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American Morning
Air Traffic Controller, Boss Disciplined after Hudson Helicopter Crash Investigation; Michael Vick Returns to the NFL; Blue Dog Democrat Gets Heat on Health Care Reform; Wall Street Rallies; Peep Culture Phenomenon: Are We Too Wired?; Inside the Chemo Closet; Keeping Afghan Voters Safe
Aired August 14, 2009 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Thanks very much for being with us on the Most News in the Morning. It's Friday, it is the 14th of August. I'm John Roberts.
KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Kiran Chetry. Thanks for being with us. You know, we're following several developing stories this morning. We'll be breaking them down for you in the next 15 minutes, including a moment of disaster caught on tape.
There's brand-new home video that for the first time show the mid-air collision of that small plane and a sight-seeing helicopter over New York's Hudson River that killed nine people. You'll see the pictures that NBC obtained plus new questions about two air traffic controllers who were on duty that day.
ROBERTS: A former Falcon, now an Eagle quarterback Michael Vick, who has spent most of the past two years in prison for running a dog fighting ring is back in the NFL. Alina Cho looking at Vick's deal with the Philadelphia Eagles along with reaction from fans and animal rights groups.
CHETRY: Pointed questions and heated tempers from town to town. The health care debate rages on. The road for members of Congress at these town hall meetings that have been taking place. And today, the president steps back into the fray. He's heading to Montana for another meeting on health care reform. Our correspondents are fanned out across the nation tracking every side of the debate.
ROBERTS: We begin this morning with major developments in that deadly mid-air crash over New York's Hudson River. This morning for the first time, we are seeing the very moment of impact. The tragic collision that was caught on home video by an Italian tourist and obtained by NBC News.
The images offer incredible insight into what went wrong. But a warning that some of you will find these images incredibly difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTS: Nine people died in that crash. When you slow down the footage, you can actually see the aircraft attempting to turn and climb at the last second only to clip the helicopter with its right wing. And this morning, nearly a week after the crash, the FAA is taking a very close look at two air traffic controllers on duty that day.
Our Susan Candiotti has been working the story all night, and she joins us now. A couple of people are in some serious trouble here with the FAA?
SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right, John. And one employee wasn't even in the building where he was supposed to be. The other one was on the telephone. And this alleged bad behavior came to light during the NTSB's crash investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CANDIOTTI (voice-over): As investigators studied this amateur video to find out what led to that terrifying mid-air crash over the Hudson, there is more stunning information.
An air traffic controller who is handling the Piper airplane was on the phone with his girlfriend at the time of the crash, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation. What the FAA in a statement calls "inappropriate conversations." And there's more. The FAA says the air traffic controller's supervisor was not in the building at the time as required.
JUSTIN GREENE, AVIATION ATTORNEY: They're put in the tower to do a job. And if they're not doing the job, people can die. And in this case, apparently they weren't doing the job.
CANDIOTTI: Our source says the air traffic controller had already cleared the plane for takeoff from Teterboro airport in New Jersey before talking with his girlfriend. The NTSB says the plane had been handed off electronically to the next tower down the line in Newark and then the plane disappeared from radar.
The FAA calls the conduct of the controller and his boss unacceptable but says, "We have no reason to believe at this time that these actions contributed to the accident."
GREENE: We have somebody missing in action. There's someone else who's not doing their job. So the negligence is there. The only question is whether that negligence had a role in this accident.
The FAA is already saying, well, maybe it didn't. But the FAA stands to lose millions and millions of dollars, or the taxpayers do, if the FAA is wrong.
CANDIOTTI: The FAA says the two employees are now on administrative leave. The investigation is not over. Ultimately, the two could be fired.
(END VIDEOTAPE) CANDIOTTI: And the National Air Traffic Controllers Association supports the investigation to ask but no one rushes to judgment. And, you know, John, these are two employees who have been on the job for a long time.
ROBERTS: And just to make it again very clear, this is something that was discovered during the course of the investigation and not necessarily related to the accident. It could just be coincidental.
CANDIOTTI: That's right. That's what they're saying at this time. Again, the investigation is not over yet.
ROBERTS: Susan Candiotti with the latest on that for us. Susan, thanks so much.
CHETRY: Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps was involved in a car accident in Baltimore last night. Police say that Phelps' SUV collided with another car but that he was not seriously injured. Officers interviewed Phelps at the scene. They also say that alcohol was not believed to be a factor, but the accident is still being investigated. The woman driving the car that Phelps hit was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.
Well, now to a story that's sure to generate plenty of conversation and opinions today. Michael Vick returns to the NFL. The former star quarterback is hoping that his career will soar again as a member of the Philadelphia Eagles. But there were plenty of questions this morning about Vick's new deal and how fans and the animal rights crowd will react.
Alina Cho is working the story for us. It's very interesting when we know that he was reinstated by Roger Goodell saying that he can play if the team picks him up.
ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.
CHETRY: Then people were saying, well, what team is going to pick up Michael Vick. Now, we have our answer.
CHO: Well, 26 teams had actually denied that they were on the list. You know, I think a lot of people thought eventually this would happen eventually. But I think a lot of people are surprised that it happened so soon, you know.
Who could forget that dogfighting conviction in 2007? He served 18 months out of a 23-month prison sentence. But, guys, the big news did come late last night. Michael Vick has signed a two-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles worth a reported $6.8 million.
Now, Vick will report to Philly today. We could see him back on the field in as little as two weeks. Now, Vick's agent had been shopping the former pro bowler to what was said to be a very short list of interested teams. The Eagles had originally denied they were on that list. But last night, the team's head coach said he thought about it for a long time and finally decided to give Vick a shot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY REID, PHILADELPHIA EAGLES HEAD COACH: I also feel that he does deserve a second chance. I felt like he had learned some valuable life lessons here. And he seems very focused. And he wants to get his -- his career back on track. He understands the wrong and he's -- he's out trying to change that and right the wrong.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: Now, Vick is a quarterback, but the Eagles already have a star quarterback in Donovan McNabb (INAUDIBLE) and he's likely not going anywhere. So what will Vick do?
Well, he could see action in preseason games starting August 27th. He is not eligible yet for regular season games. The NFL commissioner will decide whether to fully reinstate Vick to the NFL by no later than mid October. That's week six of the regular season, by the way.
Now in an interview before all of this broke, Vick told "60 Minutes" he regretted the brutal dog fighting that forced him into bankruptcy and cost him a year and a half in federal prison.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MICHAEL VICK, NFL PLAYER: I should have taken the initiative to stop it all. You know, and I didn't. I didn't step up. I wasn't a leader.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So for the cynics who will say, you know what, I don't know -- Michael Vick might be more concerned about the fact that his career was hurt than dogs were hurt.
VICK: I don't -- I mean, football don't even matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CHO: You can imagine what kind of reaction we're getting from fans and animal rights groups. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said only that it hopes that Vick displays more compassion and better judgment than he did the first time around. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said it was disappointed.
Now as for the fans, mixed reaction on the blogs. No surprise there. One writes, "I'm firmly in the Vick should be allowed back camp and, yes, I have a dog. The moral self-righteousness surrounding so much of that debate is repugnant."
On the other side, "I like that the Eagles are, for the most part, good dudes too. I wouldn't want Vick on my team at all. No way I'd want to root for him."
And the one that really got my attention, guys, this morning was the one we found on a New York Giants blog. Of course, the Giants and Eagles, they're rivals. "Just in case you didn't hate the Eagles enough now, they have signed a dog killer." You know, it's hard to believe just in 2001, Vick was the number one draft pick. He was once the highest paid player in football. Now he is millions of dollars in debt and so you can imagine he is eager to get back on the field. Certainly he's eager to get paid again.
ROBERTS: You know, he's got a sympathetic ear with Coach Andy Reid, though, whose sons have had their own...
CHO: He does. I mean, listen, there are a lot of people who say he's done his time and he deserves a second chance. There are others who say, you know, dog fighting -- that is the most horrible, horrible crime. He should never be allowed back on the field, you know.
CHETRY: Yes. And we ask what team wants to take on all this controversy.
CHO: Yes.
CHETRY: Now we have the answer. A little bit later we're going to be talking to Ryan Smith. He's a sports attorney and a host on BET. He also happens to be an Eagles fan like most people in my family. So boy, we're going to get an earful this morning.
CHO: And, by the way, we should mention the Eagles will be holding a news conference at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time in Philadelphia. We're waiting to see whether Vick will be there. I'm sure he will.
ROBERTS: That's why they call it the City of Broad Shoulders.
CHO: "Brotherly Love."
CHETRY: Alina, thanks so much.
Well, we want to know what you think as well about Michael Vick getting signed with the Eagles. Send us an e-mail or a tweet, Kiran Chetry CNN, John Roberts CNN. You can also go to our show page, CNN.com/amFIX for the links.
ROBERTS: Other stories new this morning. The government sweetening the pot for people looking to take advantage of the cash for clunkers program. Folks can now use their rebate money to order cars that are out of stock and have to ordered from the manufacturer. Until now, those rebates of $3,500 to $4,500 dollars had to be spent on cars already on the dealer's lot. That was making it difficult for people to get their hands on some of the most popular models.
CHETRY: And this story is going to be hard one for our resident Aerosmith fanatic Jay, a valuable (ph) member of our studio crew. He's actually right here next to us right now.
Aerosmith is canceling the rest of its summer tour a week after front man Steven Tyler fell off a stage during a concert in South Dakota. The band's statement says the doctors are recommending the singer take some time off to recuperate.
Tyler broke his shoulder. ROBERTS: Oh.
CHETRY: He also had to get stitches on his head. But exactly what else happened or how he's doing, they're not giving a lot of detail about that.
ROBERTS: That's right. Keeping it quiet for now.
Some people dream of making $1 million in a lifetime, but that is chump change for this man, America's highest paid CEO. Get this, a new survey from the corporate library shows Stephen Schwartzman who heads up the private equity firm, The Blackstone Group, made -- you're ready for this -- $702 million just last year. The majority of that money came from stock invested after the company went public two years ago. By the way, seven of the highest-paid CEOs on the list worked for oil and gas companies.
CHETRY: So everybody is going crazy around me right now, about that salary, $702 million. That's a lot.
ROBERTS: They're not going crazy around me.
CHETRY: No, it was Alina. That was Alina.
ROBERTS: No, they kind of all fell down. They're silent.
CHETRY: All right. Well, we're going to take a quick break and when we come back, we're going to be talking health care once again. A town hall meeting. This time, a Blue Dog Democrat getting an earful from some of the constituents.
Ten minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. He tried to reform health care back in the 1990s. Now former President Bill Clinton is blasting the GOP, saying Republicans are trying to scare people in the debate over overhauling the health care system. He also said it was "crazy" to suggest that promoting livings will and other end-of-life planning is somehow promoting death. Clinton was speaking at a conference in Pittsburgh for progressive bloggers and on-line activists.
Meanwhile, President Obama takes his make or break push on health care reform to a Montana town hall in just a few hours time. But the president and lawmakers will likely hear more tough questions today. But one House member, fiscal conservative and Blue Dog Democrat, Congressman Mike Ross says he is OK with taking the heat.
Our Brianna Keilar is following the Arkansas Democrat. She is live in Arkadelphia, Arkansas this morning. What are you hearing, Brianna?
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this is a really interesting place politically. In the last presidential election, voters went overwhelmingly for John McCain. They certainly don't see eye to eye with Democratic leaders in Congress, but at the same time at the state level for governor, for Senate, for House of Representatives, voters here tend to go overwhelmingly Democratic. And during this health care debate, Congressman Mike Ross finds himself in these political crosshairs.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR (voice-over): Hope, Arkansas, the hometown of the last president who tried to reform health care and of Congressman Mike Ross, a prominent member of the conservative Blue Dog Democrats. Ask folks here and they'll tell you, it's not easy being Mike Ross.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's sort of pinned in a hard spot.
KEILAR: Concerned the House of Representatives was rushing health care reform and that it cost too much, Ross and others Blue Dogs forced Democratic leaders to pare down their bill and delay a full House vote until September, something he frequently points out to constituents in his conservative district.
REP. MIKE ROSS (D), ARKANSAS: I'm the guy that led the charge and standing up and stopping this thing from a floor vote before August 1.
KEILAR: That move put Ross at odds with liberal Democrats, while his support for much of the Democratic plan also makes him a target for Republicans. The RNC is running this radio ad in his district.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NARRATOR: Mike Ross did exactly what Nancy Pelosi wanted him to do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Caved in, he buckled.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KEILAR: Feeling the squeeze, Ross says he's right where his constituents want him to be.
ROSS: It's rare that you get both the extreme right and extreme left mad at you all at the same time. And that tells me that maybe we've found the right balance here.
KEILAR: The balance, he tells more than 6,000 people on a telephone town hall is simple -- slow down and do it right.
ROSS: You know we've been trying to get this done since Harry Truman.
KEILAR: An hour and a half on the phone, no outbursts. His health care event -- answering questions face-to-face.
ROSS: Pray for me tonight from a town hall meeting in Arkadelphia tomorrow. (END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: And that's what we're waiting for here today. Congressman Mike Ross will hold that town hall meeting at Henderson State College this afternoon. The capacity, John, of the room where he'll be holding this -- 900 people, although the congressman tells me he doesn't expect that many people will come. We'll see, John.
ROBERTS: And if, as he says, Brianna, both sides are angry at him, that could certainly make for an interesting town hall today. My goodness.
KEILAR: Yes, certainly. I think definitely. We're certainly going to watch for that, and I think we're going to be getting a little bit from both sides. He had this teletown hall last night. And you heard questions coming from both sides as well.
ROBERTS: Yes.
KEILAR: But he said he feels he's right in the middle and most of his constituents are right there with him, John.
ROBERTS: Looking forward to it a little bit later on today. You're reporting on that. Brianna Keilar live for us in Arkadelphia, Arkansas this morning. Brianna, thanks so much - Kiran.
CHETRY: And also the CNN truth squad is back to fact-checking some of the latest claims about questions on health care reform. And today's question comes from David Morris of Portland, Maine, who asks -- I'd like to know if under President Obama's insurance reform plan, if students like me who turn 25 and can't be on their parent's insurance anymore while they're full-time students will be covered."
And the truth squad verdict -- true. You will be covered. The president's health care proposals would give insurance to full-time students who, under a law, would be dropped from the parent's plans when they turn 25.
Again, though, it's important to note that there's still is no final bill. So we're fact checking some of the proposals right now. But we don't know if those proposals will become law.
And we know that you have a lot of questions about health care reform, so we've sorted out fact from fiction, put together the answers for you. It's all on-line at CNN.com/health care.
ROBERTS: On-line social networking, Facebook, Twitter, when I went to bed, what I had for breakfast. Oops, I think my water just broke.
How much is too much? We'll find out. Carol Costello rings in. Coming right up.
Seventeen and a half minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK) CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour. Christine Romans is here "Minding Your Business" and she has sort of a status check for us when it comes to our stocks...
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes.
CHETRY: ... when it comes to our homes and when it comes to our jobs.
ROMANS: Yes, the stuff that we feel, the stuff that matters to us, our retirement. I want to tell you that yesterday the S&P 500 hit the highest level since October of last year. I mean, another nine- month high here. The S&P is up 12 percent this year.
You know, any year you would get a return on the S&P 500 of 12 percent, you'd say, hey, that's a good year. Let's call it -- let's call it a day. And you look at this, up 49 percent from March. You know, that's an incredible rally.
I want to give you some perspective, though. That's still down 35 percent from the all-time high. It's still down a third from where it was before this crisis began. So you're clawing back from those big losses. It's been a year that has seen gains but putting it all in perspective, many of you are still hurting and it still means that people who are close to retirement have a couple more years that they're going to be working at least, or trying to figure out how to make up for that money.
CHETRY: It's also different if you got nervous, you got spooked, and you got out.
ROMANS: Yes.
CHETRY: Because then you can feel those losses.
ROMANS: It sure is. It sure is.
Now your house is the other big thing that you feel that you care about. It's probably your largest asset. We had a home price number yesterday that showed home prices in the three months ending June 30th fell by the largest in history -- 15.6 percent. But they increased a little bit from the beginning of the year. So, many of the economists, the people who track this are telling me, what about the price declines for your biggest asset? Probably the worst of that is behind you.
Coincidentally, looking at this report, the cheapest housing market, the lowest price, Saginaw, Michigan, the most expensive, Honolulu. I would have thought Manhattan, but Honolulu, also San Jose. So maybe those big, big price declines that we've seen in housing might be behind us.
In terms of your job, we're going to be seeing a lot of, I would say conflicting data coming out about your job. And I think we all need to be braced for that. I mean, we're going to see some companies in areas that are going to start talking about stopping the hiring freezes and all that kind of stuff, but that's going to be trouble for the next year or so.
ROBERTS: You've got some word of another possible big bank failure today, too?
ROMANS: Yes. We're watching -- we're watching the company that is called Colonial Bank. It's got 300...
ROBERTS: Big bank.
ROMANS: Yes, it's got 340 branches, mostly in the Southeast. According to a federal judge that has been -- yesterday ruled that this company is on the brink of collapse and actually granted a temporary restraining order to borrow asset transfers in response to a Bank of America lawsuit. We'll be watching this this morning to see.
Remember, the FDIC insures your deposits up to $250,000. So you're FDIC insured in this bank like we always say. But this is a big one. This is a big one, so we're watching the health of this bank. There have been some -- there have been some troubling signs for this one for sometime now. And now we're watching this morning to see what happens next.
ROBERTS: Right.
CHETRY: All right.
ROBERTS: Thanks.
CHETRY: Thanks, Christine.
ROBERTS: Christine Romans "Minding Your Business" this morning.
So, are we just too plugged in? Our Carol Costello takes a look at that coming right up.
It's 23 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Social networking has become so popular that people are now sharing their virtual lives with virtual strangers.
CHETRY: That's right. In a world gone wireless, are we just too tied to technology? Carol Costello is looking at that in her "Just Sayin'" segment. She's live in Washington for us.
You know, I mean, a few years ago, we never been -- we'd never be talking about whether there'd be a law passed that you can't text and drive, right? I mean, you know, things have certainly changed.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and they're changing more and more each and every day. Imagine, you're in the delivery room, the baby is coming -- but before the doctor can shout, push, you say, hold on, I've got to tweet. Twittering during labor is becoming a trend. Just saying -- have we finally crossed that line? Are we too wired?
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TERRA CARMICHAEL, TWEETED DURING LABOR: Come here.
COSTELLO (voice-over): Terra Carmichael is part of a growing trend, new moms tweeting their way through labor. Sending out word of every contraction, every...
CARMICHAEL: My husband was laughing at me while I was in labor because I would reach over and say give me my iPhone, I got to tweet or I got to post a Facebook status.
COSTELLO: And Carmichael wasn't just tweeting to loved ones but to hundreds of people who pay rapt attention to tweets like -- on my way to the hospital. If they even try to send me back home, I just might punch them in the throat. And six centimeters but with complications. C-section bound.
She isn't the only woman who's sharing the birth process. On YouTube, there are women showing off stages of pregnancy and even giving birth to their babies. Some with dolphins. Just saying -- have we crossed the line? Are we too wired?
JOHN ABELL, WIRED.COM: Well, there was a very famous Supreme Court decision that says -- I know it when I see it. About pornography. I think we will collectively rise up and say enough is enough.
COSTELLO: John Abell who writes for "Wired" magazine says that hasn't happened yet, at least on line. But some psychologists see it differently saying some things like childbirth ought to be sacred.
Psychologist Jeff Gardere, who has used Facebook and Twitter, argues we share way too much on line. Facebook, he says, can become a marriage buster because couples share personal information with virtual friends instead of each other.
DR. JEFF GARDERE, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: The Internet, if you will, becomes an escape hatch where they don't have to be intimate with one another. It's easier to be in some ways intimate with the world, but it's not a real intimacy. It's very superficial.
COSTELLO: But Carmichael disagrees, asserting she didn't share the most intimate details of childbirth via tweet, only the superficial. And it helped.
CARMICHAEL: So people were writing, saying, "Hope everything is OK. Sending you great wishes. You're doing a great job." And so just having that kind of interaction as a social person was really helpful. The kind of like I had my own kind of cheerleading squad -- a virtual cheerleading squad in my followers.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COSTELLO: There's an interesting book out now on TMI on-line. It's called the peep diaries. In it, the author asserts if we don't participate in this sort of peep culture, we'll simply disappear. He says you'll be a living ghost. You'll move amongst the rest of us. But if we can't access your profile, we won't notice or care about you.
I want to know what you think? Are we too wired? I mean, where is that line? Is nothing sacred?
I'd love to know where you think that line is. Post your answer on my blog at CNN.com/amFIX. We'll read some of your responses a little later on on AMERICAN MORNING.
CHETRY: Carol, I was just tweeting about you're "just Sayin'" just to tell our people. That actually it's not that strange because there really is nothing else to do for 17 hours of labor, right. I mean, you're on the BlackBerry?
COSTELLO: I know. But shouldn't you be sharing this -- this great moment with your husband? You know, the guy who got you there? The guy who's having a baby with you? I mean, what about him?
ROBERTS: Well, I don't know. You know, maybe it's just the stuff of movies, but in terms of sharing with your husband during childbirth, it's usually grab him by the lapels and say why did you do this to me.
(LAUGHTER)
I'm "Just Sayin'."
COSTELLO: Maybe you're saving your husband from paying by tweeting.
ROBERTS: You channel your energy somewhere else. Carol, thanks so much.
COSTELLO: CNN.com/amFIX.
ROBERTS: All right. Appreciate it, Carol. Thanks.
Half past the hour now and checking our top stories. The White House launching a new health care offensive to counter criticism circulating on the Internet. They're asking supporters to forward a chain e-mail from the president's senior adviser, David Axelrod, that gives reasons to support a health care overhaul and debunks what he claims are some of the myths about it.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates says defeating al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan will not happen anytime soon, acknowledging it will take "a few years of combat." Gates says security in the country is a "mixed picture." More Afghans will be able to vote in next week's presidential election, but the Taliban have clearly established a presence in areas like southern Afghanistan.
And musicians all over the world are paying tribute to legendary Les Paul who died on Thursday at the age of 94. Paul was a musical pioneer, the father of the electric guitar. The Les Paul guitar has been the trademark for some of the biggest stars in rock and roll.
The Rolling Stones's Keith Richards says all musicians owe Les Paul an unimaginable debt. I mean, he just -- he loved music so much, too, Kiran, he played every Monday night at the Iridium Club down in Broadway in New York City. His last gig was the very first of June. So he played right up literally until the end of his life. Just amazing.
CHETRY: The true guitar hero. He will be missed. That's for sure.
All right, John, thanks. Well, it's 31 minutes past the hour right now. And we're turning to politics. One of our favorite segments, "Wingnuts of the Week." It's built on a simple premise that the far right and the far left can be equally insane at times. Each Friday, independent analyst John Avlon calls out somebody from each side who he says has taken political name calling too far.
John is a columnist for the DailyBeast.com and the author of "Independent Nation," and he joins us now with this week's picks. Let's hear right to who tops the list?
Wingnut on the right? Let's start.
JOHN AVLON, COLUMNIST, DAILYBEAST.COM: Wingnut on the right, Sarah Palin, hands down. And you know this is like the people have been emailing in for week's story and fix like suggesting she should be picked. But I think she's been unfairly attacked sometimes in the past, but this week Sarah Palin jumped the shark in my book with a sort of a fear mongering Facebook post that really solidified her reputation as one of the most polarizing people in American politics.
Let's take a look at what she wrote. She wrote, "The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama's death panel so his bureaucrats can decide based on a subjective judgment of their level of productivity in society whether they are worthy of healthcare. Such a system is downright evil."
CHETRY: So she's referring to the health care reform bill. The one that's in the Senate -- that's in the House right now, the 1200 pages that people are talking about. And she's specifically talking about this end of life counseling, as well as some of the other situations. At first it appeared she was backing off of those comments saying, you know, let's get back to civil debate. But then she posted another op-ed I guess you could say, and she sort of doubled down as they put it.
AVLON: She did double down. She's saying that certain provisions in the books would indeed back up her claim, that this is the substance behind her claim called for civility earlier. But, you know, if you really look at this, our friends at PolitiFact have done a thorough analysis of this. They gave her "The Pants on Fire" rating. There is nothing mandatory, there's nothing about judging the worthiness of an individual. What's being proposed, and may not even make it into the final bill is questions about optional end of life counseling. You know, I think Republican Johnny Isaacson said it the best, this claim is just nuts.
CHETRY: All right. Well, there we have that. And meanwhile, let's talk a little bit about your wingnut of the left this week.
Who got that distinction in your book?
AVLON: You know, Lyndon Larouche, old-time crazy time crank, conspiracy theorists. Many folks thought he was just figure of the past, but this week, he and his creepy little cult court service back up with posters proliferating on town halls and street corners showing President Obama as Adolf Hitler.
Take a look.
Bearing the legend -- I've changed, on the bottom.
Now this obviously deeply offensive, totally insane, and unfortunately, a sign of the times. Lyndon Larouche, no question, wingnut on the left.
CHETRY: And what I want to ask you about is, why have we been seeing so many of these comparisons as we've discuss this health care reform? We've seen the Hitler comparisons, the Swastikas spray painted on one congressman's sign outside of his office. What's going on with that comparison?
AVLON: There is a -- not only the Hitler comparisons, but there are a lot of Obama as communist comparisons as well. I think it's a sign that these accusations have gone completely unhinged. People have lost any sense of perspective about this debate. And it's particularly offensive and demeaning for the country to equate a democratically-elected president of the United States in any way, shape, or form to dictators who murdered millions of people in their name. This is not political theater people. This is way over the line, and it's got to stop. This is not partisan points scoring. This is running down America.
CHETRY: And other interesting thing about this whole entire debate that going on, though, is that these town halls, not that -- we're talking about some of the fringe elements on either side in terms of the debate.
But are these town halls going to change and shape the way that this Congress people vote as they come back from that recess? I mean, could we see health care reform in any way change because of all of this noise?
AVLON: Well, we will see. People are coming under a lot of pressure. What I do think is -- there is some credible frustration and concern out there. I think you need to distinguish between the substantive concerns and the crazy town cranks. And I think one of the things you may see is that the public option being pushed by some Liberal Democrats is given way and favor of something like a non- profit cooperative, which would take away a lot of the slippery slope to socialism argument that some folks are making. You may see that adaptation of some proposals like medical malpractice reform. I think the focus should be on a more bipartisan approach to the bill. That would defang a lot of this French festival crazy town folks who are causing a lot of trouble and disruption in the heart of American democracy today.
CHETRY: In the meantime, you're calling the mouth and we're trying to do our best to fact check a lot of these claims here on our show as well.
John Avlon, great to see you as always.
AVLON: Thank you.
CHETRY: And if you want more on his wingnut picks, you can check it out on our blog at cnn.com/amfix - John.
ROBERTS: With all the arguing back and forth over health care reform, there is some folks in this country who are actually trying to do something to help people. And we'll introduce you to one of those coming right up.
Thelma Gutierrez has got a report that you want to see. It's 36 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. With all of the fury and finger pointing at the town hall meetings, sometimes it's easy to lose sight of the people who are falling through the cracks of the health care system right now.
But our Thelma Gutierrez found a doctor who set up a special little space to help some of those people. They call it the chemo closet. And wait until you meet the people inside.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Right now, everyone is talking about health care reform, so we came to Las Vegas because we heard about a doctor who's doing something innovative to try to treat underinsured patients. We came here to meet him.
(on camera): Dr. Spirtos, how are you?
DR. NICK SPIRTOS, WOMEN'S CANCER CENTER OF NEVADA: Good. How are you?
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Dr. Nick Spirtos is director of the Women's Cancer Center of Nevada. When the outpatient cancer center at the county hospital was closed down earlier this year because of state budget cuts, Spirtos found a solution in his storage area. He converted that space in the back office into a chemotherapy room.
(on camera): That is an incredible picture of your mother.
CHRISTINA AGUILAR, CANCER PATIENT: Yes. That was her wedding day.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Twenty-eight-year-old Christina Aguilar's mother died from cancer when she was 18. Now she has advanced-stage ovarian cancer. And nowhere to turn because her insurance doesn't cover chemotherapy, and she makes too much money to qualify for Medicaid.
AGUILAR: When I found out, I was still working and making good money so they wouldn't pay for it, because I was making a little bit more than what they recommend.
GUTIERREZ: How much were you making?
AGUILAR: I'm making $8.76 an hour.
GUTIERREZ: $8.76 an hour.
AGUILAR: Yes.
GUTIERREZ: What did you do for a living?
AGUILAR: Cashier at a "Toys R Us."
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Christina is lucky. She is still employed.
SPIRTOS: If you're recently unemployed, you have no insurance benefits and you don't qualify for any of the public aids. So, amazingly, the people who have been working and supporting the system, the moment they're out of work, they don't fit in any of the round holes, they're square pegs.
GUTIERREZ: So Spirtos created a place for them to fit in. He convinced his partners to take on the patient's Pro bono. Then they arranged for Clark County to pay for expensive chemotherapy drugs.
(on camera): If Christina were not able to come here, what would happen to Christina?
SPIRTOS: Over time, her cancer would progress and she would pass away.
GUTIERREZ (voice-over): Now he's trying to cure her in what used to be a storage room, converted into a place of hope.
SPIRTOS: The great part about this is Christina's hair is going to grow back, and mine won't.
GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTS: There is good news, though, for the chemo closet crew. By next year, the University Medical Center and the Nevada Cancer Institute will bring back the outpatient oncology service after receiving a $3 million donation. It's a great news for them.
CHETRY: Absolutely. Wonderful news.
All right. Well, we told you about "Rob's Road". So every Friday of the summer, we're sending Rob, or actually, you guys are sending Rob some place that you think would be interesting for him. Well, he is at a yo-yo show. This is a world yo-yo competition that takes place. These people are so good.
There's Rob. He got it. He got the -- the string. He got the yo-yo back up to his hand. So that's a plus. There you go. Some of the other guys, though, look at them. Two handed over there.
ROBERTS: You know, you're wearing a T-shirt that tight, it doesn't matter what you do with the yo-yo.
Forty-two minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.
Road trip! Every Friday, our Rob Marciano hits the road for what we call, Rob's Road Show.
CHETRY: That's right. And last week, he was at the world's longest yard sale in Tennessee. Today, it is the sunshine state. He's in Orlando, Florida today. And it's the 2009 World Yo-Yo Games.
How's it going, buddy?
ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, I found out one thing -- the older you get, the better you were at just about everything. I thought I was a yo-yo whiz when I was a kid. And I'm coming to learn, John and Kiran, that I don't have those kinds of skills, but these guys do. And just a handful of them of the over 240 contestants that are going to compete in this.
This is the holy grail of yo-yo competition this week here in Orlando, and it's been going on for decades. And these kids take it -- these kids I say -- because they're younger than me. But they're all shapes and sizes, all sorts of ages. And from all over the world, over 20 countries competing in this particular competition. And yo- yoing has come a long way since the old dunk and butterfly. But since they invented the old ball bearing, that's where these kids can do this tricks. They go off the string, they do all sorts of things.
All right. Quick check on weather. We do have the potential for seeing some travel delays. Boy, it took forever for us to get down here yesterday, because of thunderstorms that rolled across northern and central Florida. You'll see a similar thing today.
And generally speaking, seasonable temperatures across much of the U.S. for this week. And maybe a little bit cooler across the upper plains and western Great Lakes. Here are your travel delays, once again. We're looking at for the Orlando area and the northern Florida to see some action. And the northeast will see your usual delays as you did at LaGuardia yesterday. Watching Hurricane Guillermo in the Pacific and a couple of areas of disturb weather in the Atlantic. But at the moment, nothing to worry about too much.
All right. Check out some of these kids that we taped yesterday doing their thing. And it is quite impressive. Quite the impressive show. So I talked to some of them. And they actually go off the string. That's the newest thing I learned. And here's what one of them said about going off the string.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With off string, anyone can tell that the yo- yo is going off the string. And it's just fun to do. Easy to watch.
MARCIANO: It's going to help you pull chicks.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Most of the time they do like it. They really do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MARCIANO: Chicks dig going off the string. I had it all wrong when I was younger, I guess.
Anyway, that's just one of the many tricks that they can do. Here you go. I guess, over the top, John, Kiran, I don't know. That's all I got.
(CROSSTALK)
CHETRY: Well, if they're doing it to get chicks, there's no women there.
MARCIANO: Yes. Well, there is a contradiction, which is why it was funny. Anyway, guys, we'll be back in about an hour. And I took a bit of a lesson, obviously, because I haven't tangled it once yet live on the air. And we'll see what kind of skills I got later on. World's yo-yo championship here in Orlando, Florida.
Back to you, guys.
CHETRY: All right, Rob. Good luck with that dunk and butterfly there.
MARCIANO: Stand back -- stay back, ladies. Take it easy. Everybody out.
CHETRY: Exactly.
MARCIANO: Plenty of these boys will go around. CHETRY: They're all in the green room. They can't wait. They're standing there breathless trying to get an autograph.
All right. Thanks, Rob.
Well, we want to know...
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTS: Through all the champagne fountain.
CHETRY: Right. Exactly.
Anyway, where do you think Rob should go next? Don't say the worst.
ROBERTS: Don't say the Playboy mansion either.
CHETRY: All right. He's got a few Fridays left before we say good-bye to summer. So head to cnn.com/amfix.
ROBERTS: Yes, he can go to Fridays, not Hooters.
CARROLL: All right? And send us some ideas.
ROBERTS: Viewers sound off on the health care debate.
Also, Michael Vick, we'll have some of that coming up for you next.
It's 49 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CHETRY: We would love you guys to join in a conversation at cnn.com/amfix. The news this morning that many of you guys woke up to that Michael Vick was signed with the Philadelphia Eagles. We asked for reaction. What do you think? This comes after he served 18 months on that dog fighting conviction.
Well, we got one email here from Mitch. But I think Mitch is also from Dallas. So he had to take this with a grain of salt, because, you know, Dallas fans, Cowboys fans, Eagles fans archrivals here. But he said, "I will never watch a Philadelphia Eagles again even if they're in the Super Bowl. They also plan to find out who their sponsors are, and I won't give them any business as well." He says that, he should not get the millions of dollars that he's going to get from the Eagles after what he did.
ROBERTS: Right. Paula writes this and says, "I couldn't turn my computer on fast enough to respond. I'm amazed at how the outrage persists with the Michael Vick case, when you barely hear a peep about Donte Stallworth. The Cleveland Brown's player who killed a man with his vehicle he chose to drive drunk in Miami. What should outrage people is this player who is now suspended by the NFL will be reinstated after the Super Bowl. Are you kidding me? Although I'm a New York Giants fan, I will be the first in line to buy a Vick jersey.
CHETRY: All right. And Jocelyn (ph) writing, "Hypocrisy at its best," regarding Michael Vick. "Why is it we stand behind Martha Stewart and the crimes against her, but not Michael. She served her time, and came out forgiven, and jumped right into her career." So there you see. She says, "This is why racism is still a conspiracy in this country."
ROBERTS: And Felicia writes us, and Felicia doesn't mince any words this morning. Felicia says, "Vick should be banned from any recreational occupation. He should be required to work only under a strict hourly wage. It should have a cap, and he should not be given any celebrity status. He used all his good karma up when authorities found 17 dog carcasses in his backyard. I could puke that he's been reinstated."
CHETRY: There you go. So...
ROBERTS: Don't sugarcoat it. They should they us how you really feel.
CHETRY: But definite mixed opinions.
ROBERTS: Yes.
CHETRY: I mean, on the Philly.com, it's practically 50-50. Slightly more people are against it, but, you know, there's a lot of other people writing in a Twitter to me as well saying that, you know what, he paid his dues. He's a great football player. Let's move on. So...
ROBERTS: A lot of people talking about it this morning. No question.
Hey. We're getting some new information in that midair collision that happened just about a week ago over the Hudson River. The FAA has suspended two air traffic controllers who are on duty at Teterboro Airport on that day. And we're also via NBC news getting some incredible pictures of the actual moment that the collision happened. We've got all of that just ahead for us.
It's 54 minutes after the hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROBERTS: We're back with the Most News in the Morning.
The days are ticking down to a presidential vote in Afghanistan. Polls show the current president Hamid Karzai has a commanding lead. Meanwhile, Afghan troops and U.S. forces are working to do something that many of us take for granted. Keep people safe while in line for the ballot box.
Our Pentagon correspondent Chris Lawrence is looking at the mad dash to the finish line this morning - Chris. CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: John, Kiran, with less than a week to go, they are racing the clock to try to open more polling places and convince Afghans it's safe enough to cast their ballot.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE (voice-over): On one side, 17 million registered voters. On the other, thousands of armed Taliban fighters. Between them, American troops, Afghan police and their allies.
ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: They are obviously holding an election in adverse circumstances.
LAWRENCE: Security rehearsals are under way for next week's vote. Afghan police will take up positions closest to the polls. American troops will hang back, ready to respond if there's trouble.
GATES: There is a tiered security arrangement. And, so, I think that the potential is there for a quite credible -- quite credible election.
LAWRENCE: The Taliban control much of Helmand Province and through intimidation or outright violence could exert huge influence over who votes there. One analyst who supports the administration's strategy says the Taliban are now being confronted.
LAWRENCE KORB, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: For too long we ignored it and now we're trying to get the situation back under control.
LAWRENCE: U.S. Marines have been in fierce battles this week, trying to secure villages in Helmand and convince Afghans it's safe to vote. American military officials say the political activity is greater than it's ever been.
GEN. JAMES CARTWRIGHT, JOINT CHIEFS VICE CHAIRMAN: The other thing that you see now is one candidate's making speeches, having rallies, posters all over the place.
LAWRENCE: But a United Nations report finds violence has severely limiting freedom of movement for candidates and supporters -- hampering their ability to campaign. And the UN's top envoy says security threats will keep some Afghans from voting. How many, we won't know until Election Day. And as for an actual winner, that may be a longer wait.
RICHARD HOLBROOKE, SPECIAL ENVOY, PAKISTAN & AFGHANISTAN: We aren't going to know on the evening of August 20th who won. CNN is not going to call this election.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
LAWRENCE: If none of the candidates get at least 50 percent of the vote, there could be a runoff election in the fall. And that could mean several months where Afghan and American forces are diverted from their normal security operations - John, Kiran.
CHETRY: All right. Chris Lawrence for us. And all next week here on AMERICAN MORNING, please join us for a special series of reports we're doing on our soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The impact it's had on them, as well as their families.
ROBERTS: Yes. How were they coping after months, sometimes even years on the battlefield, back from the front lines in fighting the war at home. That's all next week right here on the Most News in the Morning.
