and John?
CHETRY: Candy Crowley for us this morning.
Coming up in about 30 minutes, we're going to hear from Ed Rollins and Lisa Caputo. Our esteemed pundits about exactly what's going on here with that GOP fundraiser last night. Meanwhile, she's defying all of the expectations from once campaign rival now the team player, Hillary Clinton.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
It's the political comeback that many didn't see coming say about a year ago. But now not only is Hillary Clinton America's top diplomat. Well, she even went sightseeing with President Obama in Egypt.
Alina Cho joins us now.
You know, it's really been this transformation from political rival to a team player that's getting rave reviews.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They almost look like friends. It's incredible, guys.
Good morning, everybody.
You know, a year ago, nobody could have predicted this, not even Hillary Clinton. But today, some might call Clinton a cat with nine lives. Just when you think she's down, she gets back up and surprises everyone, including herself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: Just one year ago, this was the image of Hillary Clinton.
HILLARY CLINTON, U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: Life is too short, time is too precious and the stakes are too high to dwell on what might have been.
CHO: Bowing out of her historic run for the White House.
LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: On the day she had to withdraw, most people wrote her political obituary.
CHO: Larry Sabato is author of the new book "The Year of Obama."
SABATO: By the end of the campaign, she and her husband, Bill Clinton, had become very controversial again. A lot of things had been said about Barack Obama, said on the campaign trail that Democrats began to regret.
CHO: Some members of her own party anxious for Clinton to step aside. Clinton is no stranger to setbacks.
Her controversial comments about baking cookies during her husband's campaign for president.
CLINTON: I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies.
CHO: Her subsequent failed efforts to overhaul health care.
CLINTON: I thought it was a wonderful speech.
CHO: Which makes these images of Secretary of State Clinton and President Barack Obama that much more remarkable, or are they?
SABATO: Not many people are -- can steal themselves the way someone like Hillary Clinton can. She's proven it over and over again.
CHO: But even the secretary herself in an interview on ABC's "This Week" admits surprise at the turn of events.
CLINTON: I never had any dream, let alone inkling that I would end up in President Obama's cabinet.
CHO: In fact, when the president offered her the job, she initially said no, even providing names of other people, but she says he was persistent.
CLINTON: When your president asks you to do something for your country, you really need a good reason not to do it.
CHO: A former senior advisor to Clinton's campaign says people are seeing Secretary of State Clinton in a different light.
MARIA CORDONA, FORMER CLINTON CAMPAIGN ADVISER: She is the consummate team player. And I think that's one of the things that most befuddled her critics. But I think that also tells me that those are critics that didn't know her very well.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: So what about that infamous 3:00 a.m. ad during the campaign, which criticized then candidate Obama for not having the experience to deal with the crisis. When asked about that, Clinton said in his public and in his private actions, President Obama has been strong, thoughtful and decisive. She adds her former rival and current boss is doing a terrific job. And she says, guys, it is an honor to serve with him.
CHETRY: See, it's just goes show you that, you know, bygones were bygones.
CHO: That's right. Absolutely. It took a couple of months, but she took a breather and came back and went strong for him, and look what happened.
CHETRY: That's wonderful. Alina, good to see you. Thanks. CHO: You bet.
