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American Morning
Council of Guardians Agrees To Recount Some Ballots from Iran's Election; U.S. Worries Tense Iranian Political Situation Could Become Broader Security Crisis; Recount of Votes May Not Be Enough For Some Iranians; Online Technologies Play a Big Role in Iranian Youth Communication; Letterman Apologizes to Entire Palin Family on Show Last Night; Seven Protesters Killed in Iran; Airlines Losing Lots of Money; Anita Hill Thinks Sotomayor Is Well-Qualified; Obama Proposes Health Care Exchange; U.S. Troops Ordered to Exercise Extreme Caution; What's Driving the Youth Movement Outrage in Iran?
Aired June 16, 2009 - 07:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We're coming up to two minutes to the top of the hour. It's just about 4:00 a.m. on the West Coast, 7:00 a.m. here on the East Coast.
I'm John Roberts. And we've got a lot to tell you about this morning.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Sure do. I'm Kiran Chetry. Here's a look at the agenda right now. These are the big stories we're breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
We're still following breaking news out of Iran as developments continue to change by the minute. The Council of Guardians -- this is a group of clerics and scholars now agreeing to recount some of the ballots from last week's disputed presidential election.
Also, seven people killed in a bloody protest for democracy. Iran state radio says that they were killed when they tried to storm the military building yesterday in western Tehran. Also, there are more rallies on both sides planned in the next 90 minutes. We are going to be live in Teheran in just a moment.
And staggering losses posted this year by the U.S. airline industry. Numbers in the billions, and they're worse than expected.
Carol Costello joins us on whether the government might have to step in and take over like it did with General Motors.
And an apology to Sarah Palin from late night host David Letterman. Alina Cho on the promise he's making to her viewers -- to her and his viewers. And also the Alaska governor's reaction.
ROBERTS: First, breaking news and what has become a deadly struggle for democracy in Iran. There had been calls for a general strike and more protests today. A day after seven demonstrators were killed by pro-government forces.
And now, a new development. Iran's Council of Guardians, which oversees election there, agreeing just moments ago to recount some -- not all, but some of the ballots from last week's disputed election. The 12 member Guardian Council includes clerics and experts in Islamic law. It has the apparent authority to throw out an election if it sees fit.
CNN producer Samson Desta joins us now. He's on the telephone from Tehran.
Samson, what has the Guardian Council prepared to do? And will that be enough to quell the protests that have been growing in intensity and saw those seven people killed late yesterday?
SAMSON DESTA, CNN PRODUCER (via telephone): Well, John, a very quick decision made by the Guardian Council today after they met with the three leading opposition candidates, Mr. Mousavi, Mr. Karubi and Mr. Rezaie, in which the candidates filed a complaint regarding the result of the election.
The Guardian is now saying they are going to recount some of the votes, not all the votes, but some of the disputed votes. But the opposition has been very clear from the beginning that it wants a new election. It will not accept a recount. Because they're saying a recount will not uncover any acts of fraud. So they are calling for a new election. They're saying 53 million ballots have been printed and only 39 million had been used. So what happened to the 14 million that are missing? Those need to be accounted for, so there needs to be a new election.
Now, in regards to the violence, and it's been quite tense in the streets in the past few days, late last night, there were pockets of violence within the city, throughout the city in which a number of people were killed and some now fear there could be a continuation of that unrest today, because both sides of the camps, both Mousavi and Ahmadinejad protesters are vowing to take to the streets today.
Now, within the past 15 or 20 minutes, Mousavi and Karroubi camps have come out to urge their supporters not to come out and not to take part in these rallies today and to avoid any violent confrontation -- John.
ROBERTS: You know, we talked about this idea of a recount, Samson. And some questions are being raised as to exactly what went on on Friday. Particularly, how did they count 39 million handwritten ballots so quickly. And why wasn't there the level of detail in election data that typically comes out. Why didn't that come out over the weekend?
DESTA: Well, that is very difficult to answer. I mean, that's the question. That's the mystery and that has been the complaint from the Mousavi side, is that there hasn't been any transparency. And that's why they filed this complaint to the Guardian Council to say why is it that these votes have not been counted. And if we had 53 million ballots, where's the remaining -- where are the remaining 14 million?
ROBERTS: Right. DESTA: And it's just that that they're saying needs to be looked at. And a recount cannot account for 14 million ballots that are missing. Only a new election and a fair and clear transparency will uncover exactly what has taken place and how this is being done -- John.
ROBERTS: Samson Desta live from Tehran for us with the very latest. Samson, thanks so much for that.
CHETRY: Well, there is a scheduled rally in less than half an hour from now in support of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. He is in Russia right now for a prescheduled conference.
But the embattled leader is deciding not to postpone that visit there. The opposition, meantime, is planning more protests about an hour after Ahmadinejad's rally in the same location. That's certainly another potential powder keg after Iran's state media says that seven demonstrators were killed in clashes with pro-government forces yesterday. And there were huge crowds, in fact, miles long. People from all across Iran hitting the streets to protest what they say was a stolen presidential election.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY (voice-over): This amateur video shot north of Tehran's Azadi Square captures the chaos as a day of mostly peaceful protests turned violent. Iran state radio confirming seven shooting deaths after protesters apparently tried to storm a compound linked to the government's Revolutionary Guard. Our Christiane Amanpour in Tehran covering the demonstrations when the violence broke out.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: They had taken this decision to try to allow these political rallies to take place in a peaceful atmosphere. And what they told us they were doing was cracking down on the violence.
CHETRY: Earlier in the day, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi led hundreds of thousands of Iranians in a massive rally, stretching more than five miles, according to Iranian television. Mousavi urging peaceful protests vowing to "pay any costs" to fight the results of an election he believes was stolen from him. But then, the bullets began flying. And as security forces limited the access of news crews, citizens pulled out their cell phones to document the chaos.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am deeply troubled by the violence that I've been seeing on television. The democratic process, free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent, all those are universal values and need to be respected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHETRY: Meantime, the Iranian government appears to be trying to block Internet access and other communications this morning. "The New York Times" is reporting that many citizens are unable to send text messages. Iranians, though, are managing to post blogs on Facebook and help coordinate protests using Twitter. Twitter was actually planning a shut down for maintenance, but because so many Iranians are depending on the service, Twitter decided to stay online -- John.
ROBERTS: International voting experts have been analyzing the Iranian election for signs of possible fraud. And here's some of what they're questioning. We were talking with Samson Desta about this a few minutes ago.
How more than 40 million handwritten ballots could be counted within a few hours? How challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi, who was an ethnic Azari Turk was defeated so soundly in his own province. One analyst said it's the equivalent of Barack Obama losing the African- American vote to John McCain in the 2008 election.
Mousavi's newspaper also claiming more than ten million votes were missing national identification numbers, making them untraceable.
And President Obama is calling for restraint while the investigation plays out.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OBAMA: My understanding is that the Iranian government says that they are going to look into irregularities that have taken place. We weren't on the ground. We did not have observers there. We did not have international observers on hand. So I can't state definitively one way or another what happened with respect to the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTS: Now with tensions running so high in the region, American troops in the Middle East have been ordered to exercise extreme caution. The Pentagon doesn't want America being drawn into Iran's post election chaos.
Barbara Starr is live for us at the Pentagon this morning. And, Barbara, there's real concern that these protests and what's going on in the wake of Friday's election really could add a lot of instability to that region.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, John. You know, officially the Pentagon is on the sidelines but make no mistake, commanders are watching what is unfolding around the clock and there's plenty of reason to worry.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
STARR (voice-over): Hundreds of thousands of Iranians in the streets. The U.S. worries this tense political situation could become a broader security crisis.
Trita Parsi, who runs an organization opposed to the current regime, says if the Iranian leadership feels seriously threatened, it could possibly try to divert the people's attention.
TRITA PARSI, NATIONAL IRANIAN AMERICA COUNCIL: If the internal battles are getting a little bit too intense, that the Revolutionary Guard may actually prefer to have an external enemy and some sort of a confrontation.
STARR: U.S. military commanders in the Persian Gulf have been told to be on guard. Don't let an encounter with Iranian forces escalate.
It's happened before. Last year, U.S. warships came close to firing on Iranian Revolutionary Guard boats that were acting aggressively. In 2007, British naval personnel were captured and held for days before being released in a public showing by President Ahmadinejad.
Other concerns -- Iran's meddling in Iraq and Afghanistan and its development of long-range ballistic missiles that could threaten Europe. But the core issue remained -- Iran's nuclear program. The U.S. is working with other countries to pressure Iran to give up its nuclear weapons efforts regardless of who is president of the Islamic Republic.
IAN KELLY, ACTING ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR PUBLIC AFFAIRS: Let's get to the very heart of this administration's priorities in terms of nonproliferation concerns, about the possibility of an arms race in that part of the world.
RICHARD HAASS, AUTHOR, "WAR OF NECESSITY, WAR OF CHOICE": The best thing we can do is keep our eye on the ball of what Iran does, support for terrorism, their nuclear program, whoever is the Iranian government. What we care about is what they do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
STARR: And if all of that wasn't enough to worry about, John, a senior U.S. military official reminds us that they are also watching for Israel's military reaction if any because, of course, Israel's top concern remains Iran's nuclear program -- John.
ROBERTS: Barbara Starr at the Pentagon for us this morning. Barbara, thanks so much.
And we'd like to know how you feel about the election in Iran. The protest there and the position that American troops find themselves in right now. Call our show hotline, 1-877-MY-AMFIX. That's 1-877-692-6349. Let us know what you think.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, the white supremacist accused of killing a Holocaust Museum security officer is in no condition to appear in court, according to the judge in the case. Eighty-eight- year-old James von Brunn is charged with first degree murder but he is said to be in critical condition still. He was shot in the head by the victim's colleague. The FBI says he is, though, expected to survive.
Well, how ominous does this look? The National Weather Service said that a large and extremely dangerous tornado -- there you see it -- touched down about 40 miles southeast of Denver. As scary as it looks, though, there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.
And Iran is now apparently ready to count at least some of the votes again. But is it really interested in finding out whether the election was a fraud? Does it already know? An expert on Iran's youth movement explains a struggle that's going on inside of that country next.
It's ten minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Good morning, Washington. It's coming up on 12 minutes after the hour, 12 minutes after 7:00 Eastern.
A shot of the Capitol building sort of surrounded by clouds this morning. It's overcast and 70 degrees in the nation's capitol. Later on today, though, sunny, and going up to 77.
That will be two days without rain. Whoa. Ain't that grand?
New this morning, putting together a unified response to North Korea's nuclear threat. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak meets with President Obama today, and he met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday. The two presidents will answer questions in the Rose Garden at 11:40, and CNN, of course, will be there to bring that to you live.
Stop if you heard this one before. You will pay more at the pump today. Gas prices going up again. According to AAA, the national average is now $2.67 for a gallon of regular.
More travelers are cashing in their frequent flier miles in the recession. Best Western reports a 30 percent increase in the number of travelers who are redeeming points to either get an upgrade or get a free room.
CHETRY: Well the backlash continues in Tehran this morning over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's self-proclaimed landslide victory. There are thousands of students and others who have taken to the streets and some of these protests that have unfortunately turned deadly and violent. But what is driving the youth movement to demonstrate like this? And where is the outrage coming from?
Afshin Molavi is with the nonpartisan New America Foundation, also the author of "The Soul of Iran" and has some new insight for us this morning.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
AFSHIN MOLAVI, FELLOW, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: It's a pleasure, thank you.
CHETRY: First thing I want to ask you about is the new news that broke overnight that Iran's election authority has agreed to this recount, the Guardian Council agreeing to recount some of the ballots. How big of a step do you think this is? Is this for show or do you think that this could actually affect the ultimate outcome?
MOLAVI: Well, I mean, I think it's a significant enough political development that the Guardian Council which generally favors Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It's a conservative body, has announced this kind of recount.
It certainly won't satisfy Mir Hossein Mousavi, who is Ahmadinejad's main challenger. Nor do I think it will satisfy the hundreds of thousands of Iranians who are on the streets because they essentially do not trust the interior ministry, the one who actually supervised this election.
There were all sorts of irregularities from the closing down of Mousavi's campaign headquarters to the jailing of many of his supporters to the mere fact, as John noted in his intro, that 40 million ballots were counted and within half an hour, Ahmadinejad was announced the winner. So there's so much lack of trust that I don't think this will be accepted by Mousavi or his supporters.
CHETRY: Right. So they're calling for a recount. Any idea -- your guess, on the probability of that happening?
MOLAVI: You know, Mousavi's quarters are calling for a reelection.
CHETRY: I'm sorry. Yes, they want a brand new election, forget the recount.
MOLAVI: That's right.
CHETRY: What are the chances of that happening?
MOLAVI: You know, it's -- we're in such new territory here that it's difficult to hazard a prediction. You know, so, I think that this is what they will demand. And -- but it does seem unlikely that that will happen.
CHETRY: Right.
MOLAVI: But so much -- there are so many moving parts here that it's difficult to predict.
CHETRY: You know, the other thing is, and you bring up this good point about the practical matter, how would you possibly, you know, hand count 40 million votes within a span of hours. So even if there was -- and this is a big if, a reelection, I mean, would the same process be in place that would then still favor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?
MOLAVI: I think this is the ultimate question. The interior ministry, which supervises elections is run by a very close Ahmadinejad ally. And there was -- they do not allow poll observers. There were, you know, all sorts of accusations that some 10 million ballots actually never made it to the ballot boxes.
CHETRY: Right. MOLAVI: So if it's the same interior ministry running the election, I think without poll observers, I think there's going to be a problem.
CHETRY: All right. So, I just want to let our viewers know, we are awaiting a news conference that's going to be taking place from the opposition candidate, pro-reform candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. It would be taking place in Vali Asr Square. He's going to be holding this news conference any moment now, and we will bring it to you when we get our translation in order.
But I want to ask you about the really troubling news yesterday of the death of seven protesters. This happened apparently as they tried to -- they tried to enter a military location in western Tehran. How is that being received by the young people and many people who came out there to protest this election? What are they saying about the fact that this turned violent and deadly?
MOLAVI: You know, one of the interesting things about what we're seeing in these protests right now is the social networking sites that young people are using, the text message, the Twitter. You know, they are posting these pictures on Facebook. And so the death of one young person gets amplified many times over.
And so one of the problems that the Shah of Iran had in the 1970s was the death of protesters would create martyrs. And that would create a cycle of commemoration which would lead to more and more gathering and more and more larger gatherings. So that's the real danger that the Islamic Republic faces as more people die.
CHETRY: Right. But a potential opening for those who would like to see reform and the fact that because of these social media sites like Twitter or Facebook and others and people are able to get the word out and to spread this. And as we've been talking about, we received video that was taken at some of these demonstrations as well. It's a whole new world, surely.
MOLAVI: Absolutely. And, Kiran, you know, these young people in Iran are -- you know, when I traveled across Iran, I met, you know, a whole range of different young people.
These young people are wired. They're smart. They're savvy and they're really eager for change and normalcy. They're not demanding a whole lot. Their parents' generation in many ways were far more radical. They were leftists and Marxists and Islamists, and a whole -- but this young people I often found they were just simply asking for greater political freedom, social freedom, and a sense of normalcy in their lives.
CHETRY: Now we're going to see how all this turns out. Great to get your perspective. Afshin Molavi, the author of "Soul of Iran" and also a fellow at the New America Foundation, thanks for being with us this morning.
MOLAVI: Thank you.
CHETRY: It's 18 minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. One of the most popular stories right now on CNN.com, police dash cam video of an Oklahoma trooper pulling over an ambulance. There was a sick woman in the ambulance at the time. The EMT (ph) driver was stopped by the trooper and the driver got into a confrontation. They claim that he failed to yield, and then he gave the middle finger to the officer.
The woman was eventually treated at the hospital and was OK after the confrontation. That happened on the shoulder of the road. Here's more.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROOPER: I'm going to give you a ticket for failure to yield. And when I go by, you're saying what's going on, you don't need to give me no hand gestures now. I ain't gonna put up with that (expletive deleted). You understand me?
PARAMEDIC: And I won't put up with you talking to my driver like that, sir.
TROOPER: I ain't listening to you buddy. You get your (expletive deleted) back in that ambulance or I'll take you in. I'm talking to the driver.
PARAMEDIC: Take me in if you would.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come over here, Paul (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've got a patient.
PARAMEDIC: No, we got a patient in this unit right now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Again, all is well that ended well.
Well, it's being called a June blizzard. A powerful storm dropped more than three inches of hail? Where? That's in northern New Jersey yesterday. People had to break out their snow shovels a few days before the kids get out of school. What a confusing sight. You get the snow blower out there in June.
That storm also knocked down trees and triggered some flash flooding. We also got a good deal of thunder and lightning around our neck of the woods.
ROBERTS: Yes. Kept me delayed from coming back for my daughter's high school graduation in Washington yesterday. It's never fun.
CHETRY: No.
ROBERTS: No.
CHETRY: It's really been crazy there.
ROBERTS: You know, you take a look at that picture and you wonder if the people have said this is going to be the summer without a summer. Might have something...
CHETRY: Some people who said that, that was you.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A place (ph) to warm up. Aren't we?
ROBERTS: Yes. It was -- actually, it was Joe Bastardi who said that.
CHETRY: From Accuweather?
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: Yes. It's all right.
ROBERTS: We'll see if he's right.
CHETRY: Something is wrong.
ROBERTS: So far he's right.
A good comic knows when he or she has told a bad joke. And now David Letterman is taking one back, the one about Governor Sarah Palin's daughter being knocked up. He apologized to the whole Palin family last night on the late show, and our Alina Cho is here now with more on all of that.
Good morning to you.
CHO: Good morning, guys. Good morning, everybody.
Now you may have heard about it, maybe you didn't. Last week on the show, David Letterman joked that Sarah Palin's daughter who attended a Yankee game with the governor was "knocked up by Alex Rodriguez." Well, the problem is it wasn't Palin's daughter, Bristol, who recently gave birth to a child who was at the game, but Palin's other 14-year-old daughter, Willow. So Letterman went on the show last night and said he was sorry.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID LETTERMAN, HOST, "THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN": I had no idea that anybody was at the ballgame except the governor and I was told at the time that she was there with Rudy Giuliani. And -- that's right.
(APPLAUSE)
And I really should have made the joke about Rudy. So, I -- I would like to apologize, especially to the two daughters involved, Bristol and Willow. And also to the governor and her family and everybody else who is outraged by the joke. I'm sorry about it, and I'll try to do better in the future. Thank you very much.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Seems sincere. Now you had to know this was coming. Late last night, Governor Palin issued a response to Letterman's apology saying, "Of course, it's accepted on behalf of young women, like my daughters, who hope men who 'joke' about public displays of sexual exploitation of girls will soon evolve. Letterman certainly has the right to joke about whatever he wants to, and thankfully we have the right to express our reaction."
Now, she doesn't sound like she's willing to forgive and forget just yet. You may not have heard Palin on Friday when she went on "The Today Show" and defended her spokesperson, who said it would be wise to keep Palin's 14-year-old daughter Willow away from David Letterman. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. SARAH PALIN (R), ALASKA: Willow, no doubt, would want to stay away from David Letterman after he made such a comment. And you can interpret that however you want to interpret it.
MATT LAUER, HOST, "THE TODAY SHOW": Well, but is that not perhaps in bad taste also, Governor, if you're, you know, suggesting that a 62-year-old man couldn't be trusted?
PALIN: No, it's not in bad taste. It's not in bad taste.
Hey, maybe you couldn't be trusted because Willow has had enough of this type of comment and maybe Willow would want to react to him in a way that maybe would catch him off guard. That's one way to interpret such a comment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: All right. Well, Palin's supporters have seized on the controversy with some calling for a boycott of Letterman's advertisers. There's even a "Fire David Letterman" rally planned for later today outside the studios.
Now, of course, it's unlikely that Letterman will be fired. In fact, he is said to be close to signing a two-year contract extension. And there's no denying that this Palin controversy comes just at the right time as Conan O' Brien takes over "The Tonight Show" and viewers start sampling late-night programs again.
Of course, guys, if last week is any indication, Letterman pulled ahead in the ratings to number one. So maybe this had something to do about it.
Now, I know you had suggested maybe this is all a setup for Palin to appear on the Letterman show?
CHETRY: Perhaps.
CHO: Well, for now, Palin's spokesperson says that the Palin family will not appear on the show to provide Letterman a ratings boost. But, you know, you remember the Oprah-Letterman feud for all those years, and finally she appeared. So perhaps it will happen in 2012, or something.
ROBERTS: We'll keep watching closely to see what happens. Alina, thanks so much.
CHO: You bet.
ROBERTS: Twenty-six and a half minutes now after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We're coming up to 30 minutes past the hour now. Here are this morning's top stories. We have some breaking news.
First, Iran state radio is now confirming that seven protesters were killed when they tried to storm a military building yesterday in western Tehran. Demonstrations are also planned for today in the same place by backers of both opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi as well as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Also, breaking this morning -- the news that the Guardian Council, the group of clerics is agreeing to recount at least some of those disputed votes.
There are also new developments again, this council made up of clerics and experts. They appear to have the power to nullify and certify the election results so the opposition now rejecting any talk of a recount. The opposition saying they want a brand new election instead.
And the dismantling and rebuilding of General Motors continues. The automaker announcing a deal to sell its Saab unit to a consortium of buyers. It will be led by a Swedish carmaker.
Well, we are "Minding Your Business" this morning as well. And there's some new information -- important airline news because you may know that they're certainly losing money in this economy. The actual amount, though, in terms of airline losses -- just staggering. It's in the billions and things are no better in the sky than they are on the road.
Carol Costello joins us now from Washington with more on the situation. So, the airlines are struggling and now some are saying are we going to see a bailout all of the carmakers for the airlines?
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wouldn't the airlines love that although they say they say they're not asking for a bailout. But buckle your seat belts. I'm about to tell you how much the airline industry lost this year -- $9 billion. That is double what industry insiders expected. And it's left many consumers wondering if they will see more airlines slip into bankruptcy. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO (voice-over): Forget the friendly skies, it's cold up there. And a lot emptier. Evaporating consumer demand is costing the airline industry dearly. United lost $579 million so far this year. Delta $794 million, American lost $375 million.
ANNOUNCER: You're now free to move about the country.
COSTELLO: Even Southwest, the industry star, lost $91 million, forcing it to give up bragging rights.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is this your first flight?
ANNOUNCER: On Southwest Airlines, we don't charge fees for stuff that should be free. Southwest fees don't fly with us.
COSTELLO: Yes. Even Southwest is now charging extra fees for pets and baggage.
STEVE LOTT, INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORT ASSOCIATION: After September 11th, airline revenues dropped about seven percent. This year, we're facing a revenue drop of more than 15 percent.
COSTELLO: Still even if it does mean an auto industry-type bankruptcy, no one is panicking just yet. It's not like the industry hasn't suffered bankruptcies before. After 9/11, more than one big carrier filed for protection and survived. But that doesn't mean they recovered.
LOTT: The airline industry collectively hasn't made money in a long time.
COSTELLO: That's why airlines are parking planes, which means fewer flights, less fuel costs, and fewer employees to pay. And of course, it means higher fees and more crowded flights for you.
Consultants like Mike Boyd missed the Obama administration isn't focused more on what's happening now in the airline industry. This administration, he writes, "is not pro-air travel. Airliners run on jet fuel. Jet fuel comes from oil. And that's now officially considered to be evil."
That's why Boyd and others say the administration is pushing trains over planes. Amtrak got $1.3 billion in the stimulus package. And there's another $8 billion for a high-speed rail system.
LOTT: When the government is pushing so hard for rail when really there's not as much of a demand for rail than air, we have a problem with that.
COSTELLO: While airlines aren't asking for a bailout, they would like more of the stimulus pie to fix up air traffic control towers and airports themselves.
(END VIDEOTAPE) COSTELLO: Now, the Department of Transportation told me aviation is an important sector of the economy, period, and that airports across the country will receive $1.1 billion in stimulus money. But critics say they need a shot in the public relations arm to get people flying again. Kiran?
CHETRY: They need something, that's for sure. All right, Carol Costello for us this morning. Thanks. John.
ROBERTS: The Senate judiciary committee is preparing for a history-making confirmation hearing for Judge Sonia Sotomayor. A Democrat scheduling at the start next month.
Another woman who once found herself before that same committee is sharing her views of the president's nominee. Anita Hill is a professor of social policy law and women's studies at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. She also attended the Yale Law School at the same time as Judge Sotomayor. And she joins us this morning.
Professor Hill, it's good to see you. So you were a year behind Judge Sotomayor at the Yale University Law School.
ANITA HILL, TESTIFIED AT CLARENCE THOMAS SUPREME COURT NOMINATION HEARING: Yes.
ROBERTS: What do you think qualifies her to be the next associate justice on the Supreme Court?
HILL: Well, if you look at her outstanding record on the bench, you can look at her outstanding academic record. She has a wide variety of professional experience before she got on to the bench. I think she's infinitely qualified to be the nominee and we will see during the confirmation process how well she's qualified to actually receive the vote of the Senate.
ROBERTS: You know, much has been made of the fact that she's a Hispanic woman. And I'm wondering how much do you think that plays into the nomination, her choice, her eventual confrontation. Is she the most qualified Hispanic judge to sit on the Supreme Court? Or is she the most qualified judge who happens to be Hispanic?
HILL: I think she's very well qualified. You know, there are - if you look at her record, if you look at all of the credentials she brings, including her - all of her background, her incredible life story, I think all of those add to her qualifications. I don't know if we want to talk about what is the most qualified person in the country. There are a lot of very talented people out there. But certainly no one could question that this woman is not highly qualified.
ROBERTS: A lot has been made about temperament as well. And Judge Guido Calebrezi, who is one of her colleagues in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, said that when Judge Sotomayor first joined that court, he heard she was overly aggressive. He started keeping track of her writings comparing the substance and tone with questions of his own. And he said the following, he said, "I must say that I found no difference at all. It was sexism in its most obvious form." Your thoughts on that?
HILL: Well, it's amazing, isn't it? That we would be talking about a circuit court judge being too aggressive. After all, she's representing our best interests, and we want to know what parties have to offer when they come before the court. I would actually think that an attorney coming before her would want to get questions and get hard questions about their case. I think they would give them a better indication of their chances of moving forward and prevailing in a lawsuit than a judge who asks them nothing.
ROBERTS: Right. You know, Nina Totenberg from National Public Radio took a little bit of different tactic when examining the question. Is Judge Sotomayor mean? She said, "If Sotomayor sometimes dominates oral arguments in her court, if she's feisty, even pushy, then she would fit right in at the U.S. Supreme Court. Do you think she could go toe-to-toe with justices like Scalia and Thomas?
HILL: Of course, she can. You know, this is a woman who has an amazing story. And I think that's one of the reasons that she's so qualified to be the nominee. She has not had an easy time in her life. And she carries that same kind of -- well, maybe you would call it aggressiveness. But certainly I think it's probably served her well. I mean, she has had to be tough. She's had to be tenacious. And that will be what we'll want from her on the bench.
ROBERTS: You know, I did a lot...
HILL: We've got tough questions coming up before the Court. And we want someone who is going to be able to ask the attorneys the hard questions that everybody wants to know the answers to.
ROBERTS: We did a lot of looking around, Professor, in the last couple of days on opinions that are being voiced on the Internet and the blogs. And there are a lot of liberals who think that Judge Sotomayor is going to get the same type of grilling that you got during the Clarence Thomas hearings. Do you think that that will happen?
HILL: Well, I hope it doesn't happen. And this is what I hope we can avoid. You know, there is - a lot has been made about her being a racist, names have been called. There's a lot that's been made about her being too aggressive. What I hope is that the Judiciary Committee will do is focus on her record and not take this as an opportunity to have a witch hunt, looking for evidence that doesn't exist about her.
Racism - to support these allegations. I think the people deserve more. You've got a large body of work out there that she has been involved in. As a Court of Appeals judge. The people really want to know about her jurisprudence, her judicial philosophy, her work. And I think that's what they deserve.
ROBERTS: Professor Hill, it's great to talk to you this morning. Good to catch up with you. Thank you. HILL: Thank you.
ROBERTS: Appreciate your time.
And a quick programming note coming up in October. CNN is going to take a comprehensive look at how Latinos are helping to reshape America. From politics and business to our schools and neighborhoods. "Latino in America," a series of special reports coming your way in October on CNN. Kiran.
CHETRY: Also new this morning, a promise to protect you. The president set to announce new powers from the government over all things, that for many things have been blamed for this current economic crisis. But are we already on our way back to the old way of doing business? It's 39 minutes past.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News In The Morning. We're coming up on 42 minutes past the hour. We have Gerri Willis "Minding your Business" this morning. And she is helping us out when it comes to more protections in place for consumers. After this big financial meltdown, a lot of people said, "Why weren't there more protections in place for everyday folks?" Is that going to change?
GERRI WILLIS, CNN PERSONAL FINANCE EDITOR: Yes, very well might change. Tomorrow the president is expected to talk about something called Consumer Product Safety Commission for financial products. This would regulate things like credit cards, mortgages, life insurance, annuities. He's talking about a new framework, possibly five commissioners who would sit and look over these products as they came to the marketplace.
Are they safe for consumers? Are they safe for individuals to use? We saw so many problems with mortgages. And I tell you, the president is not the only one suggesting that we do this. Elizabeth Warren, you may be familiar with her. She's an outspoken consumer advocate. A Harvard professor. She oversees the TARP Committee for Congress. She, in the summer of 2007, called for this financial services product commission, saying this to me recently about why it's needed.
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ELIZABETH WARREN, CHAIRMAN, CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT PANEL: The consumer credit market is broken. There's just no other way to describe it. We now receive credit card agreements that are 30, 32 pages long. And they're filled with incomprehensible text. That means that I can't look at credit card A, credit card B, and credit card C and tell the difference between them.
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WILLIS: So, Warren says there's more regulations around toasters, baby seats for cars, you name it than there are around financial products. And as we know, you know, you can lose your house just as easily because of a bad mortgage as you can because of a bad toaster that burns it down. So lots of concerns. We can see something new.
Senator Dick Durbin is actually introducing some legislation that would go about setting this. We'll see what happens. But tomorrow is when you really want to be listening to the president because he'll talk about these potential safeguards for consumers out there in their financial products.
CHETRY: In the meantime, you still got to do your own homework, and be skeptical as well, because you never know.
WILLIS: That's right. That's what we're here for, to help with that homework.
CHETRY: All right. Gerri, thanks so much.
WILLIS: My pleasure.
CHETRY: It's 44 minutes after the hour.
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ROBERTS: Good morning, Kansas City. Waking you up with the Godfather of Soul. Light rain. Sixty-nine degrees right now. Thought we saw some lightning just a second ago. Maybe, maybe not. Thanks to our friends of KSHB for this shot of Kansas City this morning. It's going to be sunny, and a high of 88 degrees there. Rob Marciano is tracking the forecast across the country. Looking for the storms here and there. And yes, it looks like there were some storms in Kansas City there, Rob.
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, just to the east. That camera is pointing that way. Some nasty storms headed through Missouri right now. Kansas City got it a couple of hours ago. And this line right here about to move through Springfield. This has definitely got some strong winds, maybe some hail, a couple of tornado warnings earlier. Those had been allowed to expire with the severe weather watch. In fact, for the next couple of hours for just that, severe weather and they're getting it on the I-44 corridor.
Also, in to St. Louis moving rapidly off to the east. This is a line of storms that were pretty much a repeat performance of yesterday. So flooding issues as well. There had been a couple of communities outside of St. Louis that have been asked to evacuate because of rising rivers there. Also some water across parts of the Carolinas. So watching that.
Under the gun today, same spot as yesterday. Maybe a little bit shift to the east. That would be good news for folks who live in Colorado. These pictures coming out just to the southeast of Denver by about 50 or 60 miles. That tornado touching down there in Elbert County. No reports of damage or injuries. But there are reports of damage through parts of Missouri. Nineteen tornado reports yesterday. And over 100 hail and wind reports. So pretty active day severe weather-wise.
You're looking at a nice day in New York, albeit cool today. Enjoy.
ROBERTS: People in this area wondering what is going on with the weather. They had, like, five inches of hail in north Jersey yesterday?
MARCIANO: I saw those pictures. Pretty intense. It will be quieter today. And, remember, summer hasn't started...
ROBERTS: Still got a few days. Rob, thanks so much for that. Forty-eight minutes now after the hour.
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CHETRY: Welcome back to the Most News In The Morning. You know, it's a pretty unsettling comparison, President Obama comparing our health care system with another ailing industry, the auto industry.
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OBAMA: If we do not fix our health care system, America may go the way of GM. Paying more, getting less, and going broke. When it comes to the cost of our health care then, the status quo is unsustainable. The reform is not a luxury, it is a necessity.
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CHETRY: All right. Well, there you go, the president has proposed what's being called a health care exchange. It would be designed to give insured and uninsured Americans options. But after hearing right from the president, America's biggest group of doctors still expressing its doubts. We're "Paging Dr. Gupta," CNN's chief medical correspondent in Atlanta this morning, with more on how this is being received and from a doctor's perspective.
I guess there are many different opinions about this. One thing everybody seems to agree on is that something has to change, right? With the way that our system is working now.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I think that's fair to say is that across the aisle. Basically, both groups are saying that the system's not working the way it is currently. And it was a pretty warm reception overall by the American Medical Association. The whole thing is a little bit confusing. And as they say, Kiran, the devil's in the details, and we don't have all of the details. No one does as of yet as to exactly how this health care exchange will play out.
A couple things to keep in mind, as the president pointed out. A lot of people are relatively satisfied if they are insured and have health care right now, but about 69 percent, according to a recent survey also say they would favor some sort of governmental intervention if it would guarantee lower costs and increase access. Terms you would not hear coming from the president have to do with socialized medicine, have to do with overall universal health care or a government takeover. He talks more about guaranteed health care, exactly as you framed it, the sort of public-private option.
In some ways, you can think about the idea of having public option sort of like buying car insurance. You'd have all sorts of different things that you could potentially choose from, you could compare prices, you can compare the benefits of competing programs when it comes to health care. No plan would avoid people with preexisting conditions, that was something that came up quite a bit. And the public health option would be offered as part of the health exchange, as well.
So these are some of the things that we're hearing about. But again, I tried to call people last night, Kiran, to see how people would define this -- what exactly is the public option? No one still knows for sure. A lot of that still going to be debated.
CHETRY: You know, still a lot of questions about exactly how it would work, absolutely. But he's saying you can save money and still provide a high quality health care for everybody. What do you think of that?
GUPTA: Well, yes, I mean, it sounds great, of course. You save money and more people get insured. That's perfect. You know, he did put a price tag on this for the first time really yesterday, as well, which is about $1 trillion over 10 years. But exactly to your point, he says there are things that are going to help reduce health care costs in the long run. And he started to spell those out.
One thing is that you look at the list of things that could potentially reduce costs. We don't know how much over what period of time these things would start to work. Whether, you know, simply prevention, something we talk about on your show all the time, personal responsibility, when it comes to taking care of yourself, including obesity, using electronic medical records.
So you're in New York right now, Kiran, if you were coming down to Atlanta and you had some sort of health problem, would you have to get the same tests all over again? That costs money, and that's something that can be prevented and cutting hospital waste. They say, you know, the amount of money paid to hospitals by Medicare, for example, would be trimmed. Exactly how much of an impact, you've still got to wait and see.
CHETRY: All right. Sanjay Gupta, great to see you, as always. Thanks.
GUPTA: Thanks, Kiran.
CHETRY: It's 54 minutes past the hour.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) ROBERTS: Somewhere out there in the fog is a bridge. A George Washington Bridge spanning the Hudson River. It's partly cloudy, 58 degrees, cool in New York City. Later on today partly cloudy, the high going up to 69. It is Rob Marciano who was telling us a couple of minutes ago, warmer temperatures just ahead for New York City and the rest of the Northeast.
Welcome back to the Most News In The Morning. Former President Bill Clinton has got a new job. It doesn't pay a whole lot. And all he has to do is resurrect a nation. Our senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth explains.
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RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For eight years, Bill Clinton arrived at the U.N. as president of the United States. Now, he will be paid $1 a year as the U.N.'s special envoy to Haiti.
BILL CLINTON, FOMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I saw some reports in the Haitian press speculating that this $1a year job I took was somehow an imperialist plot to take over Haiti. All I want to do is help the Haitians take over control of their own destiny. It's all I have ever wanted for Haiti.
ROTH: When Clinton was president in 1994, he used the threat of military force to convince a military government to make way for civilian rule. Seventy percent of the people on the island are now unemployed. Clinton will be urging countries who have pledged $250 million in additional aid to follow through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He knows the country. He loves the people. They love him.
ROTH: The former president and the U.N. Secretary General toured Haiti in March, months after Hurricane Gustav left the already impoverish island nation with more than 800,000 people homeless.
CLINTON: Haiti notwithstanding, the total devastation wreaked by the four storms last year has the best chance to escape the darker aspects of its history in the 35 years I have been going there.
ROTH: U.N. peacekeepers have provided relative political stability in Haiti, the U.N.'s new envoy feels there is a window of opportunity to finally make progress in Haiti, the western hemisphere's poorest country.
CLINTON: I will not be able to. under my general agreement, personally lobby the State Department for more money, but since the Secretary of State has been going to Haiti as long as I have, I presume that I don't need to say much.
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ROTH: Haiti has received promises before. The country's foreign minister used a Haitian expression to describe their new U.N. envoy, the helping hand. In this case, a strong one lightens the load.
Richard Roth CNN, United Nations.
ROBERTS: And we're crossing the top of the hour now. It is 8:00 Eastern on this Tuesday, the sixteenth of June. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Roberts.
