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Miner Rescue Efforts Continue; Newt Gingrich Attacks Obama Adminstration; Questions About Karzai's Effectiveness in Afghanistan; U.S-Afghan Political Rift; Tips on How to Cut Your Property Tax; Comeback or Train Wreck for Tiger Woods?

Aired April 09, 2010 - 07:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


KIRAN CHETRY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING on this Friday. It's April 9th. Glad you're with us. I'm Kiran Chetry.

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Jim Acosta. Here are some of the big stories we'll be talking about in the next 15 minutes. Rescue teams once again pulled from the Upper Big Branch mine in West Virginia. There is a fire burning below making it impossible to find out if four miners managed to make it to a refuge chamber. The latest on the search just ahead.

CHETRY: Former house speaker Newt Gingrich blasting President Obama, saying Republicans can win in 2010, and he's keeping the door open for 2012. He really laid into the administration last night and we'll play it for you and talk about whether the rest of the GOP can rally around him.

ACOSTA: And Tiger Woods comes roaring back after five straight months of scandal after his best first round at the Masters ever, yes ever. Tiger is two shots off the lead and his seemingly adoring fans are following his every move at Augusta National. Carol Costello will tell us if it is a victory worth waiting for.

CHETRY: We just got an update 30 minutes ago and learned rescue teams had to once again be pulled from the Upper Big Branch mine because of smoke indicating a fire. Brooke Baldwin is live at the scene. It seemed like a setback that we heard about, Brooke.

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Obviously this is not the news that all of the families in West Virginia were hoping for. This is the third rescue attempt to get inside and find, hopefully, survivors, these four missing miners deep inside the Upper Big Branch mine.

But they had to pull out. Why? Two reasons. One -- the air down there was too combustible. And number two, you mentioned the unanticipated variable, which is all of the smoke. You know when there's a lot of smoke there's a fire somewhere in that mine. For those two reasons they had to pull the 16 guys out.

As Governor Joe Manchin emphasized, this was a tough call to tell these rescuers to retreat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOE MANCHIN, (D) WEST VIRGINIA: We had a long night, a difficult night. We ran into some problems, and notified this morning and teams worked around the clock got up into the section again, and Kevin will explain to you where this all happened and ran into some bad conditions and, again, had to pull the teams out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So now that the teams are pulled out, they have essentially two options right now. Option number one, and this is what the governor referred to as a game-changer -- they are going to continue drilling down with the other hole.

And they can place this tiny camera deep, 1,100 feet deep inside the mine to hopefully use a camera, and it can see about 100 feet out and see that final rescue chamber to see if it was deployed. We just learned about 20 minutes ago that they were able to make it to one of rescue chambers and they saw it was not deployed. This final rescue chamber, really this is it.

The other option is what they call it the "inerting process" when they're pushing, pumping all of the nitrogen inside this mine to improve the air quality so they can get back in there and attempt the fourth rescue. They were still referring to this as a rescue mission.

CHETRY: Just to sort of explain to people that were listening to that, when they say the rescue chamber was not deployed. Does that mean none of the miners still down there made it to the rescue chamber or attempted to use it?

BALDWIN: Absolutely. They can tell if its deployed because it's almost like a slide inflates when you see on the videos. Let's say if you're on a jet plane, it's like an inflatable slide. Once you enter one of the chambers it inflates, so it's very clearly visually obvious if it was deployed.

And so they could tell it wasn't deployed because it wasn't inflated. So they have the final attempt to see if the final rescue chamber was used at all. If it wasn't really, there is no chance of survival according to MSHA and the governor.

CHETRY: And they said they were 500 feet down with the drill, with that bore hole, so we should know soon, I think he said by noon today whether or not they can get the camera down there and see anything. But what a setback. They were holding out hope one of chambers was able to be used.

ACOSTA: Turning to politics, now. There was no mercy, an all- out attack on the Obama administration at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference going on right now in New Orleans. Sarah Palin will be the headliner later today and she'll have a tough act to follow after former House Speaker Newt Gingrich laid into the White House last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) NEWT GINGRICH, (R) FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER: The president of the United States, the most radical president in American history, has now thrown down the gauntlet to the American people. He has said, "I run a machine. I own Washington. And there's nothing you can do about it."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And with midterm elections in sight, questions this morning about who's really in charge of the Republican Party. Gingrich found a target the whole party can rally around.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: In training for what could be a Rocky Balboa come back of his own, Newt Gingrich threw nothing but roundhouse rights at Washington and President Obama.

GINGRICH: When you speak from the heart, you don't need a teleprompter.

ACOSTA: The former house speaker reminded conservatives why they chose him in the '90s and reminded liberals why he could be one of the most polarizing figures in American politics.

GINGRICH: This is the most radical administration in American history.

ACOSTA: He tore into the president's policy, calling the stimulus "taxation without representation" and saying health care put us on the road to socialism.

GINGRICH: Anybody who voted no on health bill did a right thing.

ACOSTA: At the time when Republicans are struggling to speak with one voice, tea-partiers are working to combine theirs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The country is talking and the administration is not listening.

ACOSTA: While conservatives are split over the future of Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, they have been able to zero in on the president who is in Prague signing a nuclear treaty that gave the GOP more ammunition.

SARAH PALIN, (R) FORMER ALASKA GOVERNOR: Unbelievable. No administration in America's history would I think ever have considered such a step. It's kind of like getting out there on the playground, a bunch of kids ready to fight and one of them say punch me in the face and I'm not going to retaliate.

ACOSTA: Unlike Sarah Palin, someone Gingrich may face in 2012, the former speaker said the Republican Party doesn't have to be the party of no.

GINGRICH: We should say, Republicans can say yes to a balanced budget through controlled spending. Republicans can say yes to more jobs through tax cuts. Republicans can say yes to spending the money helping American soldiers get better equipment rather than paying the money to lawyers to defend terrorists.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ACOSTA: Something else going on last night -- Newt Gingrich was setting himself up for a fight with Sarah Palin, calling for party unity and telling Republicans to lay off Michael Steele and focus on November. It sounds like Republicans have circled the wagons around Michael Steele. He appears to be politically safe for now.

Having said that, there's no telling if he'll resign over the weekend. But it does appear some of the big names in the Republican Party are saying, hey, hands off.

CHETRY: And some influential names from Sarah Palin to Newt Gingrich, the circular firing squad, let's cut that out and focus on our real opponent.

ACOSTA: But Gingrich was also saying we don't want to be the party of no, that they are saying no to President Obama's agenda. Gingrich was saying last night we have to have ideas as well. It will be an interesting debate heading into the election cycle coming up.

And coming up, chief political correspondent and "STATE OF THE UNION" host Candy Crowley live from the conference on the GOP offensive and a possibly change at the top of the party in an election year. That's coming up.

CHETRY: We look forward to hearing from Candy.

(WEATHER BREAK)

CHETRY: Still ahead, Afghanistan's president is now accused of threatening to join the Taliban if the U.S. doesn't layoff. And more troops are losing their lives every day. Some are asking now, is this a government we can trust?

ACOSTA: Plus, are you paying more property taxes than you should? The answer obviously is yes. You could be if you're paying on what your house is worth before the market went bust. At 7:19, Christine Romans will be here Minding your Business.

CHETRY: Also the debate over Confederate history month in Virginia. The governor announces it and doesn't mention slavery, then apologizes and backpedals. But now some in the commonwealth think that the whole thing needs to be called off. We'll hear two different perspectives on this controversial issue.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning. Time for an "A.M. Original," something you'll only see here on "AMERICAN MORNING."

Right now, coalition forces in Afghanistan are getting ready for another major offensive in the Taliban territory, all part of an effort to deliver a country to a government that some say we may not be able to trust anymore. The White House is trying to work through huge differences with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Chris Lawrence is following that for us this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. in Afghanistan are trying to fix a troubled relationship. Hamid Karzai's government now says it's committed to a partnership with the U.S. and the State Department rejected what it calls "outrageous allegations against Afghanistan's president."

A member of Afghan parliament tells CNN he heard President Hamid Karzai say he might join with the Taliban if western officials keep criticizing and pressuring him to reform his government. Farouk Marani's public accusation shocked Karzai's office. His spokesman strongly denied Karzai even considered it.

WAHEED OMAR, KARZAI SPOKESMAN: I think those who put the lives of Afghan people in danger as priority number one. And in that context, that comment, whoever has come up with that context, does not make sense.

LAWRENCE: That was one accusation. But a former U.N. official is questioning Karzai's mental stability.

PETER GALBRAITH, FORMER U.N. OFFICIAL: Every diplomat who served in Kabul had doubts about Karzai's mental state. This is -- people don't talk about it openly, but it's there.

LAWRENCE: Peter Galbraith maintains the U.S. military counterinsurgency strategy depends on a credible local partner.

GALBRAITH: A man in office by virtue of fraud and is frankly as erratic as Hamid Karzai, it makes it difficult to accomplish your mission.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Without a doubt, we need the strength of the Mullahs and the strength of the people to secure the valley.

LAWRENCE (voice-over): As the international politics play out, small teams of soldiers and Marines are trying to build confidence in local Afghan governments.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The time for being scared has to be over. There's only one bad guy for every 100 good.

LAWRENCE: The commanders admit weeding out corruption is essential to their job.

CAPT. JEREMY WILKINSON, U.S. MARINE CORPS: If your local government is not working and they don't have some sort of or semblance of orderly or trust, you're going to be fighting an uphill battle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: The tension between the two countries started escalating fairly recently when President Karzai public complained about western officials interfering with and trying to control his government. Ironically, it was just two years ago when Karzai said, quote, "If I am called a puppet because we are grateful to America, then let that be my nickname." A lot has changed in two years, Jim.

ACOSTA: And, Chris, we could certainly follow up on that but there's been a helicopter crash in Afghanistan this morning. Apparently, there's been some U.S. personnel involved, possibly injured. What can you tell us?

LAWRENCE: Yes, officials here in Kabul, Jim, are confirming to us that an osprey went down in Zabul province. That's sort of right next to Kandahar province. Three American troops were killed in the crash. A civilian was also killed and many more troops were also injured.

The U.S. military is not saying what was the cause of that crash, but it was flying at night. We have -- CNN has spoken to some of the people who have contacts in that village. Some of the villagers are saying that the osprey was out hunting the Taliban. And when the osprey got lower to the ground, that someone on the ground took it out with a shoulder fired missile. Again, that's what we're hearing from villagers. The U.S. military still not commenting on any official cause of this crash.

ACOSTA: Obviously getting to the truth. Tough in the fog of war. Chris Lawrence in Afghanistan for us. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it.

CHETRY: Switching gears here, a headline that you might be paying thousands of dollars in that you don't need to pay and your house might be to blame.

Christine Romans is "Minding Your Business" this morning. So a lot of people I know right now are trying to do that grieving your property taxes.

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Oh, yes.

CHETRY: To say my house isn't worth this anymore. Why do I have to pay this?

ROMANS: A lot of properties are valued at the peak of the bubble. They're not just worth what they were worth three or four years ago. So if you're feeling overtaxed and undervalued, your house that is, important tips in two minutes about how to save money on your tax bill.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHETRY: Twenty minutes past the hour right now. Time for "Minding Your Business." Christine Romans is here with more for us this morning about that little thing we like to call property taxes.

ACOSTA: Yes. Don't we love them?

ROMANS: Little things, the little thing. The big thing we like to call property taxes. Look, this is 45 cents of every dollar that comes into local communities is from your property taxes and you're probably feeling overtaxed and undervalued, aren't you? Because they only make these assessments every three to five years. They change them, and so many, many places, most of the country is probably assessed at the bubble.

Well, since the bubble, the national average home price is down 30 percent. Look in the southeast, you've got, for example, Miami home prices down 47 percent. Atlanta down 22 percent.

Let's look at the Midwest. In Chicago, homes have lost a quarter of their value. Detroit down 44 percent. Here in New York, a fifth of their value gone. Look out west. Arizona half of the value of these homes gone since the peak. Since the peak, 38 percent in San Francisco, 56 percent in Las Vegas.

If you're paying taxes at the peak, you're paying way too much money here. Your house is not worth that. And I'm not sure when it's ever going to be worth that again.

So here's the deal. Sixty percent of properties are probably overassessed. This is according to the tax -- the National Taxpayers Union. Only four percent of people or less actually appeal the value of their home, only four percent. Of those who do, get this. Up to 40 percent of them are successful and actually get a lower tax bill.

So what do you need to do? This is incredibly important. We're talking about this actually on my Facebook page. You want to hear from more people who are, have been successful and their tips in their part of the country. Go to my Facebook page because everyone is talking about it.

First of all, there are some deductions and exemptions that you need to make sure you are eligible for and are being counted. Make sure that the assessor has gone into the home. He knows or she knows that it's three and a half baths, not four baths. I mean, every single thing counts. Watch the math. Compare with similar properties and have an awful lot of documentation, maybe five other places in the neighborhood that are assessed lower. Walk in with that information. Tell the truth. Come on, tell the truth and don't miss the deadlines. And you might have a decent chance of lowering your tax bills. Don't we all need the extra money, right?

CHETRY: Yes. You know who's shaking their head about this is all the local communities that are already struggling.

ROMANS: Yes.

CHETRY: That's the last thing we do.

ROMANS: And that's why it could take longer and in some cases you might start to find more resistance because they need that money. They do need that money. So the experts say try to do it now if you can.

CHETRY: All right. Christine, good tips.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

CHETRY: Well, still ahead, what does the future hold for the U.S. economy? Right now, as we all know, we're drowning in debt but how can we change course in the current economic climate?

CNN is taking an in-depth look at the issue, weighing the answers. It's a special two-hour show "IOU.S.A." hosted by Christine Romans this Saturday, 1:00 p.m. Eastern and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

It's 23 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": There's another commercial premiering tomorrow, another Tiger Woods commercial. This one featuring the voice of his mother, Kultida Woods.

VOICE OF UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tiger, what the (expletive deleted) were you thinking? You stupid boy. Always using your (expletive) instead of your brain. Didn't I always tell you not to sleep with (expletive deleted). You are (expletive deleted).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHETRY: Oh, that didn't take long.

ACOSTA: No.

CHETRY: That's just one of the many parodies of the new Nike commercial that features a stoic Tiger Woods blinking in front of the camera, appearing to listen to advice as the voice of his late father plays in the background.

Well, it is the first ad since his extremely embarrassing and damaging sex scandal broke.

ACOSTA: And the commercial certainly tries to lure in his fans, many of whom flocked to his side yesterday. Tiger finished the first day of the Masters two shots off the lead. It was his best start there ever. But is it his golf game that we care about so much?

Carol Costello is live with an "A.M. Original," something you'll only see this morning on AMERICAN MORNING.

Hey, Carol. It sounds like Tiger is getting a mulligan from the fans. Is that right?

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, you mentioned is that his golf game we're interested in. Well, some of us are interested in his golf game, especially if he wins, shoot to 59 on Sunday and wins his fifth green jacket, then we're really into Tiger.

Actually, Jim, some are predicting the Masters in Augusta will attract 20 million viewers over the weekend. If that's true, what exactly will people be watching for? Will it be the great golf? Will it be redemption? Will they be watching for a train wreck? We thought this was a good time for a gut check. If you plan to tune in, we want to explore why this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO (voice-over): Tiger Woods teed off to an ovation and likely history-making ratings. A fallen hero hoping for forgiveness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOICE OF EARL WOODS: I want to find out what you're thinking was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Woods, thanks to Nike, even brought his deceased father back to life to lure you in, betting you really will watch and even care. The fact is many of you do. The question is, why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know, why do some people buy an "Enquirer"? You know, everybody has different tastes.

COSTELLO: Sports reporters who don't feel the need to be so diplomatic were more succinct.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think they're hoping for a train wreck.

COSTELLO: It's a sentiment that psychologist Jeff Gardere says nails it. We're so damaged by our luck economically and the country is in such an unforgiving mood. Many are itching to see Woods fail professionally too. Even Woods' fans can understand that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I mean, I think people get a kick out of seeing people fall in general, especially successful people, you know. I mean, like I said it's just human nature.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have the spotlight on you. People are looking for you to take a tumble. That's a shame it's that way. But that's life.

COSTELLO: It's why shows like "Dancing with the Stars" are so popular. Listen to one of the show's judges on the gossip site tmz.com criticize contestant Kate Gosselin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNO TONIOLI, JUDGE, "DANCING WITH THE STARS": We have to call it as it is. I mean, Kate is pretty dreadful. She's crap.

(LAUGHTER)

Sorry. But in a nice way. You know, in a nice way. She's entertaining. You know, people like disaster movies. Well, then, we've got our own disaster movie. I tell you 2012 is nothing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COSTELLO: Psychologists say that kind of thing can be sadly cathartic at a time many Americans are not in a giving mood. It can even provide a kind of bonding experience.

As ESPN.com's LZ Granderson says, "Culturally, we just seem to like dirt. The problem is we focus so much on the stains and the mess, we forget that dirt can also provide the building blocks of life." It's that last part, he says, we should not forget as we watch Tiger Woods play golf this week.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: So think that the good things may happen. He may play great golf and we'll all forget about what happened. He could find redemption because certainly he's eaten enough humble pie.

We want to know what you think this morning. Why are we so fascinated by Tiger Woods. Why are non-golf fans actually going to watch the Masters this weekend? CNN.com/amFIX. Write the message on our blog. We'll share in the next hour.

CHETRY: Weighing in on the blog, they're mad.

Polly writes, "Why do we care? We don't." The media is obsessed with Tiger and they're forcing us down his throat.

COSTELLO: No, no, no. Wait, wait, I have to answer that media thing.

CHETRY: Go ahead. What are you going to do?

COSTELLO: Because you have to admit -- you have to admit, Polly, that you have heard the jokes around you at work, at the dinner table. People are talking about Tiger Woods. It's not just a media thing. It's a cultural thing.

CHETRY: All right. Here's what Adomeda (ph) says. "Personally I'm tired of Tiger. We have people dying every day in Afghanistan, people becoming homeless to the housing situation, unemployment not an acceptable level. Now, what do we talk about? Some golf dude's sex life.

COSTELLO: How many people watch the tee off yesterday? A record amount they're saying.

ACOSTA: Yes.

COSTELLO: Some 20 million people may watch.

ACOSTA: And I don't think he needed the Nike ad to rehabilitate himself here. I mean, everybody was thinking, oh, you know, this ad is going to help him rehabilitate his career. But the folks showed up any way and watched him play golf and the ad I have a tough time with it, Kiran. I have to tell you, it feels forced.

COSTELLO: Creepy. It feels creepy. But you know, and some people say he's crawled on his belly enough, no more humble pie, just move on and play golf and be done with it.

CHETRY: There you go. He had his best first round at the Masters. So -- that's all you need to say.

ACOSTA: Take that.

CHETRY: Yes. Carol, thanks so much.

COSTELLO: He's a robot.

(LAUGHTER)

ACOSTA: Oh, boy.

CHETRY: Thanks, Carol.

Well, it's 30 minutes past the hour right now. Time to check our top stories.

ACOSTA: That's right. The search for four missing miners in West Virginia has been halted again, unfortunately. Two eight-man search teams made it down to the refuge chambers where the miners are believed to be trapped but there is a fire burning and the rescuers had to be pulled out there. Now trying to bore a hole into that refuge chamber so they can lower a camera and look inside but it doesn't look good, Kiran.

CHETRY: A Qatari diplomat was jokingly told air marshals that he was trying to set his shoes on fire while on a flight to Colorado was actually heading to Denver to visit a jailed Al Qaeda inmate at Colorado super max prison. We're told that these visits by diplomats are fairly routine. That inmate was arrested in Illinois shortly after the 9/11 attacks. And is believed to have been an Al Qaeda sleeper agent. Mohammed al Madadi has invoked diplomatic immunity. That means he won't face charges although he will likely have to leave the country.

ACOSTA: And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won't be attending President Obama's nuclear security summit next week. A deputy prime minister will attend in his place. The Israelis reportedly concerned nations like Egypt and Turkey, that they will turn the summit into an anti-Israeli event if Netanyahu attends.

CHETRY: Well, it started when Virginia's Governor Bob McDonnell reinstated April as confederate history month. There have been an eight year break. Democratic governors in Virginia did not have this proclamation announced each year. But then during that announcement, the governor failed to make any mention of the word slavery. He since apologized calling slavery "evil and inhumane" and adding into the proclamation but that hasn't stopped the controversy surrounding the issue.

Joining me now, Matthew Whitworth, a student at Virginia Commonwealth University who supports observing Confederate History month, also Iman Shabazz. He's the vice chairman for the Richmond Peace Education Center. And you're against it. We wanted to bring you guys on because there's been so much talk about this. There's been a lot of you know, national figures weighing in on either side. But we wanted to talk to Virginians about how this is playing out in your state and what exactly it means.

Let me start with you Matt because despite the apology, your governor is still facing criticism for this situation over this. Why do you support the celebration of Confederate History month?

MATTHEW WHITWORTH, VIRGINIA COMMONWEALTH UNIVERSITY, STUDENT: Well, for two reasons, I think it's important because it highlights the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia and because it shows our role in the confederacy and in the civil war. And we've learned an incredible amount of information since the civil war and we've progressed since then.

In 1990, Virginia elected the first African-American governor, Doug Wilder, and it's important to show America the progress that Virginia has made.

CHETRY: And Iman, I now that you feel strongly about this even though he omitted slavery in the proclamation, he later put it back in calling it "evil and inhumane" practice, you still say that that's not enough. Tell us why you feel so strongly that this is not a good thing for your state to celebrate?

IMAN SHABAZZ, VICE CHAIRMAN, RICHMOND PEACE EDUCATION CENTER: Well, I mean, the reality is, I feel it's an extended slap in the face in the first place to people of African descent. An apology just doesn't absolve the essential elements of the proclamation. When we look at the reality of the legacy of slavery here in Richmond, particularly and in the state of Virginia overall, we see that there's a lot of things that have always been suppressed in terms of the truth about that history.

And so just saying that, you know, we can relate it to some sort of celebration of the history of confederacy here, you know, it's definitely not enough. If we're willing to sit at the table and tell the truth about everything that has happened with that history, and no sane or rational person could see this as something to celebrate.

CHETRY: And what about that argument that the confederate soldiers were fighting in part to sustain slavery and that to celebrate the Confederate soldier that in some way mares the history of the state and of the nation?

WHITWORTH: Well, I agree. There's nobody in America that's going to agree that slavery was a positive aspect in American history. Obviously, it was a tragic event in American history. But it's important for us like I said in the beginning, to understand where we've come from as a nation. We elected the first African-American president and we've made tremendous strides since the civil war.

And you know, the Confederate war and the civil war was fought for numerous reasons, slavery obviously one of them. But state sovereignty and also to fight against the intrusiveness of the federal government. And it's just important for Virginians to recognize where we came from as a state and where we are now as a nation.

CHETRY: Well, Iman, is there a middle ground on this, meaning, that you can honor a Confederate soldier perhaps for fighting for what they believe was right, but at the same time acknowledged that slavery was wrong?

SHABAZZ: Well, absolutely not. I mean, what we have to look at is the whole picture here. And I need to make a correction. Slavery wasn't just an abomination in Virginian history but in world history. And the reality is that until we look at it from that perspective, we are only going to see the microcosm of how it affects individuals here.

The reality is that the legacy of slavery regardless of what soldiers thought that they were fighting for has provided no benefits for their offspring. Those of us who are living today in 2010, you know, here in the states. So those who benefit from the legacy of slavery, unfortunately have carried that on, you know, since all of our ancestors being brought to these shores. And the reality is we have to change something within the balance of that dynamic.

CHETRY: Do you think that this should be discussed more, Iman? I mean, the fact of the matter is some of this is coming out and coming into light because of this controversy. And people are having an uncomfortable conversation right now.

SHABAZZ: And definitely, I agree with that part. Yes, certainly there is something that needs to be talked about but it also needs to be talked about as I said earlier honestly. The reality is that people are responding to what's exciting them that they see within these media sound bytes but unfortunately people are ill informed. Where we need to do is have people who are properly informed and properly politically educated to understand how it affects those of us again who are the descendants of those we call slaves.

Those of us who, you know, make up the poor masses when you go into the various communities here in Richmond, Virginia. Unfortunately, you know, we can't see this again as something positive to celebrate just because we can attach ourselves to some sort of aesthetic to the history, when the reality is is that aesthetic is unfortunately just as bad as I would spit on the dirt and make a puddle of mud. We just need to understand that this conversation is something that needs to continue long after the media sound bytes die out.

CHETRY: And Matt, what I want to ask you about is the one reason that people are very upset about the situation is even when Confederate history month was started, as we know by Governor George Allan back in 1997, his successor Gilmore actually put in anti-slavery language in that proclamation and some like our independent analyst John Avlon saying the fact that Governor McDonnell took it out is -- makes it all the more controversial and upsetting to people. Do you agree?

WHITWORTH: No, I don't think you have to -- I mean, if anybody with a basic understanding of American history knows that slavery is tied to the confederacy and slavery is tied to the civil war. I mean, following Iman's logic, every time that somebody discusses World War II, we would have to talk about the holocaust. You don't need to do that because --

(CROSSTALK)

SHABAZZ: And you should.

CHETRY: Go ahead.

WHITWORTH: You should discuss the holocaust every time you discuss World War II, you don't have to. People understand that their (INAUDIBLE). They understand that the holocaust was evil. They understand that slavery was evil and that it was a part of the confederacy. There's no need to mention it every time.

CHETRY: All right. Well, I want to thank both of you for your points of view this morning. Matthew Whitworth and Iman Shabazz, appreciate it.

SHABAZZ: Thank you.

WHITWORTH: Thank you.

CHETRY: And we would like to you weigh in on our blog, of course, cnn.com/amfix. And also ahead, Rob's going to be along with his weekend forecast. Coming up after the break. 38 minutes past the hour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

CHETRY: Hello. We're just checking out our comments on the blog this morning. We linked our blog on the magic wall to get a chance to look, a lot of you are weighing in about Tiger Woods.

ACOSTA: Big surprise.

CHETRY: Carol was asking the question, why is everybody so obsessed with Tiger? Our viewer consensus today seems to be they are not.

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: We have a lot of people saying, you know what -- ACOSTA: They're telling us to stop.

CHETRY: Stop with the Tiger. A little bit of criticism of the Nike ad but also saying, look, you know what, I was watching him play golf. Stop being gossip mongers. I didn't hear about them at the dinner table, Carol. It's only in the media.

ACOSTA: This one is a good one. "Love him or hate him. Tiger Woods didn't commit murder and the sex was with consensual adults. If he was a rock star," this is a good line. "He won't even be on the Rolling Stones B team. He is a professional athlete with a lot of time and money, we should all be so lucky." That's from Joe in Hagerstown.

CHETRY: There you go.

ACOSTA: So --

CHETRY: A lot of people also weighing in on the story about that we had just talked about the confederacy -- celebrating the confederacy in Virginia.

ACOSTA: Big topic.

CHETRY: And A lot of people -- you live in Virginia.

ACOSTA: Yes. I'm a Virginia native, born and raised and you know, this is a conversation that still goes on every once in a while. You know, the folks will talk about what were the causes of the civil war. You know, there's a lot of defensiveness about the confederacy, it's no wonder that they're talking about confederate history month out there. A lot of pride in those battlefields.

And this gentleman says right here, Paulie says "I wonder how Virginians would react if northern states celebrated Union History month, after all they could celebrate their victory, not a loss." That's the kind of talk they don't like down in the south. But it does go to a point in that confederate history month as originally drafted by the governor down there did not include, not only what happened during slavery but the contributions of the north and that the Union won the civil war and so forth.

CHETRY: Right.

ACOSTA: It's a touchy topic and it's no wonder that it caused so much controversy.

CHETRY: Well, we're glad you're weighing in for us. We want to hear more from you. Go to our blog cnn.com/amfix. It's our home page, weigh in and join the conversation.

Meanwhile, it's 45 minutes past the hour right now. Rob is going to have your travel forecast right after the break.

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ACOSTA: Good morning, Charlotte, North Carolina, where it is 56 degrees. It's going to be sunny and 67 later today. It doesn't look that way right now, but we'll -- we'll keep the faith here.

It is 7:45 this morning. Thanks for joining us back here on AMERICAN MORNING.

CHETRY: Yes. Glad you're with us. And, meanwhile, we've got a check on the weather. It's of course the weekend --

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: -- and people want to know if they can head outside.

Rob Marciano in Atlanta this morning. Hey, Rob.

ROB MARCIANO, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, guys.

Looks pretty good for the weekend, actually, although temperatures are cool right now, downright cold in Chicago at 32 degrees. So that's where the cold front has moved through. It's beginning to press through the New York City area, where it's currently 55 degrees.

Here's the showers along the -- that frontal boundary, Boston back through D.C. starting to wind down. So this little sliver of moisture will begin to push offshore. It's doing that across Carolina. This is where the roughest weather has been this morning, still some residual moisture behind and certainly some residual cool air.

Look at this, the lakes melt and now they're open for business for some lake-effect snow. That's how cold these area is behind, but it wouldn't last too long this time of year. The cold or the snow doesn't stick around too well -- too long. Places in Michigan, 8 inches; Suring, Wisconsin, seeing 7 inches; Green Bay, seeing 5.8 inches, and for some of those spots that's record-breaking for this time of the year.

So high pressure builds in, should be at least until the weekend for the most part, maybe a couple of showers on Sunday and sunshine at least for Southern California looking for today and tomorrow.

You know, the rain knocked down the pollen just a little bit over the southeast yesterday, but it's still very, very high, the southern half of the U.S., and moderate as far north as Chicago where tomorrow it will be 56 degrees -- or today at 56, 72 degrees in Kansas City and 62 degrees once the rains moved through in New York City, which is two days ago where you guys were 92.

So 30 -- 30 degrees cooler and feeling a little bit more like, well, the middle of April, about where it should be. And now to (ph) the Masters as well after a little bit of rain yesterday.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Rob. And now that it's rained down in the Southeast and in Maryland where I live, I'm looking forward to shoveling the pollen when I get home, so...

MARCIANO: Yes. Rivers of pollen flowing across parts of the east yesterday.

CHETRY: Yes.

ACOSTA: Pollen (INAUDIBLE).

MARCIANO: Good to have it (ph) out of the air.

CHETRY: Allergy season. Everyone that I know that has allergies was feeling it yesterday.

ACOSTA: Absolutely -- yours truly, right here.

CHETRY: Really?

ACOSTA: You're looking at him. Absolutely.

CHETRY: Poor guy.

All right. Thanks, Rob.

Well, this morning we're going to have our top stories in just a couple of minutes, including more trouble and a setback inside of the mine. They found smoke. They say it indicates a fire and it pushed rescuers out once again.

Time is running out as well. We're going to get an update on what is still a rescue mission on West Virginia this morning.

ACOSTA: And three minutes after, he will not be in the U.S. much longer. That is what officials are saying about the Middle Eastern diplomat who allegedly joked about setting his shoes on fire on a plane. Wait until you hear who he was going to visit.

We're live at the Pentagon.

CHETRY: And at five after, an asteroid buzzing the earth? NASA watching it very closely. How close are we to -- well, we're joking here. We're not going to obviously become dinosaurs but, hey, close call.

ACOSTA: Metaphorically speaking.

CHETRY: Yes, metaphorically-speaking. Forty-eight minutes past the hour.

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ACOSTA: Welcome back to the Most News in the Morning.

You know, the idea of paying teachers more if better grades are given to students appears to make perfect sense, but merit pay in many states is a political hot potato. Only a handful of school districts around the country have such programs. Some researchers have found student grades improved when teachers get performance bonuses, others have found no correlation.

CHETRY: Meantime, what about for the kids?

ACOSTA: Yes.

CHETRY: Does it work for the kids?

"Time" magazine is looking at another controversial issue, and this is paying students to perform. The new cover study reports on a study that gave cash rewards to kids to get good grades or to behave well in class.

It was conducted in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Washington D.C. and yielded some surprising results.

ACOSTA: Absolutely.

Joining us from Washington to talk about it, "Time" contributor, Amanda Ripley. Good morning, Amanda.

AMANDA RIPLEY, "TIME" MAGAZINE CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning.

ACOSTA: I guess the headline from all of this is that this works, I'm afraid to say --

RIPLEY: Well, you know, it's fascinating --

ACOSTA: -- as a parent.

RIPLEY: Yes, right. I know. It makes everyone a little uneasy.

ACOSTA: Right.

RIPLEY: But, yes. It looks like it works but only if you do it right. So it's a really important caveat.

I mean, they spent $1.5 million paying 8,000 kids in New York City, and nothing happened. So you have to be careful how you do it.

CHETRY: So -- and so explain how that works, because they got drastically different results in these different cities and in these different individual schools. So what model worked, generally speaking?

RIPLEY: OK. So the model that worked the best was in Dallas, and it was a very simple, elegant scheme where they paid second graders $2 for every book that they read once they passed a little computerized quiz on the book to make sure they read it. And, I mean, you know, it was cheap as dirt, like I said, $14 for the year. I mean, that's -- in education reform terms, that is zero.

So what they saw, though, is that the kids who got paid over the year for reading books, their standardized reading test scores went up 0.24 standard deviations, which is as if they'd been in school three months longer than the kids who didn't get paid. Also, their grades went up.

So you see this really interesting, incredibly cheap intervention there compared to, you know -- I mean, that's -- that's much better result than if you lowered the class size or done something else.

ACOSTA: And Amanda, now that we've adequately explained this, could we now argue about this? Because -- because every -- almost every parenting expert, right, will tell you that we should not bribe our kids, and starting at an early age where they think, you know, I'm going to be compensated every time I do something right is wrong.

Isn't that just the wrong way to raise kids? And if -- if parents don't believe in raising their kids that way, they certainly don't want their schools doing this.

I'm just throwing it out there.

RIPLEY: Look -- no, you're right. Look, it's incredibly controversial. I mean, the Harvard economist who did this got death threats. Like, this is not --

ACOSTA: Wow.

RIPLEY: -- you know.

So -- but here's the deal. The truth is, if we're all speaking honestly, we reward our kids in different ways. All day long, since they're like two, right, with stickers, with praise, with treats, with all kinds of things, right?

And so the question is, does it work and what works the best? And money is, I think, another reward. You can argue it's not a great reward, but it is a very explicit way to see what works. And what you find out is --

CHETRY: Well, you know what -- no, Amanda, I -- because Jim and I have very different viewpoints about this, because I think it's great. I think that, you know, we -- we're falling behind. We have a huge education gap in many parts of our country, and as we stack up against other industrialized nations, everybody's parenting skills, I guess, you know, everybody could improve in some way.

But, the bottom line is, we're raising kids, we want them to be smart. We want them to go to school. Why? Because we want them to be successful.

How do we measure success in this country? I mean, part of it is financial. So why hide that from the kids at a young age? I mean, bottom line is, every parent wants their kid to go to college so that they can someday do great things, but part of that is earn money.

RIPLEY: You know, it's funny, my editor said to me, you know, it's like we're holding kids to a higher standard than we hold ourselves, because we all work for money, primarily, right? And -- but -- Look, we all agree that the goal is we want kids to be intrinsically motivated. We want them to be self-motivated. We all want to be that. But the question is, how do we get there?

And I think we have to look at it on a spectrum, and that these kinds of explicit, tangible rewards like money or treats are -- are a way to hook kids in, get them where they are, so that hopefully they can find something that really engages them over the long-term.

ACOSTA: And the important thing to point out here is that this was tried in areas where the kids were struggling seriously in some --

RIPLEY: Right.

ACOSTA: -- very difficult school districts. And so a dramatic intervention may have been needed in some of these cases.

But I can just hear kids now saying, I'm not doing that homework unless you pay me.

RIPLEY: You know, it's funny, they did look at the Dallas kids who -- the ones who got paid to read, and then they looked at them a year after, when they weren't getting paid, and their scores actually stayed up above the kids who had never paid. So at least for a year you did see that effect.

But it's really key to pay them for things that they feel like they can control. If you pay them for grades or test scores, you didn't see a result, like they don't feel like -- they don't always know how to get there, even if they want to. And the kids, believe me, want the money. Like, every kid I talked to was universally excited.

It's the adults who were conflicted.

CHETRY: Right. Well, it's interesting. We let -- invite people to decide for themselves. Check out the story. It's in "Time" magazine. This issue, it's fascinating.

Thanks so much. Great to talk to you, Amanda Ripley. Appreciate it.

RIPLEY: Thank you.

CHETRY: All right, we're going to take a quick break. Fifty- seven minutes past the hour. Your top stories coming your way in two minutes.

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