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American Morning
House Dems: CIA Misled Congress; G-8 Trip Overshadowed by Economy; Pickens Scraps Large Wind Farm; High Rise Inferno; Michael Jackson's Final Years
Aired July 09, 2009 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And good morning, once again. We're so glad you're with us on this Thursday, July 9th. I'm Kiran Chetry. We have Joe Johns with us, in for John Roberts. Great to have you with us, as well.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Having a good time so far. Plenty of coffee.
CHETRY: Plenty of coffee. You learn that one.
Well, here's what's on the morning agenda. These are the stories that we're going to be breaking down for you in the next 15 minutes.
It's the letter that has everyone talking this morning in Washington. Seven house democrats saying that the CIA has been misleading congress and keeping information from lawmakers for eight years. But isn't the nation's top spy agency supposed to keep some things secret? We're live in Washington with more on that.
JOHNS: President Obama and other world leaders focusing on global warming today at the G-8 summit in Italy. But the issue being overshadowed by heated debate back home about the economy and whether the president's stimulus plan is really working. Our Ed Henry is live with the latest just ahead.
CHETRY: Well, for firefighters, the most brutal blazes to battle are in high-rises and for the first time since the September 11th terror attacks, New York has a simulator that puts firefighters in there with the wall of fire. It's the only one of its kind. You've never seen fire training like this and we're going to take you there.
We start though this morning with new allegations surfacing on Capitol Hill. In a letter that was just made public, seven house democrats say that CIA director Leon Panetta admitted in testimony that his agency has been concealing information and misleading lawmakers since 2001.
Our Brianna Keilar is tracking the latest developments live from Capitol Hill.
So break down for us what was in this letter, and what they're claiming it has been going on within that agency.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I certainly will, Kiran. But really this story starts in mid-May when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused the CIA of misleading her and other members of Congress in a 2002 Intel briefing about harsh interrogation tactics that were being used on terrorism detainees. Interrogation tactics like water boarding.
At that time, CIA director Leon Panetta issued a strong statement saying it wasn't the policy or the practice of the CIA to mislead Congress. Well now fast forward to about two weeks ago, June 24th, CIA Director Panetta came up here to The Hill, he testified before members of the House Intel Committee and actually told them that he -- that the CIA had been misleading members of Congress since 2001. So for the last eight years, and because of that, this is the letter that went out a couple days later newly released from members of the House Intel Committee saying in part recently -- this is to Leon Panetta.
"Recently you testified that you have determined that top CIA officials have concealed significant actions from Congress from 2001 to this week."
So now, Kiran, you have these members of the House Intel Committee asking CIA Director Panetta to correct the record, to correct that statement. He said that the CIA does not mislead members of Congress, Kiran.
CHETRY: And what about the information? Do we know or will we ever know what the CIA allegedly misled Congress about?
KEILAR: No, we don't know, and it's very possible we're not going to know any time soon because it's classified. We've got a lot of people being careful about what they say about that, Kiran.
CHETRY: Right. And this all comes under the backdrop right now of Congress getting set to vote on an intelligence measure.
KEILAR: That's right. Today, the House will vote on the Intel Spending Bill. There's actually a provision in this bill that would expand the number of members of Congress who get these secret briefings like the one House speaker Nancy Pelosi got in 2002.
This is something that some key Democrats really support. They want more people to be briefed in these Intel briefings. But at the same time, the Obama administration, Kiran, has offered or has issued a veto threat on this just because of that provision.
CHETRY: All right. Brianna Keilar for us following all the developments of this complicated story. And I'm sure we'll be learning more details today as well.
Thanks so much.
JOE JOHNS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the president is at the G-8 Summit in Italy. His stimulus plan is under fire on Capitol Hill. Republicans tore into Robert Nabors, the president's deputy budget director over how many jobs have been created and how many haven't.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you justify saying that you're slowing the freefall?
ROBERT NABORS, DEPUTY BUDGET DIRECTOR: Well, I think that what we would do is we would look back at the job loss that we saw in the first quarter, which was approaching 700,000 a month, and look at where we are right now. We're not happy with the job loss that we're seeing right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I know you're not happy. We're not happy either. But the projections that the administration put forward in what would happen and not happen if we did or didn't do the stimulus are dramatic. They're unacceptable.
NABORS: We believe that the job loss is unacceptable, as well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the president is quoted as saying that the stimulus is, quote, "done its job."
Is that true or not true?
NABORS: We believe that the stimulus has had the impact that we had predicted, which is job creation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNS: And in a brand new CNN Opinion Research Corporation Poll, the number of Americans who say the president has a clear plan now at 53 percent. That's down 11 percent from February.
Meantime at today's G-8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy, the president is trying to balance a discussion about global warming and the debate back home over a stimulus plan.
Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry is live at the G-8.
Ed, even though he's overseas, the White House, where explosive debate getting over the stimulus.
Is this getting back -- is this getting to the president over there?
ED HENRY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Joe. White House officials acutely aware that it's not just Republicans leveling criticism about the stimulus not working fast enough. Other some top Democrats doing that and now suggesting, as well, that maybe there needs to be a second stimulus package to get the economy going. That's one reason why the president even here in Italy is making sure the financial crisis is at the top of the agenda.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY (voice-over): President Obama may be in Italy for his first G-8 Summit, but he's trying to stay focused on a pressing concern back home -- the still ailing U.S. economy.
Mr. Obama quickly joined the other leading industrialized nations in reaffirming their commitment to restoring growth in global markets, and he's vowing to help tighten financial regulations.
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We discussed the importance of Europe and the United States raising standards on financial institutions to insure that a crisis like the one that's taken place will never happen again.
HENRY: The president is also trying to move aggressively to deal with another potential crisis -- climate change. He helped lead the group to support a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions among developed countries, an 80 percent cut by 2050.
MIKE FROMAN, DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISER: This is a significant step forward in that the G-8 -- this is the first time the G-8 has published this sort of data on where countries are with regard to their prior commitments.
HENRY: But the declaration has no enforcement mechanisms, though White House officials hope it provides momentum for real change.
The president also wants to use the G-8 to gain momentum for his effort to stop Iran and North Korea from obtaining nuclear weapons.
OBAMA: It's very important for the world community to speak to countries like Iran and North Korea and encourage them to take a path that does not result in a nuclear arms race in places like the Middle East.
HENRY: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi moved the summit to the city of L'Aquila to highlight devastation from an April earthquake. People still living without homes here are playing off Mr. Obama's campaign slogan, "Yes, we can," by telling the world, yes, we camp.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HENRY: Now, Mr. Obama met this morning with President Lula of Brazil, one of the key developing countries, not signing on to these greenhouse gas cuts, making the climate change declaration by the G-8 leaders not worth very much in the minds of environmentalists -- Joe.
JOHNS: Ed Henry, thanks so much at the G-8.
CHETRY: Other stories this morning, journalist Lisa Ling is breathing a sigh of relief this morning after she had a chance to speak with her sister, Laura, who's being held as a prisoner in North Korea. Here's what she told CNN affiliate KOVR about their phone conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LISA LING, LAURA LING'S SISTER: It was a tremendous relief to hear Laura's voice last night. It's only -- it was only the first time I've heard her voice in weeks. And so for the last two weeks, we were just going day and -- day -- you know, long days just without hearing anything. And that silence has just been so terrifying and deafening. Without actually seeing her and without -- people actually seeing her physically, it's very difficult to tell. But she was very specific about the message that she was communicating and she said, look, you know, we violated North Korean law and we need our government to help us. You know, we are sorry for everything that has happened but now we need diplomacy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: Laura Ling and Euna Lee both reporters for Current TV were sentenced last month to 12 years hard labor in North Korea for entering in a country illegally, and, quote, "hostile acts."
Well, a second wave of cyber attacks targeting Web sites in South Korea this morning. Officials say that seven sites are under attack. It comes after hackers bombarded government Web site in South Korea as well as here in the United States over the July 4th weekend. There's speculation that the North Koreans are behind the coordinated computer attacks.
The head of the Federal Protective Service speaking out after an investigation uncovered a lack of security at 10 federal buildings. It's a story we first told you about yesterday on AMERICAN MORNING.
Gary Schenkel saying, quote, "I take full responsibility. I'm the director of the organization."
Undercover investigators managed to successfully sneak bomb- making materials into federal buildings every time they attempted to do that.
Well, still ahead, we're going to be speaking with oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens. He had a very, very ambitious plan to build wind farms and help reduce our dependence as a nation on gas. And now that plan has hit a bit of a snag. He's going to be joining us to talk more about why.
It's nine minutes past the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: It's 11 1/2 minutes past the hour. Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
T. Boone Pickens made billions of dollars investing in oil. Last year, he unveiled what he called the Pickens Plan and, about face, decided to heavily invest in the world's biggest wind farm. But he also says that those plans have changed partly because of the economy. Joining me now to talk about it is T. Boone Pickens.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
T. BOONE PICKENS, FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, BP CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: Good morning, Kiran.
CHETRY: I want to ask about this because we talked to you a year ago, when you rolled out the Pickens plan. This was to construct the world's biggest wind farm. It would have been in a place called Pampa, Texas. And now you're shelving those plans and you're trying to find a new location for those wind turbines. I believe more than 600 of them that you had already ordered.
What happened?
PICKENS: Well, my garage wasn't big enough to slip the turbines in. No, I don't get the turbines until 2011. And we don't get the transmission until 2013. So what we'll do is we'll move those turbines out to other projects. Then 2013, we'll be back on the Pampa project again. So all it is it's been postponed a couple of years is what's happened.
CHETRY: Did you run into resistance on dealing with local and state governments as you tried to get, you know, approval for this and the land to put it in different places around the area?
PICKENS: That's done. I mean, the people want it and we're going to do it. It's the way it's going to work, but it's going to take us a little bit longer to get the project going because of transmission. But it's -- it's a go project.
CHETRY: So this is still taking place.
PICKENS: Oh, sure, yes.
CHETRY: It's still happening.
What about the area in Pampa. When you say there's a transmission or there's a delay in transmission, what does that mean?
PICKENS: That means that you don't have a place to offload your power to. So you need a transmission system -- lines to be able to move the power down state. And so that line will be in '13.
But, you know, the biggest part of the Pickens Plan -- can we go to that?
CHETRY: Yes.
PICKENS: OK, was the natural gas to replace foreign oil, and that is working very, very well. That's in the House Bill 1835, which is born Sullivan and Larson. They've authored. And that came out about six weeks ago.
Yesterday was a bit huge day in Washington. And that bill, from the Senate side is 1408 is bill number. Those two bills will come together and that will be the way that -- that's authored by Senator Menendez from New Jersey and Senator Hatch from Utah.
So, that's going to -- that is big for this kind.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: This is -- people are not familiar with what we're saying. Basically, what you would be doing is shifting what powers some of our vehicles to natural gas, freeing up -- freeing up having to use oil and petroleum for that. These wind farms would then take the place of what natural gas is being used for.
PICKENS: We have so much natural gas, we can power, you know, the power generation. We can do that, and it will pickoff wind. For wind to blow all the time, you need something to pick it and be able to generate power when wind is still. And that all will happen.
But also, we have so much natural gas, we can replace foreign oil. And natural gas is a fantastic fuel. It's cleaner, it's cheaper, it's abundant, and it's ours.
CHETRY: The other question -- and, you know, you bring up a lot of good points in this -- is that does the public will for this stuff to happen sort of fade or tamp down as gas prices ebb and flow?
Right now, we're at $2.58. It's dropped for 18 straight days. When I had you on last year at this time, we were at $4.11 a gallon. And so, it sort falls off the radar with people because they're not paying as much for gas.
PICKENS: What you're saying is I'm more popular when gas prices are high.
CHETRY: Yes, lately.
PICKENS: That is a point. But, remember, when -- last year at the same time we were importing almost 70 percent of our oil. Where are we today? We're importing almost 70 percent of our oil.
CHETRY: Right.
PICKENS: OK. What my issue is security. Security from a country when you are buying 70 percent of your oil and a great part of that is coming from people that do not like you and in some cases your enemies. That is what I'm trying to fix -- is a security issue. That did not change. It's just the pain is not as great today as it was a year ago.
CHETRY: Right.
PICKENS: But we have made huge progress on the Pickens Plan. Somebody asked me the other day, what is it? Is it -- on a ten, what is it? I said it's a ten.
CHETRY: All right. So, when will we see wind power having a profound effect on our energy here in the U.S.?
PICKENS: Wind, it's having a profound effect. The largest increase of wind energy came in the United States last year. You'll never have in America any more than 25 percent of your power being generated by wind and solar.
So these are not going to replace other power, and people who think they are, are not being realistic about it. You're going to have to have some coal, you're going to have to have natural gas to pick wind and then put the renewables in and put them altogether. That's the way it works.
We're going to have a system in America we're going to be proud of. We're going to have a 21st century grid and we're going to have our trucks first will run on natural gas.
CHETRY: All right. Well, good luck with the project. You say it's still a go. Just going to take a little bit longer than originally hoped.
PICKENS: We're going to get it done, but I'm in a hurry because of my age.
CHETRY: You will -- you will be around. I can pretty much guarantee that. It was so great to have you on the show. Thanks for being with us this morning.
PICKENS: Thanks. Sure.
CHETRY: Joe?
JOHNS: Kiran, coming up, it was one of the lessons of September 11th, 2001. Getting training for firefighters inside high-rise buildings while those buildings are burning. We'll be right back with that report and some pretty good pictures.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Live picture right now. Some low hanging clouds over New York City. I walked in here early this morning, it was nice and warm, but doesn't look so good at this point, cloudy, 66. Later, partly cloudy, 74 in the "Big Apple."
How can you possibly train for a wall of fire?
For firefighters, battling a high-rise blaze, the only way is on the job, right? Not anymore. Deb Feyerick who is with us right now and -- brace yourself, I saw some of these pictures and they're pretty impressive.
DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They are absolutely. You know, firefighters will tell you that one of the most dangerous places to fight is the high-rise fire. So in a city known for its skyscrapers, it is hard to believe that up until now the only realistic high-rise training for New York City firefighters was a real fire. Well, not any more. We were given an inside look as the FDNY showed us their newest training tool, and check out the victim.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have a fire at 42nd floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) command, we have the door forced. We have it under control.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How is the pressure looking?
FEYERICK (voice over): Imagine a fire breaks out on the 42nd floor of a New York City high-rise building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Got a victim on the fourth floor.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 10th floor. Ladder 11 roof.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Preparing to start a rooftop rescue.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down, down. Down.
FEYERICK: Like me, you find yourself balancing on a window ledge waiting to be rescued.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can put your arms around my shoulders and I'm going to grab you around the waist.
FEYERICK: Yes, it's a drill, but for New York City firefighters, it's the closest thing to actual game time.
The chief of department, Salvatore Cassano...
CHIEF SALVATORE CASSANO, FDNY: Right after September 11th, we realized how difficult it is to fight a high-rise fire. You have to have that pressure on. You have to have that build-up of anxiety so that you know how you're going to operate in emergency situations.
FEYERICK (on camera): Wind-driven fires in high-rise buildings can be especially hard to fight. That's because the temperatures of these flames can reach 3,000 degrees.
(voice over): The four-story training facility is the first of its kind in the nation.
DENIS LEARY, ACTOR: When I first heard that they didn't have a high-rise simulator in New York, I was astounded.
FEYERICK: Actor Denis Leary plays a firefighter in his FX series "Rescue Me."
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to thank you for the -- building one.
FEYERICK: His foundation largely paid for the high-tech $4.2 million high-rise simulator.
LEARY: Real smoke, real flame that you can experience. No joke. The moment that you run into a real fire, there's a mixture of panic and pure courage. I mean, there's no other way to say it.
FEYERICK: The kind of courage also needed to rescue people trapped in what would normally be dark, airless elevator shafts.
LT. SEAN GENOVESE, FDNY: This gives us a little bit more freedom to experiment the different problems that would arise.
FEYERICK: Or scale a building.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With 100 stories, we'll just drop two stories and then break the window below and we'll hook the rope and we'll bring them in that window then.
NICHOLAS SCOPPETTA, FDNY COMMISSIONER: We've got thousands of high-rise buildings in New York City. So this turns out to be an enormously vital tool.
FEYERICK (on camera): The drill that we just did, have you done that before separately?
CHRISTOPHER BAMBURY, FDNY FIREFIGHTER: Not in the real time -- real work time, but, yes, we're ready for it if we have to do it.
CASSANO: The way you train is the way you fight. We train very well and we fight fires very well.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nice job, everybody, thank you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FEYERICK: Not only the high-rise simulator, the FDNY now trains for every possible disaster.
And the fire academy looks a lot like a Hollywood set with the streets, a burnt out bus, even a subway platform with real subway cars. The new building allows as many as 15 fire companies to train every day practicing a coordinated response. And fire chiefs tell us it is making a huge difference.
JOHNS: A little scary coming down that window, wasn't it?
FEYERICK: Sitting in the window, yes, it was very difficult to let go of the frame. But then you had this firefighter just give you the confidence you needed, and you just go right down.
JOHNS: Yes. You have to have courage to save yourself. That's what it looks like.
FEYERICK: Absolutely. And nobody got hurt.
JOHNS: Right. And great.
Deb Feyerick, thanks so much.
For more of our interview with Denis Leary, check out our blog. You can find it on CNN.com/amfix.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: Right now, there are some new developments in the Michael Jackson investigation. Sources telling CNN that the singer's long-time dermatologist, Dr. Arnie Klein, is on the list of doctors being investigated. Klein spoke to CNN's Larry King last night about Jackson's suspected drug use.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LARRY KING, HOST, "LARRY KING LIVE": Did Michael tell you he used Diprivan?
DR. ARNIE KLEIN, JACKSON'S DERMATOLOGIST & FRIEND: I knew at one point that he was using Diprivan when he was on tour in Germany, and so he was using it with an anesthesiologist to go to sleep at night. I told him he was absolutely insane. I said you have to understand that this drug you can't repeatedly take. That's what happens with narcotics no matter what you do, you build a tolerance to them.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: And in a story you'll only see on CNN, we're also uncovering new details about the lengths that Michael Jackson's family went to, to break his reported drug addiction.
Here's CNN's Special Investigations Unit correspondent Drew Griffin.
DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS UNIT CORRESPONDENT: Joe and Kiran, it was 2007, that was two years after Michael Jackson's trial for child molestation in California. The jury acquitting him, but he was scarred. He all but disappeared, first going to Bahrain for a kind of self-imposed exile and then briefly to Ireland. We're told he was happier, but that his career was going nowhere.
But this was a period when he rarely saw his family. And sources tell us Michael Jackson became fixated with music superstar Celine Dion and that permanent show she was starring in in Las Vegas. Jackson thought that kind of show might be his path back to show business, so he moved to Vegas.
In early 2007, he was believed to be living in this large rented home. Two sources close to the family say Janet Jackson, who had seen little of her brother in recent years, visited him there and was shocked. We're told the house was nearly barren of furniture and creepy looking, according to one source. But it was the sight of an extremely thin, disheveled Michael Jackson that frightened Janet.
And that brings us up to the NBA All-Star weekend in February in Las Vegas. Janet Jackson there with two of her brothers. She asked those brothers to go back with her to Michael Jackson's house trying to convince Michael to get help.
Reportedly, Michael ordered his new security guards not to let them in. We've also learned that Michael Jackson at that time was refusing to take calls from his own mother Katherine Jackson, who had been repeatedly pleading with her son to get help.
Now all through this time, the family had been concerned and, according to both our sources, Michael Jackson would simply refuse to see anybody who tried to stop him from using drugs. One source saying that if you tried to deal with him, he would shut you out. You just wouldn't hear from him for long periods of time. Another source was telling us the family was concerned for a long time, but it was Janet now who tried to force the issue two years ago.
We must tell you that back in 2007, "People" magazine did report about an alleged Jackson family intervention. The Jackson family denied it, releasing this statement, which said in part, "We categorically deny ever planning, participating in, or having knowledge of any kind of intervention, whatsoever."
Now, that statement was signed by members of the Jackson family, but not signed by Janet Jackson.
Joe and Kiran?
CHETRY: All right. Drew Griffin for us, looking into that, thanks.
JOHNS: Checking our top stories. Deadly bombings across Iraq and Afghanistan this morning. At least 41 people are dead in Iraq after deadly blasts in Tal Afar and Baghdad.
And just outside Kabul, Afghanistan, a truck bombing killed at least 25 people.
CHETRY: In Iran, opposition leaders were calling for new demonstrations in Tehran and other cities to protest the disputed presidential election there. These are pictures that you're looking at from protests that happened Sunday, shot on amateur video.
A top Iranian official is warning security forces will, quote, "smash" any protest attempts. Today also marks the 10th anniversary of a protest by students that led to a bloody government crackdown there.
JOHNS: And the White House is putting all 50 states on alert this morning. A swine flu summit in Washington is working to make sure we're ready if the H1N1 flu comes back full force later this year. The CDC confirms the virus has killed at least 170 people here in the U.S.
And this morning, a bombshell claimed by House democrats. In a letter they say CIA director Leon Panetta recently testified that the agency concealed information and misled members of Congress for the past eight years.
Joining me now to talk about this, Mike Allen, chief political correspondent for the Politico.
Mike, thanks for coming in.
MIKE ALLEN, CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "POLITICO": Good morning, Joe.
JOHNS: So, what's your take on this? You've been talking to sources? This is something that sort of hit us this morning. ALLEN: It is a surprise. And it revives an issue that the White House and the House Speaker Nancy Pelosi don't need right now. What happened is the CIA is trying to clean up its act, to go back and be sure that Congress is being briefed on everything that it should be. Over briefed even because of the complaints that have come up and because of lapses they believe occurred during the Bush administration.
So what you had here was the CIA director Leon Panetta who we remember from when he was a democratic member of the house, when he was the White House chief of staff under President Clinton coming to the Congress and saying, look, yesterday, this was in late June - yesterday, I learned about a program that had been going on, a covert program that you should have known about it. It had gone on for at least eight years. It went on into the Obama administration. We're not sure if it's still going on. And so here's the info about it.
It became public because these seven members, most of them liberal went public, posted a letter on their website. But, Nancy Pelosi had had a problem with her complaints about the CIA. She weathered that storm, and now she's having, Joe, as you know, her weekly press conference coming up here in a couple of hours, and now she's going to be asked about a topic she doesn't want to be asked about.
JOHNS: And the thing that's very complicated on these intelligence issues is you never can really get to the bottom of it because you can't get anybody to give you a full briefing, right?
ALLEN: That's right. I mean, it's clearly a fascinating program. They said it was significant or they wouldn't have gone public with it, gone on for at least nine years. The CIA director within 24 hours, went up to Congress when he learned about it. So it's juicy, no doubt, hopefully we'll find out before the next Bob Woodward book.
JOHNS: Well, that's a lot of detail. The next question though is, OK, so Panetta says he knows that the CIA was doing some misleading here.
What if anything at the end of the day is he likely to do about it?
ALLEN: Oh, I mean, if somebody actively misled, of course that could be investigated and it could lead to prosecutions. It sounds like this was largely a matter of omission. And I was joking there a little bit about Bob Woodward, but I should make clear there are a lot of these programs that we should not know about it. There is no reason that we should know about it, that the public should know about it. Clearly, it will be interesting if it comes out.
But there's a reason that our system is built so that Congress is looped in on these. Congress now is trying to expand the number of people who are briefed on some of these just because of the questions that have come up, the White House is resisting that. Keeping it to the smaller circle. So the public by and large is going to side with the CIA in this. It doesn't look good for a democratic White House, a democratic Congress to be picking this fight. Democrats have been looking strong on national security, they want to stay there. So this is an issue that this president will want to put to bed as quickly as possible. It doesn't help him and it certainly doesn't help the democratic leadership on Capitol Hill.
JOHNS: Mike Allen, chief White House correspondent for "Politico."
Thanks so much for that reporting this morning.
ALLEN: Have a great day, Joe.
JOHNS: You bet. It is 34 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
CHETRY: Well, these are some of our top videos right now on cnn.com. Researchers at the University of Miami are using teeth to help people see again. Wow, this is unbelievable. They're taking tissue from inside a tooth to repair damaged corneas. The procedure's already been successful in Europe and Asia. It would be a first for doctors here in the U.S.
This Kansas teen was fed up with last summer's high gas prices, so he decided to do something about it. So he built himself an electric car. He says he used plans from the internet and replaced his car's engine with an electronic forklift motor.
And finally a slippery situation in Turkey here at the annual oil wrestling festival. Wow, simply put a bunch of men, they get together, they drench each other in olive oil and they try to pin each other to the ground. Well, this would be better if they weren't wearing jeans, not - no, I'm serious because it would be much harder clearly to hold on to each other. It would make the competition, you know, much more difficult. Because right now you can just grab the guy by the seat of his pants.
JOHNS: Well, maybe like a sumo wrestling outfit.
CHETRY: Yes. Well, that would be problematic too. That is the oldest wrestling festival in the world, by the way. I didn't know we kept stats on that but anyway, olive oil, though, fabulous for the skin.
JOHNS: Yes, absolutely.
CHETRY: It absorbs right in. Wonderful.
JOHNS: Yes, a lot better than sun block.
CHETRY: Well, you should use sun block too. Sanjay's going to come up here and kick your butt if you don't.
Well, deep in the middle of a recession, there is a boom town rising, and to find it you have to go 80 miles from Atlanta to West Point, Georgia. So why West Point? Well, there's a thriving auto industry there. And in our special series "Money & Main Street," Alina Cho found out why.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALINA CHO, CNN, CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In the heart of the south, the face of tiny West Point, Georgia is literally changing. The old Pizza Hut is a Korean barbecue, the old KFC, Young's Garden. Jobs once scarce are finally returning.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just like Christmas time. It's like Christmas.
CHO: Christmas in the middle of a recession? In West Point, yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We jokingly call it Kiaville.
CHO: Kia, the Korean car company is about to open a sprawling manufacturing plant. Thanks to $400 billion in tax breaks. Even in the midst of a recession, the company will hire 2,500 new workers, add suppliers and new businesses, and the mayor says West Point's population 3,500 stands to gain 20,000 jobs over the next five years. Divine intervention.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The economic activity here is incredible. The trickle down effect in the local economy has been staggering.
CHO: Remarkable for a city that was slowly becoming a ghost town. Textile mills that once defined West Point shut down in the 1990s, leaving many out of work, including 52-year-old Margaret McMannis(ph), laid off last year, now working again at one of Kia's suppliers.
(on camera): Did you ever think you would be making car parts?
MARGARET MCMANNIS: No, not at all.
CHO: Not in a million years
MCMANNIS: No.
CHO (voice-over): New construction is everywhere. At Roger's Barbecue, business is booming.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, we can get them in here one time, we can get them back. And they're coming back, and they're enjoying it.
CHO: Malcolm Malone's car wash business is up 70 percent, and down the street at Irish Bread Pub, Ruth Anne Williams invested her life savings in the business, it's paying off. RUTH ANNE WILLIAMS, IRISH BREAD PUB: I came here because of Kia. I wanted to come down to this area because of Kia. We have jumped in with both feet and we have not looked back one time.
CHO: So how is this tiny rural community adapting to the new Asian infusion?
(on camera): Does West Point feel more like a melting pot now?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, you've got the culture coming in. You don't have to travel to Atlanta anymore.
CHO (voice-over): From mill town to manufacturing Mecca, a bright spot in an otherwise gray economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CHO: In fact, the mayor of West Point native son says old friends are actually starting to call him again, inquiring about moving back home. Kia, in the meantime, has already gotten 43,000 applications for just 2,500 jobs and we're told that some of those applications are coming from auto workers from around the country, including, guys, Detroit. Joe and Kiran?
CHETRY: Alina Cho for us, thanks. And for more stories on how people are thriving in a rough economy, watch "Money & Main Street" tonight 8:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
JOHNS: Brand new information this morning on the shooting death of former NFL quarterback Steve "Air" McNair. Police in Nashville are now officially calling it a murder-suicide. And now the circumstances of his death are leaving fans with mixed emotions. Here's our David Mattingly.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): NFL quarterback Steve McNair was behind one of the biggest moments in Super Bowl history falling just a few yards short of taking the Tennessee Titans to victory in 2000. And nine years later, fans in Nashville still loved him, knowing him to be generous and approachable in public. But in private, McNair was taking a serious and unexpected risk.
A married man with children, McNair was seeing 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi. These pictures of the couple snapped recently by TMZ. Her family said the relationship had been going for more than five months and that she was confident McNair was divorcing his wife and they would soon live together. But early Saturday, that ended with this 911 call from a friend of McNair's.
OPERATOR: Tell me what happened?
CALLER: I have no idea, sir.
OPERATOR: OK.
CALLER: I received a phone call that there were injured parties inside this apartment.
OPERATOR: Is it male or female?
CALLER: Two, there are two people.
MATTINGLY (on camera): That call came from this condo in a building not too far away from Titan's Stadium. Police arrived to find the couple dead. McNair had had been shot twice in the head and twice in the chest. Police now say it was a clear case of murder- suicide and that McNair may have been asleep and did not know it was coming.
(voice-over): Police described Kazemi as a young woman in turmoil, reeling from financial pressures, complaining to her friends that her personal life was a mess and that she should end it. Early Thursday morning, she was arrested for DUI. That evening, police say she bought a nine-millimeter handgun.
CHIEF RONAL SEPAS, METRO NASHVILLE POLICE: We also have reason to believe that Kazemi recently learned before this day that she believed McNair was involved with another woman and that, too, participated in her state of mind, we think.
MATTINGLY: Nashville Police say they share their findings with Mrs. McNair. They did not know if she was aware of the relationship. This kind of image of McNair saddens fans who gather at the Titans' home stadium where they knew him as a competitor and philanthropist. He spoke of his family at his retirement.
STEVE MCNAIR: This is the blessing that now that I'm fortunate to walk away from this game on my own two feet. And to realize that family is very important.
MATTINGLY: That was just 16 months ago.
Former NFL running back Eddie George tells me the man who was murdered was not the Steve McNair that he had known since 1996.
EDDIE GEORGE, FMR. NFL RUNNING BACK: Underneath it all, he was in search of filling a void.
MATTINGLY: George believes his old friend was having a crisis of his own, maybe struggling with life after football.
GEORGE: What people fail to realize is that when you make a transition away from the game, emotionally, physically, mentally, spiritually, you go through something. You change. And you're constantly searching for something.
MATTINGLY: And in Nashville, fans now search for ways to celebrate the life of a star athlete who brought them many fond memories while mourning his scandalous death. David Mattingly, CNN, Nashville. (END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CONAN O'BRIEN, HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH CONAN O'BRIEN": Less than a week after returning from his suspension for using female fertility drugs, Manny Ramirez was ejected for arguing with the umpire. Ejected. Yes. When asked about it many said the argument started when he forgot my birthday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHETRY: You liked that one, didn't you?
JOHNS: Yes, I wonder if he asked him if he asked him if he was fat.
CHETRY: Does this uniform make me look fat?
JOHNS: You look fantastic.
CHETRY: Welcome back to the most news in the morning. Our own Dr. Gupta is about to hit a milestone, did you know this? Sanjay is just four months away from his 40th birthday. Wow.
JOHNS: Is that all?
CHETRY: And to celebrate, he's getting in the best shape of his life and he wants everyone else to join him. No more me and you saying people our age, OK. Because that's over now. You hit the big 4-0. I'm going to start saying what was it like back when dot, dot, dot.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kiran, have you turned 30 yet? Come on, now.
CHETRY: I love you, Sanjay.
Well, no, a lot of people, though, are already sending you tweets, they're asking for advice. And in today's mailbag, our first viewer asks, what sort of activities do you recommend for shedding weight around the middle. I'm a 40-year-old female. And a lot of people will tell you as you get older, it gets harder and harder to stay in shape.
GUPTA: Right and let me just say, for the record, it's not necessarily a celebration because it's obviously a lot of work to get in shape. But I think, you know, it's one of those important things that you can look at yourself in certain points in your life and say it is time to do this. A switch goes off, so for our first tweeterer, I would say first of all belly fat is one of these things that we talked about all the time. It is metabolically active fat, it's important to get rid off because it raises your risk of heart disease, stroke, even some types of cancer. Now we talk a lot about the various things you can do. A couple of things to keep in mind. Moderate consistent exercise seems to be best as far as exercise goes. You're not going to see differences early on because you're usually targeting deep fat, at least early on. If you get - if you start to get rid of the fat but you really are starting to go for low body fat overall, you really got to look at diet more than anything else. People who are trying to get rid of the little bit of the spare tire, diet is going to be the key here. It's not simply getting rid of fat in the diet, though it's getting rid of the wrong types of fat.
So adding monounsaturated fats almost with every meal, makes a huge difference. We're talking about things like olive oil, nuts and seeds. Those types of things. Eat a little bit of that, it'll make you feel full. It will make you eat less of the bad fat as well but it is a process, it takes months, good luck to you.
CHETRY: Yes, and the other thing too, and people might not know this about you guys, but you've decided also not to keep meat in your house, right? You guys really talked about the importance of a plant- based diet. You may eat some meat when you're out, but you know, for a lot of people who think they can still down the cheeseburgers all the time and eat a lot of meat. Why does it make a difference as you get older to start watching that?
GUPTA: Well, first of all, you're absolutely right. We had a discussion, my wife and I, we said, you know, so we're not going to keep meat in the house, it doesn't mean we don't eat meat. We'll only eat it when we're out sometimes and that was sort of a moderation that we came up with. It tends to get harder to burn those calories, especially specific types of calories as you get older. Your metabolic activity tends to change. If you do nothing different from this day forward, you eat the same, you exercise the same, you will still likely gain about two pounds a year, 20 years later you're 40 pounds heavier. You can do the math so you need to do more even more as you get older in terms of diet and exercise.
CHETRY: I know, I joked at my husband, I told him that you did that, and he said if we did that, honey, the only thing we'd have in our house is a jar of mayonnaise.
GUPTA: The wrong kind of fat.
CHETRY: Well, you can also follow Sanjay's four months to fitness. This is an initiative that you're going. I'm going to check it out because we could all use a little bit of help here.
GUPTA: You look great, Kiran, I appreciate that. Thanks.
CHETRY: Still got to worry about keeping up the muscle mass especially when you're a female and you're getting a little older. But also there are two ways you can do it. You can follow Sanjay on twitter. That's Sanjay Gupta CNN or you can read more on our show blog cnn.com/amfix.
Good luck, happy birthday, and by the way, you've accomplished more in your 40 years than most of us will ever do in our whole lives. So rock on, Sanjay.
GUPTA: Thanks a lot, Kiran. Appreciate it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(MUSIC PLAYING)
JOHNS: Still cloudy and overcast out there. Right now in New York City, 67 degrees, partly cloudy, that looks more than partly to me. Later today, going up to a high of 74 degrees, and this is just not quite beach weather for early July, I would say. I don't think I'm putting on the shorts any time soon.
CHETRY: You have one right now under the desk.
JOHNS: Stop it.
CHETRY: Teasing.
JOHNS: Don't tell my secret.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't want to know about that.
CHETRY: I know, still look downward, Richard.
Well, you know, few American teenagers would rank cricket among their favorite sports. It's widely popular in much of the world. And now it may be catching on here at home. Richard Roth here with your -
ROTH: Wicket fads, whatever. I walk softly and carry a big wicket. I walk softly and carry a big stick. As New York's - by the way, as New York's famed melting pot of global populations gets even thicker, the city tries new ways to reach out and keep everyone cool under the hot summer sun. That means bowlers, wickets, and googlys (ph).
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH (voice-over): Teammates cheer on the batter, but they're not playing baseball on this New York City field. He is actually a bats man because this is cricket. Many of the teenage players come from the city's Caribbean and South Asian neighborhoods. The New York Police Department started this league in an effort to foster better relations with those immigrant communities, which in the past may have been lacking.
AMIN KOSSIN, DEPUTY INSPECTOR, NYPD: This is the sport they're comfortable with. So we need to be comfortable with it, as well. We want to forge new relationships, we need to show them we're willing to expand our horizons, as well.
ROTH: Now in its second year, the league has expanded to 10 teams and 170 players.
KOSSIN: We provide all of the uniforms, the fields, we put together the schedule and assist the kids if they need to get down here with transportation and they love it.
ROTH: And what happens on the field is having an impact off it
KABISHWAR BRIDGEPAUA, CRICKET PLAYER: I think it makes a big difference. Because once you represent the NYPD league, it makes you think twice of what you're doing, on what you want to do when you're rowdy in the streets and stuff, it will make you think twice.
ROTH: And others hope that the NYPD gains better insight into their community.
GLYNE HURLEY, CRICKET COACH: We are also very happy that the police is involved due to the fact that, perhaps, they will have a different perception and improve relationship between the two.
ROTH: Cricket has been called a gentleman's sport, but it hasn't stopped girls from participating.
LOWATTI CHOWRIE, CRICKET PLAYER: Oh my friends, they think it's pretty cool. And being the only girl, they cheer all the time for me. And even my little sister, she thinks it's pretty cool playing with all of the guys.
ROTH: And league members believe this is just the beginning for cricket in America.
NIGEL THOMPSON, CRICKET COACH: I think it'll be a while before we turn it to ESPN and are deciding should I watch baseball or cricket? Basketball or cricket? It might be a little while, but this is where it starts.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROTH: Cricket is not a sport played at the Olympics. Cricket lovers are trying to change all that. They may want to bring this into a meeting to see if they persuade people. Kiran?
CHETRY: It's fascinating, though, you say that the games can be all day games, go on several days.
ROTH: They can go several days. There's a shorter version that the leagues play in New York called the 20/20 game of about three hours, which is as long as your program.
CHETRY: Yes, as long as our program, and longer than some baseball games, right?
ROTH: That's right, especially American league baseball games.
CHETRY: So let us know if you take up the hobby.
ROTH: I will let you know. Joe, you're welcome to keep the gloves on the rest of the day. You know how the city is in the summer.
CHETRY: You did a great job today, Joe. Richard, thanks so much. We'll give the gloves back. They're for the school.
JOHNS: I want to keep mine.
CHETRY: For the kids, Joe. Thanks so much for being with us this morning. We'll be right back here tomorrow. And you can continue the conversation, by the way, cnn.com/amfix.
JOHNS: And here in "CNN NEWSROOM" with Heidi Collins.
